She isn’t walking away until she finds out what's going on. “Excuse me Julian I didn’t know you were meeting with Karen today.”
Julian didn’t know why, but he feels guilty for keeping the meeting secret from Clarissa. “Hey sweetheart Karen and I were just discussing a little business before she leaves for New York.”
Clarissa’s begins to understand at once; Julian is trying to protect her and he didn’t want to meet with Karen in the intimacy of his office. “Okay, I need you to stop by my place later, there’s something urgent I need to discuss with you”. Before Julian could answer, Karen cut him off.
“Really Julian I don’t have time to sit around while you pacify your pet."
Clarissa isn’t taking any crap from this trick. Clarissa put her arm around Julian's shoulder making sure Karen could see her engagement ring. “While I may let Julian pet me from time to time, I will never be his pet. In case you didn't know, I am going to be his wife in a couple of weeks.” She could tell by the shock on Karen’s face that her barb hit home. “We would have invited you, but the ceremony is only for close friends and relatives. See you later baby!” She kissed Julian and strutted out of the break room.
While she trusted Julian with Karen, she didn’t like the fact that he kept her in the dark about the meeting. She didn’t believe for one minute that he was planning a secret rendezvous with that vicious little cat, but situations like this have severed many engagements.
Clarissa didn't go straight home she knew that Julian would make a beeline for her condo as soon as his meeting with Karen is over, but she didn’t want to see him right now. Clarissa decided to go to the Field Museum, which is the one place Julian wouldn't think to look for her. She makes a right onto Lake Shore Drive, and a car ran through the red light and hit Clarissa' car. Clarissa feels something running down the side of her face before she blacked out.
***
Julian is excited about the new project Karen Nash recommended for his company, but he's eager to see Clarissa. She put on a good front, but he could tell by the fire in her eyes that she's pissed. He walked Karen to her car and waved good-bye to her, he hoped everything worked out for her in New York. All thoughts of Karen slipped away as he headed for his car. He pulled out of the parking lot when his cell phone rang. Who could be calling him on a Saturday? "Hello."
"Mr. Ross."
"Yes, who is this?"
"Excuse me sir, your fiancée, Clarissa Marks was brought into emergency a half hour ago."
Julian was overwhelmed with the same fear when Donna died, and the police wouldn't take him to Micah. "Is she okay?"
"Ms. Marks had an accident on Lake Shore Drive. It's our policy at County Hospital that patients can't be released from emergency until someone can pick them up."
"I'll be right there." Julian arrived at the hospital less than ten minutes. The woman at the front desk showed him how to reach the observation room. When he opened the door, he's expecting the worst. He finds Clarissa talking to the attending doctor. She has a few surface scratches on her face, and her wrist is bandaged up.
"Clarissa, you okay?" Julian tried to embrace Clarissa, but she moved out of his way.
"Julian, what are you doing here?"
"Someone from the hospital notified me about the accident."
"Excuse me sir, are you related to Miss Marks"
"I'm her fiancé."
"I've checked her over, and she's ready to go, just take these forms to the front desk." The doctor left the room leaving Clarissa and Julian alone."
"You didn't answer my question Clarissa, are you okay?"
"I've been in a minor accident, but I'll be fine." Clarissa didn't want to talk about the accident, all she wanted to go home and climb straight into bed.
Julian wanted to confront her about the situation with Karen, but now obviously wasn't the time. "Come on honey, I'll make sure you get home safely." The ride to Clarissa's house is a silent one. Julian pulls his car into Clarissa's parking space; he gets out of the car and helps Clarissa to her condo. Julian waved to the security guard on duty.
"What happened to Ms. Marks?"
"She's been in a car accident, the medicine the doctor gave her for pain is making her sleepy, and I'm going to put her to bed."
"Do you need any help Mr. Ross?"
"That would be great Carl if you could help me get Clarissa into her condo that would help me a lot."
"Let me lock the front door, and I'll be right with you."
Julian picked Clarissa up and waited for Carl in the elevator. When Carl returned they rode the elevator up to the fifth floor, and Carl unlocked Clarissa's condo for Julian. "What are you doing here on a Saturday? I thought you only worked on the weekdays."
"This must be the week for car accidents. Eddie was injured in an accident earlier this week. All of us have been pitching in where we can; I just relieved Norman two hours ago. If you don't need me for anything else, I'm going back downstairs."
"Thanks Carl you've been a big help." Julian settled Clarissa on the sofa. He took out his wallet and took out a hundred dollar bill for Carl.
"I don't want your money Mr. Ross, thanks just the same."
"Okay, thanks Carl." Julian shut the door behind Carl and locked it. He walked over to the phone and called his aunt. "Hello Aunt Reva, Where's Micah?"
"He's out with Charles. What's wrong?"
"Clarissa's been in an accident. I'll be by to pick Micah a little later then we're coming back to Clarissa's place for the evening."
"Is Clarissa okay?"
"She has a couple of scratches and bruises; she's sleeping right now and I don't want to leave her. Tell Micah that I’ll call him later, thanks Aunt Reva." Julian put the phone down and walked back over to the sofa. He saw that her engagement ring was still on her finger, which was a relief; he thought that she would jump to conclusions about him and Karen, immediately start canceling their wedding plans.
