THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. NAMES, CHARACTERS, BUSINESSES, PLACES, EVENTS, LOCALES AND INCIDENTS ARE THE PRODUCTS OF THE AUTHOR’S IMAGINATION. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, OR ACTUAL EVENTS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL.
chapter 7 : INterLOPER
24 hours had passed since Evelyn disappeared into thin air. Even though Carter had been upset and tried to locate her, she was nowhere to be found. Cleo had been a mess, barking constantly, as if calling for his mom. Most of her belongings were gone, except her credit cards and phone. Carter wasn’t surprised given the happenings of yesterday night were to be accounted for. He had considered reporting her missing but had later changed his mind. Reporting her would create unnecessary trouble for Evelyn. Besides he was sure she would be back soon. As far as he knew Evelyn, she couldn’t stay apart for long. She needed Carter for her survival, she was upset at this moment but as soon as the anger faded and her mind was stable, she would get back to him. She would come home. He was confident of this. They had fought before, even worse than this. The only thing troubling him was what if this time she never came back? There was the slightest chance of it, a tiny probability of it happening. Could he live without her or function without her support?
Was he more dependent on her than what he had always assumed? Or was it the other way around?
He sat in the living room patting Cleo with one hand and holding the telephone in another. After a moment of deliberation, he called Evelyn’s younger sister who was pleasantly surprised to receive Carter’s call out-of-the-blue yet was cordial with him. He didn’t mention Evelyn’s disappearance, he was hoping she would surely mention Evelyn if she happened to have swung by. Next, he called her parents who immediately sensed the tension in his voice. Evelyn’s mom offered to come over but Carter refused stating that Evelyn would be back soon and they were welcome to come over to their place once she was back. He called a few other people and eventually gave up. He went on to arrange Evelyn’s room which was in a disheveled state. As per his opinion, it had always been a messy room. He had to grab the opportunity of her absence to tidy her room, he had been itching to, but she never let him. Maybe while rearranging the closet he would come across any secrets of hers which she had been shielding from him, a diary or a notepad scribbled with her thoughts. A part of him said this was spying on his wife while another part justified that as her husband he had the right to full disclosure about her.
He quickly cooked lunch and marinated chicken for dinner. He took Cleo out for a walk and sat down for the task.
As he rummaged and foraged through her belongings, he didn’t find anything worth noting. It was almost sunset when he was done arranging the closet neatly and immaculately, just the way he liked. He stood back and took a good view of the closet from all angles.
The dresses were on the hangers, smooth and crisp. The tops were on one side, the pants were categorized into work pants, indoor, and outdoor usages. The accessories were all placed separately in plastic pouches on the multi-utility bag hung on the cupboard door, which had been gifted by Carter a year ago only to end up hanging unused and unappreciated. If only Evelyn could appreciate his knack for orderliness and be more like him, he wished. She would be coming back home to a straightened-out room. She was bound to be delighted, he concluded.
As he sat down for dinner, he wondered where Evelyn was. With her phone at home, there was no way he was going to be able to reach her. He prayed she was safe and happy, wherever she was. He decided to visit the church the next day to meet Davis and share his load with him. The pastor would surely have some guidance for his troubles.
When he went to bed, he wondered if he was a bad husband, who was quite aloof about his wife’s disappearance or a good husband, who trusted her to the extent of being sure of her return.
Carter woke up to wind batting on the bed room wall and Cleo crumpled under his blanket. Usually Cleo preferred his own bed but the temperature was freezing. Snow was falling from the sky in lumps. Forget about Church, he wouldn’t be able to make it to his porch, he thought. The weather in Minnesota was unpredictable, snowstorms were the worst kind of natural disaster. On checking the news, he learned that the weather was going to stay such for three days. In fact it was going to worsen this evening.
He checked his cell phone for any messages or calls, there were none. It had been almost two days she had been gone.
After breakfast he went to the living room, lit the fireplace and made Cleo’s bed beside him. He toyed with the phone for a while and then dialed a number skeptically. The phone rang once before being received. The receiver didn’t respond immediately.
Carter said, “I know we aren’t supposed to contact each other until it’s an emergency, but trust me this is. Evelyn is gone. It has been two days. Could you maybe…. Ummm… locate her using any means or something. I just want to know if she is alright.”
There was pin drop silence on the other side. Carter wondered if the phone had disconnected, then came a short reply, “So, I understand you are worried?”
Carter could feel the sarcasm in the speaker’s voice, as if he were being mocked. He wound and unwound his toes, unable to find the right words, after contemplating for a while he said “Shouldn’t I be? You know what her absence means right? I cannot afford to lose her, just yet. Let me know if you can be of any help or not.”
