Fatal Desire, Teen Edition (3 page)

“Sure,” said Amber. “I will be there.”

Before Amber could say bye she heard the
phone click indicating the surly voice had hung up on her.

Amber dressed carefully in a business suite
she had bought at the local mall in case she got the call to be
interviewed. She wore navy blue slacks with a navy and white
striped blouse. She had found a pair of navy, strappy sandals that
complimented the outfit perfectly. She pulled a long gold chain out
of her overnight bag. She would never depart with it. On the end of
the chain hung a locket with a picture of her parents on one side
and a picture of her on the other. Her parents had given it to her
for her high school graduation. Just three short months before the
accident that had taken them from her.

After applying her makeup and assuring
herself she looked competent and professional, Amber drove to the
hospital for her interview. Meeting the sour faced lady at the
reception desk and explaining why she was there, Amber was told to
wait in the lobby and someone would be with her shortly. Thankful
it wasn’t the secretary, Amber walked to a chair and picked up a
magazine.

Three hours later, Amber left the hospital
with a smile on her face. She had been given the job and was taken
on a tour of the hospital. She had met the other nurses she would
be working with. All of them had seemed friendly and the hospital
was one she would be proud to work in.

Amber headed back to the hotel to get some
sleep. She would be starting her shift in two days and would have
to go shopping the next day for scrubs to wear to work. The
hospital had given her a list of the colors she was allowed to
choose from and the place where they prefer the nurses buy
from.

After six months, Amber was still having a
hard time settling into her new home. She had found a nice
apartment where she felt fairly comfortable but she was afraid to
get too close to her neighbors. She enjoyed her job and genuinely
like most of the ladies she worked with but knew they thought she
was unfriendly. She couldn’t tell them why she didn’t want to be
friends with any of them.

Amber had called Olivia a couple of weeks
after settling into her new apartment and had told her what had
happened in Birmingham. Olivia was so upset over what happened she
vowed to hunt down the creep that was stalking Amber and gut him.
Amber had laughed and Olivia begged her to keep in touch.

After her shift at the hospital, Amber went
home and climbed into a hot shower. Afterwards, she grabbed a glass
of wine and her cell phone and plopped down on the couch she had
bought three weeks ago for her new apartment. Amber had finally
decided to decorate her apartment and make it as homey as possible
even though she knew she may have to leave it all behind. She
looked around at the touches she had added.

Amber was not a frivolous person by nature so
most of what she had bought had come from discount stores and
thrift stores. But she was happy with the end result. Because she
lived in an apartment her walls were the color of mud, but she had
added pictures and shelves to cover up the ugly color. With pillows
and curtains she had added blues and yellows to her living room,
making it feel light and airy. She especially liked one lamp she
found for a dollar. It had a glass base and the lamp shade had a
swirly pattern of blues and yellows that exactly matched the other
colors she had already picked up for her home. You can't beat a
bargain like that, she had thought as she purchased the lamp.

She had found the couch she was sitting on at
a discount store and it had been marked down to fifty dollars. She
couldn't believe she had found such a bargain. The couch was a navy
in color and after adding yellow throw pillows, it blended in
nicely with the other things she had bought to decorate with. Her
living room was sparsely furnished, but it was comfortable for her
now. She hoped she would be able to stay a little while.

She picked up her cell and dialed Olivia’s
number. She waited as it rang, still looking around and smiling to
herself. She was startled to hear a man’s voice answer the
phone.

“Hello,” came a deep voice on the other
end.

“Hello,” Amber replied. “I was trying to
reach Olivia. Is she available?”

“Uh, yeah. Can I tell her who is calling?”
The man sounded surprised which unnerved Amber a little.

“Amber. Amber Curtis,” she replied.

“Oh, hi Amber. I’m Patrick. I have heard a
lot about you. Hold on and I will get Olivia for you,” he said

“Thank you,” Amber replied. She heaved a sigh
of relief when she heard the name. It was the guy Olivia had been
seeing. They had been dating for about a year and Olivia was head
over heels for this guy. He must just be a little protective of her
and that was the reason for the strange note in his voice just
then.

