Sisters, Secrets and The Stalker

This is the story of three best friends - Tiana, Mari and Cleo - who have known each other their entire childhood. Tiana has been unlucky in love - single for two years since Todd, her narcisistic ex. Her adoptive sister Mari and her best friend Cleo suggest she joins a dating site - Cleo met Kyle there, her new firefighter boyfriend, and thinks it would be great for her. It’s margarita night for the girls and they get busy adding Tiana to a dating site, but they are in for a shock when Mari’s husband Ben messages Tiana. But all is not as it seems and pretty soon the search for love turns into the search for a dangerous stalker with a dark obsession, connecting the friends in a way none of them could ever have imagined. .................................... Tiana’s POV The dream was heavy and suffocating. I was running towards a door that kept shrinking, the handle slipping through my fingers every time I reached for it. I could hear a heartbeat, but I wasn't sure if it was mine or the house's. It was a rhythmic, thudding sound that eventually morphed into something sharper, something more mechanical. I turned around and saw a face – Ben’s face – but the eyes were wrong. They weren’t the kind, familiar eyes of the boy I’d shared a sandpit with at primary school. They were eerie, dark, bottomless pits. Buzzzzzzzzz. The sharp shrill of the intercom jolted me upright, my heart hammering against my ribs. For a confused second, I didn't know where I was. The room was bathed in the hazy, dim orange of the streetlights filtering through the blinds, casting slatted shadows across the hardwood floor of my Fellsdello Penthouse. I glanced at the antique clock on the mantelpiece. 8:00 p.m. My quick post-work nap had turned into a two-hour coma. "Damn it," I whispered, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I scrambled off the sofa, straightened my rumpled blouse, and hurried to the door. "Hello?" "Hey, girl!" Marissa and Cleo chimed in perfect, practised harmony. "Hiya! Come on up," I trilled, pressing the button to release the secure door downstairs. As soon as I released the button, the silence of the penthouse rushed back in. I loved them, truly, but tonight I felt a strange heaviness – a prickle on the back of my neck that I couldn't quite shake. It was the residue of the dream, I told myself. It had to be. Before heading to the kitchen, I walked to the window and peered through the slats of the blinds. The street was quiet, but tonight, it felt off. Below, a lone car sat idling under a flickering streetlamp. Its headlights were off, but the exhaust curled into the chilly autumn night air like ghostly fingers. I watched it for a beat too long – waiting for a door to open or for it to pull away – but it just sat there. A dark, silent sentinel. I shook off the paranoia. Stop being a character in one of your own books, Tiana. I flew into the kitchen to prepare the margaritas. By the time I heard the thunder of footsteps on the stairs, I was already rimming glasses with sea salt. The door burst open, yielding to the sheer force of Cleo and Marissa’s arrival. "Honey, we’re home!" Cleo announced. She was a pocket-sized powerhouse, her stylish cream blazer contrasting with her vibrant pink-tipped braids. Marissa followed close behind, lugging a massive overnight bag. My adoptive sister looked exhausted, her thick, fiery red hair pulled into a messy bun that was losing a fight with gravity. We fell into a three-way hug in the doorway – a chaotic tangle of perfume, laughter, and the shared history of a lifetime. "You look exhausted, Ti," Mari noted, her icy blue eyes holding the deep-seated weariness that only comes with motherhood. "I fell asleep on the sofa," I defended. "I was reading the Taylor manuscript." "You work too hard," Cleo said, already reaching for the tequila bottle. "And Mari, don't talk to me about exhaustion," I added, leading them towards the kitchen island. "How’s maternity leave?" Mari let out a hollow laugh, dropping her bag onto the floor with a heavy thud. "A scam. I miss my office. Ben is working from home tonight with Greg, supposedly watching the kids, but they are buried in their screens. Honestly, it feels like I’m living with a stranger who just happens to have Ben’s face." A chill raced down my spine. A stranger with Ben’s face. The words echoed my dream perfectly. "He’ll come round," Cleo said firmly, sliding a margarita towards Mari. "But tonight is about us. And more importantly, it is about fixing Tiana's non-existent love life." We migrated to the oversized L-shaped sofa. Cleo immediately took charge, pulling out her phone with a predatory glint in her eye. "You haven't been on a date since Todd," Cleo stated, tapping at her screen. "And we all agreed he was technically a sociopath. I am setting you up on a social app. I met my new boyfriend there. It will be good for you." "I’m happy as I am," I argued. "Why would I want to ruin that by inviting a stranger into the mix?" "Because you're twenty-seven, beautiful, and starting to talk to your houseplants," Cleo said, holding her phone up. "Stop making excuses! Smile!" Before I could protest, the flash of Cleo’s phone blinded me. "Beautiful!" she chirped. "You look like a deer in headlights, but in a 'rescue me' kind of way. Perfect for the profile. Now, let's find you a match."