Chapter Thirteen
Becky lay in bed for hours that night going over everything that had happened. She liked Ethan a lot. He was kind, intelligent, funny, and extremely good looking. He made her feel pretty and when he touched or kissed her, he made her feel…nice? No, it was more than that. He made her feel alive. But no matter how much she thought about how nice Ethan made her feel, she couldn’t stop thinking about the mysterious man she kept seeing everywhere. She wasn’t really scared of him, more curious. And every time she saw him, her curiosity grew.
He saved her from Lance once already so she felt comfortable enough assuming he wasn’t out to harm her. Truthfully, he could have by now if he really wanted to anyway, considering he seemed to be aware of her well before she was of him. No, she got the feeling he wanted something from her. She just didn’t know what. Every time she asked herself this, she also contemplated the mysterious business card and secretive website it led her to. Where the two connected?
She tossed and turned all night, playing out events and running theories through her mind. By the time morning arrived, she found herself in another grumpy mood. She quickly got ready for work, forgoing her usual routine again, as well as deciding to take a cab to work. Hoping to avoid too many concerned questions, she waved at Ralph as she passed but by if the chuckle she heard from him was any indication, he was well aware of her foul mood. At least she didn’t have to offer any sort of explanation, she thought as she rode the elevator up to her floor. She found her luck had run out though when she stepped off into her front office. She groaned inwardly when she spotted her father. She didn’t feel like faking a good mood this morning.
“There’s my princess!” his voice boomed as he scooped her up in a bear hug.
“Hi Daddy,” she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Apparently it wasn’t enough.
“What’s wrong honey? Nothing happened did it?” he asked, setting her down, concern filling his voice and eyes.
“No, nothing like that. I just didn’t sleep well last night and now I’m tired and grumpy,” she pouted.
He chuckled at her fake pout but didn’t let the subject drop like she hoped. “Are you sure? This is the second time this week you’ve had trouble sleeping.”
She shot Helen a narrow eyed look for ratting her out, which the woman ignored by acting as if she were busy with something on her desk, before reassuring her father. “Yes Daddy, I’m fine. It’s just been a rough week. I’m sure things will get better as the day progresses.”
He studied her for a moment but when she maintained eye contact and kept the small smile on her face he relented. “Okay, how about I take you to lunch today then? Maybe that will help to make your day better?” he asked hopefully.
“Okay,” she smiled at him, already feeling a little bit better just because he offered to take time from his busy schedule to help make her happy.
“Good. Then get to work and I’ll see you in a few hours.”
She chuckled at his comment and rolled her eyes. “Bye Daddy. Love you,” she told him with a shake of her head as she made her way to her office.
Although her father had effectively lightened her mood, the morning still dragged like she knew it would. When lunchtime finally arrived she was beyond grateful that she already had plans that would get her out of the office. She quickly wrapped up the phone call she was on and started closing things down for lunch. As she was finishing, her phone rang again. Assuming it was Helen calling to let her know that her father was there, she picked up with a simple greeting. “Hey Helen, I’m on my way up,” she said quickly and was about to hang up the phone when a male voice answered her.
“Did you get my card?” he asked.
“Huh?” she answered dumbly. Her mind was still trying to register that it wasn’t Helen she was talking to so his question wasn’t even making sense.
“Did you get my card?” the man on the other end of the line asked again pleasantly.
Her brain finally registered what he was asking and everything clicked into place. He must be asking about the business card. “How did you get that into my pocket?” was the first thought that came to mind.
“Magic,” he answered simply, but she could hear the smirk in his voice.
Instead of being nervous like she should have been about this possible stalker calling her, she was intrigued. “Okay, I’ll bite. What sort of magic?”
“The only sort of magic there is, the real kind,” he answered softly.
“But magic isn’t real and I think we’re both a little too old to still believe in it, don’t you?”
“Oh, you’re never too old to believe in magic, Becky.”
Becky startled at the use of her nick-name from this man that she did not know. Reality crashed in and her back stiffened. Whether magic was real or not was irrelevant right now. This man seemed to know way more about her than he should.
“Who is this?” she demanded a little more forcefully than she had intended but didn’t apologize or relent, “And how do you know me?”
“I told you. Magic,” his voice was silky and smooth, with a hint of mystery. A voice most women would probably swoon over, but she ignored it.
“No, that is not an answer. I want to know right now how you know my name, how you slipped that card into my pocket, and how you seem to have all of my contact information. That is not magic, that is stalking.”
At the anger that was clear in her voice, his finally became more serious. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I promise that I’m not stalking you. At least not in the way you’re inferring.”
“Well what other way is there to stalk someone?” she asked, exasperated.
“It’s something I would prefer to talk about in person. Would you consider meeting me?”
“Huh-unh,” Becky was shaking her head even though he couldn’t see it. “I don’t think so. You just admitted that you’ve been stalking me and now you want me to meet you in person? I don’t think so.”
He chuckled. It was deep and sensuous and Becky had to stop herself from getting caught up in the sound. Really Becky? This is your stalker you’re drooling over and it was just a laugh for crying out loud. “I understand your reluctance, but we can meet somewhere public and I promise I won’t hurt you. I think you already know that, don’t you Becky?” His voice dropped with the last question and it sent a shiver up her spine.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, even though she knew. He was the guy.
“You’ve seen me around and we’ve even semi-met.”
“When?” She knew but she needed his confirmation that he was who she thought he was.
“When your boyfriend was yelling at you,” his voice had a hard edge to it now but it didn’t really register because she was thinking about how she had thought that guy was familiar but dismissed the idea.
“That was you?” her voice turned soft as she tried to put the pieces together. “Was that you across from the diner too and then later by my apartment…”
“And on the subway? Yes,” he finished for her, proving that he knew exactly what she was talking about and that it was him in all of those places.
“But how?” Now she was whispering in disbelief, her thoughts going a mile a minute. “I took a cab. There’s no way you could have beat me there.”
“I told you Becky, it’s all by magic.”
“No way,” she breathed out as she slumped back into her chair. She didn’t believe him, she couldn’t. As much as she fantasized about it her whole life and even last night while looking at the website, she knew magic wasn’t real. It just wasn’t.
“It is,” the man whispered in her ear.
“How did you…” she trailed off. “Never mind.”
He chuckled in her ear again. Becky shivered.
“Will you meet me?” he asked hopefully and Becky felt herself wavering. She knew it was stupid to meet a man that s
he had never even met before, who admitted to some sort of stalking, and that not only believed in magic, but used it to explain everything she asked. He was probably a murderer or rapist, but she had to find out.
“I don’t…” she started to say, not knowing what her final answer was going to be, but she was cut off by Helen knocking on her office door. She opened it a crack and stuck her head in. “Your father’s here,” she whispered and then shut the door behind her.
“I have to go,” Becky told the man on the phone.
“Meet me tonight. Seven o’clock at the diner you ate lunch at the other day. I’ll get us a booth in the back so we can talk,” he said in a rush and then hung up without waiting for an answer from her.
She slowly set the phone back down and shook her head. This was crazy! How could this man really expect her to just go meet up with him after all of the things he just told her? What was even crazier was that she was actually considering it.