Carter's Beloved

My beloved

"I'm telling you, I didn't do it!" Samuel shrieks from his desk. I roll my eyes and sit down across his desk, in a black chair. His office is small and cramped, filled with papers and documents. Blue eye bags are visible from underneath his eyes, and a stale stench of coffee lingers.

"Haha, really funny. I told you I didn't believe you. What are you going to get out of this? What did you expect? That I would hide in my house, after getting one stupid email." I snap at him, and he flinches. His hair look rough and unkempt' the work load seems to be getting to him.

"Look, why would I care about a b***h who killed my brother? Matter of fact, I wish I as the one who jammed my car into yours. I would have done it better so you wouldn't be sitting in front of me right now." He retorts back. Folding my arms, I glare at him. It makes sense for him to do this. His mother already believes that I killed Colin, which I didn't, and dad's decision seems to be getting nearer and nearer, time is running out. He must act now.

He shakes his head and stands up in fury.

"You know what? Get out. I didn't expect anything better from you. My brother's dead and you're paranoid about someone following you. Wake up woman, you're not that important!" He screams and motions for me to leave his office. Gladly. Grabbing my handbag, I walk out of the congested room, confused. 

Samuel's look on his face when he spoke to me, was stubborn as ever but he did not show any sign of being embarrassed about me knowing about someone stalking me. He must be speaking the truth, but if not him, then who?

Wondering about this, I step outside of the building and towards my car. My phone rings, and I pick up the phone call.

"Hello. Madison? Want to get dinner with me right now? I know it's bit out of the blue." carter says timidly over the phone. I smile and climb inside my car. The exterior is black and matte. I've been dreaming to buy this car even since I was a child. Well, I finally purchased it now.

After agreeing to meet him, I leave for my company, only to arrive at the restaurant we decided on 3 hours later. Carter sits at a table with a good view of the city, and looks up when I walk near him. I sit down and grab a menu, hoping that he didn't see me blushing.

If we weren't working together, I would have taken this as a date. Smiling to myself, we place our orders and when the waiter walks away, Carter starts to talk.

"Well, you must be wondering why I called you here today." He says in a professional manner and I laugh heartily. He smiles knowingly and continues in a long winded series of advice to protect me.

"You must also find it odd that an assistant is caring so much, but personally after receiving that phone call, my conscience doesn't feel at ease knowing that I'm leaving you all alone." He says. I nod, and welcome the appearance of my food being carried by the waiter.

"So what do you want to do about it? Most people wouldn't brother, ignore that phone call as a prank, because at the end of the day, I'm not going to pay you extra for protecting me." I tease. He smirks and grabs a fork to dig into his pasta.

"I don't know why, but it feels like I've known you for my entire life." Carter says. I stop mid bite, in my ham burger and putting it down, cough loudly. Wiping my mouth with a napkin, I look at him.

"A lot of people tell me that. I like to think my personality is generic. Many employees aren't that frank with their bosses." I tease him again. Apparently, I have a lot of fun annoying people around me. Carter, having experienced this many times in his life, him knowing the recent ones but unaware of our past.

"You need me. Daniel isn't coming back any time soon, so I'm not that worried about being fired." He says, and I admire him for his nerve. Carter is speaking the truth, which I must accept. 

"So you called me here to tell me to not go near black SUVS, carry pepper sprays and have a bodyguard with me all times? Sorry to say, but I already do all of that." I say, placing a fry in my mouth. He smiles, and we share a moment.

"Hey, it's nothing to be laughing about!" He scolds at me, but I keep laughing. The people around us must think I'm losing my mind. Carter gives up trying to contain me and eats his food silently. After finishing dinner, he follows me to my car and waves, as I sit inside.

I step outside, and he stops waving, surprised. I walk towards him and standing right in front of him, stepping in his personal space, say.

"Thanks for everything. Saving my life from that man." I say quietly and leaning on my tippy toes, I lean further until I can feel his hot breath on my face and kiss his cheek. His whole face turns red and he blushes sweetly. Taking a few steps back, my gaze still fixed on Carter, who seems to be steadily resembling the appearance of a sweet potato. 

After getting in my car and strapping my seat belt, I drive off quickly, not wanting to second guess my actions. My head hurts but strangely, I've never felt more happy. My cheeks heat up thinking about it. I wonder about what our relationship is now, where to draw borderlines. This is not what I wanted. I shouldn't have done that.

My grip strengthens on the steering wheel and my head feels heavier than before. Driving home, I form a plan. Don't become too close to Carter, you'll have to tell him everything one day, and he'll leave you because of what you did.

Taking deep breaths, I step inside my house, completely unaware to the shadow standing near the gate, concealed in darkness.

Carter P.O.V

I watch her car drive off, and stand in the same spot for a long while, until my face has cooled down. Walking away from the restaurant,  feeling a sense of deja vu, that I have felt these emotions for another person a long time ago.

Shaking my head, I pull a cigarette out of my pocket and light it, standing on the edge of the street. I inhale the fumes and soon the smoke has cleared my mind. Throwing the left cigarette in a trash can, I call Dad. He picks up on the last ring.

"Hey, dad. Were you busy?" I ask, while walking towards the subway.

"No, no. Just was taking a walk." He mumbles so quietly, that I need to stop to listen to his words.

"Why are you whispering so much? Did I call at a wrong time?" I ask. I hear the sound of him moving, taking deep breathes.

"Oh it's nothing. You know the countryside is scary at night. No one knows what's around. I think I'll go back home now. Talk to you later, son." He says in the same quiet tone and hangs up, before I have a chance to say goodbye. I stare at my phone for a while, then accept the crazy turn of events and head home.

I click on the number that called me, but it's a private one, so I have no way of knowing who called me. Later, at home, I flick through the old collected piles of photo albums to find the picture I was looking for.

Staring at the familiar photo of me standing next to a girl with waist length hair and brown eyes. Both of us were laughing when the picture was captured, this was one of the last pictures I took with her. Remembering something, I look around in the cardboard box where I pulled the album out of, to find an old leather-back diary. 

Pulling it out to the page where I once wrote ages ago, I thought when would I ever read these things to Madison, the friend I lost.

Putting the diary back, I made a decision. I need to forgot her. She left years ago, and I doubt she even remembers me. Nothing good comes out of living in the past. I turn my thoughts back to the Madison who I actually know, and wondered why she kissed me. Thinking about it, I climb into bed.

My dreams are filled with nightmares from the night I found someone digging in our garden as our child, and wake up in cold sweats. Getting a glass of water, I shiver and pull a blanket around myself, wondering when will I get the result of the DNA about the bag of bones I found, and if it is related to Mother.

It can't be father,  I tell myself over and over again, yet I find myself not sure. He's been behaving unusually for the past few months and has been busy all the time. Strangely, he was always free before this.