The Dark Stranger

Exhibition

"The Dark Stranger"
© VeGirl 2014

Eddie calls me into her office one day and surprised I notice a glib expression on her face. "I've booked a flight for you and me to Vegas."

"Vegas? Eddie!" I yelp. "What do you mean?'

My friend is snickering, pleased with herself. "There's this exhibition for businesspeople, and you and I are going." Her face shows a smug smile.

"Get out of here!"

"Yes we are," she retorts and both of us laugh. "We're going from Prescot to Las Vegas Friday morning."

"Friday? But that's tomorrow!"

"Yes, I've cleared it with your boss," she jokes, earning a slap on her arm, which only make her snicker. "She said you were a slacker, but she'll let you go anyway." She teases me but I know she really appreciate what I do, she wouldn't buy me a trip to Vegas if she didn't.

This whole thing makes me emotional. "You're the best friend!" I wrap my arms around her and give her a tight hug.

"What are you doing here? We leave tomorrow so you better get home and pack right now! I'll pick you up early tomorrow morning," she says affectionate. "Now, get out of here!"

"You don't have to say that again," I retort and hurry out the door.

My mind is a swirling vortex of pictures and images of Las Vegas and as some stereotypical woman I suddenly realise that I have nothing at all to wear. It might be a part of my recently breakup, that I decide for a minor shopping streak and turn my car to the small shops in the centre of our small town instead of the big mall in the outskirts. Luckily there were both a fluttering summerdress and a club-outfit that caught my eye, even if I am a terrible shopper.

A couple of hours later I drag my suitcase out from hiding to start packing. With the big open suitcase on the bed that Peter used to occupy, I walk around, panicking about what I should pack. Isn't that the typical female crisis; with a wardrobe full of clothes, we never have anything to wear. The washer is working it's best to get my almost new jeans clean and I pack a new crisp white shirt to match with those. My new dresses are carefully put next to my killer high heels if some fancy occasion occurs.

Finally my vanity bag is all that is missing and I slump down on my back patio. The sun is bright today, but here I can relax in the shadow, sipping a glass of white wine, feeling lush and inutile.

A weekend in Las Vegas... isn't that a dream?

That night I fall asleep fast and I dream dark disturbing dreams, with so much intensity that I can't keep up, but everything is just short fragments of worry and disturbance; things I have no memory of in the morning.

After an early breakfast, I take my suitcase and my purse and sit down in the swing on the front porch as I wait for the cab to arrive. A quick glance over at my neighbours house reveals the same void as every other time my eyes has flickered in that direction. How can there be a man living in that dark abandoned looking house? An absolutely gorgeous man. Immediately I think about what made him chose that kind of life; he looks like he could fit in a much more posh environment and not have to live in a shack like that.

A cab rolls by, turn at the cul de sac and stops by my curb, allowing me to walk down to it. The cabdriver put my suitcase in the trunk while Eddie open the door for me with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Hi babe, are you ready for an adventure?"

I laugh with her. "Bring it on!"

The cab rolls off and my eyes flicker over to the abandoned house before it disappears around the corner, but the dark guy I hope to see in one of the windows is a no show. Eddie is watching me with curious eyes though.