Chapter 4: An Unwelcome Visitor

The next morning they all met at the kitchen table again.

"Good morning butterball. Did you get any sleep?" Sam inquired when Liz walked in.

"It took me a while to get to sleep but yes, I slept okay", she said as she kissed her dad on his cheek, their morning ritual.

"Good morning, Ray", she said as she sat next to him at the table.

"Good morning, Elizabeth. Glad to hear you slept well" Ray responded.

"Yes, I am happy to hear that as well, because I was afraid that last night's events might have kept you up", Sam said.

"Well, of course I thought about it for a while but knowing that Ray is here now, I think I shouldn't be too worried", Liz said bravely, nudging Ray's arm with her own.

"I agree. I'm very thankful that Ray is here with us", Sam said as he got up, "I am off to the police station to see if there's something they can do with this picture and then I'm off to work. Do you have any plans for today?" he asked Liz.

"No…strangely enough I don't really feel like going anywhere today" Liz said, "I might call someone and ask them to come over"

"That's a great idea, honey", Sam said as he got his briefcase and walked towards Liz for another kiss on the cheek, "Oh, by the way, have you thought about what you want to do next week, for your birthday?"

"Hmm, not sure yet, dad. Was thinking about going to a club, having a nice night out but I'm not so sure that's what I want anymore. I'll give it some more thought and let you know, okay?"

"Sure. Have a nice day, you two".

"Bye", Liz and Ray said in unison.

After Sam had left, Ray turned to Liz, "Why don't you want to go to the club anymore? Is it because of what happened?"

Liz looked at her hands; her fingers entwined "Yeah, I guess so… this whole thing just takes the fun out of everything"

"I understand that that's how you feel but you can't let that guy win. If you want to have a night out in a club with your friends, I am sure we can arrange that. We could hire a part of that club, get some security in place and only let people with an invitation in. We can make it work".

"Aaww, thank you, but I'm just not sure whether that's what I want. Maybe we could have the party here at the house, have a BBQ and a pool party or something"

"That could work. But like I said, it's your birthday and if we can make the security work, we can do whatever you want to do"

"Okay, thanks. I'll think about it", Liz said, "But now I'm going to call a friend and see if she can come over"

Liz called Meera and they agreed on a time for her to come over to the house.

While Liz went upstairs, Ray went outside and walked towards the pool, phone in hand. He had taken a picture of the photo that was sent in the mail yesterday and tried to establish from where exactly the photo was taken.

He saw the sunbed Liz had used in the picture and he walked past it, towards the direction he thought the perpetrator would have been standing.

Once he found the spot, he looked around to see what the easiest point of entrance would have been and walked towards the wall closest to him. He got to the wall and he saw some marks against the bricks and thought that they were probably from shoes climbing the wall.

After checking the rest of the wall and fences, he was reassured that there was no damage done and walked back towards the house.

He walked in and called for Liz, "Elizabeth!" No answer. He walked upstairs, thinking she was in her room and knocked on her door. "Elizabeth?"

When he heard no answer he slowly pushed open the door only to find an empty bedroom.

"Elizabeth, where are you?" he shouted as he felt his heart rate climb. Where did she go? Did she go out without him?

He searched every room on the top floor, even the ones where he already guessed she wouldn't be. He tried to stay calm, telling himself that it was a big house and she could be anywhere but he couldn't help but start to feel slightly panicked.

He ran back downstairs, still calling for her, still no answer. He looked through the big glass windows, hoping she went outside but there was nobody there.

He looked in the kitchen, the living room and even the gym, even though he knew he wouldn't find her there because she didn't like to work out.

There was one place he hadn't checked yet and he quickly made his way over to the cinema. He opened the door and looked inside. It was dark and it looked like no one was there. He was about to close the door again when he saw some light from the back of the room. "Elizabeth?"

"Yes, I'm here, at the back" he heard Liz say.

He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, forcing his heart to calm down.

He walked towards the dim light in the back and found her sitting on the floor, sifting through movies.

"Hey, I was just trying to figure out what movie to watch", Liz looked up at him, "You want to watch one with me?"

"Didn't you hear me call?" Ray asked her, trying to hide his annoyance from her.

"Ehm, no I didn't, sorry. This room is soundproof, so no sounds get in or out"

"Right. I should've thought about that", Ray sighed, "And sure, I'll watch a movie with you".

"Okay, so I was thinking either 'The Avengers' or 'How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days'"

"You'd watch 'The Avengers'?" Ray looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I like Marvel. Don't judge me!" Liz said playfully.

"I'm not judging you, I'm just…. surprised I guess"

"Good. So 'The Avengers' it is", Liz said while getting up, movie in hand.

They went to the kitchen first, to fix some drinks and get some snacks and settled in the big, comfortable seats in the cinema.

During the movie Liz couldn't help but glance in Ray's direction a couple of times. He seemed so relaxed and comfortable and it was the first time Liz noticed how handsome he really was.

After the movie ended, they got their stuff and walked to the kitchen side by side, chatting about the movie.

Hmm, she might actually be a nice person after all, Ray thought to himself, grateful that Liz was accepting his presence.

"Okay, so Meera will be here soon. She is one of my close friends. We will be going to lie at the pool I think", Liz told Ray, "I know that the picture was taken there but I would appreciate it if you wouldn't hang out at the pool. I don't want to make Meera feel uncomfortable"

"No, of course, I understand. But I'll need to keep an eye out now and again. I'll try to do it in a way that won't disturb you or your friend, don't worry"

When Meera arrived, Liz introduced her to Ray before they made their way to the pool. As they were putting their towels down Liz was telling Meera what happened and why Ray was at the house.

