We slept in the next day and it was nice. It had been a while since I slept in on a Sunday and I needed the extra rest. Derek woke up a little before me and surprised me with breakfast in bed. He made my favorite, pancakes, bacon, and eggs. We cuddled up in bed and ate it together. After I took a shower and did some light cleaning. Derek drank a few beers and watched some sports. I made ribs for dinner and we had a mini movie marathon before bed. Altogether it was a nice relaxing day.
On Monday, Derek had to go to work. He worked at a restoration and repair shop. Each person that worked there had a specialty. Derek was pretty good at fixing most things but his specialty was woodworking, wiring, and electronics. He was still making up for when his arm was broken and would go into work an hour early and leave an hour late.
Around noon he texted me, offering to do the grocery shopping. I usually did it on Monday's after work. I knew he didn't want me going out on my own until we got things sorted out but I was hesitant to give him the list. He had a knack for skipping over things. He promised he'd tried to get everything so I texted it to him.
I spent the afternoon deep cleaning the apartment. We'd only lived here a little while so it didn't take me that long. By the time Derek got home with the groceries I was all done. I put everything away and found he'd indeed got everything and then some.
He bought me a nice bouquet of flowers. I put them in a vase in the kitchen window. I made pasta and garlic bread for dinner that night. After we finished the dishes and were sitting down to watch TV, Polly gave us a call. She told us Denny had gotten in touch with his lawyer friend and we could see him this Thursday afternoon. It still felt so weird and unreal to me that I was actually looking into a restraining order.
I found it hard to sit still on Tuesday, thinking about it off and on. I decided to alphabetize our movies and books. Polly called and we chatted most of the morning. She said she might drop by tomorrow afternoon with something to keep me busy. She also told me that Mara's preschool teacher wanted to talk to Denny and her. She thought it might be about Derek's pizza fight. Apparently Mara had been going around tell everyone about it. Each time it was getting more and more fantastic, from two pizza monsters, to falling pizzas from the sky, to ninjas stealing pizza and a vast pizza empire. It made me laugh.
That night I thought it only fitting to order pizza. When Derek got home he was pleasantly surprised. I told him about Mara and all the pizza stories. We both agreed she was a writer in the making. When dinner was finished we deiced to play some card games. I'd like to say they were fair but Derek had a knack for winning games. Seriously, he never lost. After a while when he saw I was getting annoyed he started doing magic tricks. I'd seen them all before but I didn't mind. It was a nice distraction.
Wednesday, I decided to be lazy. It was my normal day off anyway. I slept late and then walked around in my underwear doing laundry. I'd just made myself a big bowl of cereal and was sitting down to watch a movie when there was a knock at the door. I groaned, cursing under my breath.
I wondered if it was Polly and the girls. I know she said she might drop by but it was still pretty early. I ran around looking for my robe as the person continued to knock every few seconds. "Coming," I yelled but kept looking for my robe. I found it and quickly put it on, tying it shut. I rushed to the door and opened it without thinking. Lo and behold, it was Roan.
I froze, staring at him in disbelief. He looked a bit better. He was still fucked up but he had his normal glasses on. His hair was styled and he was dressed up, wearing his leather jacket. In his hands he had a big bouquet of flowers, blue roses and an oversized box of candy. He smiled at me and I thought I was going to shit myself.
"Kiri, you look lovely," he said. I watched his eyes quickly wander over me and my skin felt like it was going to crawl off somewhere. He thrust the flowers and candy forward, lowering his head. "These are for you. I am sorry about Sunday. I was rude at the end. I just, well, I wasn't feeling well as you know. But I'm feeling much better now."
I just stood there trying to register what was going on. He...he was apologizing yet again but he...he was here...AT MY APARTMENT! My right eye twitched as I wondered HOW! How did he know where I lived? We weren't listed yet. We'd just moved in a month or so ago.
Again sirens were going off in my head. Roan stepped forward like he was going to come in but thankfully my senses kicked in. I stepped back and nearly shut the door in his face but he quickly pulled back. I left it open slightly, wanting, no NEEDING to know! "How do you know where I live?" I demanded.
"I felt bad about Sunday." he said slowly, innocently, like he didn't understand why I was so upset. "I went to your work the other day to say sorry. They told me you were away. I was worried so I asked where you lived. They gave me your address. I hope you don't mind me popping by. If you want I can give you my address."
Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit! I squinted my eyes at him; I wasn't buying his story for a second. There was no way he got my address from work. We had a strict fucking policy, no phone number and no addresses. They might...MIGHT have told him I was away but they never, ever would have given out my home address.
Even if someone claimed they were a good friend or family member, they still wouldn't. I made sure all of my employees knew the rule because one of my workers, Tamatha, had a nasty ex who wasn't allowed contact with the kids. Even then, even if somehow one of them had slipped up, I'd yet to update my home address in the work computer so they couldn't give it out. Not even Bonnie, my boss, knew where I lived yet.
Roan was lying and I knew it. Without a word I slammed the door shut in his face. I locked it, put the chain on, and even bolted it for good measure. I was so worked up I took a small table, we had to put keys and junk on when we got home, and pushed it in front of the door. It only took me a matter of seconds and then I stepped back and tried to breathe...to think.
"Kiri," Roan called through the door. His voice was muffled but he sounded concerned. "Are you okay?"
"GO AWAY!" I called out, "Leave me alone and stop STALKING ME!"
I heard him laugh like he thought it was ridiculous "I'm not stalking you, Kiri. I'm sorry if I surprised you just now. That wasn't my intention. I just want to talk, like on Sunday before I got upset. I just need to know things are still okay between us. That you still forgive me. I really do want us to get to know each other."
AGAIN BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT! He didn't need to know anything I'd already made myself more then clear "WHAT DON'T YOU GET?!" I screamed. "I don't want to KNOW YOU! I told you I HATE YOU!"
He laughed again. "You said you didn't like me. There's a big difference, Kiri"
"GO AWAY!" I cried, trying not to get into another conversation with him. "I'M GETTING A RESTRAINING ORDER!"
"Against who?" he asked like he really didn't fucking know.
"YOU!" I screamed.
There was a long pause, I hoped he got it now and realized what the fuck he was doing and more over that I was going to do something about it! "Kiri" he called after a minute or so. "I don't know what to say. I have been nothing but nice to you and understanding. Even after what Derek did to me. He really hurt me the other day, you know. I had to go to the emergency room. I had to get x-rays. I needed stitches and he broke my nose and hand, Kiri. I had to get a cast and I might have to get surgery for my nose. It really upset my family, they want me to go to the police but for you, for you, Kiri, I haven't said anything... YET."
I swallowed thinking of Derek getting in trouble. I bit my lip. I didn't want that. I stepped up to the door hesitantly. "Please Kiri," he called, "Let's just talk, if you don't want me to come in, then come out. We could get coffee just down the street. I'll pay for it. Let's just talk, OKAY?"
I stood there inches from considering his offer but again I came to my senses. I didn't respond. This was just- IT HAD TO STOP! This was an unending loop with him. I thought of what Polly had said. Roan was dangerous. His amends, his apologies, were just a way to get close to me. I couldn't keep letting him manipulate me.
I collected myself and quietly crept about my apartment as if he might hear what I was doing. I looked for my cell phone as he continued to talk but I was too far away to hear what he was saying. I found my phone in the kitchen and quickly dialed Derek. He didn't pick up so I just kept calling. My hand shook the entire time and my heart felt like it might beat out of my chest.
After I dialed a second time, Derek picked up, "Hello," he said, cheerful.
Hearing his voice set me off. Whatever chill I had quickly crumble into tears. "HE'S HERE" I cried. I heard Roan pound on the door then. "KIRI" He must have been shouting now, because I heard him clearly. I jumped and cried out again. "HE'S HERE!"
"ROAN," shouted Derek. I could hear the sudden panic in his voice.
"YES! YES!"
"INSIDE!" Derek yelled back.
"No, outside. I opened the door thinking it was Polly but it was him. He's outside. I locked the door but HE WONT GO AWAY!"
I heard rustling on the other end of the phone. I didn't know what Derek was doing. A moment later he yelled, "GO INTO THE BEDROOM AND LOCK THE DOOR! STAY ON THE LINE! I'M CALLING THE POLICE AND I'M COMING HOME,"
I nodded and quickly rushed to the bedroom. I shut the door and locked it. I got into the corner of the room and held the phone to my ear. I heard Derek asking around for someone anybody to give him a fucking phone. I heard him call the police and then he was talking to me again, "KIRI, YOU THERE?!"
