Smile Please

Sacrifices

Lizzie loved being married and of course she loved Tom, their new life together had gone from strength to strength.  She'd begun to appear with him more and more on the red carpet, at events and just in every day life.  In the main, it went well.  There would always be some who couldn't separate their own fantasies from reality and decided she was the devil incarnate, but it was  generally water off a duck's back.  At the end of the day, as Tom always said, he could tell who the real fans were and they were the important ones.  

It must have been about mid March, they'd just come back from a trip to America for an awards ceremony - she'd absolutely loved the chance to wear a fancy dress and walk on his arm feeling like a million dollars.  Who wouldn't?  He wore a midnight blue tux and his beard was as full as always, just looking at him made her stomach clench and a shiver run up her spine. 

Coming home again, she bundled up all the mail and put it in the office.  Normally Luke opened it all, sifted through the junk and the invites and all the rest.  He had taken a week's leave while they were away.  Tom had been to that ceremony many times before and knew the ropes so Luke could take advantage of a little down time.

As a result, it was Lizzie who, on getting up early the next morning, sat sipping coffee in the office wading her way through the pizza delivery menus, the offers to wash their windows and the over 50's life insurance leaflets.  That always made them laugh, she was a little older than Tom, not by much and they had a standing joke about who would get their free pen first.  Near the bottom of the pile, there was a large brown envelope.  No name, just popped through the letterbox.  Turning it in her hands, she had the sudden feeling that this wasn't going to be the offer of a free pen.

Ripping it open, she tipped the contents onto the desk.  She blanched at the sight, clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle a cry.  She jumped up and shut the office door, making sure Tom was still upstairs.

On the desk was a copy of one of their wedding photos that had appeared in the paper.  It had been mutilated, but not, as usual, her face.  Oh no, this time it was Tom. He had been decapitated and scrawled in red - it looked like blood but she wasn't getting close enough to check - across the photo was 

"I TOLD YOU I'D BE BACK" 

There was a folded piece of paper too, terrified, she opened it.  Inside was a printed message.

"IF YOU VALUE THE WAY YOUR HUSBAND LOOKS, LEAVE HIM.  THIS ALL ON YOU. IF YOU TELL HIM, IF YOU TELL ANYONE, I WILL HURT HIM BEFORE YOU CAN FIND ME.  THIS IS ALL ON YOU."

She let out a little cry and felt nauseous.  What could she do?  This sick bastard - there was no other way to put it - was watching, waiting.  She couldn't risk telling anyone.  She - she automatically assumed it was a she for no real reason - hadn't threatened Tom's life, no this was worse.  Maiming him, making him into the antithesis of what he was now.  Revenge.  It had to be revenge and she was the catalyst. Their hatred for Lizzie driving their campaign of harassment.

For a moment she contemplated calling their bluff and phoning the police, but what if they got wind?  What if they got to Tom before the police could protect him - and would they even take it seriously?  It was all still anonymous.  Someone with as many fans as Tom?  It could be some 15 year old playing games, it could be a random psycho actually ready to do them a serious harm.  It could be ANYONE.

She decided to do nothing for the moment.  She stuffed it all back into the envelope and hid it away in her laptop case.  No-one, least of all Tom would be looking in there any time soon.

Tom was blissfully unaware.

Over the next few weeks there were more messages,  always to her, always the same.  They told her she had to leave him or he would be hurt.  Did she think they were playing games?  She needed to be shown that this was no game they said.