Nocturnal Obsession

“Who was that, babe?” asked Sabrina, exiting the bathroom. “That’s a very good question,” Carly replied. “The caller asked for me in a whisper, then hung up. Makes me wonder if it’s someone I know playing a joke, since they whispered.” “Did their number show up?” “Nope. Want me to fix you something, Officer Gorgeous?” Sabrina smiled. “No thanks, babe. I think I’ll turn in now. Coming?” “I sure hope I am,” Carly said with a suggestive smile. Sabrina giggled. Once in the bedroom, the two began to undress. Sabrina glanced over at Carly. While the petite blonde was certainly pretty, she had to admit that Teresa was even prettier. Much prettier. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d told Teresa she was beautiful. But single or not, Sabrina doubted she could ever have feelings for a girl like her. She didn’t know how she knew this, but somehow she just did. “So how was work?” Carly asked, sliding into bed next to Sabrina and clicking off the bedside lamp. “It was strange.” “Strange?” “Yeah. There’s this girl who’s—well—I don’t know if ‘weird’ fits, but there’s something about her that seems a little off.” “Tell me about her.” “Her name is Teresa. She’s about your size and age, only she has red hair. I passed by her on my first day. I could tell by the way she looked at me that she was attracted to me. I figured no harm done, though. People can’t help what they like, and besides, I have you.” “Just remember that, hot stuff,” Carly told her. “Oh, I wouldn’t forget it for the world, trust me,” Sabrina assured her. “Anyway, I saw her again the next day at the vending machine. We made about two minutes of small talk. Then I saw her again later, sitting on her porch. Again, we made a little small talk, but this time she offered me some coffee. Naturally, I said no thanks and moved on.” “And?” “And tonight I saw her again. She came to see me at the guard station to make a little confession.” “I can just imagine what that confession must’ve been,” said Carly. “You got it. She said she’d never been with a woman before, though she’d thought about it. Then when she saw me, she was like, ‘Oh my God’—and those were her exact words.” “So what did you do?” “I told her that while she was a very pretty girl, I have someone I’ve been with long-term and couldn’t throw that away. At the same time, I felt bad for her. She’s fairly new to the area and awfully lonely, so I agreed we could at least chat on occasion.” Silence filled the air. Then Carly spoke up. “Oh, Bri, I don’t know if I like that. I mean, I’m sorry if she’s new and lonely—I don’t mean to sound insensitive—but that’s not your problem. Besides, don’t you think paying her any attention is just going to lead her on and give her false hope?” “I don’t think it will, but if it does in any way, I’ll avoid her altogether. And remember, I’m not going to be there long.” “That’s true,” said Carly. “Now let’s be all action and no talk.” “You’re on, babe, you’re on,” said Sabrina, pulling Carly toward her. Meanwhile, Teresa drifted off, alone and lonely, and not at all happy over the fact that she now knew for sure that somebody else was in Sabrina’s bed. Instead of letting it anger or depress her, she decided to see it as a challenge. One she was willing to win at any cost. ________________________________________ Teresa closed and locked her mailbox. No mail today. She headed back to her place. It was now 6:00 p.m. It seemed 10:45 couldn’t come fast enough. Even so, she preferred to wait until it got late enough for things to quiet down before her little meeting with that hot woman of hers. Well, she would be hers soon enough. Teresa was a very determined individual who didn’t give up easily. She fully believed that once a person made up their mind to achieve what they wanted, nothing could stand in their way. Nothing but other people, perhaps. “It’s okay, Carly,” Teresa muttered to herself. “She’ll be trading you in for the new and not-so-used before you know it.” As expected, Mark was hanging just outside his door. “Hey, Sugar, gonna come pay me a visit now? You can tell me all your problems and secrets. Just lay it all on me, girl. I’m a great listener.” Teresa stopped and stared at him. “Yeah, I’ll bet you are, Mark.” She slipped her key into her door. “Well? Don’t you think it’d be a great idea? Just you and me?” Just then, a thought crossed Teresa’s mind. “You know,” she said, turning back to Mark, “I think it just might be after all.” “Great, great,” said Mark, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “But first you gotta do me a huge favor while I go fix us a couple of drinks.” “Anything, babe, anything. Just name it.” “Go write on a piece of paper, ‘I hate my life.’” Mark’s smile wilted. “Just trust me. It’s a joke I want to play on someone, but if I write it myself, they’ll recognize my handwriting.” Mark appeared to be thinking about it. “Just do it and leave your door open. I’ll be over with the drinks in just a few minutes. You still want me, don’t you?” “Oh yes, definitely. