A few days later. The United States of America, New York. It’s currently about twelve o’clock in the morning. Natalia and Anna are being in one of the small cafés in the city and spending time together with pleasure for the first time in a few days. At first, the friends took a walk in the city, went to some shops, and decided to come here to eat, talk about everything that has happened to them lately, listen to good music, and enjoy the nice atmosphere settled in this place.
They do not also forget about Raquelle, who has not called anyone of them and told them any news about her life yet. Even if she promised to let them know about her after arriving in London.
“Say, is there some news from Raquelle?” Anna asks quietly, slowly stirring her drink with a breadstick.
“No, nothing,” Natalia shrugs, drinking some drink from her glass.
“She hasn’t still called me yet.”
“She doesn’t call me, either.”
“Yeah…” Anna sighs quietly. “But it’s been a few days since Raquelle went to London.”
“Right…”
“But she did promise to call and text us. Why doesn’t Cameron keep her promise?”
“I don’t know, maybe, she has no time,” Natalia assumes.
“But she could take a phone and at least send a short SMS!”
“It’s clear she has many things to do if he forgot us.”
“I wonder, what’s she busy with? Or is she just having a rest from everyone and not wishing to talk to anyone?”
“I don’t think she’s having a rest there…”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s something weird she’s worried about.”
“Really?” Anna rounds her eyes. “But what is that? Raquelle got new problems?”
“No, thank God. The case is not about Cameron. But as far as I know, she keeps getting letters from the anonymous, who refuses to reveal themselves.”
“But what’s wrong then?”
“You know, friend…” Natalia drinks some drink from her glass. “Yesterday, I talked to her grandfather… And Mr. Cameron told me that Raquelle talked to him yesterday.”
“So, did she call him, after all?” Anna wonders.
“Yup.”
“So, did she call him so much time later?”
“No, no, they had talked one or two times. But Raquelle called him two days later after she went to London for the first time.”
“And what did she tell him?”
“Raquelle said she started noticing some strangeness about the behavior of her aunt Alicia since she came there.”
“Strangeness about Alicia’s behavior?” Anna drinks some drink from her glass. “But what could happen to her?”
“Cameron believes her aunt is hiding something,” Natalia confesses. “She has some problems.”
“Is everything so bad?”
“As she said, Alicia was kind of sad, tired, and depressed.”
“But… For as long as I remember, she’s always been very cheerful and fun! Even more than Mr. Cameron, who, as we know, is such a live wire.”
“I can’t say it, either… But it’s all really weird…” Natalia drinks some drink from her glass. “And as our friend said, this woman denies something happened to her.”
“Denies?” Anna frowns slightly.
“But it’s getting clearer every day.”
“Does Raquelle have reasons to suspect something happened to Alicia?”
“Many reasons! First, she notices that her aunt is kind of sad. Later, someone called her in the late evening, and she literally shouted at someone and told them to leave her alone. And something happened some time ago and made Alicia lie in a bed with high blood pressure for half of the day and get much more frightened.”
“Wow…” Anna pronounces amazingly.
“Yes, yes! It’s definitely a reason to think.”
“Listen, maybe, that woman fought with some of her friends? Or did she have problems at work? Here’s the reason to be worried and sad!”
“It’d hardly explain the fact that she’s afraid of something or someone and acting like someone’s threatening her.”
“Threatening?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“C’mon, friend! Who could threaten Alicia? She’s a very kind woman and has never hurt anyone! Besides, she’s very religious. She often goes to a church and prays… Raquelle said that.”
“I didn’t say someone threatened her. I said ‘someone’s threatening’… As if someone called her in the late evening and wanted something from her.”
“Money?”
“Who knows… But I actually don’t exclude that… Even the kindest person with a gold heart can stand in the way of someone.”
“Yeah… You’re actually right…”
“The one to spread the rumors that everyone believed disliked Raquelle. They made her life much worse and still can’t calm down. They’re like writers, who write notes and publish them in a magazine that nobody knows. And then other people catch a wave and publish them in much more famous magazines.”
“Yeah… That anonymous can’t really calm down and keeps writing false articles about her.” Anna sighs quietly and folds her hands on the table. “And all these reporters and journalists are happy to make a sensation out of something. And get money out of that scandal.”
“Oh, yeah, they went really nuts!” Natalia exclaims. “And now they are now talking about it in almost every single episode of shows about the show business.”
“I know. I watch literally tons of news issues about the show business every day.”
“And they say nothing new! Those people just repeat all the quotes of allegedly those people that Cameron worked with. And they’re trying to reach out to friends and relatives of our friend to find out where she left.”
“That’s right. They annoyed you and me.”
“Not just you. Mr. Cameron is also fighting with them.”
“By the way, Mr. Cameron turned them on perfectly when they annoyed him with this question for the hundredth time. Even after he told them everything. He didn’t get rude, but clearly let them know he got sick of saying all the same.”
“If only journalists didn’t watch our homes and catch someone to get a comment.”
“I am sick of them!” Anna resents. “I must get ready for exams at the university but can’t relax because of those people, who’ve been told many times we don’t know where to find Raquelle.”
“What can we do if many people don’t wanna hear us.”
“Gosh, don’t they have any other things to talk about? Is there only one Cameron in the world? It seems like there are no other celebrities after the anonymous provoked the scandal.”
“At least, there are almost no paparazzi in London.”
“You think?”
“Raquelle hasn’t met them there yet. And nobody pays attention to her.”
“She said so?”
“Yup, Mr. Cameron found it out from her, and he shared it with me.”
“Actually, if someone caught her, we would immediately find it out. Newspapers and magazines would publish news about Raquelle Cameron running away to London.”
“Right…”
“Anyway, it can’t be happening forever. Early or late, Raquelle would be found, and they’d start annoying her in London. Reporters and journalists would go to London to hurt our friend and remind her of what she allegedly did.”
“But our secret agent Cameron is successfully doing her mission to be invisible and coming to herself after such a shake,” Natalia chuckles quietly.
“Oh, yeah, it’s really amazing, but she hasn’t really gotten caught by anyone yet,” Anna laughs shyly. “As I noticed, people would quickly tell the whole world about her location. And it would be a great reason for the media to make a sensation out of nothing.”
“Absolutely right…”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which the friends quietly drink the rest of their drinks and eat some food they bought for themselves. Sometimes the girls may watch visitors of the café, who are coming here every minute.
“Hey, haven’t you tried to call Raquelle?” Natalia asks. “Since she disappeared and doesn’t wanna call us.”
“No yet…” Anna replies thoughtfully. “I can’t find time to do it.”
“So, Seymour, can’t studies let you go out of their arms?”
“Yeah… The last year has been the hardest one for me.”
“I get it… I also almost went insane during the last year.”
“I barely found time to walk with you. And I’m silent about the call to Raquelle.”
“You know, Anna…” Natalia pronounces thoughtfully. “I thought a little and decided that I would like to visit Raquelle.”
“Visit Raquelle?” Anna rounds her eyes. “In London?”
“Yup.”
Natalia tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Honestly, it hurts to me that she forgot you and me,” Natalia adds and drinks some drink with a breadstick. “I understand Cameron is busy with her business and trying to find out what’s happening to Alicia. But she could send at least two words in an SMS. It’d take two minutes. And it would be nice to her.”
“You’re right,” Anna nods.
“So… If she doesn’t wanna call us, I shall go to visit her.”
“So, when do you wanna go?”
“Maybe, tomorrow! I’d take my stuff, reserve a ticket and go to London.”
“But you’re just back from the trip!”
“And what?”
“Moreover, Christmas is coming soon. Don’t you wanna celebrate this holiday at home, with your parents?”
“But it doesn’t mean I will stay there until the holidays.”
“I’m afraid it will be hard for you to leave this place and come back home due to the holidays.”
“Yeah, I’m a little crazy, you’re right! But I really wanna know what’s happening to Raquelle.”
“Okay… Since you’ve got nothing to do, go there. Have fun. But I shall stay here. I must get ready for my exams.”
“Don’t worry, I will be often calling you and finding out how you’re doing.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Anna says nothing and smiles shyly, while she and Natalia drink a little bit more drink from their glasses. Silence settles in the air, during which the girls watch people coming here and leaving the café. At some moment, the red-haired girl notices someone or something that instantly gets her attention.
“Listen, Natalia…” Anna slightly opens her mouth. “Look there…”
“Why?” Natalia wonders.
“Look, look!”
With these words, Anna points at one of the visitors, who is spending time at the café that is not far from her and Natalia. That’s the tall man. He is sitting on a table placed on a different side of the café with a plastic glass in his hands. He is wearing total black and leather and looks a little gloomy, thinking about something.
“Don’t you think that man looks very familiar?” Anna asks.
“The one that’s wearing all black?” Natalia specifies.
“Yes, yes, the one. Who is sitting at the table and drinking something from the plastic glass.”
“Hey, did ya like him?” Natalia chuckles kindly.
“Oh, no! I just watched him, thought a little, and…”
Anna bites her lip slightly.
“Isn’t that Terrence MacClife?” Anna asks.
“Terrence MacClife?” Natalia rounds her eyes.
“I think he’s very similar to that one.”
“The one that irritates our friend Raquelle so badly?”
“The one that is possibly the one to blame for what’s happening now.”
“Actually, yes… Similar. Very similar…”
“I couldn’t be wrong because that guy can’t be confused with anyone.”
“Listen…” Natalia tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Indeed… That’s him… Very similar…”
“I’m one hundred percent sure that’s him,” Anna replies confidently and takes a little sip from her glass. “While Raquelle didn’t know him before, I heard very much about him.”
“Yeah, that guy can’t be confused with anyone.”
“I wonder, what’s he doing here?”
“What? He probably just went to the café to drink coffee.”
“I think he’s kind of gloomy…” Anna notices. “He’s kind of unhappy with something…”
“He’s probably thinking about how to hurt our friend, who didn’t appreciate that treasure.”
“Yeah… I never thought such a hot, handsome guy could be a stinker. A vengeful stinker.”
“But we don’t exactly know whether Terrence really spread the rumors and sent those letters.”
“I’m starting to think nobody else could do that. Raquelle has lately fought only with him.”
“And what? Do we take it out on him?”
“Yeah, I know we’ve got no proof of his fault. But Raquelle would hardly say these things about someone. Slandering someone is not about her.”
“I know, friend, but still…” Natalia drinks a little bit from her glass with a breadstick. “If his fault is proven, he must pay for what he did.”
“I’m sure Raquelle wouldn’t leave it without attention,” Anna expresses hope. “She wouldn’t forget someone insulted her so easily and did his best people to start to turn their backs on our friend, and her career was about to be ruined.”
“It’s okay, I believe the boomerang would work in his case. Early or late, MacClife will get through everything she is having to get through.”
“I’d love to see what he would do if girls stopped paying attention to him.”
“Oh, I’m sure it would be a real tragedy to him. Knowing Terrence was really mad by the fact that Raquelle wasn’t gonna hang on his neck with happy whoops, didn’t give her to him and did reject him with no regret.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to think that too handsome people may sometimes be too arrogant and go too far. So, Terrence thinks he is gorgeous and irresistible and gets hurt when someone disagrees with him.”
“MacClife is definitely a narcissus! He wants people to tell him tons of compliments!”
“Most likely,” Anna agrees and drinks some drink from her glass. “I couldn’t find another reason for that.”
Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Anna and Natalia have an interest in watching Terrence sitting all alone, drinking coffee, and examining something on his smartphone.
“Maybe, we come to that guy and kick his ass?” Natalia suggests.
“Wanna make him explain it all?” Anna rounds her eyes.
“Exactly! I wanna tell him everything I think of him.”
“What if it wasn’t him?”
“We will find out! We will find out who did all of that.”
“But we can’t just come to him and charge him for slander.”
“Oh, no, we can do it!”
“Wanna just come to him and ask for explanations?”
“Yes, I want!”
“No, Natalia, I think we should do something different.”
“What?”
“Maybe, we pretend that nothing is happening? Come to his table and pretend to be his fans, who adore his role of Mason from ‘American Love Affair.’”
“You know, after what happened, I doubt I wanna call myself a fan of him. I don’t wanna call him a hot guy anymore.”
“Anyway, we should find out the truth somehow. If we got a chance to press that guy to the wall, we can’t miss it.”
Anna and Natalia get so busy with the talk that they do not notice that Terrence gets up from the table and wants to go by the talking girls with a smartphone in his hands.
“Ar-r-r, I don’t know what I’m gonna do to him if I know he was the one to spread the false rumors about Raquelle,” Natalia says confidently.
“Yeah, he got mad ‘cause our friend rejected him!” Anna exclaims. “It’s not the reason to try to destroy her career and tell everyone a lie about her.”
“Dirty lie!”
At this moment, Terrence goes by the table of Natalia and Anna and clearly hears the girls mentioning Raquelle’s name. The man distracts from his smartphone, stops sharply, and decides to listen to their talk, sitting on one of the nearest free tables.
“That’s why we should make him explain everything,” Natalia says confidently. “Make him stop the bullying and apologize to Raquelle publicly.”
“And say if he keeps doing that, Raquelle will destroy his career and sue him for slander,” Anna adds.
“Oh, I wish she did it! I do want that selfish idiot to lose all the hopes of starring roles and the love and admiration of his fans.”
“It’s gonna happen, trust me. When girls find out how insolently he insulted our friend, everyone’s gonna hate him.”
“I’m gonna pray about making it real.”
While Terrence frowns slightly and swallows up nervously, Natalia and Anna drink a little bit from their glasses.
“Okay, let’s come to him before he gets out of here,” Anna says confidently.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Natalia pronounces.
Anna and Natalia move their eyes to the table, which Terrence was sitting at before, and see he is not there.
“Hey, wait, where’s he?” Natalia frowns slightly. “Where’s the most handsome guy in America?”
“Did he leave while you and I were talking?” Anna assumes.
“That’s bad. We missed a chance to find out all the truth and end this story.”
“Yeah… But Raquelle would be so happy if we helped her end this story.”
“Right! Imagine, she’s coming back from London to New York and finds out you and I would bring her offender to light.”
“I’m imagining how grateful she would be to us!”
“For our friend, we’d give a damn about how irresistible, hot, and gorgeous Terrence MacClife is.”
“Yeah! Nobody dares to hurt our friend! Anyone, who does this, is going to regret it very much.”
“Even if that person is a famous actor.”
“Yeah, an actor that got famous thanks to only one role.”
“It’s clear he’s still counting on something because he hasn’t quitted the acting career and found something else to do.”
“He can’t go to work as a cleaning man or a cashier! C’mon! Such a gorgeous and irresistible man would be scanning purchases! Save me, God!”
“You’re right!”
Anna and Natalia shyly laugh, while Terrence shakes his head.
“No, I can’t sit here and keep being silent,” Terrence thinks. “I’ve gotta immediately deal with it and tell the truth. Since they are Raquelle’s friends, I must talk to them. I must prove that I’m guilty of nothing and didn’t spread the rumors people are talking about so much. Maybe, they are able to help me make Cameron sure that I’m not guilty and stop her from taking it out on me.”
After waiting for a few seconds, Terrence confidently gets up from the table and comes to the one that Natalia and Anna are sitting on.
“Excuse me, are you talking about me?” Terrence asks confidently.
Anna and Natalia move their eyes to Terrence, who just came to them.
“Terrence MacClife?” Natalia and Anna pronounce surprisingly.
“Did you not leave?” Anna frowns slightly. “We saw you sitting on that table and thought you left.”
“No, I didn’t leave…” Terrence shakes his head. “I’m still here.”
“That’s how…”
“I heard you were talking about the girl named Raquelle and decided to listen. Quickly realized you were her friends. And… Decided to talk to you.”
“Great!” Natalia exclaims with her head proudly raised. “You are the one we need!”
Natalia quickly gets up, takes Terrence being a little confused under an arm, seats him on a free chair, and sits down again.
“You will tell us everything right now,” Natalia adds confidently. “Our dear Mason Houston from the all-favorite movie, ‘American Love Affair.’”
“Yes, we are going to make you explain everything,” Anna says with her arms crossed over her chest. “And you will have to do it, no matter if you want it.”
“Listen, girls…” Terrence pronounces quietly.
“Just do not think we would admire you and say you are handsome, talented, sexy, and hot.”
“Yeah, do not even dare to think about it!” Natalia exclaims. “And get used to the fact that not everyone knows who you are. Not everyone would admire you truly.”
“And after what you did, we will not especially be nice to you and dance attendance upon you to ask you for an autograph.”
“Yeah, even if your name is Terrence MacClife, we will not close our eyes to what’s been happening for a few days.”
“Hey, hey, girls, calm down, calm down,” Terrence pronounces quietly. “Do not jab.”
“Yeah, you will be calm now,” Natalia replies confidently. “Will be very calm. I do promise.”
“If the whole world knows what you did, you will have many problems,” Anna adds. “You will lose hope of getting the former fame and admiration you caused during the Mason Houston era.”
“Yeah, do not even think you would easily get off it. One beautiful day, you would have to pay much for what you did.”
“Our friend will not be silent and will do her best to take revenge on you.”
“She will not care about your little merits and will do her best for you, young man, to lose a chance to build a brilliant career and keep getting the attention of your fans.”
“Yeah, you are going to work as a loader or a cashier! And everyone will hate you!”
“Please, girls, calm down,” Terrence says quietly. “I completely understand you are very nervous. But…”
“Calm down?” Natalia wonders loudly. “Calm down when a selfish scumbag hurts our best friend?”
“I didn’t…”
“We will take revenge on you for Raquelle Cameron!” Anna says with her head proudly raised. “Take revenge for our best friend, whom you insulted and humiliated for the whole world.”
“Listen, girls…” Terrence tries to take a word excitedly.
“Of course, we understand it’s hurtful when a man or a girl rejects you after you take the first step. But it’s not a reason to slander her. Get her humiliated for the whole world!”
“Yeah!” Natalia exclaims. “Or did you really get used to the fact that nobody rejected you before? You got the fuck mad because our friend dared to do that to you?”
“You cannot accept refusals?”
“You think everyone must kiss your legs?”
“I can explain everything…” Terrence pronounces quietly.
“Just don’t dare to blame Raquelle for everything! She is guilty of nothing.”
