Endless Obsession – Episode 34
Episode 34
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⚘Poppy⚘
After Liv receives a much more wet kiss from Tony, she leads me from the living room. “Come on.”
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We walk to my room and I go straight to my closet to grab a small bag. I grab the same travel bag I used for my trip to Texas. My chest aches when I think back to yesterday morning, when I woke up with a smile on my face and thoughts of the night before, when Asher took me so passionately. I still feel his hands on my body and his taste in my mouth. I was happy, happier than I’ve ever been. Then a few text messages screwed that happiness up.
I walk out, once again pushing the tears back. It seems like all I want to do since yesterday is cry. I would have thought my body would be dry by now, but I guess the body is capable of producing numerous amounts of tears.
I throw my bag down on the bed, just as Liv comes up with a handful of clothes from my dresser. I unzip the bag and she tosses the items inside. Liv sees my sagged shoulders and turns to pull me into her arms. I wrap my arms around her middle. I feel like a little kid being comforted.
“Hey, everything is going to be okay,” she murmurs against my hair.
I sniff and nod my head against her shoulder. After several moments, I pull back.
She uses her fingers to rub the wetness off my cheeks.
“I’m giving you until we get to the house
for you to tell me what happened between you and Asher. You came back a day early, so obviously something happened.”
The look she gives me says I’m not going to get out of telling her.
“Okay.”
I give her a watery smile. Maybe telling her the wreck of my current life will help. Maybe she can help me shed some light on what I should do. I can’t control what is happening with the jerk that’s taunting me, but maybe I can have some with the situation with Asher. It’s barely been twenty-four hours since I last saw him, but it seems like twenty-four days, which is weird because I go weekends without seeing him every week. This is different. Even though we’ve only just started… whatever we started, it feels longer. I guess in a sense, it has been. More like eight months, when he started sending me flowers.
“I saw that you’re still getting flowers from Sterling,” Liv remarks, seeming to have read my mind.
I walk away from her and over to my dresser to pull out several bra and panty sets. I don’t look at her as I set them in my bag, not wanting her to see the pain on my face from her comment. She’s going to freak when I tell her that Sterling is none other than Mr. Knight.
“Yeah, I got them today.”
“Hmm… today isn’t his normal day to send them. Wonder why he deviated from his usual routine?” She shoots me a look that I catch out of the corner of my eye.
Walking away, I tell her over my shoulder, “I don’t know.”
“Have you talked to him recently?” She follows me into the bathroom and starts rifling through my medicine cabinet for my toothbrush and toothpaste.
I grab my deodorant, brush, birth control, and other essential items and walk back out. She’s close on my heels. I’m starting to feel like I’m being interrogated.
“Not since Wednesday night.” I fib a tiny bit. I guess you could say I haven’t talked to Sterling since Wednesday, since Sterling doesn’t technically exist, right? His personality may exist, but the man himself doesn’t. His name is Asher, not Sterling, after all.
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After dumping the rest of my things into the bag, I zip it closed, and Liv comes to stand beside me. I pull in a breath and try to school my features. Obviously, I’m going to tell her about Asher/Sterling, but I’d prefer to do it with a tall glass of wine and away from the creepiness of this house. A house I grew up in and no longer feel safe in. I feel like so much has been stripped from me over the last twenty-four hours: my privacy, my sanity, my safety, my sanctity.
“You ready?” she asks, eyeing my curiously.
‘Yeah.”
I grab my bag and slip on a pair of flats before following her out of the bedroom. Tony is on his phone, talking quietly when we walk into the living room. His brows are pulled down as he listens to the person on the other end of the line. He holds up a finger when he sees us.
“Okay. I’ll see you in a bit. Thanks, man.” He hangs up and pockets his phone.
“Ready to go?” he asks, walking over to grab my bag from me.
“Umm… baby?” Liv says with a strained voice.
