The Handsome Felon

“Are you coming tonight?” {quickly in a dulcet voice} Tamara asked. “Yes, definitely I will,” I replied {in a husky voice}. “I have texted you my address,” the conversation continued from the other side. “Yes, it reached. I will be right at your place at 8 pm”. With Goodbyes, she hung up the call (in a hasty way) as if she has to prepare for tonight.

 It’s been three days, I have met Tamara but, the aroma she carries is captivating. I don’t know which flowers do she like more. We met through a LinkedIn profile as she was searching for a business analyst for her MNC, and I know her professionally more rather, personally. These thoughts were ephemeral, as I headed towards completing my pending work. As the dawn of the evening arrived, I got ready with my fine black suit, silk woven tie enriching my look, fossil watch, and black lace-up shoes. Going ahead towards her NYC apartment, I carried some daisies with the thought of the vibrancy, they have within themselves. 

(Ding-Dong) the bell rang. Tamara opened the door.

The cut-out halter white neck bodysuit, gold hoop earrings, perfect bun, black shadowed eyes, and nude lip shade were her statement look. “So obliged that you are here. I am so delighted to have you tonight for the dinner. Please come inside.” She greeted with her cheerful smile. “Well, thank you for inviting me here. These flowers are for you.” I replied. “Much obliged again, they are so pretty. Thank you,” she said. 

(As I entered) The blue expensive carpeted floors, cozy seating, spacious modest corners, brilliantly torched-lit balcony, walls impressively decorated with paintings, largely book-lined shelf on one side, an antique piano and antique furniture, filled with vanilla aroma candles, it was a seemingly boundless place to live. “Would you prefer tea or coffee?” she asked. “Coffee will work. Thank you.” I replied. 

Till she was making coffee, I noticed that each of the paintings hanged was culturally rich, the flowerpots were designed with excellent fine mirror work. The glass door in the balcony seemingly depicts a view where it felt as all the buildings and people were dwarf. The fresh air from the windows, the interior plants that were blending the modern apartment with nature, all was calming and relaxing. As I was noticing all of these, she arrived with two coffee mugs. 

“Asombroso!” I uttered as I sipped coffee. My laconic appreciation of coffee was the reason for her smile this time.

“I am impressed with your portfolio. With your dedication and research, and decision-making, the company that worked with you made good profits. My company is structured on AI but, I need some help from you due to some severe issues in it.” She continued speaking with so much grace. It is the adulatory review of my work. I simply glanced at her with a lopsided smile and said, “I have seen your company profile and, as far as my research, your clients are not happy with the after service you provide, which is a disaster but we could make it happen.” I gave her some advice based on her disparagement with work and, she was shocked on hearing things that even she didn’t know. 

“You are scintillating Alex with your work and, I admire that.” She added more. Just then, I smiled in a modest way and, responded with Thanks. She asked me to join her for the dinner that she cooked on her own. As we reached the dinner table, she quickly heated the meal she made. She had made brilliant arrangements for the dinner. Slow reverbed music with candles and flowers, finely worked dinnerware, perfect lights, tells how perfect dinner is going to be. The dinner menu had Lasagne with mushroom soba noodles. We served together and begun with our meals. I appreciated her for such gesture of complimenting the evening with fine red wine.

“It is a connoisseur. I have never had such good food,” I courteously praised. Her shining eyes were enough for the response. As we ended our meals, we went to open space for some fresh air with the wine glasses. After some random discussions, we decided to play the common game Truth and Truth. Questions will be asked and we have to answer them honestly.

“Tell me, Alex, when was the last time you dated someone?” she asked. “Maybe six months,” I replied. I asked her the same. As our questions were slightly inclined to our past lives, after few questions, she asked me a question “What is your darkest secret?”  

I was in Germany a year ago. I spend most of the time at my work or a library. On one fine evening, there was a book reading show of a very famous author which I attended. As I went inside the event, the lady hosting the show was at my first sight. She was tall, black-haired, brown-eyed, wearing a wine-red fitted dress with shining heels and dark glossy lip shade. Her straight hair was as long as her hips. Her deep oceans eyes, innocent smile, and swirling hair on her blushed cheeks, made me fall in love with her at first sight. 