He picked Clarissa off the sofa and carried her into her bedroom. He undressed her and put her to bed. Julian couldn't believe how valuable Clarissa has become to him. At their first meeting, he was overwhelmed with a terminal case of lust. Julian couldn't remember exactly when lust turned to love, and it didn't matter. There was no way that he was going to let her walk away from him, now that he's this close to making her his wife. Julian gently brushed her hair off her forehead and bent down to kiss her cheek.
He stood in Clarissa's bedroom watching her sleep for what seemed like an eternity. There was no telling how long Clarissa would be asleep. The least he could do is cook dinner for her. Julian went into the kitchen and surveyed Clarissa's well-stocked refrigerator. It wasn't long before he had a pot of spaghetti and meatballs in the oven. He was slicing a loaf of Italian bread when he felt Clarissa's presence in the kitchen.
Julian stopped slicing bread. "How are you feeling?"
Clarissa sat down at the kitchen table; she's is a little shaky and sore from the accident. "Julian what are you still doing here. I thought that you were leaving after dropping me off."
"While you were sleeping, I've been slaving away at the stove, making your dinner." Julian joined Clarissa at the table. "I know that you're pissed at me, and I don’t blame you. Karen rubs you the wrong way, so I didn't tell you about the meeting. I didn’t want you to start thinking up reasons why you shouldn’t trust me. Karen’s presence always seems to bring problems. The sort of problems I don’t need when I’m this close to getting you down the aisle.”
"I know that nothing is going on between you and Karen Nash, not from lack of trying on her part. Things were perfect between us and I waited for the floor to fall from under me again. Just as it did with my engagement to Lawrence. If this marriage is going to work, you need to trust me to handle the legion of women who’d love to crawl in your pants. Even when you have a meeting with an old flame on a Saturday afternoon."
Julian pulled Clarissa out of her chair onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and caressed
her body as he reined kisses on the neck and breasts. "Are you sure you're okay? You can't begin to understand my heartache when I received that call from the hospital. I love you Clarissa and life wouldn't be worth living without you."
Clarissa returned Julian's caresses, but she has to let him know about the letter she received this morning. "Julian who's Tanya Dresser?"
He arms dropped as Clarissa pulls away from his embrace to leave the kitchen. "How did you hear about her?" Julian followed her into the living room, every time he turned around there is some new dilemma.
Clarissa picked up the envelope with the note and paper clippings and handed it to Julian. "This was in my mailbox this morning."
After sitting down on the sofa, Julian takes the envelope from Clarissa and read the note and the newspaper clippings. He put everything back into the envelope and tossed it on the coffee table. He reached out his hand to Clarissa, and she immediately placed her hand in his, as she joined him on the sofa.
"This is the reason I came to the office today, someone’s trying to break up our engagement."
"I thought Karen was serious about letting go of the past."
"Karen Nash! What does this have to do with Tanya Dresser?"
"Tanya Dresser is Karen Nash's sister. Tanya died in a car wreck while driving my car. Her family blamed me of course, and I blamed myself."
"How old were you?"
"I was a nineteen and full of dreams; Tanya's death turned my dreams into nightmares. I was hooked up with the wrong crowd, and I did many things of which I'm not proud. Tanya's family always told her that I was no good and I tried to prove them right."
Clarissa caressed Julian's' face before climbing onto his lap. "You blame yourself for what happened to Tanya and Donna." When Julian didn't respond, Clarissa knew that she was right. "How could you possibly hold yourself responsible for either of their deaths?"
"I failed both of them; I should have been at home when Donna needed me. I should have never let Tanya drive my car in the first place. Karen is right; every woman I've been serious about has died tragically. If anything ever happened to you, I don't know if I could go on living."
"I'm not going anywhere. You and I are going to get married, have some babies, and have a fantastic life together. Nothing and nobody can make me give you up. I've waited too long to find my one true love." Clarissa wrapped her arms around Julian's neck and rubbed her breasts against his chest as she kissed him with all of her being.
"Clarissa you are incredible, we nearly came to blows over a harmless meeting with Karen. Yet, you have totally absolved me of any responsibility to the events that led to the deaths of Tanya and Donna."
"Julian, I never doubted you, especially where Tanya and Donna are concerned. The situation with Karen Nash is another matter; I just don’t like that bitch. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that anyone can love me as much as I love you."
"I’m not a boy who doesn’t know his own mind?”
Clarissa tried to pull away from Julian, but he refused to let her go. “Julian, I’ve been intimate with three men. I wasn't torn apart when I broke my engagement to Lawrence. At the time, I thought he would make a good husband knowing that he could never touch my heart. Getting to know you and Micah has I didn’t understand love until I met you. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that what we have is real."
“I don’t have any plans of going anywhere for 50 or 60 years, when they lay me down in the dark, I’ll still be in love with you. That kind of love just doesn’t fade away, and you’re going to have to trust me to love you." He has to move quickly, he has one more thing to handle before he and Clarissa can live in peace. Karen has a lot to answer for, and he didn't realize until today that her obsession with him cost two innocent women their lives.
