by Iona Rose
I’m going to prove that he is dangerous and make damned sure he can never hurt Erika again.
I fire up the engine and head towards Nadia’s place to tell her about my plan and get her on board with it. I guess my catch up with Tim will have to wait a little bit longer.
Jeremy
When Aidan told me he was going out of town for the night, I could barely contain my excitement. I covered myself in front of him though, telling him I understood what he was saying. I did understand what he was saying. He was giving me a way in with Erika – a way to get her back. That’s not what he meant though when he told me he was going out of town – he meant I should stay away from her - and when I told him I did understand, I didn’t mean for a second I would be staying away from Erika. I meant I understood that she would be alone, and that she would soon be mine again. He seriously thinks I’m scared of him and that I’ll stay away from Erika. Well he’s wrong. I won’t. I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to. She’s mine. End of story.
I’d be willing to bet he’s going to go over to the apartment to say goodbye to Erika before he leaves, so I’m going to give it a few hours before I go over there. My plan is to hang around outside of the building for a while and make sure Nadia goes out somewhere. It’s a fair bet – she goes out most nights as I’ve learned watching the building for signs of Erika. If Nadia doesn’t end up going out tonight for whatever reason, then I’ll just have to take my chances on showing up with her there. Surely if that happens, she’ll see that Erika and I need some alone time and make herself scarce.
Once I have Erika alone, I know exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to tell her about how Aidan threatened me, telling me to stay away from her and how he thinks of her as his property. Obviously I’m not going to tell her I went to the hospital to see him – I’m going to tell her he turned up at my place, that I think he’s been following me. I can tell her how I’ve seen his car around my area a few times, and really lay it on thick, saying how I didn’t want to be the one to have to tell her that her new boyfriend is a bit of psycho, but once he threatened me, I knew I had no choice but to warn her.
That will make her question everything. I know how hard it is to get Erika to act like a good girlfriend and accept that she doesn’t need to see other people. I was clever when I did it though; I would tell her I had planned something special and act hurt that she wanted to be with someone else instead rather than just saying she couldn’t go out with her friends. It always worked. She would feel guilty when she realized she was being a bad girlfriend and she would stay in with me. If I can convince her that Aidan isn’t that sophisticated, that he threatens her friends instead, I think I can turn her against him easily enough.
Once I do that, then I think the rest will be pretty easy. See Aidan is all shiny and new, but once Erika sees that he’s not the person she thinks he is, then there won’t be any reason she won’t want to come back to me.
This time, I’m not giving her a choice in the matter. I tried that once and it didn’t work. Erika and I are meant to be together and I really thought she would see it once we’d been apart for a little while, but apparently she hasn’t. Or she hadn’t when I met her for coffee anyway. Maybe she has seen it by now, so I’ll give her one more chance to just admit to herself and to me that we’re meant to be together. I’m confident she’ll take it after I tell her about Aidan.
If she doesn’t, then I’m done messing around like this. I’m the best thing that ever happened to Erika and if she’s too dumb to see that, then maybe she doesn’t even deserve to have me. That doesn’t mean she just gets to run off into the sunset with some other guy though. No chance of that. I’ve told her once and I’ll tell her again. If I can’t have her, then no one else will. And this time, I’ll make damned sure I finish the job.
Fucking bitch. Rejecting me. How dare she? Who the fuck does she think she is? I’ll show her what happens to stuck up bitches who suddenly think they’re too good for me.
Calm down Jeremy, I tell myself. You’re getting way ahead of yourself here. Erika isn’t some stuck up bitch who thinks she’s too good for you. She loves you. She’s just too stubborn to admit that ending things with you was a mistake. You can show her that none of that matters now. You can leave the past in the past where it belongs and just look to the future, a future that belongs to you and Erika.
That thought calms me down and gives me another idea. An idea I know will get Erika back on my side and let me win her back. I smile as I turn the key in my car’s ignition and pull away. I drive to the nearest shopping center and park the car. I get out and I walk to the entrance. I can feel the spring in my step, the smile on my face. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner. I scrap the plan of painting Aidan as the bad guy. I don’t need to do that. Not now. I have a much better plan now.
I am almost delirious with happiness by the time I reach the first jewelery store in the shopping center. I go inside and peer through the glass display case until I spot the perfect engagement ring. It’s not cheap – it’s almost three thousand dollars, but Erika is worth every penny of it.
I nod to the sales associate and let her know I’m ready to be served. She comes towards me with a wide smile.
“Can I help you?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say. “I’d like to see that ring there please.”
I point to the one I want. Its white gold with a large diamond set into a cluster of smaller diamonds.
“Great choice,” the sales associate smiles as she slides back the glass on her side and lifts the ring from the display.
She hands it to me and I peer at it, sure it’s the right one and sure that this is going to work.
“How long have you been together?” she asks me.
“Not that long,” I smile. “A couple of months. But when you know you’ve met the one, it doesn’t matter how long it’s been does it?”
“Not at all,” she smiles. “I think she’s a very lucky girl.”
