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“Dear Joanna, I'm your biggest fan; I've been your biggest fan for 4 years. When I first saw you on that stage on the 17th of December in 2006, I knew you were my favorite person of all time. I broke up with my girlfriend of 5 years to be with you, Joanna. I love you, Joanna. I need you. Joanna, you're the one for me, and soon enough you will love me. I love you. Joanna, you will be mine. Sincerely, your biggest fan.”
“Shawn, could you please come in here!” Joanna said whilst holding the obsessive letter.
Shawn was her manager. He was a short man, only about 5’ 5. He was very stocky and had very unkempt, greasy blonde hair. His white suit looked closer to a modern art piece, as he rarely, if ever, washed it. He was in a loveless marriage to Fallon, who was actively and obviously cheating on him with Chanel. He didn’t care; he had dug himself so deep into his work that he couldn’t care less about anyone. He’s always nice to his clients and anyone he needs to suck up to, but that’s it. And just like any other day, he comes rushing in to take care of his client. “Joanna, what's wrong?” he exclaims.
“This letter seems to be from my biggest fan," she replied with a cautious optimism.
“Was it Martin?" He retorted with the same monotone tone.
“No, it's not his hand writing. It seems to be from someone else.”
"Well, why be so concerned? You have a superfan!”
“I'm sure you're right, but just for my comfort, I'll ask the other girls tonight if this is normal.”
Joanna was an average woman. She was 5'7" and had a slim hourglass-like body. She had shiny titian hair, and a face like an old regal queen. She was perfect for dancing. When dancing, she wore a green satin dress with pale greenish-yellow accents. She lived on the 73rd floor of the Caulis apartment complex. It was a multi-storied penthouse with floor-to-ceiling windows. On the other side of the hall was Shawn’s office. All of Shawn’s clients live on the 73rd floor. Which included Cleo, Liberty, and the star of the show, Beatrice. Joanna never liked Beatrice. Beatrice, unlike Joanna, was actually from Ashbourne and about 6 feet tall. Her figure was that of a supermodel, and her face was no different. Her silky blonde hair flowed down to her shoulders with the grace of a stream. Her ego was almost as grand as her dancing prowess. Beatrice always thought she was better than the others. She threw a tantrum any time she wasn’t front and center of every dance routine. Joanna, however, tolerated her because she had many connections in the business. They also walked together to the club. The massive club took up an entire block. It had multiple DJ booths, too many stages, a rave, and employed about half the people within a 4-block radius. The walk wasn’t long, only about 2 minutes, but it was a nice walk. She finally arrived and made her way to the back.
The club was bustling with people, the dance floor glistening with the light of a thousand feet, the regulars were in the card rooms, and the bar was being run by Kendrick and Martin. The dancers were getting ready backstage as Tuesdays were one of their biggest nights. Billie and Melanie are talking about the gossip Cressida has been spreading. The rave girls are trying on each other's outfits for the 7th time that week, and at the same time Joanna approaches Beatrice to ask her if the letter she received was normal.
“Hey Bea, you’ve received a lot of fanmail, correct?” She inquired.
“Yes, Joanna, of course I have."
"Well, I received this letter telling me how the writer has been obsessed with me for about 4 years and how she wants to get with me romantically and will not stop until she gets with me.”
“That's not normal,” she replied
"Well, if that's so, how do you recommend I combat this person?”
“You could get a restraining order,”
“The thing is I'm not sure who wrote the letter.”
“Our show is starting; we can talk about this later." She blurted out in a rush.
Later never came. Beatrice had to head out before Joanna could talk to her. She had mentioned something about her signing a deal with a television program. But while Joanna was performing, she saw something that was truly haunting. Someone was looking directly at her, with this toothy crooked smile. Just looking at her for hours, her entire set, they were looking at her. She couldn't make out who it was, but she knew this was the same person who sent the letter.
Despite the short walk, due to the stalker, she thought it was best to take a cab.
Joanna stepped into the cab, which was driven by an older-looking man. He had gray hair and wore all black.
