Lizzie

         Lizzie Landon sat in her living room wrapped in her favorite wool blanket, cup of tea in hand. Her laptop propped up the arm of the couch, right in the middle of her nightly routine of scrolling through Facebook and half watching whatever was on TV. She glanced over at the window and watched for a few moments as the snow began to fall, a slight smile forming as the snow built up, glistening under the moonlight. Lizzie became so absorbed in watching the snow flurries swirl around outside that she barely noticed her message notification. *Ding! Ding!* She turned her attention back to the computer screen and opened the chat box.
"Hey beautiful.
How are you tonight?"
'Great, another random creep' she thought.
         Exhausted from work, Lizzie had no desire to entertain the idea of even responding but something compelled her to do so.
"Hi? Sorry, but who are you anyway?"
"Oh, sorry. Im Chelsea's cousin Adrien.
I saw you commented on a lot of her posts, thought you were cute"
"Well thanks I guess?"
"Anytime... so how long have you and Chelsea been friends?"
"Oh weve been friends for a few years...
funny that weve never met before"
"Well Im usually pretty busy with work and stuff, dont see the family too much"
Lizzie began to think chatting with Adrien might not be so bad after all.
'Hes my best friends cousin, probably harmless...I guess I should at least be nice to the guy' she thought.
"Yeah I feel you there, I work quite a bit too"
"What do you do?"
"Im a wedding planner, that takes up a lot of time. Its either really busy this time of year or business is dead"
"Nice!"
"I suppose, and what do you do?"
"Oh, this and that. Nothing interesting"
"Right... Well it was nice chatting but I should get to bed, long day tomorrow."
"Okay... well is it ok if I message you again sometime?"
Lizzie closed her laptop before seeing the last message, grabbed her tea and headed upstairs to bed.
The next morning Lizzie awoke to the sound of her phone going off.
*Ding Ding Ding!*
She rolled over and sighed. A wave of annoyance swept over her as she realized the time.
'Seriously? Who in the hell... its six in the friggin' morning' she grumbled.
Once her eyes adjusted to the bright screen Lizzie saw that Adrien had sent her almost ten messages.
"You never answered my question last night
did I do something wrong?
why wont you answer me?
do you hate me?
why wont you talk to me again?
hello?
hello?
Lizzie???
..."
'Jesus what a creep' Lizzie thought as she exed out of the message box and slid out of bed.
'Im already up, might as well head to the shop early today' she thought.
         Lizzie got dressed , finished her morning routine and headed out the door. Minutes later she pulled up to her shop and spotted a piece of paper taped to the front door.
"Great, probably another bill..." she muttered to herself.
As she walked up to the door she realized it wasnt a bill but a note. The note was short and typed.
"It's not polite to ignore people Lizzie."
         Lizzie scoffed and peeled the note off the door, crumpled it and tossed it into the trash. She swung open the door and stepped inside. She set up shop and soon forgot about the note. Passing it off as a coicidence or a prank.
         The hours passed by and Lizzie breezed through her appointments. She was about to close up when the bell that hung over the door chimed, followed by the heavy door slamming shut.
"Hi, welco-"
"Hello Lizzie."
Lizzie paused for a moment, taken aback but the customers curt manner.
"Hello...I was just about to close up but is there anything I can help you with?"
"You could return my messages to start."
"Excuse me? I thought I answered all my messages" she replied as she double checked her answering machine.
"No No Lizzie... I dont think you understand. Its not very polite to ignore people."
         It took Lizzie a full minute to realize who she was talking to. As her mouth dropped open Adrien took a step closer and winked, a sly smile crept across his face.
"Adrien? Im sorry, I didnt get your messages."
"Oh now Lizzie, dont lie to me. We both know that's true. I know you got my note too."
"How did you -?"
"We don't need to go into details now, it's not important. What is important is that you're ignoring me. Even after I was so nice to you."
"We only talked for like ten minutes. Look, it doesnt matter,you're making me uncomfortable, please leave."
"I really don't think you want me to leave,sweetheart."
         The tone of his voice made Lizzies skin crawl. She felt her anxiety building as her eyes darted around the shop, looking for a way out. When she realized there was no easy way to get past him, she finally mustered up the courage to respond.
"Sweetheart? No, you need to leave . I dont know you okay? You can bet I'll be telling Chelsea about this."
         Adriens brash look broke and he backed away. He tuned his back and headed for the door, just before stepping out of the shop he called to Lizzie :
"Fine, you win... this time."

