6

Jaime was just about entering inside his room when he heard her gasp so he turned around immediately.

Paula stared at the contents with wide eyes. She held different pictures in her hands. There were all pictures of her; leaving the house, in the school premises, at the gym, in front of Linda's apartment, at the department store, and a lot more. She didn't count but she was sure the pictures were up to fifteen.

"What the hell is this?" Jaime asked in shock as he saw the photos in her hand.

There was also a printed note which read, "I always see you Paula."

Paula's whole body was still frozen in place. Then, the realization set in. She was being stalked. She was fucking being stalked!

"Oh my God!" She gasped as the whole picture fell from her hand.

"Hey! Paula!" Jaime said and quickly held unto her when he noticed she was being frantic.

Paula began to look around then she hurried to close the windows and checked whether the door was tightly locked.

"I am being stalked!" She said nervously as she began to pace around.

"Can you think of anyone who would be behind this?" Jaime asked as he picked up the pictures from the floor.

Paula shook her head immediately. "I can't think. I can't think!" She said with her whole body shaking before she sat down weakly on the couch.

It was already late, past 9 O'clock and Jaime was tired but he picked up his car keys.

"Let's go to the police station. We have to report this." He said and tried to pull her up but she shook her head immediately.

"I can't. I can't get the police involved."

"But why? They have to know about this and help you catch the person behind this."

"I can't Jaime, I can't!" She said as she continued to stamp her feet nervously on the tiled floor.

He looked at her in confusion as he wondered why she wouldn't do the most reasonable thing at that point but he immediately guessed,

"Do you think this is related to one of the jobs you took up years ago?" He asked.

"Yes!" She nodded immediately.

"What if someone is trying to get revenge on me?

If I report this to the police and they find out about it all, I may end up going to prison! I would lose my teaching license!" She gasped and broke down in tears.

"Oh God!" Jaime sat down beside her and pulled her into a hug. He was glad he decided to come home today. How would she have been able to deal with this?

"It's okay Paula. It's going to be fine. I'll protect you." He assured her before kissing her head while she cried in his arms.

It was a scary thing to know that someone was always watching all of your movements.

She could just be walking on the street one day and get hit by a bullet. The thought of it made her cry even more. She had never been so scared. And it was more scary because she didn't know WHO or WHAT to be wary of.

************

An hour later, they were both in their rooms.

Jaime had wanted to sleep but now he couldn't. Seeing her looking so scared earlier made him feel very down. He could only hope she was okay and not crying inside her room.

He shut his eyes and tried to sleep when a knock came on his door.

He sat up immediately and asked her to come inside. Slowly, she opened the door and entered inside his room hugging a pillow very close to her body.

"I... couldn't sleep. I'm so scared." She said in a small frightened voice.

Jaime stood up and went to touch her shoulders soothingly.

"It's fine. You can sleep here." He said leading her to his small bed.

It was normal for her to not be able to fall asleep and even if she managed to finally fall asleep, having nightmares was inevitable. It was how the human mind worked.

"Thanks." She said before lying down.

He lay down beside her and dragged the duvet up to cover both their bodies since the weather was chilly.

"I'm sorry this whole thing is happening on your first day home.." She said apologetically as she lay on her side to look at his face.

"I'm glad I'm home. I can't imagine how you would have handled this had I not been here."

She gave him a small smile before closing her eyes.

He continued to watch her face and knew she wasn't yet sleeping.

"You don't have to worry too much about it mum. It's going to be fine. Trust me." He assured her.

'Mum'

It had slipped again.

She slowly opened her eyes to look at him before forcing out a smile. "I trust you. Thanks."

He smiled back and pulled her closer to his body when he realised she was still cold.

"Remember when we used to sleep together years ago?" He asked with a smile.

"Yea. You always liked to cuddle me or else you wouldn't fall asleep."

His baritone-filled laugh spread across the room. "Yea."

"And you were always so scared. Scared of people, scared of lighting and thunder, scared of the dark..."

"Okay it's enough!" He said with a laugh to stop her teases.

"And now you are the one trying to protect me. I'm glad you are back home." She said to him with a faint smile before closing her eyes to sleep.

Not long after, she finally fell asleep with the both of them facing each other.

Jaime also drifted off to sleep.

But the night hadn't gone as smoothly as they had expected.

What happened???