Obsession (9 page)

Rick helped her to get up and straddle his legs, while bringing their bodies in full contact.  He kissed her carefully then, as she trembled under his hands.  Her lips were wet, when he let go of them, and Rick was rewarded with a slow move of her hips, when Allison trembled with anticipation.

Rick let go of Allison’s hair and smoothed his fingertips over Allison’s face, cast in shadow, following the lines he would know blind.  He held his other hand still, and Allison rocked down into him, while Rick touched the corners of her eyes, the bow of her upper lip, and the turn of her chin. Allison nipped at Rick’s fingers, sucking them into her mouth, and Rick stifled a groan.  Allison’s mouth was perfection, sweet and hot, not to mention smart as hell.

She took a slow breath, silent, and wiggled herself in Rick’s lap, bringing up unimaginable pleasure.  Allison used the new freedom to mouth something at him, but Rick did not quite catch it. 

“I want you to make love to me so bad right now,” Allison breathed, moving her hips against his once more.

“It is all I can think about,” Rick whispered back, and covered Allison’s mouth for an instant with his own.  They could not do that, not here, but the phantom memory of him sliding deep inside her was enough to set his heart pounding, pulse beating thick and heavy between his legs.

Allison pushed her hips down, catching Rick’s attention again.  Rick finally gave up, and opened his jeans enough for his erection to come free.  Allison’s eyes slid shut and Rick watched her focus on the sensation, the drag of Rick’s rough palm against her sensitive skin.  She was dressed in a skirt, and Rick had never been so grateful for their very existence.  He managed easily to tear up her stockings and underwear to find that precious place where he felt home.

Rick held her until she was moving over him again, desperately, her face creased with the effort to stay silent.  Rick could practically feel Allison’s orgasm approaching, the way Allison bit her lip, and clenched her fingers.  She came silently, body pulsing in Rick’s grip, her hand tight in the back of Rick’s shirt, and her mouth plastered to Rick’s.  Allison shuddered her way through it, breast heaving and hips pumping, until she went suddenly limp, muffling her heavy breathing against Rick’s neck.

Rick’s orgasm hit him by surprise, making him shudder and cry with the sheer force of it.  But Allison was there to hold him and help him through it.

“You okay?” Allison asked, voice low, not wanting to disturb the silent beauty of the night.

“Yes,” Rick said after a moment, his body still throbbing from the intense release.  Allison was recovered and was sneaking her fingers up and down the length of him.

“Do you think that we can stay here a little longer,” she asked hopefully, and turned back to look at the woods. “Get some more sleep?”

She looked adorable with her eyes all sleepy and her hair out of place.  Rick thought that moment that he wanted nothing more in the world than to be able to wake every morning beside her.

Rick smiled at her, cradling her head against his chest, and watching the moon hide behind the trees.  The park would be empty for a few more hours, and they could enjoy its quiet beauty until then.  Allison fell asleep shortly after that, but Rick did not want to lose this moment.  He wanted it forever stuck in his mind, so that he could treasure it as a precious gem.

Allison was giving him the kind of happiness he always wanted, but was unable to find with other women.  Maybe the poets were right, and there was only one person in the word able to make you really happy.

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Chapter 15

“The search for love is the longest journey of our lives, it takes us away from home and changes us, like nothing else could...” 
Monica’s Diary
.

The next day, all that they could think was Monica and where Monica was.  The police had nothing new to tell them, and all the calls they made gave no result.  In their desperation, they decided to track down Monica by themselves, and the first stop was her apartment.  Rick knew where her spare key was, and Allison really wanted to see her home and better understand the woman.

“What if she is inside?” Allison asked.

“The police must be watching the building, I am sure she would not venture here,” Rick replied and took the key from under the flower pot. 

Monica’s apartment was just what Allison would expect it to be.  All the furniture was designer made, and arranged to follow the white and black theme.  It was perfect, but looked nothing like a home should look.  The apartment was as cold as its owner.  Everything was in place, and in the matching color.  Even the dead flowers in the vase were all white roses, all in the perfect shape and size.

“Unbelievable,” Allison murmured, a little afraid to speak too loud.  This place was nothing like her house, and the spirit of Monica could be felt everywhere she looked.

“Yes, I forgot how stupid this place looked,” Rick said, completely unaffected by the furnishing.

“How can a person live in a place like this?  It is so cold, so impersonal, so... I do not know what to call it.  There is not even a book out of place!  Look around, there is nothing that says – I live here!”  Allison started walking around and opening drawers.  Even behind closed doors, everything was perfectly arranged.

The bathroom was all white tiles, with a black sink and bathtub.  It might sound strange, but looked very stylish.  “God, I am afraid even to touch them...”

“Don’t be, they mean nothing.  Look at this sofa.” Rick pointed at the white leather sofa, sitting in the middle of the living room.  “In order to sit on it, you have to put a blanket over it and never even think of eating or drinking.”

Allison started opening all the doors one by one, while Rick was looking at Monica’s desk.  The bedroom and the closet were as she expected, but the last door she opened revealed something that she never even dreamed about.  The room was smaller than the rest, and probably designed to be either a guest room or a nunnery.  The walls were painted in pearl white, as were the rest of the apartment.  Nothing strange so far, until Allison looked closely at the multiple magazines and photos glued to the walls.

The room was some kind of shrine, full of photos of Rick, alone and with Monica.  Some of the photos were taken at work when he was dressed in a suit and carrying documents, others were in more casual environments – in his house, in the garden, in some shop, and even while running in the park.  Monica must have been following Rick around and taking pictures of him

The other wall, however, was even more interesting.  On it were attached multiple clippings, taken from wedding magazines.  All the clippings were following the same theme, and put together made for the perfect wedding.  A wedding dress was displayed in the middle of the room, and multiple scrapbooks were scattered on the only table there.  On the floor, Allison saw a few pictures of herself, all destroyed and drawn on.  The anger behind the act was visible in the way the pictures were thrown around and destroyed.

