Love and Obsession
Chapter 10
-October 27-
It's been almost two weeks since the Homecoming dance and Stephanie and Josh had hardly seen each other unless they were at school or he came to the house to visit Sadie, though they barely spoke a word to one another.
The tension didn't go unnoticed. Danny and Jesse wanted to break down Josh's door and demand why he broke Stephanie's heart, but Vicky and Rebecca managed to talk them out of it, telling them that it wasn't worth being arrested for. Joey and Elise suggested that they talk it out, while Michelle looked on helplessly, and Nicky, Alex, and the younger children stayed out of it.
Even Sadie had sensed something was wrong even if she was still too young to understand what it was. She was attached to her father and Stephanie's heart broke when her daughter asked "Where Da da?" She didn't know how to explain it and simply explained that he was busy.
Stephanie lay on her bed, staring absently at the ceiling as she pondered about her fractured relationship. Josh had just called for the fourth time today, but she refused to pick up her phone. She needed more time to think things through, she told herself.
"Steph?" a voice called out to her, snapping her out of it.
"Yeah, Dad?"
"You got a letter." He told her as he handed her a white envelope with her name and address written on it. She accepted the envelope and glanced it for a moment. She wondered why Gia would leave a note in the mailbox instead of calling or speaking to her in person, but the writing looked like her best friend's, so it looked innocent enough. She carefully tore open the envelope and pulled out a sheet of folded paper. She unfolded it and began to read the contents of the letter.
"What does it say?"
"It's just Gia asking if Sadie and I would go with her to that Halloween event at the park on Friday night."
"That sounds like a good idea. Are you going?" he asked.
"I don't know. I wasn't planning to, but I'll think about it. Why, is anyone else going?"
Stephanie hadn't been into Halloween events since she was in eighth grade and planned to stay home most of the weekend, but she was thinking about taking Sadie trick-or-treating on Halloween night.
"I think Joey and Elise are taking the kids."
"They're gonna have their hands full with Leah." Stephanie laughed. "She's like the Energizer Bunny."
"You got that right." Danny laughed with her, then the laughter died down and he looked at her sternly. "You know, you and Josh need to sit down and talk. This whole avoiding each other thing isn't healthy for either of you, and especially Sadie."
"You're right, Dad. I will."
"That's my girl! Whatever happens between you two, I'll be here for you." He put his arms around her and gave her a big hug.
Stephanie felt better now and she went down to the kitchen for dinner.
Tonight, Jesse made shrimp scampi with linguine, green beans, a salad, and freshly baked garlic bread. Sadie was her usual cheerful, happy self as she grabbed a fistful of pasta and shoved it into her mouth.
"Yum yum!"
Stephanie laughed and wiped the garlicky butter sauce from the little girl's face, then she continued eating.
After dinner, Danny, Vicky, and Rebecca discussed things relating to work, Joey told PG rated jokes as Elise, Matthew, and Leah laughed at them, and Jesse helped Nicky and Alex with their homework. Michelle was having difficulty with her homework, particularly her math and history, so Stephanie offered to assist her.
"Michelle. Why don't you take your books and go to my room and wait while I give Sadie her bath? Then I'll be right in to help you." she suggested.
"Okay, but why don't you let me do it? You look like you need a break." Michelle offered, lifting her niece out of her highchair.
"Are you sure?"
"It's no trouble at all. You're helping me with my homework, so I want to help you."
"You don't need to repay me, but thanks. I appreciate the help."
"You're welcome. Come on, Sadie. Let's go play with the bubbles!"
"Yay!" Michelle took Sadie up to the main bathroom and set up the bath while Stephanie waited, carefully studying her younger sister's assignments.
They returned from the bathroom twenty minutes later and Michelle joined Stephanie at the table. Sadie sat between them, doodling in a coloring book while her mother and aunt discussed the homework.
Michelle worked for a little over an hour, then she put her books back in her backpack and went downstairs to watch TV, as she was grounded until the weekend because of a curfew violation and was prohibited from hanging out with her friends or using the phone.
Stephanie glanced at the clock. It was seven thirty now and Sadie was half asleep with her head laying on her coloring book. She moved her to her crib and kissed her goodnight, then she turned out the lights.
-October 29-
It was the night of the Halloween event and Joey and Elise walked the kids to Alamo Park. The couple dressed in Popeye and Olive Oyl costumes, Nicky and Alex were Batman and Superman respectively, Leah was Belle, and Matthew was an Army soldier. The children carried orange and black treat bags with ghosts, bats, witches, and haunted houses on them, hoping to fill them to the brim with candy.
Rebecca, Danny, and Vicky were at the Smash Club watching Jesse's band perform and DJ and Steve were on a date at a sushi restaurant. Stephanie accepted the invitation to attend the event and she put Sadie in a cat costume which belonged to Michelle when she was a toddler, though Stephanie herself chose not to dress up. First, they did some trick-or-treating and got their faces painted, then they walked around to figure out which activities they wanted to do next.
"I want to ride a pony." Leah begged impatiently, tugging on Joey's shirt.
"All right. I'll take you over there." Joey told her.
"Me too." Nicky added.
"Me three." Alex chimed in.
"How about you, Matt? Would you like to ride the pony too?"
"No, thank you, Joey. I wanna jump in the bouncy thing. Can I do that instead?"
"You bet!"
"I'll take him." Michelle offered.
"Yay!" Matthew cheered.
"Okay. Matt, make sure you listen to Michelle and don't go anywhere without telling her."
"I will, Mommy." Matthew said and started to run toward the bounce house. "Come on, let's go!"
"Wait up," Michelle paused and looked up at Stephanie with a questioning expression in her eyes. "Can Sadie go too?"
"Sure." Stephanie answered, handing her daughter off to Michelle. Sadie squealed and flapped her hands with excitement and wiggled so much that Michelle struggled to maintain control. The group agreed to meet in front of the stage for the costume contest in forty-five minutes and they went their separate ways. Michelle took Matthew and Sadie to the bounce house, Joey and Elise took Nicky, Alex, and Leah to the pony rides, and Stephanie walked around the park in search of Gia.
Meanwhile, about fifty meters away, two security guards, one male and one female, and a German Shepherd stood by a food cart. The guards' eyes were focused on the bounce house as children climbed in and out of it. The woman grabbed her cell phone and pressed a button and spoke into the receiver.
"Subjects spotted."
"Roger." a male voice replied on the other line and hanged up.
As Stephanie searched for Gia, she spotted someone else, someone familiar, strolling along the game area. She recognized the person, but she kept walking until she heard him call her name.
"Stephanie!" he shouted and he ran up to her, carrying something.
"Josh, what are you doing here?" She asked.
"I figured you would be here, so I came to look for you. I wanted to apologize to you."
"If you wanted to apologize, why didn't you stop at the house?"
"I didn't think you or your dad would let me in."
"You're probably right. I've been so hurt. When I saw you and Karla together, my heart broke into pieces.
"I know, Steph. I'm sorry. It was very wrong of me to let Karla get so close to me. So, can you find it in your heart to forgive me? Please."
"Okay, and I'm sorry I blamed you for this. I hope you can forgive me too."
"I forgive you." They hugged and then he pulled away and reached into the bag in his hand and pulled out a bouquet of purple hyacinth flowers and handed it to her. She accepted the flowers and smiled warmly at him.
"Aww thank you, Josh. They're beautiful."
"You're welcome." They walked around the park hand in hand and it didn't take long before they finally found Gia.
Sorry for the long wait! Writer's block sucks and I've had some personal issues to sort out, then we lost our internet, but I finally finished this chapter thanks to free wi-fi at Wendy's and Publix. Enjoy!