Lilies And Smoke

CHAPTER FIVE: Something's up with Bill

She calls up a local pest control the following morning; it didn't take them long before they arrive later in the afternoon. "Thank, thank you so much for coming. It's driving me up the wall I felt something brush and run under my feet last night" she informs the man at her door. He introduces himself as Matthew, "not to worry, I'll get to the bottom of it. Shouldn't take me too long" he assures, his voice was fruity. Anita breathes out in relief, "would you like a cup of tea? Or coffee?" she offers politely. The man nods, "that'll be nice pet, a coffee please. Black, one sugar" he instructs and then sets to work. An hour and a half passes, as Anita sits there sipping her cup of tea. Bill was sat beside her patiently, wagging his tail. The man's heavy footsteps echo throughout the whole house, as he inspects upstairs. Anita felt sick, her stomach churns and twists as she waits for the man to finish his job. Ten minutes pass and she hears him walk down the stairs, "it's all clear miss".

Anita straightens, "are you sure? Are they outside? Maybe it's a nest". The man shakes his head vigorously, "there's no signs of any pests of rodents, I've searched this house up to bottom and the garden" he says confidently. She slouches down, fed up at what was happening. "Alright, thank you for your time" she appreciates and see's Matthew out of her house. She huffs and mutters "well, that was a waste of time and money". She walks over to her sofa and sits in defeat, mulling over what could have upset Bill last night, maybe it was something outside she wonders, or maybe it was my imagination from getting worked up. She considers the fact that she had a lot to drink the night before and lies down on her sofa. I just have had a stressful time and I need to relax; she tells herself, closing her eyes and focusing on her breathing. She hears Bill walk into the room; his paws heavy against the wooden floor. He whines, softly and lies on the floor. Anita hears his weight shift, as if he is edging towards her slowly. Something doesn't feel right; she couldn't shake off this dreadful feeling. It was weighing on her heavily. She opens her eyes and calls, "Bill... come here boy". Bill walks slowly towards her, hesitant. Which is unusual behaviour, he was trained to come to her quickly whenever she calls.

He places his head in her lap and whines. Anita tightens her lip in worry, she decides to give him one of his new bones she had recently bought him the week prior to Janice coming around for dinner. She reaches over to the left of her sofa, there was a small tub which contains all of Bills bones and treats. She feels for a chewy bone and takes it out. "Look what I've got" she says, her voice chirpy. She places the bone beside her where Bills face was, but he whines and ignores her offer. Her face saddens, unsure of what was making him feel down.

"Come on" she says, patting the sofa and feels the weight shift on the sofa as Bill jumps up. Putting only his front paws on her as he lies down. Anita presses play on her remote, the remote consisted of two buttons, one turning off the stereo and the other pressing play or pause as it works for both aspects. Her audio book plays on from where she left it last. Listening carefully to its tale, stroking Bill as she does so. Bill cries and Anita becomes more concerned, "if this doesn't stop Bill, I might have to take you to the vet". Bill continues to whine, and Anita's heart ached for him. She kisses the top of his head and sits there in thought for a while.

. . . . .

It was six in the evening and Anita had finished all of the accounts for the day, exhausted and hungry. She decides to order a Chinese takeaway in for dinner. She sits there thinking of what the number was, she wishes at time like this she had got a new phone. But she never really had use of touch screen phones as she wouldn't be able to use them, except they would have been handy for things such as Cortana or Alexa, where she could ask directly for the closest takeaway's number.

After mulling it over for a while she decides to call Janice, sitting on the stool she waits until the phone rings out. Janice's voice comes on the other end saying she isn't available to take the call. Anita tries again but gets the same results, so she purses her lips and considers whether to call Alex. Fuck it, she tells herself and presses the button with the letter 'A' in her contacts and selects the only number on there. It rings, on the fourth ring he answers "hello?".