Kenneth really wasn’t being himself recently. After the night he and Marsha had had an argument, he had been acting so weird. I needed to know what was going on in his mind, but that didn’t seem to be possible. Anytime I wanted to speak with him, he’d ignore me. This was kind of upsetting.
“Serene, I think I’ll be leaving now.” He dropped a few papers on the counter. Taking his small, leather backpack from the stool beside the counter, he slung it over his shoulder, and sighed. “Will catch up with you tomorrow. Have a good night.”
As he was about to leave, I stopped him, “Kenneth, wait,” I said.
“Hm?” He turned around, his eyebrows raised at me.
I walked to him, and sighed when I stood in front of him. “Guess I’ll have to ask the same question over again. What’s going on with you?”
“It’s fine.” He glimpsed at the floor, giving me a small smile. “I’m fine. Really. Stop worrying about me, okay?”
“O-Okay.” I nodded. Well, I guessed it was better to respect his privacy. Though I knew he wasn’t fine, I wouldn’t be nosy in his matters.
“Ken, are you leaving now?” Marsha walked to us. She had a calm look on her face, her eyelids wrinkled like she was exhausted. Of course, she was.
Speaking of Marsha, goodness knew what had gotten into her. She wasn’t as crazy as usual, and in fact, she wasn’t teasing me in any way. I had a feeling she was suffering from an emotional breakdown.
The moment Kenneth had heard her voice, he put on a stern look. He set his eyes on me, exhaled loudly. “Goodnight, Serene.”
Saying that, he turned around, and left the store immediately. Worried, I turned to Marsha who put her eyes down. She played with her fingers, slowly pulling her leg back and forth, as if she was sketching something on the floor.
“You’re okay?” I asked her. I tried as much as possible to speak softly.
She looked up at me, a small smile on her lips. “Guess so.” Whoops, her voice was so low. She was obviously hurt. “Thanks for your concern.”
“Hm.” I nodded.
She was about walking away, but for some reason, she halted in her position. She looked at me past her shoulder, and cleared her throat. “You’re lucky, to be honest. I once had the opportunity, but, I— Never mind.”
“Huh?” I narrowed my eyes, trying to understand her words.
She sighed. “Sorry. Goodnight.”
With that, she just walked to the door which led to Mrs. Stanley’s office. Confused, I cocked my eyebrows. Something was going on with these people.
About packing my stuff so I’d head home, my phone beeped, indicating I had gotten a text from someone. I pulled the phone from my pants’ pocket, and clicked on the text notification. Seeing it was from Ryan, I smiled.
“Hey, baby.
To celebrate our one week anniversary, we should go on a date. Mind coming to my house this evening? I’m not gonna be working tonight. And, guess who has a surprise for you?”
I giggled, and texted back, “Will be at your place soon. Lots of love.”
Heaving, I slid the phone into my pocket, and prepared to leave the store.
***
As usual, the building of Ryan’s condominium was silent. The hallways’ walls which were beautified by the large portraits of nature and landscape, together with the green carpets on the floor, always made the place feel so homey.
Only a few steps away from Ryan’s door, I bumped into someone. I yelped, and turned to the person I had bumped into. I was about to apologize to the person, but my lips remained motionless when I saw Sherri.
“Sherri?” I called.
She rolled her eyes, a simper forming on her lips. “Nice to see you, Ryan’s peanut.”
I sighed in irritation. “What now? And, what’re you even doing here? Had thought Ryan said you shouldn’t come over?”
She shrugged. “True. That’s why I came here for a different reason. A good one.”
“What’re you planning to do now?” I enquired.
She linked her arms on her chest, her smirk widening. “Something you wouldn’t like to hear.”
“Woman…” I scoffed. I curled my arms around my chest as well, and stepped close to her. Not wanting to be intimidated by her, I smirked too. “If you’ve come to claim Ryan, then you need to know that that won’t be possible anymore. Cause, I’m with that man now. He’s mine, I’m his.”