“Hi, I live at the Caulis apartment complex,” Joanna started.
“Really? Calling a cab for a 2-minute walk?”
“Yes, well, my feet hurt very much after all the dancing I did tonight,” she retorted, not wanting to give the real answer.
"Well, I never turn down a customer!”
When Joanna finally arrived home, she decided she would relax to get her mind off of that strange encounter. She decided to watch her favorite show, Thomas’s Drag Race. It had its own broadcasting channel due to its popularity; it featured some of the most popular celebrities around. People like Alessandra, Paloma, and even her best friend Giselle had made appearances on the show. They announced there would be a celebrity guest coming on to judge the next day, and it would be broadcast live. Joanna was intrigued by the guest, but she didn't think much of it.
Joanna watched for about an hour before she went to bed. She enjoyed every second of it. Ever since becoming a celebrity, her dream was to make it on to Thomas’s drag race.
Joanna got ready for bed; she took a shower and looked at her schedule for the next day. She had the day off, and the only thing she was doing was having lunch with her best friend Giselle.
Joanna woke up refreshed and ready to start the day! She went out to her kitchen, where she saw a new window cleaner. It was a short, pudgy girl with two blonde ponytails; however, they were covered up almost entirely by a nasty hat. Despite all that, Joanna thought she was the most attractive person she had ever met. Joanna smiled at her, and the girl smiled back; however, her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. It seemed like she was holding back her real smile.
Joanna had the day off, so she just watched Thomas’s drag race. When she put on the show, however, the window cleaner seemed to write something down in a notebook. Joanna didn't think too much of it, however. She wasn't looking directly at the television, so she assumed she was writing about the glass.
Joanna had been relaxing when she remembered she had lunch with Giselle. She quickly took a shower and got ready to meet her best friend for lunch.
Joanna arrived at the lounge they always went to for lunch, Ciara’s Crimson Lounge. It was the most popular spot to eat on the west side of the city. It was the corner of the tallest building in the entire city, being 357 stories high. They always sat outside and even had their table reserved due to Giselle’s popularity. Joanna saw Giselle, and they started chatting.
“Giselle would like to share something with you.” She started off with a nervous tone.
“What is it, Joanna?”
“I have a superfan!” She exclaimed.
“I am so proud of you, Joanna. It felt like only yesterday I was helping you book your first gig at the club, and look at you now, a superfan!”
The waiter came over and asked for their order. Joanna ordered a pistachio salad, and Giselle ordered a club sandwich with extra onions.
The rest of the meeting went normally; however, she did notice her window cleaner was now working on the building right above the cafe she was eating at.
And then she remembered something about the window cleaner. She had eaten at her bakery before! She didn't remember the name, but she remembered it was hers.
Joanna moved on with her day and went home, where she continued to watch Thomas’s drag race.
The live program came on, and she saw the celebrity guest was Beatrice! She was so happy to see Beatrice up there. Despite the fact that she hated Beatrice, she was still her friend, and she was happy to see her succeeding. The rest of the program went as usual, and she decided to go to bed at around 11 pm.
Her day ended just like it started, her in her bedroom.
Joanna was making her bed when she noticed a piece of blonde hair. This confused Joanna, as no one else had been in her home that day except her.
However, she chalked it up to one of Giselle’s hairs falling on her at the cafe.
Joanna fell asleep. At the same time, so did her window cleaner. Lily.
"Dear Joanna,. You’ve touched me now. A part of me has touched a part of you. This proves how we will be one. I wrote the prior letter 5 days ago. You don't quite know when the touch happened, but it did. Anyone you've touched any part of in the last 5 days could be me. Anyone. I could be Giselle, I could be Kendrick, I could be Beatrice. Any of them could be me, and you wouldn't know. But that's how I like it, Joanna. Until you realize you love me, I will not give you a clue to who I am. I love you forever. Sincerely, your biggest fan.”
Lily woke up at 3am sharp.
