When obsession makes it's way into love then love becomes a danger to itself and those around it ~Victor
★

It was that kind of weather where when you took off your jacket, you felt an unmistakeable chill rack your bones to the core and yet when you put it on, the sweltering heat threatened to make a stew of you. Dr. Emilia Gardiner, who was scantily clad in the same rumpled yellow romper from yesterday night, was currently rubbing her bare arms furiously to ward off the chill.

Emilia locked up Archer's house and put the key in her purse. She licked the last of the chocolate cake from her plump lips and smiled like a child. Archer had left her a piece of cake on the dining table with a note that informed her that he had urgent work to take care of and that he was expecting her back tonight. He had promised to bring macaroons and Emilia could never say no to macaroons. They were her favorite dessert.

Emilia literally skipped the whole way to her house with a smile. The memories of last night began to play out in her mind like a slideshow and she giggled. If any of her neighbors saw her like this, there was no doubt in her mind that she would end up in a mental asylum. She was lucky that it was nine a.m and most of her neighbors had either already made it to work or were currently stuck in the rush hour traffic jam. She didn't expect anyone to be home to ask her where she had been last night. Yes, she lived in those kinds of neighborhoods where everyone expected to know everything about everyone.

Emilia's next door neighbor, Danielle Garcia, a plump single mother of two troublesome boys tumbled out of her house the moment Emilia stuck her key into the front door of her converted dairy loft. She held her crying toddler on her hip while her other son clung to her hand and was pulling her towards her car. Ah! The struggles of motherhood.

Emilia willed her door to open so that she could enter her house before Danielle roped her into a never-ending pointless conversation. She was already running late for work. Emilia mumbled a string of profanities when Danielle called out to her. And to think the day had started off on a bright note. Don't get her wrong, Emilia wasn't antisocial or anything like that. She just loathed women who spent most of their time gossiping about everyone and criticizing their every action. Generally, she hated people who acted as if they were the biggest saints in the world.

And Danielle was one of those people.

"You are back so soon?" Danielle asked. The chubby toddler on her hip had stopped crying and was now deriving satisfaction from trying to yank Danielle's hair from her scalp. Her other son, who seemed to have inherited his mother's incessant love for gossip, was listening intently to their conversation.

"Huh?" Emilia asked completely shocked.

"I saw you leave your house about an hour ago." Danielle replied. What? She hadn't even been home last night. It seemed Danielle had finally lost her mind. Emilia nodded in agreement to prevent further questioning and excused herself from the conversation. She turned the key in the lock and her door clicked open.

When Emilia was finally safe in the confines of her house, she sighed in relief. She immediately went to her bedroom. She stripped off the romper and threw it in the laundry basket. Next, were the shoes which she kicked under the bed.

Emilia sang while she showered. She was still happy. Danielle had not ruined her day yet. When she was done, she dried herself and moved to the mirror. She smiled at her reflection. There were no more bags under her eyes owing to the adequate sleep she had gotten yesterday. Her eyes no longer possessed the thousand yard stare. In their place, were smoldering crystalline blue eyes that possessed thousands of emotions. Gratitude? Contentment? Love?

Emilia picked out slim fit jeans and a white sleeveless shirt. To protect herself against the September winds,  Emilia added a denim jacket to her ensemble and she was ready to go.

The real trouble began when she walked down to the dining room for a cup of hot chocolate. She opened her cupboard and frowned when she didn't see her favorite cup. It had been a special gift from Khris, Amanda's husband last Christmas. She went to the sink and frowned even harder when she saw that her cup was there.She had washed her cup the last time she had used it, right? There was also an empty tub of chocolate ice cream besides it. Now, Emilia was seething. No one entered her house, ate her ice cream and got away with it.

Danielle's words were finally beginning to make sense. There was only one explanation for this. Someone had been in her house.

Emilia noticed the note a few panic filled moments later. It was stuck to her fridge with a refrigerator-magnet. Under the note, there was a picture. The picture was of her and Archer kissing outside her childhood home two years and two months ago when a killer from her past had just murdered her father and kidnapped her mother. The writing on the note was forced like someone had pressed down the pen too hard because they were pissed. It read.

That's how it feels when someone uses what belongs to you.

It didn't take an Einstein to figure out that the culprit was none other than Rosalia Finn Grande. Emilia felt violated. Her personal space had been broken into. Her anger was quickly replaced by an icy nonchalance. She knew just how to react. She would react by doing absolutely nothing because if she did something, she would be stooping to Rosalia's level. She called the only friend she trusted to fix her locks, Kevin Steward.

Kevin was a former marines officer and had worked as a security guard at Emilia's former apartment until it had turned into a crime scene. He had retired soon after that and was presently living in a penthouse apartment in Hyde Park. Margaret didn't like to admit it but Emilia knew that she had a huge crush on him. 

When she was done, Emilia picked her purse from the table by the door and left for work.

Emilia took the subway to work given that her car was still a crime scene. The Boston PD had told her it would take a minimum of three days for them to return her car. Emilia probably wouldn't use it again. She would most likely sell it and buy another one.

