Phil was speechless for a minute, as the realization of what he told Lalie sank in, and he looked at her reaction. "Lalie, I'm-"
"No," Lalie replied, standing up and looking down at him. "I appreciate your honesty, and it does give me something to think about," she informed him.
"I don't even know why I said that," Phil admitted, puzzled.
Lalie was about to reply to that, when the phone rang. "I should get that, wait here," she advised him, walking over to the phone and putting it to her ear, as she never took her eyes off Phil on the couch. "Hello?" she asked. "What... Oh, my God..."
Georgia folded the map with the threatening message on it, and rested it on top of the table. She looked down at it with an uneasy expression, and wondered who could possibly have it out for her.
"Now, do you see why we have to contact the police about this?" she heard James voice chime in.
Georgia turned to see James walking into the room. "I just don't want anything to stand in the way of our wedding."
"And nothing will," James assured her. "We could have guards at the wedding making sure that no one uninvited shows up."
"But, what kind of wedding is that?" Georgia wanted to know, tilting her head with a sour look on her face.
"And what kind of wedding would it be, to be terrified if someone unexpected walks through those doors?" James asked her, trying to get his point across.
"I just don't want to see guards in the background of our wedding video, or wedding pictures… constantly being reminded of what was going on," Georgia lamented.
"Then, let's wait until this person is caught," James suggested.
"No," Georgia firmly replied. "We will not go out of our way to change our lives because of this person, they can't stop us from living."
"I just hope this person will be caught in a decent amount of time," James hoped.
"Me, too," Georgia replied, as she was about to hug him but then pushed back his shoulders and pointed to the door, when she saw a shadow and then the doorbell rang. "Could this be our person?" she asked, as she took off her shoe.
"What are you doing?" James wanted to know, observing Georgia holding her high-heeled shoe in her right hand.
"Protection!" Georgia exclaimed.
"I don't think a high-heeled shoe is going to scare this person away," James truthfully let her know.
"Look at the point on here," Georgia pointed out. "This could be lethal!" she displayed, walking up to the door and standing to the side. "Open it," she whispered.
James hesitantly walked up to the door and swung it open, as Georgia jumped in front of the door with her shoe in her hand.
Kevin stood on the other side of the door, as he took a few steps back upon seeing Georgia nearly attack him with her shoe. He glared at James and Georgia's reactions for a few seconds, before attempting to figure out just what was going on here.
"Attack of the... shoe?" Kevin cautiously asked.
"Kevin!" Georgia exclaimed, putting her shoe back on. "James and I have the oddest ways of entertaining ourselves, don't we?"
"That's what happens when you live high up in a penthouse, not much oxygen at such a high altitude," James chimed in with a smile. "What brings you here, Kevin?"
Kevin walked into the penthouse and prepared to ask Georgia his question, when he found a folded up map on the table. "Taking a trip?"
"No," Georgia replied, matter-of-factly. "Why?"
Kevin picked up the map and held it up, only to find Georgia and James' eyes widening at the sight of it. "It's a Georgia State map." "
Oh, that," Georgia walked up to him and grabbed it. "No, it's just something I... picked up."
"Why Georgia?" Kevin wanted to know.
"Well, I am named after the state, shouldn't I at least know where the highways are?" Georgia questioned in an embarrassed tone, shoving the map in a drawer and slamming it shut.
"Strange hobbies," James once again cut in, pointing to Georgia and nodding his head.
"Is something going on here?" Kevin asked, squinting his eyes at this behavior.
"Not at all," Georgia replied. "Are you here to discuss the wedding? James and I were just talking about that."
"No, Lalie and I haven't sat down to discuss that in a while," Kevin admitted. "I do need to ask you a question, Georgia, about Lalie, if you don't mind."
"As long as I know the answer, I'd be glad to help," Georgia told him.
"Has she been talking to you about what she does before or after work?" Kevin wanted to know. "Seeing anybody... in particular?"
"Not in recent memory," Georgia replied, as the phone rang. She walked over to it and picked it up. "Hello?" she asked.
"Georgia, it's Lalie," she heard Lalie's voice come in clearly through the other end.
"Lalie," Georgia acknowledged, peering over at Kevin to see his reaction. "I was just... talking about you."
"I don't have much time for conversation," Lalie told her in a serious tone. "I'm not sure I'll be in work tomorrow... I have to go somewhere tonight."
"Where are you going?" Georgia wanted to know.
