Sarima smiled as she glossed her lips. A few weeks had passed, and the gloominess of the mansion had worn off, especially because her father had gone back to wherever he came from.
The mansion had been quite peaceful, no shouting matches, no broken furniture, no tense silences hanging over breakfast and dinner like a dark cloud. For the first time in a long while, Sarima could focus on something other than survival as she prepared to write her last examination paper before moving into her final year of Business Administration. She had chosen the course with hopes to become a personal assistant someday.
The idea had seemed practical at the time, a stable career that would allow her to support herself without relying on anyone. Honestly, she thought to herself, She had chosen the course partly because she enjoyed it and partly because it promised freedom. The kind of freedom that came with financial independence. The kind that would one day allow her to walk away from the mansion and never look back.
She capped the gloss and examined her reflection. The dark circles that had haunted her for weeks had faded slightly, and for once, she looked rested. Her hand grazed the surface of the white envelopes. She had finally decided that she would tell her best friend everything about her stalker situation, even the feelings she hated admitting she had developed.
She knew she had started developing forbidden feelings for a stalker she knew absolutely nothing about, and it disturbed her.
A worried expression crossed her face as her fingers lingered on the white envelopes resting on her vanity. At first, they had arrived once every few months, then every few weeks. Eventually, they appeared so often that she had stopped counting.
She remembered the first one clearly. She had been sixteen then, returning from school to find a neatly folded note tucked between the pages of a textbook in her bag. She had thought it was a prank, but another appeared, then another, and another. Soon, they became a part of her life, an unwanted, unsettling part she never spoke about. Not to her mother nor to her father. Not even to her best friend.
She had buried the secret deep inside herself, convincing herself that if she ignored it long enough, it would disappear. It clearly did not.
Most of the letters were harmless enough. Strange observations, random comments about her day, details that made her skin crawl because they proved someone had been watching.
But the last three letters had changed everything. They were no longer mere observations and admiring compliments. This time, the words were direct, more direct than it had ever been and it alarmed her, more than the first time she noticed the stalking.
For the first time in two years, Sarima found herself considering the possibility that she couldn't handle it alone. Her gaze lingered on the envelopes before she grabbed them and threw into her bag. It was definitely time to tell someone, finally time to tell her bestie even if it was two years later. If anything ever happened to her, at least someone else would know the truth.
Her eyes darted to the wall clock hanging above her vanity and they widened. "Shit." she grabbed her phone and hurried out of her room, nearly colliding with one of the maids in the hallway. "Sorry!" Sarima shouted hurriedly. The maid barely had time to respond before Sarima descended down the stairs.
Halfway down the staircase, her phone vibrated. "Good luck on your exam marshmallow." Sarima barely glanced at it at first, assuming it was her best friend wishing her before her exam.
A soft smile grazed her lips at her bestie's care then she noticed the number was unknown. Her steps slowed at the realization of who might have sent it and a chilling sensation shivered down her spine.
She slowly stepped into the foyer. After the incident with Oliver, he had continued communicating to her through mobiles but still hadn't stopped with the letters.
Marshmallow? First it was Afràtos, now marshmallow? what's with him relating me to soft foods? She thought to herself and pinched herself softly to feel if she was really soft.
Another message pinged into her screen. "You're twelve minutes late Afràtos" She looked at the time on her phone and it was 9:12 on the dot. Her thumb trembled over the screen before she locked the phone and shoved it into her handbag. She had an exam to write and a stalker induced panic attack was not on her schedule.
Outside, her car was parked with a different color. She had changed it to remove the initial painted in red. Getting into it, she hit the road. The drive to campus was uneventful but she found herself checking the rearview mirror more than usual. Every dark vehicle seemed suspicious and every unfamiliar face made her pulse quicken. By the time she arrived at the university, she was mentally exhausted.
