The Obsession Ch. 04

Magnus woke up in Cassie's bed some time around six in the morning to her vigorously shaking him.

"Get up." She ordered.

"Good morning, Prinsesse. I see you are back to your cheerful self." He wisely remarked as he sat up and stretched.

"Get out."

He chuckled. She was still wearing his dress shirt. It hung loosely off of her body everywhere but around her breasts.

"Prinsesse, do you realize how irresistable you are?"

He reached out and groped one of her perky nipples. She recoiled in protest.

"I said out!" She repeated.

Her hair was a wild, wavy mane that shagged over her shoulders.

"I could lay back down..."

He trailed his fingers up her kneeling legs until they reached the bottom of his shirt.

"... and you could sit your lovely lille fisse on top of my face."

He then lifted the fabric, revealing her lack of underwear and felt his already stiff erection twitch.

"Let me worship your lucious body." He pleaded.

She slapped his hand away.

"Get. The fuck. Out." She commanded. "Take your pants, your phone and your morning wood; and get the fuck out of my apartment."

"What about my shirt and my..." He thought for a second.

"...booze?" He asked, his accent eccentuating the "s" sound of the word.

"You already bartered with the booze."

He smiled. "My shirt?"

Cassie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Take the rest of that goddamned pizza and fuck off."

He calmly got up, dressed himself from the waist down and did as he was told.

Magnus thought of Cassie in-between student interviews all morning. He had inhaled half of the pizza for breakfast, and now he sat the last three slices on a hot plate in the breakroom near the coffee maker.

"That smells incredible." Noted Annette on her way in with her lunch, as the scent of fresh basil and homemade marinara sauce began to fill the air.

"My grouchy little neighbor has given me another gift." He chipperly replied.

"Oh boy..." She giggled. "You know, you really shouldn't be encouraging her erratic behavior-

did she brush pesto over the crust?" She gawked, admiring Cassie's work.

"Would you like a piece? I've already eaten a few pieces, and I can tell you; it tastes even better than it looks. And I ate them cold. I can't wait to try it hot." He began sliding the pizza onto a paper plate.

"But, you're right about encouraging erratic behaviour... perhaps you shouldn't-"

Annette reached for a paper plate and pushed it in the direction of the pizza hastily.

The two laughed and sat down with their lunch.

"Good lord Magnus, this is incredible!" Said Annette as she hapily munched away.

"She never ceases to surprise me." He praised.

"Has she come to visit you often? I mean, you've only been there for four days."

Magnus grined to himself, realizing that he had spent the past three out of four days letting her fuck his brains out.

"It's been a good week, so far." He replied satisfactorily.

"I wish I had a stalker that could cook like this. All I get are dick pics on tinder." She stated inbetween bites.

They both laughed as they enjoyed their lunch.

"Things are really picking up with the student applicants. Now that the psych students know they can earn a credit for participating in this, they want in." Said Anette as she finished up half of her turkey sandwich.

" You want the other half? After that pizza, I'm stuffed."

"Sure. Thank you." He said, taking the plate.

"So the good news is, we should have the study underway by the end of next week."

"And the bad news?"

"We're going to be swamped with interviews, tomorrow through next week."

"So we put in a few extra hours to make sure we have perfect candidates; it will be well worth it." Magnus stated, matter-of-factly.

Annette smiled, happy they were on the same page. She had never worked with anyone so pleasant and agreeable as Magnus. And the fact that he was so incredibly easy on the eyes didn't hurt either. She smiled as he polished off the rest of her sandwich.

'That man can make eating a turkey sandich look sexy.'

She thought to herself, repressing the urge to giggle. But she couldn't help but think of his neighbor once again.

She hoped her concern was just a product of girlish jealousy. The girl was quite a looker.

Annette had never been known to be a petty person, and she wasn't going to start now. She decided then and there to forget about the curvy cook and focus on her intriguing coworker. After all; they would be spending quite a bit of time together in the coming weeks.

'It's a good time to be single.'

She thought as she watched Magnus stand and stretch his amazingly long, muscular body before he offered to throw her empty paper cup away for her.

It was 6:30 when Magnus finally left the campus. He waved to Annette as he rode out of the parking lot on his bike. When he got home, he stopped at Cassie's apartment before ringing for the elevator. He knocked a couple times and waited. He leaned his head against the door for a few moments, wondering if this was yet another game she was playing.

"She's out." Called a husky voice.

