Sweet Obsession

I’ve become one of those overbearing, possessive men. The ones who need to know where their woman is at every second of the damn day. The type who buys her jewelry that has tracking devices attached. The type who wants to wrap her up in cotton balls and keep her away from danger. It's the damnedest thing, the idea that someone can go from one kind of love to another with the same being.

Love, that’s another thing that side-swiped me. The bards and poets have never spent a day in love because the shit is not the pretty bed of roses they describe. It’s gut-wrenching angst that keeps me up at night worrying about every aspect of her life. And I’m always worrying about whether or not she’s happy.

It goes beyond worrying that my partner might get cold while on one of our evening walks around our garden. It’s about every damn thing, and some of it makes no damn sense. Fear, that’s what love has brought to my door—the fear of failing her again, of not giving her the life and love she deserves.

I know my girl, and all the diamonds in the world don’t mean as much to her as my time. “Where the hell is she? She’s been gone too long.” I walked down the hallway in the direction of the restroom. Diego was standing a few feet away, hidden behind a giant plant pot display pretending to do something on his phone.

“Where is she?”

“She’s still inside.” Is she really that upset? Is she ill? I ignored the fact that this was not a unisex bathroom. If I walk in on some lady washing her hands at the sink, I’ll penalize myself since I own the place. I walked in and started to call out to her until I heard her voice raised in anger.

“You’re a liar. A demented liar.”

“How does it feel to be married to your own father?” I heard flesh meeting flesh and ran around the corner to see a woman in a very bad wig holding her cheek. Neither of them even noticed me.

“Garrick is not my father. He wasn’t even there the night I was conceived. Now stay away from me, from us.”

“How long do you think he’ll stay with you? He’s only using you just like he used me.” Rene?

“I don’t think so, Rene, you see, I’m not you. I’m not with Garrick for any other reason than that I love him. I’ve always loved him, and I have no doubt that he loves me.”

“You tried your best to destroy that, and now you’re doing it again. You're pathetic.”

“I always knew you were nothing but a filthy little bitch, just like your mother. The Amerys will never accept you.” Rene grinned as I watched her in the mirror. She’d lost weight and looked sick and seemed a little off.

“Lest you forget, my mother comes from a very well-to-do family, unlike you, who was dragged up in the slums. What’s more, my husband, the man you would’ve sold your kidneys to marry, chose me over you, and he’s the only Amery whose love I want and have.”

“I’ll tell everyone that you two were fucking since you were a child.”

“I guess you’re seeking death. You’re planning on blackening Garrick Amery’s name with such a filthy lie? Why don’t you go throw yourself over a bridge if you want to die so badly? Give it up, Rene; you’re done. Had you not been a manipulative hag, maybe it would’ve taken years for him to see through you. Then again, seeing how attentive he is with me, I guess the reason he never saw who you really are is because he wasn’t looking. Which means he never cared.”

Oh well, now! Where did my baby get her shiny spine? I guess me shoring her up and dragging her out of her shell is working. I’ve only been doing everything humanly possible to assure her that she’s the greatest thing ever, at least to me she is.

“By the way, I heard you got fired. Looks like Garrick’s not the only one who saw through you just in time. Too bad about that partnership you were always going on about.” What does she know about that? I’ve spent lots of money and time to keep that news away from her, not wanting her to ask any leading questions. She has no idea about the circulating video, and I aim to keep it that way.

“It’s all because of you….” Rene launched herself at Maddie, and I started to move forward but stopped when Maddie squared up, and I got to see my hard-earned money at work. Years of martial arts training came into play when she snapped her hand out and hit Rene once in the throat, going straight for the jugular and cutting off her air.