Startlingly loud ringing pulled me out of my sleep. I reached out my hand, eyes still closed, and lazily snoozed the clock killing all the noise. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling dazedly. The only sound now was the quiet chirping of the birds, and the small buzz of activity downstairs. Early morning sunlight filtered through the glass doors that lead out to the terrace. I got up, giving up any hope of finding sleep again, and opened the doors to the terrace, squinting against the early morning sunlight. I walked out, my bare feet hitting the cold marble. It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The early morning sun was out in the horizon, slowly making its way up and the light, clear blue skies, tinted with a bit of oranges, yellows and pinks, are dotted with stray, whispy clouds here and there. One thing I like about rain is the effect it has every morning after. It feels like the world is being reborn and everything smelled wonderfully fresh like springtime had come. The pond reflected the early morning light, the water sparkled and glittered like the facets of a delicately cut diamond. I sighed wondering how there can be such strife in the world and great beauty like this at the same time.
Suddenly, a thought broke my peace of mind. I remembered having a strange dream last night. I knew it! But try as I may, I couldn’t remember anything. I tried hard to recall my not-so-unpleasant dream when I heard gentle knocking on my door. I fixed myself up a little and called out, “Come in,” James entered my room pushing a service cart with my breakfast as I went back in and settled on the small sitting room-slash-lounge-slash-mini living room in my bedroom. Cool, huh? He set the tray on the table in front of me. My mouth started watering instantly at the sight. Waffles, yogurt, fruits and sunny-side-up-eggs lay on the food tray. I picked up a fork and started shoving food down. What? All I had last night was a cookie, what did you expect? Plus, it was delicious!
“Anything else you need, miss?”
“No… nothing…thank you, James,” I said in between mouthfuls and he walked out, silently taking the cart with him. After I finished everything, I just sat there staring outside the window, making the most of what’s left of the peace that came with the morning. Then, I jumped up off the couch and retreated behind the couch as, out of nowhere, a stupid raven, with feathers as black as midnight, hit the glass in the window. Its blood red stared at me creepily, holding me in place. As much as I want to go hide and avoid its piercing gaze, I was transfixed with its glare. It made the small hairs at the back of my neck stand up and raised goosebumps on my skin despite the warmth of the sun. It was still looking at me and I was glad for the glass in between me and that creepy bird. Then, as quickly as it had come, it went away and I regained control of myself. I realized I’ve been holding my breath so when I did breathe in, the air felt blissfully cool in my lungs. I got into the bathroom and thought about a nice, hot bath.
“Oh, my God!” I said to myself in front of the mirror. I looked hideous, with dark circles under my eyes due to the stress and of course, the night before; my hair, usually okay-looking, stood up in all directions. And my skin, ugh, don’t even get me started. It’s chalky and pale underneath my natural tan, and my lips were chapped. I mean, a bird scaring the heck out of you first thing in the morning is not what you’d consider a good beauty regimen. I decided I should get started. This is going to be a long morning.
I’ve done the best I could to make myself look almost presentable. A soak in the tub was all I needed, I guess. I curled my dark brown hair loosely and tied it in a messy ponytail and applied a bit of make-up, too, and put on my usual designer get-up. Now, I look like my normal self.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a snotty, self-absorbed, spoiled brat with loaded parents. At least I’d like to think so. Well, maybe except for the loaded parents part. I just really like fixing myself up. What’s the point in looking ratty and disheveled if you can help it, right?
I checked my phone messages. There were three, one from my mom saying that she got a call from work and that she had to go ahead downtown and that she’ll be coming home late and that John was finally coming home this afternoon. She asked if I could meet him at the penthouse since no one will be there and that we should start dinner without her. Okay, so mom works her ass off all the time and she rarely comes home in time for dinner even during holidays, which really pisses me off sometimes, but she tries her best to make it up to me by spending ALMOST every weekend with me and John. So, I guess I’m not one to complain. But still, that’s too bad. I was certainly hoping we could get some spa-time together today.
One other message was from Kirsten, my bestfriend, asking if we can go shopping when I get back from the Hamptons with as much LOLs and OMGs as possible. That seemed like a great idea.
The last message was from an unknown sender. My blood ran cold with the voice that spoke, “Hello. Good morning, Sophie, how was your night? We haven’t met formally, YET, but we will soon, very soon and I will be waiting for that day impatiently, love. I’ll be looking out for you and will be trying my best to keep you safe until I can finally be with you. Till then, remember that my heart is and will forever be yours. Until then, my love.” I stared at that phone for who knows how long. My heart was hammering inside my chest that I felt it might beat out of it. That voice, the hypnotizing voice, the angelic tone. I remembered hearing it once before, not long ago. I just stood there, staring at the answering machine as I added one more entry to my “Weird Stuff That Has Happened To Me Today List” (trust me, this one goes right on top) because I remembered that voice perfectly clear. It was… it was his voice… the guy in my dreams.
