by Morgana Best
“Narel, trust you to downplay something like that. ‘Don’t think you’ll have many money troubles’? Most people would settle for saying ‘I’m filthy stinking rich.’” Carl laughed.
“Well, I suppose I am,” I agreed, laughing too. “I could’ve made more money if the case had gone ahead, I guess, but I didn’t need that kind of hassle. Certainly not since I was still hospitalized at the time. Plus, the company seemed eager to settle it as quickly as possible and made me a very generous offer. My lawyer was in two minds about it, but even he said the offer was acceptable.”
“Well, it sounds like a win to me.” Carl chuckled again. “Any plans, then? What are you going to buy me?”
“Maybe a sandwich, if you’re good,” I teased. “Carl,” I asked, more sternly. “Do you remember in high school, what all those popular kids called me?”
“I do,” Carl replied grimly. “Cocoa Narel. It was a horrible nickname, but then, The Populars were all horrible kids. It was mean of them to call you something that rhymed with Coco Chanel, just because you were the extreme opposite of elegant. And, of course, there was the chocolate. You couldn’t stop stuffing your face with chocolate, all day, every day. Every time anyone looked at you, you were eating chocolate. You just couldn’t get enough chocolate. Why, you must have kept three chocolate companies in business, at least!”
I pinched him to make him stop talking. “All right, Carl, enough already!”
Carl simply shrugged in response. “Anyway, why do you ask?”
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I smiled at him. “I’m opening a designer chocolate shop, Carl, just like I used to talk about before it was even a possibility. I’m going to call it the ‘Cocoa Narel Designer Chocolate Shop’.”
Carl laughed so hard that he swerved across the road. I was worried I’d wind up back in the hospital, and I doubted that it would just make me skinnier and richer this time.
Chapter 3
I gasped in shock at the realtor’s website on my laptop. There was no way I could afford some of these places! Well, I could, but I’d prefer not to. I had spent the morning online looking for a location to lease for my new business, and had started the day feeling a lot more optimistic than I did at that moment. I was still in my rented one bedroom cottage. It was nice and bright, with views through large windows over the end of a long park. Even better, most people never ventured down this end of the park, as they were eventually blocked by a creek. The council kept the grass short, and the paved walkway ended well away from my apartment. It had suited me just fine.
Carl had kindly taken me to his place last night and cooked me dinner and had even offered that I stay overnight at his house, but I felt I had to get back to normal and face my new reality. Carl had aired out my place for me, but it still smelt musty and unwelcoming.
After a night in my cottage, I didn’t feel much better about it. I couldn’t help but think of the day that I had left thinking nothing was wrong and then was almost killed. The therapist said to expect such thoughts when I returned home, and that those thoughts would fade with time. I sure hoped she was right. I still had a shock every time I looked in the mirror, a pleasant shock mind you, but nevertheless a shock. Even though my life had immeasurably changed for the better, I was still having trouble coming to terms with the change itself. I had been told time and time again that this was normal, but that didn’t make it any easier to experience.
I suppose I had been depressed before the accident. I looked around my cottage, being surprised that this had been my taste. I had hideous curtains, and in fact, everything was dark. I suppose I had been trying to hide away from the world. Still, my job wouldn’t have helped. I had been the marketing manager for a local small art gallery. The boss had been a screaming banshee, and that was a polite description for her. She had been impossible to deal with and had a regular staff turnover. I had been there years longer than any other employee. Looking back, I wondered how I had taken her verbal abuse and yelling for years, but I suppose I had been used to being bullied since school.
I shook myself. That was all behind me now, and my only connection with that was a desire to work in some way to help people who had been bullied. There was altogether way too much bullying in the world.
Now I had enough money to buy my own place, but first things first. I was going to concentrate on starting my business. I would just buy some bright new cushions to make the place look a little better and make sure all the curtains were open. I’d buy some nice smelling incense and an oil burner, and burn lavender oil. I was craving nice fragrances, after being accustomed to the antiseptic smell of the hospital, a smell I am sure I will never forget.