She turned on her computer and watched videos of Joanna for 2 hours. When she was left, she kissed her favorite picture of Joanna from her shrine.
Lily went job hunting for an hour. If she found a job where she could stalk Joanna, she would take it. If not, she would work at the bakery.
She couldn't find any jobs, so she went to the bakery.
Her bakery wasn't the most popular, but it had some celebrities come in. Lily claimed the most popular was Joanna, but in reality Adrianna had come in about 3 weeks after Joanna.
Lily got her first customer at 10:22.
They ordered a bagel and went on with their day.
They would be one of the two customers that day.
While no one was in the bakery, Lily wrote in her notebook.
This notebook contained everything she had ever learned about Joanna. It had her full name and her alive and dead family members' names. her favorite food, color, show, movie, letter, number, hair color, way to style her hair, and much more.
She had had it for 3 years at this point.
At 3:42 Shawn walked into the bakery.
"Hello, ma’am, what is the best thing you have?” He responded without a tone in his voice.
"Well, our most popular person to ever eat here, Joanna, ordered one of our pistachio croissants!” She announced eagerly.
“I’ll take 20; one of my stars has an abrupt performance tonight.”
"That'll be 14:99.”
“Thanks.”
As he was leaving, Lily could make out Joanna in the window. She could live off of that 1 view for weeks, but she knew she needed more. And with a confirmed change in her schedule, as she usually works mornings on Thursdays, she knew she would go and watch her performances tonight.
Lily made her way to the club and just waited for Joanna’s performance.
She went to the bar and started chatting with one of the bartenders. The bartender had broad shoulders with black hair; he looked old and disheveled, his cheeks were shaken, and his eyebags could carry coins. He had a green suit on with that look as unkempt as his face. He was quite short, only about 5'5", and obviously upset about that fact.
“Hi, what can I get you?” the bartender asked.
“I’ll take water, thanks," she replied.
“Really only water?”
“Yeah,”
The show started; all the girls got on stage, and of course Beatrice was front and center. Beatrice was trying to outstage Joanna; however, in Lily's mind, no one could do that.
“You know, the girl in green is my ex-wife," the bartender stated, not knowing the weight it held.
“Really! Tell me everything you know about her!” Lily shouted.
They talked for hours about Joanna, Lily writing in her notebook the entire time. By the time they had finished, Lily had filled up half of the notebook with things like Joanna's old apartment number and her heel's brand. He told her about her old favorite TV show. He told her about the Joanna dance she used to do.
Lily made her way home after the show. She lived on the floor above her bakery, and her apartment only had two rooms. In the corner of her bedroom there was a shrine to Joanna. It held 397 photos of her, locs of her hair, and pieces of her dresses.
Before Lily went to sleep, she wrote and sent a letter to Joanna.
"Dear Joanna,. I talked to your ex-husband recently. He told me a lot about you. Like how when you guys first met, you were at a movie theater. He told me you're not from Ashbourne. I already knew that, but he thought I didn't. I know a lot about you, Joanna. I know where you live, Joanna. You'll be mine one day, Joanna. sincerely, your biggest fan.”
Joanna had just gotten a letter the day before. The former letter had already been scary, but this one was frightening. This stalker knew too much about her. She decided to ask the only person she knew who also had a stalker, Billie.
Billie lived 6 floors beneath Joanna. She was managed by the second-best manager in the city, Zoe. Billie was quite short. Her short black hair was one of her biggest features. Despite her size, she made a statement. Her black dresses contrasted her pale skin so much you would think she was from a movie. She lived next to some of Zoe's other clients, such as Seb and Marcus, the dynamic power couple that had a radio show, and Kendrick, a performance bartender.
Joanna made her way down the stairs when she ran into her window cleaner. Her ponytails were more apparent now; when she was cleaning the windows, she wore a cap, but with her ponytails down, she looked very attractive, at least to Joanna.
"Um, hello? I thought you only came on Wednesdays?” Joanna questioned.
“No, I'm delivering some pistachio croissants to Shawn!” the window cleaner replied.