“And don’t hope we believed the lie you told the media,” Anna says confidently. “We will never believe it. As well as her family.”
“You will not make us turn our backs on her!”
“Yeah! Other people can do this as much as they want and insult her in any possible way, but we, her close people, will never betray Raquelle. We will always be by her side.”
“And defend her from anyone, who dares to hurt her.”
“Even if we have to deal with a dangerous person.”
“Or someone named Terrence MacClife.”
Terrence says nothing and just exhales slowly, running his hands over his face.
“Listen, I came to you to explain everything,” Terrence says quietly.
“Yeah, c’mon,” Natalia throws gloomily, crossing her arms over her chest. “Explain it.”
“Lie to us,” Anna adds. “Tell us how bad Raquelle is. Tell us why we immediately should turn our backs on her.”
“And why should we admire those, who do such a mean thing to people?”
“I do not have to do with that!” Terrence exclaims.
“Yeah, you do not have to do that!”
“It’s the truth. I’m not the one to do that!”
“Do you think we will believe you?” Natalia wonders.
“I swear, girls, I didn’t spread the rumors about Raquelle,” Terrence says confidently. “I’m not guilty of all of that.”
“Yeah, what about your threats to ruin her life and destroy her career?”
“I said it in anger. But I never even thought of hurting her somehow.”
“Yeah, you also say you didn’t send her any anonymous letters with threats,” Anna says confidently.
“What?” Terrence rounds his eyes. “What letters?”
“As if you do not know!”
“I know nothing about them! Who’s sending letters to Raquelle? What are they about?”
“Raquelle has been receiving long letters at her email for fans from the anonymous for a few weeks,” Natalia says confidently. “Someone makes her quit her career. If she refused to do it, she would regret it.”
“And she already regretted it!” Anna exclaims. “You spread the rumors about her.”
“Not only did you slander her for people, but you also sent Raquelle those letters.”
“And you keep doing this!”
“Yeah! We know she recently got one more.”
“No, girls, I swear I didn’t send any letters to her,” Terrence protests. “And I told nobody all those horrible things.”
“Do not lie to us, Mr. MacClife,” Natalia throws gloomily. “We do know everything.”
“Raquelle told us you were the one to do that,” Anna adds. “Of course, we didn’t believe her, but every day, we are understanding more that she was right.”
“There are no other suspects than you. So, the criminal has been found.”
“And the criminal must pay for what he did to the innocent girl, who has done nothing bad to anyone.”
“Who has never acted the way you told.”
“Girls…” Terrence pronounces quietly. “Listen…”
Terrence falls into silence for a second and slightly fixes a rebel strand of hair.
“I swear on anything that I don’t have to do with the story of slander and didn’t send her any letters,” Terrence adds confidently. “It’s not my work. Yes, I could spread rumors and ruin someone’s career. But I don’t need it. I’m not guilty of what happened to your friend.”
“How would you prove it?” Anna asks. “Do you have proof?”
“I don’t have direct evidence.”
“That’s why we can’t trust you.”
“Until you give us some direct evidence that can prove your innocence, we will not believe you,” Natalia adds. “You are our number one suspect.”
“I understand it…” Terrence pronounces quietly. “Understand that you’re defending Raquelle and wishing to find the one to blame for that.”
“And be sure, we will make you pay for that.”
“I’m going to tell you more: I do know who did that.”
“Come on!” Anna and Natalia pronounce surprisingly at the same time.
“It’s the truth. I found the one to blame for the current situation. I did it by chance.”
“So, who are you going to blame for everything?” Natalia asks.
“I can’t say it now.”
“Yeah, you also say that person is the one to send all the anonymous letters to Raquelle,” Anna says confidently.
“I can say nothing about letters. But I surely know who spread the false rumors and made people hate Raquelle and believe she was so terrible and egoistic.”
“Oh, I wish someone brought you to clean water…” Natalia wishes. “I want you to finally stop being an angel for your fans. Stop being a respectful man in the show business.”
“You will see, early or late, that person will surely show up and confess to the whole world that they did it. They say they would be hiding, but they would reveal themselves one beautiful day.”
“So, reveal yourself to the world. Tell them you were the one to do it.”
“Yes, MacClife, tell the world you wanted to take revenge on Raquelle for getting rejected by her.”
“My gosh, I wasn’t going to take revenge on her!” Terrence sighs tiredly. “I was not going.”
“You got mad at her because she let you know she would not bow at you,” Natalia says confidently.
“Okay, okay, I confess…” Terrence runs his hand sharply over his hair. “It hurt me enough. Yes. I was not used to getting rejected by girls because I had never been rejected before. Raquelle was the first one to do it. And she got me badly surprised.”
“And it got you wild and made you wish to take revenge.”
“I am not going to take revenge on her! I swear! Vice versa, I want to try to get on well with her and let her know that I’m ready to support and help her.”
“I doubt she would need your help,” Anna assumes. “Help from someone to humiliate her for the whole world.”
“I wanna apologize to her for crossing the line the last time and being too mean and stubborn to her. I want to start it all again.”
“M-m-m, so, do you want to quickly get off it by making her think you are good?”
“No, girls, you understand me wrongly.”
“We do understand you rightly.”
“Listen, what are your names? I want to address you by your names!”
“You don’t have to know our names.”
“Please, tell me your names.”
“Why?” Natalia wonders. “To say something about us, too? Would you get mad at us for not hanging on your neck and not suggesting you go to bed and have sex.”
“Please, don’t make a monster out of me. I’m not as horrible as you think.”
“Before you did such a disgusting thing to our friend, we had really thought so. But due to the current situation, our opinion about you has changed.”
“Please, girls…”
“Besides, you are an actor,” Anna notices. “For you, playing a scene is very easy. No matter what, we must admit that you’ve got a great talent. Which helps you make people sure about what you want.”
“Yeah,” Natalia agrees. “And you are using it enough.”
“You think I am acting?” Terrence wonders.
“Are you not?”
“No, I am not acting now! I am sincere now! And I am not wishing anything bad to you and Raquelle.”
“How do we know?”
“I want to find Raquelle as soon as possible to tell her everything I know.”
“Come on!” Anna crosses her arms over her chest.
“It’s the truth, Ms. I’ve been trying to find a way to contact her for a long time to apologize for my behavior and try to start it over again. And as I found out the name of the person, who did all of that, I want to tell her who is the one to be really guilty of everything.”
“Are you sure that she will believe you?”
“I will do my best for her to believe me.”
“I doubt it very much.”
“Yeah, you’ve done so many terrible things to get Raquelle’s forgiveness so easily,” Natalia says confidently.
“Difficulties never scare me,” Terrence replies quietly. “I’m ready for anything to find your friend and explain everything to her.”
“If you hope we'll tell you how to find her, you are doing this for nothing. We will not tell you where Raquelle is right now.”
“You can say nothing. I know it already.”
“You know?” Anna frowns slightly.
“She is not in New York. She went to London a few days ago.”
“What?” Natalia and Anna wonder.
“How do you know?” Natalia wonders.
“I was just very lucky,” Terrence replies quietly. “Lucky because I met someone, who saw her at the airport.”
“And were you told she went to London?”
“Yup. Someone saw your friend was going to board the airplane to London.”
“My gosh…”
“I was told she was with fewer people on that day. An old man and two young girls.”
“Alright…” Anna pronounces thoughtfully. “Since you know everything, we will tell you that the old man was Raquelle’s grandfather, and those girls were Natalia and me.”
“I got it. That man said one girl was a blonde, and another had red hair.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Natalia confirms quietly. “It was us.”
“So, as far as I understand, is your name Natalia?”
“Yup, my name is Natalia, if you are wondering.”
“And I am Anna,” Anna introduces herself.
“Nice to meet you,” Terrence smiles shyly.
“We can’t say the same about you.”
“Anyway, you can’t deny Raquelle is not in London because I know everything.”
“Yeah, she’s there,” Natalia confirms quietly.
“I didn’t know she decided to run away from the USA. Though, I knew that she wasn’t caught in public for several days.”
“Yeah?”
“I heard people were looking for Raquelle in the entire New York, but nobody can say where she left. That girl doesn’t even contact her managers, who refuse to give comments on this situation at the moment.”
“Yeah, we’re aware.”
“As far as I know, journalists even tried to find her close people, but they say they know nothing about the disappearance of that girl.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” Anna nods. “And we personally said it to journalists.”
“But you actually know where to find your friend.”
“We know. But we will say nothing.”
“Does she have relatives in London?”
“Yup, she has an aunt on the mother living there,” Anna explains.
“That’s how…”
“Her mother was an Englishwoman, and her father lived here and was an American.”
“How long did she leave?”
“Erm… Somewhere one week ago,”
“Alright…”
“By the way, it’s so weird that person hasn’t told everyone Raquelle ran away from the country,” Natalia notices.
“First, he wasn’t sure if it was Raquelle,” Terrence confesses. “But when he realized it was her, your friend had already boarded the airplane.”
“Raquelle was afraid everyone would point at her if she got outside. But everything was otherwise… People acted like she wasn’t a famous model. Or they recognized her but never cared about it much. And someone doesn’t actually know who she is and thinks she is one of the habitats of the city.”
“I see…”
“Anyway, early or late, everyone will find out where to find her.”
“But even if someone finds it out, they will not hear it from us,” Anna adds.
“Yeah, we will not betray our friend.”
“Don’t worry, I will also say nothing where Raquelle is hiding now,” Terrence promises. “I need the information about her location to talk to her and explain everything to her.”
“You can stop trying, Mr. MacClife,” Natalia says confidently. “Raquelle is not going to listen to you. She is obsessed with anger for you. Especially after she found out about the scandal.”
“I don’t have to do with that.”
“We don’t believe you. And we will never do.”
“Alright, it’s your right. But I swear I shall do my best to change your mind.”
“Try, my dear, try. You will encourage us to stand by your side.”
“Anyway, I will not give up and will do my best for Raquelle to believe me.”
“Listen, be honest with us, do you really hate Raquelle so much for being rejected by her?” Anna asks.
“No, no, I don’t hate her at all.”
“Come on!”
“I don’t really have hatred for her.”
“You also say you feel sympathy for her!” Natalia smirks evilly.
“Erm…” Terrence stutters, tightly locking the fingers of his hands folded on the table and getting a little tense from excitement. “Me?”
“Anna and I would laugh if you claimed something like this.”
Terrence says nothing for a few seconds and just looks at Anna and Natalia. And then the man sharply gets straight and proudly raises his head up with these words:
“What if it’s the truth? What if I really have a crush on your friend?”
“How it’s funny!” Anna exclaims.
“It’s true, Anna. You cannot believe me, but I’m really not indifferent to Raquelle.”
“Oh, come on!” Natalia shakes her head.
“I really like your friend. Very much. I’m going to say more: I liked her almost at once. At first sight.”
“Stop thinking that we will believe you!”
“Since I met her at the modeling agency, something changed in my mind. She conquered me with her beauty at first sight. I… I had never seen such beautiful girls before. Raquelle… She… She’s kinda special…”
“M-m-m, that’s what you’re saying…”
“I’m not lying, Natalia. It’s the truth.”
“Maybe, you just want to use her to take her to your bed? As Cameron herself says!”
“No, that’s not the truth!”
“C’mon, Mr. MacClife, don’t pretend to be an innocent lamb,” Natalia smiles mysteriously.
“What?”
“We already know and guess your wish to take the girl to bed and piss her off.”
“Yes, we know what kind of passion happened between you at your first meeting,” Anna adds. “We know how you accosted her and openly claimed about your wish to have sex with her.”
“We also know about your first kiss. We know you kissed Raquelle after she gave you a strong slap in the face. The one you deserved, just saying.”
“Yeah, you’re right…” Terrence pronounces shyly, moving his eyes to his hands. “That girl woke up the fire inside me. I couldn’t hold myself down. Besides, she was too beautiful. Too sexy. Too gorgeous.”
“Were you flirting with other girls to show her that everyone admired you?”
“Sort of. And I had a wish to make her a little jealous. A little mad.”
“Everything’s clear about you.”
“But your friend also decided to make me mad, openly flirting with other men and letting them kiss her hands and telling tons of compliments.”
“So, did you puff your tail and get excited?” Anna asks. “Wanted to play a jealous man, who believed that girl belonged only to him. Even though you’re actually nobody to each other!”
“I was hurt! Hurt because they easily got her attention, but she didn’t even look at me. She was always very mean to me.”
“What did you expect, my dear? After how rudely you behaved towards her!”
“I did come to her with peace before the beginning of the shooting and tried to talk to her gently. But Cameron keeps acting arrogantly. And she refused to go on a date with me.”
“Alas, young man, but you can only dream about it.”
“But I want it! Yes, first, we didn’t get on well. Raquelle does not have the best character. But I like her.”
“M-m-m, so, do you like inaccessible girls?” Anna smiles mysteriously.
“I like her non-typical behavior. All the girls run after me and give them to me, but she doesn’t do it. Raquelle makes me run after her. And I love it. I feel like a hunter.”
“We understand,” Natalia pronounces thoughtfully with a slight smile. “Something inaccessible always causes a great interest.”
“Right. I want to break down the wall. Conquer it. Do my best for that girl to become mine. Raquelle makes completing this quest an impossible mission. That’s why it’s way more interesting.”
“Alright, you would get her sympathy. What’s next? Would you leave her? Would you take her to your bed, please yourself and that’s all? Reject Raquelle and look for a new victim? Another young and beautiful girl that you would love to fuck?”
“We will see,” Terrence shrugs. “I don’t want to think about it. The most important thing is to find Raquelle, apologize, and let her know that I’m guilty of nothing and ready to help her solve the current problem.”
“Anyway, we must admit you’ve got wonderful taste,” Anna says confidently. “Cameron is a very attractive girl. Any man would die of happiness if he were with a beauty like her. Many men still don’t lose hope of getting the attention of Raquelle, even if she does not hurry to answer to anyone’s feelings.”
“And she is one of the sexiest women on the planet,” Natalia adds.
“Must agree,” Terrence smiles shyly. “Raquelle is the most charming and attractive girl I have ever met. Besides, I could call myself a fan of her.”
“That’s how?”
“Yes, I’ve been following her works for many years and admire everything she does. Raquelle looks gorgeous in any photo. And any of her looks are just incredible.”
“Yeah, she’s our beauty,” Anna confirms.
“But when we were kids, it was hard to believe it,” Natalia adds.
“What do you mean?” Terrence frowns slightly.
“Raquelle was really indifferent and thought she was ugly.”
“She was indifferent?”
“Yes, she was.”
“No, I don’t believe it,” Terrence shakes his head.
“But that’s true. My friend thought she was ugly and terribly indifferent for a long time. But… The modeling career helped me become more confident and realize she wasn’t ugly at all.”
“I can’t believe such a beautiful girl could call herself ugly.”
“Believe me, nobody told her compliments when she was a child. But when she grew up a little, she became a real beauty.”
“Yes, you know how many boys had a crush on her at the university,” Anna smiles mysteriously.
“That’s right! And when she was at school, she was always in the last place on a list of the most beautiful and popular girls.”
“You are lying to me,” Terrence says confidently.
“Don’t believe us if you want, but we have no reason to lie to you.”
“I would’ve never thought if I had heard it from someone else.”
“But trust me, the former Raquelle and the Raquelle she has become are completely different people. You would never guess that’s the same person if you saw her baby photos.”
“Wow… Was it hard for her to work as a model?”
“We could say so,” Anna nods.
“First, she was madly indifferent and always got confused,” Natalia adds.
“Did she have a wish to leave it all?” Terrence asks.
“Sure, she had. Many times.”
“And how did she get through it?”
“With the help of those she worked with. They helped her calm down and make everything right. They taught her everything she should’ve known. And Anna and I also helped her become more confident. Learned to take care of herself and express her beauty.”
“Great.”
“So, she was slowly becoming a popular model, got enough experience, and changed her life for the better.”
“And has she never regretted choosing this way?”
“Come on! Cameron is literally obsessed with her career. She’s ready to work for literally hours and always gives her everything on every shoot.”
“Alright…” Terrence cracks a slight smile and thinks for two seconds. “Hey, don’t you know where she made a stop? Which hotel? Or something else?”
“No, Mr. MacClife, we don’t know,” Natalia throws her hands up. “She gave us no address.”
“No address?”
“Even if she had done, we would not have told you that.”
“And how long is she going to be there?”
“She wanted to celebrate Christmas with her aunt. So, Raquelle might stay there until the end of the holidays.”
“I see…”
“You see what you made her do. Run away from the country to let people calm down and stop believing your lie. And she sharply broke all the contacts with her managers.”
“I already told you I didn’t have to do with this case.”
“We already told you we didn’t believe your innocence,” Anna says confidently.
“Anyway, I will not sit and do nothing. I shall do my best to end this story and make amends to that girl as soon as possible.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Well, as I found out she went to London, I shall go there at the nearest time and find her.”
“What?” Natalia and Anna wonder, opening their eyes wider.
“I will buy a ticket for a flight and go to Great Britain at the nearest time. I will be searching for your friend.”
“I wonder, how are you going to find Raquelle if you have no address or phone number?” Natalia smirks evilly.
“I don’t know… I haven’t thought about it.”
“You would not knock at every single place in London and ask whether Raquelle Cameron is living with them,” Anna notices.
“Yeah, I will do… But I will think up something. The important thing is to go to London.”
“Trust me, you would waste your time.”
“Maybe, I would not!”
“Besides, now it’s time for the Christmas holidays. You might have problems with flying away.”
“But I can’t wait for the holidays to be over. I should solve this problem as soon as possible.”
“Yeah…” Natalia pronounces thoughtfully. “You are way more headstrong than we thought.”
“I’m ready for anything to find that girl and start to get her trust and love.”
“If you do not prove to her that you are not guilty of slandering her, nothing will help you. No beautiful eyes, no pretty face, and something like that.”
“I am not used to giving up so easily. And early or late, I get everything I want.”
“Yeah…” Anna pronounces thoughtfully. “People are right when they say that if you want to get a man, you should be an inaccessible persona and reject him.”
“That girl makes me feel like a hunting tiger. She makes me wish to get my victim in any way and obey her to me.”
“But don’t forget that she might not like it.”
“Something tells me she did not mind when I accosted her and kissed her,” Terrence smiles mysteriously.