CHAPTER 2
         Lizzie stood in the middle of her shop, her hand to her chest, heart racing. She took a deep breath, grabbed her things , locking up the store. Her eyes shifted around the parking lot, she clutched her purse and jogged to her car. She hopped in and keeled out of the paring lot, tire marks burning into the ground. She booked it home and ran inside, slamming the door behind her.
         Still shaken from the earlier events, Lizzie decided it was best to get right into her routine of tea and TV. She changed, bundled herself up in her favorite blanket and switched on the TV. After channel surfing for what seemed like forever, Lizzie found herself drifting off to sleep.
         Lizzie shot up from her couch as her phone blared. When she came to, she saw that the call was from an unknown number. She swiped her finger across the screen and ended the call. Just as she was about to set her phone down, it rang again. The same number flashed on the screen. She stared, pondering if she should answer. Minutes had gone by and the phone still rang, and rang. She gave in and accepted the call.
"Hello?" She snapped.
"Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie... what am I going to do with you?"
"Adrien, what do you want?"
"That's simple Lizzie, I want you."
"Well you cant have me so why dont you just leave me alone"
Lizzie hung up the phone and dialed Chelsea.
"Hello?"
"Hey Chelsea, uh... this is kinda awkward but your cousin Adrien messaged me on facebook last night, which is fine I mean... well... he's acting really creepy and I just want him to leave me alone I mean we only talked for-"
"Woah Lizzie slow down. What did you say his name was?"
"Adrien"
"Liz, I dont have a cousin named Adrien Is this a joke or what? Quit playing..."
"No, no way this guy said he was your cousin and hes been practically stalking me since last night!"
"Damn, hang in there. I'm on my way over."

         Lizzie soon heard a knock at the door. She approached the window next to the front door and peaked through the curtains. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw Chelsea standing on the steps outside. Lizzie unlocked the door and pulled Chelsea into the living room.
"I'm so glad you're here Chels, I've been on edge since last night."
"Hey that's what friends are for,right? Tell me what happened, hun."
"Well he messaged me the night before last, and I mean, that was fine he seemed relatively normal. Said he was your cousin and saw me commenting on your Facebook posts all the time. So I'm like okay, he must be harmless then. We had a short conversation and I wake up yesterday to almost ten messages from him asking why I wasn't answering and that I was being rude for ignoring him."
"Wow, thats really sketchy, but I mean can't you just block him or something?"
"Yes, but I can't very well block him from coming to my store!"
"Wait, he came to your store?! How did he know where you worked? Did you tell him?"
"No! All I told him was that I owned a Bridal Shop and worked a lot, how he figured out where I worked and my phone number, I don't know but ' getting super creepy super fast."
         Chelsea leaned over and put her arms around Lizzie for a hug. Lizzie rested her head on Chelseas shoulder and sighed.
"You think Im overreacting Chels?"
"I don't know Liz, I mean try blocking him? Maybe he'll get the message. And if he keeps bothering you then call the police."
"Yeah, okay. I guess you're right"
         Lizzie pulled up Adriens profile and hit 'BLOCK'. She then opened her text messages and blocked his number in hopes that if he could'nt contact her online or by phone he'd eventually get the message she wasn't interested.
"There. Blocked. I really hope I don't hear from that slimeball again."
Chelsea gave a sympathetic smile and patted Lizzie on her back.
"Everything will be fine, I wouldn't worry about it for now. He's probably some loser with nothing better to do but bother people."
"Yeah, I hope you're right."
"Of course, hun. Anytime."
Chelsea glanced at her phone and shot up.
"Oh crap, Im sorry Lizzie! Im gonna be late for my appointment."
Chelsea bent down and gave Lizzie a quick peck on the cheek as she headed for the door.
"Ill check on you later, ok? You'll be fine!"
"Thanks...bye."

Chapter 3
         Lizzie rose from the sofa and headed to the kitchen to try and calm herself with her usual cup of peppermint tea. As Lizzie filled her tea press with hot water she glanced up at the window in front of the sink. Lizzie dropped the press, shattering it. She let out a shriek and stumbled backwards. Staring back at her was Adrien, a look of intent and focus written across his face.
         As he stepped closer and closer to the window, his stare bore deeper into Lizzie's eyes. Adrien stopped short and smirked. He knocked on the glass three times, shaking his head in disappointment. Lizzie could barely make out what he was saying, but part of her thought she was better off not knowing anyway.