Obsession Read Free

happened within close proximity, and I jumped every
time the door opened to the office. I continually let my mind drift
and had to ask a potential client to repeat his questions and
comments several times throughout our meeting.
    A bitter chill ran up and down my
spine from the mere thought of that stupid letter being in the same
state as me. The letters had stopped when I’d moved to Grand Rapids
a year ago. I thought I’d escaped them, but now that I was back in
my home state of Florida, too close to where it all started, I was
panicking.
    “What time are you coming in
tomorrow?” Corey, the architect who shared the small office with
me, asked. I jolted in my seat, startled by his question. “Sorry,
didn’t mean to frighten you.”
    I shook my head, putting on a smile as
I stood from my chair. “It’s fine, I was just focused. I’ll be in
around nine.” I nonchalantly grabbed the pile of mail, including
the tormenting letter. “See you tomorrow,” I mumbled as my heels
clicked on the gray laminate.
    The humid Miami air hit me like a
freight train when I swung the door open. I loved the warmer
weather, but my oxygen supply was cut short at the moment. My brown
eyes were constantly moving as I made my way to my car. It was only
twenty feet from the office, but my anxiety was always on high
alert when those letters appeared.
    My eyes skimmed inside the back of the
Lexus, my company car while I was staying in Miami, to make sure no
one was there. It was silly of me to think such a thing, he’d never
hide in my back seat. That wasn’t his style. He was way too
intelligent to go for the obvious.
    Good thing I knew him well. Or maybe I
just hadn’t pissed him off enough yet. The entire ride home, I
massaged the front of my neck. It was a gesture that always soothed
me as long as it was my hand doing the massaging and no one
else.
    My phone rang as I pulled
into my parking spot at the condo Conklin had provided for me, and
I nearly pissed myself. “ Jesus !” I shouted as I hit my elbow
on the glass of the window.
    I rubbed my elbow, furious with myself
for letting that stupid letter rile me.
    “Hello?” I grumbled.
    “Hey, is it a bad time?” Becca, my
very timid and concerned all the time best friend,
asked.
    “No, I just got back to the condo.
What’s up?” I climbed out of my car, my purse close to my stomach.
Even though I was on the phone, I still scoped out the parking lot
as I scrambled to the entry door.
    “Oh, you know, the usual,” she said
timidly. Her voice made me worry. Becca and Tyler were going
through an engagement rough patch. His father had committed
suicide, and Tyler didn’t express his feelings well enough for my
worry-wart of a best friend.
    “Did you have another rough day?” I
asked, counting on her opening up to me. I could really use the
distraction.
    “I’m flustered and worried about
Tyler. I never see him anymore, and he hasn’t talked to
me.”
    “I know you’re sick of
hearing this, but he lost his dad, Becca. Yeah, they didn’t have
the best relationship, but sometimes that can make losing someone
harder. It’s not easy hearing good things about a person at their
funeral when you really couldn’t stand being around them. He’s
probably feeling guilty for thinking his dad was such an asshole.”
Tyler’s dad had been the owner of the Conklin business and was a
womanizing dick. Explained why Mitch was
such a cocky bastard.
    “I think you’re right. I don’t like
how he’s pushing me away.”
    “Time, Becca. If he doesn’t shape up,
then you bring in the gauntlet. Threaten to leave,”
    I said confidently. This was the
biggest difference between us, I was assertive and knew what I
wanted, where she thought too much.
    “Let’s hope it doesn’t get that far,”
she said shakily.
    “I doubt it will. He’ll come around.
So I booked my flight from Miami to Chicago today for dress
shopping,” I said, changing the subject enthusiastically as I threw
my purse