Dangerous Obsession

Year and a half had passed since Margaret send Leslie to other place far from her, far from her toxicity, but she still is deep on her dark, she had to kill Chester with her own hand, because she had been abused by him, and when she killed him, she had to change her identity and move on with her life, but this time as the owner of a burlesque bar under her new identity, Veronica Aguilar, an undercover cop, seeking justice, but maintaining her same cold and dominant personality, and to search for the love of her life who always been Leslie Ferrer, Margaret now as Veronica Aguilar, undercover cop, owner of burlesque bar in the center of Kyiv called “Le Chat Noir Cabaret” had to turn her life to a different way.

Kyiv, late October. The city smelled of wet leaves and diesel, neon bleeding into the Dnipro fog. “Le Chat Noir Cabaret” sat on the narrow Andriivskyi Descent, wedged between a closed-down church and a twenty-four-hour currency exchange. From the outside it looked like any other velvet-roped fever dream: red bulbs, thumping bass, girls in feathers and little else. Inside, it was Veronica Aguilar’s kingdom, Veronica (once Margaret) stood on the mezzanine in a tailored black suit, white shirt opens just enough to show the thin scar that ran from collarbone to sternum: Chester’s last gift before she put three rounds in his face. She had not smiled in eighteen months. Not once. Smiling felt like a debt she no longer owed the world.

Margaret Akroyd CEO of Akroyd fashion house, was always fierce and beautiful her past life as Margaret was abused by her own husband who was a dominant, and headed designer, Margaret Life change since Leslie Ferrer enter to her dark and cold life but as she realise the danger that she was put Leslie decided to send her far from her toxicity, being alone and with Chester Akroyd force her to behis submissa till she get tired of and killed Chester with her own hands, things that make her force to change her identity as Veronica Aguilar, an undercover cop, who trying to get her life back together and expose a group of drug traffickers and rapists, but to do that she had to open a burlesque club-bar in the center ofKyiv, but Margaret now Veronica Aguilar wats to find her love of her life Leslie Ferrer, but in the path, she discover that Leslie was married with someone else somewhere in Europe, But Veronica find consolation came from Alice Smith, a girl no more than 23 years old, who worked with her father in a cafe that Mr. Smith had bought with a loan that Veronica herself had given him.

Veronica Aguilar

Walking down the path in late autumn in Kyiv, my head spinning as I remembered my past life, I would pay anything to erase those memories from my mind, but my past will always haunt me, and the regret of sending the only person who was a light in my life away from me. But I did it for her own good. I remember that night I screamed at her, that I didn’t want her in my life anymore, that I wanted her far away from me, far from my poison, far from the danger that always stalked me and never left me until I did what I had to do: kill Chester with my own hands. It was the only way to be free from him, from his abuse… to start a new life. But things got complicated, and I had to flee, change my identity from Margaret Ackroyd to Veronica Aguilar, change my profession from CEO to undercover cop to protect myself, and seek justice for all those women who were once abused as I was… I close my eyes, and I can still feel her soft hand slipping out of mine that night, the way her tears fell like rain on my cheeks when I yelled those cruel, filthy lies. “Get out! I never loved you! You’re nothing to me!” God, the words tasted like acid, but I had to make them cut deep enough that she’d run and never look back. Because if she stayed… Chester would have found her. He always found the things I loved and broke them just to watch me bleed. My fingers still remember the weight of the gun when I finally put three bullets in him. I stood over his body in that warehouse, blood pooling around my heels like spilled wine, and for one single second I felt… free. Then the sirens started, and I knew freedom had a price. So, I burned Margaret Ackroyd to ash, her company, her penthouse, her name, and rose again as Veronica Aguilar, badge hidden beneath lace and leather, hunting monsters in the dark because someone must. But doll, every night when I slide into these silk sheets alone, I swear I can still smell her perfume on my skin. I’d give every fake identity, every medal they’ll never pin on me, every breathless moan I fake for the job… I’d trade it all just to hold her one more time and whisper the truth against her lips: I never stopped loving you, I never stop seeking for you…I dry a tear from my eyes, and went to the café that Mr. smith owned, I went to collect the loan him owns me about 8 months ago, if he didn’t pay me, her beautiful princess will suffer the consequences, his daughter Alice, this 23 beautiful girl that I had been observing her for a long time, she reminds me so much of... (I bit my lip thinking about her) …the only person who brought light to my dark life... I was blackmailing her, she’s beautiful, pure, with blue eyes like the ocean...she approaches to me, and put a glass in the table, I pushed away and fall in the floor.

