A Season for Stalking

By Hans Erik Östlund

She didn’t enter the establishment but stood, in a frozen stance of anticipation, in the doorway, her eyes quickly scanning the area in the hope of seeing someone or something. She saw nothing but the feeling of being watched persisted. She walked briskly without moving her head to the left or the right, nor did she look behind her. Standing in the darkness looking out at the street below, she lit a cigarette to ease her fear. Alicia was a very occasional smoker who only really smoked during times of stress, and at that moment she was both frightened and stressed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Sep 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528992282

Hans Erik Östlund

Hans Östlund was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a graduate of The Stockholm School of Economics. He has had a career in investment banking between London and South America; and has lived in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru. He currently resides with his family in Lima, Peru. A Discovery of Dreams is his first novel.

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About the Author

Hans Erik Östlund was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a graduate of The Stockholm School of Economics. He had a career in investment banking between London and South America; and has lived in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Perú. He currently resides with his family in Lima Perú. A Season for Stalking is his second novel.

Dedication

To my wife, Zelma, and my friend, Charmain.

Copyright Information ©

Hans Erik Östlund (2021)

The right of Hans Erik Östlund to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528992275 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528992282 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2021)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

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E14 5LQ

Chapter I

Alicia’s morning routine, which she rarely veered from, included a cafe-latte at her favourite coffee shop. She was, however, in a terrible rush. She had overslept and although she was running late, she was still heading towards the spout of her favourite restorative liquid. There was no way she could face the day without her morning fix of caffeine. But as she rushed through the tidal wave of morning pedestrians, who were, just like her, intent on reaching their destination in a hurry, Alicia suddenly felt ill at ease; she even shrugged her shoulders in an unconscious attempt to unburden herself of the sensation of being watched but the sensation persisted.

So typical of me to imagine things, she thought. However, she wasn’t so sure that this was her imagination. At first, she had thought it was, after all, just a few weeks earlier she had been kidnapped and had almost died at the hands of a bent cop and a drug cartel ‘general’. It was therefore obvious that she was going to be jumpy and feel cautious, well that’s what all her friends, family, and her boyfriend would certainly have reckoned if she had told them of her constant sensations of being watched. And she agreed with them, her kidnapping had indeed been a very harrowing experience but instead of sharing the experience of being watched, she kept it bottled up inside of her. And the experience of being watched had persisted, and now she wasn’t so sure if she was being spied upon or if it was simply her imagination playing tricks on her. She also wasn’t sure which she’d prefer: the danger of being followed or the fact that she was imagining people following her; both thoughts scared her and made her feel slightly off-key, and the thought: I’m going crazy? seemed to repeat inside her mind a lot more frequently that she felt comfortable with.

Therefore, she knew she was being overcautious and probably very silly but she quickly decided to take a detour, and suddenly took a sharp right, a left and then left again, which saw her return to the street she had started on. She then proceeded to pass her favourite place and instead entered a different coffee shop. She purposely made her way towards a table in the back which gave her a clear view of the entrance door and the large window, which was beside the door, and offered her an uninterrupted view of the sidewalk. She quickly scanned the area outside the coffee shop but didn’t see anyone behaving suspiciously, nor anything at all out of the ordinary. She didn’t even realise how nervous she had been until after discovering that no one had followed her, she let out a huge and shuddering sigh of relief. It was obvious that the persistent feelings of being watched were really starting to get to her and it was also becoming obvious that she ‘really’ needed to do something about it. She waited until she was breathing evenly before beckoning to the young waiter for a cafe-latte, which she was desperate for and which thankfully arrived quickly.

Whilst she sipped the hot and creamy coffee, she contemplated on just how much her life had changed since her inspiring trip to Peru; her spiritual awareness and the fact that she was now dating a real man, Adrian. To hell with boy-sex, coke and rock and roll, she mused.

There was also Eric Holstein; a man whom she had grown to greatly respect and someone whom she felt had something to do with it all, albeit indirectly. Her thoughts wandered back to the point in time when she first spotted the advert in The New York Post on ‘Behaviour, Society and Associates LLC’. That was when the changes all started and that was when she first met Eric. Her thoughts lingered on how much her life had changed by answering that compelling advert and had subsequently provided the first step of getting to know Eric, and through a series of events, thereafter, led her to not only finding Adrian but also reaching her first spiritual awakening.

Alicia felt a little lazy and really felt like lingering over her cafe-latte, but she was late already and so decided to get her body moving by quickly gulping down the remaining coffee. Within a few minutes, she was inside the office of Bowen & Hughes. On entering her place of work, she instantly felt safe again and quickly forgot her earlier unease, although she gave a slight groan as she looked at the paperwork piled up high on her desk. Her workload was particularly heavy since she was researching a case involving an allegation of insider embezzlement. The alleged perpetrator of the crime, a man called John Holt, was suing their client. It should have been a clear-cut case for an out-of-court settlement but the client was a very stubborn character, and this solution wasn’t at all what he wanted as in his own words, That is not my cup of tea!

