Obsession: Callie Douglas, Book One

Chapter Twenty-Five

I poured my tea and sat down to fold laundry and call my parents. When my mother came on the line, I started to shake. "Hi, Mom."

"Hi, sweetie. I tried calling you earlier but you weren't home. What's up?"

"Lots. I've been busy. I've made some new friends, and have been having a blast in my job. Unfortunately, however, someone has targeted me with love notes and today my apartment was broken into and vandalized. However, on the good side one of my new friends took me to a liquidation warehouse today, and I bought enough furniture to outfit my whole apartment, and the other good thing was that my new furniture arrived after my apartment had been trashed, so none of my new things were harmed."

"That's terrible! What got ruined?"

"My mattress and new sofa bed were slashed and the innards were pulled out and distributed all over the apartment. The duvet was also trashed, and manure was ground into all my clothes. My dishes and glassware were shattered all over the floor. I'm just lucky that the vandal didn't grind all my food into the floor as well."

"Big cities aren't safe. I wish you'd come home and live here in Pebbleton. It's safe here. We don't even lock our doors, and I can't remember the last time someone was broken into or robbed."

"We've talked about this before, Mom, remember? I'm not a small-town girl. I like being able to go to the local grocery store and not see anyone I know. I like the anonymity of a larger city, although Boston was too large for me. I've a good feeling about Rockville. I think it will be the right size – not too big and not too small. And I really like my job. Once this vandal is caught, things will be about perfect here."

"How's Blake doing?"

"He's problematic. He's as nice as ever, but he seems to think that my relocation here is a sign that I want to get together with him. I've been having to hold him off and it hasn't been fun."

"I was afraid of that happening when you told me you'd be in the same city again. Have you heard from Michael?"

"I did. I received an email from him yesterday saying that he's having a blast, that I would've really enjoyed myself, and that he'd be out of contact for a while. He sounded happy. I'm pleased for him."

"Are you happy with your spot in life now? I know the breakup was hard on you."

"It was, Mom. We lived together for three years and went out for two more. I had been thinking happily ever after when he dropped his bomb on me that he wanted to join DWB. And it all went downhill from there. He said and did so many hurtful things at the end there, I wondered if I ever really knew him. I never would've thought he could be so mean."

"Sometimes people are a bit mean when they love another person."

"He was more than a bit. He said and did things I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forgive him for."

"Never say never, sweetie. You two were good together and I wouldn't be surprised to see you together again sometime."

"Don't get your hopes up, Mom. It's not going to happen." I needed to be firm. My family had really liked Michael and had been hoping that we'd make our relationship more permanent.

"What do you have planned for the rest of the weekend?"

"Tonight I'm going to relax and do some online shopping to replace the duvet and cover, and to buy some more sheets. Tomorrow I'm planning on going to the home stores to buy some curtains, and some new dishes and glasses. Gabe – that's my new friend – drew me a map on how to get to the stores."

"Gabe? Is this the friend who drove you to the liquidation centre today?"

"Yes. He'd been there before so he knew that, for about a thousand dollars, I'd be able to outfit my whole apartment. And he was right. My apartment, besides the gashes in the couch and mattress and duvet cover, is looking pretty good."