-(alice smile softly)…How I can help you ma’am?

-you know, why I came here right?...I come here to collect my money that your dad owns me long time ego.

-Miss. Aguilar (said Mr smith)…I can collect all the money, I just need a little more time.

-time? Mr. smith…I need my money back right now…If not I will kill you.

-No please (said Alice)…don’t kill my dad…I will do anything to pay his debt.

-Anything?…even if I asked you do something you know… indecent?

-(Alice voice tremble)…Anything.

-Deal…(I click my finger and one of my man carried her) so Mr.Smith your daughter is mine now, I will give you 1 month to paid all my debts and just like that I will let her go, but for now she is mine.

The perfect excuse I made to be with the young woman, I took her away, she will live with me and obey me and please me in everything, I will teach her, we arrived at home I put her in a room, she was trembling but I won’t hurt her, she is pure as the ocean.

-Put her down colins, I’ll take it from here, thank you. (Approaching to Alice) Alright doll…

-What will you doing to me?

-Nothing bad I’m sure, so (leaned into her almost our lips meet)…I have three rules that you need to follow.

-Which are those rules?

-Um…first one you can’t leave the house… (I said again softly) First rule, you do not leave this house. Not ever. Not without me

Her lips parted, but no sound came. Good. Listening was the beginning of obedience. I took one slow step closer. The floorboards sighed under my weight, her fingers twisted together in front of her. The trembling had moved from her shoulders to her hands now, delicate, frantic birds beating against a cage.

- Second rule…(I continued, voice low)…you speak when I ask you to speak. You answer truthfully, always. Lies taste bitter, Alice, and I have no patience for bitterness.

- And the third?...( she whispered. Brave little thing)

-the third…you find out tonight in my room, put this on you…

-but….

-you said, yo will do anything right?

-Umju…

-so, don’t make me wait…

-um…

I went to my room, and put on my red lingerie with my silk robe, waiting for her, now for the third rule it will be easy, I want her to make me a massage, I let the silk robe slide over my shoulders as I moved toward the bed, the dim lamp casting warm gold across the room. The red lingerie clung to my skin like a secret I was daring her to discover. The air felt thicker here, quieter, as if even the shadows were holding their breath for her arrival.

-come in Alice…

-I…I put in on me…

-come closer…

-why you want me in bed?

-just to make a massage…

-a massage?

-umju…go on

Alice

I Approach to Miss Aguilar and trying to make her the massage but I feel tense. I feel… I don ’t know with her is different I feel not just in danger sometimes but protective, maybe she is not that bad, maybe she just need someone to be with her…. I approached Miss Aguilar slowly, forcing my breath to stay even. My hands hovered over her shoulders for a moment before I let them settle, the heat of her skin seeping into my palms. I tried to start the massage, steady, professional, but the tension running through me was sharper than the knots beneath her muscles.She felt… different.

Not dangerous in the way the others whispered. Not cold, not cruel. No, something else. Something I didn’t have a name for.

-Relax doll…(veronica said sensual almost erotic)…I hope you don’t dissapoint me

-(I swolled hard)…um….(Make her a faint massage)

-more tender…(Veronica said sweet and tender)

-tender?

