Fighting Perfection (The Perfection Series Book 2) (26 page)

     We wound up the night by driving through Tommy’s, a burger stand that specialized in all things smothered in chili.  We each only got the chili fries, but they were delicious and had the right amount of starch and grease to soak up the vast quantity of alcohol that we’d consumed.  We all agreed to meet for brunch on Sunday to recap the night. 

     The next morning I puttered around the house while I waited for James to arrive.  We had made plans earlier in the week to take another flying class at the trapeze school.  At promptly ten o’clock, my doorbell rang.  I opened the door to a grim-faced James, his jaw flexing and un-flexing.

     “Hey,” I greeted him.  “You look upset.  What’s going on?”

     “Have you been outside today, Mimi?” he asked.

     “No, I’ve been inside doing housework all morning.  Is something wrong?”

     “I think you’d better come out here and have a look.

     James led me outside where garbage was strewn across my front lawn.  It looked like contents of bathroom trash cans as there was lots of tissue and certain, shall I say, used personal products.  My mounting sense of violation and lack of security were increased by this new development.  She clearly had a vendetta against me.  So much time had passed since the last incident, I realized I had dropped my guard only to be slapped in the face one more time.

     “Oh my God!” I cried.  “What will this crazy bitch do next?”

     “You haven’t seen all of it.”  He grabbed me by the hand and led me to my garage door.  There, in giant red-spray-painted letters was the word “Whore.”  I squeezed my eyes closed in anger.  By now, the whole neighborhood had seen this.  I was mad, I was humiliated, and I was fed up.  It was frustrating to feel as though my hands were tied, unable to think of anything I could do to stop or prevent the situation.

     “How in the hell do we get her to stop?  I file police reports but since I can’t prove it’s her, I can’t even file a harassment complaint against her to get a restraining order.  What does she have to do?  Sign her fucking name at the bottom so I can do something about it?”  I threw my hands up in the air and paced around in a wide circle. 

     “This can’t go on.  I’m going to call her,” I said, marching inside to get my phone, determined to give her a piece of my mind.  I scrolled to her number in my contacts and tapped the send key.  I tapped my foot impatiently, my restlessness and anger getting the better of me.  It rang twice before she picked up laughing.  “Did you like my little greeting card, Mimi?” She giggled.

     “What the fuck is wrong with you?  I haven’t done anything to you.  Why are you doing this to me?” I said.

     “You know exactly what you did.  You came between Justin and me, and I won’t take that lying down.  You did it on purpose.  You set me up with him at that lunch, and then you decided you wanted him for yourself.  Well, I don’t let bitches fuck with me like that.  You’ve only seen the beginning.”

     I was dumbfounded.  How on earth did she get the idea that I was setting her up with Justin, when she had just happened upon us at lunch that day?

     “Listen you crazy-cake,” I said, though antagonizing her further was probably not the best idea.  I couldn’t help it.  She was straining the limits of my patience and I was lost to my anger and frustration.  “There never was anything between you and Justin but a couple of dates.  Furthermore, you already knew I was seeing him when you met him so why on earth would you think I was trying to fix you up with him?”

     “You said yourself you couldn’t choose between him and that other guy.  You wanted me to take him off your hands.  I may be a lot of things, but I’m not stupid.  I’m going to get you, Mimi Ashcroft.  Watch your back,” she warned, then ended the call.

     I looked at James dumbfounded.  The girl was off her rocker.  I relayed the totality of the conversation to him, and his jaw started flexing again.

     “Kitten, I think it’s time you stopped seeing Justin.”

     “I told you James, we’re only friends at this point.  I don’t want to pursue anything further.”

     “Yes, but you still see him regularly don’t you?”

     “Of course.  He’s still my best friend,” I responded blowing out a frustrated breath.

     “She’s watching you, don’t you get it?  The more you see him, the worse this is going to get.  Every time you two meet up, I bet she knows about it and it only enflames her anger.  Out of an abundance of caution, you need to not aggravate her further until he can deal with this situation.  This is his mess, and he needs to clean it up.”

     “I’ll be damned if I let her scare me into doing what she wants.  I refuse to,” I said crossing my arms and setting my jaw in defiance.

     James sighed and came over to me, taking me into his arms.

     “Mimi, I want to protect you.  I’d strangle this nut job if she ever came across my path.  I’m so far away, though.  I need you to help me keep you safe by not seeking out situations that are going to set her off.  I don’t know the man, but if he cares about you as much as I do, I think he’d agree with me.”

     My emotions deflated with his heartfelt plea.  “Fine.  I’ll give him a call and tell him the latest.  If he suggests the same thing, I’ll go along with it as much as it pisses me off.  First, I have to get the police over here to take pictures and get my statement.  I’m tired of going down to the precinct.  Let them come here and see this themselves for once.”

     The police came about an hour later and did their expected jobs.  This time at least, I could tell them I called her and that she had admitted it.  Of course, I had no recording of the conversation, but they were at least willing to include the call and her name in the report.  After I dealt with the officers, James ran to the local hardware store to pick up a solvent that would remove the spray paint from the garage door.  Meanwhile, I called Justin to give him the update.

     “That psychotic bitch!” he roared across the line when I told him what had happened and about my phone call to her.  “She is delusional, you know that right?”

     “You don’t have to tell me.  I talked to her first-hand.  I heard the things she was saying.  I couldn’t believe it.  She really thinks I was setting you two up at lunch that day you met.  I don’t understand it at all.”

     “I have to find a way to get this under control.  I don’t want to see her, but I’m going to have to, I think.”

     “I think that will only give her the wrong idea, Justin.”

     “I have to do something, Peaches.  The police aren’t doing anything,” he said, exasperatedly.

