Thanks for all the comments/reviews. This is very creepy. I even managed to scare myself! Oh, the cons of social networking sites and the monster that is x
Serena waited impatiently in her office. She had been forced to call John Adams and request a meeting. He had been quite pleased to come in and Serena found herself questioning her actions. Perhaps she should have informed Hanssen immediately. A knock at the door made her realize that her sudden hesitance at seeing him was too late.
Sighing heavily, she invited him in, watching as he broke into a broad smile upon seeing her.
"Ms Campbell," he greeted.
"Mr Adams, welcome," she motioned for him to take a seat.
"Is anything the matter?" He asked, picking up on her cool demeanour.
Serena glanced at the door to ensure that it was closed properly. The last thing she needed was for the whole of the nursing staff to become aware of the situation. "Mr Adams, I'm not entirely sure how to proceed with this to be honest."
"Proceed with what?" John stared back at her.
Serena tried to think of how to phrase her next question, but instead reached into her drawer and dropped the blue blouse on her desk. She raised an eyebrow at the older man.
John suddenly looked quite sheepish.
"I distinctly remember tearing this blouse and tossing it into the trash."
"Yes," John nodded. "I see why you called me in."
Serena stared at him, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms. "Can you explain it?"
"My, uh, my mother used to be a seamstress," he started. "When she became ill, she wouldn't allow anyone to fix her clothes but me. You see, the cancer ate away at her and all her clothes needed to be made smaller. I'm rather good at that kind of thing. So much so that I've started my own clothes mending business."
"That doesn't explain how you found my blouse."
"I struggle to sleep," John smiled at her. "I like to walk at night. I like to go exploring."
"And you found yourself exploring my neighbourhood?" Serena asked skeptically.
"I take a certain area and walk it flat. My mother always said that you never really know a town unless you walk around it. It was purely coincidental, I assure you. I called out to you, but you didn't hear me. When I came back down your road, I saw you throwing your blouse away. I knew I could mend it. It's what I do."
"Rummaging around my trash is hardly appropriate."
"I've unnerved you," John's smile faded and Serena almost found herself feeling sorry for him. "I simply wanted to thank you for being so wonderful with me."
"I've already told you, I only do my job."
"I apologize if I concerned you."
Serena placed the note that had come with the flowers on the desk.
John's face scrunched up. "I don't believe it! The flower agency got it wrong! It was meant to say 'Thanking you, John.' I can't believe this. No wonder you got the wrong impression."
"Then there's the question of why you sent another bouquet of flowers and how my blouse managed to end up in my desk drawer."
"I saw you forget the first bouquet, when you were called away and I wanted to send you another, to make sure you received it. I know how busy you are. And the blouse," John motioned to the ward outside. "I ran into a nurse in the car park who said she would put it in your office. I am so terribly sorry I gave you the wrong idea."
Serena thought about his answers. It wasn't as though she completely believed him, but she would have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I draw maps in my spare time," John was saying. "That's why I like to walk around different areas. I'm trying to create a detailed map of this whole area. I can bring it in for you to see."
"That's not necessary," Serena smiled.
"I do apologize if I've overstepped my boundary. Mother always said I had a problem with personal boundaries. Sometimes I don't even realize that I'm doing something that may be viewed as inappropriate."
"I'm just glad we could sit down and talk this through," Serena said.
"I'll keep an eye on my boundaries," John chuckled.
Serena had not heard from John Adams for at least a week and her unease had quickly disappeared as she became more engrossed with her work. The hospital had been increasingly busy and she had spent much of her time on a more administrative roll and dealing with complaints.
"Ms Campbell," Chantelle called from the other side of the nurses' station desk.
"Mmm?" Serena barely glanced up from the file she was reading.
"How come you're not on twitter yet?"
"Sorry?" Serena stopped reading and looked at the blonde nurse.
"Well, Eleanor's on twitter and facebook," Chantelle explained. "And I was just wondering why you weren't."
"Eleanor's on every social networking site possible," Serena snorted. "I don't see the point in having the whole world know your business."
"But it's great to get into contact with old friends and form a kind of network of people," the woman babbled on. "Even the most famous of people are on twitter and some professionals as well. You're no one if you're not on twitter."
Serena raised an eyebrow, giving the nurse a skeptical grin.
"I mean," Chantelle gasped, realizing what she'd said. "I don't mean that you . . . you're not no one!"
"That's okay," Serena raised her hand to soothe the young nurses concerns. "I know what you meant."
Chantelle nodded happily, pleased that Serena hadn't taken offence.
"How do you know Eleanor's on twitter and facebook?"
"Oh, she added me as a friend of facebook and followed me of twitter," Chantelle explained. She had gotten to know Eleanor while she was helping Serena's mother with her vocal training after she had had her stroke. "She seems to have had an amazing night out the other day. A foam party and everything."
"A foam party?" Serena spat. "She told me she was studying."
Chantelle's eyes widened. She hadn't meant to drop Eleanor in it.
"So, this tweeter thing," Serena leaned against the desk.
"Twitter," Chantelle corrected.
"Whatever," Serena rolled her eyes. "What does it entail?"
"You just create a profile and you can follow people or businesses. It's great."
Serena nodded, clearly thinking it over. It would be quite interesting to see what her daughter got up to at university.
"I can help you with it if you like," Chantelle looked expectantly up at her.
"We'll see," Serena smiled. "Let's deal with the problems we have at present first," she motioned towards an elderly man trying to get out of his stretcher.
"Oh no! Mr Arnold!" Chantelle rushed off to help him.
Serena suppressed a smile. This day was going to be another busy one.