"YES I'M OKAY! I'M IN THE BEDROOM!"
"GOOD, GOOD, JUST STAY THERE! THEY ARE COMING AND SO AM I,"
He stayed on the phone but neither of us talked very much as he concentrated on getting home and I just kept listening for Roan. I didn't hear him. I didn't hear anything but the occasional noise from Derek as he made sure I was okay.
Then suddenly there was pounding on the door. It was so loud it felt like a bowling ball had hit the front door. I scrambled to the bedroom door and heard shouting, "POLICE! IS ANYONE HOME!"
Police! Police! Police! I scrambled to my feet and unlocked my bedroom door. I called out to Derek, "They are here!" He screamed on the phone, "WAIT! DO YOU SEE THEM?"
I paused inches from the door as they banged again. I realized it could still be Roan or his wife. I carefully looked out the peephole first and saw it was the police. I let out a sigh of relief and scrambled to get the door unlocked and open. I was greeted by a female police office, "KIRI LENK!"
"YES!" I cried out.
"ARE YOU OKAY?" she asked, holding her hand at her side just over her weapon. She looked at me and then past me into my apartment.
I nodded so much I felt like my head might come off, "Yes, yes I am now that you're here." I shouted to Derek in the phone. "THE POLICE ARE HERE!"
I heard him cheer as the officer asked, "Can we come in?"
"Yes, oh yes please," I said, "My fiancé is the phone. He's on his way."
"Is he the one who called us?" she asked coming in.
"Yes," I said, cautiously looking into the hall. I wondered if they'd arrested Roan but I didn't see him out there. There was a male police officer and he was crouching over what looked like Roan's flowers and candy. He must have ditched them and ran.
The female police officer said, "I'm Officer Benz and the officer out in the hall is my partner Officer Mickor."
I nodded. She could see I was frazzled, "It's okay now, Kiri. Breathe deeply. You are okay now. He isn't here anymore." I nodded and she suggested, "Why don't you take a moment and sit down?"
I nodded again, feeling shaky. I went over to the kitchen table and sat down.
"Can I get you a glass of water?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you." I said. She went into my kitchen and I listened to the radio go off out in the hall.
"Suspect has appeared to have left, over." I heard the other officer in the hall say. I couldn't hear what was said back on his radio but a second later the officer in the hall spoke again, "Suspect appears to have left flowers and a box of candy, along with a detailed note with name, address, and phone number, over." The radio went off in response again. I couldn't make it out but I heard the officer speak again. "Suspect is, one Roan Attely 6620 21st Street, Phone number is 555-5423, over."
Officer Benz returned with a glass of water. I drank the whole thing in what felt like one gulp. She patiently waited for me. When I was done she pulled out a pen and a paper, "If you could tell me what happened?"
I nodded but before I could speak I heard something happening out in the hall, "Hold up buddy."
"I LIVE HERE! MY GIRLFRIEND KIRI! IS SHE OKAY?"
It was Derek. I perked up, "DEREK," I called.
"KIRI!" he called back.
"It's okay, Mack, let him through," said Officer Benz. "It's the fiancé"
A moment later Derek rushed into the apartment. He nearly tripped on our welcome mat. I got up and we stumbled toward each other. I'd never been so happy to see him. I wanted to hug him but he grabbed my arms and held me back. He looked me up and down for a second, making sure I wasn't hurt. "You okay? You okay?"
"Yes," I said and then he let me wrap my arms around him. He held me tightly, really, really, tightly and kissed the top of my head, I needed it. I needed to feel his arms wrapped around me and feel truly safe again.
When we pulled apart Derek turned to Officer Benz, "Sorry I just-"
"It's okay," she said, waving off his apology, "I understand. I was just about to go over what happened."
Derek nodded. We both sat back down at the kitchen table. He held my hand and caught his breath. I watched his chest sink and rise. He must have run up the stairs he was panting so much. Or maybe, like me, he was rattled. I realized the officer was waiting on me and began, "I...I was eating some cereal...or I was going to eat and there was a knock. I thought it was Polly and the girls,"
"Polly is my sister." added Derek. "And the girls are her kids, Mara and Candice,"
The officer wrote as we spoke taking notes. I went on, "I...well I answered it without thinking and it was Roan Attley,"
"What is your relationship to Roan?" she asked.
"There is no relationship." said Derek sternly. "He abused and bullied her as kid, almost killed her."