     “James thinks we should stop spending time together while this is going on.  He thinks she’s watching me and knows every time we see each other.”

     Justin snorted.  “Of course he thinks we should stop seeing each other.  I’m sure it made him fuck-all happy to suggest it.  That way he can have you all to himself.  We have two people working against us right now.”

     “That’s not it at all.  Don’t you lump him into the same category as that woman.  He’s trying to look out for my well-being from two hundred miles away.  He didn’t say we should stop seeing each other forever or to stop being friends.  He cares about me too, Justin.  Imagine how you would feel if you were hours away from me on a daily basis and this kind of stuff was happening.  What would you do?”

     He sighed heavily and was silent for a few seconds.  “I suppose you’re right, Peaches.  I haven’t been handling it the way I’d like to, but that’s going to end right now.  If I can’t see you for a while, the only acceptable thing to do is to take matters in my own hands.  I’ll put the fear of God into that little girl.  Don’t worry, this will soon be over,” he said ominously.

     “Justin, don’t do anything stupid.”

     “You know I’m not a stupid guy.  I know just how to deal with Delia Ortega.  I’ll call you in a couple days when I have this wrapped up.  At most, we miss one pizza and beer night.”

     “Just be careful and be safe, Justin,” I said as James walked back into the house.  “Her behavior is escalating, and we can’t be sure what she’s capable of.”

     “I’ve got it covered, Peaches.  I’ll give you a call as soon as I get this cleared up.”

     As we hung up, James walked back in the house. 

     “So much for trapeze school today, huh?”  I said to him, angered further that Delia had once again messed up plans I had been looking forward to.

    “Yeah.  This is not how I wanted to spend today either.  We can hardly have your house looking the way it does though.

     “I assume that was Justin on the phone?” he asked.  When I nodded, he continued, “Did he agree with me?”

     “Not at first, but eventually yes.  He says it won’t be but a couple of days.  He said he’s going to take matters into his own hands and handle the situation his way.”

     “It’s about fucking time,” he muttered, but I heard him.  I just gave him an exasperated look.

     “Fine, fine.  I’ve just been wondering where his balls are.  He’s just been letting the situation go on and not confronting it like a man.”

     “Look, I don’t want to get into an argument about Justin.  There’s no need to let this situation affect you and me.  Let’s get outside and get this over.”

     “Alright.  Let me show you how to use the solvent, then I’ll tackle the radioactive biohazard on your front lawn.  Do you have any latex gloves?”

     Two hours later we were done.  I smelled of chemicals, and he felt extremely grungy after picking up the disgusting refuse that had littered the lawn.  We both decided to take a shower before doing anything else.  I would have suggested we take one together, but we were both still tense and unhappy over what had happened.  I don’t think either of us were feeling particularly amorous at that point.  We just needed to feel clean again.  I showered in my bathroom after directing him to the guest bath and giving him fresh towels.  He had brought a change of clothes with him since he was spending the night.  After we finished, I threw his dirty clothes into the laundry so he’d have something clean for the next day.

      We laid on my sofa in the living room cuddling quietly.  My anger had given way to tears so James held me close while I cried softly. 

     “I don’t understand, James.  Why is she targeting me?” I wailed.  “I know what she said, but none of it makes sense.  I’m angry, I’m frustrated, and to be perfectly honest, I’m starting to get scared.  I mean I’ve been home twice when she’s done these things, and I never heard a peep.  What will she destroy next?  How can I stop her?” I said through the last vestiges of my tears.

     “All you can do right now is keep doing what you’re doing.  Hopefully now, you’ll get more assistance from the police.  I want to go hunt her down and have words with her myself.  Justin had better clean up his mess is all I can say.  Otherwise, I will find this woman and sort her out.”

     “I don’t want you getting mixed up in this, too,” I said, looking up at him.  “It’s already bad enough, we don’t need you getting yourself into trouble.”

     “I’d be fighting fire with fire.  She’d never see me coming either.”

     “Well, let’s have faith that Justin gets this worked out.  Hopefully he can get through to her.”

     “I sure hope so, sweetheart.  Otherwise, I promise you, I’ll handle it.”

     I looked at him with mock astonishment. 

     “What is it?”

     “You called me sweetheart,” I said.  “You didn’t call me Kitten.”

     He laughed.  “Don’t get used to it,” was all he said as he squeezed me even tighter before he leaned down to kiss me.  It was a gentle, sweet kiss.  One that soothed all the negative emotions I was feeling.  I returned it, enjoying the soft sensation of his lips against mine.  Slowly, he deepened the kiss, his tongue tenderly seeking entrance into my mouth.  I opened to him letting stroking of out tongues calm me.  I relaxed against him, letting my worries fall away as his mouth made love to mine.  There was none of his usual urgency in the kiss, giving me the sense of security I sorely needed at the moment.  It probably wasn’t the best way to deal with how I was feeling, but I desperately needed to connect with some positive emotions.  The warmth of James’ arms and the way he always made me feel safe were too tempting to deny.

     Soon, he laid me back against the cushions of the sofa and began to stroke my arms, my chest, and abdomen.  He didn’t fondle me or handle me roughly in any way.  It was all very languid and seductive.  I found myself responding to his touch in ways I hadn’t with him before.

     I reached up and pulled him down next to me by his shoulders so I could let my hands wander over him, too.  We adjusted our positions so we were lying on our sides, face-to-face.  He kept his eyes locked on mine as he finally cupped a breast in his large palm.  He softly brushed his thumb over my nipple, teasing it into a tight point.

     Still caught in his stare, I stroked my hand down over his torso finally coming to rest on the growing bulge beneath his zipper.  I caressed him gently, my fingers trailing up and down against his erection.  Simultaneously, he slid his hand into the waistband of my pants and began to tease the outside edges of my sex.