“Did you make the great ones I had yesterday?’” she queried with an air of enthusiasm.
“I did!” she exclaimed back.
"Well, you should drop some of those at my door!” Joanna said with joy.
“I will!”
Joanna finally made it to Billie's floor and knocked on her door.
“Who is it!” Billie yelled through the door.
“It's Joanna!” Joanna yelled back.
Billie opened the door. "Hi Joanna! Why are you knocking on my door?” she inquired.
“I have a stalker, and I was wondering if there was any advice you could give me?” she questioned
“Well, I would help you, but I got all of my advice, Kendrick," she said flatly.
“Oh, ok, I'll go ask him," she responded back.
Joanna knocked on Kendrick's door. Kendrick slowly opened the door and saw Joanna hanging out in front of his door.
“Come in, Joanna!”
Kendrick was a tall man; he was 6'2". He was also well dressed; he kept his hair nicely styled, and he was always alert. He was perfect, the good half of the club’s show bartenders. Joanna went into Kendrick's apartment. His apartment was quite nice, not as nice as Joanna’s but still nice; he had a large balcony where his dining table sat. They sat down in his lounge and started talking.
“Kendrick, Billie said I should ask you for advice about my stalker," she started.
"Well, she's right! I suggest getting a private investigator," he replied.
"Ok, I guess I'll try that. Do you suggest anyone?” she questioned.
“Billie hired Fallon as her P.I.” “Ok! She's my manager's wife, so hopefully I can hire her!”
Fallon’s office was a 20-minute walk away from the Joanna apartment complex
Joanna walked into Fallon's office. The office was pristine and proper, with neat stacking of papers, pristine painting, and shined windows. In the middle was Fallon's desk; her paperwork was in a neat pile, her phone was nicely cleaned, and her cookshelves were sorted by color. Fallon sat with a defined, classy pose in an expensive suit. Her hair was neatly brushed, and her face was just as nice.
“Hello, could I hire you?” Joanna inquired.
"Yes, you can hire me. What do you want me to investigate?” she replied back.
“I have a stalker. Could you try to help me track down the freak?”
"Yes, I can, Joanna," she retorted.
Joanna walked out of the building in a good mood because hopefully soon she wouldn't have a stalker anymore, and she was right.
Joanna spent the rest of the day wandering around Ashbourne. She went to Ciara's Crimson lounge for dinner, where she ordered a pistachio salad.
She then went to the movie theater. She saw Alessandra's new movie, Wings of an Angel. It was about Alessandra dealing with a stalker who then cut off her arms and left her for dead. Joanna thought it was mediocre.
Joanna went home and decided to go to sleep. She got ready to go to sleep when she heard a bang in her kitchen. She went but didn't see anything of interest. She realized she had left the door unlocked; she locked it and thought nothing of it. She goes back to sleep.
When she woke up the next morning, there was a letter on her bed. It wrote, “Dear Joanna,. Hi, sincerely, your biggest fan.”
Joanna screamed at the top of her lungs. She realized the bang she had heard last night was most likely that of her stalker. She checked the entire apartment just to check if the stalker was still her. But they were not.
Joanna ran immediately to Fallon's office to tell her about the event.
“Do you still have the letter?” Fallon asked.
"Yes, I do!” Joanna exclaimed.
Fallon analyzed the fingerprints left on the letter and deduced it to be Lily Smith, a local baker.
Joanna had no idea what to do; her widow cleaner, the person at the club, the creator of her favorite pastichio cross-ants, and the most attractive woman Joanna had ever seen were her stalker.
Joanna left the office; she took a cab back to her apartment complex. She went to Shawn's office to talk to him.
“Shawn, could you please go give a letter to Lily to stay away from me?” Joanna said
Shawn did as she said.
Joanna went into her apartment. She went to bed; she didn't want to deal with this situation anymore.
