by Naomi Niles
“Tanya, I’m not about to cut my time short with them because of what you think will be going on. I love my boys, and I’m not going to have them exposed to anything they don’t need to see. At the same time, I’m not missing out on time that I am supposed to have with them. Did you take your medication today? Because it seems like you skipped your dosage.”
She shook her head. “You are something else, Ezra. I come over here trying to talk to you like an adult and help you see what is best for the boys, but you want to throw a bitch fit because I said that they should stay with me until you are done filming.”
“No, they don’t need to do that.” For the moment, it seemed that the jellylike feeling in my legs had faded away. I had my full strength, and as I spoke, my fingers balled into a fist. I would never lay a hand on her, but there were many times that she pushed me to my limit, and with my boys involved, that was very easy to do. “I know how to handle that, Tanya. This is not my first fucking movie, and with every movie I’ve shot, they have always been taken care of. Always. They love coming to the set, and I imagine that they will love this one even more.”
“What? Please. Do you think I am going to let my boys go with you on the set of a porno shoot?”
“It is not fucking porn!”
“Bullshit, Ezra! I’ve read the damned book! That shit is nothing but written pornography, and now you are about to make it visual pornography. No! I am not going to let you expose my boys to that. They will not follow in your whore-ish footsteps as long as I’m alive.”
“Look, Tanya,” I bridled my anger as my jawbones gyrated inside my mouth. I knew she just came over here to stir up some mess because of her jealousy. She knew that I had finally crossed over and landed a major movie deal and she wasn’t going to be by my side to experience the benefits. This was the only card she could play to get under my skin, and she knew it. More times than not, I knew it as well, but it didn’t matter. She was always able to push my buttons. I pulled the front door open. “We are done here. I am still coming to get my boys when it is my time, and if you think of pulling some bullshit, you better get your lawyer ready. That is all I am going to say.”
She stood quietly in the middle of the front room as the evening sun sent its last rays into the atmosphere. “You know, you can walk through this door now. Anytime.” I looked outside. “But I don’t see your broomstick anywhere around. Did you get a new one?”
She bumped me with her shoulder on her way out. “This won’t be our last conversation about this, Ezra. You can believe that.”
“Sure thing, Tanya. You have a good day and try not to fall off your broomstick. I would hate for you to fall to your death.” I smirked as she rolled her eyes and walked down my pathway to her car. I slammed the door shut, and instantly, the pain in my legs rushed back to my body. “Damn it,” I said, bracing my hand against the door. “I am going to fucking kill Jeff!”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Hannah
We were set to begin shooting the movie just a few days from now. I had completely memorized my lines for the movie, and I was ready to get started. The only thing I was still apprehensive about was the sex scenes, but I knew Ezra would make things easier. He always had a way of calming me down at the times I felt I was ready to explode. Carrie had left for Brazil almost two weeks ago, and she was due back later today. My phone rang again just as I was cleaning up my home. “Hello?”
“Hey, Hannah. It’s me again.”
I looked at the number. It wasn’t saved in my phone, but I immediately knew the voice. “Brain? Listen. I don’t know what your deal is, but I am not interested, OK? I am sorry, I am just not interested. Now, I would hate to get the police or anyone else involved with this, but you are pushing me to that limit.”
“Hannah, Hannah, all right. I get it. I mean,” he paused. “You are just a beautiful, beautiful woman and I’ve never met anyone like you. I was just drawn to your personality and everything, but if you want me to back off, I will.”
“Yes, Brian. I do. I appreciate your compliments, but that will be the best thing to do. Thank you.”
“So,” he said, extending the conversation. “I was thinking of taking you out to eat to celebrate your movie role. What is your favorite place to go? It will all be on me, and after that, I promise you I will leave you alone.”