Me too I think to myself. And how can she not see it when I turn up with this ring and show her that I’m in this for the long haul? That she is meant to be mine forever.
“I’ll take it,” I smile.
“What size do you need?” the sales associate asks as I hand her back the ring. “I can order it now and it should be here within the next two weeks.”
Dammit. I hadn’t considered that part. I shake my head.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I want the proposal to be a surprise and there’s no way to ask someone’s ring size without giving the game away. Can I just take that one and if it’s the wrong size, get it sized later?”
“Sure,” the sales associate smiles. “In fact, hold on a moment. I have a couple more of these in the back. You can choose the one you think is the closest size to her finger. Maybe you’ll get lucky and get the right size.”
I thank her and she moves through a door behind the counter. I ask myself if I’m doing the right thing, and for a moment, doubt creeps in. I shake away my doubts. I need to show Erika that we’re meant for each other and I know this will work. How could it not work? It’ll show Erika just how serious I am about her.
The sales associate comes back with a small tray filled with several of the same rings as the one I chose. I study them for a moment and choose the one I think is the closest in size to Erika’s finger. I pay for the ring and leave the store, feeling like I’m walking on air. By this time tomorrow, Erika will be mine again. We’ll be engaged and starting to plan our wedding.
Now I just have to make sure I don’t blow it. I get into my car and head home. In a couple of hours, I’ll head to Erika’s place and start watching for any signs of Nadia leaving the building. It’s going to be a long wait, but getting Erika back will make it all worth it.
Aidan
I’m almost at Nadia’s place when I realize that Erika will likely be there and having her around will complicate things slightly. I don’t want to tell Erika the plan as I am worried i
t will scare her. Or that she’ll think I’m exaggerating and refuse to go along with it. No, I need to talk to Nadia alone, and it will seem strange to Erika if I turn up at the apartment and take Nadia off to talk to her in private. I pull up at the side of the road and pull my phone out and call Nadia.
“Hello?” she says.
“Hi, it’s me,” I reply. “Listen, don’t tell Erika it’s me ok?”
“Ok,” she says, drawing the word out into a question.
“I need to talk to you about something important. Alone. And I need you to not mention it to Erika. Can you slip out now and come to my place with me?” I say.
“What’s wrong?” she asks instantly.
“I don’t want to go into it over the phone,” I say. “Can you get away or not?”
“Of course,” she says. “I’ll leave now and meet you at your place in fifteen minutes.”
I thank her and end the call and then I start the car again. I do a U-turn and head towards home. I don’t like the idea of Erika being alone right now, but I don’t think Jeremy will try anything this early. I told him I was leaving this evening and that buys me a few hours where he will likely assume I’ll be at Nadia’s place. Even if he sees my car isn’t around, I don’t think he’ll risk going there until he’s confident I am not around.
I arrive home and go inside. I don’t have long to wait before Nadia arrives. I open the door and let her in. I close the door behind her and gesture for her to sit down.
“Tell me what’s going on,” she says. “Are you ill or something?”
“No, nothing like that,” I say. “Has Erika mentioned a man named Jeremy to you?”
“Her ex boyfriend? Sure. God Aidan is this whole thing because you’re jealous? Trust me, Erika is well and truly over him,” Nadia replies.
“It’s not that. Listen this is going to sound crazy at first, but just let me explain and don’t interrupt and it will all make sense,” I say.
Nadia nods for me to go on.
“I think Jeremy is the one who attacked Erika,” I start.
“What? How the hell have you come to that conclusion?” Nadia interrupts me.
“I see the no interrupting thing is working well,” I say.
Nadia sighs and rolls her eyes.
“Fine. Go on,” she says.
“Don’t you think it’s a little weird that he just so happened to drop in on her within the few hours she was at her place? I think he was following her. When I met the two of them outside of your building that day, Jeremy didn’t look happy at all to see me there. And when I came back out later on, there was a car across the road from your building and I think Jeremy was watching the place. When he saw me, he sped off like a maniac. Someone innocent just doesn’t do that. He had scratches on his hands, and of course I realize that could be a coincidence, but they were consistent with the marks I would expect to see on someone who had been choking a person and that person was trying to get them off,” I say.
I pause for a moment. Nadia doesn’t look quite as skeptical as she did when I first said that I thought Jeremy was the one who attacked Erika, but she doesn’t look entirely convinced about what I’m saying to her yet either.
“Twice now he has been waiting for me in the hospital parking lot when I’ve finished work, and both times, he’s threatened me and told me to stay away from Erika. When she met him for coffee, he got angry when she refused to get back with him and she said that for a moment, she was afraid of him.”
“Ok,” Nadia says slowly when I finish. “He sounds like a piece of work, but if he wants Erika back so badly, why would he have hurt her?”
“My theory is that he tried to get back with her then and when she turned him down, he got angry. I swear Nadia, something is off about that guy.”
She’s looking at me like I’ve lost my mind, but then she nods her head.
“Ok. So what are we going to do about it?” she asks me.
“Wait,” I say. “You believe me?”
