Nathaniel answered his phone after three rings, surprise clearly evident when he heard my voice. "Simone," he said surprised, "To who do I owe this honor of getting a phone call from my sister to?"

I smiled into the phone. "It's good to hear your voice too, Nate," I replied back, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," I trailed.

He laughed. "No, you're fine. I'm just wrapping up some small details on this project for my company. The presentation isn't until next Friday, so I'd say I was doing pretty good - time management wise anyways." He added.

I held the phone closely against my face as I paced around the living room. "That's great. How's Angela?" I asked, knowing I hadn't asked about her in awhile.

"She's doing great. She recently left her job at auto parts, and is moving up to working at a car factory in the next city. I've never met a woman who loves cars as much as she does." He chuckled, "but I know you didn't just call to hear about my boring life and my girlfriend's love for cars. What's been up? Is everything okay?" He asked. I felt a little nervous before I sighed.

"I have a problem." I admitted.

I could see the frown on his face as he replied. "What kind of problem, Simone?" He asked, "Is it work?"

"No," I started, "I mean yes, I don't know, kind of." I said exasperated as I plopped down onto the couch. "There's a guy at work that's been giving me the creeps."

"The creeps?" He said skeptically, "That's it?"

I sighed frustratedly. "No, that's not just it. A couple months back I went on a date with him..well, it wasn't really a date date, it was more like two coworkers hanging out in an attempt to become friends." I tried to explain.

"Then how'd he turn into a creep?"

"Well, in the beginning I had a crush on him, but once I stared dating Lee, I knew it would probably be best if I stopped being so friendly with Jason."

He spit. "What?" He said shocked, "You're dating, since when? And who in the world is Lee?" He demanded.

I winced. "My boyfriend."

"Your what?"

"Boyfriend." I said again, "Well, anyways, Jason had asked me out one day and I turned him down and told him that I had a boyfriend. He was okay at first, but as time went on he just seemed different..I don't know, kind of off." I sighed, "The other night there was a box of earrings sitting outside my house, I had thought they were from Lee..but they weren't."

"Who were they from then?" He asked, although I knew he was starting to put two and two together.

"They were from Jason."

Nate cursed. "That little-" he said angrily, "so he came and left them at your house even though he knew you were in a relationship? What kind of creep does that." He was quiet for a minute, "Did you tell anyone else about it?"

"No." I said.

"Simone, why not? Somebody needs to know. If Jason is bold enough to come to your house once, then he'll do it again." He stated, "I'm telling mom and dad."

"Don't." I pleaded.

"Simone."

"I just wanted to tell you. I thought you'd have good advice on what I should do."

"Yeah, call the cops and get a restraining order."

"Nate." I sighed.

"No, Simone. This is serious. What if that guy hurts you." I shivered at the thought. "Simone, look, I'm not trying to scare you. I just want you to be cautious."

"I will, I will." I told him.

Nate sighed. "If I can't tell mom and dad, you need to at least talk to your boyfriend about it, or I'm coming down there myself."

"Don't." I said immediately, "I'll tell him."

"Today." He stated.

"Okay, today." I agreed.

He sighed before his voice came back over the receiver. "I have to go, Simone. I love you, and I'll call you back tomorrow."

"I love you too, talk to you soon. Bye, Nate." I replied as the phone hung up and I sat it back down onto my lap, sighing. I really didn't want to tell my parents, they would absolutely freak out and demand that I come back home. I had a job here, I couldn't just up and leave because of Jason.

I dropped my head. But Nate was right. I had to tell someone - and Lee was the best next option. I knew he would be mad that I had kept this from him, but it'd be better to at least have someone else who could take some of the worry away - wouldn't it?