“Dear Joanna,. I saw your little letter you sent me. You really thought you could get rid of me. In a few days. Something big will happen. You better be ready, Joanna. You will be mine. One way or another. I love you, Joanna. Sincerely, your biggest fan.”
Lily decided not to send the letter. It would ruin her plan.
The moment Lily saw the letter she had gotten, she had a great idea. She would kidnap Joanna.
So Lily began planning. She thought the best course of action was to stop being a stalker and become a kidnapper. Lily had her plan planned out; now she had to scope out the area where she would do it. Since Lily knew Joanna’s schedule by heart. She knew that tomorrow she would be a part of a meeting. After the meeting Joanna wouldn't do anything the rest of the day; therefore, if Lily were to kidnap her, no one would notice until she hopefully convinced Joanna they were a perfect match.
Lily thought for a moment to stop, but then she remembered that she's doing this for Joanna; she deserved someone who would support her in everything she did, and that person would be her.
Lily went out to go get her supplies; she would start with the chloroform.
Lily had credentials as a baker and could intern access chemicals much easier than most people.
She began to gather supplies for the kidnapping; her first stop was the chemical bank off of 6th Street.
Lily walked in and began chatting to the clerk, Ryan. Ryan was quite short, only about 4’11. His ginger hair was quite dirty. He wore disheveled clothes and a ratty cap. But that didn't matter to Lily; the only thing that mattered was the fact he was Joanna’s cousin.
“Hi, could I get some chloroform?” she asked.
“What do you need chloroform for?” he questioned.
"I'm baking a cake that requires it. It's a very old recipe.”
“Alright. Fine by me.”
Lily had gotten the chloroform. The rest of the items she could easily receive from the convenience store. The convenience store wasn't too far off from her bakery, and it was always empty. Lily skipped in and got all she needed, trash bags, a lot of paper, and rope.
Lily had gotten all of the ingredients, so she went.
back home.
On her way she saw Martin walking down the street.
She said hi to him and continued on with her day.
Lily had made it back to her bakery and began to set up in her basement. She never used her basement, so she had it blocked off. Covered by an industrial oven. Because of the lack of use, Lily requested if the basement could be written out of building records.
Lily placed a chair in the middle of her basement. Her setup was effectively complete; however, she wanted to make her basement a home for Joanna, so she decided to get a television for her.
Lily also made an excess of Joanna’s favorite foods. Which were pistachio salads, pistachio croissants, and fish with chips.
Lily had gotten everything ready except her disguise. She had gotten a uniform for the people in Joanna’s apartment complex who moved trash. She also got a trash bin where she would hide Joanna. She also decided she needed a wig; thankfully, she had one. It was a short wig made of brown ferret hair. She had gotten it secondhand from a flea market, but it was only 2 dollars, so she picked it up.
Lily had gotten everything ready for her plan. She went to sleep right after writing Joanna a letter. The letter that would set the trap.
“Dear Joanna,. I'm sorry. I will no longer be your stalker. I hope you can accept the apology and learn to forgive me. This note is much shorter than usual, but it's because I don't have much to tell you. Sincerely, your biggest fan.”
Joanna realized that maybe she should forgive Lily; after all, Lily was the first-ever person who loved her true self. She thought maybe a good bond could come from this mega fan. Joanna took a vow to herself that despite Lily’s deplorable behavior, she was a person who would love her for her and be a good person to her.
Joanna would think about this her entire meeting about her future career. The meeting room was dull, the white walls only contrasted by the wooden table and the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Joanna didn’t realize, but this would be a room she would want to be in in 2 hours. The meeting was about an hour, and Shawn took her aside after her meeting.
“Hey, um, are you fine to walk home? You, your stalker, might be mad and kidnap you,” he said
"I'll be fine; she sent me a letter telling me she apologized for the stalking!”
Shawn didn't respond; he just let her walk home.
On her walk home Joanna was quite relaxed. She was stopping and spelling the flowers and enjoying the scenery. Suddenly a towel went over her mouth, and she passed out.
