The day was shot. The sweltering heat killed any kind of motivation to do or enjoy anything. Add to that a broken air conditioner. The fans blew hot air around, so that idea didn’t help either. It was 11 pm Saturday night, and I still could not sleep. Having to wait until Monday for a repairman to come out and fix it felt more like two weeks instead of two days.
I swiped a piece of my long strawberry blond hair out of my eyes and propped my arm up on its elbow in front of the small fan on my bedside table. The air seeped through my fingers, tickling my cheek. The relaxing sensation it created caused my eyes to droop. A scent of roses floated by, if ever so very faint. The rose bush outside my open bedroom window did its job well. Then my eyes flew open. My window wasn’t open. Something shifted in the corner to my left, and I froze. Silence followed…then a weight flopped onto the bed and pounce on me with a lick on the cheek.
“Oh, Brandy. You silly dog. You scared me to death.” My three-year-old golden retriever let out a bark and licked my cheek once more in response. I wrestled her off of me and motioned to the end of the bed. She complied and all was quiet again.
I thought about the new job developer, Dan Hastings. He was charming with his sandy, brown hair that swept below the hair line and dark brown eyes, like velvet. The moment they looked at you, they knew you. At least that’s what it felt like. He appeared commanding with a straight nose and a look of such self-control. Perfect, he appeared perfect. Too perfect in my estimation. Rumor had it that he was a wiz with the computer. My cell phone startled me. Who could be calling at this hour?
Lord knows why I answered it, but I did. “Hello.”
“Shhhh. . . don’t say a word, my love,” said the screechy voice.
“Who is this? You have the wrong number,” I replied.
Whoever it was, hung up. A shiver swam down my spine. I tucked my arms into my chest as I peered around my dark bedroom. To calm myself, I chalked it up as the heat causing people to do crazy things.
Again, the phone rang.
I thought of giving whoever it was a piece of my mind. It rang a second time. Maybe not. I decided to ignore it. It rang a third and fourth time. The display read unknown caller. Again, I decided to let it go and not answer. The ringing continued. Odd, why wasn’t it going to voice mail? I picked the phone up once more. This time I swiped left to hang it up. Then I turned it off. I thunked my head back onto the pillow, blew out a breath, and rested my arm across my eyes.
Then the blaring ring from my land line startled me.
(To Be Continued)
WRITE TIME AND AGAIN 