The Middle of Love

Chapter 10: Stalker

Katie:

"Two rooms please, indefinitely." I tell the concierge. He turns the log book for me to sign and I sign in. He hands over two key cards. Axl takes one and I take the other. "Do you know a good place to get clothes this time of night?" I ask the concierge.

"There's a 24/7 strip down the street past Third and South." The concierge says. I thank and tip him heading up to the rooms.

"1042-A," Axl says. "You?"

"1044-A," I reply feeling like I'm just kind of existing, not really part of anything. When we get off on the tenth floor I find the room easily, we're in adjoining rooms. "I'll be out in a minute." I swipe my card and walk in. I lock myself in the bathroom. "What is wrong with you Katherine?" I ask myself staring at myself in the mirror.

"Kate," Axl knocks on the door.

"Coming." I call back rinsing my face with cool water to refocus. I slip my key card into my wristlet and walk out to meet Axl in the hallway.

"My door's unlocked for you if you need anything." He says taking both my hands in his. His childlike demeanor gone. He looks so serious.

"Jen hates me." I tell him. Just saying it out loud makes me feel a little better. As if by keeping it a secret made it a burden to bear on my own. "Jen hates me because Marco throws his attention my way when I'm around. She knows he does. No matter how much I try to turn him off, it doesn't work. It's like he's trying to get what he knows he can't have."

"He definitely can't have you." Axl says. He wraps me into a warm safe familiar hug. His cheek pressed against the top of my head. "A thousand hellos, a thousand goodbyes, a thousand years of you and I of me and you. A thousand years of just us two." He whispers. My heart starts to match his steady rhythm.

"Promise you believe me when I tell you you're the only man I want. A thousand times over." I tell him. "The media is cruel. Marco likes making headlines."

"I trust you completely." He promises. "A thousand lies couldn't separate us."

"Jennifer and Marco have a lot in common." I tell him as we get onto the elevator.

"Hows that?"

"She's in love with you, haven't you noticed?" I ask him. "Since the first day you walked me to my dorm, she's been enamored."

"I never noticed, I was too busy falling in love with an angel." I roll my eyes at his cheesy line, but it makes my heart melt so I give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'm falling more in love with you too." We walk to the strip mall and get clothes for the next few days.

"You know we can't just hide here, your parents can find you." He says when we walk back to our rooms. We walk into mine and I put my things away.

"No, they can't. I used a VISA gift card for a couple grand, the ones my dad has made for our family can hold a lot more than your average 20-500 dollar visa gift card, dad has them custom. I have quite a few of them." I let him look inside my wristlet. Starbucks card, License, student ID, Masters & VISA gift cards, "They're all pin protected different pins on each one, and they're untraceable since the money's all ready attached to a private account and then to the card I could reload them, but I never have a need. This is my emergency money. We get a new one every quarter. Jen blows through hers like there's no tomorrow, she's always asking to borrow money. These are all my cards from sixth grade till now."

"At least now I understand why your family thinks I'm with you because of your money. They literally meant your money. You save every penny possible." Axl says. "My family lives paycheck to paycheck, and you're money runs deep." Axl sounds surprised.