The Stalked

Favio

"No thank you!" Alastair hollers back while washing his hands. "Man, what a pain in the butt," he heaves as he stares at Caleigh's descending figure.

I watch on, thumbing the small paperweight in my palm, irritated at their exchange. "She followed you around?" I ask as he dried his hands and walked away from the washbasin.

"No, she found me online." He sinks into an armchair opposite me and jerks his head towards me, "You would know better."

This is his umpteenth attempt at trying to wrest information from me about how I met the scorned woman downstairs.

"No, I would not," I jump to my feet as the urge to fix the unintentional mess started gnawing away at my sanity again. Fine. I did not want to divulge this part of my personal life with the likes of Alastair, but this was better than trying to talk to the viper of her business partner Valerie.

"I did not meet her online, she..." I cut myself short. This was not a good time to have an idle conversation about my twisted love life.

"She stalked me in person," or maybe it was; I correct myself weighing the translucent paperweight in my hand, "despite that it was difficult for me to make her warm up to me."

"Did not seem like that to me," he snorts as I aim the paperweight at his head. He quickly gets up playing defence.

I fake throw the weight at him and watch in satisfaction as he falls for it.

"Stop trying to kill the mediator here!" I grin at the annoyance in his tone. This asshat had made my life equal parts hell and interesting back when I was a student.

"Never tried to, Alastair," I shoot him a smug smile a part of my annoyance evaporating.

He gives me an irritated glare and shifts away from his defensive pose walking to the other side of the living room, "Unlike you, she is at least a dependable friend."

I should have seen that coming. I grit my teeth, more vexed at myself than this old friend. "If you won't help, tell me now. I won't waste more time on you."

"Chill out son. this guy is no cupid but he can try," he throws a towel down, "Use the guest room to the left."

"What the heck am I doing stringing up two nutjobs?" I hear him mutter as I take the towel and walk to the guest room.

'Difficult to fathom, moody, a total nutjob.' These were the things I was told about this woman before I met her. Betrayal sat bitter on my mind. It was something new and gnawing away at my mind for several days. God help me, but anyone who betrays me I cut them out without any thought. But now that I look like the betrayer, I felt like shit and anything I was thinking of felt short of what I felt would actually work.

I dry off quickly and head to the hall where Alastair was casually browsing television channels.

"How will you fix things?" he quizzes before I get any word out.

I was about to reply when I spot Caleigh entering the room, pink-faced, her baggy clothing hanging on that luscious frame.

"Are you crash dieting again?" Alastair asks in an accusatory tone.

"I've never dieted in my life!" she replies almost stomping her foot.

I hold back my laugh. She would definitely hit me if I laughed now. I warily eye the paperweight near her body.

"Don't you? Hunting down injured animals and picking up kids, and forgetting to eat?" Alastair accuses.

"Someone has to take care of the helpless you raze down daily," she replies her lip curling up exposing a set of close to a flawless row of teeth as her hair escaped in tendrils from the messy hairstyle she had fastened it into.

I quietly take in their exchange, watching her animated face that was until a week ago blossoming with glee reserved for me.

Jealousy is something that is difficult to deal with, much less the pain. It was not difficult to miss her warm blue eyes frosting up as she glanced at me briefly. It was harder to accept the remorse that I had not felt in several years.

I want her. I will fix the bridge that is being torn down anyhow.

****