by Maddie Wade
“Zara?” I ask.
She stands and holds out her hand. “Yes, hello,” she says, and I sit opposite her.
“Thank you for meeting me. Would you like anything else?” I ask as I stand to get a coffee. She shakes her head, no. Just then I hear her stomach rumble, she blushes and looks away as she puts a hand to her tummy.
I order a cappuccino and two pieces of chocolate cake. Chocolate is my weakness and I automatically think of Tinkerbell and her chocolate delights. I feel a grin tug at my lips.
Walking back to the table I stop and put the tray down.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m starving, and chocolate cake is my weakness, I hate eating alone.” I offer her a charming smile and she grins back as we tuck into the cake.
When we are both mostly done, I wipe my mouth with a napkin and look at her.
“I know you think this is about me becoming your personal trainer, but as you can probably tell I’m not a personal trainer.” I see her frown.
“The truth is I met with Trevor last week and he asked me if I would talk to you.” She looks worried now and I rush on, I hate that look. “He doesn’t want to be with you anymore. He hired my services to tell you that it is over, and he wants you to move out.”
“What? Why?” Is it because I eat too much? I can stop honestly I can,” she says, and I want to punch Trevor.
“Zara, this is nothing you did. You are perfect as you are. Don’t think he would be any different if you were a size 4. To be honest, Trevor is a bit of a dick head. He thinks far too much of himself to ever do a woman like you justice.”
I watch as she annihilates the napkin.
“But I can’t do better than him, look at me,” she nearly shrieks, and tears hit her eyes.
I take her hand and look at her.
“Zara, that is wrong! He won’t do better than you. He was punching well above his weight with a woman like you. You are a real woman not a doll and if it wasn’t totally unethical I would be all over you,” I say and grin cheekily causing her to give me a watery smile.
She sniffs, and I offer her a tissue from my pocket.
“Thanks. You know, I really try. I do kickboxing, spin, boot camps, and try and live on salad, but nothing works.”
“Tell me something Zara, do you do it for you?”
I watch her think. “I do the exercise for me as I enjoy it, but I hate salads.”
“So, screw salads. Life is short, you need to live it for you not what others think. Go to the gym and eat cake. Personally, I think you are gorgeous.”
“Tell me, Jackson do you have a girlfriend?”
Do I have a girlfriend? Well isn’t that the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question? “Yeah, yeah I do.”
“Well I hope she knows how lucky she is,” Zara says.
“Awe shucks,” I say with a laugh. We chat for a few more minutes and then go our separate ways.
I text Tinkerbell as I head back to the office to type up my notes on this job.
Jackson: So, Tinkerbell, you wanna be my girlfriend?
I watch as the dots bounce.
Tinkerbell: So, does this mean we are going steady;)
Jackson: Sure does, baby.
On the way back to the office I can’t stop grinning.
*~*~*
I wake to the persistent ringing of my phone, bleary-eyed I reach for it and hit the button for talk without even looking at the display. “Yeah!”
“Jackson!”
I sit up in bed and shake my head trying to clear the fog. The unadulterated fear in her voice has my throat going tight.
“Jackson, can you come, please? I, there’s glass everywhere and I don't know if he is still here!”
“Tinkerbell, slow down. Tell me what happened.” I stand and start shoving my legs into jeans.
“I was just falling asleep and I… I heard the glass smash. I went to see what it was, and someone has thrown a brick through the shop window.”
By now I am on my way out the door, keys in hand. “Think. Honey, listen to me. Call the police and lock yourself in your flat. I’m on my way.”
“It's him again Jackson, I know it, it's him.” I hear the tears in her voice and my hands clench on the steering wheel as I drive through the quiet streets. I have no idea what she is talking about, but I’m going to find out and when I find the fucker that has put the fear in her voice, I will kill the motherfucker!
Chapter 14
Ashley
Running to the door to make sure it’s locked I look outside again to make sure there is no one in front of the shop. I can’t believe it’s starting again. I thought this had all finished, but no, here I am shaking, my whole body is a quaking mess. I don’t even know how I called Jackson, how the phone stayed in my hands, then I called the police like he told me to.
I hear a knock on the door and I jump, hitting my back on the wall, looking towards the door as the knock comes again.
“Who...who is it?” I shout.
“This is Officer Kelly,” I hear the women shout through the door. I walk over and look through the peephole, then unlocking it, I open the door up a little, so she can slide through. “It’s okay, no one is out there, my partner is just taking a look around.” She looks at me gently and motions towards my kitchen. “You are shaking, let me make you some tea,” she says. I am grateful that she is taking control but for some inexplicable reason, I just want to feel Jackson’s arms around me.
“Ashley.” I turn around to see him at the door, and without a second thought I rush over to him and wrap my arms around his waist, burying my head in his neck. His scent calms me and for the first time since I heard the smash my heart steadies. “I’ve got you Tinkerbell.” He pulls me in tighter. “Hey, you’re shaking, I’m here and I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he says rubbing my back.
