Sweet Menace (10 page)

A faint light was entering through my windows. My body was bent like a spoon and the pain was gone. Trying to straighten in bed, I felt a warm source close to me. He stirred softly, yawning on his way to hug me like his private Egyptian cotton pillow. A smile found its way to my face but soon was replaced by terror. What if Edora or the witch were spying on us through the semi closed curtains?

Danger was something I had never felt exposed to. Fear was just an exaggeration plastered in fairy tales to make kids think twice before messing it all. Regardless of the warnings, we tend to mess it all anyway.

Trying to vanish danger and fear from my mind, I focused on the pressure of Sam’s chest in my back. It was calming as a soft massage with a silk feather. Minutes later, Sam turned around, releasing me at last. Still tucked in the towel, I stood up, fighting my way to the bathroom, trying not to make any noise.

After dressing and washing my mouth and face, I went to the kitchen. While the coffee brewed, I sat to make a list of the groceries needed to the next day wedding. I know beforehand when every celebration is going to happen. As long as a cake is needed and food is involved, I’m the first to know. Apart from bride and groom. The thought of killing this people tomorrow sneaked to my list. Horrified, I crossed the words with my black pen until it was an incomprehensible mistake. No. As hard as it all could get, I still have some pending obligations in this town. Some weddings have to be arranged. A baby shower is imminent in the list and coming next week.

None of those preparations would be necessary if you kill them all tomorrow at the wedding. No mistakes this time, Morgan.

“You’re too focused! Didn’t even notice your coffee was boiling.” -What an ability to startle me! Sam served me a cup of coffee and sat across the table, looking straight at me. -“Are you alright?”

“Yes.” -I whispered sipping my scalding coffee to avoid details.

“Do you want to talk about it? About whatever happened to you last night?” -He pushed the interrogatory. Such good cop.

“Nope.” -Looking directly into his sweet blue eyes I felt the need to explain even further. -“My life is very complicated, Sam. You’ll never understand what a mess my life is
.
It'
s
better for us if you just walk away.”

He sipped his coffee, and I prayed for him to be considering my request. In spite of what I had said, Sam just laughed.

“You’re hilarious, Morgan. Complicated, yes. But I’m certai
n
it'
s
worth the wait.” -Standing up, Sam went to the sink and washed his cup. -“I have to go. Duty calls. See you later.”

Motionless, I stayed still in the chair, clutching the cup of coffee as if it was taking me to safety from an erupting volcano. Worth the wait? What was he waiting for?

“By the way.” -Sam said casually, peeking through the door. -“I really expect to take you to the wedding tomorrow. I got an invitation too. Who would have thought? My shift ends at ten and I’ll be enjoying a twenty four hour on call shift. If you need some help with the cooking and baking, or just the sampling… I’m on call. So call me.”

Day went by with normalcy. Lunch disappeared as fast as I cooked it today. Not much time to spare, I let my Maghik in charge of the menu. Disappointment, dark as my shadow, was what I felt when I stood waiting for Sam at lunch time but he didn’t came. Maghikally, I bolted the door and collected the money from the register when I noticed a small box lying in my counter. Cash tucked in my purse, I waved my hands and flipped the small box like a tiny tornado. Something rattled inside and curiosity forced me to spill the content in the countertop. A few photographs fell from the box.

I took them in my hands and flipped through the images. The first one was of Sam walking deep into the woods behind my house at night. The other one was Sam again. This time he was opening the door of the patrol car to Connie Marie. A bright smile on both their faces was like arrows clustered in my soul. The next was Sam again behind my house. He was crutched, observing something. I had to put the photo inches away from my face. To my terror, he was watching a dagger. My dagger. I flipped the photo and the last one was Jerome lying right where I had left him. His body covered with leaves.

Those photos had been taken the night I was about to kill Jerome? What was Sam doing there?

I looked at Jerome’s picture again. A dark substance stained his arms and the photo started dripping blood.