“Come on!”
“She threatened to scream and start to beg for help, but she did not do it. And she definitely had the pleasure of answering my kiss. And that girl moaned from the way I caressed her.”
“Bragging?” Natalia smiles slyly. “Exaggerate?”
“Not at all! Raquelle was just pretending that she disliked all my kisses and caress.” Terrence throws a short, sly look aside. “She could not resist my kisses on her neck.”
“Yeah, Cameron got in touch with a maniac,” Anna throws gloomily.
“You must get a cruel punishment for what you do!” Natalia exclaims.
“I did nothing wrong!” Terrence throws his hands up with an innocent smile. “I just kissed that cutie a little and caressed her body. Which gave a positive reaction.”
“Were you not taught that it’s bad to place your hands on the body of a girl you barely knew?”
“It always worked! No girl was able to resist.”
“You know, that’s very good Raquelle gave you slaps in the face,” Anna says with her head proudly raised.
“Yes!” Natalia agrees. “It would be much better if she also scratched your gorgeous face, as well.”
“I did what all the men in the world are secretly dreaming about,” Terrence says confidently. “And honestly, I have no regrets about it.”
“Ah, so, will you keep feeling our friend and kissing her whenever you want? Will you not apologize to her? Will you wait for her to report you to the police one beautiful day and charge you for trying to rape her?”
“Don’t worry, beautiful ladies, your friend will be pleased.”
“It seems like Raquelle was absolutely right about you,” Natalia replies confidently. “You are a scoundrel! A filthy scoundrel. A selfish peacock that thinks he could shamelessly feel up and lick any girl. Who believes he could fuck any girl he likes.”
“Resisting such an irresistible man like me is just impossible.” Terrence runs his fingers through his hair with his head proudly raised and slightly fixes it. “Nature gave me all the best that a human may have.”
“We’re sorry that nature didn’t give a little bit of shame and conscience,” Anna snaps with a cute smile.
“But nature gave you too much confidence and a too high self-rating,” Natalia notices.
“Oh, girls, don’t be so categorical…” Terrence sighs tiredly.
“God forbid, Raquelle falls in love with you and wants to be with you. Anna and I will do our best not to let her even think of such a crazy pervert like you.”
“I am sure she is already not indifferent to me.”
“After what you did to her, Raquelle will prefer a more decent and educated man,” Anna says confidently. “If her family finds out that you accosted her, they will not surely let her be with you.”
“Or they actually start to search for a decent man for her,” Natalia assumes.
“They wouldn’t let Cameron live with an insolent, non-educated, and vengeful idiot, who was taught nothing by his parents.”
“Trust me, if Raquelle becomes my girlfriend someday, I will do my best to charm her family and become the best of the best for them,” Terrence promises with his head proudly raised. “I will set the bar up so high that no man will reach for it.”
“Has nobody found the courage to strike a crown off your head in the past years?” Natalia wonders. “Is Raquelle the only one to find the courage to do it?”
“I’m assuring you girls, after dating me, Raquelle will not fall in love with anyone else.”
“Oh, c’mon! She will not! There are many men in the world! Cameron would always have a great choice! You are not the only man on the planet.”
“Nobody could be better than me. Nobody would give her as many emotions as I could give. With another man, she would be dying of boredom.”
“I doubt she needs your emotions.”
“I’m going to tell you a secret about the fact that I’ve always dreamed of a passionate girl. That would be very confident and wouldn’t mind testing my nerves.”
“We do know you are a maniac!”
“I just don’t like amoebas that instantly obey me and show no resistance.”
“But Raquelle needs a different man.”
“Have you asked her about it?”
“We all wish her to not have a man like you.”
“But you don’t know me at all!”
“Wrong, young man! We know you very well. And we know you are pretending!”
“You’re hurting me.”
“Anyway, all your efforts would be worthless,” Anna says confidently. “Raquelle will never pay attention to you.”
“She will. You will see. To get it, I will take the first step and go to London at the nearest time.”
“Alright, go. Maybe, you realize that people must not bow to you.”
“Yes, as you are going to go to London, take your stuff and go,” Natalia adds.
“I will go!” Terrence exclaims.
“Go!”
“I will!”
“Better think about what you would tell her to explain the fact that you would be in London. Or did you decide to be very true and openly claim that you are chasing her?”
“Don’t worry about it. I shall find what to say.”
“Then we wish you luck.”
“Yeah, we wish you to meet a failure as soon as possible and get a couple of strong slaps in the face from Cameron,” Anna wishes with her head proudly raised.
“Anyway, I’m happy I met you and made sure that man didn’t lie when saying Raquelle went to London,” Terrence smiles shyly.
“If you say at least one word about it, I will strangle you with my own hands,” Natalia threatens.
“Don’t worry. I will say nothing about you.”
“Wonderful then!”
Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Natalia and Anna drink a little bit from their glasses, while Terrence looks at his hands, trying to keep calm but being a little nervous deep inside.
“Alright, I will better leave,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “I will try to call the touristic agency and reserve a ticket for a flight to London.”
“If you want to get your ass kicked and hear someone insulting you, it’s your right,” Natalia shrugs.
“Yes, we will not stop you,” Anna adds. “Do what you want.”
“I would like to try to fly away tomorrow,” Terrence confesses. “But if I can’t do it, I will try to get a ticket for a different day. Anyway, I shall do my best to go to London before the Christmas holidays.”
“Go, go.”
“Thanks for the talk. And I’m sorry for bothering you.” Terrence gets up from the table. “Goodbye. All the best.”
Terrence puts on dark glasses and quietly leaves the café. Natalia and Anna watch the man until he hides and look at each other, being a little shocked by everything they just found out.
“So, our lovebird decided to go to London…” Anna says thoughtfully with a sly smile.
“To allegedly apologize to Raquelle and make her sure that he is guilty of nothing,” Natalia adds.
“Do you think he didn’t lie? Do you think his words were true?”
“I don’t know, Anna. But let’s not listen open mouthed and strike him outta the list of suspects.”
“Anyway, I think we did press him to the wall.”
“Yeah, did you see how scared he got when we started to threaten him?”
“I did!” Anna smiles shyly.
“It’s okay, he should know her friends would let nobody hurt Cameron and would stand by her.”
“Yes. If Raquelle’s fans succumbed to provocations so easily, it’s not gonna work with us.”
“It’s not gonna work!”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Anna and Natalia drink a little bit of drink from their glasses.
“Hey, how do you think whether he really knows who’s the one to be guilty of what happened?” Natalia frowns slightly. “Or is this an attempt to throw suspicion on someone and charge them not to be guilty?”
“Hard to say,” Anna replies thoughtfully. “But anything might happen.”
“If it’s so, who’s the one to insult and humiliate Raquelle for the whole world? Who needed it?”
“Maybe, it’s someone from those, who were at the photoshoot, on which Raquelle worked with Terrence. The anonymous’s letter dropped a hint at the fact that the one to do that was at that photoshoot.”
“If it’s not Terrence, who could it be?”
“Anyone! Even if Raquelle gets on well with everyone, it doesn’t mean they can’t agree against her.”
“Oh, God, I understand nothing…” Natalia runs her hands over her face with a tired sigh. “It’s a very hard and tangled story… I don’t know who to believe. And what to think.”
“Me too,” Anna agrees. “But the number one suspect is still Terrence MacClife.”
“I’m imagining Raquelle is gonna get mad when she finds out he is in London.”
“You’re right!”
“It’s okay, let him do it!” Natalia smiles slyly. “I do even want Cameron to kick his ass again and make him regret what he did to her.”
“Anyway, you and I don’t have to do with it. MacClife found out where our friend was by himself. We keep our promise and tell nobody about her current location.”
“We will not do.”
“Let him explain how he found out where she was.”
“Exactly!”
Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Anna and Natalia laugh shyly and keep drinking their drinks with a breadstick.
“Hey, as it turned out, might both of you go to London?” Anna frowns slightly.
“Yeah, I’m gonna go there, too,” Natalia nods confidently.
“What if you’re on the same flight.”
“God forbid! He might run after me! And I wouldn’t get off that handsome guy.”
“If you told him about your plans to go to London, Terrence would really go with you.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Anyway, be careful if you decide to go.”
“I don’t even know if I should go to England tomorrow or wait for a few days.”
“I can say nothing. But I guess MacClife might go there at the nearest time. If there are tickets for tomorrow, he will quickly take his stuff and go there.”
“Right… So, I should do my best not to end up on the same airplane with him.”
“When are you planning to go?”
“I wouldn’t like to delay it.”
“Then think about when you better go there very well. Don’t get a ticket for a too early flight. I think Terrence is gonna take the one.”
“You’re right. That handsome guy wouldn’t love to wait.”
“So, go later. You would get enough sleep.”
“And I would have time to check everything and make sure I didn't forget anything.”
“The important thing is to make sure everything is alright with your documents.”
“Well, my documents are alright. I recently came back from Italy.”
“Wonderful then!”
Natalia says nothing and quickly looks around, seeing many people at the café, who are busy with their business.
“Hey, when do you wanna go home?” Anna asks.
“I don’t know, but I don’t exclude that I’d be back after the holidays,” Natalia shrugs.
“Anyway, I will miss you very much.”
“Don’t worry. I will often call you and tell you everything that would happen to Raquelle.”
“So sorry that I can’t go with you. I’m studying at the university. My exams are getting closer. I’ve gotta get ready.”
“I know. You better focus on your studies and do your best to pass the exams well.”
“If I don’t, my parents are gonna kill me,” Anna replies funnily.
“So, make them happy with a university diploma.”
“Sure!”
Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Natalia and Anna drink something from their glasses.
“Okay, I will better go home,” Natalia says thoughtfully. “I’ll go to take my stuff to go to London… I wanna try to go tomorrow. Visit our sweet friend and find out how she’s doing there.”
“Cameron is gonna be surprised when she sees you walking on the streets of London,” Anna chuckles kindly.
“Yeah…” Natalia tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “But she’s gonna be more surprised when she sees MacClife walking on the streets of London.”
“It would be great if you became a witness to their passionate fight,” Anna laughs shyly. “If you saw Cameron kicking the ass of that peacock.”
“Maybe, I will do… Who knows…”
“You can tell me everything later. We’d laugh together and ask our friend about how another fight of theirs happened.”
“Can’t you wait to watch it?”
“Why not?”
“You are sly, as it turned out.”
“Since a man hurts a girl, he must pay for that.”
“Well, you’re right. If MacClife did that, he should get slaps from our friend.”
“That’s right!”
Natalia and Anna laugh shyly and say nothing for a few seconds. And then the blonde drinks the rest of her drink and gets up from the table.
“Okay, I’m leaving,” Natalia says with a slight smile, takes her purse, and places it above her shoulder. “Gonna get ready for the trip. Call the agency and find out when I could buy a ticket to London.”
“Go, friend, go,” Anna pronounces amicably.
“Bye, Anna.”
Natalia takes Anna in a hug to say goodbye and shares an amicable kiss on the cheek with her.
“Bye, Natalia,” Anna says goodbye with a slight smile.
“Don’t be bored here without Cameron and me.”
“Don’t worry, friend! I’m gonna have no time to be bored.”
“Anyway, you can call me! I’m always on the line.”
“Call me, too.”
“Okay!” Natalia tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Okay, honey, I’m leaving… Bye, bye…”
Natalia waves her hand, turns around, and quickly leaves the café, while Anna watches her with a slight smile. After the blonde hides, the red-haired girl keeps sitting at the table and slowly drinking her drink with a breadstick, which she really likes.
“I wonder, is Terrence really guilty of nothing or trying to seem sweet and fluffy to us?” Anna asks herself. “I thought he didn’t lie when denying what he had to do with that. But who knows… That guy is an actor. To him, playing any scene is very easy. So, I don’t exclude that he could be pretending. Whitewash himself and throw suspicion.”
Anna frowns slightly.
“But it would be so bad if such a handsome guy was so mean and nasty,” Anna thinks. “I must confess that Terrence MacClife is really gorgeous. Tall, thin, muscular… Besides, I’ve liked him since there was a peak of his fame. When his character, Mason, was popular. When everyone had a crush on him.”
Anna cracks a slight smile.
“Anyway, I met a famous person,” Anna thinks. “I never thought it would happen. But it happened! Meeting a celebrity seemed so unreal to me. But I met the most attractive man I had ever known. Who is much more handsome in real life. And much taller. It’s not very seen in movies.”
Anna smiles much wider.
“Now I’m starting to understand how it’s great to meet a famous person face to face,” Anna thinks with a slight smile. “Of course, I will not ask for an autograph, but I must admit he’s incredibly handsome… Confident, tell, proud… MacClife definitely knows who he is.”
Anna sighs quietly, wrapping a finger around her glass with a drink and looking into the distance.
“But I’m starting to think he loves himself too much,” Anna thinks. “He praises himself too much. He believes that just because nature gave him beauty, it means girls must fall in front of him. He doesn’t understand that it can’t happen. And Raquelle finally proved it to him. She proved that he was not the lord of the world. Not what could make at least ninety-nine percent of people happy.”
Anna glances aside.
“I wish Natalia had become a witness to Cameron kicking the ass of that handsome guy,” Anna thinks. “I do wanna find out what their meeting would be like. How Terrence would excuse himself for Raquelle and prove that someone else is guilty of everything.”
Anna tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Okay, I shall think about it later,” Anna thinks. “Now I need to focus on my studies. Or I will fail all the exams and not get a high education… I wouldn’t like to make it happen… And my parents would be unhappy. I wouldn’t like to give them a reason to swear on me. They are unhappy with the fact that I spend time with the girls they don’t like. Who, however, did nothing bad to them.”
Anna sighs quietly with sadness in her eyes and sits at the table all alone for some time, thinking about something and drinking her drink. And then the girl decides to leave the café and go somewhere to enjoy the good enough weather that settled in the city this morning. She wants to forget about her studies, at least for a while, and get the energy to examine books again and study what she needs to know when it’s time to pass her exams.
***
The United Kingdom of Great Britain, London. Alicia’s home. Afternoon time. Raquelle is at the home of the woman all alone while her aunt went to work at the university in the early morning, and Alexis promised to come later because she has some things to do.
Today, Raquelle woke up a little later than before and feels much better than ever. When she finishes the water part, she puts on comfortable home pants and a warm soft shirt with long sleeves and garters her hair in a ponytail. The girl does not want to go anywhere and decides to spend the day at her aunt’s home because she has examined everything in the city for the past few days.
So, Raquelle slowly goes to the kitchen to cook something for breakfast. The girl opens the refrigerator and finds very much, from which she could cook tasty food. The girl quickly chooses a dish and starts to cook it. And some time later, she sits at the table and starts to eat something delicious that smells very good and was cooked for a few minutes.
Despite having so much to learn, Raquelle can cook very, very well and could definitely feed herself and her future husband and children when she gets married. The girl has learned a lot since childhood thanks to Frederick and Alicia, who gave her all the skills she needed, in their opinion. They always reminded her that any girl must know how to cook and do homework. But luckily, they had no problems with it because she was quite a responsible and careful girl, taught everything any woman should have done, and kept her room in order and clean.
“That’s good Grandpa Frederick and Aunt Alicia taught me to cook since childhood,” Raquelle thinks with a slight smile on her face, eating puffy pancakes with nuts and honey. “At least, I can be sure that if I have to stay alone, I can survive and find something to eat. Well… Or feed up my family… When I make my family happy by finding a husband and giving birth to children.”
Raquelle smiles shyly and keeps eating her breakfast quietly and sometimes drinks delicious coffee from her cup. Despite worrying about Alicia, the girl’s mood has been much better, and she has lately looked much more cheerful and fresh. The case of Terrence and his false charges seems terrible, but not as tragic as it was some time ago. However, she cares about it much less. The girl is more obsessed with a wish to find out what kind of story her aunt got involved in, and why she refuses to tell her the truth.
Some time later, Raquelle finishes her breakfast, quickly washes the dishes with a good aftertaste, and brings everything to the right places. Then the girl goes to the living room, comes to the window, and watches what’s happening outside for some time. Later, she decides to turn on the TV and see if she can watch a good movie. But when she comes to the sofa, she stops her eyes on the magazine Alicia bought yesterday. Raquelle takes it for interest, sits on the sofa, and starts to slowly turn the bright pages with photos and little notes.
First, she sees nothing interesting but reads some notes. And then the girl finds an article, in which her name mentions.
“M-m-m, wow…” Raquelle laughs shyly. “As it turned out, they haven’t forgotten me yet! My gosh…”
Raquelle cracks a slight smile.
“Is there someone, who worries about me?” Raquelle wonders. “Or are they looking for me to mock me? Do they have no reason to make a scandal out of nothing and earn as much money as possible? Okay, they can do it! If they want it! Keep discussing it…”
Raquelle chuckles kindly.
“Okay, let’s see what they wrote about me,” Raquelle decides. “What kind of shit they thought up this time. I mean… What MacClife thought up about me. He already pronounced me crazy. Who will I be for him later? Maybe, he’ll actually claim I regularly drink alcohol or take drugs!”
Raquelle starts to read the article loudly called “Got scared of shame? Raquelle Cameron suddenly disappeared after being charged for being egoistic and treating people badly,” in which she sees a few photos from her recent photoshoots.
“The worldwide famous twenty-three-year-old model, Raquelle Cameron, suddenly disappeared a few days ago, two weeks after people found out about her inappropriate behavior during shootings, which nobody said anything about for a few years. The one, who wishes to stay unknown told the magazine ‘Celebrity Universe’ that the model regularly started serious scandals and humiliated her colleagues and the whole crew team.
Also, Raquelle Cameron stopped being available to her close people. Now nobody knows anything about her, and paparazzi and fans cannot take any photos of the model. No one knows what happened to that girl or where she is now. Her managers still cannot reach her and have to cancel all the scheduled shootings she should have worked on. But it should be noted that she does not have very much work now because many people refused to work with her and claim they would no longer collaborate with her anymore.
The friends of the model do not give comments to the media and refuse to talk to journalists. And Raquelle’s closest relative – her grandfather, Frederick Cameron, turned out to be more talkative. But the man says he also knows nothing about his granddaughter’s disappearance. He comments on this situation sharply:
“Unfortunately, I do not know where my granddaughter is and know nothing about her. Please, do not bother me with this question anymore,” Frederick Cameron says in a talk with one of the popular portals.