"Do you have a restraining order in place?" Officer Benz asked.
"No." I said.
"Not yet," said Derek, "But we're getting one."
"He just recently came back into our lives," I said.
"How recent?" asked Officer Benz.
"I'd say about a month." I said, not really sure right now.
I looked at Derek and he nodded, "Sounds about right, yeah about that, maybe a little more,"
"He, I met- Well, I saw him at a reunion of sorts a friend of ours was throwing. He later apologized to me for the past. He said he wanted to make amends."
"But she's made it clear she doesn't want him around and he won't leave her alone," said Derek, "He's shown up at her work more than once, approached her outside, and now the apartment. We didn't give him our address. She's asked him to leave her alone multiple times but he keeps coming back." I could see he was amped up, his worry changing to rage.
"I see." said the officer jotting this all down, "Is this the first time he's come to the apartment?"
"Yes." I said. "He claimed he got my address from work but they know better than to give it out and even then, we just moved here. I haven't updated my new address at work."
"How long have you been living here?" she asked.
"We moved in a little before the reunion," said Derek. "Almost two months ago but not quite.
"Okay," said Office Benz, "Please go on."
"Uh, well, he came to the apartment saying he just wanted to talk. I told him to leave and he just kept talking and wouldn't go away."
"Did he try to force his way in at any point?" she asked.
"No." I shook my head and then considered, "Well, he stepped up when I first answered the door like he was going to come in but I slammed the door,"
Derek squeezed my hand tightly. I squeezed it back.
"Did he threaten you?" she asked.
"No," I said.
"He hurt her wrist the other day," said Derek and he grabbed hold of my hand to show her.
It had slightly bruised now. The officer looked at it, "When was this?"
"Sunday," Derek and I both said.
I was calming down some and wiped several tears from my face, realizing they were streaming down my cheeks. Derek quickly got me some tissues before holding my hand once more. I was so wound up I didn't even realize I still had the phone tightly clutched in my hand. I let it go, setting it on the table.
"What happened on Sunday?" she said.
"Uh, he just..."
"He wanted to talk again. He just showed up out of nowhere, got nasty, she tried to leave and he wouldn't let her." said Derek.
"Which park was this?" she asked.
"It was Cider Park just down the ways. And he didn't keep me or anything. I just got up and he grabbed my wrist. He didn't want me to go but I didn't want to stay."
"She was lucky, my sister and her kids spotted her and he let go of her," said Derek.
"I see," she said. "Do you want to press charges?"
"Yes," said Derek without hesitation.
"Yes," I nodded looking to the ground. I felt sick. This was insane, I just kept thinking this was insane.
"We're going to see a lawyer, tomorrow," said Derek, "About a restraining order,"
"Okay," she said. "Do you have the name of the lawyer?"
"Yes," said Derek. He got up and looked around.
"I put it on the fridge." I told him. While I was cleaning I saw the scrap he'd written it on and put it on the fridge. It was the only thing we had on there. The other officer tapped on the doorway and came in then. We all looked to him. "They called him. He turned himself in a few blocks away."
Officer Benz nodded. Derek gave the officer the lawyer's contact information and then came back to me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I thought it would give me some relief to know they had him, that he was in custody, but I still felt sick, on edge. The next hour or so was a bit of a blur as we finished the police report and Officer Benz took a few pictures of my arm.
When she was finished with her notes Office Benz was nice enough to walk us through what would happen next. She'd file the police report and it would be assigned to a prosecutor. They'd determine the charges for today and Sunday and get in contact with us. For now Roan would be arrested. He might still get out on bail and she suggested we look into a temporary restraining order until we got a court date. Both officers gave us their badge numbers and Derek saw them out. I was glad they took the flowers, candy, and note with them for evidence. If they hadn't I might have thrown them away. Derek asked if he could read the note but I didn't want to see it. They allowed him to look at it real quick and then he came back inside and shut the door.
When it was locked he came back to me and hugged me again. I found I couldn't sit still any longer. I had to get up and move around. I felt so wound up. I...this place felt weird, this was my home, my space, but now it felt foreign somehow since Roan had come to it. I told myself he hadn't done anything but the fact that he knew. He knew where I lived! He could come here whenever and it was too much.
I paced around the apartment trying to calm down. Derek sat at the kitchen table and watched me. After a bit he asked, "Tell me again what happened?"
