You Belong To Me (5 page)

Once her bag was packed and the house locked up tight, Mitch walked Danielle over to Jason and Shayla's place.

“Danielle I know you said no, but in light of what’s happened tonight please reconsider and let me pick you up
 I’ll even buy you breakfast,” Mitch pleaded. He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could and bringing her to breakfast would be a good start.

“Okay you’ve twisted my arm; I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow.”

“That’s my girl. I’ll be here at eight am sharp and with that being said, I’ll say goodnight.” He shook Jason's hand and said goodnight to Shayla.

“I'll walk you to the door.”

Once on the front porch Danielle threw her arms around Mitch and let the tears that she'd been trying to hide flow out.

“Don’t cry I can't stand to see you upset.”

“Mitch,” she cried. “Just thinking about this creep and what he might do scares me. I know I'm being stupid about this whole thing.”

Wrapping his arms around her tighter, Mitch whispered in her ear. “Babe I'm here and I'm not going anywhere.”

She whimpered. “If you think this is too much for you I'll understand if you don’t want to see me anymore.” Taking her tear laden face in his hands Mitch stared into her eyes, “Danielle there’s no place I’d rather be and like I told you earlier, I want to help. This may not be the right time or place to tell you this, but I'm falling for you and I'm falling hard. I only hope you feel the same. I know it probably sounds crazy considering that we just met, but I know what I want Danielle, and that’s you.”

“Mitch I feel the same way,” s
he cried.

He held her in his arms and kissed away her tears.

After they said goodnight and she watched him drive away, Danielle hoped that all of this would end and that the broken window would be the last of Ethan’s childish games.

“Hey Dee, the guest roo
ms all yours and if you need anything we'll be up in our room.”

“Thanks again guys and I'll see you in the morning, good night.”

After saying goodnight Danielle went into the guest room, closed the door and collapsed on the bed. She had not thought she would be so tired but soon fell into a deep yet fitful sleep that soon turned into a nightmare. She was being chased, chased on her own street. She began screaming for help but it seemed the street was deserted. That’s when she saw him, saw Ethan walking slowly towards her. The faster she ran the easier it was for him to catch up to her.

Just as he was about to grab her she was Jolted awake by the sound of her alarm clock.
Oh my god,
she thought to herself
. I can't let this guy win, I just can't.
She was soaking wet from sweat but felt cold and clammy.  As she made her way to the shower, she was thankful that Shay and Jason weren't up yet. She wanted the time to think, just a few moments peace.

The hot shower made her feel human again and she let her thought
s drift to Mitch and what he had said last night. 
I'm falling for you Danielle and I'm falling hard
. Those were words that she had longed to hear from someone whom she had felt the exact same affection for.
I want to give him my all, I want him so bad.

Wa
king to his alarm was nothing new to Mitch but today he awoke even earlier.
Geez, that doesn't happen often,
he thought to himself.
Strange
. But he knew why, he was picking up Danielle this morning, his girl. The woman he knew he was falling in love with and pretty much came out and told her so last night as she cried in his arms.

Holding her like that
, he thought to himself.
Felt so right, I want to be there for her. I want her to come to me whenever she is in distress. And I'm pretty sure that the only thing that’s causing her such agony is that asshole Ethan
. “Fuck,” he cursed out loud.
Just thinking about Ethan hurting her makes me want to kill him. Sometimes there’s no other way,
he thought to himself.

He wanted Danielle to be happy.
This shouldn't be happening to her, it shouldn't happen to anyone but it does and maybe for some others there is nothing they can do, but I’m going to find a way to stop Ethan. I have to stop this psycho,
he thought again to himself as he showered and got ready for his breakfast date with Danielle.

Danielle was sitting in the living room at Jason and shays place, showered, dressed and anxiously waiting for Mitch.

“Good morning Danielle,” Shayla yawned as she descended the stairs.

“Oh hey good morning Shay.”

“Hey did you sleep okay? We were worried about you.”

“Yes, I slept fine thanks, I made coffee,” Danielle smiled.

“Oh you’re a godsend, you can sleep over anytime.”

“I may just take you up on that Shay.”

“Anytime Danielle you know that, but I think Mitch wants you over at his place,” she said with a smirk.

“I know he does and I want him so bad Shay,” she said lowering her voice to a whisper. Danielle loved Jason but she didn't want him to hear the girl talk that was about to take place. “Shay,
he's so damn sexy and last night, we didn't hear the car alarm go off because we were too busy making out like a couple of horny teenagers,” Danielle let out a giggle.

“Really Dee? Duh, like I didn't figure that one out.” Laughing Shayla said, “Hey Dee, yo
u gotta know by the way he looks at you, he's head over heels and I know because it's the same way Jason looks at me.”

“You really think so Shay? Because I think I'm falling for him.”

“Danielle, I knew that too.”

“Well aren't you Miss observant?”

“Ha, nothing gets past me girl.”

“That's why I love you Shay.”

“I know. Hey Mitch just pulled up. Go, have a good time, work hard and don't worry about that asshole, I’ll come by on my lunch.”

Just as Danielle was about to open the door, Mitch was ready to ring
the doorbell. 

“Well good morning,” he said, greeting Danielle with a kiss. “Mmm,” she moaned as she kissed back.

“You ready?"

“Yup, see ya later Shay.”

“Bye girl. Good morning Mitch,” Shay yelled from the kitchen.

“Good morning Shayla, see ya later.”

Seated at a booth at the local diner, Danielle couldn't help but let the events of last night fade away as she gazed at him.