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to write that out for you. It’s a simple enough request. But you promise to come right over?” “Absolutely. Give me just three minutes. You like whiskey?” “Love it. See you in a few, baby.” Teresa slipped inside her place and quickly ran into the little kitchenette. Grabbing a large barrette from the counter, she secured her hair back neatly, tucking the ends inside the back of her T-shirt. Next, she pulled the bottle of whiskey from an upper cabinet, then reached inside the cabinet below the sink for the rat poison she’d taken from Wayne’s house. She’d never known exactly why she’d taken it, but now she did. After all, wasn’t there supposed to be a reason for everything? She mixed the poison and whiskey together in a glass. At first, she worried the taste would be so bad that the asshole wouldn’t get enough down, but it didn’t matter. The stuff was so potent that it wouldn’t take much more than a swallow to do the job. She giggled when she thought about how Mark had recently told her that an image of her face was forever imprinted on the screen of his brain. “And now my face will be the last one you ever see, you little bastard.” Trying hard to suppress her laughter and contain her excitement over what was to come, she peeked through the blinds on her sliding glass door. Good—no one was in sight to say they’d seen her go over there if things looked suspicious. Of course, there were no guarantees that someone wasn’t peeking out their window, but it was a chance she was willing to take. She knew that eventually she’d be moving in with her beloved Sabrina, but until then, she couldn’t take any more of Mark’s shit. She picked up the two glasses and stepped outside. Mark’s door, which was right next to hers, was slightly ajar. She kicked it open with her foot—not just because she had the glasses in her hands, but because she didn’t want to leave fingerprints. “Well, well, well. Welcome to my pad, sweet stuff,” said Mark, now clad in nothing but briefs. “There’s your note,” he said, gesturing to a small table by the door. Teresa glanced at it. “Perfect. Thanks so much, Mark.” She handed him his glass. He took it, keeping his gaze fixed on Teresa. Teresa took a swig of her untainted drink. “I know it’s not much,” Mark said, finally tearing his gaze from Teresa long enough to sweep his head around the small room, “so just make yourself comfortable anywhere you want.” “I’d rather stand till we finish our drinks, but you go ahead and get comfortable on your loveseat.” It was the room’s only real place to sit. Mark shrugged. “Okay,” he said, seating himself sideways so he could lean back on one arm and swing his legs over the other. He took a huge swig of his drink, then made a face. “Tastes a little off, don’t you think?” “I don’t think so,” said Teresa, taking another swig from her own glass. Mark took another sip. And another. Hurry up, Teresa thought. Die already, you dork! “So what kinds of things you wanna do tonight, babe?” “Whatever turns you on.” He started coughing. “Just what did you have in mind, Mark?” He coughed harder and became breathless. “Shall we take it slow and sweet?” He tried to suck in a deep breath. “Or shall we get rough and wild?” “Hey. Hey, what the fuck…?” he choked out as he set the glass down on a small nearby table. Teresa remained calm and silent, sipping her drink and watching the scene before her. Now he was desperately gasping for air. “Y-you fuck-fucking…” He slumped back on the loveseat. All was now still and quiet. Teresa pulled the plastic gloves from the pocket of her shorts and put them on. Then she picked up the glass Mark had drunk from, found one of his own glasses, poured the remaining contents into it, and set it by him on the table. Next, she hurried back to her own place with both glasses in hand. She peered out the sliding glass door. There was still no one in sight. She washed her prints off the rat poison and whiskey bottles, then brought them back and placed them near where Mark sat slumped on the loveseat, an accusatory expression frozen on his face. Back in her apartment, she closed the door and looked at the wall between her place and Mark’s. A broad smile parted her lips.