It had been two weeks since Jesse's driver dropped me off at Sandra's place and handed me a gift bag with my clothes and shoes packed neatly. Two weeks since I heard anything from my stalker. Every day I waited even though I didn't want to admit it. Waited for his call, for him to pull up and order me to get into his car.
One time, someone with a deep voice had turned up at the door asking to see Miss Thompson, that was usually how he addressed me. I let my hair fall, applied my lip gloss changed into my shorts, and ran down to see Sandra attending to a mailman who had come to deliver a mail to me.
Sadly, it had no connection to Jesse. Sandra advised I should call him but what would that spell out to him, that after everything I had said the other day, I still wanted him. No. He gave up too soon.
I had to join Sandra and Robert at the ice cream store that evening as I didn't want to sit home alone. I took a cab there dressed in a green overall and my white Nikes. The store was empty and had a closed sign in front when I got there. But Sandra and Robert weren't back yet meaning they were still here. Maybe, they decided to close early. It was Robert's birthday after all.
When I went in, a man was sitting at the counter. He backed the entrance dressed in everything black. I figured he probably owned the motorcycle I saw outside the store. It was black as well.
"Took you long enough." I recognized the voice. That husky, deep voice. Sure enough, when he turned, it was Jesse. He smiled at me just like he did in my dreams last night. "Hey, momma."
I wanted to run to him, hold him tight, and tell him how much I missed him. And so, I did. I ran to him. Held onto his shirt till it nearly came off. His thick scent filled my nostrils in my mind. Remember I said I wanted.
But Jesse didn't want to. He did. He walked towards me and smashed my body against his. I felt smaller than I already was. The more I tried to pull away, the stronger his grip. "I've missed you." He buried his face into my neck.
"You're really bad at hiding." He continued. "Don't ever get good."
When he finally freed me, my clothes were all ruffled up. Was that why the store was empty? I searched the room with my eyes. "Did you chase everyone out?"
His eyes widened "I'm your stalker, not a monster. I can't do both. I reserved the whole place for today."
My jaw dropped open in disbelief "By mistake?"
He did a little pout "Nope. Not this time. I wanted all the time in the world with you."
I backed off from him and headed into the kitchen. "What did you do with Sandra and Robert."
"I paid for them to take a little trip to Mexico. I heard it's Robbie's birthday." Seeing him in a leather jacket, black ripped jeans and black Jordans made me think he was a teenager.
"Is the bike outside yours?" I asked and he gave a light nod. I heard his stomach grumble. Then I looked up at him.
He held his stomach and smiled "I haven't had anything today. I was waiting for you." He looked so innocent with his head bent down.
"Let's grab something to eat from the restaurant across." I turned to leave but he grabbed my hand.
"I don't eat food outside. It has to be homemade." He let go and placed his hands into his pockets "I'm the CEO of the largest company in all of America, everyone is out to get me."
I felt bad for him when he said this. But I had one problem. "I can't cook," I said with my hands in the air.
"Oh yeah, I know. Sandra warned me not to let you anywhere close to the kitchen." He giggled. "Let's go back to your place. I'd make dinner."
"My place. No. Not possible." My house was a garage compared to his.
"I suggested your place so you won't have to walk out in the rain, if you ever need space, I'd be the one leaving." He went back to the chair he was sitting on earlier. "But if you insist, my place is definitely a thousand times more comfortable."
I was worried. I didn't want what happened the other time to reoccur. Nope, let's rephrase that. I didn't need it reoccurring but I wanted it to.
"I don't have anything at home. There are no groceries." I lied. Robert was always cooking and so the house was always stacked with everything.
"Do you want us to shop for them or should I ask someone to do it?" He had an answer to everything.
"No." I raised my hand to his face.
He dragged me closer "If this is about last time, I promise you nothing of that sort will happen again." It was like he could see right through me.
"And if it does?"
"It'd be because you asked." He responded. I wasn't sure I could say no and stand by it. But his eyes were pleading and I felt 'bad' for him.
"Fine," I said finally and his face lit up like a child on Christmas morning. "How long will you be staying for?"
"You'd decide momma." We locked the shop and rode his motorcycle to the convenience store nearby. We bought more than just groceries.
There were vegetables, snacks, cereals, everything including fruits. When I reached out to pay, the receptionist just smiled and said it was already paid for.
Jesse explained that he had called up his company and had them pay in advance cause it was less than the amount he could withdraw with his card. Show off.
There was something odd about everything though. Everywhere we went cars followed us. Even at the convenience store, there were people following us.
"Are they paparazzi?" I asked Jesse as we exited the store. He looked around confused as well until he seemed to understand why I asked.
"My security." He replied like it was no big deal. "You'd be surprised to know they aren't the only ones watching. I have to be extra careful."
It was indeed a scary life at the top, I thought as he gave me one of his pretty smiles that seemed to hide so much.