-umju….(guide my hand to her breath)

My breath stuttered when her fingers closed around my wrist, warm, deliberate, guiding rather than forcing. She drew my hand slowly across the curve of her chest, an unmistakable path that made my pulse collide with my ribs. Her skin rose and fell beneath my fingertips, the soft rhythm of her breathing brushing against my knuckles. I should’ve stepped back. I should’ve reclaimed my hand, reasserted the line between us, but I didn’t. I couldn’t….Her voice dipped again, a velvet edge wrapped in something softer than she probably meant to show.

- more gentle..( she whispered, her breath grazing my ear as she angled her head back just enough to look at me)

-I…. I Can’t

- do you think that with this I will forgive your dad’s debt, you gave me a pathetic rubbing. One million dollars for 30 days, is 33 grant a day and this pathetic massage is a big zero.

-let me try again please, I can do better.

-looks like I need to teach you…. come closer

Her grip loosened, but only so she could slide my hand lower, pressing my palm flat against the warm skin just beneath her collarbone. Not pushing. Never forcing. Just… showing me where she wanted me, but I couldn’t my hands was trembling and my breath hitch, I just run way, this is too much phsyco, but she is like a goddess to my eyes I trying to I swear but I’m not use to it., I try to seeking help from the police but he bring me back to veronica, she was on the kitchen, I broken the rules, Veronica didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t have to. The low, even tone she used was far more chilling than any shout could have been. her movements slow and deliberate, as if she had all the time in the world. The officer stood by the open door, his face a stony mask, refusing to meet my eyes.

-Miss Aguilar, I brought Alice back.

-thank you commiser, you save me a trip…Alice come in.

Veronica Aguilar

I should have punished Alice, but I couldn’t. On the contrary, I made her sign a contract stating that I would forgive half of her father’s debt in exchange for a kiss. A ridiculous pretext. A mask. The truth was far more indecent: I was dying to taste that girl’s lips, and I needed an excuse, one that sounded like power rather than craving.

She stood in front of me, shoulders tight, the pen trembling between her fingers as she scrawled her name on the dotted line. The sound of the pen scratching paper was louder than her breathing. She didn’t meet my eyes. She knew exactly what she was agreeing to, and so did I, When she finally leaned in, her lips brushed mine with the dryness of someone trying to keep a promise short and technical. A formality. A transaction. And guess what I didn’t like it.

- Again….( I murmured, catching her chin between my fingers before she could pull away)… the deal was for a kiss, Alice. Not a peck. If you want to save your father, you’re going to have to make me believe it…try Again….

-(Alice couldn’t)…I can’t… (Running away)

I smiled sideways, she soon will use to it, she just need time to adapt but I know she is falling, I didn’t chase her, not with my legs, at least. I let her run down the hallway, let the echo of her footsteps bounce against the walls like a small animal trying to escape a predator. I stood there with the taste of her fear on my tongue, head tilted, breath steady. The smile lingering on my lips wasn’t amusement. It was possession wearing patience like a coat, She thought distance would save her…She was wrong.

I followed at my own pace, slow, measured, the kind of steps that announce certainty rather than pursuit. When I reached the end of the corridor, I found her pressed against the wall, hands clutching her own elbows as if trying to fold herself small enough to disappear, Her chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven breaths. She wasn’t crying, but she was close. And yet, beneath all that trembling, there was something else flickering behind her eyes. Not hatred. Not disgust. It was awareness. Of me. Of herself. Of the tension stretching between us like a pulled string that refused to snap, I stepped closer, close enough that her breath stuttered when she caught my scent. Her gaze lifted, caught mine, and froze there like she couldn’t look away even if she wanted to

-Alice…(I said gently, as if coaxing her out rather than cornering her)…Doll, I didn’t ask for anything you didn’t agree to…

-I…I tried. I couldn’t. I just… couldn’t (She shook her head quickly)

-next time yo won’t try, you will make it up to me, now let’s go sleep, tomorrow is a big day, and I can’t sleep alone.

-W…What?

-I want you sleep with me….

-but….

-Alice, I didn’t give you a choice, I am ordered…

She didn’t move when I said it. Her back stayed flat against the wall, shoulders drawn in like a child waiting for punishment. The hallway light flickered once, a cheap bulb on its last legs, and in that half-second of darkness I saw her flinch.

