Riley Mosely stares at me conspicuously with a lack luster smile and charming eyes. He leans carelessly against the doorway of the kitchen elbows propped against his chest. "You look like you've just seen a ghost".
A rush of relief and animosity soon consume me. "Don't you ever think to knock or I don't know maybe…"
"Chill, Sammy." He holds his hands up in surrender. "It was just a joke". I nod rubbing my forehead with my fingertips. He continues to stare giving his fake grin a rest. "Here," He says offering his hand. For the first time I notice a silver band is wrapped around his ring finger. "Let's go get some coffee and then head over to the reading." I continue to nod grabbing a slip of paper from the hall table. As I reach inside the cookie jar, I notice my key is missing. I check my purse, but it's not there either. Hastily I grab the spare not giving it a second thought.
"I'm going to write my poem at the café," I say giving him a wide and devious smile. Whoever has been messing with me will probably be at the reading. I think they've been following me. I get these eerie… I glance behind me taking note of the ordinary apartment complexes. Maybe someone in the audience will look vaguely familiar. The attacker can't be a total stranger. They'd have to know me intimately..
The waitresses are staring at me with knowing eyes. I look down at the notebook continuing to write the poem, my plan unraveling between the straight blue lines.
"Uh, miss?" a waitress with a buzz cut and penciled eyebrows says giving me a pointed look. Her dark rouge lips are pursed making two faint wrinkles on either side of her painted mouth.
"Yes?" I ask timidly, trying not to stare. The muscles in her cheek seem to twitch as her eyes glaze over in a catatonic trance. Her hypnotizing pupils devour mine. I feel as if I'm levitating and sinking at the same time. As if my soul is being sucked from body whirling down into the drains of her stare.
"Samantha," Riley coughs rapping his knuckles on the wooden table. I snap out of it instinctively pulling back from the waitress's sudden glare. She looks at Riley with license to kill. I clear my throat knowing that he saved me from some ominous trick. "The lady would like to know if we would like anything else". I shake my head furiously careful to keep my eyes from hers.
"I'll go get the check," She sniffs turning away. Her heels click sharply as she disappears through the swinging double doors. I chug my hot cocoa and dot the period. My plan is complete. I find Riley staring at me with a mixture of wonder and something guarded. I decide not to dwell on this as the waitress comes back placing the check on the table with much more force than necessary. Riley digs through his leather jacket for a pen looking a bit flustered. The waitress hastily pulls one from her apron dangling it in front of his nose like a dead rat. He smiles, dimples and all, slashing the check with a curving signature.
She collects the yellow paper tucking the pen behind her ear. She looks back over her shoulder towards the bar. A short stocky girl, the nosy one that served Austin and I on our last date, waves then ducks beneath the bar table. The waitress suddenly bends, cupping her hand around her mouth as she whispers something to Riley. It's the first time I notice the intricate tattoo of a silver butterfly stamped on the left side of her neck. The butterfly clip seems to burn inside my pocket as the embers of realization spark and glow. He nods, expressionless, and rises from the table following the waitress to the bar. The stocky one appears from behind the bar handing him a white cordless phone. He takes the receiver cupping the phone against his shoulder and ear turning his back to me.
A couple of nods later, he returns to the table painting on a normal face. "So you ready for the reading?" He asks in a bored tone.
"Who was that on the phone?" I say setting my jaw. I have a bad feeling about Riley Mosely. He grins undeterred.
"It's a surprise".
"I hate surprises".
"So I've noticed".
I lean back against my chair crossing my arms looking at him point blank. "Can I trust you?" His light eyebrows rise in an innocent state of confusion.
"Obviously not," He says evenly, his somber eyes holding my lingering gaze. I look away scraping my chair against the floor.
"I'm out of here". Intuition and a cold flask of fear pour down my spine. Goosebumps arise on my arms as I hastily throw on my jacket. I concentrate on the glass front door taking notice of the darkening autumn sky. The bell chimes overhead as I crash through it nearly tripping over a jagged crack in the sidewalk. Angry beeps of car horns cry in protest as I dash around a taxi and moving van heading for the park.
From the mouth of the gate, I can make out the outline of the gazebo. The setting sun is a backdrop to the tiny building setting off elongated shadows and pastel colors that seem out of place for such a serene and dying season. I stuff my shivering fingers into the pockets of my jacket searching for the notebook. Shit, I left it in the café. They'll know I'm onto their little scheme.
"Samantha!" A distinctly clipped Australian accent calls from behind as crisp as September morning air. I swivel around. Riley is standing on the sidewalk in front of Redhead's waving at me. His hand is clutched around the notebook. He steps onto the now deserted street making his way towards me. An intense look penetrates his gorgeous rust colored eyes. I turn and flee taking cover in the spats of forest dotting the park until his voice fades away. My boots sink into the blankets of fallen leaves as I trudge on barely taking notice of the now night sky.
I focus on the blurry city lights through the branches. The cold air seems to close around my throat. The strength in my legs gives out before I can make it. I lay curled up in a ball fighting the breeze that sinks through my clothes. My eyes shut abruptly and I am lost in a sea of incoherent images. A life time later, the pocket of my Levi's vibrates waking me from my reverie. My frozen fingers curl around the phone as my thumb bumps clumsily against the talk button. "Hullo?" I say groggily struggling to focus.
"Samantha". It is only my name. But it knocks every particle of life out of me.
"Austin," I say breathlessly pressing the phone against my ear so hard afraid that I may lose him again.
"Where are you?" He says furiously, his anger sending stinging pricks of pain through my chest.
"In t-the woods," My teeth chatter uncontrollably as another cold breeze rushes through the oaks.
"What? What time is it there? I…" Two hands clasp my ankles sliding me along the forest floor. A wave of leaves rushes upward engulfing me in a blizzard of earthy scents. My cell phone has fallen through my hands but I can still make out Austin's voice. "Sam? Sam! Answer me are you al-" Click. Manic laughter chimes above me followed by a blow to my stomach.
I yelp in pain trying to breathe, but all I can think of is his voice and how quickly it disappears along with my consciousness.