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My head snaps up. “Yes, she’s leaving for Frankfurt on the 16th.”
“And how long will she be staying there for?”
“About a month. Oh, and she’s taking her best friend Erin, so I’ll need two of everything.” I reach into my pocket and pass him a piece of paper containing all the relevant details required for the bookings.
“Okay, fine. I’ll make the necessary arrangements for flights and accommodation in Frankfurt and get those delivered to you by recorded mail within the next couple of days.”
“Thanks so much. I’m so grateful for all your generosity.” I pause, trying to think up an escape plan. “Right, well now that’s sorted, I guess I’d better be going. I’ve got to go and buy some butter and washing-up liquid from the shop.”
“Wait. Don’t go. Stay a bit longer.” Alex slips his large, strong hand into mine and I realise it’s no use. I’m not going anywhere.
“Honestly, I can’t stay,” I bleat. “My mum will be wondering where I am.”
“I promise I won’t keep you any longer than is necessary. I just want to talk to you for a while, is that so terrible?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Now tell me, how is Cynthia doing?”
“She’s great. She’s looking forward to going to Germany and finally getting this all sorted.”
“And what about you? How are you feeling about everything? Are you okay? Are you pleased she’ll finally be getting the treatment she needs?”
“Yes, of course I’m happy….” I break off, suddenly emotional. “It’s just…well, I just hope it’s successful, you know? The treatment, I mean. I hope the doctors over there can make her well again. I love my mother so much and we’ve been living with this for so long now, I just hope…” My sentence dies. I find talking about this extremely hard.
With gentle tenderness, Alex squeezes my hand. His skin is warm and comforting. “Everything is going to be fine,” he says. “Don’t worry about a thing. I get a good feeling about this, and I’m positive your mother is going to be fine. Everything will work out so please, just try to stay calm. And if you ever need to talk about anything, just know that I’m here for you always.”
“Thank you, that’s so sweet of you,” I say, wiping my nose with my sleeve. “And thank you again for all your help. You’ve been so good to me and my family. I won’t ever forget it.”
“Hey, that’s what boyfriends are for. To lean on in times of trouble.”
There’s an awkward pause. Discreetly, I try to pull my hand away, but he won’t let go.
“I’ve missed you more than words can say,” Alex whispers. “I think about you constantly.” He hesitates. “Have you been thinking about me too?”
“Yes,” I reply truthfully. Psyching myself up, I decide it’s time to drop the bomb. “Hey, listen, have you been following me? Freddie said he saw a black Range Rover following us and I just wondered…well, I just wanted to know if that was you.”
“Yes, it was me,” Alex says without missing a beat. “Does it bother you?”
“Um, yeah, it kind of does. I find stalking someone extremely creepy.”
He chuckles darkly. “What you call creepy, I call caring. All right, so I followed you a couple of times, I admit it. I wanted to see where you lived, to be close to you, find out more about you. Is that so terrible? When a man finds such a precious jewel, why wouldn’t he want to keep looking at it? You’ve got to remember I’ve been closed off from the world for so long, I’m not experienced when it comes to matters of the heart, so I’m still learning the ropes, trying to understand what is deemed to be acceptable.”
I don’t respond.
Jesus, he has such a way of putting things he makes being a stalker sound almost noble.
“The truth is I like you, Jessica,” he continues. “I mean, really, really like you. I’m completely besotted, and that makes me want to be close to you all the time, that’s all. Is that so wrong?”
“No, not really,” I say, finding my voice at last. “But could youpleasestop the stalking? Honestly, it seriously creeps me out. I don’t like the idea of being watched all the time.”
“All right, fine. I’ll stop following you if that’s what you want. Sorry for ‘creeping you out.’ It wasn’t intentional. Anyway, we have our date Saturday night, so I’ll just have to hold on until then. No more stalking my girlfriend. Happy now?”
“Yes, thank you.” A smile spreads across my face.Wow, that was easy.Who’d have thought? Just ask your stalker to stop stalking you and Bob’s your uncle. Problem solved. I’m still dying to broach the topic of Georgina and the arson attack, but something tells me that could be a step too far. I remind myself I still need to tread carefully as I’m not out of the woods yet. I don’t want to risk upsetting him after the progress we’ve made.
“How much did you miss me?” Alex demands. “Did you miss me as much as I missed you?”
“Um…” I fall silent.Dammit, his aftershave smells so good.
