3. Chapter Two
CHAPTER TWO
MARGERY
A couple of days had passed since Margery got the second stuffed zebra. She asked Adalisa about it the next day, but she hadn’t given out her address to anybody. Margery left out the binkie being attached to it again. She didn’t need Adalisa to ask even more questions and get suspicious.
That’s when the worry started to bubble inside of her. Who could it possibly be? Who could possibly know that her favorite animal was a zebra? Margery hadn’t given that information out to any of the guys she went on a date with. And she hadn’t told them that she was a Little.
There were so many things that were wrong. So many things that were red flags. Margery had no idea who was doing this.
None of the guys had messaged her about her receiving the stuffed animals. She figured that by this point, they would have asked her a question to see if she had gotten them or not.
But there was nothing .
Nothing at all.
Come to think of it, the guys hadn’t messaged her at all. Some of the dates actually seemed promising. Margery thought she would get to know them better the longer they talked, and after that, could make a decision.
But that was the least of her worries. Every single time she walked to work, or anywhere, she felt eyes on her. And every single time, she would look around to see who could possibly be following her.
Nobody was.
That was worst part. Sometimes, it was when nobody was walking with her. Which meant somebody had to be in the shadows, watching her.
Did she have a stalker? Margery shook her head. She couldn’t have a stalker. It wasn’t possible. She didn’t interact with many people at all.
Sighing, she headed for toward the kitchen. She had to work in a couple of hours, but she needed to eat something before she left. She had another closing shift, and she knew it would be a while before she got her break to eat anything.
Walking into the kitchen, Margery grabbed an apple, knowing it wasn’t a full meal but was the only thing that sounded good, before taking it into the living room. When she saw another stuffed zebra sitting on her coffee table, she screamed and dropped her apple. Heart beating faster, it felt like someone was sitting on her chest as she couldn’t get a full breath in.
That wasn’t where she placed the other two. The other two were on the dining room table, right next to each other. Could she have woken up and moved it ?
Tentatively,she walked toward the dusty pink and white stuffed zebra. Carefully picking it up, she inspected the lettering near the heart.
It was a new stuffed zebra with another binkie around its neck.
Coming .
That was the word embroidered on the zebra’s heart this time, along with the same initials.
Y.L.
Her hand started to shake as she continued to look at the zebra and binkie. It was becoming real the longer she stared at it. There was no way it was from one of the guys she went out with. They seemed so tame and not manly enough to do something so brazen.
Margery didn’t know what she was really talking about with the guys she had gone out with, but it made sense in her head. She walked over toward her dining room table and sat the stuffed animal next to the other two.
Should she call the police? Or should she just wait? Margery could imagine Adalisa telling her to call the police. Quickly, she grabbed her phone and dialed nine-one-one.
“Hello? What is your emergency?” a deep male voice said.
She stood there for a second, shocked to hear a guy’s voice. Margery knew men worked as dispatchers as well. It just didn’t seem as common, and she definitely wasn’t expecting it.
“Hello, ma’am? Are you there?” the man asked. “Are you in danger?”
Margery was pulled from her thoughts. “Umm, not immediate danger,” she replied.
She really didn’t know how to answer that question. She wasn’t in danger at that moment, but if she was right, she had a stalker, which meant she could be in danger soon. How was she supposed to deal with that?
“What’s your emergency?” he asked.
“I think I have a stalker,” she replied. “I’ve received some… gifts, and I just… I’m pretty sure I have a stalker. Anytime I’m outside, I feel the eyes on me.”
Margery knew she sounded hysterical and crazy, but she needed to get her point across. This wasn’t something little. It was a stalker, which could turn deadly.
“I know it’s a stalker because I’ve talked to my friends about it to see if they were doing it. I don’t know many people, which leaves me with a stalker. All the items I’ve gotten have one word on them.”
“And you want us to send somebody over to check it out?” he asked.
“Can you conduct an investigation? I just… It’s weird. It’s scary. ’I’ve got a stalker.”
“All right, ma’am. Calm down. We’ll send somebody out. Tell me your address; we’ll get somebody out to you.”