-but…. you said you don’t want me sleep with you.

-guess what? I change my mind, and I need you sleep with me…c’mon (I said Grabbing her for the hand)

I kept my grip light, just enough to guide, not enough to drag, but even that small contact made her jolt like my fingers were a live wire. Her palm was cold, damp, trembling inside mine. She didn’t pull away. Maybe she couldn’t. Maybe she didn’t want to. I wasn’t sure which possibility made my pulse thrum harder, she let me lead her a few steps before she stumbled, digging her heels into the carpet.

- Please… (she whispered, so thin it barely existed) …don’t make me do something wrong.

Wrong? As if wanting warmth made her sinful. As if wanting me made her break.

I turned back to her, releasing her hand only so I could cup her jaw, thumb brushing the trembling corner of her mouth. She shivered, but she didn’t look away this time.

- Alice… nothing you do with me is wrong…. (My voice dropped to something softer, darker.)… I told you, everything between us happens because you agreed. You started this the moment you signed your name on that paper. You gave me your yes.

- But you said… (she swallowed hard) …you said you didn’t want me in your bed.

-um, I did… And now I don’t want to sleep without you. I changed my mind. Okay?

-Okay…

I took her by the hand, and took her to my bedroom, I gave her a lingerie to put on to sleep, she was a little insecure, and nervous I could notice it, but she still lay on my side, I stuck to her from behind and hugged her tightly, I stroked her hair, I could feel that she was tense,but I gently caresses her face, I settled in behind her, my chest fitting against the delicate line of her spine, the warmth of her body pulsing in uneven waves. She breathed like someone trying to pretend she was fine, small, measured, almost rehearsed. But the tiniest tremor in her shoulders told the truth.

-kitten…Why so tense? (I said caressing her hair) …I won’t bite you.

- It’s just… (She exhaled shakily, not quite a whisper) …I just….

-Sleep….

Without thinking, Alice closed her eyes and fell asleep in my arms. I stayed for a moment watching her, and then I fell asleep, next day I woke up early than her and put on me work out clothes and went for a walk, then when I come inside, I found her in my office.

-Veronica , I just notice that you was here, and sorry for that.

-something you want to tell me.

-um no…

-any idea of what it is?

-um no.

-this is your father’s Debts if you are a good girl….

-(she stands up quickly and takeoff her lace panties)

-What? (I said abruptly)

-fine… is this what you want to have all of me.

- (looking at her lace panties) …I appreciate it but not necessarily…. anyway, you finished, you cover all your dad’s debt, just because you were a good girl.

-(soft)…thank you.

Alice came closer to me, and we were about to kiss, but my stupid brother showed up, I got scared, and Alice was embarrassed because her panties were on my desk, my brother, steven, burst through the office door without knocking, like he always did, grinning that smug grin of his.

-hey sis!.

-um?!!!

He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes darting from me to Alice, then down to the delicate lace panties still crumpled on the corner of my desk. Alice’s face flushed crimson: she froze halfway toward me, her skirt hiked just enough to make the situation painfully obvious. I felt my own cheeks burn as I instinctively stepped in front of her, trying to shield her from his gaze.

-sorry to interrupt but I will need borrow you for some minute, is that ok?

-Um? (I look at Alice, and she move her head as if she said yes) … We were just... discussing some paperwork, right Alice?

-Umju…. (blushed and hide her lace panties)

-Ok… (my brother said smile sideway and give a wink to Alice as if he said, your secret is safe with me)

Steven leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, that infuriating sideways smile still plastered on his face. He didn’t say anything else—just let the silence stretch, thick and awkward, while his eyes flicked once more to the spot on the desk where Alice had hastily stuffed the panties into her hand… Alice cleared her throat, smoothing her skirt down with trembling fingers

- I… I should get back to what I was do it…..

she mumbled, avoiding both of our gazes. She brushed past me, close enough that I caught the faint scent of her perfume mixed with the warmth of her skin. My heart was still hammering from how close we’d come to that kiss.

