On Sunday Isaac called me on the phone and said good morning, it was just what I needed to start my day, we both really wanted to see each other and we would have made plans if it were not because I received a text message from Ezra reminding me that he would arrive in the afternoon to remove my stitches.
"Your neighbor is starting to annoy me," Isaac admitted to my surprise.
“Don't say that Isaac, remember that he is going to do me a great favor by removing the stitches.”
"Okay, I guess we'll see you tomorrow." I don't know if I will survive that long away from you.
"As always so dramatic," I scoffed.
“Behave yourself and don't get too close to that little doctor.”
“He is not interested in me, there is no reason for you to be jealous.”
“I would not be so sure.”
I frowned.
“Why do you say that?”
"I'm sure he sent you the roses."
I was quiet for a moment and processed what he was saying.
"I don't think so, he just met me," I concluded.
“And who else could it be?”
He didn't have an answer for that.
“I don't know, only time will tell.”
After my phone call with Isaac, I started cleaning the room and got everything ready for Ezra's visit. I had completely forgotten that I had a pending appointment with him, but thank heaven he let me know before arriving. The stitches on my hand were very uncomfortable and I couldn't wait to get rid of them.
My parents had a lot of backlog from their law office so they locked themselves in the upstairs office early and were catching up.
Ezra was very punctual and knocked on the door exactly at the time he said he would. I ran down the stairs and opened the door, he was standing in the doorway and he looked ravishing, he was wearing gray pants, a white shirt and there was a very expensive black watch around his wrist. So far everything was fine, but he had brought his briefcase of supplies. For god's sake. I didn't even want to see his instruments of torture.
"Hi Kim, it's nice to see you," he said with a smile. His little angel face would melt anyone, but not me. My heart had an owner and it was called: Isaac, no other man in the world would tempt me to leave him.
“Welcome Ezra, please come forward.”
“What is this? Ezra asked lifting a doll off the ground.”
"No idea," I replied, surprised.
"Look at her," saying that, he passed the doll to me.
It was made of cotton, but there were no notes on it. Had someone dropped it?
"She's very pretty," he said.
"It's horrible," I corrected. "I don't like it at all."
“Who left it to you?”
“I don't know, it doesn't have any label. They just left it at the door, did you catch a glimpse of someone hanging around here?” I asked, looking up at the road. Everyone who passed by was unknown to me.
“No, not at all,” Ezra saw me and the doll several times, “it’s you! I can't believe it,” he exclaimed, fascinated.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you blind? The doll is identical to you, she has long legs, short hair, white skin, and big eyes. It only needs to have your name written.”
I looked at the doll more closely and realized that he was right. It was a replica of me.
"It can't be." That was all too weird.
“Where do they do these things? I need the address of this factory, I'm going to have a version of myself made.”
For Ezra it was a lot of fun, but for me it was too disturbing. I had a bad feeling, like something bad could happen. I accidentally squeezed the doll and he released a recording that took me by surprise: You are the love of my life! I was so scared that I dropped the doll to the ground and he had to pick it up.
"Besides everything, it comes with a phrase included, incredible." He pressed the doll's stomach again and we heard the same recording again, it was designed to repeat the same stupid phrase.
"I didn't expect that," I admitted with some fear. "I don't want to have her, I don't like her."
He made a cute face and hugged the doll.
“Can you give it to me?”
“Is seriously? Wouldn't you mind waking up and seeing that thing staring at you?”
“Not at all, it would be great for me to see a doll saying good morning to me by telling me that she loves me.”
I hit my forehead with my hand. It was impossible to talk to that man.
"It smells very good," he said before handing it back to me.
I did the same as him and found that it had a vanilla fragrance very similar to mine. There was no doubt that it was for me.
"Anyway, please come in." I stepped aside and closed the door behind him.
We both sat on the couch and he put his black briefcase on a small table.
“Then tell me, how have you been? He asked me kindly.”
“I have been very good, thanks for asking. And how did your work go?”
“It was a very quiet turn, I can't complain. Can you show me your hand?”
My heart started beating very fast. I wanted to get rid of the stitches with all the strength of my heart, but I was afraid of the process. Why was this so? Ezra opened his briefcase and caught a glimpse of a scalpel, I wish I had never seen it.
“I have to confess that I am terrified of all this kind of thing.”
Ezra smiled at me and conveyed reassurance.
“It will be faster than you think, trust me.”
I forced a nervous smile, gave him my hand and looked away.
“Breathe deeply.”
