Outside the Window

Part 4

            She packed what she needed (not very much) and called Ms. Fran, her neighbor, to house/pet sit. "Sure, I'll do it Mandy. Have a safe trip!" Fran had said. "Where'd you get the hamster again?" Mandy was about to make up a lie, but Fran had fixed it for her. "Oh, you probably already told me. I'm losing my memory, aha." Mandy hung up the phone, and cleaned out Panther's newly-bought hamster cage. She pat Smoky and Ginger, then left. She had one suitcase; a carry-on. It cost nothing in her business, only about as much as Lairen gave her. The plane took off, and the WiFi sign lit up. She instantaneously turned on her laptop, logged on to Gmail, and sent Lairen an e-mail, saying:

Dear Lairen,

Hi! I hope I planned a dream trip! I am currently on a flight to New Orleans, so I might come visit. How was Paul? Tell me everything.

Stay safe,

Mandy Murray

She had to admit, the last part sounded a little creepy. She put up her laptop, and the pilot announced "Hello, passengers. Hope your having a nice flight! We will land shortly." Mandy sighed at that, as the plane slowly lowered, flew back up, lowered, flew back up, until gradually the plane bumped the hard runway. The plane had landed.

       She went to the front desk of the Ritz-Carlton, and checked in. "Mandy Murray. I have a reservation." She said the last sentence with an arched eyebrow. "Yes ma'am. I have it right here." He handed her the room key, and she walked up to her room. It was amazing! Super-soft bed, chairs, an office, free WiFi, how could it get any better? But it did. She went down to the club level, to discover they had free food. More importantly, free macaroons. I love macaroons!  Mandy thought. She grabbed a handful and walked up to her room.

        In her room, she ate the macaroons and thought of many things. I wonder what Ginger, Smoky, and Panther or doing? How's Paul and Lairen? How many calories are in these macaroons? Lots of unanswered questions. Actually, the last one didn't go unanswered. There are 97 calories, 0.9 grams of protein, and 2.7 saturated fat per macaroon. She'd wasted a good fifteen minutes thinking about and Googling things.  After pigging on the macaroons, she walked down the Ritz. She hadn't packed a bathing suit, so no pool. She didn't expect them to have a pool. The salty aroma of the room lured her in. It was completely empty, so she stared into the water, smelling the air. Hearing the water splash. Seeing the lights bounce off the water, creating mysterious moving strings of light on the roof. Tasting the salty warm air. Feeling the water when she fell in.

           Mandy felt gloved hands on her back, propelling her forwards into the pool. She did a flop into the pool, and landed on her stomach, kinda. She was folded in half pretty much. "Gah!" She screamed, before she fell in. She floated up, and looked to see her attacker. She saw a man standing there. She knew who it was before she floated up. The only one who knows her and is this close. 

                                                                                 Paul Denton.

TO BE CONTINUED...