Deadly Obsession (2 page)

“What is wrong with you? Haven’t you heard a single word I’ve said? I don’t want you! I’m in love with Carmen; I will always love her. There’s no room in my life for you Carol. You need to leave now before I call the cops!” he demanded loudly.

“This isn’t over by a long shot Dexter, I promise you that. I won’t give up. I’ll find a way to make you love me. You can’t make love to me the way you did last night and then decide to just throw me away. I’m not a broken toy. It’s not over Dexter.” she shouted as she stormed out of the shop.

I’ll show him, Carol thought. Who does he think he is? I won’t be treated this way. Men have treated me unfairly all of my life but not this time. He won’t get by with it. First my father and now Dexter, I won’t allow it. Her memory flashed back to her childhood. No matter how hard Carol tried there was no pleasing her father. Nothing she did was ever good enough. He would beat her and then send her to her room but it didn’t stop there. In the middle of the night when her mother was sleeping; he would stumble into her room, reeking of alcohol and climb into bed with her. He would make her promise to keep their secret and describe what would happen if she didn’t. Night after night he crawled on top of her, breathing heavily in her face as he had his way with her. It made her sick to her stomach. The abuse continued until Carol left home. She wasn’t sure that her mother wasn’t aware of the molestation but if she knew, she made no attempt to stop it.

Meanwhile, Dexter wasn’t sure what had just happened. Was Carol really that upset over his refusing to have further contact with her? They’d only slept together once, why was she acting so crazy? Her persistence to be with him could only complicate things between him and Carmen. His affair alone would be difficult for them to rise above but continual intrusion from Carol could make it impossible. He had no idea how to convince her to leave him alone.

It was almost twelve; Dexter hit the clock.

“Hey boss I’ll be back in an hour. I’m taking my break.” He said waving.

As he drove the distance to the park, his heart began to pound. He was near panic concerning the confession he must give Carmen. He was unsure how she would react; especially when she learned who his affair was with. Carmen and Carol had always been rivalries. They absolutely despised each other. Carol was insanely jealous of Carmen all through high school. Carmen’s being captain of the cheerleading squad only added to Carol’s feelings of hatred towards her as it was her she competed against for the position. Both girls were beautiful but Carmen’s personality was exceptionally pleasant and Carol was rough around the edges; she never went out of her way to gain approval.

Dexter pulled into the entrance at the park. Carmen was waiting for him.

“Now, tell me what’s so important that you couldn’t just tell me on the phone. I’ve been going crazy trying to figure out what it could be.” Carmen asked him eagerly.

Dexter leaned in and kissed her. He didn’t know if he would ever be allowed to touch her again once she learned of his unfaithfulness.

“You know I love you don’t you?”

“Yeah; why?”

“I need to tell you something you’re not going to like at all. I love you with all my heart. I will never love anyone the way I love you but I made a terrible mistake last night.” He paused, gazing into her eyes.

“Yeah, go on Dexter. What did you do?” she asked nervously, voice shaking.

“If I could take it back I would but unfortunately I can’t. When I left you last night I went to the lake to meet some buddies. They threw me a party for my birthday. I met up with someone there. Someone I haven’t seen in years. One thing led to another and we slept together. I’m so sorry Carmen. Please forgive me.” Dexter pleaded.

Carmen was stunned. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing and surely hadn’t expected it. She began to cry.

“Why? How could you do that to me? I thought you were in love with me Dexter. You don’t do that to someone you love. What did I do to deserve this? Why? Why Dexter?” she shouted angrily.

“I do love you Carmen. I made a mistake. I promise it’ll never happen again. You have to believe me. Please forgive me, please.” he begged.

“Forgive you; so you can do it again? I don’t know if I can ever trust you again. How can I be with someone I can’t trust? Who was it?”

Dexter swallowed hard.

“Carol Avery; I’ve already told her that I can never be with her again. I told her how much I love you. Please give me one more chance, Carmen, please.”