-Alice, wait…. ( I started, but she was already slipping past Steven, who stepped aside with exaggerated courtesy)

She didn’t respond, just hurried down the hallway, heels clicking faster than usual. The door clicked shut behind her, leaving me alone with my brother, I turned to him, glaring

-What the hell steven? you couldn’t knock at least!

-well door was closed, not locked. My bad. Though in my defense, I didn’t expect to walk into… whatever that was. (he smiles sideway) …. Thought I know what you’re into with Alice, Damn sis! (he is laughing)

-Oh, shut the fuck off…(I rubbed the back of my neck, heat still prickling across my face) Let’s get straight to the point, what’s the problem?

- Drug trafficking, the senator is involved, and he’s in your burlesque bar. We must do something and act fast.

-that’s right, let me go change and we can go.

I went to my room, and I saw Alice sitting in my bed, still embarrassing for the moment…I approach to her and smile sideway, I locked the door just in case, and I caressing her cheeks, the flush on her cheeks hadn’t faded; if anything, it deepened when our eyes met. She looked small there, vulnerable in a way that made something twist low in my gut.

- Hey… (hugging her, I said quietly, crossing the room in a few strides. She glanced up, biting her lower lip, and I couldn’t help the sideways smile that tugged at my mouth) …Are you ok?

- (She nodded, but it was shaky) …Your brother…umm

-Steven, know about us Alice…

-but…he saw my…… (biting her lower lips)

-he, just being noisy around…get dress…

-where are we going?

-to my burlesques, I have some work to do there.

Alice slipped off the bed, her movements slow and deliberate, like she was still trying to piece herself back together after Steven’s interruption. She avoided my eyes at first, reaching for her discarded clothes scattered across the floor. I watched her for a moment, leaning against the doorframe with my arms crossed, that protective pull in my chest tightening. She was gorgeous even like this—flushed, a little dishevelled, pulling her dress back on with trembling fingers.

- You sure you’re, okay? (I said soft to her, stepping closer to help her with the zipper at the back. My fingers brushed her skin, warm and soft, sending a spark through me despite the chaos brewing outside this room)

-umju….

-then let’s get ready…Steven is harmless doll, he knows how to keep secrets, and we have a rule in the family. That we will covered each other backs, he will not said anything Alice.

- Family rule, huh? Does that include walking in on... whatever we were doing?

-(I smirked, unable to help it)…. That’s more like sibling torture. He’ll probably lord it over me for years, now get ready!

Alice

Veronica it’s probably right, but it’s still embarrassing... sometimes I think she’s not as bad as people make her out to be. She’s always been kind to me, she hasn’t forced me to do anything... I don’t know, I feel like she needs someone by her side who understands and supports her, I was changing and put a white short dress with opens in the side a coat and my hair down, when I finish went to her, she was on the kitchen drinking a cup of wine and almost shocking at herself when she saw me.

-how do I look? (I ask her softly)

-you’re…. (but I remembered Leslie) …it suits you…let’s go.

-Verónica, are you ok?

- I am, just light headache…don’t ask question, cmon (pull Alice by the hand)

Veronica’s fingers laced tightly through mine as she tugged me toward the door, her grip a little too firm, like she was anchoring herself more than leading me. The cool night air hit my bare legs the second we stepped outside, the side cut-outs of the white dress letting the breeze tease my skin in a way that made me shiver, and not just from the cold, it was from Veronica’s touch…she has this kind of bittersweet, after some minutes we arrived at her burlesque bar, she holding my hand tightly, but then she went to talk with the senator, I take advantage of and went to explore a little to see if I can find her office, but instead I get lost and a black man, found me and start talk with me or better said threat me, and told me that if I do something bad he will tell to Davis, the policeman and get me in trouble with Veronica, I just ran away and saw Veronica talking with the senator and a burlesque approach to her seductively, that’s make my blood boiled, she is supposed to be with me not with a strange girl talking so close to her, so I almost ran over there and to have her attention, I try to flirt with a commissar and a burlesque girl.

