Leah was careful not to suffocate me, but if I looked closely enough, I could see her protective behaviour shining through. She began actively seeking a new house for us, called more frequently when she knew I was home alone, and held me closer than ever in bed. She didn't push me; she stuck to her promise of dealing with this my way, I suppose hoping that I would come around to the idea of informing the police. We began looking closely at clients, truly believing that it was most likely someone I had represented or someone that I had turned away. Of course, Mr. Lancaster, who openly admitted he had researched me, was the number one suspect on our list, but that theory was put to bed when the mystery person texted me during a meeting with him.
I became paranoid, truly believing I was being followed when I was out alone, but determined not to let this person ruin my life. I tried tirelessly not to show it, wanting to be as strong as I could be for those around me, but I guess nightmares don't wait until you're alone.
"Soph, baby, babe, Soph. It's me. It's Leah."
I jolted away from her in the bed, feeling as my body glided across the sheets that were soaked beneath me.
"Get away from me! Don't touch me!" I screamed.
"Babe, it's me. It was just a dream, this is real. I'm real." Leah repeated softly, not moving an inch at my request.
"Le?" I rubbed at my eyes, finally waking up.
"Yes, Soph. It's just me." She repeated.
I pushed out my bottom lip and blew air upwards to cool my face down, reaching my hand to my chest to feel the warmth radiating from it.
"Can I?" Leah whispered, nodding in my direction.
"Of course, I'm sorry for shouting."
Leah slowly crept towards me, not caring that she was submerging herself in the sweat-ridden bedsheets. She used the sleeve of her top to wipe the remnants of beads from my forehead before planting a kiss on it, opening her arms to wrap around me.
"I'm very sweaty, Le." I chuckled.
"For all the wrong reasons."
"Mhmm." I nodded.
Leah slowly got up, taking my hand and pulling me from the bed before leading me to the bathroom. She turned on the shower, checking the temperature with her hand before placing gentle kisses against my lips as she removed my clothes.
"I'll get you a towel." Leah smiled, kissing me once more before I got into the shower.
I let the water fall over me, wondering if I would ever feel normal again and if I would ever not feel frightened of someone I didn't know. The last thing I wanted to do at god knows what time was wash my hair, but I knew that it was sticky from the night terror I had just experienced. Stepping back to let the water penetrate through it, I closed my eyes for a few seconds before stepping back out, terrified to be unable to see for too long. Leah stood in the doorway, watching on at my inability to function as a normal person.
"I'm here, Soph. It's safe; you can close your eyes." She smiled affectionately.
"Can you get in with me?" I asked softly.
"Yeah, if that'll help."
"Yeah. I feel safe when you're close." My lip began to quiver as I realised how vulnerable I truly was right now.
Leah made quick work of removing her pyjamas, stepping into the shower with me, and tilting my chin upwards so our lips could meet again. It wasn't a forceful kiss; it was one of safety, one that was just reminding me that she was right there.
"Do you feel safe enough to face the other way, babe?" She whispered.
I nodded and turned the other way, Leah's hands not leaving my body as I moved.
"I'm just letting go to lift the shampoo, okay?"
I nodded.
Within a few seconds, Leah's hands were in my hair as she massaged the shampoo into my scalp. She placed soft kisses across my shoulders, which I knew would taste like shampoo suds to her, but she was baring them in order to make me feel safe. Once my hair was rinsed, Leah wrapped her arms around my waist, holding me so close to her that I could feel her heartbeat in my back.
"I'll get your towel, Soph." She whispered in my ear.
Before long, we were back in the bed that Leah had changed for us. I felt her control her breathing loudly enough for me to follow it as her fingertips traced my bare shoulder.
"I really love you." I whispered.
"I really love you." She whispered against my forehead before pressing a kiss against it.
It was a few more days before Leah brought up the topic of my stalker again, treading carefully as she broached her suspicions with me.
"Soph?" She asked, meeting my gaze across the table.
"Mhmm?" I nodded.
"If I ask you something, you won't kick off?"
"Course not."
"Could this be Hannah?"
I hadn't even thought about that.
It made sense to a degree; Hannah had previously sent me flowers. But hanging around London hoping to spot me, surely not?
"I can see where that's coming from, but I really don't think so, Le."
"Just a thought. It's probably silly, sorry." She sighed, desperation in her voice.
"Hey, none of your ideas are silly. I know there's a connection with the flowers, but she knows my favourite flowers. She lives in Ireland; she bought the house from me. Surely she would've done it back then?"
"Yeah. You're right. Onto the next one, I guess."
"It has to be a client or someone that's been to this house."
"Yeah." Leah nodded in agreement.
"Whoever it is, I'm going to kill them. I hope you know that I will kill them." She added.
I chuckled at her rising anger, stroking my foot against her leg under the table in an attempt to make her cool off. Our moment was interrupted, though, as my phone rang.
"Hi P." I smiled.
"Sophie - I'm all for you getting your parcels delivered here, but if I have to carry one more life-size cut-out cardboard bullshit thing upstairs from the postman, I don't think I can work here any longer." She chuckled.
Huh? Act cool.
"Ha! Which one got delivered today?"
