Page 25 of Jealous Stalker

“Okay,” she echoes. “Then we’ll pause here for today. But I want you to try journaling again this week. Write about the moments that feel off. The things you don’t say out loud. Sometimes they’re louder on the page.”

I hide another snort.

The things I don’t say out loud would get me committed.

I nod and offer a smile I don’t feel.

She doesn’t push. She never does.

Maybe that’s why I come back.

Outside, the air is sharp with fall. Leaves rustle. My car door creaks. My hands tremble slightly on the steering wheel before I even start the ignition.

He didn’t leave a note.

Buthe took mine.

And maybe that’s something?

For the restof the day I’m sunshine and syrup again.

That’s what Jules used to call it when I was trying too hard. Trying to be sweet. Trying to hold things together. Trying not to fall apart in front of people who wouldn’t know what to do with the pieces.

At the front desk of the VA hospital, my smile is gentle. My tone, warm. My charting, neat and practiced. I’m the epitome of support and professionalism.

“Mr. Lemont, it’s good to see you today,” I say with a lightness I don’t quite feel. “Did your daughter make it back from San Antonio?”

He grunts, tapping his cane once. “Still gone. I’m surviving.”

I nod like that doesn’t send a sharp twist through my heart. I’m used to loneliness—mine, theirs, the kind you don’t talk about but feel in your bones like bad weather.

We all learn to carry it.

I move through the afternoon like a well-oiled machine. Vitals. Meds. Smiles.

But every now and then…that tingle…

I feel it.

Like a stroke between my shoulder blades. Like a thread tugging gently at my awareness.

Eyes.

They’re not heavy or hostile. Justpresent. Focused.

On me.

Following me from across the hall. Down a corridor. In the reflection of the break room window when I turn my head too fast.

But every time I look—nothing. No one.

Still… I know.

He’s here.

And the strangest part?

My mood lifts immediately I accept that reality. My heart kicks hard and my belly swoops like I’m a rollercoaster ride.

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