"It's just something that I have to take care of," Lalie vaguely replied. "I'll see you when I get back."
"Okay," Georgia replied in a confused tone, slowly laying the phone back down on the cradle and walking into the living room. "That was-"
"Lalie," Kevin finished her sentence. "What did she say?"
"She has to go out of town tonight but she couldn't tell me anything," Georgia explained.
'Phil,' Kevin said to himself. Without further explanation from Georgia, Kevin left the penthouse, with only one destination in mind.
Phil extended his hand to take the duffel bag that Lalie was struggling to carry down the stairs.
The weight of the duffel bag surprised him, as he set it down by the door. "What do you have in there?" he wanted to know. "You're only to be gone one or two nights!"
"I always have to be prepared," Lalie reminded him, walking over to him and handing him a paper.
"What's this?" Phil asked, reading the paper and finding a phone number on it.
"That's my cell phone number," Lalie responded. "It'll be on twenty-four hours a day, so you can call me if you need anything."
"I'm sure everything will be fine," Phil assured her, putting the paper in his pocket. "I hope your uncle will be okay."
"Thanks," she smiled at him. "What were the chances of him falling on the hip that he just had surgery on?" she rhetorically asked, picking up her duffel bag.
Phil followed her outside, and watched as she put her luggage in the trunk. "Ride carefully, now!"
"Don't worry about me," Lalie told him, in assurance. "See you soon!"
Phil watched Lalie drive down the block, and then went back inside.
Kevin drove up Lalie's street, and noticed that her car was absent from her driveway, as he rolled in front of her house and stopped at the curb.
'They must have left already,' Kevin angrily figured, until he noticed that the light in the living room was turned on and he saw a figure walking back and forth.
He turned off his headlights and headed for the doorway. He confidently pressed the doorbell and waited for an answer.
Phil jumped out of his seat, which he had just made himself comfortable in when the doorbell rang, and walked over to the door and opened it.
"Well, well," Phil simply acknowledged, upon seeing Kevin standing on the other side of the door with his arms folded. "Lalie's not here," he told him, as he attempted to shut the door, only to get it pushed back open by Kevin.
"I know she's not," Kevin informed him, not taking his eyes off of him as he made his way into the house.
Phil shut the door and turned around. "Then, why are you here?"
"I'm here to see you," Kevin let him know.
"Well, you saw me," Phil retorted, grabbing Kevin by the arm to lead him out, but Kevin pulled back.
"How is it?" Kevin wanted to know. "How does it to feel to have taken up residence here?"
"What makes you think that I am living here?" Phil wanted to know.
"Oh, come on, Phil... do you think I'm stupid?" Kevin asked him in a serious tone.
"Well, I've heard all about your trials and tribulations with manipulative women in the past... so I'm not really sure how to answer that question, since you've hurt Lalie repeatedly in the process," Phil explained.
"And, of course, my mistakes are ten times worse than kidnapping, right?" Kevin sarcastically shot back.
"How many manipulative woman have you fallen prey to?" Phil wanted to know. "You think that you'd learn your lesson, but then you did what you did with Frankie Stone... Lalie told me!"
"For one thing, I never slept with Frankie Stone," Kevin addressed in a firm tone. "She popped her own tires and then lured me to a cabin. While there, she drugged me and then set up the situation to make it look like we had made love. But, then she happened to get pregnant with Ryan DiMarco's baby, who just happens to be Lalie's cousin, and she made me believe that I was the father... and of course I couldn't remember if I had slept with her or not... but... that wasn't my fault!" he defended. "If Frankie hadn't fallen down the stairs after Lalie chased her..." he stopped.
Phil stared at him in disbelief. "And I thought Minnesota life was complicated!"
"You don't even deserve an explanation!" Kevin realized. "At least I never kidnapped somebody!" he shouted.
"The only reason why you keep bringing that up is because that's the only thing you have on me," Phil pointed out.
"How about Marcia Santiago?" Kevin asked him. "Thank God she doesn't have a sister."
"Yeah... Thank God." Phil paused for a moment and tried not to smile. "About Marcia, that's all tied into that awful predicament in the basement... you can't think of one other thing to use against me."
"Give me a day or two!" Kevin threatened. "Who the hell do you think you are? ...Riding into town right before my wedding and trying to seduce my fiance!"
"Slight correction," Phil began. "We flew into town, riding would have taken much too long," he smirked. "About that last accusation, who said anything about seducing her?"
