The Stalker

Marina’s stunning red high-heeled shoes clicked down the university hallway.   She was heading for the office of  her boyfriend, Professor Mike Kandinska.  She wanted to surprise him with a birthday greeting and evening plans for a fine celebration at ‘Beau Paris’, the charming French restaurant overlooking the aquamarine ocean.

As she approached the door having his name and prestigious title, she saw it was slightly ajar.  Mike was yelling, “Leave me alone!” A woman was sobbing.  Before Marina could fathom what was going on, a bouquet of red roses was flung out of the door.  It flew across the air and landed on the dusty ground in the hallway, petals ripped apart from this impact.  Marina gasped.

In seconds, a shuddering woman stumbled out of Mike’s office.  She was in a shabby yellow tee shirt and sweat pants, dirty from food stains.  With her hair in an uncombed ponytail, she lisped, “I love you Mike, don’t do this to me.”

“I told you I’m busy, don’t bother me,” said Kandinska.

He was near the door, one hand on his hip, the other directing the woman to leave.  She continued sobbing and sniffing, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

“Phew!” said  the professor finally, rolling his eyes as he watched the woman reach the door leading out of the corridor.

“What the hell was all that?” Marina asked.

“A stalker,” he replied.  “She’s been pursuing me.”

“That’s terrible!  Is she a student?”

“Oh no, some crazy person who showed up at one of my book signings.  Since then, she’s been  following me.”

“Sheesh!  That’s scary!” exclaimed Marina.  She looked at the fallen flowers.  “What’s with these red roses?  Isn’t that an expensive bouquet to be throwing around?”

“Her irrational behavior has gone too far.” he said between his teeth.

“Why didn’t you tell me about her before?”

“I’m sorry.  I guess I should have.  I didn’t want to bother you with it because I thought it was too trivial.”

“Trivial?  But this is harassment!  Here, let me clear up this space,” said Marina.  She picked up the crimson roses and petals.  “There’s also a birthday card.”  `Happy birthday Mike, with love from Anna.’  “A kind of  personal romantic card.  How does she even know it’s your birthday?”

“Who knows?”   He shrugged.  “I guess stalkers have their ways.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“A few months on and off.”

“And you didn’t report it to the police?”

“Marina, I’m a professor of religion.  My field is about humanity and kindness.  I’d like to show this is the way I treat people.  Plus she’s a bit backward and doesn’t have a grip on reality.  I don’t want to be mean.”

“Dr Kandinksa, professor of religion, how I admire you for your nobility!” exclaimed Marina, throwing her arms around him. “I could tell she was kind of challenged from her manner.   That woman looks homeless.”

“Yeah, she mentioned living in a van,” said Mike, yawning.  “Anyway let’s talk about something  more interesting.”  He looked at her from top to toe.  “You look particularly alluring today, Ms Goldberg.”

“Yes,  shouldn’t I?  It’s a special day, your birthday.  I’ve made a dinner reservation for us at ‘Beau Paris’ tonight.”

“How well you know me, my love.  I love their tarte tatin!”

“Excellent!” said Marina.

When she left his office, it was with a familiar radiant glow of pride.  As a librarian in this same university, she delighted in the esteem and achievements of this man.  With his charismatic lectures and charm,  he had won many awards.  Invited constantly to give radio talks and speeches in adjoining schools, he was a rapidly rising star in his field.  His students praised him for his patience and empathy.

Marina was  drawn to him as a man, but his impressive academic accomplishments enhanced her admiration for him.  His eloquent, smooth manner made up for his rather unprepossessing looks, wispy hair, paper-thin lips and excessively jutting chin. The round glasses he wore endeavored to hide his rather sharp Houdini-like stare.  However, none of that affected her desire for him.  The only thing that concerned Marina was that he wasn’t financially secure enough for the kind of luxurious lifestyle she was used to.  Marriage had come up in their conversations.  As a part-time professor, he made ends meet comfortably enough but with no immediate hope of a more affluent style of living.  However, she decided to  find a way to resolve that.  She would try and convince her rich father to bequeath them part of his estate if they ended up indeed tying the knot at some point.

That evening, after paying the bill and generously tipping the waiter at the French restaurant, Marina said, “Mike, I have a birthday present for you.”

His eyes lit up.  “I look forward to that.”

As they sat together in her car, she pulled out a bag with two crisp cream-colored shirts.  “I got these gorgeous shirts off Bloomingdale’s rack.”

“Rack? Oh no! I was hoping for some stylish Italian custom-made shirts from Milan!  Just joking,” he added with a wink.  “Shouldn’t I live up to the  luxurious image you wish for me?”

“Yes and other fancier things, if dad agrees to our marriage and gives us something substantial.”

“A dream come true for us!” said Mike, beaming.

“For tonight let’s pretend the stars glittering above us are the diamonds of our future!” she said.

After that, the  remainder of the cool Spring days and nights transitioned into warmer times.  It was on one of these sultry afternoons that Marina decided to stop by again at Mike’s office instead of his place or hers where they usually met.  She was walking down the hallway when she saw him again waving his hands at the same woman, Anna.  “I love you, Mike, you know I’ll do anything for you!” the woman cried, grabbing his arm.

