14 ADDING MORE EXCITEMENT

After they finished supper Mary came up to Daniel who was still sitting at the table and sat down on his lap, she lowered her head closer to his neck and her breath was hot on his skin. She kissed his neck causing a wave of goose bumps all over his body. Something in her manner was not like her usual self, like it was a different version of Mary, there was lust in her movements and no shyness in her eyes.

"Are you sure you drank only a sip or two?" he asked her cautiously.

"Hmm... maybe three or four. I don't know..." she continued placing kissed on his neck.

"I see," he gently stopped her advances. "Let us get you to bed. You need some sleep."

He took her on his hands, carried her to the bedroom and made sure that she fell asleep. He wondered how much she drank and why she did it, but it surely was not a sip or two while she cooked the meet.

Next morning Mary woke up as usual and did not show any signs of hangover. Moreover she was determined to continue her running experiment, so after she cooked breakfast she just left together with Marcus who was already waiting for her outside.

This run was not any easier than the previous one, originally Mary hoped that it would get better over time, but this hope was starting to get thinner.

While she was running, Mary noticed a suspicious man who took a picture of her on his phone, or at least that's what she believed she saw. In the end after considering it carefully she decided that it was just her imagination and maybe he just took a photo of the park, or didn't take any photo at all.

If she only turned around and looked at Marcus's face, she would have realized that this suspicious man took a photo of her alright! Because Marcus looked very tense as though ready for a fight to start any moment now. There was no fight though, only a couple of other suspicious men taking a couple of other photos on their phones.

When Mary returned home to take a shower, Marcus reported to Daniel about what he saw in the park. Daniel asked him to be more careful and pay special attention to people who might look like the ones they met in the morning. He wanted to understand the scope of this chase: how many people were involved and whether they followed Mary everywhere she went.

When Mary took Marcus shopping later that day, he noticed the tail behind them. He tried to get away from the car that followed them and it seemed that he succeeded for a while, but the tail reappeared after several minutes as if knowing their exact location.

He also noticed a person taking a photo of them in the shopping mall and outside on the parking lot.

When he delivered Mary home safely, Marcus decided to take the car to the car service that belonged to one of his friends. They knew each other for many years and his friend was good not only at repairing broken cars. After checking the car, he found a tracking device. There was no guarantee that they would not put a new one, so Marcus bought a GPS jammer and placed it in the car so that he would not have to worry at least about the trackers anymore.

At the same time Jim was talking over phone with someone, "Did you make sure that he saw you?

"Yes."

"Good. And the device?"

"They found it."

"Great! Good job. Wait for further instructions from me."

At the apartment Mary was peacefully cooking supper, not knowing anything about the commotion which took place around her and thinking that the day was really boring. But she decided that it was already too late to add more excitement to it because Daniel would be home soon.

Just when the thought established in her mind the apartment door clicked and someone went in. Mary was surprised that Daniel did not warn her about his early arrival. She headed to the hall, "You are a bit early, supper's not ready!"

But in the hall it was not Daniel she saw but a thin woman about fifty five years old, her dress looked expensive and very conservative, she carried herself in a proud manner and smelled of CHANEL. When she saw Mary her face changed into a grimace, it almost became ugly.

"So it's true that you even live with him!" she did not greet her and in this phrase pronounced with a good portion of disgust Mary also heard some notes of accusation.

"Mam, we are not acquainted. I think I'm not asking too much when I expect you to introduce yourself first," regardless of the rudeness which this woman showed to her, Mary decided to be polite just in case. She had a feeling that not everybody had a key to Daniel's apartment.

"You had enough impudence to come to my house without prior introduction. So why would you expect me to introduce myself?" the woman it seemed became irritated.

"Beg your pardon! I'm not sure I understand what you mean…" Mary was lost, how could she come to this woman's house? She saw her for the first time in her life!

"Oh, stop it! I saw the video from surveillance cameras; you came to our house together with Daniel two days ago."

That's when realization hit her – two days ago they visited Daniel's parents' house…

"Oh, you're probably Daniel's mother… He did not warn me beforehand that we were going to your house; otherwise I would have asked him to introduce us first. My name is Mary," she held out her hand trying to neutralize the damage that was done by her unwelcome visit.

"I know your name!" The woman seemed to have no intention of their peaceful coexistence and also did not take her hand letting it hang in the air for some time until Mary lowered it. "I'm glad at least some of Daniel's friends worry about him and were smart enough to warn me about you. If you think there is anything for you here, I must disappoint you! Whatever plans you have on his money or property, you won't get anything! I will personally make sure that you find your way back to whatever dirty corner you came from… I take no leave of you." The woman turned around and left in the same manner that she came in, without bidding farewell; Mary even had no time to oppose those false accusations.

"At least now the day doesn't seem boring anymore!.." Marry uttered when the door closed.

Once in her life she accepted an offer of this kind, agreed to become a kept girl to maybe win over the man who made the offer, and now the consequences kept on haunting her wherever she went.

And the most cornerstone question was who of Daniel's friends could have considered her to be such a threat that they needed to warn his mother about it?!

Jim was too active lately but for some reason Mary believed he would not hurt her intentionally. The only person who could have done it was Gabriella. Curse this woman! If she could not have Daniel to herself, that did not mean that she should ruin his happiness (and Mary believed that she really could make him happy)!

She wanted to call her friend Olivia (the editor from a business magazine) and to ask more about Daniel's parents but after the incident with SIM card change Mary felt that her calls might be not so much of a secret to Daniel anymore. So she decided to pay her friend a personal visit and called Marcus to take her to the business center where she worked.

While Marcus was on the way she finished cooking supper hastily and wrote to Daniel that she might get home a bit late and asked him to have supper alone if he was hungry. She also grabbed her old SIM card (she decided not to throw it away just in case) before finally leaving the house.

When Mary arrived to Olivia, it was already the end of the working day and the office was half empty. They closed the door to Olivia's cabinet and Mary shared with her the latest events and also her own feelings because right now she felt like she needed a friend and a good listener by her side.

"She called his mother?!" Olivia was shocked that Gabriella could stoop so low.

"Yes, and I don't even know what else she told her about me!" Mary was very angry; it felt like her blood was boiling.

"That is a hit below the belt… Does Daniel know?"

"No, I didn't tell him. And I'm not sure that I should…"

"Well, it is about his childhood friend and about his mother… You never know whose side the man will take especially when it comes to their mothers… Maybe you were right not to tell him."

It also turned out that Olivia didn't have much information about Daniel's parents because it was already years since they became not particularly involved in the business affairs; everything was handled by Daniel himself.

"If I asked for your help, would you refuse?" When Mary uttered the question she sounded distant as if weighing the options she had.

"Of course not! I would help you! What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to publish an article…"