We do not currently know the name of the one to give an interview to journalists of the magazine ‘Celebrity Universe.’ But everyone, who is watching this situation, cannot wait for the anonymous to take the mask off and introduce themselves to the whole world. Many people are sure that the author of these claims will reveal themselves in the nearest time and tell much more about the arrogant model.
At the moment, we do not have more pieces of news about Raquelle Cameron and the scandal she was involved in. But we will be closely watching the situation and telling you all the news if we find out just something about the former queen of photoshoots and a runway, as she was pronounced by many of her fans and those she worked with.”
“Hm, the former queen of photoshoots and a runway?” Raquelle wonders truly, frowning slightly. “Former? Oh… It seems like they all decided to call me like this!”
Raquelle shakes her head and chuckles kindly.
“So, okay, then, if they want, they can keep calling me so,” Raquelle says quietly. “They can do anything they want! I shall show up and prove to people that I was slandered. I don’t know when, but early or late, I will show myself and find a way to prove that Terrence MacClife told the lie about me.”
Raquelle swallows up nervously.
“It’s okay, I will not leave it without my attention,” Raquelle says confidently. “He will pay me for what he did to me… That cad would not get off me easily! I shall do my best to be afraid to even show himself.”
Raquelle proudly raises her head up.
“I swear, MacClife…” Raquelle pronounces in a much lower voice. “You will pay… You will pay for the bullshit they publish in these stupid magazines! I, scumbag, will not leave you unpunished! I will not do!”
Raquelle sharply throws the magazine on the sofa next to her and sighs quietly with sadness in her eyes, running her hands over her face and setting her eyes into the distance.
“But that’s good my grandfather understood me right and didn’t tell anyone where I am now,” Raquelle says quietly. “I don’t know anyone, who knows my current location… Who knows that I went to London. If nobody caught me, I will use a moment. For everyone, I just suddenly disappeared. Nobody knows where. And people can think anything. Even if I was afraid of shame and decided to hide. It’s okay… Soon, it will be my turn to take a step. And I shall do it.”
Raquelle moves her eyes to one of the windows in the living room.
“I hope Natalia and Anna didn’t also tell anyone about me,” Raquelle expresses hope. “However, as I understood, the girls refused to talk to the media. As the magazine said, my friends refused to give comments about the current situation. If it’s so, I can be quiet.”
Raquelle frowns slightly.
“Of course, Rochester is a real chatter,” Raquelle adds. “But she can keep her mouth shut when she has to. So, I can count on her.”
Raquelle cracks a slight smile and thinks of something, moving her eyes to the window and not knowing Natalia and Anna met Terrence at the café and openly charged him for spreading the false information and openly slandering her. And some time later, the girl decides not to spend time in silence, which might be broken only by the sounds of cars she can hear from outside and even through closed windows, and watch a TV. She takes a remote control placed not far from her and starts pressing buttons, changing channels to search for something interesting. But the girl sees no good movies or shows, and what they are translating now does not make her interested.
Not hoping to find anything good, Raquelle decides to watch a movie on a little DVD player placed near the TV. She knows well that Alicia has tons of DVDs with very good movies that she often watches. So, the girl gets up from the sofa and decides to come to a high shelf with all the discs on it.
She quickly sees two bunches of discs placed on one another. Raquelle starts to closely examine everything she sees, taking every single disc, viewing the cover, and reading a synopsis on the backside. She can find very many good old movies checked by the time and something modest that was released a few years ago.
“Wow, how many movies Aunt has,” Raquelle wonders nicely. “Of course, I don’t know half of them, but I could watch them someday. I think I’m gonna have enough time to examine everything well. At least, I wouldn’t get upset ‘cause there is nothing to watch on a TV.”
Raquelle stands in front of the shelf and examines every single disc for a long time, getting confused at some moment and not knowing what to watch because many movies in Alicia’s collection pique her interest. In the end, she starts choosing between two movies, discs with which she is now holding in her hands, and looking at the cover and reading a short description for every one of them again and again.
But at some moment, Raquelle moves her eyes aside for a second, starts examining the discs again, and then looks sharply at what suddenly gets her attention. She is now standing not far from the place where there is the secret room, which the girl has never been able to enter as it is locked. So, now the girl looks at the door better and obeys the inside voice, putting the discs on the shelf and coming closer to them. She gets a wish to use a moment while Alicia is not home and to enter the room, after all.
“I’ve gotta find a way to get into that room,” Raquelle says confidently. “While Aunt is not home. I’ve gotta find the keys. No matter where they are.”
Being determined to find the keys to the secret room, Raquelle decides to search every single corner and even try to go to Alicia’s room. But she does not have to search for anything because she slightly presses on the door handle at some moment and pushes it off herself. Then the girl sees that the door is open this time. It slowly opens with a disgusting squeak.
“My gosh…” Raquelle slightly opens her mouth. “It’s open… The door is not locked…”
Raquelle shakes her head.
“Did Aunt come here but forget to lock it?” Raquelle wonders. “Interesting…”
Raquelle hesitates for a few seconds and thinks about whether she should use a moment and enter the room. She has never been banned from entering the room. But since the door was always locked, she might not be allowed to go there. However, curiosity wins, and the girl decides to check the secret room with the hope that she will find something interesting. She pushes the door off, enters the room slowly but confidently, and turns on the light with a switcher in the room because there are no windows or other sources of light except a small chandelier on the ceiling.
As it turned out, it’s not a bedroom. Not a bathroom. Not anything else. It’s something like a small storeroom. With high shelves, which are full of stuff: little things, boxes of different sizes, some equipment, vases, lamps, and many other things that Alicia has not been using for ages or has just been forgotten. This place is literally full of webs that Raquelle tries to stay far from and winces if she runs into one, looking around closely. It’s impossible to say everything is in order here. Vice versa, nobody has cleaned this place for ages. Stuff is placed on shelves and the floor.
“Ugh, how many webs there are here,” Raquelle throws gloomily. “And dirt… When did someone actually clean this place the last time?”
Walking into the small room slowly, Raquelle looks closely at every single thing she sees. And she is truly surprised that Alicia has locked the storeroom with a key because there is nothing special here. Nothing terrible that should be hidden from people.
“It’s strange…” Raquelle frowns slightly. “Why has Aunt always locked this room with a key? What could she have here if she’s never allowed me to come here? I mean, Aunt has never banned me from that. But would she lock this room for no reason?”
Raquelle shakes her head and keeps closely examining the room and some things she finds here. And she does not find anything suspicious that would cause some questions.
“There’s nothing special here…” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “No interesting things. There is nothing that would make me suspect something bad. Or find an answer to the question about what’s happening to my aunt.”
Raquelle exhales sharply and looks around again.
“But maybe, there’s something in one of the boxes…” Raquelle assumes. “I could check some of them…”
Raquelle starts examining the boxes she can reach for. But she does not also find anything special inside them. Some nonsense things, some toys that belong to Alicia, old clothes that do not fit her due to their small size, and many other things that are put in these boxes.
“No, nothing…” Raquelle pronounces with disappointment, closing one of the boxes with a cover and putting it in the right place.
Raquelle gets down on her knees and examines a few more boxes, which are placed on the lowest shelves, but also finds nothing special.
“There’s nothing here, too…” Raquelle sighs quietly. “Some little things.”
In another big box, Raquelle finds many enough Christmas balls of different sizes and types, tinsel, and tree lamps that would be needed very soon to decorate a Christmas tree as Christmas is getting closer and closer. And another box is half filled with toys the girl played with in childhood when she was visiting Alicia at home.
“Hey, It’s the toys I played with…” Raquelle smiles slightly, looking at one of her favorite dolls dressed in a beautiful red dress made from not very good material. “My favorite dolly… How much I love it! How much I liked it! I remember I even slept with it…”
Raquelle sighs quietly.
“My gosh, it’s been like forever…” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “So long…”
Some time later, Raquelle finds a stuffed bunny, on the belly of which she can feel a button. After pressing on it strongly, the toy plays a baby song with slight squeaks, which the girl quickly recognizes.
“Aw, how much I loved this song…” Raquelle smiles much wider. “My God… How much I liked it…”
Raquelle presses the button again to listen to the song, but the toy plays it with stronger squeaks.
“Damn, it seems like batteries died,” Raquelle pronounces with disappointment. “And the sound is terrible…”
Raquelle finds a few more toys that she looks at with interest, calling some nice memories that have to do with them. There is nothing that would make her put a toy as far as possible. Everything causes only positive impressions. And actually, the time the girl spent with Alicia was literally the best in her life. The woman has never been a rich lady, but she always bought the best toys for her beloved niece, and the little girl accepted them with pleasure. She could appreciate what she had because she could not get what she wanted by a plea and had to have what she got.
Raquelle gets so busy examining toys in the box that she does not notice much time is gone. However, at some moment, she sharply distracts herself from what she is doing because of the sounds she hears somewhere in the living room.
“What’s that?” Raquelle frowns slightly. “Where are these sounds from?”
Raquelle puts all the toys in the box for a few seconds, closes it with a cover, puts it in the right place, gets up on her feet, leaves the storeroom, closes the door, and goes to the living room, where she can hear that weird sound. And she quickly finds out the wire is making it.
“What’s wrong with the phone?” Raquelle wonders. “It’s broken? It doesn’t feel like a call.”
When she comes closer to the phone, Raquelle sees a message on a small display of the one.
“There is one new voice message…” Raquelle reads thoughtfully and frowns slightly. “Interesting… Is someone trying to call my aunt?”
Raquelle decides to listen to the new message of curiosity, but she does not know how to do this. So, the girl closely looks at every single button with the hope that one of them will let her do this. However, she quickly finds a button with a tape recorder icon and presses it once. A few seconds later, a female robot says there are incoming messages left by those, who tried to call but got no answer. And then the phone starts to play the message someone left for Alicia.
“Hello, Alicia! Do you still think you would hide from me?”
The phone starts playing the message of a woman, who is definitely unhappy with something. Raquelle, frowning slightly, listens to the one very closely, finding it a little suspicious.
“Have you not forgotten what I told you? I mean what you told you through my people! I will start working on my plan very soon and deal with you! Have you not forgotten? So, I am calling you to remind you of that. My revenge is about to come true! And you would not avoid it. Yes, my people did not give me what I needed, but I will get it next time. And I will surely get it. I do always get everything I want. So, remember, my darling, you will not hide from me. And you would not hide your niece from me.”
Raquelle rounds her eyes, hearing that the unfamiliar woman mentions the name of Alicia’s niece.
“Yes, yes, I know she is in London and living in your apartment. And I am guessing you are trying to hide what has to do with you and me from me so hard. But I hope that Raquelle will surely find out everything early or late. Find out what you were doing a long time ago. Find out what you should do. Find out her beloved auntie, Alicia, is not as holy as she has always thought. And if you keep saying nothing to her, my people will talk to her with pleasure. They will tell her everything you want to hide from the one everyone hates so much now.”
Raquelle swallows up nervously, getting a little white from horror, while her widely open eyes are running from one side to another.
“So, my sweetheart, let Raquelle know she would not hide from me, either. And you will not live quietly until the end of your life. I shall do my best to turn your life to hell. Do my best to make you regret standing in my way. Remember, Alicia, I do not forgive those, who go against me. You are nothing. A fucking scumbag that I hate. A scumbag that is going to stand on her knees soon and beg for mercy. I have said it a million times, but I will be happy to repeat it much more times. And lastly, I do advise you to tell Raquelle about me or let her listen to this voice message or all my previous ones that I left while you, pretending to be a good, religious woman, worked hard at the university, and read lectures to children. All the best, Alicia Thompson. You and I will meet again soon.”
The voice message ends, and after this, the robot pronounces some phrases and falls into silence. Raquelle shakes her head, getting stronger anxiety by this moment.
“My gosh…” Raquelle pronounces in a little shaking voice. “Who’s that woman? What does she need from my aunt? Why does she hate her so much? Why does she wanna take revenge? Why does she wanna make my aunt regret it? I don’t get it!”
Raquelle swallows up nervously, starting to breathe much harder and more often.
“How does she know I’m living here with my aunt, Alicia?” Raquelle wonders. “Does someone watch her? Does someone watch me? Oh, my God…”
Raquelle puts her hand on her heart, which is beating much faster because of the excitement that is getting stronger.
“I don’t like this all…” Raquelle says under her nose. “I don’t like this…”
Raquelle thinks for a few seconds.
“Couldn’t it have to do with that late call Aunt Alicia didn’t wanna tell me about?” Raquelle frowns slightly. “What if that woman called her? What if she needed something from her?”
Raquelle shakes her head.
“As I understand, she does it not alone,” Raquelle assumes. “She’s got accomplices. Those, who she just called her people. Those, who do everything she tells them…”
Raquelle closes her mouth with her hand.
“My gosh, if Aunt Alicia is gonna deny something after this, I will have nothing to say,” Raquelle adds. “She wouldn’t deny that she has some serious problems with that woman. And now I must make her answer my question. I’d better know everything from her than someone else. What if that woman really can send someone here and tell them to tell everything.”
Raquelle exhales sharply.
“No, no, I’ve gotta press Aunt to the wall and make her explain everything,” Raquelle decides. “I should do this as soon as possible because it might be too late to do it later. That woman and her people might do something yet. And Aunt Alicia and I will both get in trouble. So, I’ve gotta do something. It’s time to reveal all the secrets.”
Raquelle thinks about what kind of business Alicia may have with the unfamiliar woman, the voice of who she heard on the tape recorder. And later, the girl hears that someone rings the doorbell and shakes strongly with her widely open eyes.
“My God…” Raquelle pronounces in a little shaking voice. “Who could that be? If only it wasn’t that woman and her accomplices.”
Raquelle hesitates for a few seconds and thinks about whether she should open the door. But when someone rings the doorbell for the second time, the girl decides to open the door. She goes to the hall slowly and hesitantly and first looks into the door hole.
“Who’s there?” Raquelle asks loudly.
“It’s me, sweetie,” Alicia’s little excited voice pronounces.
“Aunt Alicia?” Raquelle unlocks the door with little shaking hands, opens the door, and sees Alicia, who looks a little excited. “Aunt Alicia, what happened? Why did you come back home? Shouldn't you be at work now?”
“I left earlier,” Alicia confesses thoughtfully.
“Why? Do you feel bad?”
“No, no, don’t worry. I’m alright.”
Alicia enters her apartment, closes the door, and then locks it.
“Today, I just had very few lectures,” Alicia confesses as she takes off her outer clothes, and puts them in a special place. “Just a couple of groups of students.”
“Yeah?” Raquelle pronounces with mistrust.
“Not all the days are busy.” Alicia takes her shoes, which she leaves on a mat near the hall door. “Sometimes I may read a couple of lectures per day. But there are days when I come back home at a very late time. Too many lectures. And when it’s time for exams, I literally spend nights at the university.”
“So, was today a more or less free day?”
“Yes. And since I have nothing to do there, I quietly go home earlier and do my business.”
“Okay…”
While Alicia goes to the bathroom to wash her hands, Raquelle swallows up nervously, still being shocked after she heard the message from the unknown woman with threats for her aunt.
“I could try to make her confess everything right now,” Raquelle thinks. “Let her listen to the voice message and ask her to explain it. Or don’t I attack her with questions and do everything carefully? Most likely, I’d better do this.”
A few seconds later, Alicia wipes her hands with a towel and leaves the bathroom.
“What were you doing while I was not here?” Alicia asks.
“Erm, well…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly, slowly coming closer to Alicia. “I wanted to watch a movie…”
“If you don’t know, I’ve got many discs with good movies. They’re on the shelf near the kitchen.”
“Yeah…” Raquelle follows Alicia, who goes to the living room. “I… Know… I was checking what you had…”
“And what? You chose something?”
“I was choosing between two movies.”
“These ones?”
Alicia takes two discs Raquelle had been looking at before she decided to go to the storeroom.
“Yeah, but I haven’t decided what to choose…” Raquelle says hesitantly.
“Very good movies, by the way,” Alicia notices cheerfully. “Advising you to watch both of them.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Then I… I will watch them.”
“Want us to watch them together?”
“Yeah… It would be great…”
“But at first, I want to eat something. I am terribly hungry now.”
“As you wish…”
Alicia looks at Raquelle better, puts the discs on the shelf, and frowns slightly.
“Are you alright, sweetie?” Alicia shows anxiety and comes closer to Raquelle. “Why are you so weird? Kind of white and scared?”
“Erm, me?” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly, rounding her eyes.
“Something bothers you?”
“Nope… It’s… Okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yup…”
“Maybe, you don’t say something to me?”
“No, Aunt, I am alright,” Raquelle lies in a little shaking voice.
“But you look like someone scared you much. As if you read something shocking.”
“What could be much more shocking than what they publish in magazines and newspapers about me?” Raquelle sighs heavily.
“Did you read the magazine that’s lying on the sofa?”
“Yup…”
“And it made you upset?”
“I could say so…”
“Don’t worry, my sweetheart, it’s gonna get better.” Alicia slightly moves discs lying on the shelf. “Early or late, the anonymous would get sick of telling people a lie. And people would understand someone had them wrapped around a finger all the time.”
“I dunno, Aunt,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “I don’t know…”
“Ah, Raquelle, Raquelle…”
“You know how much it means to me.”
“There are more important things in your life. For example, you should think much about…” Alicia moves her eyes to the closed door that leads to the storeroom. “Hey, stop… Did I lock the storeroom with a key?”
Alicia comes to the door and slightly pushes it off herself.
“Oh, gosh, I forgot to lock it!” Alicia gets horrified. “I forgot to lock the storeroom.”
“Erm, excuse me…” Raquelle frowns slightly, bending her arms at the elbows and tightly locking her fingers.
“Today, in the early morning, I was here, but I rushed to go to work and forgot to lock the storeroom.”
Alicia quickly enters the storeroom and starts checking all the things to make sure everything is in the same place. And then she, frowning slightly, pays attention to one of the boxes Raquelle was examining some time ago.
“It’s strange…” Alicia frowns slightly. “This box was not placed in this way… And this one… And this one…”
Alicia slightly moves the boxes the way they were placed before.