Magnus jumped slightly, and turned to find the man who's door he had knocked on the first night he moved in, standing next to the elevator. He could have sworn the man had an asiatic accent before, but he figured he must have heard wrong that night.

"Oh, thank you mister..."

"Lee."

"Mr. Lee" Magnus walked over and extended his hand.

"I'm Magnus Bjornssen."

"Mister Bjornssen." He addressed Magnus, as he shook his hand.

"You know Cassie?" Asked magnus in a friendly tone as both men waited for the elevator.

"She's lived here for almost eight years, of course I know her." He said.

Mr. Lee's tone wasn't rude at all, but it was short and to the point. And as they stepped into the elevator, Magnus couldn't shake the feeling that this man was incredibly familiar.

"I feel like I know you from somewhere."Said Magnus, trying to recal where he had seen the burly, copper-toned man.

"You knocked on my door Sunday."

"No, no. I mean... remember that, of course. I just feel like I know you from somewhere else."

"I've never seen you before Sunday." He responded, plainly.

"Going to visit a friend?"

"I do maintenence for this building. If you have a problem let me know."

The elevator stopped and opened at the 5^th floor, causing Magnus to realize that in his intrigue, he had forgotten to press his floor.

"Any more questions?" Said Mr. Lee pausing at the elevator door.

"Um... no. Sorry." Magnus smiled embarrassingly at the realization that he may have come off a bit nosey. Mr. Lee politely waved at Magnus and exited the elevator.

The furniture store had delivered Magnus' sofa set, computer desk and kitchen table and he sat down on his couch and went over the New China Wok menu, looking for a dish that was reminiscent of the seafood curry Cassie had packed him that first night. He couldn't find anything similar so he settled on a seafood and vegetable stir fry. He took his bike down to pick up his order, hoping in vain that he would bump into Cassie coming in or out of the building. He returned, ate his food and watched a movie on his laptop. He found the takeout as flavorless as the movie, but tomorrow was another day... perhaps he'd see his prinsesse then.

Thursday went by before he knew it, with the workload picking up. Annette had offered to treat him to dinner but he was genuinely tired, as he had slept terribly the night before. Instead, he rode over to the drugstore and bought a bottle of sleeping pills just in case that night proved to be sleepless as well.

It did.

Magnus took Annette up on her offer to take him to the only Carribean resturaunt she knew of in the area. The food was good, but not quite as good as Cassie's. He of course didn't tell Annette though, as she seemed even more cheerful than her usual upbeat self.

"So you mentioned you were married before..." Said Annette as she began to dig into her rum cake.

"Yes, it was... quite a journey." Replied Magnus as he enjoyed his bread pudding.

"What was the former Mrs. Bjornssen like?" She inquired.

"She was nice."

"Oh come on!"

"What?" He asked, puzzled.

"Okay, I know you're a nice guy. I get that. But you expect me to believe you have absolutely nothing bad to say about your ex?" She asked incredulously.

Magnus laughed. "No, I really don't."

Annette smirked at Magnus in disbelief.

"She was kind. Intelligent. Beautiful in many ways."

"Sounds like you." Replied Annette.

"Well, thank you." He blushed. " The truth is, we had everything in common. We might as well have been the same person. And you know how that goes..."

"Oh yeah." She agreed, knowingly. "So who cheated first?"

"She did. In the end, I didn't need to confront her. She confessed."

"I'm sorry."

"I wasn't angry." He said lightheartedly. "It was a relief.

Finding someone else was the kindest thing she could have done for both of us.

I was too afraid of hurting her to admit what a boring disaster our marriage had become.

We had... we had lost a child and I felt obligated to stay with her no matter what.

Tied to her by grief."

Annette put her fork down and allowed his last statement to sink in.

"Magnus... I'm so sorry you went through that." She placed her hand over his.

"She miscarried. Twenty-two weeks.

It shook us both, terribly. So much so that we never tried again.

We lived in a constant state of monotony for over five years afterward.

When she told me she wanted a divorce, I picked her up and hugged her.

We both cried tears of joy."

Annette smiled warmly before getting back to her cake.

"Is she happy now?"

"I don't know. I hope so." He said.

Annette could tell he really meant his last statement.

Magnus got home around eight thirty. Dinner with Annette had been nice. It felt good to finally feel like he had a true friend. As he walked into his building, he saw Cassie on her way out. He quickly looked behind him to ensure Annette's car was gone.