I was front seated where I had multifarious eye contact with her. Every time, I searched for depth-ness in her eyes, she inclines her eyes at the ground, which was making her more attractive. As the book event ended, I tried to find her but she was nowhere. I returned to my place and, my mind was crowded with her beauty and thoughts. The next day, I went to my favorite coffee shop which was quite famous and so, crowded. I got a seat and ordered Mocha. As my eyes moved out from the magazine I was reading, I saw her coming towards me. “May I have the seat? The shop is crowded and, there is no place to sit.” I was so happy inside. Shooked my head with affirmation. She ordered a cappuccino with a double espresso shot. As I was sipping my coffee, I listened to her korero that she is pursuing Business Studies and she like planting and her invigoration of meeting new people and new places. Her name was Abele. This simply told me about her genuine, extroverted, and ease of talking nature. I introduced myself as an intern in business analyst at that time plus, working in a corporate part-time and, advancing my Ph.D. furthermore. As time passed, we exchanged numbers and headed towards our places.

We started texting and meeting each other. Everything was so perfect. One evening, she called me and asked whether I could help her with the Economics subject. And I had expertise in it during my graduation time. So, I helped her getting her subject on track, which made her top the subject. Then she made me visit some friends. I met them in their university cafeteria. As I was observing keenly everyone I found something strange. One of her friends, Nina was lost somewhere while we were discussing something. Nina doubted, whether she has seen me somewhere but she could not remind. She was behaving as if she was sensing something wrong. I moved out the thought as if I didn’t care about her friends. 

One fine day, I was moving towards to buy groceries. And I saw Abele with some guy, holding hands near the shop. As I moved towards, I hid somewhere to see them. The way he was looking at her, her twirls were set back by his hands, his kissing on her hands confirmed to me that he was her boyfriend. For an instant, I was broken because I loved Abele so much. I was always alone since I never had a family. I was a forlorn, abandoned child. The upbringings were given to me by an old man, who was a mimicry artist. He was very good at his work. But his demand for unquestionable obedience, strict conformity towards rules, in short, he was the very epitome of his work, made him harsh and worse every time. He demanded perfect mimicry from my side too when he used to teach me. His anger vented always upon me through the toughest punishments. Working for home without meals, beaten by stick till I lose my consciousness, never providing me care and enough love was common in my childhood. Living in a shabby and slum area for more than a decade, no one to talk with, and eating bread at times were the unhealthiest memories I ever had. Ever since then, the feeling of love and affection was felt by me through Adele. I just loved her unconditionally which can make me do anything for her. 

The loquacity over coffee dates, the endless texting, shopping together at times, going to book stores, fun in the library, every thought was making my brain dead and, tears rolled from my eyes. 

But I was dogged to get her back in my life. I started researching about her boyfriend. I hounded them everywhere they went. The hotels they live in, the candlelight dinner, the friends they meet with, their backgrounds, their families, I was stalking all over about them. I got to know about the guy's family, that he is a billionaire and, since Adele cannot afford a high standard of living, so they were in a relationship. One night, I entered his room through the balcony in his absence. I searched for everything the memos he writes, the work he does, the projects he is been working with, the girls he was been with, even the perfumes he used. I need to know all fucking things about him. And then, I heard some voices as if someone was entering the room. I hid a camera in a safe place and went out through the window again. It was Adele and him. The intimacy they shared that night, was recorded in my camera then. Technically, I have a video recording of them now along with additional lesser-known facts. One such fact was that he was involved in drugs and, Adele doesn’t know about this. I was not the kind of person who would approach Adele for this. Instead, I dig deep and apprised things about him in my head.

Then at his favorite bar, I followed him, and surprisingly, his card was not working that night and, I paid for him. I became his buddy. I soon decided to gain him completely on my side. He was known by the fact that I was good with trading, investing, and business analysis. Soon he asked for my help on everything. I made him gain profits by letting him invest in some companies. And he was determined that I am perfect with my work. He let his dad meet me for investment guidance. His dad was even impressed by me and, he was keenly interested in investments.

My obnoxious mind was working on something. I made a plan with a company owner who was in debt. I promised him to bring investment in his company by which he can pay all his debts and give me some of the amounts. I did the same. I made his dad invest in the following company and, everything worked as per our plan. They were bankrupt then and, there was a financial crisis in their family. His dad abandoned him that impacted his mental health. But this did not end here. I started providing him moral support. On the other end, I knew that once he is financially incapable, Adele will leave him. I started playing with his mind. My art of mimicking now worked. I started calling him with different numbers to make him affect mentally. At one point, he was exaggerated with all of this making him involve in drugs more comparatively. He was militant against success and his career now. His character was maligned now. His friends were not with him anymore. He was all alone with my shoulder of sympathy. This was blatant.