Joanna woke up in a dingy basement with her arms and legs tied to a chair. Joanna only knew one thing to do, screen. She screeched for a while; however, no one came. She gave up on the screaming after an hour. She thought if she slept, she would wake up in her bed. But as she was dozing off, Lily came into the room.
“Hi Joanna. I'm so sorry it had to happen this way, but I mean, this shouldn’t have happened.”
“What do you mean?” Joanna questioned
“I mean, if your manager, Shawn, had told you about my letter earlier, then you wouldn’t be here.”
"What do you mean earlier?”
“I’ve been sending the letters for 2 years.”
Joanna was stunned; someone she trusted had betrayed and lied to her for years. He failed to protect her; he only cared about her ability to do her job.
“Well, anyways, they already have you reported as missing, so they're probably going to search me soon. Thankfully I have this basement behind an oven and written off of the building plans!”
Joanna realized that she wasn't going to be found soon. She accepted her fate. Before Lily went up, she turned on the TV to Thomas's drag race.
“Anyways, I have to go to make sure they don't find me down here.” She ended with
Lily went upstairs, and only about 5 minutes later the chief of police, Laurel, her ex-girlfriend, arrived.
“Lily.” Laurel said coldly.
“I'm aware of what it looks like, Laurey, but I swear I wasn't the one who kidnapped her.” Lily replied.
"Don't call me Laurey.”
"Sorry, but I mean, you can search my apartment!”
The police force conducted the search of Lily's apartment; however, they didn't find anything. The police force only had 2 more people on their list, Martin and Shawn.
After the police left, Lily went back down to talk with Joanna.
"Well, they searched and didn't find anything, Joanna.”
"They'll find me. I swear to you.”
Lily went back upstairs. She never came back down.
Joanna fell asleep bound to the chair.
"Dear Martin, I'm so sorry to hear that Joanna was kidnapped! They searched me yesterday, and I assume they searched you. I hope they find her soon. Should we work together to try and find her? I think with our knowledge of her together we could probably find her! Sincerely, Lily."
Martin hadn't gotten a letter in years. The last time he had even gotten something addressing him was from Joanna. They were divorce papers. He and Joanna met when they were both 19; they were at a movie theater, and it was love at first sight. The next year they were married and a year later divorced.
Martin didn't trust Lily; while there was nothing he didn't have a single reason not to, he just didn't trust her.
Martin went back to his apartment to get some breakfast. His apartment was the same one he and Joanna used to live in; however, he hadn't cleaned the place since Joanna left him. There were bugs everywhere, mildew was coming off the ceiling, and the wallpaper was peeling.
Martin enjoyed his breakfast of stale cereal and expired milk.
Martin wanted to talk to Shawn to see if Joanna had any other super fans that could possibly kidnap her.
Martin made his way to Shawn's office, walking past Lily's bakery. He didn't stop to say hi; he was scared he would be next.
Martin arrived and went into Shawn's office. His office was a mess, but he was not; he seemed to not care about Joanna being kidnapped. There were papers stuck to the walls, broken glass, hundreds of bugs, bags of month-old takeout, and black mold growing in the corner.
Martin decided to look past the disgusting room. He didn’t have much room to judge.
“Shawn, did Joanna have any super fans?” he questioned.
“Lily,” he replied back.
“Anyone before last week?”
“Yeah, Lily,”
“... what do you mean, Lily?"
"Lily's been sending letters for 2 years. I didn't want Joanna to deal with it.”
“Lily has been a threat for 2 years?”
"Ye—" Shawn said before he got cut off.
“YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT HER? YOU ARE A TERRIBLE MANAGER! YOUR JOB IS TO MAKE SURE SHE CAN DO HER JOB AND BE SAFE! NOW SHE'S SOMEWHERE KIDNAPPED," Martin yelled at him.
"S-sorry," Shawn reacted while being absolutely terrified.
“Do you have anything that could prove it's Lily?" Martin said whilst regaining his composure.
“She sent a letter about 8 months ago saying if her and Joanna's reactions were ever interfered with, she would kidnap her.” Shawn replied.
