"Hey!" Bianca answered the phone cheerfully. "Are you home?"
"Yes. I got another letter."
"What?! When?!"
"While I was gone. Just got home a few minutes ago and saw it."
"What does it say?" Bianca asked.
"That I don't deserve Brian. And that I should crawl into a hole and die."
"Oh honey. I'm so sorry. I'm sure it's just a jealous fan. But you have to take this to the police. And you have to tell Brian."
There was a long pause. "I know. But I don't want to tell Brian. I don't want him to worry."
"He has a right to know. Especially since this concerns him."
"But he's busy," Vivian said. "He's got a lot going on at work right now."
"He loves you. He would want to know."
Vivian sighed. "I know. I'll drop the letter off tomorrow then I'll tell him."
"I think you should do it all right now."
"No. I just got home. I haven't even unpacked. And I'm sure he's not even home yet. It can wait until tomorrow."
"Ok but you better do it," Bianca said. "In fact, I'll go with you to the police station."
"You don't need to do that."
"It's settled. I'll be over at 10:00. Be ready. We'll go to lunch after. My treat. Then you can call Brian."
"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow."
After she hung up Vivian unpacked then took a bath. Her mind raced as she sat in the hot water. What would Brian say? What would he do? She didn't want to lose him. She didn't want him to in any way feel responsible. She didn't blame him. He had no control over being photographed without his knowledge and having it plastered all over the Internet. And he had no control over crazy fans.
After her bath she ordered take out and watched a movie on the couch with the cats. Around 11:00 she got a text from Brian.
I miss you.
She smiled.
I miss you, too.
When can I see you?
Any time you want. There's something I need to talk to you about tomorrow.
Why tomorrow? What's going on?
It's late. I don't want to get into it right now. It can wait until tomorrow.
OK. We'll talk about it tomorrow then.
I'm having lunch with Bianca. I'll call you afterwards.
Sounds good. Sweet dreams.
Good night babe. Love you.
Love you.
The next morning Bianca picked Vivian up and they went to the police station. She spoke with a detective and showed him the letter. She told him this was the second one she'd received and that she had no idea who had sent them. The detective told her there wasn't anything they could do at this point without a name or some idea of who might be behind it.
Bianca fumed as they left, pissed off that nothing could be done and worried for her sister. Vivian had a knot in the pit of her stomach and asked Bianca to take her back home. She couldn't eat and she still had to call Brian, something she dreaded. Bianca offered to stay with her for a while but Vivian said she wanted to be alone.
It was almost 1:00 before she finally got up the nerve to call him.
"Hey baby," he answered after a few rings.
"Hi," she replied, her throat dry.
"How was lunch?"
"It was fine," she lied.
"So what did you want to talk to me about? Is everything ok?"
"Yes. I mean I think so." She paused. "I'm not sure."
"What's going on?"
"Last month I got a letter in the mail. There was no return address and it wasn't signed so I have no idea who it was from."
"What did it say?" he asked.
She hesitated. "Um, for me to die."
"WHAT?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Why didn't you tell me?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to worry."
"Vivian, you know you can tell me anything, right? Of course I'm gonna worry but you can still tell me. You have no idea who sent it?"
"No, but I'm guessing it's one of your fans who isn't too fond of me," she said.
"Why are you just now telling me?"
She hesitated again. "Because I got another letter."
"WHAT?! When?!"
"While we were gone. I found it last night when I was going through my mail."
"Jesus Christ. What did this one say? The same thing?"
"Yes, but also that I don't deserve you and that I'm a gold digging skank."
"This...I don't even know what to say," he sighed. "I'm sorry. You don't deserve this."
"It's not your fault."
"It is my fault."
"I don't even know who sent it."
"I'm sure it's one of the IJ fans. Some fucking whack job. We need to take these to the police."
"I ripped up the first one," she said. "And I took the second one to the police earlier today. That's what I was doing with Bianca. She went with me."
"What did they say?"
"That there isn't much they can do. There's no return address and I have absolutely no idea who could have sent it."
"Can't they check it for fingerprints or some shit like that?"
"They aren't going to waste their time on this. Look, they took my statement. There's nothing else that can be done."
"I can't believe this is happening," he said. "How did they find out who you are and where you live?"
"I don't know. But there have been pictures of us on the Internet. I'm sure it wasn't hard for someone to figure out."
"It's concerning that someone has your address."
"I'm sure nothing more will come of it. I just want to put it out of my mind."
There was a long pause before he spoke again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you have to deal with this because of me."
"I told you," she said. "I don't blame you. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to go out with you. Let's just put it behind us and move on."
"I'm coming over."
"You don't have to do that. I'm fine."
"I want to see you. I NEED to see you. I'll be there in half an hour."
"Ok," she said and hung up the phone.