She let out a sinister laughter. A very threatening one. “Ah! What a joke. What makes you think I’ll let go of him?”
“Girl, are you this obsessed with him?” I squinted my eyes at her. I was really surprised to hear her say that. “You shouldn’t force love. Ryan really loves me. There’s nothing that’d make him like you.”
“Hm… You seem so clueless,” she mocked.
“Pardon?” I raised an eyebrow at her.
She sighed as if she was indifferent to this discussion, then began playing with her fingers. “Well, hun, you see, I’m always a step ahead of you.”
“In what way?” I demanded. I could sense something fishy.
She sniggered. “Had thought you’re smart. But no, I was wrong.”
“Go straight to the point.” I glared.
She made that I’m-such-a-badass look, her lips pursed. “You remember the night you and Ryan got filmed? Girl, I did that. Ryan’s fucking aunt wasn’t there. I was disguised as the old woman you saw that day. I seemed so nice, right?”
“Wh-What?” I stuttered in a whisper, my jaw dropped in disbelief of what I had heard her say.
She shrugged. “I filmed you guys, and sent it to Raymond. That night, I’d come to his place to install a camera in his living room and bedroom. I knew you were coming, so I disguised myself as the old chic you saw.”
“Are you crazy?!” Extremely furious, I gripped her arm, pulled her to me, shooting her with dangerous glares. “For goodness’ sake, you’re a woman. You ruined my reputation at Twinkle Stars! No one believed that I was innocent! And, I… got fired.”
Unexpectedly, she threw her head back, and burst out laughing. After laughing like a lunatic for a while, she pulled her arm off my grip, resumed smirking.
“Point of correction…” She poked my arm with her index finger, then flipped her long, blonde hair past her shoulder. “I’m not a typical woman. I’m a pained woman with a dark past. I’m a woman who’s in love with only one man. I’m a woman with a heart of stone. I’m a woman who can… do anything to get what she wants.”
I furrowed my eyes at her, so surprised to see her this way. Upset, I stated in a whisper, “You won’t gain anything from this. Work on yourself instead. Please.”
She cleared her throat, her shoulder standing upright. “It’s too late, be-be. Rather than lecture me, get ready for some battles. Cause, this bitch ain’t leaving her man. Goodnight, moi dear. Lots of hate, enemy.”
Sputtering that, she walked away, leaving me speechless. I couldn’t believe this. I had always known that she liked Ryan, but I hadn’t expected her to like him this much. That man was mine!
Trying to be oblivious to her words, I walked to Ryan’s door. I pressed the doorbell, waiting for him to answer me. Slowly, the door beeped, signifying that it would open soon. I could easily enter his door code and walk in, but what if I walked in, and saw him naked or something. Ryan could be crazy sometimes.
With a smile, I waited for the door to open. And, as soon as it opened up, I swallowed up my smile. My eyes stuck out of their sockets, my heart slipping to my stomach. My breath ceased for a while, and for sure, I knew this was my last day on Earth.
Four dogs, all standing by the threshold of the door. Not just a random breed of dog. Tall German Shepherd dogs. How in the world had they gotten here?
One of the dogs growled. The moment it did that, the other three dogs growled as well.
I chuckled awkwardly, and stammered, “H-Hey, dogs? You wanna eat a bone or something?”
And then, they began barking. Not knowing what to do, I stepped backwards.
Okay. This was it. I would run like never before. Even faster than the night a dog had wanted to attack Ryan and I.
“One, two…” I counted in a whisper. “Three!”
Hollering that last number, I turned sideways, and began running. And, of course, the dogs began chasing me. Helpless, I screamed as I ran, ” Mommy! Come and help me!”
This was crazy and embarrassing, but my life was more important than my charisma.
Wait, in the first place, what were the dogs doing in Ryan’s house? Gosh, had they eaten him already! Oh, no! Sherri must have done this! She must have asked the dog to kill Ryan.
My poor Ryan. I hoped he was still alive.
—