Ray checked on the women a couple of times but as he had promised he did it in a way that they wouldn't notice. He watched them from a bedroom window from the top floor. That way he had a good view of the property surrounding the pool.

The third time he went to check he couldn't help but notice the two women as well as their surroundings. They were both quite beautiful and yet very different. Meera had nice, light brown skin and was significantly shorter than Liz.

Liz had light, cream coloured skin that seemed to glow in the sun. Ray couldn't help but stare at her in her skimpy, black bikini. She had just taken a dive in the pool and drops of water were falling off her body as she lay on her sunbed. Her hair wet and smooth.

Ray stepped away from the window, not allowing himself to watch her any longer than he already had. He went downstairs and out of the house, using the back entrance, which was locked. He wanted to have a walk through the gardens.

Just as he made his way past the pool, making sure that the women wouldn't see him, he saw a man coming from the front side of the house, walking towards the pool area.

Ray ran around the other side, so that he could approach the man from behind.

The guy, about 30 years old Ray guessed, was only a few feet away from Meera and Liz when Ray grabbed him from behind, pushing him to the ground.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" Ray asked the man, while leaning his elbow on the guy's face.

"Oh my god, Tom!" Ray heard Liz yelp and he looked up to see that both women were on their feet, wrapping their towels around themselves.

"Don't tell me you know this guy?", Ray asked Liz as he got up, lifting the guy to his feet.

"Well, yes, that's Tom, my ex boyfriend", Liz said to Ray, "Although I don't know what the hell he is doing here!", she continued, giving Tom a dirty look.

"Look, Liz, I just want to talk to you" Tom said, while trying to yank his arm from Ray's tight grip.

"No, there is nothing left to say, Tom", Liz said while she glanced down, uncomfortable with the situation.

"How can you say that? You know that breaking up was a mistake. We belong together Liz and I want you back. Let's just get back together, okay?" Tom begged.

Ray saw the pain on Liz's face and decided to make the decision for her.

"I'll see him out for you, Elizabeth" he said, before turning on his heels, not taking his hand off Tom's arm, "Let's go, buddy"

"How did you get in here anyway?" Ray asked Tom as he led him to the front gates.

"What do you think asshole? The guards know me so of course they let me in", Tom spat.

"Well, today was the last time that'll happen, I can assure you that", Ray said as he walked up to the guards at the gate. "Okay, listen guys, today was the last time you let this guy in. He and Elizabeth are no longer together and she wishes not to see him anymore".

Before letting go of Tom's arm, Ray pulled him closer and whispered in his ear "If you ever come close to Elizabeth again or hurt her in any way, I will find you"

"Is that a threat, jerk? Tom exclaimed.

"No, it's a promise", Ray responded as he pushed him out of the gates.

In the meantime Liz and Meera sat on their sunbeds, Liz with tears in her eyes.

"Are you okay sweetie?", Meera asked as she sat next to Liz, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just never expected him to show up here, that's all", she sniffed, desperately holding back her tears and emotions.

Her break up with Tom hadn't been very amicable and he had hurt her in many ways. Not only did Liz find out that Tom had cheated on her with more than one girl but he had also told his friends details about the things they'd done together in the bedroom and even shared a picture with their friends, that had the two of them lying in bed.

She couldn't believe she ever fell for his lousy charms anyways but she guessed that it was a combination of him being handsome, rich, having loads of friends and a crazy lifestyle.

"Hey, are you okay", Ray's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

He crouched in front of her, one hand covering hers that was next to her on the sunbed.

"Ehm, yes, I think so. Thank you for doing that" she said as she looked up, looking him in the eye.

"Hey, that's what I'm here for, remember? Ray said with a smile, "I'll fetch you ladies a cold drink, hold on"

When he walked away both women stared at him until he disappeared inside the house.

"Girl! Wasn't that something? The way he just handled Tom, I mean, wow!" Meera said, "I could use someone to protect me like that as well. Where do I get one of those? .com?" she giggled.

Liz couldn't help but laugh about her friend's good humour. But yes, she was very glad that Ray was around and yes, she did notice his beautiful green eyes just now.

Ray came back carrying two glasses of what seemed like a smoothie of some sort.

"I found a jug of this in the fridge and it looked nice and cold", Ray said while handing the women their drinks. "Enjoy"

"Thank you, Ray" Liz said, "For everything"

Ray looked at her and tilted his head. "You're very welcome, Elizabeth", he said before returning to the house.

That evening Liz told her dad what had happened and Sam couldn't help but smile at Ray's actions. "Well, it looks like we won't see that guy back here again" Sam said, while sticking up his thumb to Ray.

When later that night Liz announced she was going to bed, Ray said he was tired as well and joined Liz in her walk upstairs while Sam stayed in his office to do some more paperwork.

When they got to Liz's room, there was an awkward moment where neither one of them knew what to say or do.

So Liz just did what she had felt like doing that afternoon at the pool.

She stepped closer and gave Ray a hug. She whispered a quick "Thanks again" and before Ray even realised what was going on, Liz had already released him, opened her door, said goodnight and gone inside.

Ray stood there for a second, trying to register what just happened, before walking towards the next door and going into his own bedroom.