“Elise, do you know why you're here?”
“Yes, because you need my help.”
“That's right. Can you remember what we need your help with?”
“I'm being stalked, and you need me to tell you what happened so that you can put him away.”
“Ok, Elise, take me through this, from the beginning”
Elise stopped to check her reflection in the store front and casually glanced over her shoulder. He was there again, across the street staring at her. Should she call for help? And to what end? If someone came, by the time she explained that she was being followed and tried to point the man out, he would be gone. And she would look like a fool again. She was tired of looking like a fool; not this time.
She turned on her heel and headed on to work. She would stay where people were. After all of this time being followed she knew how to avoid him. She knew how to keep well ahead and stay in groups so that he lost her and she only caught a glimpse of him here and there.
The first time she'd noticed him had been on the bus. He was actually quite striking and she was taken with him. His blue eyes were framed with long dark lashes. His hair was the color of midnight and continued down along his jaw in a days worth of stubble. Which only made him more attractive in her eyes. She had been headed to work when he'd asked if he could sit beside her. He was dressed in slacks and a sweater and would have been at home in a board room or in front of a classroom and she just couldn't get a read on him.
“I'm Matt”
His cologne had wafted over her and she still rememberd that smell. Though now it didn't bring back the pleasant memories of anticipation it had in the beginning. Now when the scent found her, it terrified her. He had seemed so normal and they'd talked about silly little things. A baby that was crying a few seats up and how the mom seemed so distraught. The beautiful weather they were having. All too soon her stop had come up and she'd gotten off the bus. Their interaction had been brief but the spark had been mutual. She'd felt an instant conneciton with him and knew he longed to meet her again as well.
Later that day when she'd taken the bus back home she was anticipating seeing him again, but he wasn't there. It was a week later as she stopped for her morning coffee that she bumped into him again. She was standing in line digging through her purse for her wallet when she sensed a presence beside her and the scent of his cologne drifted past her. “Well hello there” his voice had come to her deep and throaty, and his smile lit the room.
They had chatted for a few minutes and she'd learned that he was indeed a teacher and that he had taken that particular bus because he was returning from visiting his elderly parents. And then they'd parted ways again, still without exchanging numbers. Elise had spent the rest of that day in a daze, daydreaming about him. She now knew that the only time he was in her part of the city was when he was visiting his parents. This saddened her because she wanted to see him more and see where this.. this whatever she was feeling led.
Their paths had crossed a few more times. Always for a moment, but when one saw the other they would smile and say hello. But then things began to change. As she was walking home from work one day she had bumped into him coming out of the deli she frequently stopped at for dinner. He had given her a look of frustration as he pushed past her and rushed away. She'd thought that odd but had pushed it out of her mind. Probably just a coincidence.
Then she began seeing him randomly. Once she caught a glimpse of him staring at her as she went by on the bus. She'd smiled and waved but the vacant stare he had given her had chilled her to the bone. Elise had seen him several more times over the course of the next week. A few times even bumping into him at the coffee shop and deli. When she'd tried to strike up a conversation with him he'd dismissed her rudely.
She wondered why he was suddenly in this area so often. She considered this her part of the city and she knew he didn't live here. And why did he suddenly seem so cold to her when he had been so friendly on that first day? Then one night she had noticed him walking down her block and he'd stopped in front of her apartment building and looked up towards her apartment. She had been staring out the window just contemplating her life as she often did. A shiver of fear that she couldn't explain had run down her spine.
After that she'd become more vigilant about keeping up with him. They had never again bumped into each other long enough to have a conversation. But she had spotted him over and over again somewhere near her. Elise couldn't pinpoint at exactly what point she had gone from interested in Matt to terrified of him. Maybe it was the vacant stare she caught him so often looking at her with. Whenever she'd see him across the street or in one of her favorite places and she caught his eye it always seemed as if he were looking through her, not at her.
The first time she had called the police was after she had seen him outside her apartment for the third time. This time he hadn't been right in front of it but just down the street and she was really starting to be afraid of him. She told herself that she was being silly, but she couldn't shake the feeing in the pit of her stomach that told her something was wrong.
By the time the police arrived he was gone and all she could tell them was that his name was Matt... something. And that he had been following her. She knew what the cops were thinking. They would follow her too. She wasn't being conceited. Her mom was a supermodel and she had the misfortune of inheriting her good looks. Her appearance had been her burden to bear her whole life. Good looks only brought you more attention. And attention was something that Elise tried to avoid. She'd gotten that from her father.
The second time she called the cops she had been walking to the bus stop and seen him inside a shop as she passed. She'd quickened her pace when she heard the bell above the door jingle just afer she had passed it. Glancing over her shoulder she confirmed that, sure enough, he was behind her. She had quickly ducked into a market hoping that he would go on. But he had followed her inside. Every aisle she went down, he was there.
The police had come at her call and she had pointed him out. He'd seemed surprised when they asked him to step outside for a moment and she'd watched from inside as his face registered shock and incredulity. He'd spoken to the police for just a brief moment and then they had let him go. One of the officers had even shook his hand! They came inside and told her that he had just been out getting a few things he needed. And that she didn't have to worry, he wasn't stalking her. She pointed out the fact that he lived on the other side of town, why would he be shopping here? Near her place? They told her he was staying with his parents, and that she shouldn't be so paranoid.
“Elise, tell me about the last time that you saw Matt.”
She had been at the market and he was there, again, always. She had finally realized that the only person who could help her, the only person who could save her, was her. So she had walked right up to him and asked, “What do you WANT from me? Why are you following me?” He had quickly turned and walked away and she had followed him. And when he began to run, so did she. Not this time, he wasn't going to get away this time.
“Do you remember anything else after that?”
“Not really, I just remember that I wasn't going to let him get away”
“Ok Elise, I'll be right back. Relax for a minute”
Dr. Carl March softly closed the door behind him and shook his head.
“She still believes that he was the one stalking her. She's created a world where she's beautiful and wanted. And the man the she wants desires her as much as she does him.”
Tara Pleid, District Attorney stared through the glass partition at the girl inside. She was plain with indistinct features. Her limp hair hung over pale brown eyes which were set apart by a small nose that would have been cute, but for the way it upturned making her look much like a pug. Her mouth was small and mishapen and her cheeks were plump and round. She wasn't an ugly girl, as much as she was just plain, nondescript.
“How is Matt handling all of this?”
“He's ok,” Tara replied, “he is still helping care for his father. They don't know how long it will be now. He just wants this whole mess behind him. He said if his father hadn't been sick he never would have met her.”
“She seems to think he was in love with her from the start”
“Maybe because he was the first person to ever be kind to her? That's just how Matt is, he's a caring person. He first bumped into her when he was on his way to take his father to the doctor. After they received the diagnosis he was shaken to the core. That was the first time he brushed her off. He said he wasn't trying to be rude or mean. He had stopped by the deli to pick dinner up for his family and he had a lot on his mind. Every time he saw her after that she would try to include herself in whatever he was doing. Once early on he had mentioned the he was considering moving to the city. He wanted to be closer to his parents so he could help out. Elise had recommended her neighborhood. But he soon realized she was infatuated with him and that living near her would probably not be a good idea. The more he tried to distance himself from her, the more obsessed she became. He doesn't want to see her hurt. He said she seems like a really sweet person. But a really troubled one. ”
“Well tell him not to worry. Elise is going to be here with me for a long time.”
Discord
Light Style