Delusional stalker story

Stalker relationship .... Woman meets man at coffee shop, childhood sweethearts? One time work colleagues? Love of her ire anyway. They Go to museum, restaurant, gig ... Finally bump into each other, he doesn't recognise her, all been in her imagination

To research... Language, needs to be loving yet slightly unhinged.

Pathological obsession. Delusional.

"I think about him all the time, day and night—who he’s with, what he’s doing. I hate it, but when he tells me how much he needs me, I can’t resist"

Obsessional Love Disorder

Wanting to possess the other person (or be possessed)

Jealousy, insecurity, resentment

Low self esteem

History of childhood abandonment

All-consuming

Keeping tabs on them - social media

Drive bys - driving past their home or work

"Key to happiness"

Tunnel vision - can't focus on anything else

Health problems eg asthma, diabetes, obesity, depression, self harm

Inability to accept rejection

Unrealistic fantasies

Romantic love

"Hooked in the look" - obsessed with physical appearance rather than personality

"Being happy and in love is all that matters"

"Soul mates"

What if ... The situation was reversed .... Man stalks woman?

What if ... The man is married?

What if ... The woman is married?

What if ... The man reports to woman for stalking?

What if ... The man falls in love?

What if ... The man doesn't exist at all?

Faye had always been a loner. As a teenager she was bullied mercilessly by all but one of the girls in her class, and she longed to be loved by her father, but he was too busy working to spend any time with her. Faye had survived by focusing on her studies, which, of course, only increased the teasing as she was then seen as a geek as well as a weirdo. She left school armed with a bunch of good GCSEs and landed a secretarial job at a local solicitors practice. The job suited her well enough; her boss told her what needed doing each day and then left her to get on with it. She dressed smartly for work, and the blouses and jackets did a good job of hiding the livid scars that laddered her arms. Sometimes she wished she could stop the cutting, but seeing the blood roll down her arm was about the only thing that proved to her she actually existed. Apart from her boss she could go for weeks without speaking to another soul. Her parents were dead now, her one friend from school had long ago stopped phoning, and even the cashiers in the supermarket seemed to look right through her.

But then there was Paul. The light of her life. The bright spot of her day. Her soul mate. She'd met Paul on her very first day at work, when he delivered some papers to the office. He'd arrived in full bike leathers and when he took off his motorbike helmet and she saw his clear blue eyes, she thought she'd died and gone to heaven. From that moment on she knew she was in love and she was sure he felt the same. He lived with his brother in a flat in the centre of town, but it was only a matter of time before he asked her to marry him. And then they'd I've together, happy ever after, and everything would be amazing.

Character + conflict = plot?