Carl had taken my pet olive tree, Lysias—I know most people don’t name their potted plants, but I did—to his place and assured me he was going well. That was the only plant I had. I vowed to buy a place that had a beautiful garden. Now I was craving beautiful things, and I’m sure a therapist would have a field day getting inside my mind.
I shook myself again and decided to walk downtown and look in realtors’ windows. Carl was busy catching up on work. He worked from home in IT, specifically, in game design, although I wasn’t quite sure what he did as it went way over my head.
I set off at a brisk walk that became slower as I went on. The doctors had warned me that I would run out of energy quickly, and I found it irritating, to be honest. I felt quite well within myself, so the constant tiredness was a chore.
The walk to town was short, mercifully so. It was a lovely sunny day, with the kind of dry heat that one never finds at the coast. It was good to experience actual weather after the months of hospital air conditioning. Strictly speaking, I could certainly afford to lease the stores I had seen online, and would probably do fine. I supposed I just wasn’t expecting to have this many options, and didn’t really understand why some were as expensive as they were. That alone had made me feel as though maybe I wasn’t ready to run a business on my own.
I sighed and took a moment to compose myself. It was probably just a kind of choice paralysis that no doubt would come to everybody at some point, more so when starting a big new chapter of their life like I was. I stared in the window of the vacant store I came upon. It was situated between a bank and bar, and had a forbidding atmosphere to it. It was tiny and dismal, not at all like my dreams of my designer chocolate shop.
“Excuse me.”
I jumped as a voice sounded suddenly from behind me. I turned to see a tall, handsome man smiling politely. “Uh,” I stammered. “Are you talking to me?”
He chuckled. “Yes, I am. I don’t want to be too blunt, but I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner some time.”
I didn’t know what to make of it. Was it normal for handsome men to ask a strange woman on a date? I didn’t think it was. I was still wrapping my head around my new look, but it didn’t seem like something that happened during everyday life. Surely he should at least get to know me first. I frowned. There was something else about this guy that was bothering me.
“Is that a no?” he asked, looking somewhat put out.
“Oh, uh, not necessarily. You just took me by surprise,” I replied honestly. “I suppose I’m free tonight.” I wasn’t sure if it was worth a shot, but he was certainly handsome—and how often does this sort of thing happen? Before the crash I never would have imagined something like this happening to me. I had promised myself to take on new opportunities.
“Great!” He smiled broadly. “My name’s Guy, Guy Smith.”
I froze. I felt my stomach sink and I thought I was going to be sick. I realized why I felt so uneasy around this guy. I knew him from high school. He was one of The Populars. Not only had he teased me relentlessly, he had also pulled an incredibly cruel joke on me. One I’d certainly never forget. Or forgive.
“Uh.” He waited a moment and looked at me expectantly. “What’s your name?”
I didn’t know what to do. I just stared at him, my mouth open
wide. I felt like I’d either have to run away or simply pass out, but couldn’t manage to do either. Maybe I could run away a little bit, then pass out once I’d made to a safe distance.
“I, I, uh...” I coughed loudly. If I told him my name, he would recognize me. I couldn’t bear the thought of that happening. “I’ll tell you tonight,” I blurted out, instantly regretting it completely.
“Oh,” he laughed. “A woman of mystery, huh? Where do you live?”
“Just meet me here,” I said quickly. There was no way I was going to go anywhere with this guy. The mere thought of him made me want to vomit. I certainly didn’t want him having my home address.
“Fine. At seven?”
I nodded.
“I’ll see you then.” He smiled and waved, and I felt another chill shoot up my spine. When he was gone, I sat down on a protruding part of the wall and leaned against the realtor’s window, head in hands. Through all the relentless teasing I’d suffered through school, what Guy had done to me had been the worst by far.