“Oh, I’ve gotta find time to clean this place and throw something I don’t need,” Alicia says under her nose gloomily. “This room is gonna drown in this trash.”
A few seconds later, Alicia leaves the storeroom and tightly closes the door, while Raquelle watches her with a scare in her eyes.
“Erm, excuse me, Aunt Alicia…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly. “Why has this room always been locked?”
“Pardon, what?” Alicia moves her eyes to Raquelle.
“As much as I visit you, this room has always been locked. Why is it?”
“Erm…” Alicia bites her lip slightly. “There is just nothing to look at.”
“What do you have there?”
“Well… Something I don’t need… Something I haven’t used for ages.”
“And what’s wrong with it if you’ve always kept this room locked?”
“Nothing. I just…”
“Do you have something that I shouldn't see?”
“No, nothing!” Alicia protests with her widely open eyes. “Nothing special!”
“Aunt Alicia…”
“Excuse me, honey, why do you care about it?”
“Erm, I…”
“You also say you went there and sorted my stuff out.”
“Me?” Raquelle rounds her eyes. “Erm… N-n-n-no… Come on…”
“So, did you do?”
“No! I didn’t go there!”
“Raquelle!”
“Don’t you believe me?”
“You think you would lie to me?” Alicia frowns slightly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Do you think I didn’t realize why some boxes are not placed in the way they should be? I clearly remember how they were placed!”
“Aunt Alicia, I…”
“Did you go to this room?”
“Aunt…”
“So, you did go. I see it in your eyes.”
Raquelle swallows up nervously while her scared eyes are running from one side to another.
“Did you check my stuff without permission?” Alicia gets enraged. “Did you come here without letting me know?”
“Aunt Alicia…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly, setting her little scared eyes on Alicia. “I…”
“Who let you come here?” Alicia resents and crosses her arms over her chest. “Who taught you to sort out someone’s stuff?”
“The door was open! I just wanted to know why you never let me go there all the time.”
“Was it so hard to guess that you had no right to enter the room because it was locked all those years?”
“Aunt, Auntie…”
“Raquelle, you know well that I love you very much and consider you my own daughter,” Alicia says a little coldly. “But you had no right to sort my stuff out and go there without my permission.”
“Aunt Alicia, I…” Raquelle pronounces in a shaking voice.
“Do not try to excuse yourself!” Alicia stops sharply, raising her hand with the palm turned on Raquelle.
“Why are you so mad at me because I entered there? There’s nothing special!”
“By the way, you’ve always been taught that you should ask someone for permission before taking something.”
“Aunt…”
“You can’t go into the whole apartment and take everything you want.”
“I didn’t…”
“I don’t enter your territory! I don’t read the diary you’ve had since childhood. I don’t check your computer or phone! I don’t do that! So, why do you do this to me?”
“Auntie, please, don’t be mad…”
“What if Mr. Cameron or I enter your room and start to sort your stuff out in your closest, tables and drawers? What if we find something you don’t wanna show? Huh? How would you feel if someone checked your stuff?”
“Sorry…”
“Was it so hard to remember such simple things?”
“Yeah, but you’ve never told me I am not allowed to go to that room.”
“Was it so hard to guess?”
“But…”
“Shut up!” Alicia pronounces loudly, holding her anger down. “Shut up…”
“Aunt Alicia…” Raquelle pronounces with pity in her eyes.
“You know well you can’t sort someone’s things out! Your grandfather and I have always taught you that! Did you understand nothing?”
“Don’t be mad at me…”
“Why did you go there? Why?”
Raquelle says nothing for two seconds and then decides to honestly confess what made her go here.
“I tried to find something that would give me an answer to my questions,” Raquelle says with her head proudly raised.
“What questions?” Alicia frowns strongly.
“The questions about what you’re trying to hide from me.”
“I have told you millions of times that I do not hide anything from you.”
“No, Aunt Alicia, that’s not the truth. You are lying to me.”
“Raquelle!”
“You think I’m blind and seeing nothing? Hearing nothing!”
“Do you have nothing to do?” Alicia resents. “Did you begin to suffer from boredom?”
“Maybe, you should stop trying to make me sure that everything is alright?” Raquelle puts her hands on her hips. “I am sure you’ve got problems that you don’t want to tell anyone about.”
“Instead of watching what I am doing and checking my stuff, you better do something good,” Alicia replies in a low voice. “Go somewhere to a club! Meet someone…”
“Oh, Aunt, you’re playing the same song again…”
“You are going crazy because you have no man. You are doing some stupid things and do not think of your future.”
“Please, let’s not talk about it…” Raquelle moans tiredly.
“If you had a man, he would quickly wash your brains and make you understand something.”
“I do not want to get married!” Raquelle says a little louder. “I do not want! I do not need a husband and children!”
“Don’t say stupid things! It just cannot be happening! Any woman wants to get married and give birth to babies.”
“No, Aunt, not any woman.”
“You got too obsessed with your career. All these years, you have been thinking only about how to earn much money and get much more famous.”
“I’m doing what I love.”
“It would be fine if you went on dates and dated someone. But you do refuse! Your grandfather said you had so many admirers. So many good boys suggested you spend time with them, but you shamelessly rejected all of them.”
“Please, stop…”
“How could you be so obsessed with your job? How could you refuse the real happiness of a woman?”
“Happiness has a different meaning for people.”
“Maybe, fate made you everything that’s happened for the reason. The anonymous put your career under threat for a reason. Terrence MacClife, whom you are charging for all the sins, did that to you for the reason.”
“What?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“Yes, my girl, it’s clear someone in heaven got sick of you building your career like crazy and thinking only of your job. Which, for your information, I do not like as well as your grandfather.”
“But this is my choice! I do like working as a model!”
“But it’s clear that God does not like it!”
“Aunt Alicia…”
“God decided to change your mind and let you know that your career is not the most important thing in your life. Not what real happiness for a woman is.”
“Please, stop pressing on me…” Raquelle begs with pity in her eyes.
“You were given a chance to think about your personal life and finally go somewhere, meet someone and go on dates with men. And you do want to miss it!”
“Gosh, what are you you talking about?”
“God does His best for you to listen to older people and do what they find right. Realize that even if you build a brilliant career and earn much money, you will have no real happiness without a husband and children.”
“I’m living a good life without a husband and children and not suffering.”
“Remember, Raquelle, if you miss your chance, you will cry your eyes out from loneliness and regret not listening to your grandfather and aunt.”
“Aunt…”
“Here’s your chance!” Alicia throws loudly. “Here’s your chance to finally get married! Go somewhere and go where there are many young men! How long are you going to delay it? At your age, your mother was already married to your father and educating you. But you do not even wanna think about it.”
“Aunt Alicia…” Raquelle shakes her head.
“Instead of thinking of your career and meddling in someone’s business, you better think of your personal life.”
“But…”
“Stop, Raquelle!” Alicia cuts off sharply. “Stop! It’s time to think of marrying! Yes, girl, you’ve grown up and must create your own family.”
“Do you think I should get married to the first man I meet on my way and make him propose to me to marry?”
“You must get married to a good man, who will become a wonderful husband and father to your children.”
“What if I don’t meet them? What would you tell me to do?”
“Are you looking for them? Are you looking for them?”
“I am not going to look for a husband on purpose. I am not going to run in the whole city and try to win someone’s attention.”
“So, you will have no family and cry your eyes out from loneliness.”
“You and Grandfather care about marrying and giving birth to babies too much.”
“But it’s right! It’s right! When a girl grows up, she must get married and give birth to a child.”
“Why must I do?”
“Do not argue with me, Raquelle! I am older than you and know what you need.”
“No, Aunt, you don’t know.”
“Alright, let’s talk about marrying later,” Alicia waves her hand. “But I do advise you to stop meddling in my business and thinking of your personal life.”
“I am doing this for you!” Raquelle says a little louder. “For your well-being!”
“I repeat, take care of you. I shall solve my problems by myself.”
“Yeah?” Raquelle rounds her eyes. “Are you so sure about it? Are you sure you will solve your problems by yourself?”
“Nobody asked you to meddle in my business and try to find out something,” Alicia throws coldly. “I did not ask you for help.”
“But you know well that your problems might give you and me problems.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Maybe, you should tell me what’s happening to you? Or are you waiting for me to know everything from third faces?”
“Don’t you understand what I told you? Don’t meddle in my business! You don’t have to do with them!”
“Do you think I believed you when you tried to make me sure that nobody called you a few days ago in the late evening?”
“Nobody called me. You thought it up.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Hey, why did you actually start to argue with me?” Alicia resents, crossing her arms over her chest. “Proving something and snapping at me…”
“I am snapping?” Raquelle points at herself with a finger, rounding her eyes.
“Behave nicely! And stop meddling in my business you don’t have to do with!”
“You want me to prove that you are wrong?”
“Raquelle!”
“I shall let you listen to one interesting voice message on the tape recorder, and then you will explain to me what it means.”
Raquelle turns around, confidently goes to the wired phone, and presses the button to play the incoming message from the woman she does not know.
“Listen closely,” Raquelle says confidently.
A few seconds later, the tape recorder starts playing the voice message Raquelle heard some time ago.
“What?” Alicia rounds her eyes.
Alicia listens to the voice message for a few seconds and gets much tenser because she understands that she will hide nothing from Raquelle anymore.
“Jesus Christ…” Alicia shakes her head. “I cannot believe it…”
Raquelle says nothing and just stands near the phone and watches Alicia, who swallows up nervously at some moment, hesitantly looking at her niece.
“What does she need again?” Alicia wonders. “My gosh…”
Alicia listens to the whole voice message to the end and slightly fixes her glasses on the bridge of her nose with a frequent enough breath.
“So?” Raquelle pronounces, looking at Alicia surprisingly. “What are you going to say? Who is that woman? What does she need from you? What people did tell you something? Why is she going to take revenge on you?”
Raquelle falls into silence for two seconds.
“How does she know I’m living in London, in your apartment?” Raquelle wonders. “How? Is that woman or her people watching you? Or me?”
Raquelle swallows up nervously.
“Am I really on her hook?” Raquelle wonders. “But I walk on the streets, suspecting nothing! Not suspecting that people of that woman might come to me at any time and tell me everything you’re hiding from me.”
Raquelle shakes her head.
“What does it all mean?” Raquelle wonders loudly. “Tell me! Stop hiding the truth from me with the hope that I will never know anything and will not suffer. Stop caring about me too much. Don’t do what Grandfather did somehow when he didn’t tell me the news about the deaths of my mother and father until the very end.”
Raquelle exhales slowly.
“Believe me, I would not get better if I lived and didn’t know what was going on,” Raquelle adds. “And it would be much worse if I knew everything not from you but from that woman or her people.”
Raquelle looks at Alicia with greater pity in her eyes.
“I think it’s time to end this game,” Raquelle says confidently. “It’s time to tell me all the truth. And stop thinking nothing terrible would happen if you hid the truth from me. And remember, even if you don’t tell me what you have to do with that woman, and why she is so mean to you, I will find out the truth anyway. In any way. From anyone. I will not calm down until I know who that woman is, and why she wants to take revenge on you so badly.”
Alicia says nothing and thinks of something, moving her eyes full of sadness aside and getting a little softer by this moment after she let herself raise her voice on Raquelle and swear on her for what she did.
“Why are you silent?” Raquelle wonders. “Do you have nothing to say? Don’t you wanna understand that silence would not lead to anything good? Any truth comes to light from the dark, early or late.”
“Erm, I…” Alicia pronounces hesitantly.
“Please, Aunt Alicia… Stop torturing yourself and making me guess. I would feel much quieter if I knew what happened. If I knew how I could help you.”
“You can do nothing to help me.”
“What if I can?”
“No, Raquelle…” Alicia pronounces in a quiet, low voice, shaking his head slightly. “You can’t help me.”
“First, tell me, and then we will decide if we can solve this problem somehow.”
“It’s all too complicated…”
“Don’t be afraid, Auntie…” Raquelle comes closer to Alicia and takes her hands softly. “Even if I can’t help you do something, I will always be by your side to support you with words and hugs. Just trust me.”
Alicia says nothing and just exhales sharply.
“Don’t be afraid,” Raquelle pronounces softly. “You and I aren’t strangers to each other.”
“Are you sure you wanna know everything?” Alicia asks quietly.
“Yes, I am.”
“Alright then…” Alicia slowly moves her eyes to Raquelle. “I will tell you. If you’re insisting on it. Besides, I… I think…”
Alicia falls into silence for two seconds and slowly swallows up.
“I think it’s time to reveal the truth,” Alicia says confidently. “Tell you what you should know. What you want to find out so badly.”
“Are you ready?” Raquelle looks at Alicia with sadness in her eyes.
“Yes, I’m ready. Ready to explain what you should be very careful.”
“Careful?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to you? How can I help you? How can I help you solve your problem? Is everything so serious?”
“Let’s go to your room,” Alicia suggests quietly. “I will tell you everything.”
Raquelle says nothing, nods, turns around, and goes to her room, while Alicia follows her a little hesitantly. And when the two come to the one, they sit on the bed and say nothing for a few seconds.
“So, what happened to you?” Raquelle asks softly.
“So, listen to me closely,” Alicia says quietly. “I will tell you everything.”
Alicia locks her fingers tightly.
“The case is…” Alicia starts to speak. “The case is that I should pay a very big amount of money to one person.”
“A big amount of money?” Raquelle wonders, rounding her eyes.
“Yes…” Alicia falls into silence for a second and throws a look at the window. “It happened that I did something not very good one day. And… To solve that situation and not to run into any consequences, I… I need to pay that person.”
“But what did you do if someone demanded the money from you?” Raquelle frowns slightly.
“I…” Alicia bites her bottom lip. “It happened at the time of my youth… You weren’t born yet… I was only nineteen… I did something terrible and wanted to hide it. I was hoping that nobody would find out anything. But sadly, I didn’t manage to hide it.”
“Did you hurt someone?” Raquelle specifies.
“Yeah, it happened that I…” Alicia says thoughtfully and moves her tense look aside. “I accidentally hit someone on the road.”
“What?” Raquelle opens her eyes widely. “You hit someone?”
“I was in a rush to do my business… I was driving at high speed. I was praying that I came in time.”
“Oh, God, Aunt…”
“My way was on the road, on which there weren’t so many cars. The time was evening… The light was poor. Only the headlights of cars could save the situation somehow. But I should’ve watched the road closely anyway.”
“So, were there witnesses to that event?”
“Yes, there were. Maybe, if not for them, I would’ve gotten away from what’s happening to me now.”
“I see…”
“So… Alicia locks her fingers tightly, breathing a little heavily. “I was driving on the road, driving… I was thinking about something… At some moment, I ended up in the city, where there were much more people and cars. I decided to turn on the radio not to spend time in silence. And while I was pressing the buttons and trying to find something good… It happened that… Something happened and got me deeply shocked. That’s why I… I stopped understanding what I was doing…”
“It happened that you hit someone with a car?”
“Yes…” Alicia pronounces in a shaking voice. “At some moment, I looked at the road and… I didn’t have time to understand how a girl ended up on the windshield of my car. At first sight, she was about ten or eleven. Sadly, I didn’t manage to stop in time…”
“My God, Aunt…” Raquelle gets horrified.
“But she wasn’t guilty. She was crossing the road at the pedestrian crossing. I didn’t react in time and didn’t stop when the traffic light turned red.”
“Wow…” Raquelle shakes her head.
“When I stopped, my car was carrying that girl on the windshield for one or two meters. Then she fell on the asphalt. I was waiting for her to get up. Looking at the blood and cracks on the glass… But… She kept lying motionlessly for a few seconds that I looked at her with shocking eyes. She was unconscious. Lying in an unnatural pose.”
“She was alive?”
“Yes, alive. People surrounded her then. Everybody was wondering what happened. Whether she was okay… They told someone to call an ambulance shortly. Someone started to give her first aid.”
“And what did you do?”
“A few seconds later, I found the strength to leave my car and come to the little girl. I was praying so hard that she didn't die and stayed alive. And I didn’t care about how people were… Cursing me… For almost killing the unhappy child.”
“Auntie…”
“Some men started to shout that women were not allowed to drive a car. Why I the hell actually came to the car. I should’ve been sitting at home and cooking food for my husband and children.”
“I imagine how hurtful you felt.”
“No, actually, I didn’t pay attention to what they told me at that moment. I was only thinking about that girl's survival. I prayed that she didn't die. Because… If it had happened, they would've put me in prison. But I…” Alicia swallows up nervously. “I didn’t want to spend my life in prison because of my own inattention.”
“And what happened next?”
“When people told someone to call the police, I understood that the case was too bad. I panicked so hard and refused to believe that it was happening to me, I was kind of just sleeping, and it was my nightmare.”
“I think I know what happened next.”
“If you thought that I decided to run away, it’s the truth.”
“You ran away?”
“Yes. I was so desperate that I stopped thinking at all. I just wanted to save myself from what threatened me in case of the death of that girl. I didn’t want to spend my life in prison. And I didn’t have money for her therapy.”
“That’s how…”
“So…” Alicia shrugs. “While people cared about the girl and were doing what they were told by the operator of the ambulance, I watched what was happening. And when I heard that the girl stopped breathing, and her heart suddenly stopped, I understood that the case was too bad. At some moment, I came to my car very slowly. Hesitated a little… Made sure that nobody saw me… I opened the door immediately, sat in the driver’s car, and wanted to press on the gas pedal strongly.”
“Did you leave that place?”
“Yes. People started to shout that I wanted to run away. They tried to close the way and shouted that they would not let me go. But I magically got out of the trap and kept pressing on the gas pedal. I was going where my eyes looked.”
“Wow…” Raquelle opens her eyes widely.
“I was obsessed with adrenaline…” Alicia falls into silence for a second and locks her fingers tightly. “My heart was beating like crazy, it was hard to breathe, my hands didn’t obey me, and my legs were shaking… I was driving like crazy… I didn’t follow the rules of the road… I wasn’t afraid that I could’ve crushed myself. That karma would’ve come back to me… That God would’ve punished me for what I did.”
“But you said there was blood and cracks on the windshield. If someone had seen them, they would’ve had a lot of questions for you.”
“I managed to stop in a quiet place and wash the blood off the glass with everything I had in my trunk. Luckily, I didn’t have problems with it.”