There was a tongue clicking sound on the other side, “Ok, I will see what I can do. I will keep you informed.”
Carter was about to hang up, when he remembered something “Oh and before I forget to tell you, there’s a snowstorm happening here.”
“I know, I saw it on the news. I wasn’t going to come over in any case.”
The phone was disconnected.
Carter heaved a sigh of relief and proceeded to finish his chores. On inspecting the grocery stock in the store he found, he was running low on them. It had been Evelyn’s turn to refill the groceries this week and that wasn’t happening anytime soon. He decided to head to the nearest grocery store and get some rations. On his way back he noticed a car parked on the shoulder of the road. What caught his eye was a woman in a red gown checking out a steaming car engine under its hood. He decided to pull over and offer some help as her attire didn’t look remotely winter friendly. When he got closer he noticed she was shivering slightly.
“Hey, do you need any help?” he said as he walked over.
“Oh, Thank you for stopping. As a matter of fact I do need help. My car broke down and am still a long way from home. On top of that this weather isn’t helping either. I was supposed to get home by now but now I am stranded. I called the insurance guys and they said they would take 3-4 hours to come over due to this storm. Please check the engine and let me know if you can make it okay.” She said it all in one breath, stopped, exhaled and smiled at Carter.
She is pretty, Carter thought. He handed his coat to her as a goodwill gesture.
Witnessing her, he wondered if Evelyn was on her way back, if she would be able to get home in this condition. Driving in this weather was extremely risky, the roads would be slippery with reduced visibility. He hoped she stayed wherever she was until the storm came to a halt.
“I wish I was good with car engines but sadly I’m not. But here’s what I can do for now. If you are okay with it you could come over to my place. Also I should let you know that my wife isn’t home right now but I expect her to be back soon. I hope that’s okay with you and you can wait at my place for the insurance people to arrive, after that you can either take the risk of driving home in this storm or just wait it out in a motel nearby.”
“Sounds like a great idea. Besides, if I stood in this cold for even one more minute, I think I would freeze to death. Also, I could really use some coffee or hot food, I am starving and my phone battery is about to die!” Carter couldn’t help but notice that her dress clinging to her body accentuating her curves.
They got home and much to Carter’s surprise Cleo came over and started licking the woman’s feet. She too reciprocated Cleo’s love by ruffling his hair. Usually Cleo was chaos around unknown people but Carter was surprised with his shower of love towards this unknown woman.
I hope she is not trouble, Carter thought to himself. He let her in and showed her to the guest room.
Should I ask for an ID or something. Is she saying the truth or can she be a criminal on the run? Am I really scared of being alone with a woman now?
Carter dismissed his cloud of doubts and said “I am Carter.”
“Oh, pardon my manners. I am Sasha.” She extended her hands and he shook in turn.
“Your hands are freezing! Let me run the shower for you! You need to warm up.”
“Before that, can I get a change of clothes? My dress is soaking wet and icy.” Sasha said.
“Oh Yeah sure let me quickly grab some clothes for you. You wait here, I will be right back.” Carter went upstairs to grab Evelyn’s shirt and trousers which were loose enough to fit Sasha.
On his descent back, he noticed Sasha had let her hair loose, removing ice pieces stuck to her hair, spraying droplets of water around. The ice pieces touched the ground transforming into small puddles of water.
“Hey Sasha. Can you not do that please? I just mopped the floor a while ago. Now I have to redo it again.”
“Oh, I am so sorry. I didn’t know you were the keep-my-house-spotless kind of person. Pardon my mistake and hand me the mop, I will take care of it myself.” Sasha chided him.
Who does she think she is, mocking me as if she has known me a long time. “That’s not necessary. Yes, I like to keep my house in order. I can take care of it. Here, take these clothes, freshen up.” Carter handed her the clothes.
“Imagine your wife walking in on us and seeing me wearing her clothes. She would go ballistic!” Sasha started guffawing much to Carter’s annoyance.
“Oh, please don’t mind me. I like to speak out whatever comes to my mind. I am a little crazy, sort of, but I am basically harmless. I will put my dress in the drier so that I can change into it as soon as possible, that way I won’t be wearing your wife’s dress if she happens to get back. Besides, I forgot to ask, where is she in this weather? Why isn’t she back yet? Have you spoken with her? Is she safe? Is she on the road?”
