The Full Moon Boyfriend

Part One

The full moon boyfriend calls his girlfriend every 29.5 days.

She asks herself every day why she tolerates this relationship. It is probably because when they get together that one evening in the month, she enjoys their supper conversations and sex at his place

He always treats her like the perfect gentleman.

It is also the only day of the month he leaves his apartment. She figures it is special because it is especially for her. He is an educational consultant for colleges, so he has the luxury of working from home.

She was an English literature major who is a content writer at a boutique digital agency. They both adore books, which is probably the main reason she stays with him.

During their suppers, they analyze all the books and films they have watched, which they both find stimulating.

Her birthday is coming up soon, and it does not fall on the full moon. She calls him to see if he will make an exception.

“Blaise, I was wondering if we could go out next Saturday night for my birthday?” she asks squeamishly, terrified, waiting for him to respond.

As much as she feels attached to him. She had already decided beforehand to end the relationship, depending on his answer.

“Umm,” he says. “Let me think about it. I’ll let you know before the end of the week.”

“I need an answer now to reserve seats at my favorite restaurant.”

“Can’t we celebrate at the next full moon? It’s the only day I feel normal and alive like a real human being.”

“I’m afraid not. It’s over between us,” she says, hanging up. She did not buy his excuse.

Somehow, she expected him to call her back, but he did not.

Instead, she makes birthday plans with her parents and her brother for her birthday.

During their supper, when the birthday cake comes out, tears start rolling down her face. But a sound does not come out of her.

“Don’t cry, sweetie,” her mother says, attempting to comfort her. “You finally got rid of him. You can’t live your whole life in a relationship on someone else’s terms.”

She is surprised by what her mother has just said. Her father is a workaholic who spends all his free time golfing. Her mother is a golf widow part of the year.

 

Part Two

A few months later, on a Friday, she enters her apartment to find flowers and a jewelry box. But there is no full moon shining brightly in her apartment. She forgot to ask Blaise for her keys back. Some nights on a full moon, they would stay at her place. It would be rare, though.

Then, after opening her fridge, she sees a big sign saying I MISS YOU. She removes the sign and throws it in the garbage bin. She had gone drinking with some colleagues for cocktails. She has a pounding headache. She drinks some mineral water with Tylenol and drops off to sleep on her sofa.

The next morning, she calls a locksmith, who comes the same afternoon to change all her locks. The installation of the new locks cost her twice the price, but she feels her safety is worth it.

Meanwhile, she receives text messages from him during the day.

-       Why haven’t you called to thank me for your gifts? I miss you. I do love you. But I am the way I am.

-       Why aren’t you answering back?

-       I will try to change for you.

-       I hope you are well.

-       Please write me to tell me that you’re okay

-       Please, you owe me that much.

At first, the texts feel satisfying to her, but then she decides to block his number. But she knows that if he has not changed after five years, why would he change now?

A month later, he shows up around midnight in front of her three-story building to serenade her with her favorite song, “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney and Wings.

He wakes her up and everyone on the side of her building. Her neighbor, who is a soldier, yells out, “Buddy, she’s not into you anymore. Bounce, already.”

Another woman shouts, “I’m giving you two minutes to get out of here. Or I’ll call the police. You’re disturbing the peace. This is too much even for New York. I have a shift early in the morning.”

He takes the woman’s threat seriously and leaves.

For the next little while, she is anxious that he will show up again out of the blue, like a wolf to howl at her building. But he does not. She finally feels free.

She even joins a writing group and volunteers at an animal shelter on the weekends. She finds ways to preoccupy herself with activities she enjoys doing.

 

Part Three

Six months later, on a Thursday, the office’s receptionist, Denise, can be heard panting as she approaches Elowyn’s desk. Elowyn raises her head to see Blaise standing behind her, holding a gun to the side of her head.

Denise is shaking and whimpering.

“I’ve made an effort to see you,” Blaise says, unfazed.

“I appreciate it, but please don’t hurt anyone,” she says calmly while all her internal organs are in chaos.

“I will go with you,” she says and gets up from the chair. “Move the gun in my direction and let Denise go.”

He grabs Denise with one hand now and lets her go, as soon as he puts the gun toward Elowyn’s back.

As Denise is about to faint, John, the boss, catches her.

“Go to the elevator, now, Elowyn,” he orders. “If anyone tries to jump me, I will shoot her and everyone in here.”

As soon as John sees they are in the elevator, he presses the lockdown button that each office in the building has for safety.

Blaise and Elowyn are stuck on the main floor in the elevator.

John calls 911 and explains the situation to the dispatcher.

Elowyn begins sweating profusely in the elevator as Blaise tries to open the doors. He is unsuccessful. Then he tries opening the emergency hatch on the roof of the elevator, but he cannot.

“Do you still love me?” he asks.

“Of course, I do,” she says as convincingly as possible.

“I can’t live life without you, Elowyn Leaf.”

Elowyn sits down; she can no longer stop her legs from trembling. Fear and muscle fatigue are setting in.

Blaise remains standing alert and vigilant.

Meanwhile, detective Pete Morena and his crew are planning Elowyn’s rescue mission on the last floor of the building.

Two of his eight men are dressed in full bulletproof body armor. They slowly glide down the elevator’s cables. They are ex-special military forces.

They stop as soon as they know their prey can hear them. Blaise shoots, and they wait until he is out of bullets. That is the moment they inform the police officers, who had already been sent to the ground floor.

As soon as the door opens, two officers grab Elowyn as two other officers push him inside as he tries to exit. The doors close on him. The marines climb back up to the top floor. Once they are safe, they turn off the lockdown button.

When the doors finally open one last time for Blaise, six police officers are waiting for him, heavily armed.

He raises his hands. He frantically searches for Elowyn, but an ambulance has already taken her to the hospital for trauma care.

He drops to his knees, “Please take me to Elowyn. We love each other.”

Detective Morena and his two armored officers arrive by elevator while Blaise is having his tantrum.

While his armored men are handcuffing him, Morena says, “Love is not holding someone hostage, buddy.”

Two officers are assigned to take him to jail. The rest of the crew remains on site to interview all the witnesses.

Once the police car takes off, Officer Smith says,” When the call came in, I knew it was you, cousin. The other officer with them, Connelly, is their best friend from childhood.

They drive him to New Jersey instead of where they are supposed to. It’s Officer Smith’s empty family home, which he inherited when his parents passed away.

Once inside the house, they take him downstairs to the secret basement, which has four jail cells. And they throw Blaise inside one of them against his will. Officer Smith’s sister is in the cell next to his. She has the same full moon disease that runs in the family. She also became obsessed with the object of her affection when her first boyfriend, at 21, broke up with her. She was plotting to have him killed by a hitman.

“You can’t leave us here,” Blaise says, shaking the bars of his cells.

They leave.

“Don’t worry, my brother will bring us food once a week. It usually lasts if you ration it.”

Once the two officers are back at the station, Smith recounts to Detective Morena, “He must have had a paper clip on him.

“He then used the belt of his trench coat to try to choke Officer Connelly. We were luckily stopped at a red light. As I tried to stop him, he took the opportunity to get out of the car. I was the first one to go after him. I chased him for blocks. I finally grabbed him, but I didn’t realize his strength. He punched me in the face, and I fell to the ground.

“I tried to shoot from the ground, but I missed.”

“I then showed up and started looking for him, but he outran us, Sir,” Officer Connelly adds.

Detective Morena immediately put out an APB and called for an emergency press conference to alert citizens that a dangerous man is on the loose.

Ironically, at the press conference, officers Smith and Connelly are standing next to Detective Morena while he is answering the questions of the journalists.