All Chapters of Painful Obsession : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Back within the confines of my office, I had asked my personal assistant, Julia, to hold all calls. I did not wish to be disturbed for any reason. Sitting behind my large, polished oak desk, I powered up my personal laptop. I started simple, searching several social media sites for one Annnalita Taylor. Her personal profile didn't give me as many answers as I had hoped. She appeared to be a private person which for me, was a good thing. I valued my privacy also. I saw that she was a member of the Winston University group page. I saw pictures of her sitting on the campus green, nose in a book. A group of girls together, her in the centre, at a sorority mixer. Annalita in a lab coat and goggles, surrounded by beakers and test tubes with unknown substances in them.  I kept flicking through the pictures, skipping by the ones that didn't include her. If the propectus for the university was made up of all the pictures of Annalita, I would enrol in a heartbeat.

I had to confirm that this wasn't a hoax. I found a contact number at the very bottom of the email. Blowing out a breath, I tried to steady my shaking hands as I punched the numbers into my phone. My finger hovered over the call button, 'Put on your big panties and push it', I berated myself. I closed my eyes as I closed the gap between me and my phone. It rang for several moments before a curt, young sounding woman answered. "Warner Labs, Aiden Warner's office, how may I be of assistance today?", there was a nasal quality to her voice as she spoke. "My that's quite a mouthful", I respond with a nervous chuckle. "Anyway, I'm Annalita...Taylor and I was wondering if Mr. Warner was available to discuss the details of an email I received from him?", 'way t'go Anna you blithering idiot', my inner voice was feeling particularly snarky today. "Hmmm quite.", so much for hoping she'd bypass my moronic opening line. "May I ask what the email is in regards to? In order

Mr Warner,Thank you for your speedy reply. I am amazed that I am so high on your to-do list, given how in demand a high profile man such as you are surely is.You are absolutely correct in regards to my need for knowledge and I feel that the role of researcher will suit me well. I do not think that a change in career anytime in the near or distant future is in my plans going forward.I believe you wish for me to be more specific with what I want from our correspondence. Here are my wants as you desire:1. I want, most kindly, to be informed about which of your many facilities I shall be stationed in, specifically, to aid my knowledge quest.2. I want, most fervently, to know when I shall be needed to start my quest within your company. It would be most advantageous, as sat twiddling one's thumbs is not listed as part of my long term career goals.3. This is more of a wish than a want, but would you be willing to divulge any information on a

"Uurgh....", my whole body felt heavy, as though someone had tied me down with weights. My eyes flickered but I couldn't open them. Attempting to roll-over, I must have tried to compensate for all the imaginary weights, because the next thing I knew was i was on the cold floor, landing with a dull thud.  A sharp pain shot through my head as it bounced off the edge of the table as I went down. Lying there, curled up on floor, I waited until the pain was replaced with a dull ache before attempting to open my eyes again, managing a small crack but it was to blurry to see. Slowly, I bring a shaking hand up to the edge of my hairline, gingerly touching the spot where my head and table connected. I could feel hot and sticky moisture on my fingertips. Well isn't that just freakin' great! I'm bleeding, the smell of copper and iron now invades my nostrils, making my stomach churn.  I attempted to push myself off the ground but my blood slick hand slipped, se

I had been expecting a reply from Anna before now. It was almost lunchtime and I'd spent most of the morning checking my emails more times than I had in the last week, unable to concentrate on anything other than her response. Lunchtime came and went, I was too anxious to eat so settled for a strong black coffee. What if I had scared her off with my last message?  By the time mid-afternoon had arrived, I had gone from bubbles of anticipation to my stomach churning with apprehension. Even if Anna was having second thoughts about my proposed job offer, I believed she would've let me know in no uncertain terms, so why hadn't she replied? Looking through the details I had for her, I found her number and decided to call her after some hesitation. I honestly felt like I was losing my mind over her. No answer. I pushed redial and again let it ring until I heard her melodious voice asking for a message to be left. "Hello Miss Taylor, this is Mr Warner. I