Chapter 4 - Serena
1642 Words
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He crouched down beneath the window of the house.
He made sure to remain out of sight.
No one would see him in the cover of darkness.
This b***h had ruined everything.
He peered through the window and watched the two women giggling and talking as if they hadn't destroyed his life.
His reputation was ruined, and he would make the brunette pay.
It was all her fault.
The short redhead disappeared from sight.
He took out the burner cell and hit speed dial...
***
‘Ring, ring.’
“Hello?”
Silence.
“Hello?”
Cursing, Serena disconnected the line.
“Was that the same person?” Tina called from the kitchen.
“I assume so. The numbers withheld so I have no idea who it is. They never say anything.” She was already annoyed, but this was making her worse.
It had only been two days since Chloe had spoken to the police. She hadn’t been to school at all and they’d heard nothing from her mum. Even though she was supposed to let it go now that it was out of her hands, she couldn’t help dwelling on it. She wondered what was happening with Keith now.
Was he arrested? Was he out on bail?
Whatever was going on she had to have faith that justice would come through.
She had told Tina everything that had happened with Chloe like she had told Tina back in college about what had happened to her. So, Tina understood why Serena was struggling with it all. Tina had decided ice cream was the perfect fix and disappeared into the kitchen.
While she waited for Tina to come back, she gazed around her living room.
She smiled at her interior decorating skills. That magazine she had read about ‘How to make the most of your home for minimal cost’ had helped a lot.
The room was a perfect square, in the top left corner of the room, there was the spiral staircase. It was made of solid oak and had been varnished with a deep mahogany tint. It didn’t take up loads of room, so she still had plenty of space to make herself at home. The floor was a soft white plush material. On the right wall separating the kitchen, she had a limestone fireplace and a marble mantelpiece. In front of the fire, she had a chocolate brown leather three-seater sofa and a comfortable armchair sat under the window. Her TV was mounted above the fire, and a small unit held her stereo, satellite box and router. The walls were a light latte brown colour and dotted with pictures of her family and friends along with shelves for displaying the knick-knacks she had collected over the years. She had bought every item herself. She loved her home.
‘Ring, ring.’
Growling Serena swiped answer without looking at the screen.
“Listen to me asshole – stop calling me!”
“Serena?”
“Ethan?” She gasped sitting up. She heard Tina squeal and rush into the room to listen to their conversation. “I’m sorry. Please don’t stop calling me.”
He chuckled. “I wasn’t planning to. But seriously – are you okay?”
“I’m fine, honestly. I’ve just had a few prank calls today that’s all.”
“Have you blocked the number?”
“I can’t, it’s withheld every time. Don’t worry it’s probably just a kid messing about.”
“Okay, well I’m just calling to check something. I know I wanted our first date to be a surprise, but I didn't want to mess up. How does Chinese sound for tomorrow?”
“That sounds perfect. Chinese is my favourite,” she confessed.
“Snap. Something we have in common already. I like that.”
“Me too, it’s a good sign. I will see you on Friday then.”
“Absolutely, I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Seven is perfect.” She put the phone down and looked up to see Tina grinning.
“What?”
“Come on. Ice cream can wait. We have so much to sort out. Starting with what you are going to wear.” Tina grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs.
She went willingly because truthfully, she needed all the help she could get. Her lack of dating expertise was scary, and she knew Tina was all but willing to treat her like a full-grown Barbie doll.
Serena sat down on the elegant, white four-poster bed in the middle of the room. Her bedding was a white and blue patchwork pattern. There was a matching set of white side tables on either side of the headboard. On her side sat a few of her favourite romance books and her iPad. She had a large white wardrobe which now had both doors wide open for Tina’s perusal. She had a matching set of drawers to the right of the wardrobe and all her make-up and perfumes were organised neatly on top.
Above that, she had a large rectangular mirror that had silver butterflies around the edges. Her carpet was a pale sky-blue colour, the walls a slightly darker blue to match. Rather than photographs she had a few pieces of artwork spread around the walls. One was of blossom tree branches blowing in the wind. The other two were scenic paintings, one of the coasts and beach, the other of the mountainside and hills. All three were painted by local artists according to the arts and crafts store she had bought them from when she first moved here.
Tina quite literally pulled all her potential outfits from her wardrobe. She made Serena stand and held an outfit up to her. She’d stand and stare, tilting her head to the left, then the right. She would be quiet for the longest time and then talk very quickly, not waiting for Serena to respond to anything.
“Not that green dress, it’s too revealing. You don’t want to reveal all the goodies too soon and not this pantsuit. It’s too formal. You’re going for dinner, so it needs to be pretty and classy, but not over the top.”
Serena groaned and buried her face in her hands, even though she meant well T made her feel more nervous with her rabbiting on like that.
On and on it went for a good half an hour until they both agreed on an outfit, she would be comfortable with and then moved on giving each other pedicures and manicures.
As Tina put the final touches to her toenails, Serena spoke up.
“Hey, I meant to ask. Where do you know Garrett from?”
“Garrett...” Tina blushed, which was unusual, and Serena waited for her to say more. “I’ve known him since I was a baby. We are from the same village in Scotland. He lived on the next plot of land from my folks. Our folks were friends so naturally, we became friends too.”
“No way, you've never mentioned him before. It’s mad he is here now.”
“I know. It killed me when he moved so I tried not to mention him much because it hurt. He was the best friend ever, except for you of course. He always looked out for me. I remember one time when I was about seven, he was nine, and we were playing in a field by the markets. Our parents were getting some bits from the stalls. I had an ice-pop and some older kid; he must have been a couple of years older than Garrett; he came over and stole it.” Her eyes twinkled at the memory, a small smile forming on her lips. “I was shouting at the boy to give it back and the boy pushed me over. Garrett didn’t like that. He stormed over and made him give it back and apologise to me.”
“And did he?”
“Yep, Garrett was a big lad even at nine. He easily looked older than what he was.”
“That’s pretty cool. I bet it was hard not seeing him all these years.”
“I’ve missed him like mad. He was my first crush, but I never told him. His dad cheated on his mum and then they moved away. We lost touch, and I know I never talked about him, but I've never forgotten him.”
They moved on and talked about old times, their college days and work. At eleven o’clock Serena stretched and yawned.
“Do you want to crash here tonight?”
“It is a bit late to be driving, and I’ve had a couple of glasses of wine so probably for the best,” Tina agreed.
Serena made up the spare bed and gave her a pair of yoga pants and a vest to sleep in. The clothes were much too big, but they would work for the night. In the morning Tina would head home before work to get changed as none of her clothes would fit for everyday use.
She went to bed smiling, the silent calls forgotten, and Ethan well and truly stuck in her mind. She wasn’t sure if she would sleep tonight. She felt like a teenager with how excited and nervous she was.
***
He watched from the shadows as the lights went out in the house.
Smoke billowed around him as he took a long drag on his cigarette.
All he could think about was getting revenge.
The calls had been alright to scare her some, but he needed more.
Hearing about her plans for Friday was a good place to start.
All he had to do was figure out how to make it work to his advantage...
***
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