Chlorine

Chapter 1: The Letter

Chapter 1: The Letter

It was a Sunday morning, and I was walking into my daughter's bedroom to see if she'd picked up her toys like I told her to a few minutes earlier. I looked around as she darted out of her bathroom, pointing at the bedroom window.
"Mommy, who is that?" she asked.
I pursed my lips and took gentle steps over to the big window of her bedroom. When I looked down at the pool, I saw a young boy dipping a net into the water to retrieve a few leaves that'd broken away from the big oak tree in our backyard.
I turned back towards her and replied, "I'm not sure. I'll have to ask your father."
She hurried down the stairs while I came down slowly behind her. The cartoons playing on the television were enough to draw her attention into the living room where she plopped down onto the sofa.
I walked into the kitchen where I found my husband, Benjamin, sipping coffee from his favorite ceramic mug our daughter made him for Father's Day the year before. He carefully sat the mug down and gave me a soft smile. "Good morning."
"Good morning," I said back to him sweetly.
"I think I'm going to take Emma with me to grab a few groceries. Do you want to tag along?" he asked.
I paused, giving him an empty stare before responding, "I'll stay here."
"Okay. Do you need me to get you anything?"
"Can you grab some creamer for my coffee?"
"Caramel?" he asked, knowing it was my favorite.
I leaned over to kiss him as he stepped closer to me.
"Mhmm," I mumbled against his lips.
He grabbed his keys from the island and began walking towards the front door as Emma jumped up from the couch to follow him.
"Oh, I meant to ask you, who's the boy at the pool?"
     "That's Elijah. I hired him to help with landscaping and stuff around the house. I figured it might take some of the work off you while you focus on painting and taking care of Emma."
I smiled.
"That's sweet. Thank you," I said.
He patted Emma on the back before he opened the front door, the two of them heading towards his white SUV parked in the driveway. I watched as he backed out onto the road and began driving towards town.
I walked over to the double glass doors that gave the perfect view of the backyard to get a better look at the young boy my husband hired. He was tall, brunette, and if I had to guess, he was barely in his twenties—college-aged.
He seemed harmless enough, but I wasn't sure how I felt about Benjamin inviting strangers to our home for work, especially when this was my safe space. I wasn't sure I was ready to share it yet.
I anxiously paced throughout the entire house, going from room to room as some sort of grounding exercise. I needed to familiarize myself with the components of this place; it was the only way I'd simmer back down to this calm tide in an ocean of fear.
       An hour or so passed before the two of them returned. Benjamin carried the groceries inside while Emma ran off into her playroom before even asking to help with the bags. I just let her be and started putting things away.
       Benjamin was texting on his phone in the doorway of the kitchen when he said, "Shit. I've got to run to the office for a little while to take care of some things. Will you be alright?"
       "Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine," I insisted.
       "I'll be back by dinner," he said, grabbing his keys again and heading out the door.
       I continued navigating through each bag of groceries when I dropped one onto the ground shattering the bottle of Merlot Benjamin had purchased.
       I sighed defeatedly as Emma ran into the room.
       "Emma, honey, there's broken glass on the floor, and you don't have any shoes on. Go back in your playroom until Mommy gets this cleaned up," I said trying to hide my frustration.
        "But I want my babydoll toy that Daddy got me. I think it's in that bag right- ouch!" she screamed as she cut her bare foot on a shard of the broken wine bottle beside the bag she walked over to.
       Blood dripped over the tile as I attempted to clear a path to walk through. I rushed over to her as she cried, holding her foot up from the floor.
       "Emma, I told you," I began when I was joined by a male's voice.
       It was Elijah.
       "Can I help? I can put the rest of this away while you get her bandaged up," he offered.
       "That would be great, thank you," I said, grabbing Emma and carrying her into the guest bathroom.
       I sat her on the countertop before I pulled a first aid kit from the medicine cabinet. I bandaged her foot up and sat her gently on the floor. She hobbled off towards her playroom, and I took a deep breath in the mirror when I was accompanied by Elijah again.
       I jumped when I noticed him in the doorway.
       "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I was just going to ask where you keep your broom so I can sweep up that glass for you."
       "You don't have to do that," I said.
       "I don't mind, really," he insisted.
       I smiled appreciatively before walking him to the cleaning supplies closet.
       I grabbed the black broom from the hook and handed it to him. He cleaned up the mess and disappeared back out into the big yard to continue with whatever he'd been doing.
       I took a seat on the oatmeal-colored linen sofa in silence for a long while. I was trying to find the courage to start preparing dinner, but my hand was trembling again. Something that constantly reminded me of one of the scariest nights of my life.