We met at the cafe at 1 pm without any alarming incidents. A nice waitress sat us down at a table near the window, to which Catherine politely asked that we be moved farther back. She told me that the sun was too bright for her. I had no problems with this, but I was wondering what she was thinking about.
I drank a pumpkin chai latte, both palms on the forest green mug, and she a tall glass of caramel flavored milk. Our conversation for the most part was unremarkable, talking about school, friends, family, cracking jokes at the terrible parking lots out college had.
The fruit and nut salad I ate there was perfect beyond all perfection, if that is even possible. I offered Cathie a forkful, but she declined, so invested in her grilled cheese and tomato soup was she. It was only after we had paid the check and started to walk around the busy sidewalks that the conversation started to get strange.
I asked, "Did you sleep alright? No crazy dreams this time around?"
"No, thank God. I had a good night's rest."
"No creepy guys staring at you while you sleep?"
"Nope. Didn't see that guy."
"Still writing in the diary?"
"Yep."
It was starting to be pretty obvious that she was getting uncomfortable. So moistening my lips, I said, "I am so happy that you're feeling better, though. I'm glad you aren't coughing as much as you used to, and that you're doing well in your classes. No matter what, I'm here for you."
Catherine smiled, "I know that, Elizabeth. I just don't like talking about this thing. Just thinking about it creeps me out."
And for a while, the subject was dropped. We went into a candy store and bought an large assortment of sweets to nibble on. By the time we had our fill of the downtown, the sun had started to set. Catherine's body language betrayed a bit of nervousness at the coming darkness, so I had decided that it would be for the best to call it a day and head home.
Walking back to the lot in which our cars patiently waited, I said, "I think I saw that thing you were talking about the night we had our dinner. It was just standing there outside my house all creepy like, not really doing anything."
Here Catherine stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide. It was if I told her that I was dying of some incurable malady and had nine months left to live. "Are you serious, Elizabeth? You saw that?"
Yeah, I did." I said quietly. "I haven't seen it since, and it was probably a trick of the light, anyway."
"It wasn't." Catherine's voice was so steely and cold. I never heard her sound like that in all the years I have known her, and to be honest, it scared me a bit. "It wasn't at all."
"Then...?" I started to say. She grabbed my hand and began to drag me to my car, looking over her shoulder and around us in a frantic, paranoid manner. It was as if she believed the entire street had ears and eyes and would turn on us at any moment.
Catherine opened the car door for me and pushed me in, looking to her left and then her right. "Listen to me Elizabeth: go now, and don't stop for anyone. At any chance you get, you have to text me. At each stoplight, at each stop sign, until you get to you house. And then you have to call me. Hopefully then we can talk about it."
She hugged me tightly, kissed me as if she didn't want to ever stop, then walked quickly away to her own car. I watched her until I felt the urge to get out of the lot, at which point a strange loneliness swept over me. I drove back in silence, not even touching the radio. I texted her at each stoplight and stop sign, telling her that I'm still fine, that I am worrying again, and that I will call her when I was at home.
I did not receive any texts back the entire time. I kept sending them, praying that Catherine would reply. I couldn't have gotten home fast enough; the second I walked through the door I whipped out my phone and dialed her number.
It went straight to voicemail. My heart skipped a few beats, and the voice that said things were getting bad again got louder. No texts, no calls. Was she truly okay?
Hours later, I finally received all eighteen of her messages. What puzzled me was that they were all sent at the same time I was sending her texts. They stopped at the time I got home. My phone must have glitched or something, but it had never done that before.
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