“AMBER!!!” yelled Olivia. “I am so glad to
hear from you. How are you?”

“I’m good,” Amber said. “How are you,
Olivia.”

“I’m good. I was just getting ready to go to
dinner.”

“Oh, don’t let me keep you,” Amber said. “I
can call back another time.”

“Don’t be silly. Dinner can wait. It isn’t
every day I get to talk to you. I miss you, Amber.”

“I miss you, too,” Amber replied.

“What’s wrong, Honey. I can tell something is
not right. Please tell me that creep hasn’t shown up again.”

“No, no. I’m just sad and lonely, but I will
be fine.”

Olivia sighed. “You haven’t made any friends
have you?”

“No,” Amber answered. “I’m afraid to Livvy.
As soon as I do that creep will hurt someone. I can’t be
responsible for that. But I am so lonely.”

“I know, honey. Hey. I have some vacation
time saved up. Why don’t we go somewhere, just the two of us like
we used to do?”

“That sounds wonderful, Liv, but I can’t take
the chance. That guy almost killed you, remember. I love you too
much to put you in that kind of danger. As soon as I think this
creep is gone, we will take that vacation together,” Amber
said.

“Okay, Amber. But please be careful. Talk
with you next week?”

“Absolutely.”

As Amber hung up the phone she felt the tears
start to slide down her cheeks. She missed her hometown, she missed
her best friend, and most of all she missed her parents. She did
not even have the comfort of visiting their graves like she used to
do before she left Alma.

Amber drank the rest of her wine and went on
to bed. She was feeling depressed and she decided to lie down and
have a good cry. She would feel better when she woke up the next
day.

When Amber passed the nine month mark in
Middleburg, she began to wonder if the person who was stalking her
had given up or if she was actually free of him. She slowly began
to get comfortable again and started to accept when the other
ladies invited her to lunch.

One morning, Whitney, a pretty nurse with
raven black hair and dark brown eyes, came hobbling down the hall
on crutches. Amber’s heart sunk. Please, God, no. Please tell me he
hasn’t found me again, she silently prayed.

“Girl, what happened to you,” Natasha asked
Whitney.

Whitney’s face turned a bright red as she
told the story of how she twisted her ankle the night before. “My
boyfriend and I were acting goofy and he was chasing me around the
house. I ran down the stairs and slipped on a rug and fell down
hard.”

The other nurses laughed and cracked jokes
while Whitney took it all in good natured fun. Amber breathed a
sigh of relief, but it was a quick reminder of the stalker in her
life.

“Can you imagine explaining to Dr. Wright how
I injured myself,” Whitney asked. The girls laughed again and
started to get back to work. Amber patted Whitney on the shoulder
and went to do her rounds. She was so thankful it was a simple
accident all in fun that had injured Whitney and not a crazed
maniac chasing her down again.

The more Amber relaxed the more she allowed
herself to go out with the other nurses she worked with. Some of
them were married, some were single, and a couple of them had kids.
Most of them had known each other since they were children so they
were a pretty tight-knit group. But they always made her feel
comfortable around them and genuinely seemed to want to be her
friend. Amber’s personality refused to let her continue to hold
them at bay and she slowly became friends with each of them. She
enjoyed going to lunch with Whitney and learned the ankle accident
was not the only one she had since dating her boyfriend. Apparently
Whitney was a little accident prone and her boyfriend and she could
wind up in some pretty kinky situations. Dr. Wright did not even
bat an eye at the ankle injury or the cause behind it.

Eventually, she started going out at night
with some of the single nurses as well. For three months she
laughed, made friends, went to dinner, and even met a male nurse
who was interested in her.

She began to think her stalker had moved on
to another target and though she felt sorry for the new object of
his desires was thankful it was no longer her. Little did she know
how wrong she was.