“Brian–”
“I know of this place on Hollywood Drive. They have excellent seafood and I–”
I hung up the phone in the middle of his conversation. My first thought was to dial the police, but I felt like that may have been a little too extreme for something like this. Ezra’s name was the next to pop into my mind. I felt like if Brian heard a male’s voice on the other end, maybe he would back off. Somebody to strike some fear into him and let him know that I was taken. Maybe that would help, I thought. Moments later, there was a knock at the front door. I nearly dropped my phone out of my hands as I stood in the middle of the front room. I had waited a few seconds before the knocks reappeared.
I crept to the front door and looked through the peephole. It was a delivery guy with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. I waited to see his face before I opened the door, and as he glanced up, I saw that he was a stranger, so I opened the door. “Hello.”
“Hi,” he responded with a smile. “I have a delivery for,” he looked down at his paper, “Hannah Black.”
“That’s me.”
He handed me a bouquet of red and white roses, sprinkled with blue tulips throughout. I smiled ear to ear as I took the flowers in my hands. “Here,” he said, “sign this, and I will be on my way.” I inked my name on the paper as he smiled. “Thank you, Ms. Black. You have a nice day.”
I closed the door and walked into the front room, sniffing the bouquet with each step. Ezra, you have outdone yourself this time. I placed the flowers on the front room table and searched for the card. “From your secret admirer.” I smiled. Everything he did was always a result of perfect timing. Even when he wasn’t around, he still found a way to put a smile on my face at the right moment. A few minutes later, the front door opened. Carrie walked in with two bags draped on her shoulders and dark shades covering her eyes.
“Honey, I’m hoooome,” she said, closing the door behind her. “Oh, and you bought me beautiful roses on my return? How sweet of you, Hannah! That is why I love you so much!”
“No, Carrie, these aren’t for you. Ezra sent them to me. They had got here minutes before you did.”
“Roses?” she said as she stooped down to sniff them. “Wow. For no reason, huh?”
“Nope. I was surprised to see them.”
“Shoot. These look expensive, too. I would tell you to give him some but, for some reason, I believe you’ve already done that a few times by now. You are such a dirty little slut,” she said with a smirk.
“Whatever. So, how was your trip?”
“Beautiful. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I almost didn’t come back home! The water was the bluest I’d ever seen, and the men? Good Lord, the men were so hot, and so were the women! I’d never messed around with a chick before, but don’t think that the thought didn’t cross my mind while I was out there. But, I kept my hands to myself the whole time. You know that freaka virus is out there, so I didn’t want to take any chances.”
“Freaka?” I said with my eyebrows wrinkled. “Do you mean Zika?”
“Freaka. Zika, hell, either way, it’s bad, and I didn’t want to come across it. I didn’t know if it was sexually transmitted or what, but I wasn’t taking any chances. No sir. I needed to come back exactly the way I left. Other than that, I loved it. We should take a trip out there and bring some men with us. I hated that I had to pass up the opportunity to fuck someone in a place that beautiful.”
I kept my eyes on the bouquet of flowers as I responded. “Yeah, we will have to go back out there. I would love to see Brazil. I would love to see a lot of places. Oh, that reminds me, we are flying to New Zealand in a month to shoot some scen
es in the movie.”
“New Zealand? The weed country?”
“Weed?”
“The place you can smoke weed in public.”
“Um, I don’t know. I didn’t even know there was a place like that, but I’m not sure what people can do there. All I know is that we are going and I am so excited! I’ve never been out of the country, so I am stoked.”
She scrolled through her phone. “Oh, no, that is Amsterdam. Amsterdam is the weed place, but from what I can see, New Zealand looks interesting. Um, kinda tribal, though. Looks like they don’t have Wi-Fi or anything, but it is still beautiful!”
“Shut up, Carrie. They have Wi-Fi. Well, at least they better.”
She flashed a grin. “I’m just messin’ with you. I am sure they do, but for some reason, I am loaded with energy. Let’s say we go out and get a bite to eat? I haven’t had much all day, and I should be jet-lagged, but I don’t know. I feel like I can run laps around this building right now and I don’t feel like sitting in the house. Are you up for it?”