We both turn to the back door where she’s standing, looking down at something outside. Tony drops my bag and beats me to the door, pulls it open, and bends to pick something up. His body is blocking my view so I can’t see what it is. When he turns and I catch a glimpse, my stomach drops and starts churning furiously. I look to Liv and see her own face carrying a queasy look before her eyes turn hard.
“That bastard!” she growls, her hands balling into fists at her sides.
I walk up to the dead and dried bouquet of flowers that Tony’s holding by the stems with a piece of paper. My heart thumps triple time in my chest—these are the roses I threw away. I know what Liv’s thinking. She doesn’t know that Sterling is Asher. If she did, she’d know he didn’t send these. He just wouldn’t do that. I don’t know how I know that, but I do. I realize right then that Asher’s methods may be unorthodox, but I truly believe he would never hurt me. He’s had so many opportunities to do so, and he’s only ever been sweet, kind, and gentle with me. I may still hate him for lying to me, but I no longer think he would purposely harm me.
I spy a card stuffed down in the flowers and reach out for it. Tony snatches them back from me before my fingers can make contact.
“Wait,” he says, and walks off into the kitchen. Liv and I both follow behind him. I can feel the rage radiating off Liv, and I need to reassure her this isn’t Sterling’s doing.
“This wasn’t him, Liv,” I say as I come to stand beside her. Tony starts going through the cabinet underneath my sink, still holding the flowers by their stems.
Her eyes swing to me, blind hatred in their depths.
Before I can say more, Tony pops his head up and asks, “Do you have any rubber gloves?”
I walk over to the pantry and pull out a
box from the bottom of the small closet. I hand them to him and he snatches out a pair and puts them on. Once he’s gloved, he carefully reaches for the card. His jaw locks tight when he reads whatever it says. Fire blazes in his eyes.
“Fuck,” he hisses, sending goosebumps up my arms with the vehemence in his tone.
“What?” I’m afraid to ask, but I need to know what it says.
I shift on my feet as he sets the flowers down on the counter, before coming to me and Liv. I blindly reach out for her hand and she holds it tight as we both look down at the words handwritten on the stained red card.
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
These roses are dead.
As you soon will be too.
Bile rises in my throat and I barely make it to the trash can before I lose the small bit of contents I have in my stomach. My throat burns as I continue to dry-heave. Hands grab my hair and hold it back from my face. Seconds later, a glass appears in my line of sight. I grab it and take down several gulps, trying to relieve the pain in my throat.
“Who in the hell is this sick fuck?” Tony says beside me.
“I know who it is,” Liv seethes beside me.
“No,” I croak and lean up from the trash can, wiping the back of my mouth with my hand. Liv hands me a wet washcloth and I wipe my mouth again before I turn to face her. “It’s not Sterling.”
“Poppy, you can’t—”
“I know it’s not him, Liv.”
“Wait, who in the hell is Sterling?” Tony comes to stand beside us. I’m grateful the card is no longer in his hand.
Liv looks at me for a minute before turning to face Tony. “He’s her secret admirer.”
“You mean the guy that’s been sending her flowers?”
“Yes,” I answer. “I call him Sterling because he sends me sterling silver roses.”
“How do you know it’s not him?” Liv asks, her expression now a mixture of anger and uncertainty.
I really don’t want to get into this with them yet. I want to get out of here first, then I’ll open up and tell them everything. They’ll understand Asher had nothing to do with this.
“Can we just leave?” I plead. “I’ll tell you why I know it’s not him when we get back to “Wait, who in the hell is Sterling?” Tony comes to stand beside us. I’m grateful the card is no longer in his hand.
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Liv looks at me for a minute before turning to face Tony. “He’s her secret admirer.”
“You mean the guy that’s been sending her flowers?”
“Yes,” I answer. “I call him Sterling because he sends me sterling silver roses.”
“How do you know it’s not him?” Liv asks, her expression now a mixture of anger and uncertainty.
I really don’t want to get into this with them yet. I want to get out of here first, then I’ll open up and tell them everything. They’ll understand Asher had nothing to do with this.
