The Stalker

Three and a half years ago, a friend of mine, Ava, invited me to her work’s New Year’s Eve party, in hopes to introduce me to someone who she just started working with. His name? Warren. After arriving at the party and having a couple of cocktails, Ava ran into the man she wanted to introduce me to and walked him over to me. The moment I locked eyes with him, my heart melted and thought what a God. He was the most gorgeous human being on this planet.

Throughout the night, while talking and mingling with others, our eyes occasionally wandered to each other’s. He’d raise his glass of champagne, wink, and smile. His smiles were so warm, it had my insides fluttering and my insides feeling as if they were on fire. After each smile he gave, I repeated, giving him the same smile right back.

Just before midnight, a random guy walked over to me asking if I would like to dance. I obliged and walked with him onto the dance floor. Within seconds of us dancing, Warren, without saying a word, cut in, taking me away from the unknown man, and began dancing with me.

I remember melting in his arms from the intoxicating scent coming out of his pores. God, he smelled so damn good, too good, to where I wanted to crawl inside his body like a parasite, cling on and not let go. When he leaned into my ear, he spoke in a tone that had my body filling with goosebumps and the acrobats in my stomach coming alive. “Hope you don’t mind me cutting in the way I did and taking you away from him. But I really wanted to get a dance in with you before the clock struck midnight.”

When I asked why, the clock struck midnight. Warren looked at me with lust-filled eyes, cupped the back of my head, and pulled me in for a kiss. Giving me a kiss, I didn’t want to end. It instantly warmed my body, and had my insides melting, my inner core throbbing to beat the band, and my knees feeling weak.

“That’s why,” he breathed as his lips parted from mine. “Happy New Year, Serenity.”

I didn’t know what to say to him. The kiss surprised me, and I stood there in a daze as I thought about what had just happened, wondering why he kissed me the way he did. He removed his jacket and placed it over my shoulders before walking me out to the balcony. We talked outside for a while, exchanged phone numbers, and before leaving the party, he pulled me in for a long and the most memorable, passionate kiss. That last kiss of the night left me breathless and hooked. He made it so I couldn’t wait for him to call.

A year and a half after we met, he promised to give me the world. We ended up marrying in a small, lavish ceremony on a private Island in the Key West. Warren wanted this to be all about me. It was my day, and said I deserved to have the most memorable wedding ever. He took it upon himself to make sure it was as unique as it could ever be and rented the entire private island. It was perfect. We had it to ourselves, along with our close families. And the only other people on the island were the workers.

It was a perfect wedding. We were married on the sandy beach with palm trees blowing in the wind, seagulls flying and singing all around us with no care in the world and alongside the beautiful blue ocean. On top of that, the weather was damn near perfect.

The first year we were married, I thought everything was perfect. We made love every chance we could, wherever we could, day and or night. We talked a lot about having a family of our own, how many kids we wanted, and then he bought me my dream home.

I never thought in my wildest dreams; I would marry a man who had it all. He was a dream come true. He was tall, dark-haired, with chocolate brown eyes that had me melting every time I looked into them. His body was eye-catching. Buff with well-developed muscles and his abs were so delicious, as others would call it, a six-pack. He had all the money in the world, and I owed meeting this man to my best friend, Ava.

I never understood why she wanted me to meet him. As good looking as he was, I would have thought she would have gone after him, but then again, she was engaged to be married. I, on the other hand, was single and was looking for the right one who I could bring home to mama.

After buying me my first home, he wanted me to have our house the way I wanted it to be. I got a hold of architects and designers, and after all of us had come together with our ideas, thoughts, layouts, and designs using computer graphics, we came up with a wholly unique look to the inside. It took quite a few months, but after we finished it, it was the most beautiful home on the planet, and we could finally move into the house he wanted me to have.

I thought we were on the right track to starting a family, but then things suddenly started changing. After moving into the home, he began working more, was always out of town, and was only home on the weekends. He hired maids to help with the cleaning and two cooks since I couldn’t cook worth a shit. He also hired a butler, in which I felt it was only to watch and to look over me, and to report back to him on anything he thought was suspicious. I always caught him eyeing me, and sort of following me around the home, at least that’s how I felt. Anytime I was on the phone, he always seemed to be nearby, listening in on every conversation I had.

I always knew I had nothing to worry about. I did nothing, and never really went anywhere unless it was to hang out with Ava. But with her working all the time, that hardly ever happened either.

I was lonely, and since Warren wouldn’t let me work, I needed something to keep me busy and hired someone to come over and give me piano lessons. Whenever I was feeling sad, empty, and lonely, I’d play just to keep myself from going insane and would practice playing all day long. It was my way of escaping, and to put my mind into a whole different world.

Whenever Warren came home, his way of making it up to me for being gone for those extended periods was by making love to me all day, or all night, depending on what time he came home.

I always felt I could smell another woman on him, but in his line of work, he was still around other women. I never understood why he needed to be away so much, and anytime I ever asked why he couldn’t take a break and spend more time with me, he claimed he couldn’t, that his job needed him.

He was a pilot for a major airline company, and according to him, he was the best one they had. After he turned eighteen years old, he enlisted into the air force and learned how to fly, becoming the best pilot in the air force. When he was twenty-five, he got on honorable discharge and began working for the airlines, where he’s been ever since.

Fast forward another year. We have now been married two years, and if you were to ask me if we were still on our honeymoon, I would tell you, I wish.