“Yeah, why not? Let me go and get dressed and then we can head out.”
I quickly changed clothes and met Carrie back in the front room; then we headed to Le’ Bistros, a gourmet sandwich spot not too far from our home. During the ride, I forgot that I didn’t even thank Ezra for the flowers, so I sent him a text message. “Hey. Thanks for the surprise.”
He responded a few minutes later. “You are welcome! But, if you don’t mind me asking, what was the surprise?”
“LOL – really? Do you send that many gifts out to different women that you’ve forgotten which ones you sent them to?”
“No, really. I don’t remember sending anything to you. What was it?”
“Wait. You didn’t send me a bouquet of flowers?”
“I wish that I did, but no. I didn’t. Did you read the card?”
I thought back to the blank card, and at that moment, I realized that Ezra wouldn’t have been a secret admirer. Suddenly, the warm feelings I had from thinking about the flowers shifted to a brisk chill. “Yeah, I read the card. It just said from my secret admirer. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“No, that wasn’t me, babe.”
I froze in my seat and looked at Carrie as she bobbed her head to the music that played through the speakers inside of the car. From there, my mind went straight to Brian and sent a sickening feeling to the pit of my stomach. No, that can’t be him. He doesn’t know where I live. Does he? No, that can’t be him. I went back and forth in my mind about who could’ve sent the flowers, but as I went on, all things pointed back to Brian. He found out how to get my number, so maybe he found out how to get my address as well. Ezra sent another message. “Babe? Are you OK? Everything all right?”
“Um, yeah. I think so. I just have to figure out who sent these flowers.”
“Well, maybe it would help if you weren’t messing around with so many guys.”
“Yeah, that would help… since you want to be funny. I’m out with Carrie right now though, and you know how she gets when she feels people are intruding on our time together.”
“Yeah, Jeff is the same way – LOL – well, enjoy yourself. I’ll talk to you later.”
“OK.”
I sat quietly in the passenger seat as Carrie sang out loud to a Rihanna song. “Shine bright like a diamond,” she said, popping her hands on the steering wheel. “I wonder why they are playing this old ass song? I don’t care though, because this was my jam. Shine bright like a diamond, shine bright like a diamond.” Just then, I received another text from an unsaved number.
“Hey, I was going to get mad because you didn’t thank me for the flowers, but then I realized you might not have known who sent them. Even so, you still wouldn’t have known how to contact me.”
“Brain, I warned you to stop. This is getting crazy now. First, my number, now my address? This is going too far. I’ve asked you to stop contacting me, but you don’t seem to get it, so I will take matters into my own hands.”
“All right, babe. Whatever you have to do. I’ll talk to you later.”
I was seething when I put my phone into my purse, and it took me a little while to notice that Carrie was glaring directly at me with her eyebrows wrinkled between her eyes. “Um, are you all right? I’ve been calling your name for the past few minutes.”
“I’m fine,” I said with a terse response. “Well, I am fine now. Or, I will be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I am.” I looked outside, attempting to erase the anger mixed with fear that swirled around in my head. “Oh, we are here? OK, let’s get inside. I am craving one of those bacon and swiss grilled cheese sandwiches.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ezra
As soon as I opened the door, Hannah rushed inside with a sea of nervousness swirling around in her eyes. “It was him, Ezra,” she said as I closed the door behind her. “It was him. That fucking creepy ass stalker! He sent me the flowers! That means he knows where I live! I am freaking out right now! I threw those goddamned flowers in the trash, and I haven’t been home since!”
“Whoa, whoa. OK, calm down,” I said as I put my arms around her. “Just calm down, OK? I’ll handle it. Don’t worry about that guy. As a matter of fact,” I extended my hand, “let me have your phone. I’ll call him right now. Is the number still in your call log?”
She exhaled and pulled her phone from her purse. “Yes. He called me earlier today right before the flowers showed up. My God, I’ve never been so paranoid in my life. I was looking around corners and scanning the parking lot of my building as soon as I got outside.”
