The days began to rush by, one into the next. Delia stopped coming to class regularly and skipping our study sessions. Being honest, it was a relief to me. I didn’t want to get any closer to the situation between her and Justin, and I felt she would only put me in the middle.
I continued to see James regularly, and we grew closer through each phone call and date between us. I also continued to see Justin every Wednesday for pizza and beer night. On one such night, about three weeks after the ‘Delia Incident’ as I had come to think of it in my head, I asked what was going on with her. I had been curious, but had left it to Justin to tell me what was going on.
“So, have you heard anything more from Delia?” I asked as we were sitting on the sofa after watching our most recent movie selection. “She hasn’t been coming to school and hasn’t come over or contacted me to get together to study. Last I’d heard, she told me you had called her to get together and talk.”
“I think I finally got through to her that day. I told her in no uncertain terms there was never going to be anything between us. I apologized to her again, but explained that I was actually in love with someone else, and I had my sights set in that direction. Again she swung between crying and begging me to give her a chance and being spitting mad. I mean that literally; she spit on me when she finally left. I haven’t heard a thing from her since.”
“I bet that’s a relief.” I remarked.
“It is, but I thought once I mentioned you, she’d finally understand.”
“You mentioned me by name?” I asked, raising my eyebrows in surprise.
“Well, she guessed to be honest. I just confirmed it. She again accused me of using her which is when she finally left.”
“I guess it’s what she needed to hear though.”
“Yeah,” he said, then looked at me hopefully. “Now that things have died down, I’d like to pick up where we left off if I haven’t totally botched that altogether. What do you think?”
I paused for a minute. I had been given a reprieve from talking to him about us just remaining friends with the whole Delia thing, but the time had come to bite the bullet and tell him.
“I made a decision a while back that we should probably just remain friends. I’m still not in a position to make any hard decisions about my romantic future, and I had been feeling like I was stringing you along. I don’t want to do that to you. You are far too important to risk our friendship, and I love you too much to lose you.”
“Peaches, I understand where you are in your life right now. I hate the idea that I’d be sharing you with someone else, but I get it. However, I can see I’ve been going about this all wrong if you’re worried about my feelings getting hurt. I’m a grown man, not some pussy who will throw a tantrum if things don’t work out between us. You know I’m never going to walk away from you.”
“You don’t know that. I know that you’re loyal to a fault, but even that would test the limits of any relationship. I also wouldn’t want to damage your opinion of me if you felt like you were being led along with your desires knowingly not being fulfilled on my part. I don’t want you feeling like I’m trying to have my cake and eat it, too.” I argued.
“I won’t feel that way. If it gets to be too much, I’d let you know. Our friendship will still continue on. The one question I have to ask though is if you have any feelings for me in that respect at all. If you don’t, then this whole conversation is moot. But if you do, I’m not about to give up on what we can be together.”
“I can’t lie to say to you that I don’t. I just don’t have a clear idea of what I want my romantic life to be, now or in the future. That’s not fair to you.”
“So, would this moratorium on relationships apply to both James and me? Or would you continue to see just him?”
That was a question I stupidly hadn’t considered. How did I explain that I wasn’t overly concerned about my future with James? It would sound like I had no feelings for him at all beyond having a good time. While that’s all that I truly wanted at this point, I had to admit to myself, and probably to Justin, that my feelings had grown for him daily.
“I hadn’t planned to quit seeing him. I do have feelings for him too, but since we didn’t have a deep bond before we began like you and I, I don’t think the consequences if things don’t work out would be as disastrous. I’m not sure his heart is involved in the way that yours is.”
He blew out a long breath, leaning back and letting his head drop back onto the sofa. He sat like that for a few moments, I assumed considering what I had said. Finally he turned to look at me with a determined stare.
“In that case, Peaches, I’m not giving up. Don’t worry, I’m not going to pressure you to go any further than we are now, but if I have to chase you a little bit to get you to see we should be together, I’m not backing down. Just know that I’m not above seducing you,” he said, wiggling his brows at me and smiling.
I sighed. “You’re impossible.” I said. “Don’t make me push you away. I would be a mess without you in my life. I need you, and I’m especially going to need you in a few days.”
“Of course, I didn’t think you’d forget, but I thought you might deal with the anniversary of Vance’s death a little better this year.”
“I already have so far. The last few years, the weeks leading up to it were painful and depressing. I think I’ve gotten to a point now where I’m finally on a forward path, and my life is so full between school and what’s going on in my so-called love life that I can handle it without becoming a total mess. We still have a few days yet so I may be premature in saying so, but I’m pretty confident I can handle it better. I do think we should spend that day together though. I’m not ready to handle it alone and rather than mourning our loss, I think we should find a way to celebrate his life instead next Monday.”
“I think that’s a great idea. Let’s get together Friday and plan something to do to honor him,” he said as he stood to leave.
