Psychotic Maniac

Chapter 14

Edward had called Asher right after Estella stormed out of the car. He felt exhalrilating, his exhauted car, now damaged, oozing with smoke near the hood, stood in the lower Manhattan, the Canal St.

He laughed at himself, pounding his fist on the hood, the overheat surface almost burning his skin. Anger ran cold in his veins like poison, and when his assistant showed up, he instructed him to take the car for repair and headed for his destination. He enjoyed every second of the ride but the moment Dave showed up, his was going mad.

Estella was a fucking mediocre girl who got his attention through the first day when they first met on the premise of Distill corp. Though he was certain he felt an attraction, at first sight, his need to know her, even more, became specific after the demise of Distill corp. Estella had no idea that she had helped him in some way. And she was never going to find out how.

A consumimg need clouded his mind, the wild eyes of Estella flashing before him. The excitement was refreshing, yet there was a nagging feeling that he was more interested in her than he should be.

On 266 Mulberry St, Newark was Mrs. Jones' office. Midnight was at its peak and since the light was seeping through the glass door, he guessed she was still at work.

He halted at the doorway only to eye the closed sign and stepped in ignoring the information. Mrs. Jones worked overtime, well, most of the time and she would never refuse to see him no matter what the time was.

The lobby smelled like sandalwood with the scented candles that shone above the shelf in the grey stone wall. The floor was tiled with white marble, wiped so clean that it reflected back the faces in the light. Velvet curtains draped over medium size windows, every couch empty, and a few steps ahead, Edward saw a woman.

She wasn't Mrs. Jones.

The brown curtain of her straight hair fell from both sides of the head and as he observed-she was flipping papers, then jotting down things in her notepad and repeating the same thing again. She exerted her rectangular rimmed glasses all the way up her nose and didn't seem to notice when he approached there.

Edward had to knock on the desk to get her attention.

She jolted her head up in surprise. "All appointments for the day are done!" She spoke, indicating at the closed sign while Edward noticed her hair wasn't brown but Auburn.

"I beg to differ Mrs... " he looked over to the ring on her finger.

"Teresa. I just got engaged," she corrected him. "Anyway, Mrs. Jones is not available."

"Just tell her Frank Ortega is here. She won't need an appointment to meet me."

She scrunched her face in concentration. "I have handled each one of Mrs. Jones' patient and I never heard of that name or even seen you before."

Of course, she had never seen him. He was too smart to be seen other than Mrs. Jones. But tonight he had come unannounced and he wasn't expecting her or anyone. It was midnight and unsettling for a girl to be working that late. He cleared his throat. "I'm not her patient."

She shrugged her shoulders, scanning him coherently. "I'm sorry but she specifically told me not to interrupt her. You can come tomorrow."

"I don't like to wait." He kept his voice calm.

"If you know her then why don't you call her yourself, " Teresa said, her eyes lowered at files and binders she was shuffling in some order.

Edward drew a deep breath, his patience wearing thin. "She needs to pick her phone up first to know I'm fucking here."