Margery rattled off her address and started to pace in her living room as she waited for the police officer to arrive. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang, making her jump in their air as her heart started to race. She ran over to the door, opening it.
“Hello ma’am. My name is Officer Matthias. We spoke on the phone earlier,” he explained.
She stared at him in confusion. Weren’t dispatchers and police officers different? She only knew what she had seen on TV, but she figured the person taking the calls couldn’t leave their stations in case other called. What was going on?
“Shouldn’t you be at the station taking the calls?” she asked before she could stop herself. “Sorry. I’m confused. I thought dispatchers and police officers were different.”
“We are. I happened to be at the office when you called. They asked me if I could take it as they were all busy, so I did. I’m here now, so what can I help you with?”
Something felt off as she stared at him. This wasn’t making any sense. Why would he be at the office where the dispatchers are? Were they in the same place?
“Ma’am?”
“Margery,” she replied. “My name is Margery.”
“Well, Miss Margery, you called about a stalker?”
She nodded and took a step back from the door, allowing him into her house.
“Yes, I did. I—I have received… some things.”
She realized how weird it was going to sound to him when she told him she received stuffed animals. Would he look at her weirdly? Make her feel like she was going crazy?
Not everyone understood the stuffed animals. Lots of people thought it was weird. Would he make her feel weird for receiving them? It wasn’t like she wanted it. She had a stalker who was sending her these gifts.
Not her choice.
“Where are the things you have received?” he asked
“On my dining room table.”
“And when did you start receiving these?”
“Well, the first one was about a week ago. The second was a couple of days ago when I was coming home from work, and the third appeared out of nowhere. Well, it appeared sometime last night while I was asleep, and it was in my living room.”
Officer Matthias looked at her, almost like he was trying to figure her out. She didn’t need any figuring out. She just wanted this to be solved and resolved.
“Did you tell anyone?” he asked.
“Well, the first one arrived at my place of work, so my coworker saw. We didn’t think anything of it.”
“Okay. Does she know about the other two?”
Why was he asking that? Was it important to the investigation?
“No, I haven’t told her. It just happened. I contacted the police first since it’s a stalker.”
The police officer looked at the stuffed animals; picking them up and placing them back. She waited patiently for him to do whatever he needed to do. He continued to look at the stuffed animals. There wasn’t much to look at. Margery took a step forward, about to say something.
“Have you been out on dates recently?” the police officer asked.
Margery furrowed her eyebrows. What did that have anything to do with her stuffed animals and stalker?
“Yes, but this was in my home! I locked my house last night and made sure everything was closed. The person got into my house and left this!” She raised her voice.
She didn’t like his question. It didn’t make her feel good at all.
“Well, it could be a secret admirer,” the man offered.
“Are you listening to me?” Margery asked before she could stop herself. Her eyes went wide as his narrowed on her. “Sorry, Officer Matthias. I woke up and found this sitting on my coffee table. I promise I made sure to lock the doors and windows before going to bed last night. Someone broke in and planted this.”
Margery really didn’t like him saying it was a secret admirer. There was no way a secret admirer could get into her house undetected. Okay, there probably was if he was trained, but why would a secret admirer do that?
Officer Matthias had completely dismissed the stalker breaking into her house and leaving.
“He broke in, left the stuffed zebra, and left without leaving a trace? He didn’t take anything?” he asked.
“No, nothing is missing. And yes, he broke in and left the stuffed animal.”
“Ma’am. I think you’re overthinking this. It’s a secret admirer. Maybe you got up in the middle of the night and got it from outside.”
Her eyes went wide. “That’s not what happened! I’m telling you the truth. It was sitting right there on my coffee table in my house!”
Officer Matthias stared at her, and she started to fidget in her spot. She didn’t like him looking at her like that.
“I promise that’s not what happened. I don’t sleepwalk, and I don’t go outside in the middle of the night. I’m telling you he broke into my house. I’m telling you, he placed this like he placed the other one a couple of days ago. I haven’t seen him yet, but I know he’s there. I can feel his eyes on me when I walk to work or when I’m walking anywhere outside!” Margery exclaimed.