“At first, I thought it sounded crazy, but someone attacked Erika, and I’m not buying the theory it was a stranger, not when there was no sign of forced entry. And you’re not exactly known for being paranoid, so I’m going to run with you on this one. It’s definitely not the sign of someone normal and balanced when he’s threatened you at work. To have done that, he had to have been following you or he wouldn’t have known where you worked in the first place,” Nadia says.
I take a moment to digest what she’s saying. It makes me feel much better to know that Nadia at least thinks this is plausible. It confirms what I really already know – I’m not just jealous. I’m onto something real here. I decide to tell Nadia exactly what Jeremy said the last time we ran into each other before I tell her what I’ve done and what I plan on doing next.
“The last time Jeremy collared me was a couple of hours ago. He said if I don’t leave Erika alone, he will kill me and then he’ll teach her a lesson for being a dirty little slut. That’s what really convinced me he might have hurt her,” I say.
“Holy shit,” Nadia says. “We have to do something about this. I know you told me not to tell Erika I was meeting you and I haven’t, but we need to tell her about this Aidan. She needs to be warned about Jeremy in case he calls her and she goes off to meet him or something.”
“That was my first thought, but the more I think about it, the more I think Erika will just think I’m being jealous. I don’t think she’ll take the risk seriously,” I say.
“So what’s the plan then? Please tell me you have a better plan than keeping Erika in the dark about this and hoping it all just goes away,” Nadia says.
“I do,” I say. “When Jeremy was making his little threats, I really wanted to put the fucker on his ass, but I told myself it needed to be more permanent than that …”
“Jeez Aidan,” Nadia interrupts me.
I roll my eyes at her.
“I’m not planning on murdering him. Although I admit I made it sound that way. No I plan on getting him prosecuted for what he did to Erika and I plan on him going to prison for it,” I tell her.
“How are you going to do that? You have no evidence he’s anything but a bit of a creep and he’s hardly likely to confess is he?” Nadia says.
“I’ve set something up for tonight,” I say. “I told Jeremy I was going out of town tonight and warned him to stay away from Erika. If I’m right about this, he won’t be able to resist going to your place tonight. I need you to go out. I figure he’ll be watching the place from around six, so you go out shortly after six so he thinks Erika is alone.”
“What will that prove? He’s made no secret of the fact he wants her back,” Nadia says. “You can hardly call the police and tell them your girl’s ex turned up to win her back and you want him arrested.”
“I won’t be there when he arrives,” I say. “I’m confident that Erika will tell him to get lost, and I think he’ll make a move to attack her again.”
“No Aidan,” Nadia says, shaking her head firmly. “This could get too far out of hand. What if she gets hurt again?”
“I’m planning on having the police waiting in your room. At the first sign of trouble, they’ll come out and arrest Jeremy,” I say. “I need you to take Erika somewhere when I call you and confirm the time so the police can get into place.”
“This is all a bit much Aidan. What if the police don’t agree to do this? Then Erika is in real danger,” Nadia says.
“Do you really think I haven’t thought of that? If the police refuse to come, I’ll take Erika to my place and then I’ll tell her everything,” I say.
“Ok. I don’t think the police will agree to this, but …”
“I do,” I interrupt her. “They know I’m a doctor, and while I don’t like to play the doctor card, it does bring a certain level of professional respect with it. I think they’ll take me seriously on this one. And it’s not like they have anything else to go on is it? If they refuse to spend an hour or so waiting to se
e if they can catch Erika’s attacker, it won’t do much for their image as people who actually want to solve crimes.”
Nadia sighs and nods her head.
“Ok, maybe it will work.”
“What was your but earlier? You said you don’t think the police will agree to this, but,” I say.
“But what if they do agree to it and then Jeremy doesn’t even show up?” she asks.
“Then I’ll have to eat a lot of humble pie,” I say. “And I will assume I was wrong about Jeremy and let this whole thing go.”
“Ok,” Nadia agrees. “If the police agree, let me know and I’ll take Erika out somewhere. And don’t forget to tell her that you’re going to be out of town tonight or she’ll wonder where you are.”
I thank Nadia and she leaves my place. Now comes the hard part. Convincing Officer Prescott of my theory.
Everything is in place. I called the police station and established that Officer Prescott was there. I decided I had a better chance of convincing her this was for real face to face and so I drove down to the station and spoke to her. She was a little bit skeptical at first, but I managed to convince her that it was at least possible that Jeremy was Erika’s attacker after I told her the full story. Eventually, she agreed to go along with my plan.
I let Nadia know when Officer Prescott and I would be coming and she whisked Erika away to help her buy a dress for a date that night, a date she didn’t really have. Nadia would actually be with me in a rental car behind the building. I didn’t want us to be in either of our cars because I knew Jeremy would recognize them. While they were out, I let Officer Prescott into the building and showed her where she was to hide. I asked her to call me the moment this thing was over which she agreed to do.
I have called Erika and explained to her that I have to go out of town for the night for a medical conference that I thought I would be able to get out of but couldn’t. She was a little bit disappointed, but she sounded like she believed me. She had no reason not to believe me.