Chapter 6 – The Suspicion
1339 Words
Chapter 6 – The Suspicion
* * *
I went straight to my cabinet right after my conversation with Lucy.
I was right. My fear has been justified, yet here I am back in my room with the same set of doubts. To be able to prove my suspicion, I needed to catch John red-handed and that is the hardest part of all.
Asking for help from the police won’t work. I don’t have a single piece of evidence on hand and bringing up the dead molester is a pain in the head.
So far, John hasn’t done anything that I can call harmful. Thinking things through, I can still live normally if my intuition is proven wrong.
John, being my stalker, is still an unbelievable idea that I can’t fathom. My arms hugged my legs as I analyzed how impossible it was.
That time in the supermarket could be nothing but a playful trick in my mind. It might have been a by-product of my night with that molester, since never did I have this kind of thought before that night.
That must be it.
Just nothing but an after-effect of that ugly experience. I can’t live like this forever.
My left hand went straight to my hair, scratching my scalp without a hint of gentleness. There is a stinging pain on my head as my nails dug into my skin.
It hurts, yet I can’t stop my fingers since it was helping me a lot to think things deeper.
Solving this puzzle was my utmost priority before I stepped out of this cabinet.
A woman with no redeeming factor, except for her slightly bearable face, is who I am. I don’t have the kind of racks that I could be proud of or the curves that those men will covet.
Why?
Is it true love? A stupid love at first sight? No. We don’t have much interaction, and I never gave him those sweet side glances that could make John feel that I am interested in him. It was always the other way around.
He has no reason to do it in the first place. Yes, that’s it. I still want to give John the benefit of the doubt.
My thumb was already bleeding before I knew it. I developed this nasty habit of biting my poor finger while I’m agitated inside this cabinet. Conflicting emotions are being stirred inside me as I look back at my interactions with John.
Nothing is coming out as I think of all our conversations.
John has always been timid and couldn’t say no to his mother. He is a man who can’t escape the idea of leaving his mother’s arms.
I’m not degrading that idea at all, but it made me think that John will never have the backbone to stalk me due to that same reason. He is just too meek and gentle to be one.
There is nothing wrong. I was just overthinking things. Everything that is happening between us is but a pure coincidence.
A part of my brain completely set aside the nerve-wracking situation that I underwent a while ago.
Finally, my mind was cleared of all the doubts that I had about John. I stepped out of my cabinet and organized the groceries I bought. Tomorrow is but another day that I need to live, and there is nothing more acceptable than this.
A clear mind would be the best weapon to start my Monday.
* * *
A week passed as if nothing happened.
John never made it to my door and my suspicions were gone before I knew it. I was back to my same, old boring life. Nevertheless, I couldn’t be more thankful, since I love this kind of life more than anything else.
“Ana, I’m going. See you next week.”
“Keep safe. Thank you for today.”
This is one of those miracles that I can’t help but love in my job. We closed the shop right after lunch since a haughty, pushover shopped like a millionaire.
We did not expect any sales from her, but the woman turned the table when she started pointing clothes from one rack to another. A little compliment made her buy even the most ridiculous piece that we had inside the shop.
She came like a storm and stepped out of our establishment as an even bigger calamity. That woman definitely left an impression that I could never forget.
However, like a natural disaster, her kind will not always make her way to our location. This is just one of those lucky moments that we have to savor once in a while.
The smell of mint brushed through my nose.
"I’m home." Silence followed my greeting. It was my everyday routine, except for the unusual time that I made it back home. Seeing this room in a well-lit manner made me thank the Heavens with all my might.
A rest longer than I normally have. This day is a bliss that I can treasure as much as I wanted.
Click.
The sound of my locked door echoed throughout the room. Pieces of clothing dropped on the floor one by one as I traced my next destination. Taking a nice warm bath before rolling on top of my bed is the number one activity on my list.
Reading a book until I fall asleep and waking up late tomorrow is the kind of laziness that I deserve. Good thing that this happened on Friday, making everything perfect until the last drop weekend has to offer.
I grabbed my towel and closed the bathroom door.
A hum was started by my lips as I turned on the heater. I have this hobby of always washing my face first before I hop in the shower. Don’t know why, but I just can’t feel clean whenever I skip this routine.
“Hukh…”
However, my lovely and peaceful bath time came to a stop when a strand of hair caught my attention.
Sitting prettily in my toilet seat is a curly strand of hair, maybe an inch when straightened, and is obviously taken out from its root. I was baffled, of course, since I shaved my private area clean whenever I had a chance.
It gave me the cringe thinking that I let this thing grow this long.
My fingers carefully picked up the innocent hair. I don’t know why, but it went straight to my nose out of nowhere. I carefully snip it like a dog for no reason.
It was disgusting to a certain degree, yet I can’t explain why I did such a thing.
No significant outcome made it to my way after acting like a disgusting freak, and the mysterious pubic hair went down the drain before I knew it.
And like a child asking for confirmation, I spread my legs and looked down to see if I truly missed any spot while shaving my private area.
What I saw was spotless skin without a speck of ingrown hair.
“…No way!”
A suspicion sparked in my mind as I scanned my bathroom. Everything is in order the way I left it this morning. However, the shaking of my hands did not stop at all.
I knew that something was wrong the moment that oddball of a strand of hair was seen by my eyes. There is no way that it will pop out of nowhere while I’m at work.
I opened the shower curtain and looked around the small space that I consider my shower room. Awaiting my eyes, in one of the four corners of this space, is another freaking pubic hair.
I lifted it up just like the first one, but it never reached my face.
Smelling this s**t for the second time around is a questionable act that I don’t want to repeat. Once is more than enough.
“Someone else is here.”
Those words escaped my mouth, and my heart started thumping faster than before.
- Writer
