The Curse of The Darkness had finally been
cast
in the
Ferncliff Forest.
*****
On
Friday Rebecca walked up the stairs to her office and rushed as she
heard her phone ringing. She scrambled through her handbag to find
her keys, but battled to find them amidst her lipsticks, pens and
paraphernalia. She threw her hands up in the air.
What the hell. Let
it ring. Who could be phoning me so early in the morning anyway? It
is only 7.15
. But the
phone continued to bid her to it and rang persistently for her
attention. It stopped abruptly just as she threw herself across her
desk to answer it.
Damn!
She sat
down and stared at her computer. She sighed. It was going to be one
of
those
days. She was so distracted lately. Perhaps it
was all the tension growing inside of her.
Something is
wrong.
Ever since she looked into those deep blue eyes, her
chakras were out of balance. She could not shake the feeling, the
anxiety, premonition,
or
whatever. Something or someone was nagging her, tugging at her and
she did not know what it was about.
Rebecca remembered the day well, just two weeks ago. It had
been Monday. She had gone to the Department of Justice and
Constitutional Development on Victoria Street to meet her friend,
Jonathan Carlton, who had recently been employed there as a legal
adviser. Jonathan had been excited about starting the new job
because as he had been getting depressed with his private practice
which dealt mostly with
criminal work.
When she
arrived, Jonathan was busy on the phone and she had walked out onto
a large terrace to get some fresh air. It was a bright, sunny day
and she wanted to savour its splendour. She closed her eyes and
took a long, deep breath. She relaxed, walking further onto the
terrace and turned when she heard a man’s voice. He was sitting on
a bench nearby, talking on his cell phone. His back was facing her
and all she could see was that he had broad shoulders and very
short, dark brown hair cut in a neat military style. He was
mumbling and agreeing with the caller. She decided she should leave
before he saw her. Suddenly he turned and faced her, his dark
sunglasses sparkling at her. He stopped talking and looked at
her.
Then he spoke again. “Yes, I am paying keen
attention.
Go ahead and
impress me,” and a slow smile curled on his
lips.
She wished he could take off his sunglasses, because she
felt compelled to look at his eyes. She continued to stare at him
and noticed that he was in his early thirties, had a great
body
and was definitely mocking her. She liked the light
shadow of stubble on his chin and she thought it made him look like
he just got out of bed. She turned to walk away when she heard
him.
“
I’ll call you back. There is something that I need to attend
to now. Hello, are you lost? Are you looking for
somebody?”
He
had gotten off the bench and was standing when
she turned.
He was tall and his body seemed
to overshadow her. He was leaning down, his dark sunglasses glaring
at her. She watched his lips as he spoke, bizarrely fascinated with
his perfect teeth.
“I, ur, am, ur, waiting for Jonathan
Carlton.
He is busy on
the phone.”
“
Oh? Jonathan? And what do you want with him?”
“
He is friend. I will wait inside for him, thanks.”
“
I think you should wait for someone else, my dear. Jonathan
is a married man, did you know that?”
He
sounded disappointed
and disapproving.
She stared at him, unable to answer and offended
by his suggestion. He took off his glasses and looked at her with
bright, blue eyes. Their eyes locked in confrontation and she
looked away abruptly, because she heard Jonathan calling her
name. She turned and walked towards him as he was coming onto the
terrace.
“Hello, my princess. I thought you got tired of waiting and
buggered off. I know how you hate to be kept waiting.
I’m sorry. I will definitely
make it up to you. Oh,
hi Clayton. I didn’t see you
there.”
Jonathan was suddenly aware of the tension between
them.
“I take it you two
have met?” He smiled at Rebecca and noticed that she looked a bit
confused.
“I
guess. Anyway, let’s get a move on. I have so much to do
today
.”
She tried to
escape, but she heard his voice.
“No. We haven’t met. Hello,
Princess,
pleased to meet you. I am Jonathan’s colleague. I
am Clayton Giles. Don’t forget what I told you, okay?” His eyes
were smiling at her, but there was something else in them that she
could not read. He seemed disturbed? He held out his hand to her
and she was compelled to be civil.
“
Yes, pleased to meet you. Now, Jono, we really must go.
Bye.”
Jonathan was surprised at what he observed. Clayton was
behaving strangely. He had that look of disapproval on his face,
but he was also being unusually charming. He had little time for
women and focussed most his testosterone on winning legal
challenges. He hardly noticed all the pretty young women who vied
for his
attention and generally adopted a dismissive
attitude towards females. He had not seen his old friend’s eyes
sparkle like that since they were at university together. Also, he
could have sworn that the two had already met before he arrived,
but seemed not to know each other’s names. Rebecca had been
uncharacteristically rude. She was usually lively and charismatic
to strangers.
He
watched Rebecca as they sat down at lunch, the distracted way she
rubbed her hand, looking confused. “Rebecca, are you
okay?”
“Yes, of
course. I like your office. It feels
welcoming and cozy, except, I am not too sure that I am happy about
your secretary. Does Jackie know that she is a busty, sixteen year
old blond?”
Jonathan laughed. “Yes, Jackie knows Sharon. She chose her
for me. She is not sixteen. S
he is twenty-five and a very
competent blond, I will have you know. She also has a busty, blond
girlfriend. I suspect that is why Jackie chose her.”
