Love comes knocking

Carl comes knocking

There was a loud bang on the door, followed by shouting. “Christine? I know you’re both in there! Open this door now!” I heard Carl’s angry voice shouting and I instantly felt nervous.

“I am not letting a mad person into my apartment. I’m calling security if you don’t calm down right now,” Christine bravely answered.

“Please. I just want to speak with my fiancé,” he said in a soft pleading voice. I’m not going to lie: My body reacted instantly to the voice, feeling sorry for him, and wanting to comfort him. Christine sent me a worried look as she walked over to the window and activated the panic button. Her boyfriend, Luke, had ordered a first-class security system after a series of break-ins in their neighborhood last year. The security company could be here in just five minutes now and I only hoped that both the door and myself could resist Carl for that long.

“Christine? Sally?” Carl spoke again, a little more hesitant this time. “Go away, Carl, there’s no fiancé here,” Christine answered calmly and firmly. I was sitting quietly on my chair admiring my friend. She really seemed to be on top of the situation, while I was sitting here feeling like a train wreck. We heard a large noise from the door, as if Carl was lunging himself on it. “I will f*****g break this door if you don’t open it,” he shouted. Christine and I looked at each other in horror. Would he be able to smash his way into her apartment?

“Sir? Please step away from the door.” The sound of a new strong voice on the other side of the door filled me with hope. He seemed to lower his voice as the sounds muffled and I could no longer follow the conversation.

Carl, however, was not giving in, and I could hear him shouting “She’s kidnapped my fiancé!” More muffled conversation continued and Christine and I looked at each other, both nervously waiting for the voices to disappear completely.

Christine looked over at me and whispered “Are you sure you don’t want to speak with him?” I shook my head. I was filled with all sorts of emotions, from anger to regret to feeling betrayed, and I needed some time to sort it all out before seeing Carl face to face.

We sat there silently for a few minutes, lost in our own thoughts before someone knocked on the door again. We both jumped and looked anxiously at each other. Christine’s phone rang and we could see on the display that it was the security company.

Christine answered and I only heard her side of the conversation. “Hi, It’s Christine.. Uhuh… OK… I see…. Wait, I’ll open the door and we can all join in the conversation.”

She put down the phone and got up from the yellow armchair she was sitting in. While gesturing for me to follow her, she made her way towards the door. I got up from the matching yellow couch and followed her, but tried to hide behind her as she opened the door. I really hoped Carl wouldn’t be there!

A buff-looking security guard in full uniform was standing on the other side of the door. “Hi there, miss Robinson. As I was saying, we have escorted the fellow off the premises, but I’m not sure he’s going to stay away for long. He was quite adamant that you had kidnapped his fiancé!”

“I’m not kidnapped,” I heard myself saying.

Christine giggled. “He’s just upset he can’t have his way. Thank you so much for taking care of the situation.”

Mr security guard was looking at us hesitantly and then said: ”Well if you ask me… Seems there was some kind of lover’s spat. Maybe it would be better if you talked to him?”

I drew my breath. I knew I had to talk to Carl sooner or later but now was not the time.

“And we will speak to him. Later. Many thanks for helping us,” Christine answered firmly.

The guard nodded, turned around, and walked down the staircase. Christine closed the door and we looked at each other.

“Some kind of lover’s spat,” I mumbled and we both started laughing hysterically, both relieved that Carl had left for the time being.

Laughing helped us calm down and we sat down in the living room again, completely exhausted. My back ached and I felt like I had ran a marathon. “I need a distraction, please,” I told Christine. I knew that she had all kinds of fun stories to tell, and I wanted to hear something different now.

“Oh, wait till you hear this,” she said, eyes suddenly beaming, and her chin perked up. “You will NEVER EVER guess who I will be working with for a few months!”

Christine was a highly talented and hard-working writer, mostly writing TV dramas and occasionally dipping her pen in comedies or movies. She worked from home and I could not understand why she didn’t relocate to a bigger city or even L.A. to be closer to the industry. I was sure she’d be a great success and get the chance to work on even bigger things if she put herself out there!

Christine, however, insisted that she enjoyed life where she was. She traveled a lot, to premieres or meetings and such, so I guess she did get to live the glamorous life from time to time. Truth be told, she had worked with some big names on exciting projects even living off the grid, so to speak.

“Umm… I don’t know..” Christine was looking at me, looking like she was about to burst out with the greatest news in the world. And I had no idea how to respond. I swallowed and took a chance. “Umm, what’s that local talent who everyone thinks will be the next diva in the movie world? Maybe you’ll be helping her?” It was the best I could come up with right now.

Christine could not contain herself any longer: ”Will Grimes! I’ll be working with Will Grimes”

And that’s when I almost fainted again. WILL f*****g GRIMES? He had been my celebrity crush since forever. He had it all: Tall musculous body, black hair, golden brown eyes, handsome smile. “Are you kidding me? Please tell me this is true,” I said eagerly, already drooling by the thought of him in my hometown.

“I’m picked to do some work on his next movie project. He’s coming here to work with me! And you’ll be working with him, too!”