Devastated, she began to cry uncontrollably. She never expected this. She loved Dexter with everything inside her. Her world had shattered. He pulled her to him and tightly embraced her. He tried to kiss her but she pulled away. She wasn’t sure if she could ever kiss him again. Her heart was breaking in two.

“Leave me alone Dexter. Did you honestly think that I would be okay with this? Did you?”

“No, I know you can’t ignore what I’ve done, just please don’t leave me. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll do whatever you want me to. I love you, Carmen.”

“I need some time to think about things. I’m not sure how I feel right now. I need some space to work this out in my own way. Can you understand that?” she said walking away.

Dexter was unrelieved. Carmen’s leaving him seemed a realistic outcome of his momentary lapse in judgement. He was sickened by the thought of losing her but understood her decision at this moment. She was absolutely deserving of her space as she tried to sort this out.

The next two weeks were nothing but misery for Dexter. He hadn’t heard a word from Carmen. He longed to hear the sound of her voice. The time spent without her was further proof of his unending love for her. He wanted to spend every waking moment of his life with her. He refused to give up; they were meant to be together. She would come around eventually. The loneliness he felt waiting for Carmen to make up her mind was simply Dexter’s punishment.

“Please don’t hang up on me. I need to hear your voice. I love you and I’m absolutely miserable without you. Will you just talk to me?” Dexter pleaded.

“What do you want me to say Dexter? I’m very hurt by what you did and of all people you could have chosen, why her? You know how I feel about her. How could you be with her, knowing that?” Carmen wanted to know.

“I know what I did was stupid Carmen. It was probably the most stupid thing I’ve ever done in my entire life but you know how much I love you. I’ve learned my lesson. I will never do anything to hurt you again. You have to believe me.”

“I never expected you would ever cheat on me but you did. So how can I believe you now? How can I be sure that you won’t do it again; maybe after we’re married and have children? Then what, how do I explain something like this to our children?”

“I’m sorry Carmen. I wish I could change what’s happened but I can’t. I can only prove to you that I’ll never do it again. I love you more than you realize. I love you more than even I realized. I know how much you mean to me now; I don’t want to be with anyone else. I will love you forever. Please don’t turn me away. Give me one more chance; that’s all I’m asking.”

There was nothing but silence between them. Carmen’s heart was hurting deeply but she didn’t want Dexter to think he’d committed infidelity without consequence. She had to be certain it would never happen again.

“I need a few more days Dexter. I’ll call you this weekend.” She said hanging up.

Dexter understood Carmen’s distrust.

He knew he would never cheat on her again but how could she be sure? She had no way to see inside his heart and mind. She could only take his word for it and he’d already lied to her once. He could only hope their love was strong enough to get them through this.

Carmen was on an errand for her mother when she unexpectedly bumped into Carol Avery. Instantaneous rage rose up inside her. She wanted to rip her head from her body.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Carmen Haines. I had fun with Dexter out at the lake. Did he tell you about that night?” Carol teased.

“Yeah, I heard about it. I’m warning you Carol. I don’t want to talk to you about this or anything else for that matter. It’s no secret how we feel about each other so do me a favor and walk on.”

“Sure, I can do that, but not before I let you in on a secret. Dexter was amazing when we made love. He made me feel like a real woman. I won’t go away. May the best woman win; good luck.” She said smugly walking away.

“You’ve got some nerve Carol. We’ll see how this goes. Dexter doesn’t love you; he loves me. He already told you that. You’ll never win him over. He’s mine now and will be forever. I’ll be the mother of his children. You don’t have a chance. You hear me, Carol! He’ll never love you. You’re nothing more than a one night stand.” Carmen shouted loudly.

Carol Avery isn’t a woman to be lightly reckoned with. She usually gets what she wants. She will stop at nothing to make Dexter hers. One day he would look at her the way he does Carmen. In Carol’s eyes, Carmen is nothing more than an obstacle standing between her and the man she loves; an obstacle she plans to remove.

