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Story: Volcano of Pain

11

HER MOVE, MY OBSESSION

Dex

I ’m tracking her flight, and she’s landed.

I’ll get a notification when she orders her Uber and will track her from there.

I just have an uneasy pit in my stomach.

She has to give up her beloved cat for at least a few weeks, too. And I know he’s a real source of stability for her. Literally an emotional support cat.

As soon as she lands, I see two incoming text notifications.

Michael:

Welcome! How was your flight?

Timmy:

Welcome to Hawaii!

Jesus, these guys are real predators. It’s as if they’re trying to be the first to message her on arrival so they can lock her down.

It’s like they were tracking her flight.

David always tracks her flight, but he lives on the other side of the world and is obsessed with planes. But these guys?

Well, shit. I mean, I guess I'm doing it too.

But I’m doing it from a good place, not to take advantage of a lonely and vulnerable woman who’s just arrived in a new city.

And sure, I’m now reading through her texts and her dating apps and following her Ubers around. God, I’m sounding like a real creep.

But I need to make sure she’s okay. I just have a feeling she’s very, very not.

I looked at flights to Sunset Cay last night, and almost booked one, but I decided not to at the last minute.

That’s the last thing she needs in this new phase of her life, her brother’s childhood best friend following her around and hiding behind trees while she tries to live her day-to-day life. She’d be so pissed if I did that.

She’d be so pissed at what I’m doing now.

But I can’t stop seeing what she’s doing, and checking in on her, because I care.

A secret protector, from a distance.