Chapter 5

Upon looking at the clock, Sable realized that it had been exactly 24 hours since she had received the phone call from Mark. She felt slightly vulnerable; the man was trying to woo her back into her old life, a life that she had aimed to stay away from. As hard as she tried, she felt herself unable to hide away the facts of her present life to Mark, and with each encounter, he seemed to discover more. She dare say why, but she knew that he had the ability to attain a hold on her. Realizing that she couldn't keep it to herself anymore, she decided that she needed to talk to someone. And that someone was Mabel.

Sable was sat upon her bed in the small bedroom above the shop. It held two beds, one for her and one for Mabel, with a small stove in the corner of the room and a pair of wardrobes for their clothes. The door made way to the landing, where access to a toilet was available, before the stairs leading down to the store. It was in the bedroom she had been sat since the day of work had ended. Listening for the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs, she steeled herself to have an important conversation with her sister.

When Mabel walked into the room, she noticed at once that Sable was still looking just as tired as she did yesterday. There were bags beginning to form beneath her eyes and her facial expression showed her depression clearly.

"Are you ill, sis?" she asked with no greeting, stopping to examine her sister. Sable looked up towards Mabel, sighing.

"Mabel…I'm not ill" she revealed. "Come and sit down by here, I want to talk to you"

Mabel cast her gaze to Sable's hand, which was patting the mattress space next to her. She was gesturing for Mabel to take a seat, and this time, the both would sit on her bed. Normally, the two would sit on their own beds, but the closeness of this conversation sent signals to Mabel that something bad was afoot. Cautiously, she sat down next to her sister, looking over to her.

"What's wrong, then?" she asked. Sable gathered up her inner strength, evident by the closing of her eyes and controlled breathing. Opening her eyes, she kept her gaze on the floor.

"…Do you remember a man named Mark, Mabel?" she asked. The name rang ominous bells inside Mabel's head.

"…Yeah, I do remember him" Mabel replied. "…He was your boyfriend a few years back, wasn't he? Before Tom Nook even returned from the city"

"That's right, Mabel" Sable confirmed. "Me and Mark were in a relationship that lasted about 18 months or so"

"You haven't been thinking about…that incident, right?" Mabel asked.

"I have been a little" Sable replied, her expression still and focused on the floorboards.

"Aw, sis…" Mabel sighed, putting an arm around her sister. "You shouldn't be so hurt by what happened in the past. What's done is done and you have a far better boyfriend in Tom Nook now. He'd never lead you down that dark road the same way Mark did"

Sable sighed again; Mabel realized that something else was on her sister's mind.

"…That's not the problem" Sable revealed.

"Huh?" Mabel hummed. "Then what is?"

"…The reason I'm so down is because…that customer who upset me a couple of days back…that was Mark"

Mabel gasped. "No way!" she huffed. "He came back?"

Sable wasn't crying, she felt somewhat cold and empty inside as she recalled seeing him again.

"He came walking into the shop and confronted me" Sable explained. "You didn't see any of this because you were upstairs at the time. I also got a call from him last night, when I asked for privacy"

Mabel started to get angry at the thought of Mark. She clenched her fists as she too looked down to the floor.

"I thought he went to jail…" she said quietly, gritting her teeth slightly. "How is he here?"

"He must have gotten out of prison a little early" Sable hummed, sighing again. "He's working as a lumberjack now; he's got some sort of placement chopping trees near here for two weeks. He wants me to get back together with him"

"What an idiot" Mabel spat. "If he thinks you're going to go back with him and live that terrible life again, then he must be crazy"

"But Mabel, you don't understand!" Sable snapped suddenly, looking towards her sister. Mabel jumped in surprise, and the two were looking right at each other, wide eyed, one irritated and the other frightened. Sable hushed her tone slightly as she continued. "The things that he knows about me…and the things that happened between us…I've got the feeling that he's going to control me with that information. You know how much I can't bear to tell anyone about…well, anything that has to do with me and him"

"But you can't just let him blackmail you like this!" Mabel argued back. "The police have to get involved! Sign a restraining order or something!"

"Mabel, I don't want to make a noise about this!" Sable continued. "If Tom were to find out about this…I think even the fact that I was in a previous relationship whilst he was in the city would surely…tear him apart inside…"

Sable's tone diminished to a mere whimper as she pictured her relationship with Tom Nook in jeopardy. Her relationship with Mark was the only secret that she had kept from him; every detail was omitted, as if he had never existed.

"…Look, if his placement lasts two weeks, then that's three days gone already…" Mabel calculated, waving her hands to emphasize her point "You only have to wait eleven days, ten tomorrow. He'll be out of your skin then…hopefully, for good. You can calmly tell Tom Nook about it afterwards; I'm sure he'll understand"

Sable put her head in her hands. She was clearly upset, but continued talking.

"No" she said. "I can't let Tom Nook know about Mark. I'm too afraid to face up to what he'll have to say to me…"

"I don't know what else you can do, sis" Mabel submitted, shuffling a little closer to Sable, hugging her with her arm.

"There will be a way out of this, I'm sure of it" Sable said. "Whether I need to just face the facts or let it slide, there will be a way through this mess. Until then, I want you to be constantly supporting me, okay?"

"Of course" Mabel replied. "You can count on me"

"Don't tell a soul about Mark" Sable instructed, looking up to her sister again. "If you see him, ignore him. If he talks to you, dismiss him as much as you can. Don't let him do a thing, even if he threatens me. If he tries to hurt you, inform the police. And most importantly, nobody is to know any single detail about me and Mark's relationship. Not even Tom. Okay?" she asked. Mabel was in disagreement about keeping quiet, but at the end of the day, her sister was older than her. Maybe this was the right way through, perhaps Mabel's younger age made her feel that a more drastic form of action should have been taken. Reluctant, she nodded, promising to keep her mouth shut. The two then retired to bed, both uneasy about what the following day would bring. Sable prayed that the next ten days would just sift away without notice, but she knew that the sands could not blow away without a sandstorm.