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dining room table
just finishing dinner, when she heard something outside. It sounded
like someone sliding something against the side of the house. She
froze, waiting for a knock on the door.
    The noise stopped; replaced by nothing but
silence.
    “What is going on here?” she wondered out
loud as she got up from the table and made her way to the front
door. “Who’s out there?” she called.
    The silence from outside continued on.
    She opened the door and looked out into the
night. “Hello?” she called into the emptiness.
    Nothing answered her. Once again as she
looked down at her door mat. “No way.”
    Sitting in the porch light, sparkling for her
attention was a diamond necklace. The diamonds formed a perfect
heart, glistening against the black velvet background. A pink
envelope leaned against the back of the box.
    Candy reached down and snatched up the
envelope. With shaky fingers, she slipped open the flap and pulled
the card out.
    It had a red heart on the cover under the
words Happy Valentine’s Day.
    She flipped the card open. It was blank
inside except for someone’s elegant handwriting. The black ink
stood out in perfect contrast against the white backdrop.
    “For you: jewels that will never rival the
sparkles in your eyes,” she read in shock. She shook her head. She
couldn’t believe this. This was going too far.
    She walked out along her porch and stared
into the night. Who was doing this? This seemed like more than just
a little Valentine’s Day crush. This was more then she wanted. It
was just too much for her to handle right now.
    She turned back around and grabbed the
necklace box off her door mat. It clicked closed with a loud snap.
Stepping inside, she closed and locked the door. She headed back
into the kitchen, grabbing the bear as she went.

    Enough was enough. She didn’t want this
attention. She tossed the velvet box and teddy bear into the
garbage can. The flowers were next.
    One little present would have been fine, but
to just keep coming? And a diamond necklace? This was turning
obsessive. She had already done her time with an obsessive
boyfriend. She wasn’t going back to that. Not now. Not ever.
    Candy sighed as she cleared her dinner
plates. This was why she avoided dating. Guys all turned psycho
sooner or later.
    She turned out the lights, heading through
the living room and up the stairs. She was done for the night. She
was going to take a long hot bath and then crawl into bed. There,
she would pull the covers over her head and pretend this night had
never happened.
    She made her way into the bathroom at the end
of the hall. She turned the water on, setting it to the perfect
temperature. She stood there and watched as the water slowly
started filling the bathtub.
    She knew she would feel better once she
settled into that water. The tension would slide off her shoulders
and everything would be fine. She was focused on the water, trying
to calm her racing heart, when the phone in her room rang.
    She turned and hurried back down the hall to
her room. Grabbing the cordless from the base, she pushed the
answer button. “Hello?”
    A dry crackling met her ears, like the rustle
of leaves under foot on a crisp autumn day.
    “Hello?” she repeated again. The connection
was really bad. She vaguely wondered if there was a storm moving in
from somewhere.
    A faint breathing began to mix with the
crackling on the phone. It seemed to rise and fall with
anticipation. Anticipation of what she might do or say.
    A metallic taste rose up in the back of
Candy’s throat as she felt sweat bead up between the phone and her
palm. She took a deep breath and tried to speak but her tongue
suddenly seemed too large for her mouth. “What do you want?” she
finally managed to speak in a half-croaked whisper.
    The breathing deepened on the phone, turning
into a harsh gasp. “I…want you,” a voice whispered back to her.
“Won’t you be my Valentine?”
    She moaned as she ripped the phone from