“Can we just leave?” I plead. “I’ll tell you why I know it’s not him when we get back to your house. I can’t be…” I clear my throat when it cracks. “I can’t be here right now. Please?”
“Come on, let’s go,” Tony says, thankfully understanding my need to go. He picks the flowers up and we all walk back out to the living room. He grabs my bag, and I lead them to the front door.
“Why are you bringing them with us?” I ask, looking at the flowers. I don’t want them anywhere near me.
“Because I have a friend meeting us at home. He used to be a detective and will know what we should do with them. I’m sure he’ll advise us to call the cops and they’ll want to see them.”
I nod, knowing he’s right. I just hope the cops will do something and not just push it aside. There’s not much to go on, unless they can pull prints from the flowers. Asher’s already tried pulling info from the text without success. The night we first had sex as we were laying beneath the covers, he told me Eric wasn’t able to break into the cell phone company’s database. To say he was pissed about the lack of
information was an understatement. I felt his body tense until I started kissing his chest and felt him relax again.
The ride to Tony and Liv’s place seems to go by fast. Of course, it could be because my mind is running a mile a minute. I can’t seem to focus on one single thing. One minute I’m thinking about the phone call, the text, the flowers, and knowing this guy was probably in my house. The next it skips to Asher and everything we’ve done over the last few days. Then it goes to Sterling.
I open my door and climb out once Tony parks, grabbing my bag from the backseat. Tony was going to put it in the trunk with the flowers, but I refused. I don’t want anything I own near them. I keep my eyes diverted from them as we walk into the house. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to look at my favorite rose the same way again. This creep ruined that for me. Tony puts them down on the counter, before grabbing my bag from my hands.
“I’ll take this to the spare room. Sam should be here any minute,” he says and walks off.
“Wine,” Liv mutters. I watch her stoically as she pours us both a glass. When she hands me one, her eyes are filled with fire.
She comes to stand right in front of me and says, “They’re going to catch this guy, Pop. I wish you would have told me this was going on.”
I take big sip and lower my glass. “I really did think it was my fault about the drawer, and the other stuff didn’t happen until a few days ago. I haven’t even really had time to process it yet myself.”
She grabs my hand and entwines our fingers.
“Hey,” she says, and I lift my head. “No matter what happens, you know me and Tony are here for you, right?”
“I do. Thank you, Liv. I have no idea what I would have done without you two.”
She frowns and cocks her head to the side. “Why didn’t you call Asher? With him knowing about the situation, I don’t understand why you didn’t call him first.”
I shrug and take another sip of wine to buy myself some time, but there’s no need because there’s a knock at the front door. We walk out to the living room, just as Tony walks out of the hallway.
He pulls the door open and on the other side is an older gentleman, probably in his mid-to-late fifties.
“Sam, thanks for coming by.” Tony shakes his hand and stands aside for him to enter.
They both turn toward me and Liv.
“You remember Liv,” he says, motioning to her.
Liv steps forward and gives the man a kiss on the cheek. “It’s nice to see you again, Sam.”
“And you, Liv. I hear congratulations are in order,” he remarks, smiling down at her.
“They are, and thank you,” she says, her smile forced.
“And this is Poppy Lexington.” I step forward and take Sam’s hand. “Poppy, this is Sam, a friend of mine.”
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“Nice to meet you, Poppy,” he says kindly.
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you as well.”
“So,” Sam says, turning back to Tony. “What’s going on here?”
“Let’s move to the kitchen. There’s something I need to show you and we can talk in there.”
Tony leads the way, and me and Liv follow, Sam bringing up the rear.
“Would you like coffee, water, or something else to drink?” Liv asks Sam.
“No, but thanks.”
My eyes land on the flowers sitting on the table. I steer clear of them as we walk over to the bar.
“Why don’t you tell Sam everything that’s happened so far, Pop?” Tony advises, his eyes soft on mine.