“She will be back soon. She would understand your situation. She is extremely kind and considerate. Additionally, just for the record, we have an infallible marriage, she wouldn’t be furious to see us together. We trust each other enough.”
“Oh, really? You think so! Every woman is possessive of her man. It’s good if she has complete faith on you, but men will be men, for all you know.” Saying so she winked at Carter.
Carter tried to swing the topic. “Hey, why are you still in those wet clothes. You will catch a cold. Please go ahead and change into warmer clothes. Also did you want my phone to check on your family or the insurance people?”
Sasha shook her head. “I will make a call from my cell and keep it on charge. I will be out of your way now. While I am gone, can you please arrange some food?
As I said earlier, I am starving.” She rolled her eyes. Inspite of himself, Carter laughed. Sasha was starting to grow on her, the air of discomfort was dissolving.
Carter whipped up some eggs, cooked burgers, and tossed some green salad. As he finished setting up the table, Sasha walked in, smelling of lavenders and lilies. It was so long since somebody had used the heavily scented soap in the guest room. It had been Evelyn’s idea to keep it in the guestroom. It was a gift from her mother which she had strongly disliked.
“Awesome. So much food. Where is wine? You expect me to eat all that without slushing it with a glass of wine? Also just to let you know the insurance guys had called to inform that they won’t be able to make it today. So I guess I’m stuck here for the night unless you want to get rid of my company.” She said fluttering her eyelids at him.
Is she trying to flirt? Carter wondered.
“You are most welcome to stay the night. We have ample rooms to spare. You could take the guest room on the ground floor and I can assure you there will be no breach of privacy! We could go and look for a motel tomorrow morning.”
“I will be at your service, Ma’am.” He took the flute glasses from the dishwasher, poured some champagne. The same champagne he had brought to celebrate his 10th anniversary with Evelyn, lying uncorked and untouched since then.
A flame of fire seared through his heart as he thought of Evelyn.
Sasha snapped her fingers and said “Hello, can you hear me? Are you here with me? Can I get some food and liquid please, or else I am going to starve to death!” she rolled her eyes.
Carter laughed while pouring the champagne. “Sorry we are out of wine, so you have to make do with champagne.”
“Oh Okay. I think I can manage.” She smiled flashing her teeth at him.
She is just a child locked in a grown up’s body, Carter surmised. Evelyn would have liked her if she met her.
“Where are the kids by the way?” Sasha said pointing at the pictures on the wall.
Carter’s jaws clenched, his body steeled. “That’s none of your business.” He whispered to her, trying his best to abate his anger.
Sasha shrugged and said “Okay, as you wish.”
They proceeded to have the supper in silence. Carter didn’t make any attempts to have a conversation during dinner and Sasha didn’t interrupt the silence either.
They headed to their respective rooms after exchanging murmured goodnights. Back in his room, upstairs Carter tossed and turned. He thought of Ethan and Mia. Every time their thoughts clouded his mind, he felt afraid, scared, lonely, guilty. He shut down those thoughts completely. He didn’t want to live in denial. He wanted to move on from past and didn’t want to be haunted by their memories forever. He knew he should have taken some time to heal but he didn’t think he had the courage or energy to deal with it. Besides he knew by making peace with the truth, he was doing himself and his life a favor. He couldn’t afford to lose his mind or emotions or else he too would end up lost like Evelyn. Life was about marching forward instead of being stuck in the past. The more you dwell in the past, the more you lose focus on the present. He just wished Evelyn stopped running behind illusions and come home once and for all.
Cleo barked to the sudden sound of glass breaking. Sasha was up to something, Carter assumed.
((…Continued in Chapter 8…))
Thank You so much Keisha for helping me out in the proofreading and editing. Thanks a ton!!
Read the next chapter here
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I really enjoyed this chapter!! It was great getting to know Carter better. He’s such a good guy! I’m not going to lie… I don’t know how I feel about Sasha! I want to like her but at the same time I don’t trust her. Can’t wait to see what happens next!
Ah I am so glad you penned down your thoughts about the characters. I won’t comment on it though else I would be giving away hints! Thank you for reading and the feedback 🙂 Am extremely thankful!
Great job! I’m really getting into this story; my interest escalating with each chapter! Great intrigue! Looking forward to the next chapter.
Roger
Thank you so much for the feedback!!!
I finally caught up with the most recent installment. A truly captivating story.
Do keep reading until the very end. Thanks a lot.
Oh wow. Couldn’t stop scrolling. I will have to go back and read the previous installments to get the entire context, though, but the story is captivating all the same. I can smell something sinister. Way to go.
Thank you so much for stopping by and reading.