Once upon a Murder

1. A Call to Remember

The incessant ringing of the phone roused her from her dreamless sleep. Rubbing her eyes absently, she sneaked a peek at the caller ID before groaning and answering the call.

"This better be important, D. I will come over and strangle you myself if not," she said, all in one breathe, still half-asleep.

A laugh echoed over the line. " Believe me, it's important. You will love me when you find out what it is. In fact, you've been warned. Be wary of my charms." Andrew 'Drew' Smith said, sounding extremely pleased with himself.

"Modest as always eh, Smith ? Alright. I'll bite. What's the deal? " she conceded.

"I had entered a contest for a meeting with a famous personality. And would you believe it? I won. Do you know who that famous person is? I'll give you a clue. She's known for writing The Mystery of Melanie Castle among others." he said.

"Oh my gosh! You're kidding me, right? No way! But...how? Wait, wait! Wrong question. When? " she all but screeched out.

" Now you're talking. In exactly four hours. We will meet Her. The Queen of Modern Crime Fiction, Evangeline Waters. You better make a good impression, A. There's no better way to kickstart your own writing career. " he said sincerely.

"Four .... Drew, that's not nearly enough time. Why didn't you you call me earlier? I've got to get my clothes organised, decide which book to get autographed and what to talk about. Forget that, where are we meeting ?"she asked, all jumpy with excitement.

"Calm down, S. We'll meet her at her hotel, The Water Fountain, off Wattford street, opposite Cas's boutique. Be there or be square." he said, his smile almost audible through the phone.
"Okay. It's a date. Well, not a date per se. It's more of a get together of two friends. Oh, and a famous author. Oh, did you hear that? The doorbell just rang. Gotta run. Bye." she hurriedly said before hanging up.

"It's a date", he said to the dial tone, grinning at her embarrassment.

Sandrine 'Anne' Evans heaved a sigh of relief before falling back to her bed in exhaustion. She suddenly jumped up. Four hours. She had to get cracking. She ran around for about ten minutes aimlessly before settling down on her bed with a huff. This wasn't working. Time to call in the cavalry i.e., the bane of her existence and best friend (regretfully) Rebecca Patton.
She chewed on my her bottom lip as the phone rang, blasting out an obnoxious pop song. That girl and her awful taste in music.

"Were you kidnapped or something? Why haven't you called me all week, idiot? " her unnaturally shrill voice bellowed over the line.
Sandrine immediately held her phone a good six inches away from her ear. She knew better than to interrupt Rebecca when she was on a rant.

After about a minute and a half of shrill screaming over the phone, she seemed to tire out and Sandrine took her chance to interject before she started again.

"Forgive me, please. I've been super busy with university and work. I need your help." she said as beseechingly as she could over the phone.

"Alright. What do you need?" Rebecca said, still seething.

" I need your help to help me decide what to wear. I'm going to meet ..." she started. She was cut off by a very enthusiastic and high-pitched scream.

" OMG! You have a date. Why didn't you just say so? Wait, I'm coming over." Rebecca said and promptly hung up.

"No, Becs, it's not a date... And she's gone." Sandrine muttered.

She resigned herself to choosing a book for her favourite author to autograph.

{****}
Author's note- Hi guys! This is my first attempt at writing a long-ish novel. Please be kind.
Also, I'm a student, so this novel might go on hiatus during my exams. Please forgive me if I'm not able to post updates on time.

P.S. I would greatly appreciate it if you pointed out any grammatical errors, as I'm not so good at proof reading.

Lastly, please comment. I'd love to hear from everyone.
Review and vote, too.✌🏼
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The picture is the view from outside her window.