Chapter Eight

Kimberly woke early to the buzz of the alarm clock. She silently reached over Tommy to turn it off. Then she stretched lazily, before rising from the bed to shower.

After her shower she dressed and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. An half an hour later she heard Tommy rise. She smiled and went out to the porch to get a breath of fresh air. The house was filled with the scent of bacon. She liked the smell, but she could only handle it for so long.

Kimberly was about to enter the house when she saw a peace of paper taped to the front door. Sunshine was written on the folded parchment.

Kim gently took it off of the door and with shaky hands opened it.

Hey Sunshine,

I miss you.

Wished I had a chance to talk to you at the wedding.

It was a lovely wedding. You looked beautiful in your dress. There would only one way for you to look better...

If you were the bride. Of course, I would be your groom.

I can't wait till that day.

Maybe in the near future.

That Dr. Oliver should be careful or he's going to lose you to me...

Again.

Love, Michael.

Kim's skin began to crawl and she nearly fell to the porch. She was hoping he wouldn't be able to find her here, in Reefside, but she was wrong. He did find her and now he knew that she was staying pretty much secluded.

Kim wanted to curse her boyfriend for living somewhere so far from civilation.

Tommy went into the kitchen. He noticed it was empty and the bacon was on the cusp of burning. He removed the skillet from the burner and turned off the stove before he went in search of his girlfriend. It wasn't in her nature to leave the stove on for long without someone watching it.

He noticed the front door was opened as he was headed to the livingroom. He walked out to see Kim sprawled out on the porch, crying. He went to her and pulled her into his embrace. He rubbed her back to comfort her.

"Kim, what's wrong?"

Kim said nothing and buried her face into his shoulder. She secretly stuffed the note in between two planks of the porch. She then wrapped her arms tightly around her boyfriend.

"Kim, you're going to have to tell me what's wrong." Tommy said firmly.

"I know." Kim said sadly.

The conversation ended there. Kim dodged it by insisting Tommy eat and head off to the school. She told him that a teacher shouldn't be late for his own class. It would set a bad example.

The discussion about Kim's upsetting behavior earlier that day was forgotten by lunch.

Kim went out to Hayley's Cyberspace to spend time with Hayley. She hated to be at home too long, It was too quiet and lonely without Tommy.

"Hey, Kim." Hayley waved at her from the counter as Kimberly entered the building.

"Hi, Hayley, what's up?" Kim said cheerfully as she walked to the counter and leaned on it with her arms folded.

"Nothing." Hayley said.

There wasn't many people in the cafe during school hours, so the two bored women spent the afternoons together most of the time.

"Any luck with finding a job?" Hayley asked the smaller woman.

"No." Kim said shifting to lean on her left arm, her hand under her chin as she pouted.

"Don't worry. You'll find one."

"I hope so."

"Oh," Hayley exclaimed. "Something came in for you."

"What?"

"This."

Hayley handed her a envelope and Kim's blood ran cold. She knew who it was from. She could see Sunshine was written on the paper.

"You have a secret admire or something?" The red head asked as she watched Kim open the envelope and read it's contents.

"More like a stalker." Kim grumbled and Hayley frowned. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"You can't no one. Not Tommy, Trini, Aisha, no body."

"I can keep a secret. I know things about Tommy that would have you at his throat for a month."

Kim smiled at the woman and took a deep breath. She licked her lips and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Well, I used to date this guy, Michael Monroe. He's the one I left Tommy for. Anyway, when we first began to date, everything was going great, then I broke up with Tommy and Valentine's Day. Michael had something special planned for that day and it was going really great until he decided to make it a special night. I told him I wasn't ready and then he became angry and I fought him off. He tried to rape me."

Kim looked Hayley straight in the eye and Hayley nodded.

"I thought I was free of him, but lately he's been sending me letters, jewelry, furs, stuff animals, roses, you name it. Before a came to California, he even approached me."

"So that's why you moved her so quickly."

Kimberly nodded.

"And now he's tracked you here, to Reefside."

Kim nodded again.

"Hayley, I don't know what to do. I can't tell Tommy. This is my problem."

"I think you should tell him, but it's your choice and I will keep my word I will not tell anyone, not even Billy."

"Thanks."

"I also think you shouldn't be at the house by yourself." Hayley said seriously and sighed. "How about you work here part time? That way you will have an excuse not to be at the house and this Michael guy won't be able to isolate you at the house. There isn't a neighbor for miles."

"Yeah, damn Tommy and his need to keep to himself."

The woman laughed and Kim filled out an application for Hayley's.