“Ashley, have some tea,” I hear Officer Kelly say from behind me. I turn around to sit on the couch and Jackson follows me. “May I ask who you are?” The WPC looks at Jackson.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Jackson tells her, as he sits beside me on the couch. I sit down and cuddle up next to Jackson as he slips his arm around me and pulls me close to him.
“Ashley, you mentioned on the phone that he’s back.” I look up at the officer as she starts talking. “We have it on file at the station that you have had previous problems.”
“Ashley.” I look over at the door as Taylor runs into the apartment. “I’m going to find the motherfucker and kill them,” she says as she runs over to me and gives me a tight hug. She turns to the officer. “I don’t really mean kill, I mean call you so you can kill him,” she tells her in a panicked tone.
“As I was saying, you called a few times a few months ago about someone sending you things, is that the person you were talking about on the phone?” Officer Kelly asks me.
I look over at Jackson then back at the officer. “Yes, I got some flowers delivered to the shop today. I thought they were from Jackson, but he said he didn’t send any, so I knew that it had all started again,” I say picking up my tea, my hands haven’t stopped shaking, and Jackson notices as he rubs my back for me and gently takes the cup setting it back down after a sip.
“The person or persons have never done anything like this before, it’s always been flowers, chocolates, teddies, things like that.” Taylor tells her more about the stalker I have. Taylor is my best friend and knows about every single incident and was there for a few. Officer Kelly looks over at the door where her partner is standing, he nods his head at her. “If you can excuse me a moment,” she tells us and walks over to him.
“The first thing we are doing is getting cameras put up in the shop, just in case, then we are going to put one outside your door,” Taylor starts but I cut her off.
“No, the shop is a nice sweet place, a camera will just make it look hinky,” I tell her. “Yes I’m scared, but I’m not going to let this weirdo ruin every part of my life. Tonight was a shock and now I just know that I have to be m
ore aware of things.”
“Taylor this was on the brick which was thrown through the window.” Officer Kelly hands me a clear evidence bad, inside is a piece of lined paper, like an A4 booklet piece.
I’ll always be here for you x
A shiver runs through me, the words are innocent but the connotations behind them are not. I instantly turn my body towards Jackson seeking comfort. He takes my hand and squeezes and I offer him a wobbly smile.
“We have boarded up the window for now, but you will have to get that replaced, and the only thing we can say is anything else that you get, make a note of it, take a photo, and call me if you notice anything.,” She hands me her card. “We will get back to the station and have a look at any CCTV around this area, and see if we can find anything, and soon as we do I’ll be over to show you.” She looks over at her partner walking into the room.
“Is that it, there is nothing else you can do? I mean he could have hurt her.” Jackson looks at the officers, and so does Taylor.
“This person hasn’t threatened Ashley or made any physical contact so there isn’t much we can do right now. All we can do is figure out who it is and then get a restraining order.” She turns to me., “Call me any time,” she says, with a nod, then they leave. Taylor walks them both out.
“Thank you for coming so fast.” I turn to face Jackson, he was the first person I thought about calling when I heard the noise.
“I was worried about you.” Jackson cups my face and gives me a small kiss, just a soft one, “Do you need anything?” he asks me.
“No, thank you,” I reply looking at Taylor walking over to me. “Hey go home get some sleep,” I tell her.
“I’ll be here early, see if we can get a window in tomorrow,” she leans down to give me a kiss on the cheek, “and at least think about the cameras.” I give her a smile and a nod because I know she won’t stop asking about them. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says and gives us a wave and leaves.
“You can go too, if you want,” I say looking at Jackson.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he tells me pulling me in as we sit on the couch. “I know someone that does shop windows, I’ll call them in the morning,” he tells me kissing the top of my head.
“Thank you,” I say wrapping my arm around his waist, I can feel his heart beating at a strong steady pace, it belies the worry on his handsome face.
“Come on, Tinkerbell. Bedtime.” Jackson stands up pulling me with him.
“So, I thought you’re here and I’m not really in the mood for sleep,” I tell him giving him a sexy smile, as he looks at me knowing very well what I mean.
“Oh, Tinkerbell, you are just amazing, aren’t you?” Jackson gives me a kiss, and I start walking backwards to my bedroom.
*~*~*
Waking up in Jackson’s arms is really nice this morning. It took me awhile to get to sleep, when I closed my eyes I’d hear a noise and my body would tense up, and Jackson would tell me everything was fine and that he’s here with me which helped me a little.
He said that he can work from his laptop today and doesn’t need to go to the office. As soon as Taylor came in—two hours early—this morning, he went to his place to pick his work things up.
Standing outside the shop I look at the big wooden board replacing the window. This is not good for business, customers are going to think that we are a bad business, shaking my head in dismay I walk back into the shop.
“So, I was thinking that we can redesign the whole window, you always said that you wanted the shop logo on there,” Taylor says handing me some coffee.
“True, but I really don’t want the board there while we think about what we want done. I mean no one can see in the window,” I tell her leaning on the counters taking a sip of my coffee.
“You know there is a bright side to not being able to see inside the shop,” I look over at her already for the sexual remark I know is coming, “you and Jackson can drip chocolate on each other, and lick it off,” she says with a big smile. Trust her to still make me smile after last night.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say with a giggle, looking at the customer walking in. “Welcome to Sweet Heaven.” I give them a smile. “If you need anything, please ask either one of us,” I say, they give me a nod, and I look into the glass cabinet to see if there is anything that needs topping up. “Just going in the back,” I tell Taylor as I walk through the door.
