Anonymous

Beginning

I often found myself sitting at the kitchen table for no particular reason, the window in the kitchen had a perfect view of the river and the trees behind the house. It was always a dream of mine to live in the mountains and I'd never been happier. My baby girl, my husband, the house, it's all fallen into place oh so perfectly. I spent my days with Jacie while Chris was at work. My ridiculously thick brown hair was almost always in a bun and I hardly ever got dressed up. I didn't mind any of it, all the silence was oddly comforting. I stood and up and went towards the door as soon as I heard the doorbell ring, I predicted it was the mailman since I wasn't expecting anyone that afternoon. I opened the door and I assumed he wasn't quite familiar with me yet because he didn't greet me, he just handed me a small package. I thanked him and he nodded and walked off the porch back to his mailcar. I walked into the den and sat on the sofa, I looked around and admired the room. Just being inside of it made me feel more comfortable. I picked up the package and I studied it for a second to try and determine what it was. Without a certain idea of what it is I opened it; it revealed a smaller gift box and inside it had a small ring with a heart shaped stone. It was kind of cliche and I didn't understand why i received it but I just assumed my husband bought it as a surprise. I found a small note and it read "Wrapped around your little finger -Anonymous". Why would Chris make it anonymous? I decided not to put it on yet but wait until Chris got home. I carried on on with the day with no suspicion. Jacie woke up from her nap and I fed her and played with her until Chris got home. After about 15 minutes we all got settled in the living room and I decided to ask him about the ring, "Were you expecting a package today?""No? Not that I know of." "That's weird, I got a package today and it was a ring.""What? From who?" Chris said, sounding a little more worried."I don't know.. It was anonymous. I didn't worry about it because I thought it was you.""Oh, well maybe it was meant for the previous owners." He said with less tension in his voice. With that, we decided to drop the subject and not worry about it anymore. The next two days went by normally, by then I had put the ring on EBay and almost forgotten the whole thing. The mailman came at his regular time, he rang the doorbell, indicating he had either a package or something for me to sign. I opened the door and he was holding a medium sized cardboard box. He handed it to me and I thanked him then he turned away without saying a word. I went inside and put the box on the kitchen table, I was skeptical about opening it. Once again it had no name, just our address. I decided to open it, I wasn't sure why I was making such a big deal. Inside was a red gift box about the size of a large dictionary, I opened it and whatever it was was wrapped in white tissue paper. I unwrapped it and revealed a black lingerie nightgown. My eyes widened and I began to worry. There was a note but all it said was "-Anonymous". It was store bought so it couldn't have been Chris, he wouldn't mail me something he bought at a boutique in town... As time passed I began to get more worried about who could be sending me these things. Out loud I keep saying the sender is under the impression that it's getting to the previous owners but in my mind I feel like it's not that simple. I decided to call Chris and tell him what's happened. I dial his personal work number and listen to it ring 3 times before he picks up."This is Chris.""Hey! This is Lauren." I said excitedly."Hey Hun, what's up?""Nothing, just got done picking up around the house.""Oh that's nice." He said in response but I could tell he was uninterested, I'm sure he was working while talking to me. "So I got another anonymous package." I said with a hint of humor in my voice. "What?? What was it?" He sounded worried once again. "It's really weird actually..." I paused "They sent me lingerie."I waited for his response. "I'm coming home." He said quickly and then hung up. About 25 minutes later I heard him pull up in his truck and he walked in the door calling for me. "Lauren!... Lauren!!""HEY, Jacie is sleeping. You don't have to yell." "Give me the package." He said without even responding to what I said. I handed him the package and he looked all over for a return address, I knew there wasn't one but I chose not to say anything. He's already stressed. He practically rips open the gift box and clenched the lingerie tightly in his hand. His knuckles were white and I was taken back at his behavior. Why was he getting so worked up over this? I put my hand on his and I felt him loosen his grip. "Relax, I'll talk to the mailman tomorrow." I said trying to calm him down. Chris nodded his head but I could tell he was still a little flustered. I left the room to continue cleaning the house. I wanted to give him time to get comfortable and forget