I turn to Sam and see him watching me expectantly, his kind eyes assessing me. I lick my lips and start talking. I tell him about my suspicions of the guy being in my house, the text I got the other day, and the phone call earlier. Sam’s face stays neutral, but I can see an underlying anger deep in his eyes. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle when I tell him I got the feeling of being watched while I was on the phone with the unknown man. The package at the door proves that the feeling was real and wasn’t my imagination.
“She called Liv in a panic,” Tony continues my story. “She locked herself in her bathroom until we got there. Before we left to come back here, Liv found these.” He stops and walks to the table to grab the flowers and sets them down on the bar in front of Sam. “They were lying right outside her back door. I kept the stems wrapped in paper so my prints wouldn’t get on them. The bastard left her a note.”
Tony walks to the sink and rummages until he pulls out a pair of gloves and hands them to Sam, who puts them on before grabbing the card. He reads it and flips it over to look at the back, then places it back on top of the roses. I dig my hands into fists as he walks around and inspects them.
He stops and lifts his eyes to mine. “Do you have any idea who sent you these, or who could possibly be harassing you?”
I shake my head and say no, just as Tony and Liv say, “Maybe.”
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He looks between the three of us, before settling his eyes on Tony. “Explain.”
“Tony, I swear it’s not him,” I assure, my voice pleading for him to believe me.
He talks over me, bringing on my irritation. “She’s been getting the same kind of flowers every week from a guy she calls Sterling. It’s not his real name, just one she gave him because he won’t reveal his name to her. Granted, the flowers she gets from him are alive. She’s been getting them for months.”
Liv picks up where Tony leaves off. “She knows nothing about this guy. Not even what he looks like. He just started texting her out of the blue a few weeks ago.
I glare at her. Sam turns his questioning eyes to me.
“I’m telling you Sterling isn’t the guy we’re looking for,” I stress, not hiding my mounting anger. I know they’re trying to help, but they’re going to make it worse. I won’t let Asher get in trouble for this when I know he didn’t do it.
“Poppy, there’s no way you can know for sure. Just let Sam try to look into him,” Liv says, coming to stand beside me and grabbing my hand.
I pull my hand away and take a step back. “No.”
“Miss Lexington, why do you believe this man isn’t the one that’s harassing you?”
Enough is enough. I won’t allow this to continue.
I look at Liv when I say, “Because Sterling is Mr. Knight…our boss.” .
⚘Asher⚘
I slam my laptop closed, not caring if I crack the screen. I lean back in my chair and scrub my hands down my face. There’s no fucking way I can concentrate on work right now. I’ve got too much on my mind at the moment. Namely, the woman that’s had me tied in knots for the past year. Since the moment I saw her, I haven’t gone this long without seeing her. I knew it would be hard, but fuck, this is so much worse. My hands shake and my head pounds. My heart hasn’t beat properly since I left her at her house two days ago. I feel like I’m going through fucking withdrawals. Can you go through withdrawals from not seeing the one person that gives your life meaning? I have no damn clue, but if I don’t see her soon, I’m going to go mad and rip my fucking hair out. That may make me sound like a pussy, but I’d be the happiest fucking pussy in the world. If I could ever get Poppy back, that is.
Rex called me yesterday to inform me that Olivia and her fiancé, Tony, came by Poppy’s house. They were inside for about thirty minutes before all three left with Tony carrying a bag in one arm and what looked like flowers in the other. Poppy looked upset. The guys he had on Poppy stayed behind to watch over her house while she was gone, waiting on her to come back, but she never did. After getting Olivia’s address from the company database, Rex had another guy ride by and sure enough, Poppy was holed up there. Although it makes me feel better knowing that
she isn’t alone, I still hate being left in the dark. Rex’s man is currently at Olivia’s house now, still keeping an eye on Poppy.
