The Man with the Green Eyes

Story of Obsession

Tom is very well built and, although only 5'4", his proportions are perfectly matched to his height. He is thin and pale with wavy, close-cropped, ginger colored hair and beautiful clear, green eyes. His eyes alone could be said to be responsible for his uncanny ability to manipulate situations to his own ends. They shift, chameleon-like, from one mood to another. He is a drifter with the kind of personality that develops an exaggerated interest for one object, but never for too long a period of time. .

A chance encounter with a woman in Bloomingdales led Tom to his new obsession. Rushed and distracted, Alice Pine slipped on the stairs from the 51st Street subway and scattered the contents of her purse on to the pavement. Tom could not help but notice an air of delicacy about her as he helped her collect the contents from her fallen purse, and surreptitiously pocketed her Bloomingdales name tag.  Alice looked into his green eyes and felt a chill as she thanked him. Tom followed her home.

On a crisp spring day, two weeks later, Tom followed Alice to work. It had become a ritual to follow Alice. Tom would meander about the store and wait until 12:30PM sharp, and then he would follow her to the little cafe where she ate lunch. Tom sat close by or at the counter and ate as well. At 5:30PM sharp Alice emerged from the store and rode the Lexington Avenue train to her apartment on 96th street. Tom rode the subway with her. He usually hid his face behind a newspaper, but on a crowded, standing room only train he would maneuver his position so that at least part of his body was touching hers.

Alice dated a young man from Brooklyn. They usually ate out in one or other of their favorite restaurants on Saturday night. Tom despised the young man with the Brooklyn sweatshirt. He was surely not nearly good enough for Alice. He never brought her flowers. He never held the door for her. He probably cheated on her. ­

Tom waited.

The young man stood on the stoop and rang the bell outside her apartment building. Tom did what was necessary. He did it quickly. There was less blood than he expected. As he collapsed on the stoop, a small red flower fanned across the “ooklyn” on his shirt. Tom walked nonchalantly across the street to the coffee shop.

The young barista behind the counter smiled sweetly at the good-looking, green-eyed customer. There was such a ruckus of police activity across the street that she had to ask him to repeat his order twice.

Tom looked at her nametag.

Venetia, now that was an interesting name.

Reviews

[Doctor JKC]

I'll repost my Myspace review:
"There are monsters roaming the streets.
And you caught the mind and ways of a good
example of one most cunning."

I watch the watchers and love it when they
notice me noticing them as they act like
scavengers; all opportunistic. Just robbers usually.
Then there are the more psychotic kind that are
pure evil. In the words of my first psychology
teacher,"You must kill them first."

You will have a good New Year,
Om Kali Om,
Jack
Jack

[Ed Hart]

I think his name was Ted...

[cest la vie]

Well, well.. What a great story you packed into such a small space.
Beware the green-eyed men, right? This is really a good piece. You hooked me from th start and the flow continued to the last line. Great story, Jada.