“Leave me alone!” he growled.

“After all the love I show you!” she said, her voice cracking.

That’s when Marina decided to step in.

“Listen, young lady, you need to leave my boyfriend alone,” she said.

Anna gave her a long look.  “Your boyfriend?  You pay him?” she asked, with a long hysterical laugh.

“Now, Anna, you need to stop this, I’m being nice about it.  Go home, please,” said Michael firmly.   He gestured to Marina to let the woman leave.   “She’s slow and incoherent.  Says a whole lot of nonsensical delusional things.  It comes with her condition,” he whispered when Anna was out of earshot.

The woman staggered down the hallway.  Marina noticed she had on the same dirty yellow tee shirt  and sweats.  “How can you even allow this?” Marina asked her boyfriend. “You’re too patient!”

“I try,” he said smiling.  “I’ll find her a therapist.”

“You’re too good!  But, Michael, you must set limits to this. It could get complicated.”

“She’s  harmless, but I’ll handle it with kindness.  Patience sweetheart!” he replied.

Marina frowned.  “This woman is bizarre.  I hope I don’t have to tell dad about this strange stalker.  He’s very proud to be classy, and wouldn’t support people like this around us.”

“I don’t blame him,” said the professor.

He changed the subject and told her about his upcoming lecture in Arlington.  “I might have to leave town for a few days.”

“I’ll stop by and feed your cats and keep an eye on your place,” she offered.

“Thanks. Generous as always,” he replied, caressing her hair.

After a quick sandwich at his office, Marina walked out of the building onto the lawn outside.  There again, she saw that woman, Anna.  She was seated on the grass singing a Beatles song tunelessly,  “I love you I love you, I lo-o-ove you  Mi-i-cha-e-e-el,” she sang tearfully.  Marina felt irritated at the mention of her boyfriend’s name in this singing.  She walked up to the woman.

“You like to sing!” she commented.

“For Mike I’ll do anything.”  Anna replied, nodding,smiling and displaying her yellow teeth.

“Listen, honey, Professor Kandinska is in a relationship with me, you need to back off,” said Marina.

“You pay him?” asked Anna with an irate giggle.

“Oh please!” said Marina, uncomfortable with the vulgar insinuation of that repeated question and the unstable laugh.  She decided to leave since the conversation was going nowhere.

That week flew by.   Mike was in Arlington, giving his series of much enjoyed lectures.  Marina fed his cats religiously as  promised.   Then, on one of the days at the university she saw Anna again, this time in the parking lot.   The woman was talking to a man with rough, curly black hair very much like hers.  She was crying.

“Mike’s not here.  He left me!” she said, sobbing.

“I won’t let him get away with this.  Nobody treats my sister like this. He’s a thief and player!” yelled the man, obviously Anna’s brother. “I’ll get him, I swear!”

Marina didn’t hear the rest of the conversation because brother and sister climbed their battered red van and drove off.  However, their words really disturbed her.  How could they build up on an obviously outrageous fantasy?  She wondered how far this was going to escalate.  “I hope Mike does something about this!”

That evening, when Marina went to her boyfriend’s apartment, she fed both cats.  Then looking around at the heap of unwashed clothes on the floor and Mike’s unmade bed, she decided to tidy up the place.  It was then that she saw that the cats had been playing and had knocked over some notebooks from Michaels’s  shelf.  One of them was wide open.   She would have closed the journals and put them back on the shelf had her eyes not caught the name  `Anna’ on the page of that open notebook.

Then, struck by the words that flashed wildly before her on those pages, she felt compelled to read what wasn’t meant for her eyes.  “Anna!  Now that woman’s a real joke.  It’s not my fault if she falls stupidly in love with me and decides to give me money,” Mike had written.  Marina read intently all the details about this episode.  She could picture it all vividly.

A year ago, Kandinska was taking a walk in a park when a strange woman in a dirty tee shirt and dusty sweats came up to him. “Hi cutie!” she said.  The professor was astonished at this rare compliment, that he knew his homely looks did not warrant.

“Thank you,” he answered with a gallant bow.  “It’s nice to hear such words on my birthday.”

“Your birthday?  Let’s celebrate!” she said, clapping her hands.

`We chatted for quite a while.  I could tell the girl was goofy and falling in love with me.  But who the hell cares?  Not my issue if she chose to treat me at the nice Chinese restaurant. Why would I  turn down all that money she gave me?  I never asked for it,’  were Mike’s words in his own hand.  ‘After all, didn’t I deserve this treat after having to put up so long with this lunatic?’

“Where do you work?” Anna had asked while they chatted.

“At the university across the street.  I’m a professor of religion.”

After a while,  she said again, “You’re cute.  Can I kiss you?”

“Why not?” he said, though frankly a little aggravated, but trying to sound gracious about the gift she had given him.

After that kiss, she said, “Mike, I love you.”

That’s how this unwelcome situation had evolved, from a cash gift from the heart of a simple woman to its clever recipient.  However, the story had not ended here.  Anna recounted what happened between them to her caretaker brother.   The next day, the brother showed up at Kandinska’s office.