I get up from my chair and walk over to the tall windows facing the city. I stuff my hands in my pocket and stare out at the early morning traffic. I kept my promise to myself and didn’t watch the live feed of Poppy once I dropped her off. I didn’t come by her place to watch her through her window. I wanted to, fuck if I wasn’t tempted to, but by sheer force of will, I didn’t. The moment I got off the phone with Wyatt with instructions to remove and the locations of the cameras in Poppy’s house and the tracking device, my hand reached for my phone to pull up the feed one last time, but I didn’t look.More interesting stories from TOPSTER STORIES App. My need to prove to Poppy that she can trust me is the only thing that stopped me from calling Wyatt back and telling him to leave just one camera. Poppy would never forgive me for that. Instead, I drank myself stupid. Before I got too drunk, I texted Poppy, telling her I missed her. No truer words have ever been spoken, or in this case, typed.
There’s a knock on my door and I bark, “Go away.” I’m being an asshole, but I don’t give one goddamn fuck at the moment. The person on the other side of that door is lucky I don’t rip it open and shred them for bothering me.
I hear the click of the door opening, but then silence. Pissed at the audacity that someone thinks they can just walk into my office without my say, I turn around to ream their ass, but my anger dissolves when I see Olivia standing there. From the look in her eyes, Poppy’s told her about me. She looks curious, weary, and angry all at once. I wonder which emotion is more dominant.
I walk around my desk and lean against the edge, crossing my arms over my chest.
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“Olivia, what can I do for you?” I question, trying to keep my voice neutral. Olivia’s been acting as my assistant the past few days since Poppy hasn’t been here.
“You’re eleven o’clock just arrived,” she says, her eyes narrowing slightly.
“I told you to cancel the rest of my appointments for today.”
“No, sir, you did not.”
“I assure you…” I trail off when I remember the email I was going to send out to Olivia to cancel my appointments is still sitting in my draft folder.
Fuck!
I was drafting it when my mind wandered for the thousandth time to Poppy. I never sent it. I need to pull my head out of my ass and get my mind back to work. No, what I need is to get Poppy back. She’s the only thing that will pull me out of this funk.
I incline my head. “I apologize. I got sidetracked when I was drafting the email with my request. Please inform Mr. Ballard that I need to reschedule.”
She gives me a short nod, but doesn’t move from her spot. She just stands there and watches me. I hold her gaze, not about to back down. She may be Poppy’s best friend, and with that has my respect, but I won’t allow her to try to intimidate me.
“Why?” she asks, tipping her head to the side inquisitively.
I know what she’s referring to, but I still ask, “Why what?”
“You know damn well what?”
I lift the corner of mouth in a smirk and her eyes narrow further. I drop the ruse and drop my arms from my chest and grip the sides of my desk.
“I won’t discuss that with you, Olivia. Poppy deserves to be the first to hear it.”
She nods, a hint of respect replacing some of the irritation. “I can understand that.”
She still makes no move to leave. I can see the questions swirling in her eyes, so I wait her out. I’ll answer the questions I can to alleviate her worry for her friend, but that’s it. I don’t owe her anything, but I know if I can earn back some trust from Olivia, it will help my case with Poppy.
“Do you love her?” she asks quietly, her eyes intently watching for even the minimalist of reactions from me.
My answer comes immediately, and without hesitation.
“With every beat of my heart and every breath I take,” I tell her with conviction.
Her eyes widen in surprise and she sucks in a breath before smiling.
“Good.” She turns and grabs the door handle, but doesn’t twist it. “You should know, the person that broke into her house made another appearance yesterday.”
My body goes rigid, my hands automatically balling into fists, and my jaw goes tight. My blood pumps furiously through my veins.
“What?” I hiss between clenched teeth.
Olivia clears her throat and takes another step back, her hand still on the handle, gripping it tight. Yeah, I’m sure my current expression has her wanting to run. I know my eyes have to be blazing hot at the moment.
“He, uh… he called and threatened her, told her he was coming for her. He also left some dead flowers at her door. The same kind you’ve been sending.”
Rage has my body locking up. This fucker is going to wish he was dead by the time I get done with him. How in the fuck did he get past Rex’s men? I know they are competent enough because Rex wouldn’t hire guys that didn’t know what they were doing. I’ll be finding out as soon as Olivia leaves.
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Tbc
Endless Obsession
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