Chapter Two
1099 Words
The nightmare always started the same way. His voice, firm, compelling and authoritative as smooth as glass sliding through the darkness like a blade.
"You never did know when to shut your damn mouth up, Alex."
She jerked upright off the bed, gasping and trying to catch her breath.
She swung her legs out of bed, drawing back as her bare feet touched the cold tiled floor. She heard his voice as though he was right next to her. Still feeling the dreadful weight of Damien's hand on her wrist, pulling, tightening, demanding. But it was all nightmare.
A small cluttered interior design studio if one could call it that, was modest, and situated between a laundry facility and a vaping products retailer. Her name was still stenciled on the door in soft gold: "Alex Monroe Interiors." A shadow of elegance trying to survive in a neighborhood that ate dreams for breakfast.
The heavy downpour had just stopped an hour ago, but still drizzling, and the air smelling like wet concrete and rust. Alex Monroe pushed open the studio door with her shoulder, handling a coffee cup in one hand and her satchel in the other. Her keys jingled as they hit the counter, echoing in the too quiet space.
Now it was just her. Alone in a room that always felt colder than it should.
She shrugged off her coat, hung it on the wobbly stand by the door, sat on the single seater couch and pulled open her laptop. A slow start to the morning. Emails. A message from her landlord about the late rent.
Inbox: seventeen unread emails. All unwanted.
Then came the doorbell ringing.
Alex didn’t look up at first, assuming it was from the vape store next door.
She kept on with the scrolling on the laptop.
Then again, the bell rings.
She froze for a second. She wasn’t expecting anyone. No delivery scheduled. No scheduled meeting.
The bell rang again the third time.
She hesitated before stepping to the door, peeking through the foggy glass.
A man stood outside. Tall, and nice-looking in a styled Giorgio Armani navy blue suit.
Alex had bolted the door closed as she just stepped in and was trying to set things up in the studio. She pulled the door open.
"Hello! Can I help you?" Alex asked.
"Yes please. Uh, This the design place?" Cal responded.
"Yes sir. Alex Monroe Interiors."
"And you're Alex Monroe right?" He asked, just to be certain.
She nodded, cautious. "Yes?"
"I'm Cal Turner, We've been emailing. Through Elise Hamilton?"
Realization clicked into place, Elise, a client from a project two months ago, right before the divorce, when Alex still pretended she had options. Elise had promised to pass her name around, but Alex had filed that under wishful thinking.
"You're that Cal Turner?"
"Guilty as spoken." he said. "Mind if I come in?"
"Sure, please! Come in. I'm sorry." Alex replied softly yet, cautiously.
She hesitated again. He didn't look like a threat, but appearances meant nothing. Damien had taught her that well.
Still, she stepped back and let the door swing open.
"Sorry," she said. "I wasn't expecting you in person."
"Yeah, that's right actually. I figured email wasn't cutting it anymore," Cal replied, scanning the space as he stepped in.
He was tall, maybe late thirties, with dark eyes and his skin looking polished. He looked like someone who is a real estate developer or an investment advisor. But his smile was easy.
"Elise never stopped talking about you and how you work professionally to deliver excellently. She swore your work didn’t suck. So, that’s promising."
Alex stared for a bit. Then slowly nodded. "High praise."
"Well, I got this little property a client of mine is opening up. A Café. Nothing fancy. More like, cozy. The budget’s tight, real tight, but I figured it might be worth asking?"
Her pride lit up like a pilot light, but didn't catch a sparkle. She needed the job.
"What's the budget ?" she asked.
Cal smile tilted, a little dry. "Modest."
Of course it was.
So she turned to her desk, pulled out a clipboard with a blank form. "I can send over an estimate based on square footage, material requests, and timeline."
He didn't take the clipboard. Instead, he leaned against the table and looked at her.
"I don't need you to pitch me," he said. "I've seen your work. Elise wouldn't shut up about you."
Alex blinked. She's quite good in interior decoration.
"I'm offering you the job," he said. "If you want it."
Just like that.
She didn't move nor speak. She just stared.
Because people didn't just offer her jobs anymore. Not without weeks of calls and payment chasing and polite rejection emails. Not since she lost the Valtor name and the glam that came with it. Not since the divorce finalized six months ago and she dropped off every high society radar she used to dominate.
"You haven't even seen a proposal."
Cal shrugged. "I don't need to. I like how you see spaces."
Alex wanted to believe him. But years with Damien had taught her to look for the hook behind every smile.
"so what's your timeline?" She asked.
He smiled yet again. "ASAP. Place opens in a month. I know it's last minute, but we'll work with what we got. The owner's kinda trusting me to handle the vibe stuff. I trust you. At least, Elise has spoken so well about your works."
"I'll take a look," she said, voice low.
Cal smiled. "I'm trusting you to deliver perfectly well. I’ll email you the specs."
He handed her his business card. Cal Turner. Real Estate and Investment advisor.
Alex almost smiled.
"Thanks, Cal."
He hesitated at the door. "You got taste, you know? Don’t let anyone make you feel small about it."
Then he left.
The sky was black by the time she made it home.
Back inside, she placed her sketchbook on home office table.
Quickly, she saw her divorce file staring her in the face.
Instead, she turned to her sketch, the café she could see in her mind like a safe haven.
Small space. Soft, comfy couch, tables spaced with intention, a corner for reading, a window seat for daydreaming. Somewhere people could breathe.
Clean lines, warm lights, hope disguised as design.
Could this be the new start for Alex?
Could this be the glimmer of her hope reaching the peak of its brightness again?
Phone ringing.........
"Hello!! is this Alex?"
Alex responded, "Yes it is. who am I on to?"
- Writer