But somehow, he doubted me for some reason and, so he started investigating about me. He came to know about my past. That I am fugitive, utterly insane and a psychopath having INTP personality. He knew that it was my plan to destruct him, and thought that it was me who made his life hell. And so he decided to plan to kill me. I chortled at his diminishing thought. He called me near the bridge at night. I already knew his plans. As he was approaching my back, I injected Propofol in his veins. As he began to seek sleepiness, I took him in the car at the cottage. Interestingly, nobody searched for him. And Adele was mine now.

We shared book reading, comforted each other with cuddles, went to dinner dates, and loved each other unconditionally. She finally came to know that he was involved in drugs and so his absence didn't affect her. Soon, we moved into the same apartment. Making breakfast together, cuddling each other, making love at late nights, kissing aggressively, hosting parties together, she loved me like nobody. Everything was perfect until Nina came back into our lives. She remembered to see me with the girl, who was lost few months before I met Adele. She started researching on me. From my old slum life to my studies to my past, to that Adele ex kept in the cottage, to the lost girl, she knew everything about me so she followed me till the cottage. 

As she entered it in my absence, she saw that missing girl. I have kept her tied with chains. Her clothes were half torn, lied pitifully, hands burnt with cigars, scratches on her back and, deep wounds all over the body made her unrecognizable. I used to give her shock treatments so that she cannot speak. She was utterly beautiful but she knew things about me so, I did this to the poor lady. Once, she tried to escape, so I broke her both legs. Malnutrition made her thin, lost her vision, and was unable to speak. She has seen 5 girls prior to her, tortured and murdered by me. So the fear in her eyes was attractive. I loved that expression on her face begging me to leave her. After all, I loved her screams, drowning expressions of fear, and loud-voiced weeping.

Nina tried to rescue her. She saw Adele’s ex there in the same way. The only difference was that he was naked and unconscious. The malevolent behavior of mine was now visible to her.

The cottage made rot around 18 girls before in the same way. I helped it in doing so. In the start, I am so compassionate about giving love but somehow when she tends to reach on my past, I really get disappointed, and so I bring her here, and torture her like nobody. Once her screams were no more attractive, I kill her vigorously and bury them in that cottage. But I honor them with daisies every week.

As Nina moved towards rescuing her, she was so dumbfounded on witnessing all these incidents. She showed me the gun that didn't scare me but I still followed her instructions. I tied my own hands with a chair. As she was moving out from the cottage, taking that girl with her, I grim and opened up my hands. As she was rescuing her, her frightening expressions were marked on her face. She opened up the chains and, somehow on her shoulder walked the girl who was unable to move. Sliding her towards the gate, made her gun fall down. I instantly took that gun and killed that girl on the spot. Now Nina was left behind. The cottage is an abandoned place from my past, where I was tortured once, and nobody ever came there in years. I tied her in the same way like I kept that girl and, left her to rot. I cut pieces of that poor lady with a cherishing smile. She was screaming now but the man tied there showed no response. I once again found the chilling screams of someone which revitalized me. I buried her in front of her eyes and left.

As I came back, Adele and I were again together without any worries. I loved her more every day. We spend beautiful days and nights. One day, some messages doze off several times on her phone and, I opened it. I saw some texts that she is too on the same path of finding my history. And the beginning of all this took place with Nina message before the day of her missing “Find this missing girl.URGENT.” and as she began to start finding the girl, she suspected me of the missing case of her ex and Nina. 

That night I planned something for her.

I set up the room with candles and flowers. When she entered the room, flowers showered on her. I was a maniac of her body and her warmth. I tied her with cufflinks and opened her clothes. Kissed her on her lips, bit her harder, and made her feel loved. It felt like she did not want to show that she knew about me. I continued making love and, kinky sex was always my favorite. I started bashing her butts. As she tried to scream, I restricted her voice through her own panty putting in her mouth, and took the knife slitting her throat with it. I don't want to torture her. I was desolated because I loved her. She will be always my favorite one, I promise.

“Alex, what are you thinking? Answer me what is your darkest truth?” Tamara asked and, this broke my thoughts crowded my mind. “There is none such. I replied. 

{story continues….}