“We're taking this to the police tomorrow.” Martin said before he left.
Martin had time to think about his relationship with Joanna. Maybe if he saved Joanna, she would love him again. All he wants for Joanna is for her to be happy, and Martin knows that when he saves her from Lily, she will love him. He was going to kill Lily.
Martin relaxed for the rest of the day because he knew tomorrow would be the day he would finally make Joanna happy. By killing the person in the way of her true love.
Martin got ready for his job; he got his coat on and walked to the club. He met up with Kendrick. Martin kind of liked Kendrick; if Joanna didn’t exist, Martin would probably be with Kendrick. Martin served drinks for hours. Seeing people like Cleo, Cressida, Vivianne, and Ryan. Once the day was over, Martin said goodbye to his colleagues and made his way back to his apartment.
He made it home and drifted into sleep, without a care in the world.
“Dear Joanna,. You're in my captivity now, and I love you, Joanna. I love you for you; you're my favorite person in the world. All I want is to be with you and make you happy. I hope you can understand I'm doing this all for you, Joanna. So you can realize where we're meant to be. Joanna, I hope you will be with me. Because I know you're the best match for me and I'm the best match for you. I will love and support you in everything we do. I'm sorry I had to resort to this, but I wish we could move past this. Sincerely, your biggest fan.”
Joanna had just hand-received this letter.
She had been stuck in the room for 2 days, but she grudgingly decided to read the letter.
She read it once. She read it twice. And finally, the last time she read it, she realized Lily was right.
“Lily. I love you.”
“Y-you do?”
"Yes, Lily! Now get me out of this chair so I can kiss your stupid face!”
Lily and Joanna kissed. For a long time, they kissed. They were sloppy and uneven, but they did it for hours. They kissed until they heard police sirens.
Joanna and Lily both made their way upstairs to see the entire Ashbourne police force around the bakery.
"LILY, COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!”
“Joanna, what do we do?”
“I’m not sure.” Joanna replied.
The flashing lights blared through the windows. The piles of letters in the corner were just a haunting reminder of one fact. Lily had kidnapped Joanna. They had no idea how they were going to get Lily off of the crime.
“I’ll go out there and explain everything, Lily.”
“Joanna, you don’t have to do this for me.”
“I do.”
Joanna walked out of the bakery; she saw the police force, she saw the chief of police, Laurel, and her ex-husband, Martin. She began to explain everything.
“Lily is innocent! She didn’t do anything wrong! We’re together! We’re a couple!”
“I don’t see how that makes her innocent?” A police correspondent responded.
“She didn’t do it because we did it!”
“Fine, we'll let her go!”
“Lily! Come outside!”
Lily made her way outside, face-to-face with her ex-girlfriend, Laurel.
Laurel’s wild black hair flowed in the wind. She held her pistol in one hand and one of Lily's letters in the other. Laurel had suffered many losses because of Joanna. After Lily left her, she dedicated her life to justice; she became the chief of police only two years after first landing a job at the station. And now it was time for Laurel to take justice into her own hands. Laurel was going to make Joanna pay for making her lose a partner. She was going to make her suffer.
Laurel shot at Lily.
The bullet rang out of the barrel.
Before anyone else could react, Martin saw the bullet. He realized that he didn't want Joanna. He wanted Joanna to be happy. And the only way to make her happy was to save Lily. He jumped in front of the bullet.
Martin fell to the ground with blood coming out of his chest.
“MARTIN!” Joanna yelled. “Martin, you're going to be okay. You hear me? You're going to be okay."
“No, I'm not Joanna. Love Lily for me. Be happy, for me.”
Martin died.
“Dear Joanna, we've been married for 6 years now. This has been the best 6 years of my life. I love you, Joanna. I still can’t believe it's been 7 years since Martin died. After all, it is Martin Jr.'s first day of kindergarten. They grow up so fast. I'm so happy we're together Joanna. Sincerely, your biggest fan, Lily.”