As Carol drove by Jack’s Mechanics, Carmen’s car was parked out front. She was outraged. Why is she here, Carol wondered? She couldn’t visit with Dexter as long as Carmen was here, he would never allow it. Carmen was quickly becoming a thorn in her side. Carol pulled her car into the back alley. She took a cap from her glove box and put it on along with some dark sunglasses. No one would know her disguised like this. Making sure the coast was clear, she then approached Carmen’s car.

With keys tightly between her fingers, Carol relieved some frustration. She dug the keys into the paint job on the driver’s side, leaving a deep scratch from bumper to bumper. Though she had maliciously damaged Carmen’s car she wasn’t bothered at all; in fact she’d worn a smile on her face the entire time. She quickly dropped the evidence in her pocket and discreetly left the premises. Carol would give anything to see the look on Carmen’s face but knew she couldn’t afford to stick around.

“You’ll never believe who I saw at the drug store.” Carmen told Dexter.

“Who?” he asked.

“Carol of course; she was eager to tell me about your night at the lake and her future plan to win you over. She doesn’t care how much you love me. She wants you and swears she’ll have you eventually.”

“She’s badly mistaken; I love you. I don’t want anything more to do with her. She needs to go on and leave us alone. That’s what she needs to do.”

Bending down on one knee, Dexter took Carmen’s hands. He gazed into her eyes, smiling sweetly as he admired her beauty. On the tip of her left finger, Dexter placed a beautiful diamond ring, topped with a gorgeous one carat stone. Carmen had never seen something so precious. Tears began to fill her eyes. She couldn’t believe it. She’d waited for this moment so long and now it was happening.

“Carmen Haines, I love you with everything inside me. Without you I’m nothing. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?” he proposed.

She stood there silently, tears flowing from her eyes, too emotional at the moment to speak. She could feel the sincerity in the words that Dexter had so kindly spoken to her. She was greatly moved by his heart-felt proposal. The love she was feeling heavily outweighed her doubt in Dexter’s trustworthiness.

“Yes, I’ll marry you Dexter, I love you. I’ve never loved anyone but you. I can’t imagine my life without you.” She put her arms around his neck and hugged him.

Dexter stood to his feet, taking Carmen in his arms. Initially unsure of her answer he was now beside himself with joy. It was official; they were engaged. The excitement abruptly subsided as Carmen discovered the damage to her car.

“What happened to my car? I know who did this. It had to be Carol; no one else would do something like this.” Carmen shouted angrily.

“Do you really think it was her? Would she really be this spiteful?”

“She wants to be with you and I’m the only thing standing in her way. She’s crazy. Call the police.”

Dexter did as Carmen requested and called 911; moments later an officer was arriving.

“Evening, I’m Officer Glass, what seems to be the problem here?”

“This is the problem officer.” Carmen said pointing at the driver’s side of her car.

“Did anyone see who did this?”

“I didn’t see her but I know who did this. It was Carol Avery. She has an obsession with my boyfriend. She hates me. I saw her earlier, we had an argument.”

“Ma’am, unless you saw her there’s nothing I can do unless she’s willing to admit to it and that’s highly unlikely.”

The officer told them that the report would be ready in two days if they needed a copy of it. Carmen and Dexter thanked him for his assistance. Dexter refused to stand by and do nothing at all.

“Hey Carol, it’s me, Dexter.”

“What do you want Dexter, have you come to your senses?”

“If you thought damaging Carmen’s car would change my mind, you’re wrong. I love Carmen and we’re going to be married. I told you to leave us alone and that’s what you need to do. This is ridiculous Carol.”

“The most ridiculous thing in this situation is the way you led me on while expecting no repercussion. It doesn’t happen that way in real life Dexter. Did you really think it would be that easy?”