Suppressing a frightened grunt, I burned the photos quickly. My only hopes were that whoever sent this to me, hadn’t had the great idea to send a copy to the police station.

Driving nervously to the grocery store I couldn’t stop thinking that Sam was somehow responsible of whatever had happened to Jerome. My face was feverish and my ears gave away my anger. Beyond his responsibility to Jerome’s unknown fate, the photo of Sam with Connie bothered me more.

Should I confront Sam? Bad idea as I had burned the evidence. Should I tell him about “a rumor” I heard of him and Connie? Here’s another negative thing about love. I had never felt jealousy before, ever thus dealing with it was like following a broken compass.

The grocery store was extra crowded today. Six in the evening seemed to be the best time to do grocery shopping in this village. I protested silently while I pushed the car trying to collect all my stuff without forget anything important.

Luckily, I made it to the egg cartons fairly quick. Soon I’ll be in my van and driving back home. Thinking of all the things I had to do before tomorrow comes was the best way to expel everything and anything out of my head.

“How are you doing?” -I’m sure I was singing to the eggs when her shrinking voice killed the high quality atmosphere of organic food around. Connie was looking at me with a pleased expression and her mother, another scavenger just like Connie, was looking down at me from her high invisible fortress.

“Great!” -I answered trying to look happier than what I felt.

“Whatever.” -Connie ignored my words with a single wave. -“Have you seen Sam today? He’s so sneaky sometimes!”

“Sam? What Sam?” -I said pretending I didn’t understand who she was talking about.

“Officer Whilhey, of course. Have you seen him?” -Even though she tried to look normal, desperation was drawn in between her fine eyebrows.

Making an effort to think, I twisted my lips at her.

“No. How bad I can’t help you.” -I dared to say with a hypocrite accent.

“No need to worry, daughter.” -Her inopportune mother interrupted my inner happy revenge. -“I’m certain that, after last night’s visit, he’ll return.”

Her words fell over me hard as an ice statue. Quickly I felt my dreams fading away. The words Sam had said… All the hugs he had given me… every single thing tasted like a lie. A falsity dipped in hot chili and forced deep in my throat.

When Sam came home, I was busy baking a few cakes. Baking for real to occupy my mind and forget his name and his face. My ovens were at high power and filled at maximum capacity. The lower oven was full of odd shaped pans to match the Arabic themed wedding. The upper oven- and by far my favorite- was full of trays with easy delicacies like pastries soon to be filled with guava and cheese or mango, along with crème and pineapple flutes.

The top burners were on as well. Creating the perfectly round crêpes to fill with sweet creams and hazelnut paste was a very slow project.

All this wedding preparations are funny to me. The bride and the groom couldn’t agree in what to serve or what they wanted with exactitude. Both of them ended agreeing with an Arabic cake. Both of them chose a midday wedding and a brunch in the church patio. When they repeated “crêpes” and cold cuts in a chorus I jumped from my seat with a maniac’s laugh.

“That’s a là France!” -I grunted displeased. -“You guys want an Arab wedding or a French wedding? Perhaps you can use a decoration like ‘Dreamlike Vacations’ or theme the wedding to ‘Love Worldwide.’”

The couple shared some words before they stood with just an Arabic wedding.

“What about the crêpes then? They are from France.” -While I turned all shades of green from incomprehension, they just laugh at me as if I was all wrong.

So, I’m making a huge batch of crêpe tortillas to fill them before sunrise. While I made these delicacies I couldn’t help but laugh. This was going to be a funny wedding in fact. I have offered to make a real Arabian brunch with dates, fatir or arikah, some hummus, or a kapsa as main dish. They refused it all. They wanted crêpes! So be it.

Sam kissed my head, startling me. Less than an inch would have sufficed to burn him with a round pan.

“I knocked the door but you didn’t open or even answer. When that smell hit me in the porch I forced my entry to your house. In case you needed to be rescued.”

