Page 18 of Stalking My Stalker

“You’re fine with the fact that your man has been, and still is, stalking me?” she counters, her words like a jagged knife scraping its way down my spine.

What she’s saying can’t be possible. How could it? Parker stalksme.He’s withme.And when he’s not stalking me, I’m stalking him. He wouldn’t even have time to be stalking Janice…

Unless it was in the middle of the night when I’m asleep.

My heart skips a beat as my mind is instantly flooded with images of Parker climbing through Janice’s window, creeping over to her bed, pulling back her sheets to expose her lying there naked–still wearing her goddamn work heels, of course.

“That’s impossible,” I say stiffly. “You’re lying.”

Janice shakes her head. “I wish I was, girl. I truly do. I see the pain in your eyes now, and I know you think I put it there, but search your heart. You know whose fault this is.”

“How can I believe you?” I snap, feelings of betrayal boiling up within me like magma sweltering beneath the earth.

“Well, let me ask you this. Did Parker ever camp out in front of your house and watch you through your window? Did he ever break into your apartment while he thought you were asleep?”

The pit in my stomach grows.

This can’t be happening.

“You’re just making things up,” I lash out as more emotions crash through me like a meteor striking the planet.

“475 South Bleaker Drive,” Janice says slowly. Parker’s address. Any remaining doubt I had left is quickly eroding.

But how can I believe this woman? Where is my loyalty to Parker?

Maybe we’ve only been official for a few weeks, but he confessed everything to me when I confronted him. I put my trust in him.

Did I make a mistake?

“How could you know this?” I ask, not sure if I even want to know the answer.

“Because he did the same thing to me.” Janice nods, not even trying to hide the pity in her eyes. I hide mine as they begin to fill with tears.

“And…what did you do?”

She shrugs. “At first it kind of weirded me out. But Parker convinced me it was romantic, and well, we just ended up together. We’ve been boyfriend and girlfriend now for a few months. We just try to keep things discreet at work as they have a policy against co-workers dating.”

I can’t stop it now. My heart shatters into a thousand tiny, irreparable pieces. My insides sting as if each one of those shards has embedded itself into my flesh, causing internal bleeding. Cold betrayal bleeds into my bones like icy sludge.

It all makes sense now. Parker and Janice’s interactions in the lobby. The way she dresses for him, the way she flirts with him. How he pretends not to be into her. They’re a couple pretending not to be a couple because they don’t want to get fired. And according to her, they’ve been together since before he even began stalking me.

“I’m really sorry to have to be the one to tell you this,” Janice continues. “I mean–he’s screwing us both over.”

The image of my mother’s face fills my mind–the moment she found out my father had cheated on her. Is that what I look like now? Like mother like daughter?

No. I won’t make her mistake. I won’t be left.

“Thank you, but I have to go,” I say, quickly starting the car. I hear Janice calling to me as I pull away, but I ignore her. I have to get home as fast as possible. It won’t be long before Parker realizes I’m not at school and comes by the apartment. I have to be out of there by then.

I will not be like my mother. I will not let another man betray me and break me.

I’m going to leave Parker before he can leave me.

8

PARKER

For some reason,I’m even more excited to see Ali today than I normally am. And that’s saying something.

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