Veronica

I grabbing Alice hand tightly, to enter to my burlesque, need to protect her, she is just a baby my baby, but even I am trying to forget about Leslie I can’t… but I have Alice now, and I need to be focus on her, Alice is still young and rebellious…I need to teach her too many things, I know she is capable to do a lot of things, even loving a woman older as me, I can’t take my eyes off her, not even for a second, but I had to attend to the senator. so, I walked over there, I couldn’t stop watching her. Even when I turned to greet patrons, even when the room demanded my presence, my eyes kept finding her. Until they didn’t. For a split second, she was gone. Panic flared sharp and fast. I scanned the room, told myself she’d gone to the bathroom, forced my shoulders to relax as I continued a conversation that suddenly felt meaningless. Then I saw her in senator’s Miller arms, that’s make my blood boiled, she is entertained herself in my expenses, so I approach to her and pull her by the hand, we said Goodbye to the senator and I cornered her in the dim hallway, she’s had a bit too much to drink, I don’t like her attitude, so I’m going to take her home, and we’ll have a conversation there.

-What the hell was that kitten?

-I was just losing up a little bit…(laugh)…it is a show isn’t?

-losing up in someone else arms…... (jealously creeping in) in front of me you’re belong to me (I said to her almost a whispering)

Her smile faltered. Not vanished, just cracked, like glass under pressure. She swayed slightly, catching herself against the wall, eyes bright with that reckless shine alcohol gives courage it doesn’t know how to handle, I ask Collins to pick her up and take us home, once there Collins carry her inside to my room, then there I take her into the bathroom, she look so funny drank but even I want to laughing, I need to maintain my posture, I cornered in the wall and I leaned just enough to feel her breath in my face.

-I don’t like your attitude Alice….

She turned her face, and I cup her and faced to me.

-I’m talking to you….

-argh……you kidnaped me, you control me, you don’t even let me talk with my dad…what I am supposed to do? I just wanted to relax.

-you want to relax (I arch an eyebrow) …it’s what you want kitten?

I pull her into the shower and turned on to let the water fall into her, but she pull me with her, I hold her soft by the neck, she was trembling but still with that challenging attitude.

-don’t ever entrained yourself in front of my expensive kitten, forgetting yourself. ( I said strong but soft at the same time).

-I’m not in your expensive anymore… (she pull me with her and kiss me deeply).

Her lips crashed into mine like a storm breaking loose, hot, desperate, tasting of whiskey and defiance. The water poured down over us, soaking through my shirt in seconds, plastering her dress to every curve as she pressed harder, her hands fisting in my collar like she wanted to tear me apart or pull me closer. I couldn’t tell which. Maybe both. I growled low against her mouth, my grip tightening just enough on her neck to feel her pulse racing under my thumb. She was trembling, yeah, from the cold shower, from the booze, from whatever fire she’d been stoking all night, but that kiss? It was pure challenge, daring me to push back. I did, I shoved her against the tiled wall, pinning her there with my body, water streaming between us as I devoured her mouth in return. No gentleness this time. My free hand slid down her side, hiking up the hem of that soaked dress, fingers digging into her thigh hard enough to leave marks she’d feel tomorrow.

- You think this changes anything, kitten? (I murmured against her lips, breaking the kiss just long enough to bite her bottom lip, tugging until she whimpered) … You get drunk, flirt with whatever trash is out there, then come back and kiss me like you own me? that’s not how is work.

- Maybe I do (she breathed, arching into me, her nails scraping down my chest through the wet fabric) … Or maybe I’m just tired of you acting like you own me.

Fuck, that mouth of hers. Always pushing. I released her neck only to tangle my fingers in her wet hair, yanking her head back to expose her throat. My lips found the pulse point there, sucking hard as the shower thundered around us. She gasped, hips grinding against mine instinctively, and I felt how ready she was, even pissed off, even drunk, her body didn’t lie.

