The next morning the sun was peering through my window, leaving me momentarily blinded. When my focus came back, I saw someone slowly drop down from the bedroom window. That was impossible. I was on the second floor. “I need to stop imagining things before I go crazy,” I said aloud. I walked to the window and looked out, seeing no evidence that anyone had been near my house. The lock was intact. I relaxed and sat back on my heavenly cloud. I stretched the sleep away while admiring the beautiful morning.
“Morning. I thought we could go to lunch today,” I heard my sister say as I walked out of the bathroom, rubbing my hair dry with a towel.
“I have to go to work early today.” I yelled to the bottom of the stairs.
She held her head down. “Maybe some other time?”
“Um, sure.” Okay, so I lied. I didn’t have to be at work until much later, but the last thing I wanted to do was hang out with them.
She climbed the stairs. “Um, someone came by the house for you this morning.”
“Really? Who?” I asked, surprised. No one ever came to visit me, except Myra. She would have called first and then let herself in, so I knew it wasn’t her. Besides, Shannon knew her.
“I don’t know, but it was a guy.” Her voice turned low and excited. “He was cute. I’d like to sink my teeth into him.”
“Ewe… gross... Aren’t you with Jake?”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t look. Who is he?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Did he leave his name?”
“Name? No… I guess he didn’t.”
“Oh, what did he look like?”
“Black curly hair, rock hard body… Mmmm,” she moaned with desire.
The pit of my stomach sank to the floor.
“What’s the matter, Vessi? You look sick. Here, sit down.” Before I knew it, I was in my room. Shannon had guided me to the bed. It had to be the guy from the bar. How did he find my house? Why?
“How did he find me?” I murmured to myself.
“Ves, what’s wrong? Who was that guy?” The concern on my face was worse than I intended.
“How did he find my house?” I mumbled.
“I doubt it was much of a challenge. Who is he?”
I composed myself. “Nothing’s wrong. I—I have to go to work.” I stammered. “It’s fine. Everything’s fine.” I was attempting to convince myself more than her.
I hopped in the car to head to pick up Myra. Spotting her on the porch, I realized that I had arrived. I had no recollection of the drive.
Myra hopped into my car. “Hey, I can pick you up, you know.”
“Well, good morning to you too, Sunshine,” I sarcastically replied. “Yeah, I know, but it gave me an excuse to leave early.”
“I see you’re in a pleasant mood.”
I ignored her. “Where to?” I headed to the main road.
“Well, we have five hours. And it’s a beautiful sunny day. I say.” She pretended to think as if I didn’t already know what was on her mind. “Shopping and then lunch.”
“So predictable.” I rolled my eyes. “I’d feel better if we grabbed lunch in Springdale. Shannon suggested we go to lunch today. I don’t want to be too close to town in case she still decides to go out. An accidental run in would not be a good thing today.”
“Oh, good. I want to stop by Brown’s and get a dress. There was this certain sequin number in the window the other day.”
“ Yeah? This ought to be good. Go ‘head.”
“Well,” she began excitedly. “It’s super short. I mean like really short. Black. Sparkly. Did i mention it’s really cute?”
“And by cute you mean sexy,” I interjected.
“Of course,” she sang.
“Myra.”
“Yes.”
“Do you ever feel like you’re being stalked?” I asked, trying to seem nonchalant.
“No. What kind of question is that? Are you stalking me?” She leaned toward me, nudged my shoulder, and giggled. “I am stalkable.”
“Ha… ha… ha… real funny. I was just asking.”
The truth was I normally felt stalked. Ever since my dad died when I was a kid, I could feel a presence. I had always imagined he was still watching over us. Most kids imagined their absent parent was still around. It was never a bother until the last couple of weeks.
“Well, do you want to elaborate? What’s been going on that makes you feel stalked?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on,Vessi. Dish,” she begged.
“I’m sure it’s just the stress of having unwelcome guests in my house. That’s about when it all began. I’m imagining things.” I didn’t elaborate to save her from freaking out on me.
We walked into Othello’s Italian Eatery. The hostess provided a warm welcome, immediately seating us in a booth. “Is this okay, ladies?” she asked with a polite smile.
“Sure,” we both agreed.
“Your waiter will be with you shortly. Enjoy.”
“Do you know what you want, Myra?”
“Nope.” She held up the menu. “I haven’t opened it yet.”
“Hello, I’m Noah, and I’ll be your waiter.” I looked up to see a blond, curly-haired, green-eyed guy standing in front of our table.
“Hello,” I said.
“Today’s special is Salmon Basil Pasta. May I start you off with drinks?”
“We will have Dr. Pepper and one order of Italian nachos, please,” Myra said, flirtatiously.
“Coming up,” he said as he stepped away.
“Noah’s really cute. You should ask him out, Ves.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Why so?”
“He’s cute annnnd….” she lowered her voice. “He was looking at you.”
“You’re hilarious.” I laughed lacking emotion. “Since you think he’s so cute then maybe you should ask him out,” I suggested.
“Vessi, are you
