The Compulsive Taking

Chapter 1

(Alicia's perspective) 

10 years.... That's what I remember when I woke up this morning. I see the light creeping through the blinds from the sun and immediately, I want to roll over and shut my eyes. I know my wifely and motherly duties were to become of me. The longer I slept, the more eager I knew my loved ones were getting about my arrival downstairs. 

I finally get out of bed and walk over to the adjoined bathroom off the master bedroom. I looked up into the mirror. Nothing had changed much physically. Thankfully after these past few years I still looked the same. I look down to my left hand and see the double banded ring shine back at me. Well... except for the last 10 years I met my husband and settled down with three beautiful children. 

As I get ready for the day, my mind takes me back to the day I met Liam Westchester. He was tall, brown hair, brown eyes, and cream skin. The sun had given him a hell of a tan the summer we met. 

~~~

I remember sitting on the beach looking out toward the water in tears. I lived down at Carolina beach.  My parents moved down there when my mother was expecting me. They ran a local hotel and raised me. Naturally after completing kindergarten through senior year at the local schools, I attended the university of Wilmington. There, I obtained my teaching degree and became a literature teacher at the High school I attended. 

During my college days I fell for a guy named James Jolly. We dated for two years during college until I walked in on him cheating on me with another girl. I sat on the beach now replaying finding the two of them over and over. I was staring out toward the ocean looking for some sort of serenity. 

I didn't pay much attention to the guy a few feet down the beach from me, holding a bunch of stapled papers. He seemed busy, perhaps caught up in his own world seeking the same need from the ocean as I myself sitting down at that moment did. 

I didn't realize how far out I had been in my thoughts until a hand rested on my shoulder. "Alicia please...." I heard a certain plea in a desperate voice. I turn quickly, crossing my arms, and face the man the voice belonged to. 

"Please what.?" He runs a hand through his disheveled hair. A single tear slides down from his swollen eyelid as he bites his lip. "I'm sorry Alicia, it was an honest mistake. Please take me back." I scoff, as I look away from him.

I turned back to him. "No, If I did, I would not be able to love myself." I go to leave, when I feel a quick jerk on my arm. "Don't do this, Alicia." I hear the warning in his voice

"Too late." I say, with a smirk. I go to leave once more, when he jerks me back. "Alicia!" He yells out before trying to slide his hand up across my breasts. "How about some makeup sex, hmm?" He asks. 

"Stop it, James!" I beg him. It is his turn to smirk as he leans in, I smell the booze all over his breath. "Stop, you're hurting me!" I beg, as he pulls me tighter against him. "Oh honey, the fun has just begun." He then slides one hand up my leg and further toward my womanhood. I close my eyes, squeezing them as hard as I can. Hoping he will be quick if he gets his way with me. 

"What do you not understand? No, means no." I hear a voice from the left of us. It was the man I once spotted a few minutes ago. He stands there, locking eyes with me. "Are you okay?" Then I notice James's attention back toward me. I shake my head as tears roll down my cheek.

"No." I utter out. "No, I am not okay. I just want to go home." I plead out. Within that moment I feel a quick sting across my right cheek which brings me to the ground. "Hey! get your hands off her man." The man drops his stack of stapled papers, coming over to my aid. 

"Whatever, bye Alicia. By the way, we are over you good for nothing b-." James is immediately cut off by this guy. 

"Get the hell on somewhere, before I personally escort you off this beach myself." The guy spats. 

James rolls his eyes. "Yeah, okay." He walks off leaving just this stranger and I on the beach. "Are you okay?" He asks once more. I nod my head to response. The moonlight beams down, hitting the man's face just right. I tried to hold my composure, as he is crouched down beside me. It was Liam Westchester, a well-known actor. He had become a common household name in the past few years, even earning himself some awards along the way. 

It dawned on me about his stack of papers he dropped. "Did you need those papers?" I ask him, as I point toward the direction, he had dropped them in earlier. "Funny you are more concerned with some pieces of paper, instead of being just slapped." 

I just shrug at his response and smile. "I tend to focus on the smaller details, than the bigger picture." 

"Well, I am sure this is not the way you wanted to meet an actor. "So, let's start over, shall we? My name is Liam Westchester." He sticks his hand out for me to shake.

"My name is Alicia Sheldon." We shake hands once more, before letting go. "So, what brought you here to the grand state of North Carolina?" I ask.

He chuckles as he holds up his hands. "Hold up now, let me buy you dinner first."  I go quiet.  "Sorry, Alicia. It was just a joke. Let's just say for the scenery. Los Angeles can get boring at times." 

 He looks at me. "Can you blame me for coming out all this way to see the natural beauty of something?" I shake my head, listening to the ocean crashing. "No, I understand you need peace. You probably don't know a day's worth living the lifestyle you live."

He studies me as if he has found a new specimen. "Keep talking." 

"About what?" I ask.

"Anything, you are not like the many I come across in the film industry, Alicia. " 

"I'm not following." 

"I have experienced many things in time, but Alicia. You are like the breath of fresh air I have wanted to breathe in from this oxygen deprived society." 

"You are saying what?"

 "When you are in a position such as me, you become intoxicated with the idea of fame. At first you eat, sleep, and breathe it. For the first few years of your early days, you will do stuff and see stuff that you thought would never become of you in your lifetime." He says, looking at me for a few minutes.

"Do you ever want something else? Something to look forward to down the road?" I ask. He looks at me with such an intense stare. "Let's just say, you can go home to the biggest house your money can buy, but there will always be something else you yearn for." 

"Well, it's getting late. It was nice talking to you." Liam states. He sticks his hand out for me to shake. 

I shake his hand and say, "It was nice meeting you too. If I don't see you anymore during your stay, I hope you have safe and happy travels." I then head back to the hotel.