Scarlett's Secrets (Complete)

Chapter Twenty - Paranoid

Caleb

I never heard much from Scarlett last night; she only called me the once when she got her first break but didn’t stay on the phone for long. She did say she would get in touch when she wakes from her sleep after a nightshift. I suppose I will just need to wait until later to speak to her. I may as well get myself showered and a coffee to start a relaxing day off. 

The postman has been early today. I don’t usually get post until eleven a.m. I picked up the envelope and headed through to the kitchen to make myself a coffee. I tossed the envelope on the counter, and that’s when I notice it’s handwritten with no stamp.

Strange, I don’t usually get hand-delivered mail. I was so carried away thinking about the envelope that I stirred my coffee so much it started to spill. s**t, why is this bothering me so much? I grabbed my coffee and mail and went to the living room go sit down. 

I sat my coffee down and ripped the envelope open. I opened the small piece of paper, and there was only a couple of lines on it. 

You should watch who you trust Caleb, because sometimes those closest to us, are the ones we need to protect our backs with. 

What the f**k? What does that even mean? But reading it, it was enough to get me paranoid. All the worst things running through my head, the worse one being, my past has caught up with me. 

I don’t understand how this has happened, but I need to make sure that Scarlett doesn’t find out. I do not need her to get involved in my hectic past. Hopefully, her sleep isn’t for too long today as she isn’t working tonight so she will want to get back into a normal sleep routine. It is only nine-thirty a.m. just now so I decided to send her a quick text. 

Morning beautiful, give me a call as soon as your awake, and we can make plans for our day x

I just sit drinking my coffee staring at the note, racking my brain about what on earth is happening. Why is it when I finally find someone, things start going wrong? 

They can’t have possibly found me. I am not even using my right name. I don’t use social media. My appearance is different from what it was back then. Nothing about who I was back then was the same. Surely it is only someone messing with me, but then again it reminded me of the guy in the shop that left me the note. Who was he? And why was he doing this to me? 

My phone buzzed, and I jumped, I was away in a world of my own and wasn’t expecting my phone to go. I checked the time when I picked up my phone, eleven-thirty already; the time has flown by. That’s when I see the message is from Scarlett.

Hey babe, that’s me had my sleep. Just going to jump in a shower so head over in one hour and I’ll be ready xx

No problem gorgeous, see you soon, xx.

Just the person I need to see, I’m glad Scarlett is up and about. I need to do something to take my mind off of the crap morning I’ve had. 

I pushed those stupid notes to the back of my head and got myself ready for the day. I stopped by grabbing food and coffee for us because she probably hasn’t had a chance to eat yet. I just wanted to spend the day with Scarlett, and not worry about anything else, even just for a few hours. I tried my best not to get too paranoid as I made my way over, but I got a sense that someone was watching me.

I gave her door a loud chap and stood waiting with a big smile on my face when it opened; it was amazing just seeing her beautiful face staring back at me. 

“Coffee and bagel for the beautiful woman,” I grinned.

“Well, thank you,” She smiled back, “Come in,” She added, moving out the way of the door.

“Thank you.” I kissed her on the cheek as I passed.

I went straight through to the living room and sat down on the couch while Scarlett went and got us some plates for our food. 

When she sat next to me, she went to say something, but she never got a chance because I pressed my lips to hers softly. She whimpered, happily kissing me back. 

“I missed you,” I said nervously. 

“Aww, I missed you too,” She cooed at me. 

I smiled, the nervousness going away when she happily said it back to me. We pulled apart and turned to our breakfast. I don’t know what our plans were for today, but I don’t mind. I will be happy just spending the day with her. 

“This bagel is delicious,” Scarlett said, taking another bite.

“I’m glad you are enjoying it, “I grinned back at her before taking a big bite of my bagel.

We just sat in silence and finished eating our food. I like sitting with Scarlett just doing nothing. 

“You fancy going a walk around the park that is close by?” She asked.

“Yes, sounds good, baby girl,” I replied before taking both the plates to the kitchen.

“We will finish our coffees then we can go,” She shouted through to me. 

“No problem,” I called back. 

She came back through, and we headed out. I reached over, brushing her hand with mine. Scarlett smiled, linking our fingers together and I couldn’t help but smile. 

“How was work?” I asked. 

“Good, a patient, got a little rough, but except that it was fine,” She smiled. 

“Rough, what do you mean rough? Are you OK?” I asked. 

“Yeah, I am now, I was a little shaken, but it is part of the job,” She said. 

It was only then I noticed the marks on her neck. 

I stopped walking and brushed her hair from the side of her neck. That is when I saw all the fingerprint marks running along her neck, they were dark in colour and prominent on her beautiful skin. 

“Scarlett, is this how these marks got on your neck?” I asked with sadness in my eyes. 

That was when she put her head down. She didn’t want to look me in the eyes. I could hear her sniffle. 

“Please look at me,” I asked whilst lifting her head. 

 I placed a very gentle kiss to her lips then embraced her in a cuddle. 

“Do these things happen a lot?” I asked. 

She lifted her head from my chest and looked up at me. 

“Not really, it was just a dreadful night,” She sighed. 

I sighed, reaching in and gentle running my fingers over the marks. I hated knowing that she got hurt and this serious. 

“Scar, I am sorry you had to go through that, baby girl,” I said. 

“I am OK, it was a little scary at the time,” She said. 

“Let’s get to this park and enjoy our day,” I smiled over at her, “And Scarlett; please tell me when things like this happen. I am here for you.” I said, giving her another kiss and took her hand to start our walk again. 

“Thank you, Caleb.” She said with a small smile on her lips.

We walked for another few minutes in silence, just taking in the fresh air and enjoying the sunshine; something we don’t see very often. It seemed nice and calm outside today. 

As we got to the park entrance, I saw a figure wearing all dark clothing, but they were out of sight before I got a good look. It automatically made me think of the person that left a note in the coffee shop. It could have been anyone though, just a jogger perhaps. 

“Caleb, are you OK? You just tensed up?” She asked, looking at me, confused. 

“Yeah, I am fine,” I said, giving her my best smile. 

I was getting paranoid again. I was going to be on edge constantly because of what happened. I put my attention back to the beautiful woman next to me, trying my best to ignore everything else. I stole another glance, but the person was nowhere in sight. No, I need to stop this right now. 

I am not letting anyone ruin my time with Scarlett.