Obsession (11 page)

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Chapter 19

“Love is like war, you either win or lose everything...” 
Monica’s Diary
.

The morning had another surprise for them, it had snowed overnight, and the hills were covered in thick powdery snow.  Rick wanted them to continue their vacation as if nothing had happened, and Allison thought that it would be hard to pretend for too long.

After a few ski runs, they approached for the third time the chairlift, talking animatedly about the beauty of the day, and their plans for tomorrow.  Neither of them saw Monica approaching from behind, and getting on the chairlift just behind them.  They were up in the air when she spoke, pointing a gun at them.

“Rick, this is your last chance to choose me over her.”

Rick and Allison turned around, and stared right into the gun.  Monica looked completely out of it.  She was trembling and all flushed up, holding the gun with her right hand and supporting herself with the left one.  Now Rick could see what the detective meant last night – Monica was not all there.

“I would do everything for you.  I love you like no one else would ever love you...” she continued rambling.

“Monica,” Rick interrupted her.  “Listen to me.  What you are doing is not right.  Please, let go of the gun and let us help you.”

“If you do not leave her, I will kill her.  If I am not going to have you, no one is going to.”  The woman spat the words as if they were venom in her mouth.

They were at the top of the hill now, and Rick tugged Allison down from the chairlift.  Monica followed them, uncaring for all the people around them who were witnessing what was happening.

Rick did not do anything for a full thirty seconds.  The three of them stood there, a frozen tableau in the evening shadows.  Then Monica moved, a hand came up, the gun pointing at Allison...

Too late.  Rick took a step towards her, but slipped on the snow and fell down.

“Monica, I – I need you to go.  This is important,” he pleaded with her.

Monica’s face, there was no other way to describe it, collapsed, caved in on itself under the weight of her sorrow.  She looked old, decrepit, her beauty unnaturally against the white of the snow.

“Stop,” Rick said calmly, his voice clogged with sadness.  He did not know how he managed to keep himself steady as he pushed himself away from the ground, and reached towards Monica.  She immediately drew her hand back once more, threatening.

“Monica, stop,” Rick said again.  “I know you don’t want to do this – this isn’t the answer.”

Monica threw her arms out wide, demanding, “Why are you doing this then?”  She looked broken open. 

“Because I love Allison,” he said out loud, for everyone to hear.  “But I would leave her for you, if you let her go.”

Rick wanted to calm her down long enough for the help to come.  He knew that someone must have called the police, and it was only a matter of time for them to get there.

“You are lying,” Monica yelled at him, and shot at Allison.  The bullet hit her in the arm, and small drops of bright red blood started falling on the white snow.  Women started screaming, and Rick could see men approaching towards them, but all he could think of was Allison, and that she was hurt.

Rick stood between the two women, protecting Allison with his own body, and started walking towards Monica.

“Go on, then.  Kill me too...” he said to the horrible woman who was slowly destroying his life. 

Monica was surprised by his reaction, and was watching with sick fascination the blood painting the snow in red.  Rick took advantage of her distracted state, and managed to wrestle the gun from her.  Two men ran to help him and together they managed to restrain Monica.

“The police are coming,” one of them told Rick, and he thanked him for the help.

Once he was sure that Monica would not get away, Rick ran to Allison, who was sitting down and supported by two young women.

“Are you okay?” he asked her, desperation tangible in his voice.

“Yes, it’s nothing, just a scratch.  Do not worry,” Allison smiled up at him.

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Allison was in the hospital, because even if she was deemed safe enough to travel, she still needed medical attention.  The wound on her arm was already healing, but the local doctor was worried about her mental state, and was keeping her under 24 hour surveillance.

She was expecting Rick, and his knock on the door was immediately answered.  Allison looked so fragile in the white sterile bed and unadorned room, her eyes were still red from the blow, and the look in them was a little bleary from the pain medicine.

“Hi, how are you tonight?” Rick asked, while sitting on her bed and taking her hand in his.  “The nurse tells me you are a very good patient,” he tried for a joke.

“Everyone is great in here, and I already feel much better, but the doctor says it is for the best to stay here.”  Allison tugged Rick towards her, and gently touched his lips with hers.  “Now, I feel even better.”

“Tonight, everything is reminding me of you…”

“Don’t tell me that you are turning into a sap?”  They both laughed at that, and the awkward moment from before was quickly forgotten.  “When I get out of here, I would make sure to stay always close, so that you would not need any reminder.”

“Close, Allison?!  We do not live together… how is it going to work?”  Rick expressed his own fears and doubts about their future together and waited, hoping against all hope, God to make it possible.

“As I told you before, Rick, nothing in the world would be able to stop me from being close to you.”  Allison sat more comfortably in the bed, moving to the side, to allow enough free space for him to join her on the bed.  “But, however, if you don’t…”

“No, it is not that.  I simply cannot imagine how we will manage to make it work, that is all.  Do you have something in mind?”  He snuggled closer to her, and rested his head on her shoulder, inhaling her scent and closing his eyes.

He sighed contently, and embraced her shoulders with his hand, kissing the top of her head and keeping his lips there for few moments.  “You can always move to my house, or I can move to yours.   All I want is to be close to you.”

Allison’s dream was slowly becoming a reality, and all she had to do for it to happen be to pray to God and trust Rick.  How differently things were working now… with Rick, she could have a family and a home, together with the man she was going to spend her life with.

Monica, on the other hand, wanted to change everything they were, and was running after a dream that would never become a reality.  The realization took her back to Rick and the great impact he was having on her conscience and the way she looked at things.

It wasn’t that the thought of great adventures and distant places had lost its appeal.  No!  Simply now she saw that feeling for what it was – a fleeting infatuation.