"It's obvious to me that you've had your eyes set on my fiance since the day that my fiance saw you at that restaurant," Kevin replied with an evil squint.
"Why do you keep saying 'my fiance' instead of 'Lalie'?" Phil wanted to know. "I am aware that you two are engaged, are you aware of that?"
"How do you mean?" Kevin's ears perked up.
"She hasn't sat down to discuss your wedding with you recently, has she?" Phil made him think, sitting down on the couch and setting his feet on the coffee table.
Kevin glared at his feet on the coffee table. "Are you sure she'd appreciate that?"
"Oh, that?" Phil asked, pointing to his feet. "It's okay," he assured him. "Lalie and I get comfortable every night, and just when I thought we couldn't get any closer... she just keeps surprising me!"
"Where is she now?" Kevin demanded to know.
"Probably running for the hills," Phil shot back. "She was horrified about your suggestion to get married by some justice of the peace."
"She said that she'd think about it," Kevin reflected.
"Probably think about your jealous outbursts is more like it," Phil chuckled. "I'll be sure to tell your 'fiance' that you stopped by. The door's over there."
"Damn it!" Kevin shouted. "Why the hell won't you tell me where Lalie went?"
Phil stood up and became face to face with Kevin. "I think that you should hear it from her," Phil replied. "And, when you do you're going to feel-"
"Foolish? Remorseful?" Kevin finished Phil's sentence with adjectives. "Go to hell, you're behind it!"
"Well, there's a phrase that I've never heard before," Phil sarcastically shot back, walking over to the door and opening it. "Don't wait up for Lalie."
"I wish I could hit you right now," Kevin hissed.
"You know that you can't afford it," Phil attested. "You know that Lalie would defend me, and then the gap would widen even more between you two!"
Kevin didn't reply as he walked over to the door and stood in the doorway. "Well, have a good night."
"You can be sure of it," Phil informed him, slamming the door in his face.
Georgia pushed the door of the police station open and walked with James up to the front counter.
She silently lowered her fist on the counter, as all the police officers seemed busy. "Could we at least have a modicum of assistance here?" she demanded to know.
"Calm down," James tried to soothe her nervousness. "I'm just glad you finally realized that something had to be done."
"I'm only doing this for you," Georgia informed him, as she turned to him. "I would much rather have them lose interest on their own and go away, naturally."
"There's no guarantee that would happen," James tried to convince her. "This person seems pretty persistent to me."
"Can I help you?" a voice approached them. "I'm Officer Burns."
"Yes, you can," Georgia replied, matter-of-factly, digging into her purse and pulling out the folded up map. "I seem to have an… unwanted follower."
"Let's talk in private," Officer Burns suggested to them both.
Georgia drummed her fingers against the desk, as she finished her story about how this all started, up to the part about the map.
"We'll be sure to have patrols on watch in your building," Officer Burns explained. "Do you think this person could be in the building everyday?"
"That's impossible," Georgia replied in a sure tone. "I get along with everyone there."
"A stalker doesn't have to hate you," Officer Burns replied.
"Well, judging by that note, I don't think this stalker has warm feelings for me," Georgia assessed, taking the map back and opening it up. "Look at this!"
"I know, I've seen it," Officer Burns reminded her. "This person has obviously been in your building... we'll find out who has been doing this."
"You're not going to have twenty-four surveillance, are you?" Georgia wanted to know. "If I want that, I could apply for 'Big Brother'!"
"Ms. Caldwell," Officer Burns began, slightly agitated. "Do you want us to find this person or not? The only way we can do this, is to have patrols constantly in your building."
"She's worried about her name being hurt," James chimed in.
"I wouldn't worry about business matters, at this point, Ms. Caldwell," Officer Burns informed her. "I mean, carry on with your daily life, but you have to remain vigilant."
"So, we don't have to let this stand in the way of our wedding?" Georgia asked in a hopeful tone, referring to James.
"Of course not," Officer Burns assured her. "Get married, do everything that you normally would."
Georgia seemed relieved by that. "Thank you, Officer Burns."
"No problem," he replied. "We'll instate those patrols as soon as possible."
"Great!" Georgia exclaimed, standing up and shaking Officer Burns' hand, and James did the same thing.
She breathed in the crisp air, as they made their way outside. "Don't you feel better now?" James asked her.
"I feel so much better," Georgia assured him, as she beamed. "Let's go home."
A person, shrouded in black, emerged from around the corner and peered at Georgia and James, as they headed back to the car, parked on the street.
Chapter 13
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Tracia