"What?"

“Oh nothing. I just like looking at you that’s all; you seem to make my troubles melt away. “Well that’s what I'm here for Danielle,” he said, squeezing her hand from across the table.

“You folks ready to order?” After they placed their breakfast orders, the couple settled in for some conversation.

“This is nice. I have to admit, besides the movie theater and the local bars; I haven’t really gotten out and experienced the local flavor as it were.”

“Oh no? What have you been doing?”

“Well I just work and pretty much stay at home.”

“What? You mean you haven’t been fighting the guys off with a stick?” He asked.

Danielle couldn’t help but laugh, “Actually, there hasn’t been anyone significant in my life for several years now.” She took a moment to think. “Almost four years to be exact. I was dating someone before I moved here and we tried to make it work even after I settled in but you know; the long distance thing really wasn’t for me so we ended things.”

Mitch let out a surprised sigh, “Wow, so you mean to tell me that you’ve been right under my nose all this time and our paths have never crossed once? I find that amazing Danielle, I
mean don’t you?” He let out a chuckle.

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right, but like I said I pretty much work and go home. Sure I spend lots of time with Shayla and Jason but it’s usually take out at their place, you know? We hang out, watch movies, things lik
e that. God I never realized how boring I must be,” she stifled a chuckle.

“Danielle you are far from boring and I am so very glad that our paths finally crossed. Besides, they say that good things happen to those who wait and I think we both waited long e
nough,” he said with a grin.

“So, now tell me about you Mitch, the woman here must be beating down your door. I mean a successful bachelor like yourself? You couldn’t have been single for long. You sure I'm not a rebound girl?” She joked.

“No definitely not Danielle. But to tell the truth, I have dated, but there hasn't been anyone special in my life for about eight years or so.”

“Wow I'm surprised, tell me what happened."

“Well as you know, I grew up here in Vermont, but there was a time when I wanted to get away and see the world, especially after my younger brother left and joined the military. So I did just that, I packed up and moved to New York City. I was twenty nine years old and bored, just bored. Once I got to the city I thought I’d made a big mistake. I couldn’t get my bearings.

I felt out of place, lost and to make matters worse, I couldn’t find a job. So there I was sitting in a twenty-four hour diner in Yonkers one night thinking about calling it quits and
moving back when in walked a woman who I thought was in trouble. One look at her told me that she had been crying and she had such a sad, hopeless look on her face. Where I come from we ask people if they need help or if there’s anything we can do. Isn’t that right?”

“Mm hmm,” Danielle nodded in agreement.

“Well I did that and her reply was, “Fuck off.” Well naturally I was taken aback; I mean why would this stranger tell me that? What did I do to her? I'll never forget my reaction, I put my hands in my pocket, kept my head down and returned to my seat.  About five minutes later she came up to me and apologized and the rest as they say, is history.”

“No, No. Finish Mitch what happened?” Danielle asked as their waitress brought them their breakfast.

“You sure you want to hear this?”

“Well, not the intimate details, but everything else yes.”

“Alright,” he said pouring fresh Vermont syrup over his flapjacks.

“We ended up talking well into the morning and after exchanging numbers, we parted ways.
 A couple weeks later she called and asked if I wanted to go see a movie, so we met at the multiplex over in Yonkers. After the movie ended, let's just say she never went back home except to pack her things, she moved in with me.

“Oh wow, that was fast Mitch.”

“Yeah I know and that was the problem. I was basically a rebound guy but I didn't care because I was so lonely and miserable being there in New York that I welcomed any company at all.

A few months into the relationship, things were going good; I had gotten a job a
s a carpenter working for a small home construction business. She worked at a hair salon, and we were even thinking of getting a bigger place. Looking back on it, I should have seen the signs.

There were weekends when she didn't come home. She always said
that since she worked in a salon that she was hired out to do weekend weddings, you know all the hair and makeup for the bridal party?

Well the weddings were always somewhere far, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Martha's Vineyard in the summer. I used to
offer to take her, you know to drive her there? But she said that wasn't necessary because the bride to be always footed the bill and paid for transportation so they would arrive on time.

I thought nothing of it, hey she's picking up extra cash, seems to
come back very relaxed and happy. So what if I had to give up spending the weekends with her. I kept myself busy though, I picked up a couple side jobs working on houses, so it wasn’t a big deal. Well after the so called summer weddings were over, I thought things would calm down but they didn't.

Next it was fall weddings and so on and so forth. It all came to a head our first Christmas together. It was Christmas Eve and she said she had a special event to do and not to worry as it was right here in New Yo
rk and she would return well before midnight. She said it was at the Marriott in Tarry-town New York which wasn't far from us at all. So I decided to surprise her and be there in time to take her home.

Well when I got there, there was an event alright, it
was a wedding. When I inquired about the salon employees and if they were finished, the banquet manager informed me that the only salon employees there were actual guests of the bride and groom, it was a coworker from the salon that had gotten married that very day.”

“Mitch, she lied to you that must have been more than frustrating."

“Yes, but I had to find out exactly what was going on Danielle. So, I had the banquet manager take me to where the reception was being held. The moment I walked in I saw her at a table with her ex-boyfriend. She wasn’t just sitting and talking, oh no, she was practically in his lap and he had his hands all over her. I should have walked away but I couldn't. I went right over to the table, sat down even and waited for her to turn around. And when she did, she simply looked at me, looked right at me. Then just as quickly, she turned right back around and continued sucking face with the guy.”