It was early and the night was very warm so I decided to walk him out to his motorcycle. As I opened the door, I noticed my car in the driveway. Something was scrawled all over the windows and in the dim light from the porch, it appeared to have black marks all up and down the side of the vehicle. I froze for a moment then grabbed Justin’s arm and pointed to it, my hand trembling and eyes wide.
“I see it,” he said as we walked down the steps and over to inspect the damage. Someone had spray painted in black squiggly lines all up and down both sides of the SUV. On the windshield, it was written in white shoe polish, “You’ll get yours, bitch.” The other windows had derogatory names, like slut, whore, and cunt written on them. At first, I couldn’t imagine who would do such a thing to me. Then I looked at Justin searching his face to see if he had come to the same conclusion I had.
His mouth was set in a grim line as he looked at me. He said just one word. “Delia.”
I nodded and remarked, “That’s my suspicion, too. I can’t imagine anyone else having this kind of animosity toward me.” I looked around, worried she was still nearby. I couldn’t help but feel as if there were eyes on me, gauging my reaction to this little surprise. I was angry, but creeped out nonetheless. Determined not to give her the satisfaction she was looking for if she was out there somewhere, I schooled my face into a dispassionate expression.
“Don’t worry, Peaches, we’ll get your car fixed right away. In the meantime, you can drive mine, and I’ll just use the motorcycle. I’ll bring it by tomorrow morning and you can take me back to the house in it. I’ll also handle Delia. I’ll make sure nothing like this happens again. In the meantime, you need to file a police report. We don’t have any proof it was her, but you at least need to go on record that someone has threatened you.”
I nodded and tried to blink back the tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. “I’ll do that in the morning as well. Call me when you get up, and we’ll coordinate everything.”
“Let’s get you back inside the house and mak
e sure everything is locked up tight. We have no idea of how far she’s willing to go.”
Justin put his arm around me and led me back into the house. He checked all the windows, the back door off the laundry room, and the sliding glass door in the family room. Once he was satisfied that everything was secure, he came back to me in the living room. “I’m not comfortable leaving you alone tonight,” he said. “If it’s alright with you, I’m going to sleep here on the sofa.”
Grateful for his offer to stay, I readily accepted because I was shaken. I felt violated and threatened and needed the security his presence would provide.
“I do have a guest room,” I reminded him. “There’s no need for you to sleep on the sofa.”
“I want to be out here to hear anything if she does try to break in. A light blanket and a pillow are all I need.”
After retrieving the items, I set up a make-shift bed for him on the sofa. We gave each other a tight hug good night, and I went to my room still feeling unsettled. I knew I wouldn’t sleep much that night despite Justin’s reassuring presence.
Thirteen
The next morning, Justin drove back to his house to shower and change his clothes promising to return to help me get everything sorted out. While he was gone, I called around to auto body shops who could either remove the spray paint from the car without damaging the underlying paint, or if necessary, to repaint the whole vehicle. After taking pictures of the damage, I was able to wash the shoe polish off the windows and hoped none of my neighbors had noticed it.
When Justin returned, he drove my car to the shop as I followed in his car. I was embarrassed to be seen in the thing, but I also felt so violated I didn’t feel safe in it.
After that was taken care of, we drove over to the police station to file the report and provide them with the pictures I’d taken and printed out. As anticipated, all they could do was take a report since we couldn’t say for sure it was Delia who damaged my car.
I drove Justin back to his house in the early afternoon so he could get some of his work done. I didn’t feel safe being home alone so I decided to gather my school supplies and spend the rest of the afternoon in the university library studying before my class that night. I had entertained the idea of skipping the day, but we had a test and I didn’t want to miss it.
As I expected, Delia didn’t show up for class. I was relieved as I didn’t know how I’d handle seeing her, suspecting her as I did. I was distracted for most of the class and wasn’t sure how I fared on the test. I had taken it on auto-pilot, my thoughts consumed by what had happened, but I could only hope that all the studying I had done that afternoon had prepared me well enough that I could answer the questions correctly, even if I was distracted.
When I arrived home, I went through the whole house turning on all the lights and inspecting every closet and under the beds. After I was assured that I was alone, I changed into my night clothes and settled into my bed. It took some time for sleep to claim me, but eventually it did, and I managed to sleep through the night.
James called the following day, and I had to explain to him what had happened. He was furious and ready to go hunt Delia down, but I dissuaded him from doing so. He was so far away, and confronting her might only exacerbate the situation as the police officer who took my report warned me. He grudgingly agreed to stay home, but we made plans to see each other on Saturday.
The rest of the week was quiet as was the weekend. James seemed slightly disappointed that she didn’t show up so he could threaten her off my case. I was just relieved that there wouldn’t be any kind of hostilities to address.
Monday came and with it a sense of melancholy. Vance had been gone three years. I couldn’t help but think that if he had lived, none of this would be happening. I wouldn’t be caught in some odd sort of love triangle, I’d still be working as a paralegal, thus never meeting Delia at all. We’d be happy and perhaps even have a child or two by then. Despite my previous thoughts that I’d spend the day celebrating his life, I still mourned heavily. I missed him with all my heart. In honor of the day and my love for him, I decided to put my wedding rings on. It seemed a sad thing to do, but I needed to feel close to him.
