“I don't know about you,” he said as he pushed the door gently shut. “But I don't quite feel ready for bed just yet. It's only 7:30.”
I kissed him and smiled.
“Well, I'm feeling a little peckish. Why don't we order a pizza or something, and maybe watch an adult movie?”
“Oh, kinky huh?” he joked. “I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff!”
I jabbed him playfully in the ribs.
“I'm not!” I exclaimed. “Come on, you know what I meant!”
“I know, I know,” he said with a laugh. “You know I'm just teasing. Alright well, I'll order a pizza, and you go look through the latest releases to see if there's anything worth watching. Oh, um, any preference regarding what kind of pizza you'd like? I don't eat pizza that often, and when I do I'm not real fussy about the toppings.”
“Hmm, well I always do enjoy a good Hawaiian.”
“Pineapple on pizza, huh?” he said with a grin. “Good choice. I'll go place the order, you see if there's anything worth watching.”
I went back to the living room, but before I sat down on the sofa, I pulled the drapes back a little and peered out of the window, looking across the street at my house. I shuddered, and a cold jolt of fear rippled through me as I thought of what had happened earlier with Simon. That was the closest he had come to physically getting to me in a very long time, and the thought of what he could have done to me had the cops not showed up terrified me.
It also depressed the hell out of me. I had gone through so much trouble to be free of him—uprooting my life, cutting my ties with the past, moving hundreds of miles away, going through all the bureaucratic hassles of legally changing my name and getting a whole set of new official documents. And after all of that, he still found me. What had I done to deserve this? And would I ever, ever be truly free, or would I have to spend the rest of my life running and hiding, looking over my shoulder all the time and sleeping with one eye open?
This last thought was really crushing, and I almost broke down and started weeping right there and then, but I summoned up all the strength and willpower inside of me to do my best to hold everything together. I had to be strong now, not just for me but for Everett. He had an immense amount of pressure on him right now, and he didn't need me to add to all of that.
“Hey,” said Everett, interrupting my thoughts. “The pizza has been ordered. Did you find anything to watch yet?”
“No, to be honest, I haven't even looked at what's available.”
“Ah. Something on your mind?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, since you're standing by the window there looking out, I imagine I know what it is.”
He walked over to me and put his arms around me, giving me a warm, reassuring hug.
“I know that you must be scared. I mean, who wouldn't be?”
“It's not just that,” I said. “It's the fact that... That I'm stuck, that I'm like a prisoner now. I have to look over my shoulder, I have to worry all the time about where he is, whether he's about to pounce. It's horrible Everett, it really is. I can't live like this.”
He squeezed me tightly.
“I know it is, and I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Nobody deserves this, nobody. But rest assured, I won't let that creep get within a hundred yards of you.”
“I know that, but you can't be around me 24-7, Everett. And even if you could, I would want my independence anyway. But that psycho, that evil asshole, he's robbed me of that!”
Again, I felt like crying, but Everett stroked my head gently and hugged me, and I drew strength from him and managed to keep myself together.
“He'll eventually get caught, you know. I don't know how he wiggled his way out of a jail sentence before, but now he's committed a serious crime. Breaking and entering with the intention to do someone harm is not something that the courts will take lightly. And on top of that, he was breaking a restraining order, multiple times – Mrs. Dobbins will surely testify that she's seen him hanging around your house a few times. And he can be tied to the break-in and threatening message left at your daycare. When all of that is added up, he'll be looking at some serious prison time.”
“I just hope they can catch him. I really hope they can.”
“He's going to slip up eventually. They always do.”
“I just hope that it's soon. Like I said, I can't go on like this. I really can't.”
“Come, let's not dwell on this too much. Let's go sit down and scroll through things to watch. It'll be a good distraction to get your mind off all this stuff.”
I nodded and took his hand, and then we went over to the sofa and sat and scrolled through Netflix's offerings.