★★★

Emilia heaved a sigh of relief when the Mental Health Clinic came into view. The train had dropped her off at a station a mile back. Why couldn't trains just get you to your exact destination? She should have taken a cab instead. Walking had proven an arduous venture for Emilia. She was now a sweaty mess.

Emilia was so engrossed in her thoughts and maybe that was why she didn't notice the BMW that had been parked to the side of the road. The BMW was now following her at a steady pace. When Emilia was a hop, a skip and a jump away from the open gates of the Mental Health Clinic, the car's engine revved. Emilia turned belatedly and time just slowed. She stood there on the roadside, paralysed by shock, as the BMW inched closer and closer and closer. Was this how God was going to pay her back for running over Harleigh? Maybe it was true that karma was a bitch.

The car would have run Emilia over had it not been for a certain blonde haired man that had grabbed Emilia by the hand and yanked her away from the roadside and into his hard body. His navy blue polo shirt held the acrid smell of gun powder, sweat and old spice. Why did he smell like gun powder? Emilia pushed herself off of him and glanced up into intense blue eyes that mirrored her own. It's like she was looking at a boy version of herself. Emilia tore her gaze from the man and scowled at the BMW that had almost turned her into roadkill, literally.

The BMW had stopped a short distance away from the Mental Health Clinic. A petite woman with brown hair that flowed down her shoulders walked out. Emilia recognized the woman instantly. She had spent the past two years and two months reading article after article on her modelling career from Google. Emilia kept tabs on the woman as though she idolized her yet in reality she despised her. Emilia hated Rosalia for abandoning Archer. She hated Rosalia for squandering away her marriage to a good man and all for what? Money? Fame? Power?

Emilia was already angry. If Danielle had failed to ruin her mood, Rosalia had most definitely succeeded. However, it was not Rosalia's smirk that made Emilia angry, it was what she was wearing that made Emilia seethe with rage. Rosalia was wearing Emilia's clothes; her white slim fit jeans and her black crop top. Rosalia had not even spared Emilia's white sneakers.

Rosalia walked towards her and did a little twirl. "I look nice right?"

Emilia wanted to slap the smirk off her face but the blonde haired man intervened. He grabbed Emilia's hand and pulled her into his body again.

"That's what she wants don't you see? She wants you to lose your temper at your place of work so that you lose your job. She could have done this anywhere else. Why here?" The man whispered into her ear and Emilia involuntarily shivered. He was right. She could have done this back at her house.

Well, atleast that explained her smile. Emilia told the man that she would handle the situation. He let go of her arm and shrugged. He had tried to warn her. It was not his fault if she lost her job.

Emilia walked over to Rosalia and threw her arms around her in a tight embrace. To the  crowd of onlookers, they looked like the best of friends, whereas in reality, they were literally mortal enemies . Emilia spoke, loud enough for the growing crowd of spectators to hear.

"Oh girlfriend. It's so nice of you to come see me at work." Emilia patted Rosalia awkwardly on the back then whispered "Archer is not a toy that he should belong to anyone. He is an adult who can make his own decisions. You had five years to value him and you didn't. Let someone else value him. Oh and signing those papers would be in your best interest. It would be a shame if Archer found out what you really did in Milan last summer with a certain male model."

The color drained from Rosalia's face and she masked it quickly with a smile. "Your happy days are numbered, Emilia. Don't fuck with me." Rosalia replied. Emilia pretended that what Rosalia had said didn't scare her and she walked away. Emilia rushed through the reception of the Mental Health Clinic, ignoring the looks that the staff and patients were giving her and entered into her office.

For the second time in two days, Emilia jumped when she saw someone sitted in her office chair. The blonde haired man also entered her office and Emilia began rethinking the conversation they had had just outside the clinic. How did he know she worked here? Did he have some kind of hidden agenda? Was he a kidnapper who had come for her? Then why did he just save her from losing her job?

The man sensed her panic and raised his hands in surrender, "Woah. Hold your horses ma'am. It seems we got off on the wrong foot. I am Gabriel. Gabriel Hidalgo. I am with her."

Emilia turned to the woman sitting in her chair. She recognized her as one of her clients. What was her name again? Alea. Emilia tried to remember her second name but failed.

"It's not a Tuesday." Emilia said with a frown. Alea's appointments were every week on Tuesday. Today was a Thursday.

Gabriel talked for her, "She needs to speak to her brother. It's urgent."

"Not to be rude but how am I supposed to help her with that? I don't even know her brother"

Gabriel fished his phone from his pocket and showed Emilia the picture of her and Archer kissing outside her childhood home. "Well according to this picture, you do. From where I am standing, I would say that you know him rather intimately."  Emilia really needed to have that picture taken down and soon.

"Wait, Archer is your brother?" Emilia asked and Alea nodded. How hadn't she noticed this? The jet-black-almost-navy-blue hair, the deep brown eyes. It had been so obvious and yet Emilia hadn't realized it.

Gabriel still had one last bomb to drop, "Alea needs to talk to her brother because she thinks that she knows who the killer is."

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