“Oh, all right, then. I feel better already. What kind of
work have you been doing so far?
Have you been doing anything
interesting
?”
“No, not yet.
Most of the work has been pretty mundane so far. I am
dealing mainly with corporate contracts, or rather tender
processes. The government has recently become obsessed with
contracts awarded only after a lengthy tender process
. So
that is what I am dealing with
at the moment. Rebecca, you cannot believe how stress-free it is in
there. I can’t believe my luck. I even have time to go to the gym,
if you have noticed. I have four attorneys working for me and they
seem to know w
hat they are doing.”
“Great. You are so lucky. I wish I had less people working
for me. I am going insane with all their fights and bickering. It
is pretty hectic right now. I certainly have not been to the gym in
a
long
time. Tell
me about Jackie’s new
project.”
They
chatted for a long time and three hours later, they made their way
back to his office where she had left her car. On the way, Jonathan
suddenly said, “so what do you think of Clayton?”
“I
don’t know. I can’t really say. I only met him for
a few
seconds.”
Jonathan was intrigued. Rebecca was a strongly opinionated
woman. She always had a firm view of what she thought of people,
especially after her first meeting. She had a strong instinct
about
every one and he
had relied on it on many occasion
s when they had worked
together.
“He is a great guy. Very gentle, but very assertive. I met
him many years ago. He is Jackie’s friend. He is fiercely
protective over her and never trusted me with women. He used to
give me such a hard time if I even
looked at a woman.
Eventually, he accepted that I loved Jackie and relaxed a lot. Now,
she
complains that the two of us
are bad for each other.”
Rebecca said nothing and he dropped the subject.
Interesting
, he
thought.
At his
office, he gave her a hug and she went to her car. She went back to
her office, unable to shake the unease that had enveloped her since
she had looked into those blue eyes.
~ ~ ~
~
Clayton was furious with Jonathan.
What is he doing having long lunches
with beautiful women? Who is she anyway?
He looked at his watch. It was now three in the
afternoon and he was not back yet?
Where is he?
He looked out at the parking lot and saw them.
Jonathan was hugging her and she was laughing.
How dare he flaunt this woman?
Has he gone mad?
No, maybe I have gone mad.
He realized how his jealousy was getting the
better of him. He realized that he wanted her to be hugging him
instead and wanted her laughing at something he had said. Those
black eyes haunted him, the way they had stared at him in
fascination and fear
, the way they had locked him into a
space he could not recognize or define. He felt like he knew her,
but when she had shaken his hand, there was no familiarity there.
Her hand had been warm and soft, as if needing his protection.
This is ridiculous
, he thought. She was just one more woman
who wanted to be entertained by men. She had been very bossy with
Jonathan, with her ‘I have many things to do’ attitude. He liked
her husky voice, though.
Clearly, she
has
been busy with Jonathan.
Jonathan hardly ever
went
out to lunch, hating business lunches. He always
preferred to have a sandwich with Jackie who came over regularly
and chatted to him. Her decorating business was just around the
corner and she often came over to their office to have lunch with
her husband.
Where is Jackie today, anyhow?
He went
over to Jonathan’s office and found him on the phone. He was
talking to Jackie and heard him say, “I only got back a few minutes
ago. She said to say hello and good luck with the Fischmer
project.”
Okay, so she is not his lover
. He felt so relieved by this information
that he surprised himself with this revelation. Jonathan noticed
him and motioned him to come in.
“Yes, interesting thing happened. She met Clayton. Believe
it or not, he was charming. Can you
figure that?”
His eyes were laughing at Clayton and he roared with
laughter at something his wife said.
“I
did
ask her what
she thinks of him. Very interesting.”
He
was enjoying Clayton’s discomfort and smiled at him. “Say hello to
Jackie,” and handed over
the phone to him.
He
walked over to the window and watched Clayton. He seemed a bit
tense. He was usually relaxed and comfortable, but today he seemed
like he had a wasp buzzing in his head.
Clayton
eventually put down the phone.
“Your wife says you are cooking
tonight.”
“
Yeah, I know. She is very busy these days, so I will be
cooking every day for the next two weeks. Bummer. Clayton, you look
uptight, everything alright?”
“Yes, of
course. I am just a little tired I guess.”
“Come over for supper on Wednesday
to relax. Rebecca
will be there. She loves my cooking.”
“
Who?”
“
Rebecca, you know, the woman you met earlier?”
“
Oh, the princess. Let me see if I am available. Who is she,
Jono?”
“Dear
boy, you can ask her that yourself on Wednesday.”
“Is she an ex-lover of
yours?”
“No. She worked with me on a number of cases. I am
surprised you never met her. She is good friends with your drinking
buddy, Brad Adcock.
He
loves her to bits. She is a bright woman with a heart of gold. Sexy
too, don’t you think?”
“
No, I didn’t notice. We were only there for a few seconds
before you arrived. Brad never mentioned her. They are
lovers?”
“I doubt
it. I know he relies on her a lot for her opinion in some cases,
and he is very protective over her. I don’t know if there is
something else.”
Jonathan smiled when Clayton left.
He did not notice that she was
sexy?
That was the
weakest lie he had ever heard Clayton speak. He also noticed how
his jaw clenched when he asked about her relationship with Brad. He
went back to work and soon forgot about the interesting encounter
between his dearest friends.