She thought the police officer would understand her and look into it, but he ’didn’t. It was’ like he was going to sweep this under the rug. She couldn’t be going crazy, right? She wasn’t making this all up, was she?
“Ma’am, I’m going to need you to calm down.”
Taking a deep breath, she nodded and looked at him. She was getting worked up, but maybe she was going a little crazy.
“As of right now, it doesn’t look like anybody is stalking you. I can check the locks for you if you’d like,” he offered.
“Please. I already did, and they’re all locked like they were before,” she replied.
Margery followed the officer as he walked around her house, Checking all of the windows and doors just like she had. There weren’t many but he was taking his time.
“Everything looks good, ma’am,” he said.
“But,” she started to say.
“Ma’am, you started dating again, you hadn’t done previously?” he asked.
“Well, yes. I wasn’t for several years, and I just started up again.”
“Have you ever had a secret admirer?”
Margery shook her head. Ethan had always been there to scare anybody off. She’d been fine with that. He was the love of her life. Her eyes weren’t on other men at that time.
“Well, secret admirers don’t want you to know their identity until they’re ready. I’m pretty sure this is the case,” Officer Matthias explained.
She stared at him. Maybe he was right. She’d never had a secret admirer, so maybe this was normal. But what about feeling watched?
“And as for feeling like you’re being watched. I think you just got a little scared and started to imagine things. It’s all right; all of us do it at some point in our lives. So, I want you just to relax and enjoy it.”
Margery nodded. She didn’t know if she was really going to enjoy this. It was weird, but maybe he was right.
“Was that all?” Officer Matthias asked.
“Yes, thank you for coming over and checking it out. I feel a lot better.”
She really didn’t, but nothing else was going to happen. She probably was overthinking this and making herself paranoid. Everything about this was strange.
“Well, then I’m going to head out. You stay safe.”
Margery took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. It was such a nice day to walk to work. It wasn’t too hot, and it wasn’t too cold; it was just the perfect temperature. She was close to work, about a block away, and she didn’t want the journey to end. She wanted to stay out there and soak up all the sunshine.
She was feeling a little better about everything. She honestly was trying not to think about it too much. Maybe if she didn’t think about it, it wouldn’t be there? It wasn’t a good idea, but it was the only one she had right now.
Out of the corner of her eye, something flashed and caught her attention. She quickly turned her head, but nothing was there. Margery looked around to see if anybody else was looking in that direction, but everyone was just walking by.
The hairs on her arms stuck up as she felt like she was being watched. This wasn’t her imagination. She was being watched, and she couldn’t see by who. They were never there.
Her breathing started to pick up as the sensation of being followed grew. She needed to get to work and get inside. Maybe once she got there, she would stop feeling the eyes on her.
Margery picked up her pace and quickly dashed into the building.
“Are you okay?” Adalisa asked.
She gave her a small smile and nodded.
“Are you sure? What’s wrong?”
“I’m o-okay,” she stuttered and closed her eyes for a second. “I’m fine.”
Her coworker gave her a weary look as Margery put her stuff behind the counter. The feeling of being watched didn’t go away when she went into the building. If anything, it seemed like it had gotten worse. She didn’t know if that was possible.
Margery looked out the front window, trying to see if she could find the person staring at her. Her eyes darted over the people walking by, but one person stood out. They were standing on the other side of the road, looking at her.
She let out a little squeak, jumping and looking at her coworker. Maybe if Adalisa could see him, she could tell the police officer she wasn’t going crazy.
But when Margery looked back, the person was gone. No. They had just been right there. He couldn’t have left.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Adalisa asked.
“Sorry,” Margery apologized. “I thought I saw somebody I knew, but it wasn’t them. Kind of freaked me out.”
Adalisa gave her a weird look and shook her head. “You know what I think you need?”
“What? And please don’t say dick.”
“I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say you need to take a shot to calm your nerves. It does wonders.”
“Huh, haven’t thought about that. But I can’t because I’m at work. You know alcohol and me don’t go well together.”
Adalisa snorted. “Right, lightweight. Then take it when you get home.”
Margery nodded and went about her day, stocking things around the store. But the whole time, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. This was going to be a long shift.