Luckily, she spotted a familiar figure near the faculty building. "Somy..." She squealed and ran to her best friend. "There she is!" Somy grinned before pulling her into a tight embrace. "I didn't know you were coming, when did you arrive in town?" Sarima rushed happily. "Calm down...I wanted to surprise you and thought I should come here directly." Somy replied with a wide smile. "One more year left and I'm so done..." Sarima added. "The future biz admin graduate" Somy grinned wider. "Don't jinx it" Sarima rolled her eyes playfully. "You'd do fine" Somy rubbed her arms in assurance.
The confidence in Somy's voice made Sarima smile. For a moment, she considered blurting everything out. The letters, the texts, the fear, the strange feelings she hated herself for having. But students were rushing around them and examination anxiety filled the air. This definitely wasn't the place to spill the tea.
"I need to tell you something after the exam," Sarima said. Somy's eyebrows lifted "Over a bottle of champagne in a club? Definitely!" She rushed with a light laugh and pushed Sarima towards the main door before she could refuse. She glanced back at her best friend with a playful scowl at how she asked her a question and replied to her own question then she walked into her exam hall.
Three hours later, Sarima exited the examination hall feeling lighter than she had in months. It was finally over, her final paper, her final hurdle before entering her last academic year.
Students poured from the building laughing and celebrating. Some were expressionless, some were already planning parties already while some others looked traumatized. Sarima belonged somewhere in between the three.
She searched for Somy among the crowd. Before she could find her, her phone vibrated and a notification appeared from an unknown number. Her smile faded. Against her better judgment, she opened it. "Congratulations on your exams, I trust you did well love. Question 4c gave you trouble, didn't it?" The blood drained from her face. He knew what had happened inside the exam hall.
"Sarima" a hand touched her shoulder and she flinched. "Are you alright?" The hand withdrew into a loose fist. She turned quickly, forcing her expression to steady."Yes..." She cleared her throat and stood straight "of course, Mr Benjamin" she smiled. "Hmmm...you looked pale, is anything the problem" his eyes briefly flicked to her phone and returned back to her face. She caught the movement and smiled more convincingly "Of course, nothing is wrong." Her eyes lingered on the worried expression on his face which smoothened as the gaze intensified. "Hope the exam wasn't stressful dear" He smiled at her. "It was not bad, Mr Benjamin" she assured. "I've told you Sarima...you can drop the honorific... just call me Benjamin" he told her softly.
She sighed internally, she looked at the young lecturer standing before her. She knew the man had been silently hinting his feelings but she wasn't the type to like her lecturer. She forced a small nod, her attention already drifting past him and out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Somy approaching.
"Hey!" Somy called out, waving enthusiastically as she neared. "I've been looking everywhere for you."
Relief flickered across Sarima's face, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I was just..." Her phone vibrated again and she froze. Somy noticed instantly. "What is it?" Sarima hesitated, fingers tightening around her bag strap. "Nothing," she said quickly. "Just… family stuff."
Mr Benjamin's gaze lingered on her for a second longer than necessary. Then, finally, he stepped back. "Good luck, Sarima."
"Thank you, sir," she replied automatically.
He frowned slightly at the "sir," but said nothing more before walking away.
The moment he left, Somy turned to her fully.
"You're shaking," she said quietly.
"I'm fine," Sarima lied.
Somy didn't believe her but before she could press further, Sarima's phone lit up again in her bag, like it was alive and somewhere in the distance, amongst the moving crowd, Sarima had the terrifying feeling that he was still watching her.
Somy pulled her hand and dragged her towards her car. "We need to change your attire mi love" Sarima looked down at her dressing and nodded truthfully. "Let's get you to a boutique" Somy's excited voice added.
Sarima pulled out her phone to look at the messages as she was sitting in the seat beside her bestie who was driving and nodding her head intensively to the beat of the music playing. They had finished picking a dress for the club and Somy had made her look unnecessarily hot and revealing.
"I have to take you out Sarima, I as your best friend must make sure you live your life to the fullest and not be stuck being some nerdy dork, we must go to the club..." Somy's voice chimed in but slowly faded as she read the messages on her screen which bled of pure jealousy.