Forever Mine (Joe & Ella 2)

“You see Joe, Ella here knows me as Colin Peterson don’t you Ella?” He looked at me like he expected me to answer, I bit down on the gag and gave him a death stare.

“Joe knows the real me though don’t you Joe.”

“Cole Peters” Joe said with a hint of regret.

“If only you chatted more to Ella about her day and who she works with, you might have found me sooner, but then you always were a self-centred asshole weren’t you Joe? I was hiding in plain sight. I was sitting in the same room as Ella most days and you didn’t even know.”

“Fuck you!” Joe shouted.

“You’re the one doing all the fucking Joe. Let’s start from the beginning shall we? You see I never wanted you to get messed up in all this Ella. I liked you, I really liked you. I even went so far as to reinstate those websites that Joe here had buried to get you to see how fucked up he was. I had no idea you were fucked up too Ella. What kind of woman sees her man fucking hundreds of women on videos and photographs and takes him back? Ella you disappointed me! You must have very low self-esteem. Good job I’m sorting that out for you today and putting you out of your misery. It must be exhausting being that insecure on a daily basis.”

I grunted at him in response, I was mentally gouging his eyes out with the scalpel on the table as I glared at him.

“You know, I even gave you a second chance to get away Ella. I took the time to slip something in his drink at a bar and have my associates carry him unconscious out to my van and set him up at an apartment I’d rented and took photographs of him in a bed. It didn’t take much persuading for that Anna bitch to agree to set you up Joe. She’s a piece of work isn’t she! Imagine being so desperate to be with someone you’d fake having their baby to get them. Some people are just insane these days Ella, don’t you agree.”

‘Yeah and none more so than you, you crazy fucking freak’ I wanted to shout out but all that came out was more muffles.

“But yet again you disappointed me Ella, crawling back to him on your hands and knees. You really have no shame do you. So I figured if you were so hell bent on being with him you could die for him too. I mean Joe’s like a cat he has nine lives. He survived a fire at the club, me cutting his brakes and various other games we’ve played over the years, isn’t that right Joe? I bet he never even told you I’ve been toying with him for years, did he? I’m glad I chose to bide my time though and waited until you came along Ella. I mean did you really think you of all people could settle down and get married Joe? As if I’d let that happen after everything we’ve been through. Joe you’ve always thought you were such a lucky bastard, an untouchable, haven’t you… but you Ella, I don’t think you’ll be so lucky. Not today.”

“If you touch one hair on her head I swear to God I will kill you Peters. I’m coming for you.” Joe snapped. I hoped and prayed to God that he was.

“Now now Joe, we haven’t even started yet. Let’s get to the story then I can tell you the really good part.” Colin looked over at me and raised my mobile again so Joe could see my face as he told his little story.

“You see Ella Joe here, your precious Joe, was fucking my wife for years. Marie was my world but to him she was just one in a long line of conquests. Isn’t that right Joe?”

“You’re fucked up in the head you know that. She came to me, I wasn’t interested in your wife Peters. Never was.”

“Let’s not muddy the waters now hey, we all have our sides of the story to tell and now it’s my turn. You see Ella, Marie and I had been trying for a baby for some time but it just wasn’t happening for us. I think that’s why she turned to…him. She was lonely. I didn’t nurture our love enough, I took her for granted. That’s why I’m here now you see, to show her I love her, she deserves retribution and I’m going to get it for her.”

“Ella doesn’t deserve this Peters. If you’re pissed with me take it out on me and let Ella go. I’ll come and meet you just name the time and place and I’m there.”

“It’s not that simple anymore Joe, but we’ll get to the good part in a minute. Now where was I?”

Colin was sat like he was reading a bedtime story. He was a psychopath, totally oblivious to the real world and that’s what scared me the most. I had to try and get this gag off and remind him who Ella was and why he shouldn’t hurt me. Reach out to Colin the one with some hint of human kindness and push Cole the raging psycho back inside.

“So Marie started seeing your Joe on a regular basis. I’m sure you don’t need me to paint you a picture Ella, but it was all pretty seedy stuff. Anyway after some months of me turning a blind eye she announces she pregnant but she’s not happy about it.” He started to laugh like the mad man I knew he was.

“She actually thought I had no idea she was cheating on me. I’m a highly trained computer hacker I had access to the CCTV in every place she visited.” He shook his head like he was marvelling at some silly misdemeanour.

“When I told her I knew all about her seedy little affair she wanted to leave me, said she was in love with him and wanted to be with him. I asked her if the baby was mine and she swore blind it was. Now this is where it starts to get exciting. You see I thought she was lying. Why would she be having my baby but want to leave me for another man? It didn’t make sense right? Turns out it was my baby, Joe was always such a careful boy weren’t you Joe? I paid to have the foe

tus tested for paternity and I was a 99.9% match. Always careful to cover your cock and protect yourself but you didn’t care about who you were hurting did you?”

“This is total bull shit Ella, don’t listen to him.”

“It’s my truth Joe, and I’m here now to tell it so be a good boy and shut the fuck up… So to the good part… You see Joe didn’t do relationships back then, my Marie packed up her things and left but hours later she was back. Joe had sent her packing, told her he didn’t love her and threw her out. She was heartbroken, but I’m a lot like you Ella. I gave her a second chance and told her I’d take her back and we’d raise our baby together as a family. She couldn’t see Joe again though, over my dead body would I share my pregnant wife with another man. See where I’m going here yet?”

“Peters you need to stop this now. Please.”

“I found her body at 3.46am the next morning. She’d hung herself from the rafters in our loft. The loft hatch had been left open and when I climbed the stairs I saw her there swinging away. Her face had a light blue tinge to it, her lips were all swollen and her eyes bulged like something from a horror movie, it was really quite beautiful. Have you ever seen a dead body hanging Ella?” He didn’t wait for a response this time.

“It almost doesn’t look real, your brain can play tricks on you, and convince you it’s fake… a dummy not a real person. To this day I always remind myself that wasn’t my Marie hanging from that rope. My Marie is still with me.”

“You’re fucking insane Peters. I’m gonna destroy you.”

“So the best part?” Colin started to chuckle. “I couldn’t have planned this any better if I’d tried.”

He reached down to the side of the bed and pulled out a handful of plastic sticks, my plastic sticks. The ones I’d kept in my handbag that had told us we were going to have a baby. The fear that lodged itself in the pit of my stomach made my ears ring and the sweat pool beneath me on the cheap mattress.