Anna’s concentration was interrupted by a knock on the door, that was when it called to her attention the time. It was past 6pm already, she needed to be on her way back from the office. With a little sigh, she closed the computer screen and stood up.
“Who is there?” she muttered, wondering if she had really heard a knock or it was her ears deceiving her.
There was no response and so she had to go check for herself. Annabel walked down to the door and slowly opened it. She looked from the left side of the hallway to the right but there was no one there, it was silent like a graveyard. Anna was confused, she was quite sure she had heard the doorbell ring.
Ready to step back inside and round things up for the day, her eyes caught something of interest. There was a package at the foot of the door and an envelope beside it. Her heart skipped and she looked around again to be sure.
“Hello? Anyone there?” she muttered, but no response came from the empty hallway.
Annabel first picked up the package, a foul smell hit her nose and she coughed. What smelt so horrible? She opened the package and took a peek.
“Arghhh!!” she screamed and dropped it on the floor, jumping back in fear. “Oh My God!” she yelled.
It was a dead rat!! Who the hell would send a fucking dead rat to her office door? Still shaking in her boots, Annabel picked up the envelope; there was a letter inside of it, she unfolded it and the first thing that caught her eyes was the blood stamp. Whoever wrote this letter had thought it necessary to print their thumb with blood.
“Got my present? I am sure the message is clear, stay off my man, or you will end up like that poor pregnant rat.”
Anna’s heart skipped the moment she read that. Pregnant Rat? This had to be Linda? So she knew about the pregnancy? Did she just threaten her life? how did she even get in here without running into the security?
Annabel stepped inside and closed the door immediately, fear engulfing her. What if Linda was still lurking around? What if she tries to hurt her?
Her first instinct was to call Mr. Blackwood. Only Maxwell can be able to protect her from this maniac, even with the first attempt on her life, Anna wasn’t as scared of Linda as she was now; the bitch was crazy!
“Hey Love, are you home?” Maxwell’s voice came through the phone as she paced around; Annabel could tell that he was stressed but she had to ignore and lay her complaint, this was her life in danger.
“Max, we have a problem. Your psychiatric Ex-girlfriend wants to kill me!” Anna screamed.
“Okay, relax! What is going on? What did Linda do this time?”
“She fucking sent a dead rat to my office and a threat to kill me if I don’t stay away from you, I swear she had lost her freaking mind!”
“Just relax, Annabel, take a deep breath!” Maxwell urged.
“No, I can't relax!! Someone is trying to kill me and you are asking me to relax? She is insane, I have no idea how she got past security or how she even got away, what if she is still hanging around? What if she tries to harm me?”
“I know you are scared, Anna. But please just calm down, do it for the baby.” Maxwell said and she held her tummy immediately.
“My baby! She is going to kill my baby!” she yelled as she paced around the office.
“Oh shit! Stop panicking, Linda wont do that, she is smarter than that. You know what? I am on my way, just stay put, lock the door until I get there, do you trust me?”
Annabel nodded, even though he could see her. “Okay,” she muttered reluctantly.
“Good girl, I will be there before you know it.” He assured.
** **
Dressed in an elastic light blue gown that showed a bit of her cleavages, Jennifer Gilbert showed up at Marshall’s door quarter past 7pm. She carefully fixed her gown here and there before pushing the doorbell.
Although she always knew where he lived, this was her first time here. A minute after she pushed the doorbell, the door was pulled open and she came to face the sexiest man she had ever seen in an Apron.
“Jen?” he muttered in surprise, sweat rolling down his face as he quickly wiped it with his lower arm, revealing a lot of his muscles.
“You look surprised to see me, did you change your mind?’ she asked with a small smile, trying to stay focused. It was just difficult to concentrate with all of those muscles showing, the heat trailing down his sharp jawline, he smelled like Thanksgiving turkey.
“No! Noo! It is just that you said 8pm, I didn’t expect you so early.” He smiled, shining his whitish teeth at her, making her heart skip a beat.
‘Okay Jen, focus! We are just here for the food and some company’ her inner woman yelled at her.
“Oh, did I? My bad, I thought I said 7pm, I can leave if you want me to,” she made to turn.
“What? Of course not, please come in,” he urged and stepped out of the way. “Forgive the mess, I am almost done anyway.
Jennifer hummed with a bit of arrogance and stepped into his abode. The truth is that she was aware of the time she had told him, she just thought she would show up earlier and catch him unfresh. But if this is what unfresh looked like, then she loved it.
As she walked into his duplex, a sweet aroma hit her nose but she played cool; she was already impressed, she loved a man she smelled nice, not just him but his entire house.
“Please sit down, I will join you shortly.” He said as he pointed to the cushion.
“Hmm, thank you,” she said, acting unimpressed. She had to touch the cushion first to check for dust particles and after satisfaction, she took her seat.
Marshall disappeared immediately and she waited till she was sure that he was gone before looking around. There wasn’t much furniture but it was decent, he had a big picture of himself and his father hanging on the wall, and she wondered what was missing in the shoot.
**
Marshall, now changed in fresh clothes, led Jennifer to his dining room; he pulled the chair for her to sit and then went to sit on the other side of the table. The food trays had already been served on the table, neatly arranged and covered.
Jennifer was impressed, she began to doubt that he had done all this. Although just a few years older than her, her ex-boyfriend didn’t have an idea how to arrange the dining table, let alone the food tray. On the contrary, Marshall was much older, probably a six to eight years difference between them.
“I seem to notice that there is no alcohol on your table, are you reserving it for afterwards?” she bit her lips as she looked at him.
“Huh? You take alcohol?” he asked in surprise.
“Yeah, why? I don’t remember mentioning that I was a church girl, didn’t you say it would be fun?”
Marshall laughed. “No, it is not that, I just thought of you more like a girly girl, you know?”
“Are you saying taking alcohol makes me a stud? And do you have a problem with studs?”
“Of course not, you know what? I will just go get you your alcohol.” He laughed and sat up. Jennifer smiled as she watched him walk down to the mini bar, this should be fun.
** **
“So, how do you know how to cook so well?” Jenny asked, unable to pretend anymore. They were just eight minutes into the dinner and they hadn't said much to each other.
Marshall smiled, avoiding eye contact with her. He had always been the shy kid, and he didn’t do well around ladies. “Well, when I was a child, my parents were quite poor. My father did two jobs but his income was never enough, so my mom decided to start up a small restaurant in the outskirts of town. Everyday after school, I would come and watch her cook and sell,” he chuckled at the reminisce.
“Oh, really?” Jenny muttered, intrigued. She knew nothing about his childhood or past, they had only met a few months back when her father introduced them.
“Yes, my mom was very good at intercontinental dishes, she had always loved cooking, so income from the restaurant was like a bonus to her. I would watch her cook all the time and I took interest too, not like I could spend that much time with her and not know how to cook.” He chuckled again.
Jenny huffed and blushed, she loved the way he chuckled between his words, and the way he felt intimidated by her eyes, making him look away each time she looked him in the eyes.
“You sound like you had a fun childhood, and your mom, I don’t think I have ever heard you speak of her. What about her?” she asked as she picked the food with her cutleries.
The table fell silent at her question and she had to look up to make sure that everything was alright. The look on his face told her differently. Okay, maybe she shouldn’t have asked that.
TBC!!