By then end of the day, Chantelle had assisted Serena in creating a twitter account and had tried her best to show her how to use it. Serena had found it oddly fascinating and addictive. Before she knew it, she was following over twenty people she knew. It was entertaining to read what they were all getting up to and she had chatted to a few of them online.
She had just curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine when her phone made a pinging sound, notifying her of a message. She grabbed it and was surprised to find that she had five new followers on twitter; Chantelle Lane, Harry Tressler, Gemma Wilde, Michael Spence and . . . John Adams. She clicked onto his profile, feeling a little unsettled when she saw that he had only just joined twitter and that she was the only person he was following. She decided it was entirely possible that he had, like her, only just discovered the networking site. Following her colleagues back, she ignored John and continued to go through her daughter's timeline. She had indeed been having a blast at university; party after party. She noticed Eleanor had sent her a message online: 'Welcome to twitter, mum. Another night on the sofa?xx'. Serena chuckled, imagining her daughter rolling her eyes. She sent a message back: 'You know me too '.
"And good morning to twitter's latest convert," Michael Spence called to Serena from across the car park.
Serena turned around as he made his way over to her. "I'm still not a hundred percent sure how it all works."
"Neither am I," he smiled. "But it's fun and damned addictive. I found a girl I used to date back in high school on it."
"She had a lucky break. And I bet she's faired a lot better than you," Serena smirked.
"No, actually she works for the railway station back in North Carolina. She wants to 'meet up' though," he gave her a mischievous wink.
"Sucker for punishment, is she?"
"Very funny."
Serena glanced down at her phone as it beeped. Another tweet: 'Glad to see you're on twitter. Now we can chat. J'.
Serena wondered if she should reply to John and ask him to stop contacting her, but decided he would most certainly get the message if she ignored him. The last thing she needed was to draw attention to her personal life.
After a meeting with the heads of department on Darwin and Keller and an impromptu meeting with Hanssen, Serena was quite pleased to be spending the rest of the day on AAU.
She finally had a chance to sit down and check her phone for any important messages. Her attention was drawn to the twitter logo that had popped up on her phone. There was a message from Michael Spence to most of the hospital staff, her included: 'Drinks at Albie's tonight'. There were more messages: 'I hope you're having a good day. J' and an hour later 'You're the best doctor in the world. J'. Serena sighed heavily.
"Coming for drinks?" Michael called from the doorway.
"Finishing early?" She smirked, glancing at the clock. It was already nearly six thirty in the evening.
"Oh, you know, what's one early day?" He answered sarcastically. "Are you coming or not?"
Serena thought about it for a second. She was quite happy with the idea of going home and getting an early night, but she hadn't been out of the house in ages. "Okay."
"Meet downstairs in about ten minutes?"
"Sure," Serena smiled, watching as Michael disappeared down the hallway.
She finished up her paperwork, gathered her things and headed down to the car park where most of the staff were waiting for her. Fortunately for her, Albie's bar was only a short walk across the car park.
"Ms Campbell's in the house!" Malick joked.
"Yes, I am," she smiled, glancing over her shoulder as Hanssen made his way to his car. "You're not joining us?" She called out to him.
Hanssen turned slowly, taking in the curious looks coming off of the rest of the staff. "Joining you where?"
"For a drink," she smiled.
"I'm afraid I have other engagements."
"Can't say I didn't try," Serena sighed, giving him a mischievous smile.
Hanssen nodded, his lips twitching upwards and turned back to his car.
Serena rolled her eyes and followed the rest of the team to Albie's. The man had only ever come out with her once and even then, she had arranged for all the previous high flyers at Holby to attend and had promised him that if things got rowdy, she would take control and send everyone home. He had only stayed with them for an hour before making an excuse to get home.
As soon as they reached the bar, Michael had bought them each a round of drinks and was animatedly informing them of his ex-girlfriend in the States who had always been 'hot' and who wanted 'desperately' to see him again. Serena had become bored with the conversation after about an hour and more than a few drink later and decided to get some air.
Stepping out into the chilly night air, she took a deep breath, watching the blue and red lights flashing in the Holby car park. She couldn't help but wonder what the emergency had been and if the consultants were coping alright. She glanced down at her phone and wasn't surprised to see that Michael had posted a few photos of their night out on twitter. 'Nice pic, Michael' she commented online to a photo in which Michael had wrapped his arm around her and was pretending to lick her face. She couldn't help but chuckle at it, relieved that Hanssen wasn't on twitter.
'Come back for another drink' Michael replied to her.
Serena shook her head as though he would be able to see her before replying to his message; 'I'm off home. Don't be late for work tomorrow!'. She headed across the car park, calling a taxi as she did. There was no way she would be able to drive home. The whole world was starting to spin.
"Here's fine, really," Serena snapped at the taxi driver. The man couldn't understand a word she was saying and had driven passed her house at least three times. She had actually had to tell him to stop or she would be passing her house for a fourth time and as it was, he had stopped at least five houses down. She shoved the cash into his hand, climbing out angrily and slamming the door. He sped off to no doubt get another customer lost. Taking a deep breath, she marched up the street to her house. The cold air was almost welcome as the alcohol began to take effect on her system. She was barely able to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other as she practically stumbled up the stairs to her front door. She had had way too much to drink. Fumbling with the keys in the front door, she turned to see a car driving incredibly slowly down the street. She was too desperate to get into bed to want to investigate it. The door slammed shut as she dumped her handbag in the corridor and made her way up to bed. The whole room was spinning and she was beginning to regret that last glass of wine as she rested her body on top of the duvet, unable to climb under it in case she got an overwhelming feeling to run to the nearest bathroom.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she was completely oblivious to the silhouette outside her window.
