The Neighbor II

I Won't Hurt Tom

"I'm surprised to see you here, Ben," Dr. McKinsey said as she shut the door to the spacious room Ben had become familiar with over the past year. He sat up straight on the couch and watched as she sat in the armchair across from him. 

She got her folder out and papers ready before asking, "Did Cassie ask you to come in today? My secretary said this was an emergency session." Ben cleared his throat, then said, "This is an emergency and Cassie doesn't know I'm here. She thinks I'm at the store, which is why I also asked we make this quick."

Dr. McKinsey nodded and said, "Of course. What did you want to talk about?" After letting out an exhausted sigh, he said, "It's this...neighbor across from us. Tom. He's been flirting with Cassie, inviting her over for dinner, and she's taking it all in." 

He watched as McKinsey wrote some things down before she asked, "And do you think she finds him attractive?" Ben nodded. "Do you think she's enjoying him flirting with her?" Again, he nodded. "Do you think she's cheated on you while you've been away?"

Ben couldn't nod. He couldn't shake his head, either. 

"No," he eventually told her, "not yet, at least. I wouldn't be surprised, I haven't exactly been the dotting husband recently. But the thought of it makes me want to...hurt Tom." McKinsey nodded, then asked, "What did we talk about? About the hurting?"

Ben let out a strangled sigh. "That it doesn't...help me," he grumbled because he knew it wasn't true. "But if he's threatening to ruin my family--." 

"Has he threatened you?" McKinsey asked. "Directly? Verbally? In any way?" Ben rolled his eyes. "No," he muttered. "But his actions do. He needs to keep away from her." McKinsey folded her hands over her notebook and looked to him. "Ben, I need you to tell me you won't hurt Tom. I need you to tell me that you will speak to him civilly, or I will have no choice but to call your wife and suggest...other treatment." 

Ben furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What treatments?" He asked. "Well," she started, while closing her notebook, "I would suggest a psychiatric evaluation, perhaps a lie-detector test. Maybe even some medication like relaxers." 

That was the last thing he wanted to hear. He didn't need Cassie knowing he was here, knowing he was feeling these things again. He couldn't risk loosing her and Michael. Ever. "I won't hurt Tom," he told her. "I won't hurt Tom. I won't hurt Tom." 

**

Ben walked through the door looking exhausted with grocery bags in his hands. Marshall ran up and greeted him with a wagging tail, while Michael was right behind, shouting, "Daddy!" Ben smiled and chuckled, "Hey, little man. Here, help daddy." 

He handed Michael a loaf of bread from one of the bags and both boys walked into the kitchen where Cassie was making dinner. "Oh, good! I needs limes pronto!" Ben dug through the bags after setting them on the counter and handed her a smaller bags that contained three limes. 

She took them and immediately started cutting them up. "What are we having?" Ben asked as he smiled at Michael before giving him a piece of cut up carrot that was on the cutting board. "Chile-Rubbed Chops with Sweet Potatoes and Grilled Okra," she told him. "I'm going to throw the chops on the grill, put the potatoes in the dutch oven, cook up some veggies, and it should be...good. Hopefully."

"I'm sure it will taste delicious, baby," Ben said as he kissed her cheek. "I'm going to go get the mail, I'll be back in a minute. Want to come with, Mikey?" Michael nodded furiously and put his hands up to him. Ben lifted him up and Cassie said, "Take your time, boys. Dinner won't be ready for like three hours."

Ben chuckled and placed a kiss on Michael's head. He walked out the door and stared at Tom's door for a minute, then walked to the elevator. As the doors closed, he looked to his watch and gave it a grinch-like smile. 

Once the doors opened to the lobby, Ben strolled out and pulled out the mailbox key. He handed it to Michael when they got to the box and said, "Alright, little man, remember how we did it last time? Just put that in there and turn it to the right." 

Michael struggled for a moment, but he eventually got the key into the lock, but turned it the wrong way. "No, no, right." He took his son's tiny hand and turned it to the right, making the box open. Michael gasped and looked to his dad in amazement. 

Ben copied the gasp, but then said in a cooing tone, "Hi, Tom." He looked up to Tom who was just getting to his box. Tom took a deep breath, then sighed. "How did you know I'd be here?" Ben grabbed the mail and handed it to Michael. 

"Oh, you might find I'm quite observant," he said. "For example, you leave for work every morning at five in the morning, you grab lunch at the deli across the street from the Plaza, return around six in the afternoon, come get your mail at six-thirty, take a beer and sit outside with it until the sun goes down."

Tom looked almost scared. Ben chuckled and told him, "Don't worry, I'm not stalking you. I go out for a run every morning at four-thirty, by the time I come home, you're leaving. I'm working on a new building just a few blocks from the Plaza and they give us complimentary lunches to assure we won't make the building like or better than there's, I get home just in time to see you grab the mail. And I can see you from our porch."

Michael started putting the mail in his mouth, but Ben carefully led it away and listened to Tom ask, "What do you want? Last week, you told me to go shag an eighty-year-old woman." Ben laughed at that. "I did," he confirmed, "and now I'm here to tell you to stay away from my wife." 

Tom looked confused, so Ben elaborated, "No more dinners. No more sugar. No more accidental greets in the hall. She doesn't feel comfortable around you, Tom. Accusing her husband of beating her? That didn't settle too well. We came here to get away from distractions and start a new life. You are being a distraction. She already has enough stress with her book, she doesn't need you piling on, especially when that stress could harm my baby girl. When it comes to my family, I will do anything to keep them safe. Understand? I will not let my family be torn apart by some scrawny, overachieved businessman." 

Tom looked around the lobby for a few moments, then looked back to Ben. "And what will you do, then?" He asked. "Let's say I greet Cassie in the hall or ask for sugar. What then?" Ben gave him a stern look. If it wasn't for Michael, he would be screaming right now. 

"Then, I'll let it be. But don't think for one second that I will ever forget you doing something I simply told you not to do. I don't forget easily, neither do I forgive." He turned away and started walking towards the elevator. 

"And what if I end up fucking her while you're away on your trip?" Ben stopped in his tracks and flexed his fingers against Michael's legs. He had anger seething through him once those words came out of Tom's mouth and he wanted to hurt him. Bad.

After swallowing a lump in his throat, Ben said, "Michael, go press the button for daddy." He set his son down and watched him sprint to the elevator where he was trying to jump and reach the button. While his son was distracted with that, Ben turned quickly around and charged towards Tom.