"I don't care who dropped you off." Cassie stated in her usual dry tone.

Magnus smiled devilishly before grabbing her arm and pulling her to him before she could walk past him and exit the building.

"I knew I'd get a hold of you sooner or later, Prinsesse. Now come upstairs with me so that I can eat your sweet little pussy on top of my new kitchen table." He sneered.

Cassie pulled away from him forcefully.

"Cut your goddamned shit right now." She demanded.

He watched her as she walked off, stuned by her rejection.

That was harsh.

Even for her.

He watched speechlessly as she walked to a parked car and greeted the driver.

"Fuck det." He hissed as he made his way to the elevator.

He waited for a moment, then turned to make his way to the stairs, his face red with anger. He stopped when he heard her re-enter the building. He turned to finally vent his frustration but was halted in his tracks when a tiny, wild-haired version of Cassie pranced up to him, ahead of her.

Magnus stared in awe, his expression instantly softening.

"Are you Thor?" Asked the miniature Cassie.

Magnus smiled and knelt down.

"No, lille cutie. But sometimes when I have to use a hammer, I pretend to be." He chuckled.

"Do you live here?"

"Yes, I do."

"Are you Mommy's friend?"

Magnus looked at Cassie who was clearly annoyed. He smiled.

"Yes. Yes I am. We like to play checkers, aaand... drink sodas, aaaand... watch cartoons together." He said, beaming at Cassie the whole time.

"We do that stuff too! Except I'm not allowed to drink soda." The little girl admitted.

"Alright kiddo, time for jammies and snacks." Said Cassie, cutting their conversation short.

Magnus could hear Hedy Lamarr barking happily behind Cassie's door as she reached to open it.

"We have a poodle. She's from France. Well, she's not ours... but I love her."

Said the six year old to a delighted Magnus as Cassie struggled to keep Hedy from dashing out of her apartment to get to Magnus.

"I'm sure she loves you too, sweetheart.

Hey, I brought these two slices of cake home to eat with your mom; but I don't think I'll have time to. Do you think you might like to have them? Of course you'll have to ask your mom."

Before Cassie could walk over with a wiggling Hedy in her arms, Magnus took the clear containers out of the bag.

"Mommy look, carrot cake! Please Mommy?" She begged, staring at the fluffy cheesecake frosting.

"Yeah, fine. Come on."

The little girl happily took the cake.

"For Prinsesse." Magnus stated coyly as he handed Cassie the slice of dark rum cake. She reluctantly took the dessert and they disappeared inside.

"Lille Cassie" Magnus said to himself affectionately as he walked to the stairs.

Magnus was woken up by his appetite, early Saturday morning. It was a sunny, pleasant day and he figured he'd ride over to the diner he'd spotted earlier in the week while shopping with Annette before the streets became littered with cars. As he smelled the fresh autumn air and enjoyed the bright foliage during his bike ride, he knew he had made an excellent choice.

He made quick friends with the tiny Greek grandma that ran the small diner. It was so early, that he had the diner to himself as the diligent owner waited on him. She took pleasure in chatting with the polite colossus as he devoured his huge servings of waffles, fruit and eggs. He delighted her with tales of a childhood spent working on his grandfather's farm. He told her about his favorite cow and how she taught him to respect and nurture all living things as best as he could. After an hour of delighting her with his kind nature, she presented him with his bill. He opened it to find that for his massive meal, he was charged five dollars.

Magnus hugged his new friend who insisted that he call her "Mamá" and headed off to his bike feeling warm and satisfied. The smiling restaurant owner returned to clean up the table and opened the bill folder. Her eyes watered as she held the crisp one hundred dollar bill that Magnus had left inside.

The cars were just starting to clutter the street as Magnus pulled onto the curb near his building. He hummed to himself as he waited for the elevator and soon heard Hedy joining in with her cheerful barks. He chuckled at the jovial sounds the tiny dog made as the elevator doors opened. But before he could enter, he heard the door to Cassie's apartment slowly open.

"Hedy Wait!"

A tiny voice called out as the poodle dashed over to Magnus. The small child followed after the dog and stopped as she reached Magnus, looking up at him in the same fashion a tourist would as they surveyed a skyscraper.

"Wow... are you sure you're not a giant? I asked Mommy and she said no."

Magnus smiled at the little brown cherub as she stared up at him, her large brown eyes reflecting her amazement.

