Tricia stared impatiently at the man seated across from her. He was being so stubborn, so clingy and pathetic that she almost gagged. Really, she couldn’t imagine what had possessed her to date him. He was a complete dork.

“I mean, did you ever love me, Shia?” Martin whined pitifully. “Did you?”

Tricia stopped herself from rolling her eyes. They’d only been dating for two months. What a cliché! And Trish hated that stupid nickname!

“Of course I loved you Martin,” she lied smoothly. “But you’ve become so controlling. Really, I think it’s best to just end it here and now.”

“I can change, Shia. PLEASE! I’ll be whomever you want me to be. I love you.”

That did it!

Tricia jumped to her feet. A girl could only take so much torture. She threw a patronizing look towards Martin. He was crying now, his nerdy glasses misted over. How could she have ever thought he was cute?

“Stop being so weak, Martin!” she snapped “You’re just so weak!”

“I can change…” he cried miserably.

Tricia physically recoiled. Was he always this disgusting, she thought silently. She turned to leave with an obviously repulsed look on her face.

“I won’t let you go Trish. I love you. I’ll never let you go!”

Trish couldn’t hold back a demeaning laugh. Fool, she thought. I’m already long gone!

*****

Tricia wasn’t sure what had woken her. It was 3am in the morning and she’d been having a wonderful dream before something woke her. She listened carefully.

Perfect silence.

With a weary sigh, she tightened her blankets around her. It wouldn’t be easy to go back to sleep now. It was times like these that she hated sleeping alone. No one to talk to in the middle of the night.

That made her think about Martin.

He’d been such a cutie when they’d started dating two months ago. He wasn’t Trish’s type, of course. She usually went for the obviously hot, macho sort of guy, but Martin… he was nerdy and a gentleman and kind of adorable. She’d given him a chance.

At first, they had fun. Going out to clubs and parties and snazzy top events. Then out of the blue, things changed. Martin changed. He became uncomfortable around Tricia’s friends. He kept begging her not to go out, to stay at home with him.

Things only got worse when he started to say the L-word. Love. He called her every ten minutes every day.

“What are you doing Shia?”
“Who are you with Shia?”
“Where are you Shia?”
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

Tricia had already had enough when Martin became paranoid about each and every male friend of hers. She finally gave him the boot two nights ago. Good riddance! Trish yawned. Sleep was coming back to her.

She was turning over to get more comfortable when a piece of paper caught her eye. Pink and laying on the side of the bed that Tricia didn’t sleep on. She was pretty sure it hadn’t been there when she went to bed.

She picked it up drowsily. There was only one sentence on it, printed in large black letters.

NEVER LET YOU GO!

She must have picked it up somewhere and forgot about it. Perhaps she’d dropped it on her bed by mistake, or something.

Whatever, was her final thought.

***

Tell us what you think: Should Tricia have given Martin another chance? Where do you think the mysterious note came from?