BLINDED

CHAPTER 6

I woke up the next morning wondering if everything that had happened yesterday was true. Coming to Ida City was a fun and exciting experience but having a stalker was not fun. Leaving all my friends back in Mandy might have not been the best idea and I knew if I told my parents that I wanted to move to a new apartment because I suspected someone was stalking me they would immediately tell me to go back home.

I decided to look into more of Keith Taptikils since the power of the internet and social media could help me know more about him. I took the laptop and took the time to search him on every platform but his name did not come up anywhere and I felt like it was weird. I decided to check out his agency's website to find anything on him and to my sheer disappointment, there was nothing.

I hesitated to call the agency but I had no other choice.

"Spekk's Modelling agency. How can I help you?"

"Hi, I am looking for an agent by the name of Keith Taptikils."

"Sorry madam but we do not have an agent by that name."She said

"Are you sure? Tall, green eyes charming smile, handsome."

"Sorry, but we do not have an agent that fits the description."She said.

"Okay.Thank you."

That was weird for someone who seemed like every single human on the planet could know him, he was nowhere to be seen. Giving the description was describing so many people in the city and yet I could not find him.

That weekend I could barely eat or get a decent night's sleep. Every Time I slept I thought what if he was outside staring at me through the window. First of all, I could not tell what he wanted from me since I realized I barely knew this man and I felt so naive. I also wondered what he planned to do with me all this time. My head was now aching and I was debating if all this stress was worth it.

On Monday morning, I put on a lot of make-up so that I could look normal and well-groomed. I knew that maybe I could bump into him at work or something. After the security check, I went to the security of the building who first issued the nametag to me.

"Hi, I wanted to ask if Keith Taptikils has reported in for work today."

"Sorry but there was no one who goes by that name in the building."

"What about a visitor or something," I said worrying over the whole situation

She went to the computer and checked the records. That was my last resort knowing that his name should have shown up since everyone shows their identification immediately when they enter the building and I knew the name tag I saw was correct and issued by the building it even had the stamp.

"Sorry but no one goes by that name."She said

It was concerning and I entered the elevator to go to work. Just standing there gave me the chills right down to my stomach. That was where I had first found him. I walked out to our floor and asked the secretary the same thing and she claimed he never saw that man in her life.

Was it possible that I imagined the entire human being and our interaction together at the coffee shop, elevator, office, and bar is not even real? It was confusing me so much and I was not sure what to do. I sat at my desk bothered. It was one thing to have a stalker but it was another to have a stalker who you could not prove was real. It felt like I was going crazy, I was a complete mess.

"Someone looks like she has not been having a good weekend," Linda said, reminding me of her presence.

"Yeah, it's complicated."

"You know Madam Rae is not too fond of people who take drugs since it affects the performance."

"Drugs?"I asked completely shocked by the idea

I wanted to say that I did not look my best but assuming it was drugs was beyond anything I would conclude. I debated telling her but it seemed a better time than not to ask her.

"I am completely sober. You remember last week when I asked you why you kept shutting me down."

"How could I forget it was on caterers Tuesday, the best lunch I had ever had."

"Well, you saw the guy who left here."

"No."

"No?"

It was completely absurd that she would have not seen him and considering that she was a meticulous person who always kept watch of everything I was doing, the one thing I wanted her to focus on was that she was completely unaware of it.

"Tall, tanned green eyes charming handsome, brown hair."

"Nope. You need to drink some water and stop imagining things."

At that point, I did feel like I was imagining things. Why was I the only one who saw him.what was wrong with me? I felt my head aching more and more. My day's performance was awful, I could barely keep up with all the assignments given to me and every time I felt like I was being watched by an imaginary being. Anything green freaked me out, It reminded me of his green eyes and I wished I never saw him in the first place. Everything was supposed to work out in my favor. Get an internship, get a job, get married and start a life in the city and become a famous designer

At the end of the day, Madam Rae called me to her office and from her posture, she did not seem happy with me at all.

"Miss. Forester, You seemed a bit off today."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

Now all of this was affecting my job and all I wanted to do was scream. She looked at me with pity and I could tell she was a bit disappointed.

"Now can I talk to you as a mentor, Stella?"

"Yes."

"I gave limited opportunities in Fig design and only one intern can be promoted here if you wanted to continue working with us. We like both of you so make sure you're at the top of your game."

"Yes, I apologize. Thank you."

I said walking out of the office now disappointed at myself. I let my mind drive me into insanity I just had to focus on what I had ahead of me. Maybe Taptiklis was just a figment of my imagination or something and everywhere I went was secured and protected. Madam Rae reminded me what was important and maybe that would have been my best distraction.

That night I rushed home and worked on all the designs I had and made sure to organize myself. I knew I wanted to work with Fig design and I wanted to be recognized for my hard work and beautiful designs. It was not the time to be messing around. I still had the possibility at the back of my mind that Taptikils might have been watching me at that very instant but I shaken that feeling off every time.