It sounded cliché, and I suppose it was, but he had invited me on a fake date. Guy had that kind of charm that only works in high school. He was handsome, but also an intolerable jerk. Of course, it was easy to look past that side of him when he was the only boy who had ever seemed interested in me.
As I mentioned, what he had done to me was a cruel joke. He had never intended it to be an actual date, and he was motivated purely by whatever evil it is that motivates bullies. I felt like an idiot immediately afterward, and in hindsight I don’t know why I didn’t suspect a thing. False hope, I guess.
He had invited me out to dinner at a local restaurant—nothing fancy, but nothing too cheap, either. It had seemed like a normal place for people our age to go on dates.
He had told me that it was themed, and that we were to dress as animals. I actually was suspicious about that, just because it was such a bizarre thing to do. I’m still not even sure if themed-dress restaurants exist. That one certainly didn’t.
I only obliged because he turned up in a full pig suit, carrying one for me. I’d decided it was probably a cute and fun thing to do. When we arrived, of course, he pulled the car to a stop outside the store next door to the restaurant, let me out of the car, told me to wait right there, and said he’d be right back with a surprise.
Well, in his defense, he wasn’t lying. He had left me in front of a chocolate store, and when he returned it was with a group of his friends, who all took photos of me in my pig outfit in front of the store.
School was hell before, but it was unbearable after that. People routinely laughed at me and the photos were passed around for weeks. The kids eventually moved on, but I sure didn’t.
I sighed, and after several more minutes, I managed to calm myself down. As a matter of fact, I’d even started considering going. Not because I was interested in him—gosh, no, the very thought made me ill—and not because I wanted to pull a cruel prank of my own, but because I wanted to see what it was like to go on a date as the new me.
I thought of it as a kind of intellectual exercise more than a date. The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that it was something I wanted to do. I nodded resolutely to myself and headed for home to prepare.
* * *
Predictably, he was late. Very late. It was about seven-thirty when he arrived, and I wasn’t entirely sure why I hadn’t just gone home yet. I very nearly did, but saw his car coming from the end of the street and decided to see it through. After all, I hadn’t waited this long for nothing.
“Sorry I’m late. I didn’t think you’d show up,” he said as he stepped out of his car, as if it were a perfectly reasonable explanation.
“It’s fine,” I replied dryly. “Where are we going?”
“I know a place nearby. I’ll drive us.”
“That’s fine,” I said again. “I’ll get a taxi.”
Guy looked perplexed. “What? Why? I just drove all the way here to meet you.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against his car.
“Well, I didn’t know where we going, and you had no other way to contact me. Let me know and I’ll meet you there.” I tried my best to sound friendly as I spoke, but I was already feeling like this whole date was a bad idea.
Guy sighed dramatically before speaking. “It’s called The Tower. It’s right here.” He showed me the exact place on a satellite map on his phone.
“Great.” I nodded. “I’ll see you there in a bit.”
“You know I can just drive you, right now?” He shrugged.
“I’ll see you there in a bit,” I repeated. He got in his car and drove away, and while I thought it was quite rude, I was happy that he had decided not to wait with me.
I called a taxi and waited. A part of me was still nervous that this was another prank, but he seemed to have no idea who I was. I sat and fidgeted nervously for several minutes before the taxi arrived. I got in and we headed toward the restaurant wordlessly. I had nothing against talkative taxi drivers, but I appreciated when they were people-savvy enough to know I wasn’t in the mood for talking. This guy didn’t say a word between picking me up and dropping me off, so I felt like I’d won the taxi driver jackpot.
I paid the taxi driver and he immediately sped away. I took a deep breath and turned to face the restaurant. I knew it wasn’t the same as the one I’d been pranked at already, but seeing it in person made me feel somewhat relieved. I could see Guy sitting inside at a table with a beer in hand—no time wasted, apparently.