“Professor, as you can see my sister is mentally impaired.   She gets a small cheque from the government for her medicines.  She’s not in her proper mind!”

“Oh really?  I didn’t know, “ said Mike, stifling an amused smirk.

“You shouldn’t have accepted this money from a mentally disabled person,  please return it,”

the brother pleaded to Kandinska.  “We’re poor.”

“Listen, I don’t need to hear all these excuses.  She seemed perfectly coherent and chose to give  me a birthday present.  It was out of her own wish.”

“You don’t even know her, but you took the money, professor.”

“She gave it to me.  It’s done, buddy.  No refunds on birthday presents,” said Mike firmly.

“My sister needs this money for her medicines sir,” pleaded the man again.

Mike was adamant and repeated that it was a gift.  “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to teach a class,” he said in his professional honey-smooth tone.

“I’ll call the police!” yelled the brother.

“Feel free to do so, they’ll only laugh at you.”

“A professor with a nice job cheating the poor!” shouted the brother.  “I’ll get you for this, you thief!”

“Be my guest, and remember there’s a penalty for harassment!” said Mike calmly.

Kandinska wrote that the man had tried to involve the police, who told him it was a civil matter.   That’s when the stalking started.  “If she chooses to go on giving me money and gifts, it’s not my issue,” Mike wrote.

More money? No wonder he was allowing this stalking to continue, realized Marina in horror.

She stared in confusion at these words in the journal, wondering about the many moments her boyfriend had displayed his eagerness about the inheritance Marina could possibly receive.  At least he had been honest about that.  She wondered if she should bring up what she had read in this journal, clearly not intended for her eyes.  It disturbed her deeply.  Perhaps, there was a reasonable explanation to all this.

A few days later, Mike returned.  He was happy to see his apartment so tidy and his clothes fresh and clean.   Marina was waiting for him in his place. “This looks wonderful.  You’d make a good wife.   Of course, we will live in a much better place thanks to my future father-in-law!” said the professor.

“Well, I’m afraid I don’t have good news about that,” said Marina in a low voice.

“What do you mean?”

“I did discuss our situation with dad yesterday.  He refuses to bequeath any part of his estate to me if I don’t marry one of means.”

“But, doesn’t he have all that wealth?” asked Mike.

“Well, money marries money, in his view.  He’d much rather I tied the knot with a prosperous gentleman of our background.”  She shook her head sadly.  “I could have tried convincing him if your job had paid better.”

“I see,” replied Mike, his thin lips vanishing tightly into his mouth.  They were silent for a long moment.  Marina spoke first.

“But we could still marry and live with your earnings and mine.  Although you do have some explaining to do.”

“Explaining?  What’s there to explain?  I don’t think marriage is a good idea for us.  It was your  idea to start with,” he said.

“I thought we both wanted a life together, that there was ‘some’ bond between us, Mike.”

“Listen Marina,  without money, nothing works.”

“Michael, I hadn’t fooled myself into thinking that my father’s estate was not an important consideration to you.  I just hoped there were also `some’ feelings between us.”

“Oh please, stop being sentimental!  You females are a bunch of gullible idiots!”

“Is that why you string poor Anna along to get any money you can?”

“What the hell do you mean?” he barked.

“She’s poor and simple.  I know the whole story,” she answered.

“The whole story?  You mean from that stupid woman?”  He laughed.

Marina shook her head.

“So you’ve been hanging out with that lying stalker?” he continued, his eyes narrowed.

“She isn’t a liar, Mike.  Looks like you are.”  Marina pointed to the journal.  “I did believe you until I stumbled into this, in your own words.”

Mike glared at her. “You!  You spying bitch!” he spat, waving his finger at her face.  “With all your constant boasting about class and wealth, you’re just a trashy lowlife!”

“Oh now that I’ve found out that you’re a manipulative con artist, I’m a trashy lowlife?”

“I know about all your stupid promises of an inheritance!” he hissed, his eyes darting around  uncontrollably.  “Rosy dreams about your dad’s riches!  How enchanting!”

“Money is all you want, right?  You prey upon vulnerable women for money and turn them into stalkers, Mike!”

“Oh shut up!” he yelled.

“Not yet, Michael.  Your greed for money has no limits, not even in exploiting a developmentally  challenged woman.  You know, I might have ended up in her shoes as well.   Luckily, I’m more savvy about such things.”

Kandinska rolled his eyes.  “Savvy about me?  What a joke!  I know your game too.  You’re after my fame and success as well.  You think I don’t know?  You’re just another clinging female.”

“Oh, that too?  Looks like you’re not just a thief and conman but a poisonous woman hater. You snake!” she whispered sharply.

“You know, I’m done with you,” he said, looking at his watch.  In the honey-filled voice that he used for his audiences,  he added,  “Now if you’ll excuse me, I do have to stop here.”  He opened the door for her. “I’m about to give a talk on love and morality.” Looking at her raised eyebrow, he said softly,  “You know,  funny that it’s for people like you, who actually believe in such things.”  He stifled a chuckle.  “They pay me well to convince others about such overrated  sentiments.”