about the package. I heard him go upstairs into our bedroom. I assumed he was changing and coming down to watch TV or take a nap. I was mindlessly cleaning the den and the lingerie was still on the coffee table. I didn't want to leave it out so I took it upstairs, still unsure about what I was going to do with it. When I opened the door I saw Chris sitting at the end of the bed with his head in his hands. I set the box on the dresser and walked over to him. In a soft voice I asked "Chris, what's wrong?" I waited for him to answer, it took him a few seconds but he finally responded."Are you seeing someone else?"I was shocked by his question, how could he have possibly thought that? "Honey, no! In no way, shape, or form would I even consider being with anyone else."He spoke again, this time not as worried "I know, that was stupid to even ask. I'm just afraid there's someone else, I mean why would someone be sending you these gifts?". "I don't know, I'm sure eventually we can make it stop, you'll just have to give it time and trust me.""I do, I do trust you." "Don't worry, you're the only one." I meant it, he really was the only person I could have seen myself with. "I love you." He said. I kissed him and gave him a reassuring smile. I encouraged Chris to take a nap and without hesitation he crawled into bed and fell asleep. I stood up and grabbed the box, walking out of the room I decided to just throw it away. I walked out into the cold, I should've grabbed a jacket or sweater. It was the end of October and every day the wind got heavier and the air got colder. I walked to the side of the garage where the trash cans were located and I tossed the lingerie in without even thinking about it. It was very expensive and valuable but there's no way I'd keep it or even imagine wearing it. As I was walking back into the house I heard Jacie start to cry and I rushed to her room to calm her down so she wouldn't disturb Chris. I picked her up from her crib and carried her out. I checked on Chris and he was still sound asleep. I was glad he was getting a chance to get some rest. God knows he needed it. I took Jacie downstairs and set her up in her high chair so I could get her something to eat. I took our a jar of carrots and for the next 15 minutes I sat down watching her eat. When she finished I changed her diaper and took her into the living room so we could play together. That night Chris slept through dinner, I fed Jacie then I put her to sleep. I ate my dinner alone. It was totally silent in the house. I couldn't even hear the trees or the river. I began to get uncomfortable, this is the first time i've felt scared in my own house. But what was there to be afraid of? I remembered I needed to take the trash out, Chris would've been upset if we missed trash week. Despite the darkness and the temperature, I took the trash out. As i walked out in front of the garage the motion sensor lights didn't turn on, which was odd because we had just gotten them installed less than two weeks ago. I made a mental note to go out and get new bulbs. As I thought to myself, I heard a twig snap about 50 feet from where I was standing. I looked in the direction of the sound and I saw a very prominent shadow of a large man facing me. I panicked and dropped the trash as i turned around and ran back into the house. I slammed the door shut, waking up Jacie and Chris, and I locked the locks on the front door. I ran around to all the doors and windows downstairs to make sure everything was secure. I ran to the staircase and barged into our bedroom, I quickly and violently woke Chris up. He shot up and stood up like he was ready to fight someone. "What's going on?????" Chris asked sounding angry and worried.I had to catch my breath before I replied "THERE WAS A MAN WATCHING ME OUTSIDE"I said frantically, my voice sounded shaky like I was about to cry. Chris walked past me into the closet and came out and went downstairs with a bat. I ran after him so i could make sure he didn't do anything drastic. I kept yelling his name so I could get his attention and attempt to calm him down.

"CHRIS!" I had to yell at the top of my lungs, thank god we didn't have any neighbors because I'm not sure what they would've thought. I couldn't stop Chris and he swung the front door open and ran out slamming it shut. I could hear Jacie crying upstairs but I decided to call the police first.

"911, what is your emergency?" The operator asked in a monotone voice

"There's someone trying to break in, I think he might be a stalker" I was yelling and I didn't realize how much I was panicking until the operator told me to calm down and take deep breaths.

"I can't! I have a baby! My husband is outside looking for him please hurry!"

"Okay miss, we tracked your phone and I have your address, dispatchers are on their way. I need you to take your child and your husband and stay in the house, go into a locked room and stay there." She said in both a comforting and demanding tone.