Someone is Watching

Chapter Ten

"Everything's going to be okay," Eleanor said as she draped a heavy blanket over my shoulders. "You can stay with me until you feel better, I have a guest room that you're welcome to use." She handed me a steaming cup of hot chocolate and sat next to me on her plush couch.

I thanked her, both for the hot coco and for offering to house me. We sat in her cozy, 5th floor apartment, looking out over the city. Eleanor sat next to me, rubbing my back as I tried my best to calm my beating heart and racing thoughts.
"So tell me again, what happened?"

I took a deep breath before telling her about my morning.
"... I found an envelope in my mailbox full of creepy pictures of me in different places around the city. It freaked me out, so I called the police." I held the hot mug in my hands as I spoke.

"Two officers showed up, looked at the pictures, and just said, 'it looks like you have an admirer, you should be flattered.' They said there was nothing they could do since I wasn't threatened or my home wasn't broken into."

Eleanor looked concerned, and asked, "could you request a patrol car or something to guard you?"

"Those guys looked at me like I was crazy. Like I was making a big deal out of nothing, and maybe I am! But I can just feel that something really bad is going to happen." I paused, deciding if I should go on.

"Listen, someone followed me home one night. I don't know who. But ever since, a lot of weird stuff has happened. I even found a dead rat stuffed in a box on my doorstep."

"Hold on, Evie, I need to go grab something." Eleanor said, standing up and walking to another room. She came back out, holding something in her hand. "Here. Take this to protect yourself." She thrust her hand out towards me, revealing a can of mace. I gingerly picked it up.

"Its bear mace, and it will seriously mess up whoever tries to hurt you."

"Thank you, Eleanor." I said, attaching the mace to the strap on my purse. I had mace while in NY, but I got rid of it when I moved. I don't why, maybe I thought I would be safe outside of the Big Apple.

"Its pretty typical of the police here to not take stalking seriously." Eleanor said, sitting back down.

"Woah, wait, stalking? Who said anything about that?"

"Its obvious." She shrugged. "This 'admirer' of yours is following you, taking your photo, knows where you live, and is leaving you gifts. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck..." she took a sip of her drink.

"Yeah, but a stalker? I was thinking that maybe Frankie was trying to harass me or something-"

"Didn't Frankie technically leave you? Why would he come all the way out here just to harass you?"

Ouch. But she had a point. Frankie was never up to do anything that required effort, unless it was finding sneaky ways to cheat on his girl friend.

"I don't know. I can't think of anyone who would do this, and I don't have any enemies or anything like that." I said.

"Maybe some stranger saw you on the street and was smitten by your beauty?" Eleanor said, a faux-serious look on her face. I smiled, in need of some comic relief.

"In all seriousness though," she said, "You are welcome to stay here if you'd like."

"Thank you, but I can't. I have Arthur to take care of, and I don't think I can bring him here."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" She asked.

"Of course," I assured her, "plus, I have this awesome new can of bear mace in case a giant criminal tries to pick a fight with me. Or if a bear tries to eat me."
...

By the time I got back to my house, Mauve was sitting on my door step, once again dressed in crisp business clothing.
"To what do I owe the honor of this wonderful visit?" I asked, twirling my arms.

"Why did you call the police? They aren't going to do anything unless you get killed." She said, skipping the friendly greeting as usual.

"How did you know I called the police?" I asked as I stepped beside her and unlocked my front door. She stood, brushed off her skirt, and followed me inside. "I'm a journalist, I know everything that goes on in this city." She said.

"Can I get you a drink? Or maybe a-"

"Do you live in the dark?" She asked, tearing open the window curtains. Light streamed in, catching on all the dust floating in the air. Mauve noticed this and pursed her lips, but didn't say anything. Instead she walked over to the island counter and sat on a bar stool.

"Tell me what happened, I want to hear it from your perspective." She pulled out a legal pad and a pen, ready to record what I was about to say.

"Are you serious?" I asked, turning around to face her. "You come in here without asking, without even saying 'hello', and then demand things! You didn't even ask if I was okay or how I was feeling. You've barely even looked me in the eye."
After saying that, she looked up from the paper and gave me a cold, stoney look. She's heard that before.

"If you want a 'story' or whatever it is that you're looking for, you better start being a little more nice to me. Lily might've put up with that attitude, but I won't." I crossed my arms and waited for her response.

Her stoney look softened, and she set the pen down before lacing her fingers together.

"Evie-"

"Evelyn." I corrected.

"Evelyn... you're right. I have been very rude to you. I don't have any excuse for it, and I'm sorry." I could tell it was paining her to apologize, but I was surprised she was actually doing it.
"I guess I've been keeping you at a distance because you remind me so much of Lily, and I don't want you to replace her-"

She wanted to go on, but she stopped herself. I'm sure she's not used to sharing personal information, so this must be pretty hard.

"I accept your apology, and I appreciate your honesty." I stepped up to the counter. "Go ahead a pick up your pen, I'll tell you what happened."
We went over every detail, I even showed the pictures. Mauve seemed very disturbed by everything, but she wouldn't tell me why. I suspected she knew something that I did not.

We walked to a restaurant and had dinner after. It was short and quiet, Mauve was a people-watcher. I always scanned the area to get a decent hold on my surroundings, but I didn't much care to know other people's business. She is a journalist though, and is probably always hungry for the next juicy scandal.

That night, I double checked that every door and window was locked, and that all the curtains were drawn. I'll admit that I drank a bit, but not as much as usual, I didn't want to be inebriated in the event that a psycho-murderer broke into my house. Tucked in my bed, I forced myself to clear my mind and soon fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.