Obsession (Stalker #1)

by Alice C. Hart

  “Baby, I’m so sorry I didn’t get there fast enough,” he says, his voice filled with regret and I know he thinks he could have stopped this, but he couldn’t.

  “It’s not your fault, it’s a big building and everything happened so fast I barely realized I was sliced, until now and it’s sinking in,” I say through my tears. “I’m sorry about hugging Kev, but he snapped me out of the daze I was in and I know you saw,” I mutter, looking down. My emotions are all over the joint right now.

  “I don’t care that you hugged Kev, babe, I cared that I couldn’t,” he says with a hint of hurt in his voice.

  Ohhhh, I get it.

  “Baby, nobody makes me feel safer than you do and as soon as I called for assistance I had no doubt in my mind that you would be there.”

  I try to sound as reassuring as I can because I mean it. He pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head. He informs me that he’s going to debrief the staff on duty for this incident and make sure everyone has their reports written. He will help me fill out the WSIB forms because of my injury. Jake asks me to stay in this office and to keep the door closed. He will come back after he’s done.

  After what seems like forever and a day, he returns and we fill out all the necessary forms. He has to go submit them to the next supervisor on duty. We make our way to the supervisor’s office and the next shift is already here.

  This day feels like the day from hell that wouldn’t end. Everyone is asking me what happened, and if I’m ok. It’s making my head spin. Jake finally finishes up, and he grabs my stuff and his, and we make our way to the parking lot. He helps me into the Jeep as if I’m a delicate flower.

  On the way back home, Jake makes a pit stop at Tim’s and grabs us some hot chocolates, half dark/half white which is obviously the best kind ever!

  ********

  We get inside and he immediately goes to my stash and starts rolling me up a joint!!! I knew he was the right guy for me. I open the door to the basement and Ozzy comes running up the stairs. He tackles me and covers me with doggy kisses.

  Right before he’s ready and he has the joint on the end of the pen, Jake says, “Shit, we can’t smoke this one.” His face is all serious like. The look on my face was probably screaming, ‘what the fuck do you mean, we can’t smoke it?’ Jake starts to chuckle. “Well, it’s such a perfect roll I think it should go into the hall of fame.” He continues to laugh which makes me laugh out loud. I didn’t know how much I needed a laugh. But obviously, hedid…LOVE.

  We make our way outside with Ozzy so he can do his dog thing and romp around, and chase whatever he sees. Jake sparks the joint, taking the first pull and hands it right to me. With a shaking hand, I grab the joint and puff, puff, puff, puff.

  “Abby, pass it the fuck back, baby.” He grins at me and I laugh again.”Baby, I hope you know that you didn’t do anything wrong and you followed protocol. All the forms and reports are filled out accordingly. Having said that, you will take some time off.” He is demanding, not asking.

  “Maybe you’re right, I feel a bit jacked up. I mean, I’ve been through some shit at work, Jake, but not like this.” I’m honest with my feelings and he sees it.

  “I brought home the WSIB papers for you to take to the doctor’s appointment that you’re going to make, and I’ll take you since you don’t have a car. You are already being put on the schedule as WSIB, so until you are cleared by your doctor, you won’t be going back.”

  I’m puffing away on the joint. Since it’s almost done, I feel floaty and agreeable. I nod my head and light up a smoke. Yes, every time I smoke a joint I need to have a cigarette right after. Did I mention that already?

  We head inside with Ozzy, and I decide I need to make a fuck load of phone calls. The first call is to my ma. Lord, help me. I give her the details, all of them; all about Jake and me and what happened at work today. To say she is unhappy, is an understatement. She likes to be kept more informed, but life has moved at lightning speed over these past days and I haven’t been able to keep up. I tell her Jake is taking care of me and I’m staying at his place. She asks every question a mom asks their almost thirty-year old daughter about the guy she is now living with, so to speak.

  I know telling my mother ensures she will keep the rest of my family informed on my life. I’m happy to say she isn’t as upset as I thought she would be, especially the news about me staying at Jake’s place.

  The phone call to Dallas is much the same except for the screaming on her end. She screams when she can’t believe something someone is telling her. This is why I needed to smoke a joint before I did all this.