“He can’t get up to your room though, can he? I mean, security is pretty tight.”
“There are ways,” she said as she handed me her phone. “There are ways around it. They usually let delivery guys up without a problem because they don’t want to ruin any surprises… and if he is anything like I think he is, he can find a way to sneak in. Security is not as tight as you think.” I took the phone from her hand, and she pointed to the number he called from. “That one right there.”
As soon as I dialed the number, an operator message spoke through the speaker. I hung up and dialed again just to get the same response. “It’s dead,” I said, looking at the phone. “Are there any more numbers?” She scrolled through the call log and landed on another one. As soon as I dialed it, another operator message spoke through the speaker. I looked at Hannah as she flopped down on my couch and buried her head in her hands.
“Why now?” she said. “Why now? We are about to start shooting this movie, and I’ve got a fucking stalker that is about to drive me crazy. I am going to be so fucking paranoid, and now, I don’t even know if I will be able to focus. Why are people like this?! Why can’t he just fucking let me live!” I placed her phone on the table as she started crying out loud. I was incensed at the fact that whoever this guy was, he made her uncomfortable. I felt helpless. There was nothing I could do to stop him until he called or did something crazy when I was around.
I sat next to her and held her close. “Baby, just don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry about it?” she snapped. “He knows where I live, Ezra. He has my number. He has probably already broken into my home and started sniffing my fucking panties by now!” She covered her face just in time for me to tuck my laughter inside my mouth. I didn’t know if she was trying to be funny or not, so I played it on the safe side. Once I calmed down, I continued comforting her.
“Baby, listen. How about you stay here with me for the time being. I mean, at least until we find out what this guy is about. Maybe even get the police involved if we have to. I don’t think we will, because honestly, if I step in and happen to catch up with him, I will beat the living shit out of him and make it so he can’t even use a phone without somebody else dialing the number for him.”
She wiped her eyes, “No, no,” she said. “I don’t want you going to jail over some mess like that. For
all I know, he will press charges on you and then fuck up the filming process and maybe even your career. I don’t know, Ezra. I just have to figure this one out.”
“No. WE will figure this one out. We are in this together and if you are feeling some kind of way about this, then so am I. If you’re uncomfortable, then I am, too. That’s how I see it.”
We sat in silence as she sniffled and tried to calm herself down. I was pissed that she was dealing with that, but at the same time, I was upset that Tanya was trying to pull the same type of bullshit on me with my sons. “Well,” I said, solemnly, “you’re not the only one with an issue right now. I guess I may as well be up front with you, too.” She wiped her eyes and looked towards me. “My ex is threatening to keep my sons away from me while I am filming. She is trying to say that she doesn’t want them around this kind of movie, but she knows I wouldn’t expose them to anything sexual at their ages. She is just being petty right now.”
I stood up and paced the room, glancing at the pictures of my boys on the fireplace mantle. They were my heart, and if she did take them away, I didn’t know what I would do with myself. “But, I know she will make good on the threat if she has to. She is just upset with how things are starting to look up for me, you know? I’ve been doing low-end movies for a while now, and as soon as I land a major one, here she comes using my kids as leverage to do some fucked up shit to me. She is a bitch, Hannah. There is no other way to describe her.”
She stood up and headed towards me as I stood in front of the fireplace. I felt her hand wrap around my waist as her other hand slid onto my stomach. “That is messed up, Ezra. I know how much you love your boys and I hate that she is putting you through that. When did she say this to you?”
“Earlier today. She showed up a little while after I came home from the gym. I thought she had my boys with her, but when she came in without them, I knew it was about to be a bunch of bullshit.”
“Damn. So, I guess we both have some things in front of us to distract us from our dreams. That’s all this is. We are both here, ready to ascend to another place in our lives and we both have roadblocks right in front of us. I have a crazy stalker, and you have a crazy ex.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “So, what are we going to do now?”