“Excuse me, Aunt, did Grandpa Timothy and Grandmother Tiffany know it?”
“Nope, they knew nothing about how I hit the person. But they saw the cracks and dents that my car had after that event. Though, I managed to get away from it, and I said that I was just in a little accident. I allegedly crushed a column. I didn’t see it when… I was parking my car…”
“And they believed it?”
“At least, they didn’t ask me any questions. Though, they swore at me for the broken car and a couple of penalties that I got for speeding.”
“Okay… And what happened next?”
“After that case, I couldn’t find the courage to drive a car for a very long time. At first, I was thinking a lot about what happened to that girl. I was praying that she survived. That nobody guessed that I was the one, who did it. I was always super tense and couldn’t focus on my business.”
“You were probably asked about what happened.”
“Yes, but I easily found excuses for that. I didn’t even think about telling someone about what happened on that terrible day.”
“I see…”
“And through the time, I calmed down a little and started to think about that case less and less. Because… Nobody and nothing reminded me of that. The police didn’t come, my phones weren’t in the whole city… Everything was fine. That’s why I relaxed and kept living as if nothing had happened. I banned myself from thinking about that girl and comforted myself with the thought that she was alive and was living a quiet life.”
“But as we know well, sometimes what we don’t expect happens to us.”
“Right…” Alicia nods. “One fateful day, I had to remember that.”
“What happened?”
“In short…” Alicia falls into silence and moves her eyes aside for a second. “Several months ago, I received a call from a certain woman… Who knew my name very well.”
“Relative?”
“She introduced herself as a close friend of Ines. At first, I didn’t understand who Ines was, but then I found out that it was the girl, whom I hit with a car. Who became an adult girl.”
“But how did she know about you?” Raquelle wonders. “How did she get your number?”
“I don’t know, sweetie. Maybe, some of those I knew told her about it. I speak with many people, among whom there could be her familiars and friends.”
“So, was that woman the one, who left a message on the voicemail?”
“She was.”
“So, as far as I understand, has it been several years since that moment?”
“Exactly. That’s why I forgot about that case and didn’t think about it.”
“And what did that woman want?”
“She let me know that she knew about the situation with Ines. She knew who hit her and when… As it turned out, someone memorized the number of my car and called it to the police staff members. And then they found out that I was the owner.”
“But if it’s so, they were supposed to find you immediately.”
“That woman said that the family of the suffered girl refused to file charges against me and report me.”
“And what happened to Ines? She is alive?”
“Yes, thank God, Ines stayed alive. But that woman said her friend had to experience several hard surgeries and spend many years recovering. As far as I know, she is still struggling with the consequences of that event.”
“My gosh…”
“In short, one of the police staff members was a good familiar of that woman and told her about me. They gave her all the information about me: from my name and my birthdate to the number of my car and the address of my home. I mean, the address of my parents’ home. Though, she managed to get this address.”
“That’s how…”
“When she managed to get my home number, she called me immediately and told me to meet her at the café where I found out everything.”
“It’s weird that you got a call from that woman, not someone from her relatives.”
“As she said, they were too shy and soft and were ready to forget everything because Ines stayed alive. But that woman did not want to accept it and decided to kick me for what I did.”
“But how?”
“As you’ve probably guessed, that woman told me to pay a lot of money as moral damage and a pay for all the surgeries of Ines and her long-time recovery.”
“As far as I understand, the case is about millions of dollars.”
“Right. She told me to pay the amount with nine zeros. You’ve never earned so much money for just one shoot for a magazine.”
“Wow!” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“Trust me, if you had this money, it would be enough for the rest of your life. You would live without having to lack something. You would be able to buy anything and give money to your close people.”
“And as I understand, did you refuse to pay this money because you didn’t have it?”
“How do I get so much money? I’ve never seen the amount of one million! But someone told me to pay one billion! Even if I sold my apartment, I wouldn’t get so much money anyway.”
“Is that woman actually rich? Or no?”
“Yes, she’s got money.”
“I see…”
“Thank God, what I’m earning at the university is enough to live on my own and go somewhere abroad one time per one year or two. But I am not able to pay so much money. And I told that woman about it.”
“And wasn’t that woman ready to accept it?”
“Right, she got wild and said she didn’t care about it, and I must have paid to pay all the money to Ines’ family. Her father was kind of too kind and borrowed them money because they weren’t able to pay for all those surgeries and recovery.”
“So, does that woman need money much more, not Ines’ family? Does she just want to get back what her father gave them?”
“Sort of!”
“Aren’t you afraid that they may sue you? You would have to pay the money anyway if the judge satisfied the claim of the plaintiff.”
“Of course, I’m afraid,” Alicia replies quietly. “But I clearly let her know that I wasn’t able to pay so much money.”
“What if you give a little part of your salary?”
“I told that woman about this suggestion, but she wanted the full amount at once. She didn’t care where I could get so much money.”
“So, will you not pay?”
“No, sweetie,” Alicia shakes her head, moving her eyes aside. “I am not able to pay everything.”
“Maybe, I can help you? Let me give you at least a part of the amount, so you can give it to that woman?”
“No, Raquelle, don’t give me anything!” Alicia protests.
“But, Aunt Alicia… That woman will not leave you alone if you don’t give her what she wants!”
“I know, but I’m not going to ask you to give me money. Even if you’re earning enough, you will not be able to get such a great amount.”
“I can give you a part of it. It’s not a big deal to me. I will earn it again. If I solve the problem with the rumors about me, of course…”
“No, honey, I will not take any money from you!”
“My God, what if that woman starts to threaten you? What if she sends some bouncers? Six-foot-tall hulks, against whom you wouldn’t be able to do anything! If you say she’s rich, it’s not going to be a big deal to hire someone.”
“She’s already done it.”
“What do you mean?” Raquelle frowns.
“When I refused to pay the full amount at once, that woman said she would make me regret it. She threatened to turn my life to a real hell. Then she paid for her coffee and left.” Alicia fixes the glasses on the bridge of her nose slightly. “At first, I was madly scared and seriously thought about getting into debts and taking out a loan to pay her. But because nothing happened after that call for a long time, I forgot everything again and kept doing my business. I thought I would get away from it again.”
Alicia locks her fingers tightly.
“But then I started getting calls with threats from unknown numbers. And I often started to find letters in my mailbox. That woman threatened to do something terrible if I didn’t give her what she wanted. She threatened to do her best for me to go to prison. For me to be on trial for the charge of harming the person physically and trying to run away from the crime place.”
“Oh, my gosh…” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“From then on, my quiet and peaceful life turned to hell. Eleanor, that woman, annoyed me literally every day and terrified me in all possible ways. She put me under strong psychological pressure.”
“But why didn't you go to the police?” Raquelle wonders. “That’s a real threat to life! That woman did threaten you, but you did nothing!”
“If I had reported to the police, it would’ve gotten worse for me.”
“It would’ve been much worse if you hadn’t gone to the police.”
“Yes, I knew it was insane. But I didn’t know what to do… I kept getting letters and calls… That woman was terrifying me more and more and literally forcing me to give her the full amount to the last pound.”
“Listen, let me help you get the amount that you need? I will give you something and ask someone to help you! Let’s explain the situation to your friends and familiar people and ask them to lend you some money.”
“No, girl, don’t even think about it! I will not ask anyone to give me anything!”
“I promise I will help you pay all the debts. We will get a list and will be giving everything little by little. I hope we will give debts to all of them for one or one and a half years.”
“I am full of debts anyway…” Alicia falls into silence for some time and moves her sad eyes aside. “I’ve told you that I had to borrow money to get enough to go to Egypt. And how many times I’ve borrowed money just because I didn’t have enough to buy food. Knowing that I give a part of my salary for taxes and utility bills and another part for giving debts, I eventually have a too small amount. Which I need to live for one month somehow.”
“Excuse me, Aunt, but I don’t understand you,” Raquelle shakes her head. “If I was instead of you, I would give all my money to live a quiet life. Maybe, I will have to pay debts to my close people and have no cent in my pocket, but I will know that nobody threatens me.”
“I doubt that this story will end so easily if I give her all the money.”
“Oh, okay, we will decide what to do later…” Raquelle sighs heavily. “What happened after you started to receive letters and calls with threats?”
“Next, my dear, everything was happening at the time you started living with me.”
“When I started living with you?”
“Yes.” Alicia thinks about something for two seconds. “Do you remember the day you went home after walking, and Lexi said I felt bad?”
“Yes, of course, I do,” Raquelle nods. “But why?”
“So… On that day, when you were gone, I was home alone. Lexi was spending time with her friend, and you woke up early and went to walk.” Alicia clears her throat quickly. “Everything was kind of fine, but then someone called the doorbell. I thought that was Lexi. Or you forgot something and came back… So, that’s why I opened it at once without looking into a door hole. But I would’ve rather done that. Because three men went into the apartment…”
“Three men?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“Yes. One of them had a knife. Which he threatened me with…”
“So, was someone here while I was walking in the city?”
“It’s true, sweetie, it’s true.”
“Auntie…”
“And while another pinned me against the wall and grabbed me by the throat, a third one went somewhere. He began to search my apartment to get as much money as he could find. They didn’t care about how I would live if they took the little money that I had.”
“Oh, my God…”
“They started threatening me… If I hadn’t given the full amount to that woman, they would’ve killed me shamelessly. I tried to kick them out and threatened to call the police if they didn’t leave my apartment, which they got into without permission. But alas, it made the situation worse…”
***
A few days ago.
“Here you are, scumbag!” the man pronounces in a low, rude voice.
Three tall men with strong bodies and a very disgusting look enter the apartment of Alicia, who did not think of looking into the door hole and opened the door at once. She thought her niece Raquelle or neighbor Alexis came here to say or take something. That’s why she reacted to the doorbell so quietly for this reason and unlocked the door with no fear.
And while Alicia realizes what’s happening, one of them pushes her and tightly presses her to the wall, tightly grabbing her by the throat, and another points a knife that he takes from an inside pocket of his jacket at her.
“It is time for us to get something into your mind, former local whore,” the man, who is threatening Alicia with a knife, says confidently.
“Who are you?” Alicia asks with horror in her widely open eyes. “What do you need from me?”
“What you should give!”
“You have no right to get into my apartment? Leave it immediately!”
“Do not tell us what to do, fucking bitch!” the man hisses, who squeezes Alicia’s throat much tighter.
“Let me go…” Alicia barely breathes from a lack of air. “Let me go…”
“Since you did not want to do what you should have done in a good way, we will have to wash your brains a little and explain something.”
“I do not know what you are talking about!” Alicia protests, trying to catch some air and move off the hand of the man, who is squeezing her throat strongly.
“No, sweetie, you do understand everything!”
“Leave my apartment now! Or I will immediately call the police.”
“Oh, you just look at her, how insolent she is! Alright, we will quickly make you call the memories about your duties.”
“I am not kidding! You have no right to get into my territory.”
“We can do much, scoundrel.”
“Hey, bearded, search the whole apartment,” the one, who is holding Alicia by the throat, orders. “Check out every single corner well and take all the money that you can find!”
“I’m coming!” the man with a beard pronounces in a low, rude voice. “And you hold this chick down, so she does not call the cops here. Or madam Woodham will have no mercy for her.”
“Don’t worry, we will hold her here!”
But the man with a beard nods confidently and turns around to go to the living room.
“Where are you going?” Alicia shouts loudly. “Where are you going, I am asking?”
“Hold her, hold!” the man with the knife in his hands jabs. “So, she doesn’t even dare to move!”
“Leave my apartment right now! I shall not let you search it and sort out my stuff. Do you hear what I am saying? Leave this place right now!”
But the man with a beard does not hear Alicia and goes to search the whole apartment to find something that a certain madam Woodham needs. The woman tries to get out and immediately get the unwelcomed guests out of her home, but the two that stayed in the hall do not let her do it.
“Shut up now, dirty cheap!” the man demands rudely, tightly squeezing Alicia’s throat.
“Leave, I said!” Alicia exclaims.
“Listen, bitch, stop resisting! Or we will make dead meat out of you. Do it earlier than Ms. Woodham tells us to destroy you.”
“I shall call the police if you do not leave my home,” Alicia says rudely.
“Close your dirty mouth, whore!” the man with the knife in his hands throws rudely.
“The police will not care about who you serve. You have no right to come into my territory without my permission. You have no!”
“You were to shut the fuck up!” the second man bellows, closing Alicia’s mouth tightly while she tries to say something but can only give a loud moan. “IS THERE SOMETHING UNCLEAR?”
“M-m-m-m!” Alicia tries to say something loudly with her widely open eyes.
“Stop resisting, bitch!” the man, who puts a knife to Alicia’s throat, very tightly, demands rudely. “Or I will stab you with a knife, and you will die right here. INSTANTLY!”
“And if you try to call the police, you will get very serious problems! GOT IT, BITCH? GOT IT?”
“You will not get what Eleanor is looking for,” Alicia says coldly when the man moves his hand off her mouth.
“Eleanor Woodham always gets what she wants.”
“I am not able to give her what I’ve never had!”
“You will give it, bitch! You will give everything with no questions.”
“She has no right to take what belongs to me!”
“Ha, who the fuck are you?” the man with a knife in his hands throws contemptuously. “Just a cheap folk that is not worth even a nail of our madam. She is a famous persona in the city! Respected and loved by everyone! But you are nobody! Nothing!”
“Nobody has said anything about her family for a long time,” Alicia says confidently.
“Wrong, bitch. The Woodham family is still remembered and loved by the whole country.”
“I did not notice it.”
“And Ms. Woodham has not forgotten and forgiven you for what you did to her,” the second man says rudely.
“Yes, scumbag, she forgot nothing!” another man confirms.
“Even if the madam did not bother you for a few years, while you were trying to unsuccessfully make your personal life better, she had something to do and planned revenge. Revenge for the one she lost because of your fucking fault. Revenge for the ruined life of her innocent friend, who almost died because of you.”
“You do not have to do with the business of Eleanor and me, pathetic spawns,” Alicia says coldly, clenching her hands into fists.
“We do have to do with everything about the Woodham family.”
“Yeah, how many people did work and do still work for that family? First, they served her daddy, but now they are running after his daughter and have become Eleanor’s loyal slaves.”
Alicia gets a strong slap from the man, who was holding her by the throat. The hit is so strong that she does not keep her balance and falls to the floor with a loud shout. And then the same man sharply grabs her by the collar and moves his look full of contempt and evil to her.
“Listen, bitch, do not show off here,” the man throws in a rude voice. “Or we will beat you so hard that you will forget your name. YOU, SCUMBAG, WILL NOT GET OFF THAT EASILY!”
“Don’t dare to threaten me,” Alicia demands rudely. “By the way, I am at my home!”
“Keep your mouth shut, bitch.”
“Or we will deal with you and also your niece, who is living with you at your home,” the second man adds.
“What?” Alicia rounds her eyes.
“Yes, yes, we know that girl is here,” the man with the knife says confidently.
“And we know what she is charged for,” the second man adds.
“Don’t dare…” Alicia hisses through her teeth. “Don’t dare to touch her with a finger.”
“What if we try?”
“You will regret it…”
Alicia sharply gets up and threatens the men with a finger, getting furious because of the mention of her niece’s name.
“I would tear anyone, who wishes to hurt her,” Alicia says confidently. “Anyone.”
“Do not talk to the wind,” one of the men smirks evilly.
“I am not kidding, scumbags. I swear, if my niece loses at least one hair, you will regret it much. As well as your beloved Eleanor.”
“You will do nothing to us, Alicia,” the man with the knife says confidently with his head proudly raised. “Or do we better call you Cheryl? The name, under which you are known by some people!”
“Yeah…” the second man crosses his arms over his chest. “Slim dolly Cheryl…”
“It’s in the past!” Alicia says in a little shaking voice. “I’m no longer Cheryl! And I will never be the one!”
“I wonder, does the niece of this bitch actually know what a stormy life her beloved auntie had?”
“She will never know it!”
“Sorry! She would feel bad for you if she knew what you were doing somehow.”
“Oh, she would hardly care about it now,” the man with the knife smirks evilly. “That girl is so busy with her problems with a career that she does give a fuck about her and others?”
“Yes, yes…” the second man smiles slyly. “We do know how hard that cutie is getting showered with mud. Just because some brave person told everyone she was a thankless, arrogant bitch that had hysterics on shootings, thought that everyone was dust, and brought innocent people to the wish to take a suicide attempt. She’s been putting people under cruel bullying since childhood because she wants to assert herself at their expense.”
“It’s a lie!” Alicia protests. “She was slandered!”
“If journalists and reports of the whole world knew Raquelle Cameron went to London and hid at her auntie’s home, they would come here.”
“It’s weird that nobody noticed her getting on the airplane and leaving,” the second man adds.
“But if Ms. Woodham wanted, she would tell the whole world Raquelle Cameron hid at the apartment of her auntie. The auntie, who was also the shame of the whole country many years ago.”
“Listen, people are right when they say an apple doesn’t fall far from a tree. The auntie, the niece – both make tons of mistakes and give the world a reason to talk about them.”
“I would not be surprised if that girl outdid her auntie and did something that people would remember for ages.”
“Hardly. That girl would hardly do what Cheryl did.”
“Raquelle will never know what I want to forget once and forever,” Alicia throws rudely. “I will not let her know about my sins that I’m still trying to pray for forgiveness for. I will not let her know the sins of my past.”
“Early or late, any kind of truth will come to light, Alicia-Cheryl. If you do not tell that, madam Woodham will tell her about all your adventures with pleasure.”
“I’m sure that girl would not take that and refuse to believe what a bitch her auntie was.” the second man adds.
“I will not let Eleanor find Raquelle and do something to her,” Alicia says confidently. “She will do it only over my dead body!”
“Our dear Eleanor will not listen to such trash like you. She will surely deal with you and kill your beloved niece…” the man smiles slyly. “Who was probably shaking her ass in front of powerful people for too long to fly so high and fast.”
“My niece is not a whore, you, mangy animal!” Alicia snaps, getting enraged. “If I hear something like this again, I swear you will have to pay much for that.”
“Do not be afraid, scumbag,” the man with the knife pronounces confidently. “Our madam is very smart and will find a way to reach for that girl and get off her, so you do not prevent her from it.”