  “Oreo! Jake, I need to check on my cat,” I holler, moving towards the bedroom door. I open it and Oreo comes flying out “Shit, Jake! SHIT!!! Oreo got out and went running!” I’m trying to see where the hell he went. Well, fuck me. I see him nose to nose with Ozzy. I’m about to watch my cat get eaten by a dog now to boot. Oh. My. Shit.

  “Jake, look,” I whisper. He moves over to the hall to see what I’m seeing. Oreo licks Ozzy’s nose and Ozzy licks Oreo’s head back in response. What in the fuck is happening?

  “The fuck? I was so worried Ozzy would eat your cat, babe, but it looks like they just might get along after all.” He is smiling all weird.

  Jake looks funny when he’s stoned and it makes me laugh my ass off. My laughing gets Jake laughing.

  “Jake, I’m hungry,” I say, giggling.

  “My girl is hungry?” Leaning over, Jake softly places a kiss on my forehead. “Is there anything in particular you are hungry for?” He did not just wiggle his eyebrows at me!

  “Seriously, Jake, I’m hungry. I don’t care what we have. Let’s just call it the Chef’s Special of the Day. You make it, I’ll eat it.”

  Seemingly satisfied with my answer, he is off to take care of my ass and feed me.

  Stalker

  I can’t fucking believe what I witnessed! One of those assholes fucking sliced her arm up and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. I felt… helpless. Not a feeling someone like me is used to. I watched the entire incident. Damn fucker was taken to jail.

  It was awkward when Kev showed up and I had to make myself invisible in case he saw me. It would have blown my cover since he knows who I am. But even before the police arrived, I watched Abby try to handle a situation in which she had no control over. I found it interesting that she would deliberately put herself in harm’s way over these people. Even though the man that stabbed her was taken to jail, that meant the other guy, Doug, was still around.

  Night had fallen and I went to find him.

  Doug wasn’t in the shelter. Instead, I found him at the park sucking back on his fucking crack pipe. Crack is the reason Abby got stabbed and this is the motherfucker who lead her onto that path. He wasn’t about to get away with it. I walked over to where he was sitting on the grass. He’s leaning on a tree, sucking on his pipe.

  “Hey, Doug, I see you managed to get your forty piece back.” I smile since I want him to think I’m a friendly bastard who comes in peace.

  “Yeah, I feel like fuckin’ shit about Abby, though. I can’t believe that asshole stabbed her, man,” he says, putting his pipe down and lighting up a cigarette. “Abby is one of the best staff in there, she’s so nice to everyone and really tries to make a difference. It’s a shame, but these things do happen and sometimes the staff gets hurt.” He says it like it’s no big fucking deal.

  “Mind if I sit with you for a bit? That whole scene made me a bit nervous since it’s my first day here and all.”

  I need to sound sincere and I hope it’s coming through. People see me as a menace because of my height.

  “Sure, you wanna hit?” he asks.

  Man, his blue eyes look like pure glass. “Naw, I’m good, Doug, but I’ll have a smoke with ya.”

  I grab my smokes out of my pocket and spark one up. I’m not a big smoker, but figure cigarettes are a hot item in a shelter, just like they are in jail.

 
; “Doug, don’t you feel like it’s your fault Abby got hurt today? I mean, she came out of the office because you were screaming about your crack.” I exhale my smoke looking straight ahead while I feel his glassy eyes staring at the side of my face.

  “I mean I guess it’s sort of my fault, but I’d like to think it was the asshole’s fault who stole my rock,” he says.

  I know he thinks he’s right. He’s dead wrong.

  “Doug, your crack addiction is what got Abby hurt today.” I turn to face him and see he’s loading up his pipe again, and it sickens me.

  “No, it isn’t, it was all an accident, man. I think Abby’s great and I hate that she got hurt.”

  He takes another fucking hit from that fucking pipe and I can’t contain it any longer. I reach into my pocket and grab my blade. Getting it ready, I watch Doug inhale more crack. I watch it wash over him as he falls into bliss. I hope he enjoys it because it’s going to be the last happy moment this fucker feels.

  I lean into him so it looks like I’m talking in his ear.