I did what he ordered and didn't even feel pain.
"Ready, we're done," he suddenly announced.
“Really? I can't believe it.” I looked at my hand and it was free of stitches. “It didn't even hurt. You don't know how much I appreciate it, they were very annoying.”
"Don't worry, I already told you that I'm available for everything you need" Saying that he winked at me.
I couldn't help but get thoughtful. Isaac was sure that he had sent me the roses, but I wasn't so sure. I wouldn't believe it until Ezra admitted it.
"You didn't answer my calls the other day, Kim," he accused me.
Oh my God. It was true.
“Yes, it's just that… I couldn't find anything to invent that day I fell asleep early.”
I hope you don't have me blocked.
“Not at all. I meant to call you back, but I didn't want to bother you.”
“A call from you would never be a bother.”
How easy it would be to get carried away by his sweet words and his pretty eyes.
“I'll keep it in mind.”
Ezra put all his supplies in their place and closed his briefcase.
“My sister is waiting for me because we are going out to do some shopping so I have to go.”
We both got up from the couch.
"One of these days I'll introduce you to Margaret. I'm sure you got along really well,” he commented as he walked him to the door.
"I'd love to meet her, I haven't seen your parents either," I mused.
“At the moment they are traveling and I have no idea when they will return.”
“I get it. Thank you very much for your help, I appreciate it very much,” I reiterated.
"If you need me, call me," saying that. Ezra left and I closed the door.
When I went up to my room, the first thing I did was keep that devilish doll under lock and key in my desk, for nothing in the world did I want to wake up from a nightmare in the middle of the night and see her by my side because if that happened I would probably have a heart attack.
That night I made myself comfortable in my bed and started a new reading while sipping my inevitable cup of coffee. I was so immersed in that fantasy world that my incoming call bell scared me. I turned to look at the clock and discovered that it was a little after midnight, who was thinking of calling me at that time? Was it a life or death emergency? I stared at my phone without being able to decide what to do, that unknown number did not generate confidence, but I answered the call anyway.
"Hi," I whispered doubtfully.
I waited in vain for an answer because that never happened, the same thing had happened to me before so it no longer seemed like a mistake, someone wanted to get too smart. Didn't I have anything to do?
"Hell, if you have something to say, speak up!" I screamed excitedly.
It didn't take me long to get an answer, but I wish I had never heard it.
"Kim..." the voice was barely a whisper, it was a man's voice but he didn't say anything else other than my name.
A chill ran down my spine and I was paralyzed for a moment in which I felt that time was not passing. When I was finally able to react I hung up the call and threw my phone away from me. I couldn't recognize that man's voice, in fact, I could barely hear him say my name. Doubts completely invaded me, a part of me was not sure I had heard that, but another part was sure I had. Was he imagining things? I'd actually be very relieved if it were, because that was easier than accepting that someone was out there bothering me.
I began to feel very distressed, all that was too much. First the notes, then the roses, the doll and, above all, the calls. When were they going to leave me alone? I had no idea who was behind everything because that person did not want to reveal his identity and that filled me with unease.
I had a hard time falling asleep after that call, all I knew was that I never wanted to hear anything like that again in my entire life.