So, now the case had landed on her desk and she was expected to come up with enough evidence to refute the claim. As head of research, this was hardly her speciality but her boss Stephen Hughes and the client were golf buddies so there she was, placed firmly in the middle of it all. As she started to sort the paperwork, she hummed to the rhythm of an old Dylan song, singing softly to its melody.

The previous case she worked on involved claims on the liquidation of a failed hedge fund which had resulted in her getting kidnapped twice. Her research had been crucial in reaching a settlement and had earned her a very nice bonus. That case, however, had also raised her boss’ expectations in respect of her abilities. Now, much more than research, this case involved examining numerous financial transactions of which she had little, or more accurately, no previous experience of working on whatsoever. This work was not made any easier by the knowledge that their client was also a New York law firm, which was in the middle of a very delicate situation of being taken over by a larger firm from the UK.

Alicia dropped the pile of paperwork from her hands onto the desk, groaned once more, and placed her head in her hands to try and clear her mind and think. However, her thoughts, instead of focusing on the job at hand, suddenly jumped to Adrian whom she was finally going to see again tomorrow. He had been away for three weeks due to his job as visiting professor at LSE (London School of Economics) and she had missed him terribly. As her mind pictured his gorgeous face and very sexy body, she felt a slow spread of tingling warmth engulf her body, and she remembered their gorgeous and very satisfying lovemaking, and her longing for his return intensified. A curse escaped her lips in a whispered hiss. Great!

Not only was she stressed over her workload but she added to her own irritation by thinking about Adrian and lingering on just how much she missed him. She had never in her entire life experienced such longing for another person, so much so, that the last few weeks had been agony for her, which in turn meant she felt vulnerable—a feeling she hated. Thus, she had decided to stop thinking about Adrian until his return but her resolve failed, and she had found herself dreaming about him all the time, mostly without even realising she was doing so. Deciding it was time to take a break, she quickly phoned her best friend Elisabeth to see if she was free for drinks after work which it turned out she was. The short call, which was, as always, filled with Elisabeth’s quick wit and humour, brightened Alicia’s mood and she returned to the paperwork on the desk with renewed vigour and a stubborn determination.

Therefore, a couple of hours later, Alicia was seated at the Metro Roof Bar with Elisabeth. She had finished the paperwork on her desk (but was willing to bet that she would have an even larger pile of papers to tackle the next day). However, she felt that for today, at least, she had put in a productive day’s work and was feeling calm and mellow compared to her earlier irritation.

So, how is married life treating Mrs Tweedley? she asked Elisabeth with a cheeky grin and an exaggerated wink.

Alicia! Don’t you dare be calling me that! Elisabeth exclaimed. I’ve decided that from now on people should address me as, ‘Elisabeth of York!’ However, I guess that in your case it is quite appropriate… I mean we are indeed close friends after all and I guess Elisabeth is acceptable…

She sat back for a moment and then added pensively, with a smug and mischievous grin; After all, you were my bridesmaid.

They continued to make small talk for another half-hour or so, and Alicia felt herself relaxing more and enjoying their banter. Gone was this morning’s discomfort, alongside the heavy load of financial transactions. Elisabeth always has that effect on me, she thought to herself with a soft smile, and as always, she felt grateful for her friend and the motherly role she played in her life. They decided to part ways a few minutes later and Alicia, now feeling totally at ease, opted to walk back to her place alone.

She had walked no more than a couple of blocks when once again she felt as if somebody was watching or following her. The feeling instantly caught her off-guard and suddenly, she felt very afraid for her safety. Thus, when she saw an open doorway, she hurried her steps towards the opening which turned out to be a small but busy establishment called the Pocket Bar. She didn’t enter the establishment but she did stand in a frozen stance of anticipation, in the doorway, her eyes quickly scanning the area in the hope of seeing someone or something. She saw nothing but the feeling of being watched persisted, and after a few moments, she decided that she was being ridiculous and pushed herself to nervously venture back out into the night and continue her journey home.

She walked briskly without moving her head to the left or right, nor did she look behind her. She was just so scared and all she wanted was to get to the safety of her apartment as quickly as it was humanely possible for her to do so. It wasn’t long before she shakily made her way through her front door and promptly bolted it behind her, albeit, it felt to Alicia that it had taken her far longer than it actually had. Standing in the darkness, looking out from her window, she started to shake uncontrollably and lit a cigarette to ease her fear. Alicia was a very occasional smoker who only really smoked during times of stress, and at that moment she was very stressed and in need of the soothing smoke to ease her panic. After a few puffs, she felt calm enough to extinguish the cigarette in the kitchen sink.

Just then she felt the inspiration to jot down a few words. This was a new thing for Alicia but it was also something she had experienced countless times since her trip to Peru, and quickly spotting an empty pizza box. She reached for her pen, and thinking of Adrian wrote down the following on the white part of the box:

"Save me

Let it be you that saves me

Yes, you who craves me

Let it always be you."

She was still amazed by how much better she felt by simply getting her thoughts and feelings down on paper. The process of writing down words that she simply couldn’t voice, in any other way,