A Little Big Crush

The Text

Lizzie stared at the message, her heart palpitating and her breathing labored. She felt as if the floor dropped beneath her. It had been a long time since she'd received such a hate-filled message. And in her eyes, completely unwarranted.

So u r getting married to MY man?? Who do you think you are? U think he loves u and cares for u? It is a lie. He loves and cares for me. He will leave u. I will make sure of it. Our love is true and he dosn't care for fancy things and a big, fancy, know-it-all woman. He always comes back to me. Leave him before I come for you, bitch.  I am a good woman. A better woman than u and u are a snake for taking him away from me. F u!

She couldn't take it anymore. She dropped her phone and the object resounded with a loud clang as it hit the marble floor. Any other time, Lizzie would've cursed herself for dropping an iphone so carelessly, but now, she couldn't care less if her screen broke.

Was this really the woman that David dated? Was this the woman he was mad about and that Ruth hated?

Lizzie knew it was petty, but the anger that coursed through her as she focused on the individual words in the message such as bitch.... know-it-all....snake...He will leave u, made her resort to cursing out this woman in return.

This asshole can't even string a proper sentence, she thought. David was right when he said that she was an uneducated bitch.

She was about to pick up the phone and scroll through the ex's profile page to get a clearer picture of her when the bathroom door opened.

"Babe, what happened?" David asked.

Lizzie lifted her head, trying her best to steady her breathing but failing. An unexplainable, extreme anger coursed through her as she replayed her words over and over again. Her hands clenched into fists at her side and a single tear slowly traveled down her cheek.

"I-" she began. Should I tell him? Or should I make something up? Say I'm tired?

Her brain couldn't decide fast enough. She instinctively bent over to pick up the phone but David snatched it before she could. He silently handed it to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are- are you crying?" he asked, his eyes widening with worry.

Lizzie wiped the single tear away. "It's nothing. I think I'm just emotional and overwhelmed with the party. I'm just going to hop into the shower now and hit the sheets."

So much for sexy time with David. After that message, all she wanted to do was fall into a deep sleep and forget the whole thing.

Her fiance inspected the phone. "Well, it isn't broken," he said as he flipped it around. " Good thing we bought that cover protector last week. It was pricey but worth it."

As Lizzie stood up from the toilet and headed over to the built-in towel rack to take out a freshly-washed pink towel, she noticed how eerily silent the room became. No noise came from her fiancé . No footsteps walking away. No little bump of the phone being laid out on the marble sink or any low murmurings or hums.

Complete and utter silence.

She turned slowly to look at David and saw him staring at the phone. Lizzie frowned slightly. After awhile, the screen should go blank if no one was using it. But maybe the screen didn't go to black because of the drop or him moving it around. Which meant that he was reading the message.

"Liz- Did you just read this message now?" he asked quietly.

Duh, David. Of course.

Lizzie licked her lips, pushing all frustration on David to the corner of her mind. He wasn't always quick on the emotional uptake, but she knew he tried. Even though when they first started dating he did many romantic gestures, she realized that when it came to emotional things, such as seeing a woman crying, he froze up, fumbling with how to comfort or act. But at least her wonderful, beautiful man tried. She couldn't fault him for that.

"Yeah. How did she find me? Why would she send this to me?" she asked.

David pressed his lips into a thin line and placed the phone on the sink. " I wish I could say I don't know, but that's a lie. She is obsessed with me and revenge. She hasn't forgiven me for breaking up with her and wants to one up me. Jazmin's always been that way."

He quickly walked over to Lizzie and closed the space between them, wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulder and placing a loving kiss on the crown of her head. " She probably stalked me through social media and found that picture of us that was tagged. It set her off."

Lizzie removed herself from his embrace and looked up at him. "If you knew she was stalking you, why didn't you block her?"

"I did. I blocked her before you and I even met," he leaned in closer to Lizzie, staring deeply into her eyes. " That picture and name she has on the message she sent you isn't her regular account. I think she set up a whole new account to keep tabs on me. I'm so sorry, Lizzie."

He kissed her gently on the lips and his next words were said in whispers on her cheek. " I love you. I don't say it every day but please believe me when I say it. You are it for me. You are my everything and I will do everything in my power to protect you. I will deal with this. Don't respond. I'll delete it now. Nothing can come between us. Don't believe anything she says."

Before Lizzie could respond, David kissed her deeply, passionately. Within a matter of seconds, clothes were thrown on the floor, the sound of the showerhead resonated through the room, and warm water cascaded down Lizzie's back, face, and hair. All of these sensations that flowed through her -  the feel of David's hands and skin on hers... how his lips felt on her skin There was no part of her body that wasn't touching David's and she let out a small gasp and groan as he entered her slowly, their moans and sighs being the only sounds reverberating throughout the large bathroom.