Unwanted Obsession

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Kate..."

A shiver rolled down Kate's spine as she turned to face the voice. A man stood in shadows. She couldn't see his face. Her breathing turned shallow as she asked, "Who are you?"

She heard him chuckle. "You know who I am. Or, well, you will know soon enough. I can't wait to get my hands on you..."

Kate Watson's head jerked forward, and simultaneously she gasped and her eyes opened wide. Her hands were gripping the arm rests of the chair she was on, to the point that her knuckles were white.

It wasn't real, it was just a dream.

A dream?!

She jumped to her feet with another gasp. How could I have fallen asleep on the job? She frantically turned to look at Nathan who was leaned back in his recliner with closed eyes. It looked like he had dozed off, too. She felt very guilty for unintentionally doing the same. Kate was Nathan Delozier's caretaker and it was her job to look after him and take care of his every need.

She looked down at her watch with a shameful expression. It's dinnertime.

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Right foot.. Left foot.. Right foot.. Left foot...

Kate walked very slowly beside Nathan, making sure to keep him steady as she led him to the dining room table. A distant thought of not getting paid near enough for this job travelled through her mind, but she forced it away remembering that she should actually get fired for having fallen asleep on the clock... It wasn't that she didn't like Nathan, it was just that being his caretaker was becoming more and more difficult. Perhaps she wouldn't have felt so exhausted to the point of nodding off were it not such an effort to move Nathan from place to place. The 74-year-old man was in desperate need of a wheelchair. Before long it was either going to have to be a wheelchair or herself carrying him.

But no, he would never allow it. Kate knew his son, Todd Delozier, would never go out of his way to buy a wheelchair when there were other less expensive options to utilize, such as herself. Quite frankly, she wasn't too far from believing that Todd was intentionally making this situation as difficult as possible just for a good laugh. However, he was Nathan's only child and power of attorney, so that meant that he made the decisions.

Kate was powerless when it came to what she thought Nathan needed. She was merely the maid who fed, clothed, bathed, did activities with, and looked after him. There was not a doubt in her mind that she knew him better than his own son, yet she still didn't have a say in anything.

She'd been Nathan's caregiver for two years now, and in that time she'd grown to care for him like she would her own grandfather.  For a man with a severe case of Alzheimer's, he really was quite friendly and thoughtful.

His son on the other hand...

Well, Kate barely knew Todd, even though she'd been coming to his house almost every day for two years.  She saw him every so often, sure, but he rarely looked at her, much less spoke to her.

That was one aspect she didn't like about him.  Another was his obvious disrespect for his father.  For a man who seemed to do absolutely nothing but stay secluded in some part of his house all day, one would think he'd have more respect for someone who had served in two wars.

But no, it seemed Todd Delozier couldn't care less about other people.  He was selfish, cold-hearted, and rude.  And it was incredibly unappealing.  What made matters even worse was that Kate might have found him attractive were it not for his bad manners and personality.  The man was in his upper-thirties with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a lean build.  Sure he was a lot older than she was, for she was only 25, but anyone could see that he was good-looking. 

It didn't matter, though.  The fact remained that he was a jerk.

"Good job, Nathan," Kate complicated while helping him sit down.  She patted his shoulder before microwaving a frozen dinner and bringing it to the table.

It was while she was placing his glass of milk on the table that Todd walked into the room.  Kate was a little surprised to see him.

"You may go now, Ms. Watson," he announced curtly.  The puzzled look on her face led him to sigh and say, "Don't worry, I will still pay you the full amount."

It came as no surprise to Kate that he would think that was the reason for her confusion...  "It's not that," she began.  "It's just, who will help him get ready for bed?"

His jaw tightened.  "Me, of course."

Kate blinked, unprepared for such hostility in his tone.  She was merely asking a question...  Trying not to let him see the embarrassment on her face or hurt in her eyes, she nodded once before hurriedly leaving the house.  She didn't even pause to say goodbye to Nathan.

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Todd stared after her for a moment.  His response had obviously upset her..  He hated that.

But he wouldn't go after her to apologize.  That was beneath him, not to mention the fact that doing so would place him in a situation where it was just the two of them, alone, outside, in the dark... Just the thought of that was arousing. My Katie...

No, for now he would brush it off and take care of his father.  Truthfully, he didn't know the first thing about taking care of the old man.  The only reason he'd sent her home early was because he really didn't want to do the usual 'stand at his window in order to watch her leave the house and walk to her car at 10 o'clock' routine.  He didn't know if he could simply 'watch' tonight...

Katie, with her wavy long chocolate hair and deep brown eyes.  Her perfect shape, her perfect smile, her perfect personality.  She was perfection.  And if he could have her, he would.

There was his father to think about, though.  His decrepit father who took up all of his lovely Katie's time...

Sometimes he wondered why he didn't just put the old man in a nursing home instead of letting him live in his home in the way.  But then, having his Katie there every day was important.  Being able to keep tabs on her was imperative.  Why?  Well, how else would she become familiar with her future home?

Todd laughed at that and was glad that his father looked to be unaware that he was even in the world.

All that mattered was his Katie. And once the old man was dead, Todd would make sure she knew just how important she was.

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New story.  Not Fanfiction.

What do you think of it so far?

Please review! :-)

-Lauren