Tell Me You Love Me [COMPLETED]

Chapter 35: Who Let the Crazy Out

A/N: This chapter contains stalking/abuse and could be a trigger for some. Read at your own risk.

Sunday July 5, 2020 - Tampa, Florida

Aesha POV

3:00 PM

So, Joe is gone, he's off to make some business magic in Miami and I'm at work hugging one of my students goodbye.

"I'll see you next week, okay Philly?"
"Yes, Aesha. Oh! Here! I got this for you!"

Philip's Mom hands him a small brown bow with a bright cyan bow on top and he hands it to me. I take it and open it to reveal a little wooden sculpture of a hummingbird on a bright red flower.

"Oh, Phil, it's beautiful!"
"I wanted to bring you something back from Jamaica since I know you're Jamaican, so I found this but it's not exactly a Doctor Bird." He says with a small frown but I bend down and hug him.
"It's perfect Philly, thank you so much."

He smiles at me and hugs me again before I bid him and his mother farewell and they leave. The foot traffic is pretty light for the day so far, so I go to stand and talk with Raul at the register.

"I know I say this every week but it's so good to have you back, boo. Joe is a natural working here but things just ain't been the same withoutchu. I do also want to say that I told you so, though."
"Really now? Why is that?"
"'Cause I told you that he'd be a good addition to your life and you thought I was trippin'. Well, look at you now: he's your new business partner, he's helped run the store while you were out, and he's off to land you a deal with Riesling; and you thought I wasn't psychic, psh, checkmate bitch."

I shake my head and laugh at him until the new employee, Jameson, comes walking up to us.

"What did you say, Raul?" Jameson says crossing his arms and eyeing Raul.
"He swears he's psychic." I laugh out.
"Laugh now but when you're popping out Joe's fourth and fifth babies, ion wanna hear it."

I laugh louder, Jameson joining in as I double over then I suddenly stop and stand straight up with a blank expression.

"Not happening."
"Mhm, you say that now. Just wait 'til you're poppin' out babies six and seven."
"Is time to close yet? Damn, you need to take yo ass home, talkin' 'bout all these kids, pshhh, you crazy."
"Nah boo, I ain't crazy, you are if you don't think you and Joe are destined for coupledom and Rufus is crazy for ridin' past y'all house like he has been. You sure you gon' be okay tonight? You should go stay with Lina or Jamie and I can stay witchu."
"Yeah, we'd love to spend a night in that beautiful-ass house." Jameson says with a hopeful twinkle in his eyes and I just chuckle but wave him off.
"Nah, don't get yourselves caught up in it, it's nothin' anyway."
"Alright sis, just call if you need us."
"Always."
"So, have you talked to you-know-who about you-know-what?"

I quickly begin to shush him and put my finger up to his lips and look around us.

"We don't talk about that here, remember?" I scold Raul as Jameson snickers beside us.
"Oh yeah, right, right, uh-huh."
"Right, but don't worry, I'm taking care of it."
"Mhmm, yo shady ass. Hey, look, a customer and he's cuuute! Excuse me, ya boi's gotta work. Hello and welcome to A&R Prints and Creations! How may I help you on this fiiine afternoon?"

I laugh as Raul greets the man that just walked in and I look over to see Jameson seething, his arms crossed and an angry pout on his face.

"Jamie, you good?" I ask and he lets out a sigh.
"Yeah, great."
"Uh-huh, well...please refrain from killing my customer, yeah?" I pat his back and walk off away from him to clean up my backroom before my next student comes, my darling NibNib.

No one knows about the letter Rufus left because I'll be out of town again soon and away from him and he'll be over everything when I get back. At least...I hope he will.

*~*~*~*
12:03 AM

Sleep feels good, at least until my nightmares start, but I'm hoping I can get some real sleep with one of Joe's shirts in my arms. I'm actually wearing the shirt he gave me from RAW and I'm cuddled up with one of his button ups. This is dangerous, this dependency I have on him but no matter how I try to push him away, even just in my head, whenever I see him I get this...feeling that I...that someone can actually love me, that he actually might really love me and not at all in the way Rufus claimed he did; I feel like he really truly loves me, no bullshit.

And that scares me. God, I'm so fucking tired of being scared when I probably don't have anything to be scared of. He called me earlier - no, he FaceTimed me earlier to check to make sure that I was okay, offered to order me a pizza from his hotel room in Miami (his extra ass), talked to me for over two hours; we even went through our bedtime routines together. Honestly, he feels like the piece I've been missing for a while and it feels really good have found him. As I snuggle closer to his shirt and inhale his scent, I feel more and more at peace and I can feel myself drifting further into the dream world.

As I said, sleep feels good.

*DING*DING*DONG*DING*DONG*

Until something disturbs it.

I growl and contemplate not answering the door but I get out the bed and begin to walk down the hallway in the event that it's Galina and the kids or Raul for some urgent reason. I yawn as I make my way down the stairs and I'm on the third step from the bottom when a voice yells through the door.

"Aesha! Open the door! I know you're in there! I know you're here!"

What the fuck?? What is Rufus doing here??

I freeze, my stomach churning and I feel sick as he begins to pound at the door, never laying off the bell once. I quickly but quietly run back up the stairs in the dark and run into Joe's room, closing and locking the door behind me before grabbing the metal bat from under his bed and hiding in the closet.

I don't believe he'll break in through the front door but if he really wants to get in, there are a number of other ways for him to do so. He's so persistent and angry, I can still hear him pounding at the solid wooden doors and yelling; he keeps this up, someone's going to call the cops and that'll be a whole other issue. I stand there in Joe's closet, a little shaken at the fact that he's gotten bold enough to actually show up on our doorstep as opposed to just driving by like he usually does but I'm alert and ready just in case. After a couple more minutes, the yelling stops and so does the pounding and I let out a relieved breath that I've been holding but I'm shocked back into urgency when I hear what sounds like Rufus ramming the door. My breathing picks up and I'm a little more shaken than I was now that it's obvious that he wants in.

I grip onto the weapon, beads of sweat forming on my face, and I'm ready for anything.

I think.

Soon, I hear some more yelling but the ramming stops then there's the sound of a car screeching out of the driveway and down the street. There's some calm knocking and a another voice, probably a concerned neighbor, but I'm too shaken to leave the closet, afraid that somehow Rufus will actually be in the room ready to do whatever it is he's thinking to do to me. So, I lean up against a wall in the large closet and slide down it, the bat still clenched tightly in my hands, and I sit there waiting, anticipating the worst for me because that's all I'm used to with him.