I looked in the mirror and all I found were dark circles that was to be expected since I hadn't slept well the night before. I took out my makeup kit and put on a lot of concealer and foundation, usually nothing I did looked good on me, but that day I achieved a decent result. All I needed was more practice.Isaac called me early and told me that he would be late for classes, so the best thing was for me to go on my own and meet at the university. Walking down the hall I could hear my parents talking in their room, but I was too late for college so I left the house without saying goodbye to them. While waiting for a taxi on the side of the road I began to receive strange looks from some people who passed in front of me. How much did they see? What was wrong with me? I snorted and pretended nothing was wrong, but when I saw a woman with an astonished expression I realized that she was not looking at me, I followed that woman's gaze and turned to see my house for the first time
When I got home the security cameras were up and running, my parents had been surprisingly fast. I could see the camera recordings on all devices and even on the TV, so I linked them to my computer so I could see all the videos in real time. There was only one camera that interested me the most and that was the one that pointed towards the front door.My parents were making dinner and had told me to relax, but after twenty minutes I was still sitting in the same position watching my computer. I wanted to go to the cafeteria and buy a cake but it was already dark and I was afraid that something would happen to me if I leave the house. I rested my elbow on the table while I stared at the videos, the cars came and went on the road and that was the only thing that happened. Nothing else."I must be freaking out," I whispered under my breath and slammed my computer shut.I had lived in that neighborhood all my life and I knew all my neighbors perfectly, I had never b
I felt very calm after our family meeting, my parents told me that everything was going to be fine and that was just what I needed to hear. I went up to my room with restored spirits and focused on the day ahead. I put on a red tank top that made me look slimmer, black pants, a black jacket and matching boots, I even struggled a bit with makeup, but the hard part was brushing my hair because I hated having to untangle it. With the pain in my soul I grabbed the comb and began to brush it while looking at my reflection.When I was in high school I had long hair, but keeping it that way involved a lot of problems so I got fed up and one day before going to college I showed Paola a magazine and gave her scissors to cut my hair. It was not a good idea because, she didn't cut it like the girl in the magazine but anyway I loved my new style and since then I have always kept my hair short. Never in my life did I like to comb my hair and that day I was doing it out of love for Isaac,
My parents started the entire lawsuit process against Fernando and he had no choice but to get a lawyer, we did not speak to each other again at the university and I enjoyed a lot of peace and tranquility for the following weeks since the mysterious man had disappeared without leave a trace. I no longer received strange calls, or notes, or roses and they did not follow me either, the security cameras worked twenty-four hours a day and in all that time they did not record any suspicious person. It was not a coincidence, it was obvious that Fernando was scared by the lawsuit and that is why he had stopped bothering me, everything was quite clear to me. I was very anxious to go to court because I wanted to see his castle of lies fall little by little. Every morning I checked my calendar to cross out the days, all I wanted was to end it all.While I was waiting for the big day Isaac came to my house to ask for my hand, he was very worried but without reason because things could n
“You look very tired. Did you sleep well last night?” Paola asked me with concern."Not really," I admitted.I looked at myself in a small mirror and saw that the skin under my eyes was black.“You have been very quiet and you are not like that. Something wrong?”I sighed and turned to look, I could see Isaac in the distance, he stood out among the others because of his formidable body and he was buying us something to eat while we waited for him at one of the most distant tables of the restaurant."Does it have to do with the meeting you had yesterday?" She continued."Fernando is not the culprit," I admitted suddenly.Paola frowned.“Did you find out who he is?”“That I would like to know, but I don't know.”I grabbed my phone and showed her the message I had received.“They sent it to me just at the time Fernando was signing the agreement.&rdquo
My little brain could barely focus on what the teacher was saying, I tried to write down every now and then but couldn't finalize any ideas, Isaac was sitting next to me and he seemed to be very calm, quite the opposite of me. Paola insisted that I not trust him, but I told her that she was wrong and that I firmly believed his loyalty, in the end we could not agree and we both agreed to hide everything we had talked about. I didn't want to eat anything during the break because I had no appetite so I stayed in my seat while all my companions left the happy section of life, except Isaac who decided to stay with me.“You want to tell me what's wrong? He asked impatiently.”I was very surprised.“What do you mean?”“You are very thoughtful. Does it have to do with Fernando?”“Of course not.”“So?”I hesitated for a moment and decided that it was impossible for me to distrust him
I knew we were going to argue at the university and I had prepared myself for it. Isaac was alone under an oak tree and was admiring the landscape of the university when I arrived. I approached with slow steps thinking that he had not seen me, but I was wrong.“How was your date? He asked cheekily as he looked in my direction. There was something about his gaze that seemed very strange to me, but I couldn't identify what it was.”"I didn't have an appointment.”“The atmosphere looked very romantic so let's call things by their names.”“Don't say stupid things, his sister was with us.”"She must be very interested in matching them up," he scoffed.“What do you have against him?”“In case you don't remember, you are being stalked by a maniac who is loose somewhere and you have no idea who he is. It could be your little doctor, you shouldn't trust him so much.”&ldq
The little birds sang and flew freely from one place to another and transmitted a certain level of tranquility to me, however, my mind did not take long to return to the same thing again and again, Isaac did not come to class and I still did not decide to go look for him or no, it was very possible that he refused to talk to me. There was a couple of doves on the branch of an oak and it was too cute for me to see them close together and with their eyes closed. A part of me didn't want to leave the house, but I knew perfectly well that being in college was distracting me a bit so it was the best for my sanity.“Have you checked your Facebook wall? Paola asked as she looked at her phone.”We were both standing next to a row of trees waiting for a taxi to leave the university, classes were over and we had the rest of the day off which meant nothing to me. I was a bit surprised by her question because she knew that checking social media was the last of my worri