  “Doug, I hope you enjoyed that last hit of crack and I hope your addiction is worth your life,” I whisper, slicing my blade across his throat. Looking into his eyes, I see he is shocked. “This is for what you did to Abby, you fucking crack head piece of shit,” I say softly, laying him down by the tree. His blood spills out of his neck and pools around him.

  To anyone else, it would look like two homeless dudes in the park and one passed the fuck out. Not an uncommon occurrence for a downtown park by The Shelter.

  I need to leave, so I get up and have a quick look around. I don’t see anyone. It’s too cold at this time of night for people to hang out in a park, especially in September.

  I walk the fuck away, grinning to myself.

  Jake

  As soon as I heard her call for assistance on the walkie, I fucking jumped from my seat, and every single one of my staff followed. We all heard her call. It was too fucking late and I actually saw that asshole slice her fucking arm. That’s when I flew on top of him like I was fucking Superman or some shit. I may or may not have bounced his fucking head off the floor once or twice for good measure. I don’t think Abby even knows it was me that tackled him. She was in shock and I’m positive she still is, which is why she needs to see her doctor.

  The Shelter already knows I’m not going in for the rest of the week, which may be a dead giveaway as to my relationship status with Abby. I’ve never taken time off when any staff has been injured, including myself. I don’t give a fuck. My girl needs me, whether she knows it or not, and I’m going to take care of her. I need to remember to talk to her about what she said before about quitting and finding a new job. I know she’ll fight me on this. I’ll look into some things for her as you never know what could pop up.

  My girl is hungry now so I’m going to make us some dinner and get some wine into her. I may have a drink myself. It was a shit day and we both feel like ass even though she is totally making me laugh. We are stoned. Abby has no idea about my experimental phase back in the day. I’ll tell her about it one day, Hey, I’m thirty-three years old and was a teenager of the nineties. Weed, hash and acid were easily accessible in my high school. I pour her some white wine and make a Rye and Coke for myself. I’m staring into the pantry wondering what the fuck to make for dinner.

  “Whatcha been lookin’ at for the last five minutes, Jake?” Abby giggles.

  “Baby, come here and tell me what you want to eat.” I clearly can’t decide what to make right now.

  “Hmmm, how about some Kraft dinner?” she asks, smiling up at me.

  “Seriously, that’s what you want?” I question her because normally that’s kid food that I feed Izzy.

  “Jake, I fucking love Kraft Dinner and I need it loaded with ketchup, too.” She smiles up at me. Damn, my dick is hard and I’m finding it difficult to concentrate. Her sweet smile alone makes me hard.

  “KD it is,” I laugh. Why is everything so funny when you’re stoned?

  Abby parks herself on a stool at the kitchen island and drinks her wine.

  “Jake, I can’t believe that happened today. I got sliced.” She is still clearly in shock. It doesn’t matter if it was only a surface wound, it was the entire incident and it’s sinking in now.

  “I know, baby, but at least you didn’t need stitches or anything. I can’t believe it happened, either, and I’m sorry I didn’t get there in time,” I say, bowing my head.

  “Jake, you got there as fast as you could and it’s not anyone’s fault. I know the risks with this job. I’ve been kicked, punched, spit on, but never stabbed with a knife. That’s a new one.”

  She sips her wine and her glass is almost empty, so I refill it for her. She smiles at me. God, I’ll never get enough of that smile. While I’m cooking, Ozzy comes over and Abby jumps off her stool. She is petting and talking sweetly to him. “Ooof.” Abby is on her back on the floor with Ozzy licking her face. She is laughing her head off. Then, I see Oreo come over. He begins rubbing himself all over Abby vying for her attention, he’s not used to sharing her.

  Abby gives Oreo some scratches behind his ears and I remember her saying something about his ears and tail.

  “Abby, why did you tell me not to touch Oreo’s ears or tail when you are clearly scratching behind his ears?” I watch the scene of Abby on the kitchen floor, on her back, with the pets surrounding her.

  "He only lets me do it. I don’t know why, but he will scratch the fuck outta you if it’s not me doing it.”

