The Clock of Miss Fortune ✔

Chapter - 5

Hannah abruptly woke up. She was drenched in sweat. As if a nightmare had ended and she was back to reality there was a notion of both still inside her head telling her to confirm if that was the conclusion. She looked beside her. Miley was still asleep. She sighed in relief and nodded slowly knowing that she was back to reality. She glanced at the clock. It was 4:10pm. Her pink t-shirt had stuck to her body and beads of sweat trailed down her forehead. Her hair were stuck to her forehead. She wiped off the sweat and headed downstairs. She had a headache. A cup of coffee was all in her mind. She cleaned the cup, brewed coffee and started drinking it slowly.

The dream or nightmare or whatever it was, was still clear in her mind. It must be from all the information she read about Miss Balentine. One thing that stuck to her mind was the name. If she was married then it should have been Mrs. and not Miss. Maybe the clock was named after her before she got married? Could be, Hannah thought and sipped her coffee.

The letters were inside the case. The case was inside a small cabinet that she installed after the first one fell from an accident. The clock of Miss Balentine stood in its spot. Unmoved. Unchanged. Unnoticed by many. And in a world where it seemed to exist alone, and isolated. And yet something felt different. Hannah stood up and stood near the clock. She looked closely. The feeling that something felt different only grew stronger. And as she leaned over to take a closer look something seemed to be different. Did the space between the girls shrunk? She wondered. And there was a small piece of wood sticking out between two girls. A very tiny piece. It would be hardly noticeable if one didn't pay much attention. Hannah shrugged it off. It could be that the piece was always there, was her initial thought. Confused, she thought about it again but the answer had disappeared. Maybe she was tired. Her body felt warm but did not have a fever. Her sense of taste was still perfect, her eyes were clear, her nose and mouth as well, and her body didn't show any signs of illness.

The hands moved it course and it was 5:00pm. The day was spent and her confusion only seemed to be stuck like a leech refusing to let go. Three cups of coffee and still that dream felt awfully real. The curtain for the day was closing slowly. It was all in slow motion. The world was black and white moments ago and now the colors had crept in making it more shallow.

Later that day, Cristal texted Hannah that she wanted to meet her.

At 7, once Michael arrived home early, Hannah left the house to meet Cristal.

Cristal stood behind the counter in the same spot, looking the same, wearing a pinkish sleeveless t-shirt and blue shorts. "Hannah." Cristal called her name as soon as she saw her. "That was quick."

"It sounded urgent." Hannah said.

"Nothing of the sort. You could have come tomorrow. Nothing serious." Cristal said. "O'lim called in. Said he'd be here friday. Today is Tuesday so, yeah. Friday it was."

"You could have told me that on text."

"Yeah. But then I wouldn't be able to give you this." Cristal pulled out a photograph of another canvas painting. "This was Mr. and Mrs. Fortune's son apparently. He looks a lot like O'lim." She said.

Hannah took the photo from her. Short black hair, scruffy beard, brown eyes, and crooked teeth from his smile were clearly shown in the picture. Judging from it, he must had been five and a half feet tall, more or less, he looked overweight, and was wearing some old generic royal gown.

"Add alcohol with this guy and you have O'lim." Cristal said.

So he is related to the Fortune family, Hannah thought.

"So he is related to the Fortune family." Cristal said.

"That is what I thought." Hannah said.

"You could have sent me a picture on my phone."

"Yeah... but I wanted to talk about something personal as well." Cristal said. "And I feel awkward talking about it on the phone."

"Boyfriend trouble?" Hannah asked. Cristal nodded. "What is it?"

"Mike is acting weird." Cristal started. She was quiet for a while. Searching for the right words to put her feelings into she brushed her hair and continued. "He is not himself. He feels like a different person."

"Is he cheating on you?" Hannah asked.

"I don't think so." Cristal answered. "He is acting really sweet too."

"Sex?"

"It is great actually." Cristal blushed a little. "Better than last time."

"Might propose you." Hannah said. "You said that he was away for college right?" Cristal nodded. "It could be that he went through something and decided to be with you forever."

"How can you be sure?"

"He is better in bed ever since he came back. He is acting sweet. He is giving you attention. This all indicates that he is trying hard to prove to you that he is the one. Could be that or that he is cheating."

"Propose, huh?" Cristal said and didn't hear the cheating part.

"I said that it could be a reason. Don't get hung up on it."

"What about you?" Cristal asked.

"What about me?"

"Sex life?" Cristal said. "Is it the same after a kid is born?"

"Noooo..." Hannah's lips formed an "O" when she dragged the "No" part. "Not at all. After Miley, our sex life almost stopped before she turned three. Then Michael and I started to get back into it. And now, it has been two years and we had sex like what three or maybe four times. I'm not sure. It has changed a lot."

"Don't you feel like having sex?"

"I do." Hannah said. "But when you become a family and have a kid many things change and so does your perspective. Michael works hard to take care of things and I work as well to keep our house moving forward. I don't push my antique collection craze on Michael. Everything I buy is from my own hard earned money. I don't want to burden Michael even if he tells me to rely on him for everything."

"Sweet." Cristal smiled. "What do you do?"

"Interior designer." Hannah answered immediately.

"That is cool." Cristal nodded. "So, what about your urges to have sex?"

"Masturbation." Hannah answered without hesitation.

"Wow."

"Do you have any other interest other than sex?" Hannah shot a question.

Crystal blushed. "Yeah. Actually, can you help me with one more thing?"

Hannah nodded.