I went to my jewelry box to retrieve them, but to my astonishment and dismay, they weren’t there. Along with them, a number of other pieces he had given me were missing. I frantically tore through all the drawers in my dresser and those in my en suite, though I couldn’t believe I had just misplaced them. I never would have been so careless. I could only suspect I had somehow been robbed.
I went through the house checking on what few true valuables were missing. Of course, there were no obvious things like my stereo system or televisions, etc. Certainly I would have noticed them missing, whether whomever had been in my house last week or last night, whenever the theft had occurred. I didn’t wear my expensive jewelry often enough to notice when they had gone missing.
In my search of the house, I came to Vance’s office. There were a number of items missing, little trinkets of our life together, including a picture of the two of us from the desk. I had just been in the office the afternoon before working on the computer, and I was certain it had been there at the time. That meant somewhere between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, someone had been in my house. A chill went through me, goosebumps raised on my arms and I shivered. The only things I could find missing were items that were connected to either Vance or my relationship with him. It wasn’t your average robbery. The only thing that came to mind was that Delia had returned and somehow gained entry into my home. I could only think that she chose items she assumed had some kind of sentimental value to me. I couldn’t help but look around me, once again feeling like eyes were on me, watching me eager for my reaction to the discovery.
When Justin arrived, I told him of the situation. Our plans to go up to Santa Barbara where Vance and I had celebrated our first anniversary were ruined. Instead, I needed to make a list of the items that were missing and file another police report. This time, I was assured a detective would be assigned to the case. I also had to file a claim with my insurance company under my homeowner’s policy. They were items that couldn’t be replaced and the money from the claim would do nothing for me, assuming they would even pay out considering there was no sign of forced entry, but the police had advised me to do it just to have another record that I had been burglarized.
While it also frightened me and added to my sense of violation, I felt renewed anger toward Delia. It was my turn to want to hunt her down and strangle the life out of her. These items were precious to me. Justin felt similarly and assured me that he would handle it.
By the time we were finished, it was four-thirty p.m. Justin still wanted to do something to honor Vance so we decided to go to Rosie’s, a small bar we often frequented as a group. He suggested we call Griffin and Bryant to join us since they had to be feeling a similar sense of loss that day, too. We gathered together and though the day had been tumultuous and draining for me, I managed to enjoy reminiscing with the guys about Vance’s life, both before my entry into it and after.
Two weeks went by and with them came the end of my first class. I had enjoyed learning about my new career path and was as firmly settled on what I wanted to do as I had been when I first discovered the program. As soon as enrollment opened, I knew I’d be registering for the next two classes in the certificate course.
There had been no developments with regard to Delia. The detective had been investigating the case and although he questioned her, he assured me she had a solid alibi for the day of the burglary. She claimed to have been caring for her ailing mother who corroborated her story. I didn’t believe it for a minute, but that’s where the case stood. I didn’t have much hope that it would be resolved as it was a low priority for the L.A.P.D.
The two weeks after that were quiet. I kept myself occupied until school finally started again, and I continued to spend time with both James and Justin. Justin and I continued just being fri
ends. If he was pursuing me as he claimed he would, I didn’t see it. I assumed with the resurfacing of Delia in our lives, he had been distracted from his plan. I had to be honest and admit I was relieved. I wouldn’t have been able to handle the stress.
On a Friday night about a month after the robbery, Grace, Liz, Jessica, and I decided to go out for a night on the town to celebrate Jessica’s thirtieth birthday. We all chipped in for a limousine and VIP reservations at a hot, new nightclub called The Limited where we’d have a reserved seating area and bottle service. We all dressed to the nines with Jessica wearing a tiara as she had dubbed herself “The Birthday Princess.”
We were pretty well loosened up, having availed ourselves to the bar inside the limousine when we arrived at the club. We consumed two entire bottles of champagne on the way there. (In our defense, it took a good hour to pick everyone up and then drive to Marina del Rey where the nightclub was located.)
Once inside and seated in our special section, Grace immediately started scoping out men for potential targets.
“Targets?” Liz asked. “You mean marks. You’re like a damned assassin with these men.”
“Hey,” I said, “Whatever happened with that David guy we met at that mixer you dragged me to?”
Grace chuckled and replied, “He was good. He was real good. I saw him a few times, we even managed to go out to dinner once.”
“What?” Jessica began. “You mean he didn’t have any real potential for something longer term?”
“Nah. He and I are on the same wavelength as far as relationships go. If we want to get together and scratch an itch, then one of us will call the other. Aside from that, there’s nothing else going on.”
“Don’t let her fool you guys,” Liz said. “I have it on good authority that she’s seeing someone fairly regularly, and it isn’t just for sex.”
Fighting Perfection (The Perfection Series Book 2) Page 22