- You’re mine… (I said, voice rough, sliding my hand higher under her dress, teasing the edge of her panties with my knuckles) … And if you need reminding...

I pressed two fingers against her through the thin fabric, slow circles that made her knees buckle. She moaned, loud and unfiltered, clutching at my shoulders like I was the only thing keeping her upright.

-Waitt Veronica…. (she said with hitch breath) …. I’m virgin….

-Doll…. (I said sweet) …I know…I won’t hurt you; I will be soft just trust me (I kiss her again)

-please don’t stop….

-(I took out my hand from her panties) ….I am who control your pleasure doll…. remember that (said Veronica)

Alice smith

Veronica, just let me turn on and she left to do whenever she does, I was all wet and not just for the shower, but from exciting, I was dying for her to make me hers, I leaned my hands against the cool tile, eyes closed, breath uneven. My body was humming, nerves awake, skin too aware of itself. The heat rolled over me, slicking my thoughts, loosening something I’d kept tight for far too long. I wasn’t just warm from the shower I was charged, restless, aching with anticipation. Every second stretched. I imagined her movements somewhere beyond the door, unhurried, deliberate, as if she knew exactly what she was doing to me by leaving me like this. The thought alone sent a shiver through me, a low, needy pull settling deep in my chest. I let the water run, tracing my shoulders, my back, trying to breathe through the wanting. I didn’t want to rush this. I wanted the moment she came back, the way the air would change with her presence, the way my name would sound on her lips. I was ready, too ready for her to return and claim the space between us, to finally make real what my body already knew was inevitable, but when I get to my room I saw she left me a brand new iPhone with a note that said “for your good behaviour kitten, Love Veronica” I smile and immediately call my dear father, my dad took the phone immediately.

-hi dad!!!

-Alice my darling.

-are you ok dad?

-yes, yes, my darling, is she hurting you?

-no, no dad, she didn’t…. I don’t know dad, I think she is not that bad.

-she has no right to take you.

-we will see you each other soon dad, I need to go now, love you.

-love you too my darling.

I hangout the phone and just lay back on my bed, thinking on veronica…I feel something I don’t know how to explain, in that moment she enters, she was with a red babydoll, she asked me to lay with her, I was afraid at first but then she caresses my back, and my chin, in that moment I feel safe, in Veronica’s arms but I feel something is seem that she has a blank space in her heart, maybe for that she is that way, she didn’t said her personal life to me, but in some way I feel that she feel alone for long time, She didn’t speak when she came in. She never did, not right away. The door closed softly behind her, and the room shifted, as if her presence bent the air. The red babydoll clung to her like a secret meant only for the dark, the fabric catching the low light when she moved.

-Lay with me (she said like an invitation)

I hesitated. My body knew how to respond faster than my mind, but fear still lived there, fear of wanting too much, of needing something I couldn’t name. She noticed, of course. Veronica always noticed. She climbed onto the bed slowly, giving me space, letting the silence do the convincing, When I finally lay back, she followed, curling behind me. Her hand found my back, warm, steady. She traced slow lines along my spine, not asking for anything in return. Then her fingers slid up, gentle beneath my chin, guiding my head back just enough to rest against her shoulder, in that moment, the noise in my head softened. I breathed. For the first time since the call ended, I really breathed. She held me like someone who knew what it meant to be alone. Not the dramatic kind the quiet, enduring kind that settles into your bones. Her touch wasn’t hungry. It was careful. Protective. And that scared me more than desire ever could. I felt safe in Veronica’s arms. Truly safe, I face her and just caressing her chin, I thought she will turn her chin but instead she let me be, she laid in my cares, then she closed her eyes and fall sleep, I stayed a little bit longer wake, had a lot of question, who is Veronica? Why she seems knew what’s be alone? Why I sense this hollow place inside her? Why she never talks about family or lovers?... anything that tied her to before. It was as if her life had started somewhere far away and arrived here already wounded.