The notes started shortly after she had been
in Middleburg for a year. The first came in the mail.

Sorry I have been ignoring you lately my sweet but
never

fear, I have not given up on our love. You are mine
and I know

you will remember that always. I see you have made
new

friends although you know how dangerous that is. I
would

hate to have to hurt one of those pretty nurses. Now
be a

good girl and watch your step or I might get jealous
of the

the time they are spending around you. And don’t
think

I don’t know about the male slut sniffing around
you. Get

rid of him or I will.

Amber sat on her couch shaking and began to
cry. Why. Why was he doing this to her. She didn’t know who this
guy was or what he wanted with her. She couldn’t even ask him.

She wiped her tears and decided this time she
was not leaving. She liked it here. She would just have to be more
careful. The girls would not understand her rejections to dinner
and lunch but she could still be friendly at work. Surely this
maniac would not begrudge her that.

Amber stayed another month and continued to
work at the hospital in Middleburg though she was careful not to be
overly friendly to anyone. The other nurses did get their feelings
hurt when she began turning down invitations to go out. But Amber
was more concerned about their lives than their hurt feelings.

Josh Stinson, the male nurse on the first
floor, continued to try to pursue her but she turned him down. The
notes continued to come, some by mail, some hand delivered which
told her he was there, watching her. She had finally decided she
had to leave. This time she would at least give notice to the
hospital.

Amber talked with the administration, handed
in her notice to leave and once again began packing her bags. She
was home packing when she heard a knock on her door. Heart in her
throat, cell phone in hand, Amber looked out the peep hole and saw
Josh. Breathing a sigh of relief, she opened the door.

Josh was slightly taller than she was and
worked out religiously. He had dark brown hair and the most
brilliant green eyes. Most of the nurses at the hospital would sigh
as he walked by. Many of the single female patients and even a few
married ones through themselves at him relentlessly. Her coworkers
did not understand why she wouldn't go out with him.

“Hey, Josh,” she said as the door swung
open.

“Hey yourself,” Josh replied. “I heard you
were quitting and moving out of town.”

“Yeah, I, uh, got another job offer and
decided to take it,” she lied.

“Oh. I thought maybe you were leaving because
I was pushing you to go out with me,” Josh said.

“No, Josh. It’s not that,” she quickly
assured him. “I’m just ready for a change of scenery. That’s
all.”

Amber felt bad for lying to Josh. He was such
a nice guy and at any other time in her life she would be attracted
to him. But she didn’t want to see him hurt because of her.

“Can I come in,” Josh asked as he continued
to stand awkwardly in the hallway of her apartment building.

Amber held the door open. “Sure,” she
said.

Josh came in, surveyed the packing boxes and
asked if she had eaten yet. Amber shook her head.

“Why don’t I order some take out and I can
help you move some of these boxes,” Josh asked.

Amber smiled. “That would be great.
Thanks.”

A couple of hours later Josh and Amber had
finished all of her packing and had her car loaded. “So, you
heading out in the morning,” Josh asked.

“I think so. The hospital said I could stop
by and get my final check after ten, so I will probably hit the
road after that,” Amber said.

“Well, good luck, Amber with your new job. I
sure wish you were staying,” Josh said.

Josh gave her a hug and walked to his car. He
waved to her as he drove out of the apartment complex. Amber could
feel the tears in her eyes. She decided to call Olivia since it
would be awhile before she would be able to talk with her
again.

As the phone rang, Amber wiped her eyes with
the back of her hand.

“Hello,” Olivia answered.

“Hey Livvy,” Amber sniffled.

“Hey honey. What’s wrong,” Olivia asked.

Amber had not told Olivia what had been
happening for the past month. She let it all spill as she cried out
her problems to her best friend. “I don’t know if I can keep doing
this, Livvy. I hate moving and leaving and starting all over. And
Josh is really cute and actually interested in me, and I was making
friends and living a normal life.” Amber continued on in never
ending sentences as she hiccupped her way through her latest issues
with the maniac stalking her.