Chapter 5

• Something smelled good.
• I turned around letting the warm blanket envelop me as I snuggled in closer to the smell, but it seemed like it was always a distance away no matter how much I switched positions.
• But there was also something very wrong with this picture, why did it feel like the mattress was engulfing me, it was soft, too soft, almost like slipping into a marshmallow. My mattress wasn't like this, mine was firm, practical, and never smelt like a cologne bottle spilled all over it. That would be a waste of cologne and that wasn't cheap.
• My eyes flickered open only to meet white, lots and lots of white, only to realised I was tangled in the blankets somewhere in the middle of the massive bed, blinded by all the fabric. After some effort I managed to get all the material off me and I sat up frowning as I tried to remember where I was.
• My blankets were never white, it was too risky to sleep on white especially when you were a female, and not to also mention how easily they got stained with pen and coffee or whatever, even if you aren't meant to eat in the bed.
• Why was this bed so warm, yes comfortably warm but way too heated, it was almost like it-...I paused blinking as I took the room in and leaned over searching for the wire, of course, the bed heater was on full, what a waste of electricity.
• I turned it off as I sat up wincing, something hurt, somewhere. I blinked staring at the window the sun was up and I momentarily panicked thinking it was a work day, but then I realised it was a Saturday, yet I had a lot of things to do.
• I better get st-I paused, oh shit. I hurried out of bed nearly tripping over what seemed like my shoes, I needed to find my laptop. The throbbing in my head only became more persistent as I rushed down the stairs, I had to call the cops, file a report, find my missing car and oh god the laptop.
• I couldn't even begin to comprehend how much work I had on it, not to mention I had to call all the banks and every card I had in that wallet to issue them to cancel it and send me a new one.
• Just thinking about it made my stomach churn and my heart pound stressfully.
• "Whoa, should you be out of bed?"
• I paused on the last stair looking up surprised to see Sterling home on a Saturday.
• "Yeah I think you need to go back to sleep," he said munching on what seems like an apple, was he always eating something? He leaned against the staircase railing, and I noticed he was dressed in a suit, where was he going?
• Wait, I don't care, as long as that wasn't a new suit purchased with my card, oh, then I cared, very much.
• "I have to report-,"
• "I already did it." he said shrugging nonchalantly as he took another large bite of the apple.
• "Reported what?" I asked
• "What you want to report."
• "How do you know what I want to report."
• He looked up just before he took a bite, "I'm not as stupid as you think I am," and I was about to argue back that he doesn't show it often but I realised he just actually helped me for once and I should be thankful.
• But at the same time my pride was getting in the way, and there was no way I was going to apologise, thank you maybe, but not an apologise, and not with the way he was staring at me. What was with that look, those intense grey eyes were almost as suffocating as his stupid cologne filled bed. I wouldn't be surprised if he bought a bottle to just sprinkle it all over the covers.
• That was very much like him.
• "I have to cancel my bank cards."
• "That part I didn't do." He said pointing out raising a finger, "Right, you should do that, someone might take all my money" and with a last bite of the apple he placed it on the railing, balancing it, before he walked up by me on the stairs.
• I scoffed, his money?
• And suddenly I wasn't grateful at all, hell to the no was I picking up that apple core, he can come back and clean it. Rather than wasting my breath I walked past to the phone and to do the very long checklist and see when I would finish.
• Not to mention it was Saturday as well, which meant half the people I needed to call were going to be closed today.
• * * *
• "What the hell happened?" Clarice frowned as she dabbed my forehead. As a nurse she had taken one look at me and declared for me to have a warm shower before she could patch me up, and it wasn't till I looked in the mirror I realised how bad my face looked.
• Apart form the deep wound on the side of my forehead above my temple, which I hoped wouldn't scar.
• I sat on my bed in a woolen robe as she kept telling me how dangerous it was and giving me her mother like speech, as much as I loved her, I didn't at this moment. It wasn't my fault some arsehole decided to steal my things.
• It shouldn't matter that I was leaving work by myself.
• My car, my poor laptop. God I can't be sitting here getting patched up, I had shit to do. Work to catch up on. Where the hell was my USB.
• "Are you even listening to me?" she asked.
• "Yeah,"
• "Oh really, what did I say then?" Clarice questioned.
• The silence was the answer for her as she 'tsk'-ed me as she continued to speak, this time I paid more attention to what she was saying. Because I knew there was a pop-quiz by the end of it.
• I waited till she cleaned everything up before heading downstairs with her and she wrinkled her nose distastefully as she spotted my lovely husband, cough, sitting on the couch eating a bag of Cheetos staring at the TV.
• "He's still here?" She asked loud enough for him to hear.
• "I'll always be here for you ginger face."
• I grabbed her arm before she started an abusive fight with Sterling which was the normal and steered her into the kitchen, usually I would let them go at it, but right now with a throbbing headache and hunger for food I couldn't make sure no one died.
• "I would think you would have divorced him by now, isn't it one year now." she whispered.
• I paused my head half way in the fridge, she was right, we had passed the one year rule already, now I just had to check with my lawyer about the will...the stupid will.
• "I didn't think about that." I said as I pulled the groceries out, I hope they weren't rotten.
• Clarice raised an eyebrow as she sat on the bar stool, "Do you think about anything apart from work."
• "No, now I need to re-do everything, do you know how much data I have lost?"
• "Right, of course," she waved an arm as I got out the chopping board and knife, "What are you going to make?"
• I shrugged, "I have no idea," I said as I stared at the mismatched vegetables, what can I make? Anything edible.
• Maybe I'll just each toast.
• Giving up I grabbed slices of bread popping them into the toaster and sitting down waiting for it to toast. God was my head still meant to hurt like this. It felt like there was a wall on either side of my head and they were pressing against my temples trying to get closer to each other. Squashing my head in between.
• It almost made it hurt to even think.
• Clarice's phone went off making me wince the same time the toasts popped up ready. All that noise making my head spin and stomach churn.
• I got out of my seat grabbing my slices of toast, no bothering to have any jam or butter, the last thing I wanted was to throw it all up. Dry toasted bread should calm my stomach that felt like a sea in a storm.
• "Hey, I have to go, work called, but I'll be back tonight aright."
• "Yeah, sure." I shrugged. That was a normal for Clarice, rushing off to work at the weirdest times, one moment it was during her sister's wedding, of course her sister stopped speaking to her for a whole month for walking off. At least it was at the end, during reception and not during the ceremony.
• Work was important, I totally understood Clarice and I could relate. At least she came to the wedding.
• I brought the toast up to my mouth taking a bite and closing my eyes. God someone make the pain go away. I also just wanted to go back into that comfy bed and nap.
• The sound of the barstool's leg screeching on the tiles made my eyes pop open to meet grey ones. Can you make any more noise? He probably could.
• "That looks boring." he flicked the other slice of toast on my plate.
• I took another bite watching his wearily, what did he want now? He was going to mention the boat cruise, I could just tell.
• "So, about last night. What do you remember?" he asked me.
• I looked up from tearing the crust, "Huh?"
• "Do you remember who the person was, what they look like?"
• I shrugged, "No." it was too dark, and I wasn't even looking at them,"Did they find my laptop?"
• "Just buy a new one who cares, you've got the money." Sterling shrugged.
• "No, I need that laptop." It has everything on it, do you know how much work it was to buy another one, and then install everything you had on it again, make copies and plans and planner entries. It wasn't that easy.
• "Alright, alright, we'll find it." he said nodding taking me by surprise. Was this the longest conversation we've ever had?
• "Do you know how to bake?" he asked
• "What?"
• "Can you bake me a cake?" Sterling flashed me a smile.