Page 39 of No Mercy In Red

I’d destroy everything – even my best friend – before I let Maxine Pochon go.

Chapter 29

Connor

My phone buzzed on my desk, instantly pulling me from the computer screen. The notification flashed Max’s name, causing that dumb ass goofy grin to appear whenever she crossed my mind as I grabbed it immediately.

Work is killing me, and I’m pretty sure I’m coming down with something *sick face emoji*. Save me.

I smiled like a fucking idiot, quickly typing back:

Can’t. Your ass needs to suffer like the rest of us mere mortals

She responded instantly:

I take back everything nice I ever said about you!

I laughed, shaking my head. Fuck, I loved her sarcasm. I leaned back in my chair, glancing around my office, smiling to myself. Ever since Max crashed into my life—or should I say, since I crashed into hers—nothing had been the same. Every mundane aspect of my routine had transformed into something I actually enjoyed. Our morning coffees at Melinda’s, our late-nights that always kept me awake longer than I planned, our days spent together that always ended up in laughter and mind-blowing sex. But it wasn’t just the sex—though fuck me, that was phenomenal. It was her. The way her laughter felt like hearing themost incredible of symphonies, how her dark eyes sparkled whenever she teased me, the way she would curl up to me after mind-blowing sex, softly tracing lazy circles over my chest. Life before her now just felt empty, a greyscale monotony of work and shallow interactions with women that could never even compare to her. Now, every day held a splash of vibrant colour that I didn’t even know existed before her. Life stopped being about being alive, and became about living.

My phone vibrated again:

Only one hour left, then freedom!!!!

Meet me at Melinda’s? I miss you already.

I responded, watching the little text bubbles as she wrote her reply:

You’re getting soft, stalker.

I chuckled, shaking my head:

Only for you, sweetheart.

She sent back a single black heart emoji, and I tucked my phone back into my pocket, eager to see her. But then, a sudden thought struck me—when was the last time I did something nice for her without a reason? The penthouse date had been amazing, but fuck, she deserved more sporadic romance. And she was also coming down with something according to her, which meant she needed some extra TLC.

Half an hour later, I found myself standing in the middle of the grocery store aisle, panic surging through me like a tidal wave. My basket was practically empty aside from a random selection of snacks I wasn’t even sure she fucking liked. What kind of stalker was I? I had spent weeks upon weeks watching her every move, yet I had no idea what kind of snacks she preferred? Bad stalker. Did she prefer salty or sweet? Chocolate or chips? Cookies or cake? Jesus Christ I was pathetic. An elderly lady glanced sideways at me as I muttered to myself, eyebrows knitting together as I stared helplessly at the options before me.

“Excuse me,” I smiled nervously at her, holding up a bag of pretzels in one hand, cookies in the other. “If you were a beautiful, sarcastic, slightly terrifying woman, who could possibly kick my ass, which snack would you want if you were feeling shitty?”

Her eyes widened a little, clearly startled by my question, but then she smiled warmly, amusement dancing in her gaze. “Oh honey, get both. Trust me, its safer.”

I exhaled, “Smart,” I nodded, dropping both into the basket, adding about a dozen other snack options for good measure. Better be safe than sorry.

I grabbed some medication for typical cold and flu symptoms, every flavour of juice I could find, and a bouquet of flowers I wasn’t entirely sure she’d even like. I eyed the squishmallows, deciding against it as I walked past. Nope, better safe than sorry. I backtracked, grabbing one that looked like a fox and threw it in the basket. I looked at the pile helplessly, I was truly failing at stalker 101, and for a moment, my existential dread made me want to laugh hysterically. Here I was, a grown ass man, panicking in a grocery store, over snacks. Christ what was she doing to me.

Max exited the door of her office building, surprise flickering across her beautiful face as she took me in, sitting on the hood of my car. “Connor? What’s going on?”

“You said you needed saving, right?” I asked, striding over to her, before picking her up into my arms.

She squealed, wrapping her arms around my neck as I carried her to the passenger side of my car. I swung the door open, lowering her into the seat before pressing a kiss to her temple. She giggled, fastening herself in as I climbed into the drivers seat. Picking her up from work was stupidly risky, especially since I knew Joe was poking around, if he saw me, I could’ve ruined everything. But my little fox was feelingunder the weather, so a knight in shining armour must do what he must do. I pulled up to her apartment building, nerves suddenly setting in, remembering all of the bags I’d dropped off at her apartment prior. We headed upstairs, Max eying me suspiciously as I fidgeted with my hands.

“Connor… what’s wrong?”

“You said you weren’t feeling great,” I explained sheepishly. “I panicked.”

Her eyebrows shot up in amusement as she opened her apartment door, letting me in first. “Panicked?”

“Yeah, because I realised,” I sighed dramatically, signalling to the bags on the counter, “That I’m literally the worlds worst stalker. I have no idea what your favourite snacks are, or what drinks you like—other than wine. I was standing there in the middle of the store, having a fucking nervous breakdown, Max”

---