"You heard when I told then police." I said.
"I know but I want to go over it again. I want to hear everything."
"I said everything to the police," I said, not wanting to go over it again.
Derek crossed his arms and just waited. I threw my hands up in the air and shouted, "FINE, I was about to eat a fucking bowl cereal, he knocked, I opened the door, I was shocked and he apologized yet again. He tried to give me shit but I didn't take it. He stepped up. I almost slammed the door in his face but wanted to know how he knew where we lived,"
"What! Wait?" said Derek, "You almost slammed the door in his face so you didn't do it right away and you talked to him?"
"I wanted to know how he-"
"NO," said Derek, getting up from his chair, "You should have LOOKED to see who it was and not open the door or as soon as you knew it was Roan, you should have slammed the door and called me either way you don't fucking talk to him! YOU KNOW WHAT HE COULD HAVE DONE! HERE WITH YOU ALONE!"
"I PANICKED." I shouted back, "I'M SORRY I WASN'T THINKING, OKAY!"
"YOU NEED TO!" shouted Derek, "You need to START THINKING!"
I couldn't believe he was arguing with me about this. He realized his tone and lowered it but kept going, "Kiri, I just, I'm sorry. I just, I don't fucking- if he touches you, if he hurts you again, I'll kill him. I WILL FUCKING KILL HIM!"
There was another knock at the door and it startled both of us. I jumped, crying out while Derek took a defensive stance. He quickly raised his hand to calm me but cautiously approached the door. It was Polly and the girls. They brought me a puzzle to do on my days off. Derek opened the door and let them in but I didn't feel like company right now.
I heard Polly's surprise as I went to my room, "Hey aren't you suppose to be at work?"
I shut the door and lied down on my bed. I heard Polly scream a few minutes later. I assumed Derek told her what had just happened. She marched into my room and I thought she was going to yell at me too but she just asked, "Are you okay?"
"No," I said, "I feel like I'm going crazy. This whole thing is getting to me."
Without a word, she crawled in bed with me. We cuddled for a while and she talked to me about other stuff that was going on. She told me that she and Denny had met with Mara's preschool teacher along with several other parents. Apparently the class had these magic boxes where you had to say a password to open them. Then you could play with the toys inside. The toy was usually a collection, like keys, or beans, or bottle caps, just little toys kids loved to play with. Well, apparently the boxes were getting low.
It would seem the kids were taking the toys out and not putting them back when they were done. The teacher had spoken with the kids but none of them came forward or returned the toys. So the teacher gathered all the parents and wanted them to speak with their kids. She also wanted them to look around the house for the toys. If they were not returned then the parents would need to replace them.
I listened intently, losing myself in her story. I closed my eyes as she went on about how she confronted Mara and she admitted to taking some but not all of the toys. When Polly asked her why she said it was because she needed the magic. We both laughed at that. Who didn't need a little magic in their life? It was a nice, simple, happy story. Just what I needed right then in all this chaos. She went on telling me how she and Denny were going to deal with it.
At some point I must have drifted off to sleep and woke to a light tapping on the bedroom door. I yawned and stretching finding Polly was gone. When I left the bedroom I found Derek had made a romantic candlelight frozen TV dinner banquet. There was a big lasagna, mac and cheese, toasted bread french fries and beer battered chicken. It was a sweet gesture.
Even though he was upbeat, I noticed Derek looked tired and stressed. On top of that he was still recovering from his fight with Roan. I could see for the first time just how much this was all getting to him. He stepped up to me and I knew he was going to apologize for earlier. However before he could speak I pressed my finger to his lips. I couldn't take another apology right now, not even from him. I simply said, "I know."
He nodded and I turned our stereo on to a song we both liked. Then I came back to him and wrapped my arms around him. For several minutes we just danced around the room with our foreheads pressed together. I felt close to him and for a while it was just us and nothing else. After we danced, we ate a quiet dinner.
I asked about his day before I had called and then about Polly and the girls. I kept things light and after dinner we did the dishes together. He cracked a few jokes and I couldn't help but laugh. When we were finished he managed to slide an apology in for getting so upset earlier about me opening the door and talking to him. I knew we were both upset and caught of guard. I told him it was okay, then took his hands in mine and made it clear, whatever happened with Roan, I didn't want it to affect 'us'. Derek agreed and we snuggled on the couch until bed.
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