***
Julian left to go pick up Micah and bring him back to Clarissa's condo. She offered to go with him, but he just wanted her to rest, especially after today's events. She fixed up the bed in the guest room for Micah. She was already making plans for what she would fix her men for breakfast. She was still a little sore from the accident, but the pain reliever they gave her in the hospital has done wonders for her headache.
Clarissa pulled out the news clippings out of the envelope and re-read them. For some reason, Julian got the impression that he was the target; Tanya and Donna got in the way. She believed that Tanya and Donna were the intended victims all along. It was late in the evening when she heard a knock on her door, which was strange because the security guard didn’t call her and the door buzzer didn’t go off.
She looked out the peephole, and the new security guard Norman was standing there something must be wrong. She opened the door only to see Karen Nash holding a gun in her face. “What’s this all about Karen?”
“Take off lover, your job here is done!”
The security guard took off as Karen pushed her way into Clarissa’s condo and the gun never wavered. Karen wasn’t a novice she knew how to handle a gun. Clarissa wasn't being cooperative, so Karen pushed the gun into Clarissa's chest. With more bravado than she felt, she tried to remain calm. “So are you going to kill me like Tanya and Donna?”
“Oh you figured that out by yourself, huh you’re not as dumb as you look.” Karen pushed Clarissa into a chair as she paced back and forth. “I thought once you saw the newspaper articles you would understand that being in a relationship with Julian is dangerous to your health.”
“I love him, and I’m not going to give him up.”
“Love! I have loved Julian for more than half of my life. I loved him when he started his little flirtation with Tanya. I saw him first! He belonged to me, and I wasn’t going to let anyone take him from me including my sister.”
Karen was coming unhinged; the hatred boiling inside her turned her beautiful face into an ugly mask. Clarissa eyes searched the living room looking for a weapon, for as sure as she was born; she knew that Karen planned to kill her. “Is that why you tampered with Julian’s car so your sister could die in the crash.” There was a globe paperweight on the end table and a figurine on the coffee table. Neither had enough weight to make an impact, but maybe she could knock the gun out of Karen’s hand.
“You think you’re so smart don’t you, you’ve probably been spoiled your whole life with parents who loved you. Well my parents catered to Tanya, everything Tanya wanted she got. Julian belongs to me, and her death was a small price to pay. Unfortunately, Julian moved on and met another woman who wasn’t right for him.”
“Why did you kill Donna? Julian was married, out of reach. If you truly loved him, you should have been happy that he found someone else he could love.” Clarissa tried to keep Karen talking hoping she would step closer so she could try to take the gun from her, but Karen was crazier that a box of Cracker Jacks she could explode at any moment.
Karen hated women like Clarissa, so smart and headstrong; women so determine to make it without the help of a man. They look down on women like her, beautiful women who liked being pampered by successful men. “You think you got me all figured out. Well, it isn’t about Julian’s happiness; he should have wanted to marry me. Not Donna and certainly not you.”
“He’ll never marry you Karen. Julian told me that if he wanted you that he could have had you at any time. What I don’t understand is how a woman with your class and style didn’t look for someone else. Why didn't you find a man who could love you the way you needed to be loved? I’m just thankful that you didn’t kill Micah the night you murdered his mother.”
“I’ve had enough of your mouth bitch! I would never kill Julian’s child; he’s Julian’s flesh and blood he could never get over something like that.”
The thing about mentally unstable people is they actually believed the nonsense coming out of their mouths. Karen stepped closer to Clarissa aiming the gun at her head; she better make a move or she would be the next victim on Karen's list. “No, you just killed his mother. Clarissa threw the globe and hit Karen in the head
; she is getting rather good at that. She tackled Karen as the gun went off. They were fighting for what seemed like an hour when someone lifted her off of Karen. Two police officers were in her department, and one had his gun pulled.
“We received a call that shots were fired at this residence.”
“I'm Clarissa Marks, and this is my condo. Her name is Karen Nash, and she tried to kill me and admitted to killing two other women. The security guard Norman let her into the building; she dismissed him, saying that she didn't need him any longer.” Clarissa couldn't stop shaking like a leaf and finding it impossible to calm down. “I knocked the gun out of her hand it’s on the floor by the window.”
The other officer didn’t holster his weapon until his partner finished handcuffing a hysterical Karen. Only then, did he put his gun away and retrieve Karen's gun. Karen tried to fight the officers, but she couldn't handle both of them.
Julian came through Clarissa's open front door. “What in the hell is going on?"
Clarissa ran into his arms. "I'm okay. Where's Micah?"
"I left him downstairs with the police."
Two more police officers arrived and were in the process of carting Karen off to jail. Clarissa joined Julian on the sofa. When Julian wrapped his arms around her, Karen started fighting the officers again. Her eyes had a wild look about them, and she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Julian you're mine! I got rid of Tanya and Donna for us. I know that you want us to be together."
Julian couldn't contain his disgust. "It will never be you! I will never want you!"
"They can't hold me in jail! As soon as I'm released I'll get rid of her, as long as I'm alive she'll never be safe."
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