"I don't know who this is—Ross, who is this? Oh, he said it's—how do you say it, Ross? Moaning Myrtle?"
"Okay, I'll stop soon. I promise." I chuckled.
The second I came off the phone to Paula, I filled Leah in on the latest deliveries. Neither of us understood the idea behind this one; it seemed to have no relation to anything from before. Flummoxed, we both decided to wait until after Cara had left to discuss it any further, mostly because we were sick of whispering in our own home. I eventually moved to the sofa, falling asleep as I waited on Leah to finish her training plans, Arsenal's way of keeping her involved while she was unable to train.
I woke some time later to the sound of discussions taking place between Leah and Cara, Liv's bedroom was almost finished, but there had been a holdup with stock for the TV unit we were getting built as a surprise. I moved to the kitchen to involve myself in the conversation, widening my eyes as Cara said those few words.
"Does she have any shows she watches or anything? I have a friend who makes really cool life-size cutouts of anyone. Connections." She winked in my direction.
Fuck. Leah.
"What the fuck did you just say?" Leah said aggressively, making Cara step backward.
"Eh - my - eh - friend."
"Why did you wink at Sophie when you said that?" Leah said, her volume rising.
"It was just a reaction. I didn't mean anything by it." Cara said, taking a few more steps back from Leah, who matched her by taking more steps forward.
"Le."
"Lilies out the front. Harry Potter DVDs in the living room. Lingerie on the day you knew I'd gone out. I'll fucking kill you. I - will - fucking -"
Leah had seen red now.
"Leah!" I said frantically, her head swinging round to look at my trembling frame.
That's all it took.
"Soph, it's okay. C'mere. I'm sorry." Leah said softly, wrapping her arms around me.
"Please just make her leave."
"You heard her; get out. Get out."
Cara wasted no time before exiting through the front doors, not even lifting her tools on the way there. Leah's anger had turned to tears within seconds as she gripped me more tightly.
"I'm so sorry, Soph. I put you in so much danger by calling her; I should've been more careful. I'm so sorry." She sobbed.
"No, you weren't to know. I'm safe now - she will stop now that she knows we know. I'm sure of it."
Once again, Paula ruined our moment.
"P, all good?"
"Did you see the email I forwarded to you?"
"No. What is it?"
"Really weird. It came from a personal email but is addressed to you. It's a picture of fireworks, a picture of Madonna, and the Law Associates Awards logo?"
Silence.
"Sophie?"
Silence.
"Sophie, is everything okay? Should I be worried?"
"Sorry, P. All good, probably a prankster. Don't worry."
"It's none of my business, Sophie, but it doesn't seem like nothing."
"I can't tell you, P. Everything will be okay though, I promise."
I cut the call, knowing if I stayed on any longer I would end up spilling the truth; I wasn't sure that everything would be okay. As I began to tell Leah that it had indeed not been Cara but very clearly someone to do with the firm, I began to realise that this wasn't over yet. Leah and I tried desperately to piece things together, trying to remember significant memories and failing. I eventually asked her to leave it, knowing if I thought too much, my brain would explode. As we began dinner preparations, Leah seemed to have a moment of realisation.
"Fuck, Soph. I think I verbally abused our decorator for no reason." She half-chuckled.
"I know. We should really apologise." I facepalmed.
"I'll text her, she's definitely going to tell the Daily Mail I'm an absolute psycho."
"They only print lies in that newspaper, so they wouldn't buy that story from her." I grinned.
Leah didn't respond, just swiped me gently with the tea towel before letting out a loud laugh.
— — — —
I always believed that fear wouldn't consume me and that to find answers, you had to go looking for them. This day, though, would disprove that theory. Back in the office for another meeting with Mr. Lancaster, we were deep in a discussion about the judge that would handle his case. He didn't know what he was about to uncover. A random anecdote would pull everything into place for me—well, almost.
"You actually defended my cousin one time. Well, not in court, at the police station."
"I did?" I cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah, he's a bit of a hothead, but he wasn't capable of what they said."
"Who is your cousin?"
"Leonard."
"Leonard?" I do have multiple clients with the same name, Mr. Lancaster.
"Myrtle."
My stomach dropped.
"Yes, yes I did." I tried to remain professional.
"He talks highly of you and said he was sure they were trying to make an example of him."
"An example?" Keep digging, Sophie.
"Yeah, to the people he is involved with. Kind of like a you aren't invincible thing."
This is so much more than I thought.
I almost couldn't wait for today's meeting to be over, immediately leaving the office and driving home to tell Leah that I thought I had found a connection. Leonard Myrtle. Moaning Myrtle. Surely this isn't another coincidence? Leah was in agreement, with both of us opting to wait it out to see what the next gift was. It turned out that that gift wouldn't be something physical. It came in the form of a text message. My phone pinged at exactly 4.03 a.m., and Leah and I shot up in bed to find out exactly what it said.
Unknown
I'm not kissing myself, babe. When are you going to be brave and react to this?
"What the fuck?" Leah sighed, hope fading as there wasn't a more apparent clue in this message.
"Two more days. I'm giving it two more days, and then I'm going to the police." I sighed.
"We are going to the police. For better or for worse, remember?"
"For better or for worse, Le."