"Fee-fi-fo-fum!" Magnus playfully uttered as he moved his arms up and down in front of him, doing his best monster impression.

Cassie's daughter squealed and giggled as she ran circles around the lobby with Hedy spinning and frolicking alongside her. Magnus chased the two, doing his best Frankenstein's monster impression until he caught up to the little girl. He reached down to scoop her up, but stopped short, fearing he may he may have been about to breach a boundary. He respectfully backed away.

"Pick me up! Pick me up!" The little one cheered with outstretched arms.

Magnus reached down and lifted the giggling child into his arms. She sat comfortably against his chest and surveyed the lobby from the the newly discovered height.

"Everything looks small." She said in amazement as she looked down at Hedy.

"You're just a little hamster!" She pointed down at at the tiny puff of a dog.

Magnus studied the child with an adoring expression as he picked out all of Cassie's' features in her angelic face. Her hair had been neatly styled into two large, puffy ponytails of long tightly coiled ringlets. Little teddy bears holding pumpkins covered her pajamas in a festive pattern.

"What's your name?" She asked inquisitively.

"My name is Magnus. What's yours?"

"Ayana." She smiled. "I asked Mommy what your name was, but she didn't tell me.

I don't think she heard me.

Thank you for the cake.

I really liked it."

She said as she played with the cord dangling from the hood of Magnus jacket.

"You're very welcome." Replied Magnus. "Ayana, could you do me a favor?" He asked. She nodded and listened intently.

"If anyone ever hurts you or makes you feel sad, could you tell me?"

She nodded. "What are you gonna do?"

"I will crush them.

To dust."

He smiled at Ayana, who giggled and raised her fists.

"Let's crush all the bad guys!"

"Bad guys?!" Said Magnus as he whipped around in an exaggerated searching motion, causing Ayana to chuckle with delight. He then hoisted the giggling child to his shoulders.

"Where are these bad guys? Show them to me!"

Ayana pointed to the garbage can near the door.

"There's germs in there that make you sick!"

"Gaaar!" Magnus exclaimed as he stomped towards the trash, pounding the air with his fists. Hedy barked excitedly and Ayana laughed and squealed as she held on to Magnus' forehead while he pretended to bash and stomp the invisible germs surrounding the trashcan to bits.

"Ayana!"

Hedy ran to Cassie, who stood in the doorway with a livid expression.

"I take a ten minute shower and you just run out into the hallway?" She said firmly, tucking the the end of the towel wrapped around her to keep it from falling off as she walked over to them.

"Hedy was scratching at the door and I thought it was Mrs. Epson."

Magnus lifted Ayana off of his shoulders and placed her on the floor. She looked up at him with a sad expression.

"Could you come play with me and Mommy? We're going to go pick apples."

Magnus looked at Cassie, who quickly and discreetly shook her head before Ayana could notice.

"I'm sorry, lille cutie. I have to go to work today. But maybe some other time."

"But I won't be here next weekend!" Said Ayana as she huffed and crossed her arms.

"Inside." Said Cassie as she pointed to her apartment. Ayana reluctantly walked towards the door before stopping and running back to hug Magnus. He knelt down and she threw her arms around him before running into the apartment with Hedy following close behind.

Magnus stood and looked at Cassie. Her wet hair was pulled into a ponytail on top of her head, with a few wavy tresses framing her face. The bulky towel did it's best to hide her curves, but failed miserably. He stared hungrily as a single drop of water slid it's way down one of her thighs. He licked his lips before tracing her form back up, and noticed her nipples poking out from behind the thick cotton.

"What are you looking at?" She demanded.

"You know damned well what I'm look at."

He replied with a very visible erection continuing to grow against his thigh, beneath the fabric of his jeans. Cassie was a little taken back by his bluntness, but she completely hid it as she rolled her eyes and walked into her apartment, slamming the door behind her.

It was time for the dreaded Walk. The one Cassie made every other Sunday evening. She expected the hurt would lessen each time, but it never did. As she made her way to her ex-husband's car with Ayana's tiny hand in hers, she fought the urge to run back to her apartment with her daughter and vow to never do The Walk again.

But it wasn't a fantasy world. It was the cold, harsh real world where her surrogate mother was sick, her dog had died last month and her daughter stayed with her every other weekend. Cassie hugged and kissed Ayana; swallowing the lump in her throat. She watched her daughter wave from the disappearing window of her ex-husband's car.