“You will not reach for her! I will cut your throat for my niece if one hair falls off her head!”
“As I understand, your niece is lucky this time as she is not at your home. But next time, that girl will run away from us and Eleanor Woodham.”
“I did say, if you try to touch her with a finger, it will be YOUR FUNERAL! I WILL NOT LET ANYONE HURT HER!”
Alicia gets a strong slap in the face from the man, who squeezes her throat and puts the knife against her abdomen, sharply pressing her to the wall.
“STOP SHOUTING HERE, YOU, BRAINLESS CHICKEN!” the man with the knife screams at the top of his lungs. “OR I, BITCH, WILL DO MY BEST FOR YOU TO BE BEATEN BLACK AND BLUE.”
“And your niece will see an ocean of blood when she is back to this place,” the second adds with his head proudly raised.
“I am not afraid of you!” Alicia says confidently. “And I can stand up for myself! I have done away with worse scumbags somehow.”
“CLOSE YOUR FUCKING MOUTH RIGHT NOW!”
The second man grabs Alicia by the collar, hits her head against the closet placed in the hall, and gives her a strong slap in the face and a very painful hit in the abdomen when she falls on the floor like a stone.
“NO!” Alicia screams at the top of her lungs, being white enough and starting to shame strongly from fear that these big guys would beat her to death. “STOP IT!”
“Wanted pain, bitch?” the second man gets mad and sharply grabs Alicia by the hair. “YES, I AM ASKING?”
“No, don’t do this…” Alicia begs in a shaking voice, understanding tears are coming to her eyes. “Please, don’t beat me…”
“You do not understand anything in ANOTHER WAY!”
The man gives another strong slap in Alicia’s face, after which she shouts loudly, sharply grabbing her cheek and starting to cry quietly.
“So, are you not afraid now?” the second man asks. “ARE YOU NOT AFRAID, I AM ASKING?”
“Now have you realized what it means to go against our madam and her people?” the man asks rudely with the knife that he puts against the throat of Alicia getting sharply white from fear. “Or do we have to shake you up again you, scumbag, to know who you got in touch with?”
“Don’t kill me…” Alicia begs with despair. “For God’s sake…”
“Meowing with pity would not help you, bitch!”
“If Eleanor wants to talk to me, I’m always ready to meet her,” Alicia says in a shaking voice with tears. “We could agree and forget that horrible story once and forever.”
“Ha, such a naive idiot!” the man with the knife smirks evilly and, grabbing Alicia by the hair, sharply raises her head up to make her look into his horrifying eyes.
“For God’s sake, pity me!”
“It will not impact on our madam, nasty bitch. She does not need your fucking pity! She wants revenge! And she is absolutely confident about breaking you like a pea. Make you pay for all your sins. The sins of the past. Your dark past.”
“Please, don’t do…”
“And you will give madam Woodham the amount of money that she demanded. The amount that her deeply respected father kindly lent to the family of his daughter’s friend, so they paid for all her surgeries and recovery. So, they healed her after you, bitch, hit you with a car. And then you ran away from the crime scene.”
“I was just scared! I was afraid of responsibility! I was afraid to go to prison! I thought I would get away from it!”
“But you did not avoid it! Because Ines was the friend of madam Woodham. Because people memorized your car well and told the policemen about you. And they kindly shared the information with our madam.”
“Yeah, you, nasty slut, sucked a lot of blood from her and her close people,” the second man adds. “At first, you became the reason why she lost her close person. And then our madam found out that you almost sent her best friend to another world. You made a little girl half-disabled one, who would no longer be able to live a normal life.”
“That snake has got lots of money that her daddy stole from the proceeds of his shops that give her good money without his tricks,” Alicia snaps. “She will not lose so much if she doesn’t have one or two billion.”
“Getting a few more pounds would never be bad.”
“She had great luck! She became the owner of his business and keeps having the same plan as he did. She gets literally much more money thanks to different manipulations with documents.”
“Don’t you think your dirty tongue got too loose AGAIN?”
The man with the knife slaps Alicia screaming from fear in the face, and throws off everything placed on the closet in the hall in anger.
“DO YOU NOT KNOW TOO MUCH, CHEAP?” the man with the knife gets wild.
“Do not make us kill you right here,” the second man says rudely, squatting down in front of the crying and shaking Alicia.
“Please…” Alicia pronounces in a strongly shaking voice.
“Ms. Woodham wants to do it personally to feel a sweet taste of revenge to the scumbag that ruined her life.”
“I don’t want to die…”
“She will be unpleased if you, bitch, make us enraged and make us kill you. She does not need your dead body. She needs you alive. To turn you to a dead body.”
“No, don’t do this, please…” Alicia begs with despair and tears in her eyes.
“Stop crying, fucking whore!” the man with the knife bellows and hits Alicia on the side with a leg.
“NO!” Alicia shouts loudly, sharply bending backward from strong pain.
“You should have made your chicken brains work before you stood in the way of such a powerful family like the Woodhams.”
“I was so young… Almost a child…” Alicia sniffs quietly. “Now I grew up and became smarter. But I did not think it all would lead to such terrible consequences.”
“It’s your problems, nasty bitch!” the second throws rudely. “We are not going to listen to your snotty things and cry along with you.”
“Don’t do anything bad to me, I’m begging you…” Alicia begs with pity in her eyes. “Please… For everything in the world…”
“Listen to me, bitch…” the second man bellows, bending to Alicia and squeezing her yawl strongly. “If you make at least another one squeak and do not stop the fuck crying, we will immediately drive you to the house of madam Woodham, and she will deal with you and surely kill you. YOU GOT ME, BITCH? YOU GOT IT, I ASKED?”
Alicia says nothing and just keeps shaking strongly and giving loud sobs, being terribly worried about her life and praying that everything ends as soon as possible. But her silence and tears make the men much angrier, one of whom slaps her in the face again so strongly she hits her temple against a corner of the closet with a loud shout, near which she is sitting on the floor, and the second one hits his fist against her abdomen and grabs the woman by the hair.
By this moment, the mascara she had on her eyelashes slowly started to fall off her cheeks. Her hair is disheveled, and her broken glasses are lying on the floor. However, she can still see well without them, and the faces of those, who shamelessly got into her apartment are not blue before her eyes.
“SHIT THE FUCK UP, AT LAST!” the man with the knife shouts with anger in his eyes. “Whining will not help you get saved from what’s waiting for you.”
“Please…” Alicia begs with despair.
“So, I am advising you to shut up and make NO SOUND!”
“Or we will be beating you until our friend comes here with all your money in his hands,” the second man threatens with his head proudly raised and squeezes Alicia’s throat with both hands for two seconds.
“No…”
“You, bitch, will regret daring to be rude to us and hurt our madam.”
“I WISH YOU WERE ALL CURSED, SCUMBAGS!” Alicia screams with a heavy breath, tightly grabbing the man’s arms, who is holding her by the throat.
“DO NOT SCREAM, BITCH!”
“Because of that fucking Woodham family, my life turned into hell! That bitch, Eleanor Woodham, is my curse! As well as her daddy, who I never wanted to have any business with!”
Alicia has to take how strong her cheeks burn from another slap and bite the bullet from the strong pain in her belly that she feels when they hit her with their legs. It’s easy to see how a thin flow of blood gets out of her nose because of a hit against the closet that she gets several times. Because of worrying about her life, she gets much whiter, starts to shake much stronger, and understands how fast her heart is beating.
The shocked woman is praying to everyone that these people leave as soon as possible. She prays about them not killing her in her own apartment, which is turned upside down by this moment because of the man, who keeps searching it to find the thing he needs.
“God, please, help me,” Alicia begs with despair. “I don’t want to die… Please… Save me from these people… Do something for them to leave. Please… Please…”
Probably, these men could easily start to beat Alicia cruelly and bring her to half death. But at some moment, the bearded man runs into the hall, who is the reason why it’s all upside down everywhere.
“I searched the whole apartment,” the man with a beard says. “This whore doesn’t have too much money. I took everything that I managed to find in her wallet.”
“What do you mean she doesn’t have?” the man with the knife wonders.
“That’s true!” the man with a beard throws his hands up and takes a small amount of money from his pocket. “This is everything I found here.”
“Seriously? Actually, Ms. Woodham counted on a bigger amount. Not this small amount, which you could only give to some homeless people.”
“Yes, but she didn’t have any more banknotes in her wallet!”
“Did you check everything well?” the second man asks. “Maybe, this slut has a bank card! There must be a lot of money on it, for sure!”
“I checked everything! I even stole the keys from the bedroom and unlocked the storeroom, where I found nothing either! There was some senseless shit!”
After hearing the last words, Alicia rounds her eyes with a feeling her heart starts beating much faster.
“Idiot!” the second man swears with evil in his eyes. “Do you know that the madam will kill us if we don’t give her as much money as possible?”
“Yeah, but she told us that our main goal was to scare this bitch and not to let her forget the sins of her past,” the man with a beard recalls. “And if we give some money to her, it will be a good thing for us.”
“But you do know that if she said it would not mean she did not need those beautiful banknotes,” the man with the knife throws his hands up.
“What can I do if this bitch doesn’t have anything?”
“Listen, did you really check the whole apartment?” the second man frowns slightly. “What if there are some unchecked places?”
“I checked everything!” the man with a beard nods confidently. “The whole apartment is turned upside down!”
“Sure?”
“Yes! We can get out, there is really no money here.”
“Oh, yeah, I think you’re right…” the man with the knife pronounces thoughtfully. “The important thing is that we told this scumbag everything the madam asked us to say.”
“Get out before someone of her neighbors gets us caught. What if someone calls the cops, and the madam would have to agree with them to set us free.”
“Leave!”
Alicia silently exhales with great relief because this short but unbearable torture is finally finishing.
“Thank God…” Alicia thinks. “Thank You, God… Thank You for saving me…”
But before they leave, the man with a beard looks at the poor, white Alicia with evil in his eyes and slaps her in the face as strongly as possible, and she gives a loud shout.
“Now listen to me closely, you, dirty slut,” the man with a beard hisses rudely. “Now we are leaving you alone and will not beat you until half death. Even if you must get your ass kicked.”
Alicia sniffs quietly at this moment, scarily looking at the man with a beard.
“But remember, Eleanor Woodham gave you three days for you to make the right decision and agree to do what she wants,” the man with the beard adds confidently. “I mean, you will agree because you will have no choice. Our madam just gave you three days to get ready for the worst. And for her to get ready for the long-awaited revenge.”
“Yes, Alicia, she will take revenge on you for everything she had to take because of you,” the second man says confidently. “If those, who should have done that, did not do it, the daughter of the famous Gilbert Woodham is doing that.”
“The late Gilbert Woodham, whom we deeply respected and loved. Who has been forgotten by none of us, even many years later after his death.”
“In three days, Eleanor Woodham will begin this game and make her plan come true,” the man with the knife adds confidently. “Then you and your beloved niece will be dead.”
“And you will have nobody to save you. Nobody will help you get saved from the anger of our madam, to the father of whom we swore to respect that woman and do anything she would love.”
“And yeah, don’t try to get the police involved in this case,” the third man adds rudely and grabs Alicia painfully by the hair. “If you or your niece at least call there, you two will regret it.”
“Eleanor Woodham will not pity you and will destroy you two. Well, of course, you can report. At least, there would be minus two wenches in this world. You would not make someone’s eyes hurt. Nobody would be sorry for you. Nobody!”
“Alright, guys, leave!” one of the men orders. “I hope this chicken is not too stupid and will understand what our madam asked us to tell her.”
“See you soon, Alicia Thompson,” the man with the knife says goodbye coldly. “Well, or just Cheryl. Slim dolly Cheryl… A nasty, mean gal that our madam will be cursing until the end of her life.”
The man with the knife slaps Alicia in the face the last time and then leaves the apartment along with his friends, leaving the crying and shaking woman alone, sitting on the floor. And when they sharply slam the door, she lets her emotions that she was barely keeping inside go out not to get much worse. Because of fear, Alicia cries hard while sitting on the cold parquet floor with disheveled hair, mascara that went down, and even little ripped clothes.
The frightened, white woman does not get up for a few seconds and keeps shaking from fear and feeling how crazy her heart is beating. Her body is now obsessed with strong pain from such painful hits of the three strong men that came into her apartment and started to threaten her at the order of a certain Eleanor Woodham, to whom the woman has been connected by something for a long time. Judging by the fact that Alicia was not surprised when she heard this name.
But later, Alicia slowly gets up on her feet and looks around the whole hall with tears in her eyes, sniffing quietly. It makes the woman shocked, and she, shaking strongly, shakes her head while walking into the apartment with quiet sobs and sees what the man with a horrible look did.
She barely comes to an open door, in which a key is placed, enters a small room that reminds her of a storeroom with unnecessary things, and sees that everything is lying on the floor. She quickly comes up with a thought. So, Alicia quickly runs to one of the corners of the room, squats down, moves off a few woods placed on the floor under a little mat, and takes a big box from a little recess that is a stash. And after opening the box and looking at what’s inside, the woman exhales with great relief because the man with a beard did not manage to find the place where she has some amount of money for a rainy day, using it when she is not able to buy food or pay for utility bills and adding something to it every time she has a chance.
“Oh, it’s here…” Alicia pronounces quietly. “He didn’t notice my saved money…”
Of course, after getting through this horror that will not let her come to herself for a long time, Alicia would prefer to let those people find and take all the money with them without beating and threatening her. But she would not like to lose what she works at the university so hard all day long. What she always lacks. Nevertheless, Alicia is madly happy that everything is finally over, and she can exhale with little relief. But she is much happier that her niece Raquelle is not at home, who could have also been in danger and gotten strongly beaten by those men.
The woman thinks she would rather suffer herself, scream and bend backward from pain than know or see how her girl getting tortured while she has too many problems. She is ready to endure all these tortures to save her niece from bad things. But at the bottom of her heart, she understands the girl would have to run into that terrible woman. who wants to take revenge so badly that she sent three big men into her apartment and told them to frighten her.
***
“So, did the people of that woman, who left you the voice message, come here?” Raquelle concludes.
“Yes, sweetie, the accomplices of the woman went to my home,” Alicia confesses. “It’s Eleanor Woodham.”
“Eleanor Woodham?”
“Yes…” Alicia sighs heavily. “And while two of them were threatening me, a third one turned my apartment upside down to find some money.”
“And didn’t they find it?” Raquelle frowns slightly.
“Sadly, they took all the banknotes that I had from my wallet. Thank God, I didn’t have so much, but that woman took everything to the last pound.”
“So, don’t you have money now?”
“Nope, luckily, I have some saved money.”
“Really?”
“Yes, there’s a secret place in the storeroom where you were. I keep some amount of money for a rainy day there. I use it when I lack money catastrophically. And I add something every time I have a chance to do it.”
“Did you hide it from those people on purpose?”
“I was just ready for them to break into my apartment and steal my money. So, I foresaw it. And I hid my bank card very well. I get my salary transferred to it and usually withdraw all the money. I don’t like all these cards, to be honest. I prefer to use banknotes.”
“But you said that woman found you a few months ago. Why has the storeroom been locked for many years?”
“Why do I keep it open?” Alicia pronounces hesitantly. “There’s nothing interesting. I keep everything I don’t need anymore in that room.”
“But there were some toys of mine. Something for a Christmas tree.”
“Right, but there’s nothing more.”
“Oh… Okay…” Raquelle moves her eyes to her hands for a second. “What happened next? What did those people do?”
“Before they left, they had given me three days so I can make the right, as they think, decision,” Alicia says. “And then they went away. I stayed alone. And then I checked the recess in the storeroom. The money was there… That man didn’t find it and left with what he found in my wallet.”
“Did they threaten you with words?” Raquelle asks hesitantly. “Or something worse happened?”
“Much worse. They hit me in the face and stomach many times… They even hit my head against the closet placed in the hall a couple of times…”
“Really?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“But thank God, that nightmare didn’t last long…”
“Gosh…” Raquelle closes her mouth with her hand. “But did you have no bruises? They probably beat you hard with no regret!”
“After that event, I really got lots of bruises on my body,” Alicia confesses hesitantly. “But some of them were hidden underneath my clothes, and I covered others with cosmetics, you could not see them and suspect anything bad.”
“Auntie Alicia…” Raquelle shakes her head.
“Don’t worry, honey, these bruises have gone.” Alicia softly caresses Raquelle’s hand and then points at the area on her forehead, on which she had a big bruise. “You see, I had a big bruise on my forehead. But now it’s almost gone. I don’t have to put on a thick layer of foundation to cover it. I can just put on some powder.”
“It hurts?” Raquelle specifies.
“Yes, this area hurts a little when I press it. But everything is fine.”
“I’m glad you’re fine,” Raquelle exhales with relief. “But my heart is squeezing from thinking they were beating you.”
“Yeah, God saved me…”
“And what happened after all of that?”
“Oh…” Alicia sighs heavily again and throws a look at her hands. “After those men left, Alexis visited me some time later. I was sitting in my room and was shocked. Terribly scared. Shaking. Worried. Praying to God that the same never happens again. And I had high blood pressure.”
“My God…” Raquelle pronounces with horror in her eyes.
“But thank God, Lexi was with me and helped me calm down. She gave me some drugs to bring my blood pressure back to normal, gave me strong tea, and told me to lie in a bed… And then you came, and she told you about me.”
“Did she know what actually happened?” Raquelle frowns slightly. “Did Lexi know everything that happened here? Right?”
“Yes, sweetie, she knew everything. I told her those men were here and wanted to steal the money. And later, I persuaded her to be silent and say nothing to you. Although she wanted me to tell you all the truth, that girl agreed to say nothing. Agreed not to confess that the people of Eleanor were here on that day.”
“Has she always known about Eleanor and her people?”
“Always. I told her about the call and the threats. I was terribly ashamed to tell her about how I hit Ines with a car. But I should’ve confessed it to explain why someone demanded to pay a lot of money.”
“And… As I understand, she cleaned this place while I wasn’t here.”
“Yes,” Alicia nods. “While I was having a rest and coming to me, Lexi quietly cleaned the apartment, threw away everything that was broken, and brought all the things to the right places. I wanted to do it by myself, but she wanted to help me.”