  I ponder what she says. Fuck, I’m stoned and pondering the mind of a cat. I still won’t touch his ears or tail. I’ll let him come to me. I won’t let him get to me with his cat Jedi mind tricks.

  Dinner is served in bowls and I hope to hell it’s the right creaminess. Everyone seems to have a weird cheese creaminess that they follow from soup-like cheese or thick-as-fuck cheese. I’m somewhere in the middle. I put the bowls on the island and get the ketchup and pepper. Make no mistake; this is how Kraft Dinner is meant to be eaten. Abby gets up from the floor and slides onto the stool and starts squirting the ketchup over it and then shakes the fuck outta the pepper. I do the same and we grin because we know this is the fucking way to eat it, and we are stoned to boot. I love this woman.

  “This is fucking delicious, babe, thanks for making this for me,” she says, beaming, like I just fed her caviar on a platter. She is not that kind of girl and I take a moment to thank the heavens. “Dinner has never been so good.”

  I laugh just because I’m fucking happy she’s here with me. I wish the circumstances were different, but it doesn’t feel forced. It feels more like fate pushing her right to me and I better not screw it up.

  We finish up dinner and I take care of cleaning up telling her to go fill the bathtub and load it with bubbles.

  “Ohhhh, that sounds so nice,” she coos and tilts her head to the side, and it’s like her mind has gone to the relaxy place I want her to be in. Abby sashays her way to the bedroom to get the bath going. I hear her turn on the water. She emerges from the bedroom, minutes later, in some yoga pants, a robe, and slippers. Her big fluffy leopard print robe looks cozy as hell and the leopard print slippers look like boots on her feet. Her hair is piled on top of her head.

  “Jake, where are my smokes?” she hollers, looking around.

  “Check your jacket pocket.”

  “Score! Thanks. I’ll be out back with Ozzy while the tub fills since it’s so ginormous. It’s going to take at least fifteen minutes to fill. Do you think I should let Oreo outside with us or keep him inside?” she asks.

  My eyes may have bugged out a little bit. “Maybe we should keep him inside tonight and let him get his bearings in here first. It may be a good idea to let him get familiar with the outside just in case he does somehow get out. But for tonight, let’s see how he gets along with Ozzy, even though it seems to be going better than I thought it would.”

  “Sounds good, let’s go Ozzy.” He comes running
to go out with her. They head out and I want to go check on the bath, just in case the bubbles overflow. Turns out she’s right, this tub is ginormous and is going to take a bit to fill. I figure I’ll go find some candles and place them all around the bathroom.

  How long have I lived here? I don’t think I’ve ever used this tub for myself. Izzy has her own bathroom, which is really the main bathroom. But since it’s just the two of us, she likes it as her own and it’s decorated as such. I like my girl happy, and now I’ve got myself another I want to keep happy. I’ve got to make room for her in this house because I’ve no intentions of letting her go.

  I get all the candles situated and light them. The bathroom is glowing and I’ve impressed even myself. The lighting mixed with the lavender scent of the bubbles is intoxicating. I hope she likes it. I check the temperature of the bath. It’s perfect and almost full, floating full of bubbles. I shut the lights off so only the candles are glowing. I strip myself naked and put on my black terry cloth robe.

  I find Abby on the deck with her head on Ozzy. She is petting him and he is just letting her. She wraps one arm around him, hugging him tight and he turns to lick her cheek. There is something about dogs. They are unbelievably calming and I know Ozzy senses her stress, and he is trying to absorb it from her. I open the door and they both turn their heads in my direction.

  Abby smiles. “Is it ready?”

  I nod.

  She gets up and pats Oz on the head; they come inside. I slide the door shut and take Abby’s hand, leading her to the bathroom.

  She gasps in shock. “Oh my shit.”

  “Turn around,” I command her, and she does as she’s told. I untie her robe and slide it down her shoulders until it hits the floor. “Lift your arms.” And she does without saying a word. I lift her tank top over her head and throw it on the floor. I stop for a moment to look at her, drink her in. I can’t believe I have this beautiful woman before me, and I smile at her. I kneel to take the slippers off her feet, one by one, and then slide her yoga pants slowly down, helping her step out of them. She’s now naked before me.