Still, this made it even more unlikely to be a cruel joke. I plucked up my courage and walked inside. Guy gave me a little wave when he saw me enter. I didn’t wave back, opting to head directly to the bar and order the strongest drink they had. I figured I’d need it. I walked over to Guy and sat down at the table.
It was a nice place. It was simple, perhaps, but that gave it a kind of charm. I had absolutely no clue why it was called The Tower, since it was entirely on the ground floor, and not even that big. They also didn’t seem to have any tower-related décor. Maybe it was a reference I was missing.
Guy had chosen to sit by a window by the front entrance. I could clearly see his car parked nearby, totally free of evil friends. That was a relief.
“You took a while,” he said, taking a sip of his beer. After how late he’d been in the first place, this made me want to get up and leave immediately. Instead, I replied, “I didn’t think you’d mind.” I shrugged after I said it, and his face remained blank. My drink arrived, and I downed it before I even stopped to think about what it really was. It burned the whole way down and made me feel instantly dizzy, but also put me a lot more at ease. I decided to order another, and the waiter looked at me with a mixture of concern and fear before heading back behind the bar.
The date passed mostly in silence. Guy ordered what was possibly the biggest steak I’d ever seen, and I opted to order two desserts. Now that I couldn’t gain weight even if I wanted to, I figured that I might as well live it up a bit.
“You remind me of someone I used to know,” he said, raising an eyebrow.
“Sounds like you know some amazing people,” I replied dryly.
He made a noise somewhere between a dismissive grunt and a defeated sigh, but didn’t say anything else until we were finished. “I can’t believe you can maintain such a shapely figure with that kind of appetite,” he said as soon as I’d finished eating, apparently believing it to be a compliment.
I can’t believe you can maintain an unbroken nose with that kind of attitude, I thought, but remained silent.
He had been coming on to me all night. He would flip between acting aloof and incredibly interested, seemingly at random. He had spent a full five minutes without drawing breath, telling me that he was a highly successful doctor. It was both annoying and exhausting, and even if I didn’t dislike him before this date, I’d consider it a massive failure.
Finally, he cut to the chase. “Are you coming back to my place or
what?”
I was taken aback by how bluntly he’d asked the question, and also by the fact that he’d asked it at all. It took me a few seconds to reply. “No, thank you. I don’t think this is going to work.”
He threw his napkin onto the table and stood up, and for a second I was worried he was going to be violent. “What a waste of time!” he exclaimed, storming out of the restaurant before he’d even paid. “You’re a tease!”
I put my head in my hands and sighed. I didn’t like the guy, and I thought he deserved much worse. I felt as though I was being publicly ridiculed again. Everybody in the restaurant was staring at me, and I could see one of the waiters hesitating to approach me.
“It’s fine,” I said to the waiter. “I’ll pay.” The waiter smiled at me and nodded.
I looked out the window to see Guy getting into his car. He whipped open his door and slammed it violently behind him, like a child who was told he couldn’t buy a toy. It was sad and embarrassing to watch.
As I watched, his car was suddenly engulfed in a massive ball of flame. The explosion tore through the car park and overturned the nearby vehicles, and the glass window I was sitting in front of cracked from the shockwave.
Everyone in the restaurant screamed, and a few people ran outside to see what had happened. If I’d had my wits about me, I would’ve assumed it was a car bomb of some kind, but when it happened, I couldn’t think at all. I simply sat in shock and stared. I guess this date really had blown up in his face.
Chapter 4
I sat with my head cupped in my hands. I’d been in this small room for hours, and had to make a physical effort to stop feeling like the walls were closing in on me. I leaned back in my chair and sighed, looking up at the lone fluorescent light illuminating the small monochrome room.
Two men sat across the table from me, nursing their coffees. They’d given me one, which led me to the realization that they either had no taste buds left or they themselves had significantly better coffee than what they had given me. I pushed mine to the side and looked one of the detectives straight in the eyes.