“That’s how…”
“Don’t be mad at her for being silent. I made her say nothing. I didn’t wanna scare and make you upset.”
“And…” Raquelle swallows up nervously. “What will happen after the three days they gave you?”
“Eleanor will start to take revenge on me.” Alicia falls into silence for two seconds and bites her lip slightly. “And today, the time that I got is up. So, she will start her game.”
“What could you expect?” Raquelle wonders.
“Anything.”
“Didn’t anyone steal anything from you?”
“No, no, nobody has robbed me yet. But I had already begun to get messages from Eleanor on my mobile phone. And… It’s clear that she left me the voice message to remind me of the fact that the time is up.”
“Trying to put you under pressure so far?”
“Something like that.”
“Anyway, you did the right thing by hiding your reserved money in your secret place.”
“Yes, I guessed it would happen.”
“Then, maybe, you move off some expensive things that are placed in the living room? There’s probably something that could be sold for a lot of money!”
“I’ve been thinking about hiding them for a long time. And I will do it today. Yes, Eleanor doesn’t need those things. But I shouldn't show them. What if those people come back and really think about stealing some souvenirs and selling them for a lot of money.”
“It’s weird that they were determined to take your money only. If you didn’t have anything in your wallet, it would’ve been logical to steal something that costed more or less a lot.”
“I don’t exclude that it’s gonna happen the next time. Moreover, Eleanor loves bringing something from abdoad.”
“She told you that?”
“Yes, she briefly mentioned it when I suggested that she buy some souvenirs from me. I have some very expensive things, for which certain collectors would sell their soul.”
“Wow…”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Alicia looks at Raquelle with sadness in her eyes, while her niece is shocked by what she heard.
“So…” Alicia pronounces thoughtfully and shrugs. “Here’s the story…”
Alicia gets up from the bed and comes to the window slowly.
“I should’ve told you everything earlier,” Alicia adds. “But I didn’t want to load you with my problems. Because you’ve got too many of your own. However, you were headstrong and insisted on what you wanted.”
“Did you think you would hide it from me forever?” Raquelle wonders.
“I wanted to hide it as long as possible. I wanted you to have a rest instead of spending time and nerves solving my problems.”
“What if I had to find out everything from that woman or her people?”
“I wanted to save you from that in any way.”
“But you should’ve known it was impossible!”
“I realized there was no meaning in hiding it when you let me listen to that voice message on the phone.”
“I actually guessed you had problems on the day someone called you in the late evening.”
“It was her, Eleanor. She threatened me again and told me to give her what I should’ve given. And I said I should’ve given her nothing. And I told her to leave me alone. I said I wanted to forget everything and never come back to that event. And the next day, she sent those men, who turned everything upside down here.”
“What if I didn’t wanna go anywhere?”
“I don’t know… But I’m grateful to God for making sure to walk. I was even afraid to imagine what those scumbags would’ve done to you.”
“Auntie Alicia…”
“I’m sorry, Raquelle…” Alicia fixes her glasses slightly and moves her eyes full of pity to Raquelle. “Forgive me for not telling you everything earlier. I’m so sorry it happened.”
“Please…” Raquelle pronounces softly.
“I was silent just because of a wish to let you have a rest and forget about what you had to take because of the author of the terrible rumors. The problem wasn’t about mistrust – not at all. It was just a simple wish not to load you with my problems and to let you spend a wonderful time here.”
Alicia swallows up nervously.
“It was hard to smile and pretend that everything was alright about me. But I did it for you. I wanted to make your time good. So you don’t run away from one problem to another. But alas, you didn’t manage to do it. Because everything reminded you of the scandal with slander. And I gave you problems…”
“Aunt…”
“Sorry, sweetie… Sorry…”
Alicia inclines her head, looking at her hands with sadness in her eyes, while Raquelle shakes her head.
“I can’t believe it…” Raquelle pronounces quietly with pity in her eyes. “I can’t believe you had to take those terrible things…”
“I can’t get out of this trap so easily,” Alicia sighs heavily. “Because it’s too late.”
“My God… So, haven’t you slept at nights because of the event with that girl and Eleanor’s require to pay so much money to her?”
“Not only because of that… I’ve been worried about the situation! All this time, I’ve been terribly worried about my life. I was afraid Eleanor Woodham’s people would kill me somewhere. Every time I left home, it was like a test for my nerves. And it was scary to be home, as well.”
“Aunt Alicia…” Raquelle shakes her head.
“And when you came to visit me, I got much more scared.”
“But why did you agree to accept me here if you were afraid something would happen to me?”
“When your grandfather told me that you were worried about that situation of slander and complained to me, I felt sorry for you. My heart was torn apart because I wasn’t near you and couldn’t support you. So, Mr. Cameron and I talked and decided that you should’ve ridden out the storm at my home.”
“You had a right to refuse to accept me at your home.”
“Well…” Alicia smiles mysteriously and sits on the bed next to Raquelle. “Maybe, deep inside, I knew you would help me.”
“Really?” Raquelle wonders.
“You’re our kind girl, and you can’t stay aside when your close people have problems.”
“It’s true…” Raquelle nods. “I can’t be indifferent.”
“That’s very good. That’s very good you worry about your close people so much.” Alicia caresses Raquelle’s cheek softly with a slight smile, making the girl smile shyly. “And despite what they’ve been writing about you in newspapers and magazines, I shall always be proud of you. You will always be my best and favorite one. And I will never believe anyone, who dares to say you’re a selfish bitch that only loves herself.”
“You make me blush, Auntie,” Raquelle smiles shyly.
“But it’s the truth, my girl. I will never agree to turn my back on you for even great money. Not for anything. They can even offer me millions of pounds. Never.”
“That’s great at least someone is by my side.” Raquelle moves her eyes to her hands for a second. “After all the dirt that man showered me with.”
“By the way, do you know everyone has been trying to find you so hard?” Alicia asks with a mysterious smile.
“I know.”
“I heard nobody knows anything about you. Even Mr. Cameron allegedly said he didn’t know where you were. And your friends allegedly refused to talk to the media…”
“It’s true. They say it on purpose.”
“What?”
“I asked them to say so if reporters annoy them.”
“My gosh…” Alicia smiles slyly. “So, my darling, let me ask you, what did you come up with? Why did journalists suddenly start writing such articles about your disappearance? No word about you being at the airport, getting on the airplane, and going to London.”
“It’s easy, Aunt,” Raquelle shrugs with a slight smile on her face. “I just asked Grandpa and two close friends of mine not to say where I am.”
“But why?”
“I just don’t want anyone to find me now… I don't want journalists to annoy me with questions or blame me for what I’m not guilty of. It’d be… It would be unpleasant for me to hear it… I always hear the mentions about that scandal. On TV, on the street, on the Internet… Everywhere…”
“But you can’t hide forever.”
“I know. But I promise that I shall show up in public early or late and comment on this situation. But not now. Now I’m not ready for that.”
“As for your grandfather, I’m sure about him at one hundred percent, but as for your friends…” Alicia says thoughtfully.
“What?” Raquelle frowns slightly.
“Girls are actually more talkative than men. Your friends can easily drop a hint at the place where you went.”
“Do you think they could really tell someone where I am now?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“Ah, Raquelle, never trust a person out and out even if you know him or her very well,” Alicia replies thoughtfully. “Friends are not always real. You can’t always put your hopes on them.”
“Oh, no, Aunt, what are you talking about?” Raquelle smiles slightly, not taking Alicia’s words too seriously. “I don’t doubt those girls. They’ve never betrayed me. And I know that they won't betray me this time. We’ve known each other for too long to doubt their decency and loyalty.”
“So, as you know…” Alicia shrugs. “Still, I hope your friends will keep their promise and won't betray you.”
“They will not do, Auntie, don’t worry.”
“Alright then…” Alicia falls into silence for two seconds and smiles shyly. “By the way, are you still communicating with Natalia? The girl to be your friends at school times. Erm… Well… A very beautiful blonde… You said all the boys from school had a crush on her and fell in love with that girl at first sight.”
“Sure,” Raquelle replies confidently with a slight smile. “Natalia and I didn’t stop speaking even when I was studying at home and went to study at the university. And some time before I went to England, I also met Anna.”
“Anna? Is that the short girl with red hair and a baby face, who you also often communicated with?”
“Yes, that’s her,” Raquelle confirms confidently. “And Anna hasn’t changed since that time. She still looks much younger than twenty-one.”
“Wow… But why didn’t you communicate with her when you never forgot Natalia?”
“I don’t know, it happened… When I started studying at home, Natalia and I lost contact with Anna and didn’t meet her for a few years. And then she moved to another city…”
“Wow, does Natalia also live in New York now?”
“Yup, she moved here at almost the same time I did.”
“Wow… And Anna?”
“She moved, too. Her family decided so. They should’ve developed their business, and Anna decided to study at the New York University.”
“When did you and Natalia start to communicate with her again?”
“Some time ago, she found Natalia on a social network, asked her to add her to friends, and started to communicate with her. And I met her personally when Rochester made me sure to go somewhere to have fun with the girls.”
“That’s how! Okay…”
“By the way, they’re the ones, who I asked not to tell anyone about my current location.”
“Them?”
“Yup…”
“Oh, Raquelle…” Alicia shakes her head. “You did a bad thing…”
“Why?”
“I can’t say anything about Anna, but Natalia has always been a talkative girl… She can’t keep her mouth shut very well and may say something bad.”
“Erm…”
“Are you sure she won’t betray you?”
“Of course, I’m sure.”
“You don’t better trust that girl especially important secrets.”
“C’mon, Aunt! Maybe, Natalia is a talkative girl, but she wouldn’t say bad things,” Raquelle says confidently with a slight smile.
“Well, I dunno…”
“That girl has always wished me the best and never betrayed me. She would do anything I ask her about.”
“I don’t say she wishes you bad things,” Alicia protests confidently. “Natalia is just the type of person that you shouldn't trust with any kind of secrets.”
“We’ve never betrayed each other and always supported each other in any situation. And I’ll always be sure Natalia is the best friend of mine of those I’ve got.”
“Are you sure about it?”
“At one hundred percent. And I don’t know what I’d do without her and the support she hasn't stopped giving me for many years.”
“Okay, as you know,” Alicia shrugs. “They’re your friends… You better know what these girls can do. And whether one of them can betray you.”
“They can’t do.”
“Anyway, don’t forget that at least Natalia could forget she has to be silent and tell everyone where you are.”
“No, Aunt Alicia, it won’t happen. I would never tell especially important secrets to those I don’t trust.”
“So, do what you find right.”
Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Raquelle smiles shyly. But then the girl realizes she and Alicia forgot what they talked about and decides to come back to what they started their talk with.
“Erm, I think…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully. “We… Distracted a little…”
“Ah, yeah, we were talking about my problem…” Alicia replies quietly, fixing her glasses on the bridge of her nose. “About Eleanor…”
“Please, Aunt, don’t worry. I’ll surely help you. Though, I advise you to let me give you just a part of the amount and ask your friends and familiar people for help.”
“No, my sunshine, you can do nothing! And I will not dare to accept your money.”
“Anyway, I shall do my best to help you. Just don’t be nervous. We will think up something and end this story once and forever. Someday, Eleanor Woodham will stop threatening you. We will solve the problem with the money. I promise.”
“Oh, I dunno, my sweetheart…” Alicia sighs heavily.
“Any problem has a solution. We should just find it.”
“But don’t dare to go to the police. If we do this, both of us will be dead.”
“But what do we do then?”
“I don’t know, Raquelle… I don’t know…”
“Can you tell me more about that woman?” Raquelle frowns slightly. “Who is Eleanor? What’s she doing? And something like that!”
“Erm…” Alicia bites her lip slightly. “Honestly, I… I don’t know too much about her. But I know that her father opened his shops here in the 80s, and they became very successful.”
“That’s something,” Raquelle exhales quietly. “Or maybe, there is someone, who could know Eleanor much better?”
“I think there is…” Alicia thinks for a few seconds and moves her eyes to Raquelle with a shy smile. “There is someone, who will be able to tell you much more about that woman.”
“Really?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“Yes. But in this case, it will not help you anyhow. It could just satisfy your curiosity.”
“Who is that person?”
“It’s a woman. She is a little younger than Eleanor.”
“Her friend?”
“Former friend.”
“Former?”
“Yes. They got on well somehow, but later, their relationship started to get worse. And those women eventually stopped communicating.”
“Wow…”
“That woman can tell you very much about the one that is threatening me.”
“How long have you known her?”
“I’ve known her for ages, but I haven’t communicated with her for ages because we both are busy. She has been married for many years and is taking care of her husband, and I’m working all day long.”
“Does that woman know something about Eleanor’s plans?”
“Yes, she knows all her plans. And actually, my familiar knows Eleanor as well as her fingers and could tell you anything about her.”
“Alright, in this case, I could try to talk to that woman and ask her to tell me everything she knows about the one that is threatening you,” Raquelle says confidently.
“Don’t do this, Raquelle, it doesn’t make sense.”
“What if we manage to find out some interesting information that we could use for our goals.”
“Anyway, it doesn’t have to do with me. I know that woman just because she told me to pay her the money that her father spent on the therapy of her friend.”
“Nevertheless, I’m interested in knowing much more about Eleanor.”
“Oh, honey… Why do you need it? Why do you want to waste your time?”
“Maybe, not?”
“Oh, Raquelle…”
“Do you have her phone or address?”
“Erm… Yes… I have it.”
“Call it, then.”
“Okay, then…” Alicia sighs tiredly. “Do you have you a pen and a piece of paper?”
“Erm, yes, of course. Now…”
Raquelle finds a small notebook and a pen on the table that she gives Alicia. The woman quickly writes something, but then tears a piece of paper off and gives it to her niece.
“Take it,” Alicia pronounces quietly. “It’s her home address, where she’s living with her husband.”
“So, let me look…” Raquelle says thoughtfully, takes the piece of paper from Alicia, and starts running her eyes over it with interest. “Amelia Sanchez? Her name is Amelia Sanchez?”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Alicia nods.
“She was your friend?”
“She is my friend now. We’ve just communicated rarely.”
“Okay…”
“I actually met that woman a few years ago when she was living in the house that was near the one where I lived. But then Amelia got married and moved to her husband’s house.”
“He’s good?”
“Yes, he’s a very good man. But we are not quite close. We just speak well. No more.”
“Doesn’t her husband know the woman, who threatens you?”
“No, no, he doesn’t know her. So, if you meet him there, it’ll be worthless to ask him about that madam. Only the former friend of Eleanor can tell you everything.”
“Okay, I got it…”
Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, after which Raquelle throws a look at the paper in her hands.
“So, tonight, I will go to visit Amelia and talk to her,” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “If you say she can help us, I will try to find out everything is possible.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes, I am sure. If you say she could tell much more about that woman, we should know it. We should know if we can use her words for our best.”
“Oh, okay, do what you want…”
“Something tells me that Eleanor is not as innocent as it seems. She’s probably committed some sins and done some bad tricks.”
“But for God’s sake, be careful,” Alicia begs with anxiety in her soul. “Who knows, what if Eleanor’s people are watching you. I don’t want them to do anything to you. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you because of that snake and her people.”
“Don’t worry, Aunt, it’s gonna be fine,” Raquelle promises confidently with a slight smile. “I will be very careful.”
“I wish.”
Silence settles in the air for two seconds. And then Raquelle smiling takes Alicia slightly in her tight, amicable hug, which the woman accepts with pleasure, at some moment cutely kissing her niece on the cheek. After this talk, Alicia and Raquelle definitely got much better. Because the woman has finally told her about her problems, and the girl has realized the reason for her aunt’s strange behavior. And now, when she knows everything, she is sure that she can help her relative. Raquelle promises herself to do it in any way. No matter what she has to do for this. She would do everything to know that her close relative is happy and absolutely healthy.
***
Time is getting closer to the evening. Raquelle is getting ready to visit a woman named Amelia, whose home address she got from her aunt Alicia, with the hope that this trip will give her something nice and very important. She already changed her home clothes to something better for going outside, got her hair done, and made nude makeup for her face to look much fresher. Raquelle hopes this visit will help her find out much more about the woman named Eleanor Woodham, who is threatening Alicia and refusing to leave her alone. Or maybe, she would be lucky to find out some secrets about the one, who decided to turn her relative’s life into hell because of the only one thing that the woman wants to tell nobody.
“I will do this,” Raquelle thinks while standing in front of the mirror in the hall and looking at her reflection. “And right now, I’ll find out everything I can find out about that woman…”
Raquelle proudly raises her head up.
“I promise you, Auntie…” Raquelle thinks. “I will do everything I can to help you. I swear, I will not leave you at a hard minute. Especially now, when I know what’s wrong and why you’re so worried.”
Raquelle cracks a smile at her reflection.
“Even if I can do nothing now, we’ll be reflecting on what to do,” Raquelle thinks. “We will surely find a way to solve this problem. This story will be over very soon. Don’t doubt, Auntie.”
Raquelle closes her eyes for a second.
“Even if we have to risk our lives and go to the police, I will do it,” Raquelle promises. “I will do my best for Eleanor Woodham not to reach for you and me. Never… I won’t make it happen. Whoever she is, that woman will not hurt my close person. Not for anything.”
Raquelle stands in front of the mirror for a few seconds. And when she makes sure she looks good, the girl sighs deeply, takes her purse with everything she needs, leaves her room, goes to the hall door, and loudly says:
“Aunt Alicia, I’m leaving!”
After saying goodbye quickly to Alicia and thanking her for wishing her luck, Raquelle leaves the apartment and closes the door. Then the girl goes downstairs to the first floor in an elevator and goes outside. Since she ordered a taxi some time before leaving, a yellow car is already waiting for her in front of the building, and she sits in the backseat of the one.
When the brunette calls the address Alicia gave her, the driver understands where to go and goes on the road to drive the girl to the home of Amelia Sanchez, who is supposed to tell just something about this strange and tangled situation and tell everything she knows about the plans of the woman, who is threatening Alicia because of the money.
While the car is driving her to the right place, Raquelle admires the breathtaking views of the evening city lighted up with colorful lights and silently prays that the visit to give her just something good. The girl truly hopes the woman she is going to visit will not refuse to help her and at least tell her everything she knows about someone named Eleanor Woodham, who was a friend of hers some time ago.
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