“Oh, my God!”  Rick exclaimed behind her.  He walked inside, and looked at each and every picture and item.  “This must have taken her months to gather...  She is really sick, isn’t she?”

“Yes, I think so,” Allison answered her.

“We should call the police.  They have to see all these, so that they can understand her and the reasons behind her actions,” Rick said, looking a little lost.

“This is a good idea,” Allison agreed.  “I would call Detective Martinez.”

By the time the detective arrived, Rick and Allison had calmed down considerably, so that they were able to tell him what was going on.  The detective looked around and made a few notes, thanking them for the collaboration, before asking them to stay put and stop acting like detectives.

When they returned home, Rick showed Allison a black leather notebook, which he had found in Monica’s desk.

“This is her diary,” he explained.  “I showed it to the detective, and he let me have it.  Do you want to see what she wrote in it?”

Allison let her curiosity get the best of her, and sat down with Rick to read Monica’s diary.  The first few pages were written before they met, and were dedicated to Rick, his itinerary, and the way that Monica felt about him.  They were a confirmation of Rick’s suspicions that Monica had been stalking him long before Allison came into the picture, but things became really interesting when Monica first saw Allison...

“She is dangerous... I can see that just from the way he is looking at her.”

“She became his girlfriend!  She took him from me, although, he is still mine.  I will break them apart.  Rick and I, we were truly meant to be together.  He is mine, and nobody will ever be able to take him from me.”

“She might have a nice body, but her face is not cute enough”

“Her name is Allison Show and she is some kind of designer.  I cannot believe that Rick can be interested in someone like her.  She has no promising career, no beauty, and no real drive for success.  She is nothing like me and Rick!”

“I followed her home tonight; she lives in a small house and obviously has no money to buy something more decent.  Rick stopped by after work.  I watched him go inside and hug her before the door closed behind them.  What is he thinking?  Could she really become someone I should fear?”

“He did not stay the night!  That is a relief.  I do not know what I would have done if he stayed.  I am afraid to lose him.  I have so little in this life and if I lose Rick what will I have to live for?”

“I have no friends, no family, no husband...  Rick is all that I want...”

“He changed me...” 

“The search for love is the longest journey of our lives; it takes us away from home and changes us, like nothing else could...”

“I read this somewhere, and it stuck with me – is love supposed to change me?  But, I like what I have become.  I do not wish to return back and be that scared little girl that will never raise her voice or say what she thinks.  No more...”

“I like the confident and strong woman I have become...  There is only a small detail that I need for the image to be completed.  I have the money, the power, the promising career – what I need is the right man beside me.” 

“And I would stop for nothing until I have him...”

That night, they fell asleep, exhausted, and more afraid that ever of what Monica was capable of doing.  Rick was becoming more agitated with every passing day, and Allison could think of nothing else but the woman who was stalking them.

Monica was a constant presence in their lives, and they both were starting to worry that there was no going back.  How could a relationship survive a similar pressure?

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Chapter 16

“All I wanted was for you to see me, the way I am seeing you... All I wanted was for you to want me, the way I want you... All I ever asked from you was to love me...” 
Monica’s Diary
.

That same weekend, they had booked to go to the resort for a little time alone, away from all the problems that were making their lives a living hell.  It was supposed to be a romantic getaway, but with everything that was going on right now, Allison thought it better to stay put and postpone the ski vacation for later.  Unfortunately, they could not get their deposit back, so Rick insisted they go anyway.

“It would be good for us to get some time away from all this,” he said, and Allison had to agree with him.  They really needed a break, but she was still worried about Monica being on the loose.  The woman had proven to be very resourceful, and always a step ahead of them.  There was no telling what she might do this time.

Allison had spent the last day reading through Monica’s diary, and already understood the woman better.  There was a passage in there that almost broke her heart, so sorry it made her feel for Monica.

“I killed a man tonight!”

“I took the life of another human being for no reason at all.  He was simply someone who could make it difficult for me to reach my goal.  He talked too much, saw too much, and was one of Rick’s oldest enemies”.

“I chose him on purpose, and he did what I needed him to do.  I saw the way she looked at us when we walked by, I could not resist kissing Rick in the middle of the wedding, for everyone to see.  And the other man still went home with me.  How pathetic that is?”

“Can’t he see that I love Rick?  That there is no one for me out there?”

“He kissed me – and I imagined that it was Rick kissing me; I had sex with him, but it was Rick’s name that I chanted all the time.  And he did not even notice!  How does a man not notice that the woman under him is thinking about someone else?”

“He was nothing and I disposed of him, so that he would not hurt anyone again...”

On the way to the resort, Allison slept almost the whole time, enjoying the security that Rick’s presence brought up.  The first day, they went skiing, ate their dinner in the resort's restaurant, and finally retired to their room for a few drinks and some relaxing time in the hot tub.

Their room was equipped with an amazing hot tub, placed on the veranda, which was facing the mountain.  The atmosphere was overly romantic, but they both needed it.  The last few days had taken their toll, and Allison was grateful for the few hours of peace they were finally having.

“Do you know that this is the first time I am having a bath outside?” Rick asked her, while lying comfortably in the big tub, surrounded by bubbles.

“Really?  And here I am thinking that you are a man that enjoys the best things in life,” Allison played along.

“Things like this one were never important to me, especially if there is no one special to share them with,” the man said seriously, and leaned down to place a soft kiss on Allison’s forehead.