Sitting at the table, I think about what Taylor said about putting the logo on the window. I know we have the money for it, we also add money out of our savings for the business every month, for days that we might need it. Looking at the time, I wonder what is taking Jackson so long, maybe he did get busy with some work stuff.
The police called this morning to ask if there was anything that we could see in the shop that looked out of place this morning. They told me that they wanted to ask me yesterday but could see that I was frightened and thought it was best to leave it. Taylor and I looked through the shop twice to make sure that everything was normal, they also told me that they didn’t find anything on the CCTV footage, which I’m not even surprised with, and I told them if we see anything we will call them.
I’ve been through this stalker shit before and I said it then and I told Jackson and Taylor this morning that I wasn’t about to let him stop me living my life and live in fear, that’s not me.
I get off my stool when I hear banging coming from the front of the shop. Walking through the doors I smile as I see Jackson walking over to me.
“My friend said they will fix your window today.” Leaning down he gives me a kiss. “Taylor said something about a design, my guy said to let him know what you want and he can work on it for you,” he tells me and I smile just thinking about the fact that the ugly board will be gone soon.
“Thank you so much,” I say with a very happy tone and drop a light kiss on his mouth. I can’t stop smiling now.
“Anytime, Tinkerbell,” he says pulling me closer to him.
“You know that ruins Taylor’s plans, well not plans exactly more of an idea.” I look up at Jackson giving me a questionable look. “The board being there no one can see into the shop, let’s just say melted chocolate and naked bodies were involved,” I say walking away from him back into the back room.
“I thought that would be my thank you for the window, I wouldn’t mind licking some chocolate off you.” Jackson follows me. “Then I maybe some whipped cream,” he says, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind.
“Now that sounds like a plan to me.” I look over at the door and Taylor sticks her head in.
“A customer has asked if they can speak with you,” she tells me. I give her a nod and she closes the door.
Walking out I give the women a warm smile. “Hi,” I say, walking closer to her.
She looks at me for a while before nodding her head, then stops and stares at the tattoos on my arm and a smile appears on her lips as she looks at my face. “I just love the Champagne Truffles that you make, they are just divine,” she says as she holds her eyes with mine.
“Thank you, so much. I haven’t made any today, but if you want I can make some for tomorrow,” I tell her, thinking that the one time I don’t make something, a customer wants it.
“How about tonight, would you be able to make some for around dinner time, and drop them off at my house?” she asks, and I look over at Taylor.
“Tinkerbell, can…” Jackson stops talking and looks at the women in front of me. “Mum, I knew Jake would tell you about Ashley.” Jackson walks over to his mum, and a little panic runs through my body.
“Well, you ran out the house so fast I didn’t get a chance to ask you anything.” She looks at him. Jackson glances over at me then focuses back on his mum.
He shakes his head. “Mum, this is Ashley. Ashley, this is my mum.” Jackson introduces us, and I give her a smile.
“Now is this a fling or girlfriend?” she asks him, and I think my cheeks have gone red.
What is happening right now?
“Mum.”
“Jackson.” She copies his tone, and it makes me hold in laughter, but Jackson looks at me.
“She’s my girlfriend,” he answers.
“Great, so would you be able to drop off the truffles around dinner time, and as you will be there you can stay for some food,” she says, and I can already see Jackson’s not happy about it.
“Mum, Ashley has other things planned tonight,” Jackson tells her, but I think it would be nice to see what his family are like. I mean his brother seems like the joker of the family, but then again Jackson looks like he is too. He also looks like the mummy boy too.
“I would love to come for dinner.” I look at his mum and Jackson looks at me, I can feel his eyes on at me.
“Lovely, I’ll see you tonight. Jackson don’t be late,” she tells him, and I smile as I look at how Jackson is with her.
“Yes mum, see you tonight.” He gives her a kiss on the cheek. Giving me another smile, she leaves the shop, and Jackson turns to me. “Just so you know, meeting my family was on the agenda, but so much further in the relationship, not a week,” he tells me, and I can’t help but laugh.
Why I’m laughing I have no idea, nerves maybe, but the way Jackson is more worried about this than I am, is funny.
“So, your mum likes Champagne bark, what about everyone else?” I ask Jackson. I need to make a good impression, if I’m right about Jackson being a mummies boy I need to impress her.
“You don’t have to make anything,” Jackson says.
“Oh Jackson, just tell her, and if you do, you might get lucky tonight.” I turn to frown at Taylor. “You know what I mean, she might even give you the good stuff,” she says giving him a wink.
“Have you not given me all the good stuff?” Jackson looks at me.
“I can’t give you all the good stuff straight away,” I tell him. He looks between me and Taylor. To be honest I don’t really have anything special, but he doesn’t know that.
“I mean she will make your eyes roll to the back of your head,” Taylor says as we walk past her to the back room. That woman! I swear to God she needs to have a mute button sometimes.
