Deception

Chapter 2

    The six am local news blasted on the television but Lee’s attention was elsewhere. She only slept for less than two hours even though she tried hard to fall back into sleep. Her eyes hurt from all the crying that she had hours before and finally she seemed to calm down. Though unbearable, she dragged herself out of the couch to call one of her subordinates to take over for her at the hospital.

    “Hello, Trina?” she asked.

    “My condolences, ma’am. I just read your e-mail about what happened. You don’t have to worry about anything. Take as much time as you need, ma’am,” Trina, one of the hospital’s clinical RND’s, replied.

    “You’re so sweet, thank you. But I’d rather be working my ass off tomorrow. I just need this day to tie some ends,” Lee replied to lighten the mood.

    “No problem-o. There aren’t many in-patients today. Don’t worry, I have Cathy and Blaire for the next shift.”

    “Alright, I appreciate this. Just call me when you need anything.”

    “Will do ma’am. Take care.” Then she ended the call. One down, she thought, as she checked her imaginary to do list.

    She then freshened up before going out to meet Eli’s best friend, Kris. Looking at herself in the mirror, she could see the dark circles hanging under her brown eyes. Instead of her usual light colored blouses, she chose to wear black shirt and pants as a sign of her grief. She did not even bother to comb her pixie cut brown hair and just grabbed her car keys before she went to Kris’ gallery.

    She arrived at a ten-story building. Most of its floors were rented for events such as Kris’ art and photography exhibit. Upon arriving at Kris’ floor which was on the third, she saw many people arranging frames and fixing the lighting but it was not hard for her to spot Kris among the crowd.

    Kris’ aquamarine eyes met hers as she walked inside. Like her, Kris was also wearing black and she concluded that the other also had a rough night. Kris usually tie her wavy blonde hair into a ponytail, but today, it hung loosely just above her shoulders.

    “You look like s**t,” Kris greeted her when she noticed Lee’s presence.

    “Well, you look shittier,” Lee replied. It only took Lee to hug Kris before Kris broke into a sob.

    “I can’t believe she took her own life. I was her best friend but I never knew how much she was suffering.” Everyone in the gallery steered away from the two, giving them their needed space. They must have learned about Eli’s passing, Lee supposed.

    The two walked around the gallery, conversing mostly about when they last saw Eli. Lee looked around while listening to Kris talk about what they needed to do for Eli’s funeral.

    Eli would have loved attending Kris’ exhibit opening. While Eli loved to design interior spaces, Kris’ art was more on photography and painting. Maybe that was why the two became best friends for more than half a decade.

    Two years ago, Lee moved into this town, Sta. Maria, to have a fresh start and to apply for a position in the main hospital. During that time, Kris was looking for a personal nutritionist and so she became Lee’s client and later on, her friend. It was also Kris who introduced Eli to her. Even though Kris became her client first, she connected with Eli more; another reason why she immediately agreed to be Eli’s nutritionist-dietitian six months ago.

    “Megan will fly from Pennsylvania this evening,” Kris informed her about Eli’s mother.

    “And her dad?”

    “James will be here tomorrow afternoon. He’ll also be flying from somewhere, I don’t really know. He travels a lot and besides, Eli’s not really close with him ever since her parents got divorced,” she answered.

    “Should we contact Elaine?” Lee asked, wondering about Eli’s only sister.

    “Elaine’s more like their father, travels a lot. Last I heard she’s in South Africa to help some kids there. Megan said she’d break the news to Elaine once she got a hold of her.”

    “The reception must be bad wherever she is.”

    “Guess so.”

    They left the gallery to Kris’ manager and went to the funeral homes to organize Eli’s viewing. Eli’s body was arranged to be transferred from the morgue to the funeral homes once it has been cleared by the police. All the while, Lee felt tensed, as if someone was watching them—her. But because she cannot spot anyone, she shrugged it off and thought that the lack of sleep is making her feel this way.

    On their way home Kris said, “Megan texted me. She’s in the airport waiting for her flight. I guess I still have time to cook for dinner before I pick her up.”

    “You sure you’d be fine?” Lee asked as she strapped herself in the seatbelt.

    “Yeah. But I think I need to buy some stuff in the grocery. Can we take a detour?”

    “Sure,” she replied. The uneasy feeling started again. She spotted a familiar black sedan that left the parking lot the same time they did. She even spotted it several times on her side-view mirror but she decided not to tell Kris. Maybe the driver was also going to the grocery, she thought. Besides, why would someone tail her? She chastised herself.

    She sighed in relief when she observed that the car no longer followed her after she dropped Kris off the grocery store. After parking her car, she went inside her apartment building.

    It was a simple five story U-shaped building with a wide space for parking at the back. It also had a flower garden in the middle of the right and left wing, which she could view while walking through the corridors.

    After taking the elevator, she entered her apartment which was on the top floor. It was small and cozy, and has space for the living room and kitchen, and also the bedroom which comprise her makeshift office and bathroom. The seafoam shade of the walls complemented her mahogany brown furniture set.

    She was about to stretch on the couch and watch some news, when she spotted that her mails were disarranged. The letters and packages for her were all placed on the shelf adjacent to her television, just beside the door. She browsed them earlier that day but never had the chance to open them, so she just arranged them by the date of arrival. Inspecting them now, they were not arranged the way she left them to be.

    Someone was here or had been here, she thought. She didn’t know what they were after so she decided to inspect the apartment. She held the nearest weapon that she could get which was an umbrella; and slowly walked around the living room, looking for something awry. She proceeded to the kitchen to get a knife, then she went to bedroom. She inspected her desk and her closet but everything were in place. The last place she visited was the bathroom, and nothing was misplaced.

    “What’s happening to me?” she sighed as she let her guard down. She tried to convince herself that the stress is making her paranoid and that nobody leafed through her mail. Maybe she really left them that way.

    Suddenly, she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps coming from the living room. She gripped the knife on her way out. She breathed heavily and was ready to attack when—

    “Whoa! Hey! It’s just me,” the man raised his hands as if in surrender.

    “Gabe, what the f**k?!” she exclaimed.