The Hourglass (UNEDITED)

Chapter 12

“And how are you doing today, ma’am?” asked the cashier. Katherine smiled at the younger redhead and nodded.

“I am doing fine, thank you. And yourself?”

“It’s a good day if I must be honest,” replied the cashier happily. Katherine smiled at her before taking her merchandise and bidding her good-bye. She wished she had the same sentiment as that young cashier, but Katherine was afraid that for a long time having a good day would not be a true statement. But she had to admit, that being around some of the people in Raw Cove made it a bit easier to cope with the hard times of her life. As usual she kept to herself, making herself scarce to other people. Facing the world as any normal human being was something she felt she lost touch with since Jace dropped a bomb on her. She still was not certain what she should do about their marriage, divorce was not a clear cut answer as she thought it would be.

At least she was feeling slightly better than she had been for the last couple of days. She was eating just to keep the baby alive and well, not because she was hungry because having an appetite was hard, she read books so that she could think about other things, she called her mother just to check on how she was doing, not letting on that things were not good from her side mainly because she didn’t want to worry her mother; Regina Coleman was a terrible worrier. Lastly, she would send text messages to Peter reassuring him that she and the baby were fine and that he needn’t worry about a thing.

When she parked her car in her usual spot, she couldn’t help notice a very fancy silver white BMW X6 in the parking lot. Interesting, thought Katherine. The vehicles in Raw Cove were very ordinary and none were newer than 2004 so whoever was the driver was not a local for sure. Katherine was the only one she knew who owned a vehicle that was upper-class in comparison with the local people. Looking at the BMW, it made her feel uneasy, even if she doesn’t know anyone who owns the vehicle. She saw one of the motel staff coming out with his janitor uniform and bucket with cleaning aids.

“Hello Patrick,” she called to the middle-aged man. The janitor looked up and smiled when he saw it was Katherine, tipping his head.

“How’re you doing Katherine?”

“I can’t complain,” Katherine chuckled, making her way to Patrick. When she stopped in front of him, she looked at the BMW and back at him.

“Patrick, who’s driving that car? That BMW?” she asked.

“You mean besides you?” Patrick laughed at his own joke. Katherine rolled her eyes but laughed as well along with him, it eased the sudden anxiety she was feeling. When Patrick got himself together, he looked at Katherine and shrugged.

“Don’t know really, didn’t see the owner. But I can tell you now he is one loaded bastard. Wonder what he want in these parts anyway.”

“He? It’s a man?”

Patrick shrugged, “I don’t know, I just assumed so. Could bee a woman maybe, like you.” Katherine nodded accepting the possibilities. What was the problem anyway? Weren’t people allowed to have fancy cars anymore? She decided she was worried for nothing and would even ignore the issue, it wasn’t her business anyway.

“Okay. Well, have a good day Patrick. I’ll just get into my room now.”

“You too Katherine, you have a good one too.”

When she reached her motel room, she unlocked the door and opened it, desiring a shower. She had so many showers here; they helped her keep her sane. And also, the sound of the water could be very soothing. She placed her small grocery on the desk and began undressing for the shower. However, she stopped when there was an eerie feeling that she was not alone. Her heart began to pick up speed, her breath was getting shallow, she saw a shadow in her bathroom and she hated that she couldn’t move her body, paralyzed by fear.