“I would very much like that…”  Lost in her own thoughts, she almost fell asleep right there in the hospital room, lying in Rick’s arms.

Everything was falling into place, and their lives were returning to their happy rhythm. 

“I love you, Allison…”

“I love you too, Rick…”

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Chapter 20

“God, she hated Rick sometimes.  She hated the way that Rick was always so sure of himself, always thought he knew the difference between right and wrong. And I wanted him to save me.  Save Monica!  What a joke! But, Rick didn’t need Monica to save him.  And Monica hated him for it....” 
Monica’s Diary
.

They left Allison out of the hospital after two days, and Rick thought that they have been so lucky.  Monica was finally in jail, and detective Martinez assured them that she would be charged with murder, attempted murder, and stalking, and would probably be locked away for a long time.

Allison asked if he wanted to go home or stay a little longer at the resort, and Rick agreed with her that it was time for them to relax and think about the future.

Rick stood up to change his shirt, so that they could go out to breakfast.  During all this, Allison was standing where he left her on the sofa, following his every movement.  She wasn’t a prude, being a mature woman and all, but seeing him almost naked, acting as if it didn’t bother him at all, was too much for her shaken nerves.  Every movement was emphasizing his muscles and providing new material for her imagination.  The few times she had the opportunity to really touch his body wasn’t enough to satisfy the hunger she felt burning deep inside her.

Too lost in her thoughts, she didn’t see him looking back at her, until it became obvious that he knew what she was thinking about.  The mocking smile that appeared on his lips was a proof of that. 

“Do you still like what you are seeing?”  He already knew her too well for Allison to lie or change the subject.

“You know I do.”

At that, Rick’s eyes hardened, and he took a deep breath.  Allison recognized his serious expression, and prepared herself for what was going to happen next.

“Then say it,” he interrupted her babbling thoughts.  “You are more than what I could ever want in my life.  I know you love me; don’t you see how much I love you back?”

“Why do you have to be so understanding?  You make it so difficult to be mad at you.”  The kiss he gave her after that was all she had ever wanted.  The moment his lips met hers, her whole body felt an electric charge passing through it.  Slowly, her head fell on his shoulder, his hands gently cradling Allison’s body close to his.  No more
I love you
were said, but she had never felt so loved in her life.   

We stayed quiet, Allison’s hand lying over his heart as he held her in his arms, content to run his hand up and down her back and press an occasional kiss to her temple.  During those few minutes, they were getting to know one another more closely, saying all that was unsaid through small touches and soft kisses.

“Thanks, Rick.”  The words were softly spoken, but packed with heavy feelings.  He kissed her forehead, and murmured a quiet “Thanks, to you.”

He took her hand, and then guided her slowly back to the soft sofa.  Allison’s wide eyes never left his as he sat down and tugged her with him.  She held her breath at the look of desire in his eyes, and slowly moved her head to press their lips together.  Finally feeling safe, she closed her eyes and let him show her what love was.

He opened his lips, and started sucking on hers, sending tiny tingles all over her body and waiting patiently for her to open her mouth in return.  Rick captured her lips, and she moaned at the feeling of his tongue entering her mouth.  He took her head in his hands, and guided her into straddling his legs.  His right hand reached behind her head, and tugged off the band holding her hair together, until he was able to free it and tangle his hand in it.

Slowly, his other hand curled around her waist, bringing Allison closer to his chest and the bare skin under her hands.  It took her some time to master the courage to touch and caress him the way he was touching her, but now her hands freely explored his large chest and broad back, leaving red marks behind them. 

Allison’s quick and deep breaths made it impossible to speak, although she was sure that she had nothing to say at the moment.  She moved her hands up to hold his shoulders, while feeling him sucking gently onto her neck.  Allison shivered when his lips latched onto the hollow of her throat.  Heat was emanating from their bodies, when he looked intently into her eyes and asked.  “Do you want me to stop?  We don’t have to do this right now.”

Feeling every fiber of his body burning with want and hearing him asking her if she wanted to stop, make Allison love Rick even more.  She wanted to say so much at that moment that as a result she ended simply by kissing him again. 

Their combined moans made them laugh and smile.  And God, that laugh made it all even more perfect.  When he finally lifted his face, their eyes locked.  His pupils were wide blown, and his breathing was becoming more elaborate. 

Rick lifted her from her place on his lap, and slowly placed her on the sofa near him.  He went to put his shirt on, and made a stop in the bathroom, before looking back at Allison.

She almost laughed at how they looked right now, flushed (or, in his case, almost flushed), sweaty, happy, and smiling at each other like fools.

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Chapter 21

“My obsession ruined my life....” 
Monica’s Diary
.

Two months later...

“This is the second diary I start writing in my life.  The first one was all about an obsession that at the end managed to ruin my whole life.  This one, I hope to be about new beginnings...”

“They brought me in front of the judge, and I was sentenced to 20 years of prison in a psychiatric facility.  It was my worst nightmare.  Everything I have ever worked for was destroyed and lost forever...”

“The firm where I worked wanted nothing to do with me, my colleagues would not even come to visit and the man I loved with all my heart was marrying someone else.”

“I lost everything...  And when I did, I finally realized that there are more things in life than just success, money, and love.  Strangely enough, I found those little things in the last place I ever imagined.”

“My prison turned out to be my salvation.  Inside its high and scary walls, I met people who showed me what I have been missing in life.  They were all like me – criminals, sick and disturbed people, who took the law in their own hands.  They were like me – people, hurt and alone in a world where different meant dangerous and unwanted.”

“I see now what I have done...”

“Rick and Allison were not the real problem.  The problem was me!  In my mind, having someone meant having him just for myself.  I never actually learned to really love, because if I knew how to love them, I would have left Rick go and be happy for him no matter how much that heard me.”