His occurrences made me smile hard but suddenly I remembered why I was angry in the first time. Sneaking from behind me, Sam stole one of my recent crêpes. I tapped his hand softly, scolding him without success. A second later, both his hands were way past my shoulders and he was stealing another crêpe.

“Thank God I came.” -While he chewed his words sounded funnier than how he had initially intended. -
“
It'
s
obvious you need help.”

“Hey!” -I protested. -“Those aren’t for you. It has regular sugar.”

“What?” -He said, his face turning gargoyle-like. As fast as he turned statue he started laughing. -“So, that fix my low sugar level.”

Leaning against the kitchen island, Sam looked like a happy dream to me. A dream that somehow turns into a creepy nightmare every time I see Connie. His cop uniform still on with a few upper buttons of his shirt unbuttoned. His commodity and his easy ways made me think on how future would be if we were together. He was so natural. Nothing he said seemed forced. Nothing felt wrong or like a lie. Then why was I feeling like he was tricking me? What if I could be his lady? His wife? What if I keep doing what I love the most- baking and cooking- and just surrender to him and his love? What if I just leave this vengeance behind and take a step ahead? What if…?

“I know another way to fix my low sugar tonight…” -The nervousness reflected in the shine of his eyes made me ashamed despite he hadn’t even said what was thinking.

A sheepish smile was drawn in my lips all of a sudden.

“What would that be?” -I dared to ask but while I tried not to sound flirtatious, the teasing tone was a giveaway.

“If you allow me to kiss you, I can bet your lips taste like honey.”

We both bit our own lips in shame. He could bet for my kisses? That sounded so sweet in the heat of the moment. I felt my face ablaze though I was certain that the sizzling skillet in front of me wasn’t the culprit. Trying to suppress the blush in my cheeks I discovered how hardly impossible to achieve it was. But when he straightened and started walking towards me, I felt all my walls falling down, my defenses were weak and my determination to send him away had the strength of a tiny seed.

A caress of his fingers was like the greatest of pills, sending everything away. The tenderness of his true smile was a shield in which he protected me as well. On the other hand, my fast heart rate was a warning or a green light in which I should just speed. I held strongly from my stove, his lips inches away from mine. I had no more space to retreat but I did have a long way to keep going forward.

“Ouch!” -I yelled involuntarily while took my hand to my face. Careless I had burnt with the skillet, breaking the spell of a kiss almost savored. Sam hurried to check the damage. Fortunately, it wasn’t much. Bigger was my fright than the thin line of skin in bright red.

“You did it on purpose.” -Sam said jokingly while he slid his fingers dipped in butter over my small burn. I remained serious despite knowing he was just teasing me. -“I’m kidding, you know it? Right? This is my fault. I shouldn’t have cornered you against the stove. Maybe I’ll remember to corner you against the fridge next time.”

“There will be no next time, Sam.” -I hurried to say. -“Maybe Connie will be happy with you cornering her around her parents’ house.”

“What does that means, Morgan?” -He reclaimed.

“What you just heard. I found Connie today… and her mother… Both told me how nice of you to accept her invitation to their house yesterday. You were there before breaking into my house. Am I right?” -I claimed back.

“Is not that way. For all means it’s not what they told you or what you may be thinking.” -Sam defended himself.

“I need no explanations. We are nothing to the other. I just wanted to make clear that I won’t allow you to play with me. I’m not a village doll like Connie. This is a game just for two. You and her. Don’t force me into another of your things.”

Sam’s gesture of denial was a shocker to me. Soon, he was smiling in his normal way.

“I understand what’s happening here!” -He dared to say while pointing at me. -“You’re jealous, Morgan! Don’t you see you feel the same for me?”

I rolled my eyes at him. But he wasn’t far from reality.

“So Miss Valence has been telling you lies. I’ll tell you the truth.”