Indicator of a Curse

by Lesley A Meldrum

  Sarah hadn’t heard her car pull up. Emily was holding a bottle of wine in her hand and a family block of Cadbury Snack chocolate, Sarah’s favourite. She closed the site and shut down the screen. She didn’t want to be rude.

  ‘Jonathon will be joining us later,’ Sarah said, as she put the laptop aside. She sat it on the coffee table. ‘He’s only staying for one movie though cause he’s going to Rocky tomorrow for the races.’

  ‘You mean the horse races?’

  ‘Yes.’ Sarah reached for the remote control.

  ‘You mean Jonathon who works with you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I think he’s a bit sweet on you, Sarah,’ Emily blatantly hinted as she opened the fridge door and found places for the wine and chocolate. ‘Every time we turn around, he’s there.’

  Sarah started setting up Netflix on the television screen. ‘Don’t be silly, Em. We’ve become good friends since I confided in him about my dreams. He’s been a great support. I couldn’t have survived without him. Literally.’

  ‘He’s not bad looking, Sarah. You could do worse,’ Emily replied, walking back into the lounge room.

  ‘Stop it, Em. I don’t feel that way about him. We’re just friends.’

  ‘You’re too hung up on that bloke next door. Roy, is it? Has he indicated any interest?’ She sat in her favourite chair.

  ‘His name’s Troy and no, he hasn’t shown any interest apart from friendly chats in the driveway.’ Sarah was still stinging from the attractive visitor he had the other day. She wasn’t ready to share that with Emily. Some raw feelings she wanted to hide, even from her best friend.

  Emily was sensitive enough to know when to back off. She could sense her friend was troubled, reasoning something must have happened concerning Troy. Just the same, she couldn’t help throwing a lifeline.

  ‘Why don’t you invite him for a coffee, Sarah? Eventually you could cook him dinner or something.’

  ‘Emily,’ Sarah warned.

  ‘Sorry.’ She paused. ‘He’s not seeing anybody, is he?’

  Sarah’s death stare convinced her to drop it.

  ‘Anyhow, let’s pig out on the chocolate before your friend gets here?’ She wasn’t counting on splitting it three ways. ‘Shall we have a coffee while we’re waiting for Jonathon to arrive?’

  ‘Good idea,’ Sarah commented. ‘We’ll make a cuppa first and then put on a movie. John said to start without him.’

  ‘Great,’ Emily said. ‘We can watch a chick flick while he’s not here. What are we going to watch when he arrives?’

  ‘We’ll let him decide.’

  ‘It better not involve car chases or cars blowing up,’ Emily complained.

  ‘He likes comedy or action. We can all agree on an action comedy. He said he also doesn’t mind science fiction or fantasy. He’s into the Lord of the Rings and his favourite movie is the Matrix.’

  ‘He probably won’t want any long sagas if he has an early start tomorrow.’

  ‘Thank goodness,’ Sarah agreed. She had grown fond of her workmate, but this was the first time he was visiting her place. She felt a little uncomfortable, to be truthful. She was glad Emily was present.

  They read each other’s faces and giggled. They felt the same.

  While Sarah was preparing coffee, Emily tucked into the chocolate. She was craving sweets and couldn’t wait for the movie.

  Sarah was excited for a night in front of the TV. She had recently created a Netflix account and, since then, she and Emily had been bingeing on their favourite shows.

  With it being so cold, Emily was under a blanket. Her friend was a small-framed woman who easily felt the cold. At her request, Sarah put on the heater while they watched the movie.

  Sarah discovered that night she could now handle the house closed up with the heater running, which used to be a problem. There was a time she could not tolerate the stuffiness, as it made her claustrophobic. Now, the warmth coming from the heater was warm and snug.

  For Sarah, this sealed the deal: the past life healing sessions had worked.

  It was close to the end of the movie when John made an appearance. They had been watching Emily’s favourite, ‘The Notebook’.

  John too had brought snacks.

  Sarah was expecting him to sit on one of the single sofas, but he plonked himself on the long couch where she was sitting. She had been hoping to lie down later on while watching movies.

  As the movie was almost finished, he didn’t mind watching the end before starting another. John rattled off a few movies he would like to watch and they all decided on a true story. John was being considerate by choosing movies he thought would appeal to the girls.

  ‘The King’s Speech’ was a hit. He guessed he couldn’t go wrong with the girls if it had Colin Firth in the leading role. Even he found himself engrossed in the movie. They all sat in silence, mesmerised. It was slow paced but had depth.

  Sarah asked John to move further down the end of the couch so she could lie down. When she did lay down with her feet curled up, he rested an arm on her legs. She felt uncomfortable with this gesture. When he started rubbing her leg with his hand, she jerked her legs a little to show her annoyance. He got the hint and removed his arm.

  ‘You can move to another seat if you want to get comfortable, John,’ Sarah suggested.

  ‘No thanks, I’m comfortable here.’

  Sarah could feel Emily looking her way. Emily gave her a pointed look before focussing back on the movie.

  When the movie ended, Jonathon was not tired so he stayed for another. They picked a comedy since they were not long.

  Sarah enjoyed the way Jonathon would crack up laughing. He had a loud, contagious laugh. They were all in stitches.

  By the end of the movie, it ended up being quite an enjoyable night.

  ‘I had a lot of fun,’ Jonathon said, when it was time for him to go. ‘We’ll have to do this another night.’

  ‘For sure,’ Sarah answered. She decided she was going to let him know in her passive-aggressive way that there was nothing beyond a friendship. When he was certain of where he stood, she was going to enjoy their movie nights. He was good company.

  She walked him to the door and shared a few laughs before he bid her farewell. There was a pause. He looked deep into her eyes. She knew that look.

  She would have to be upfront with him. She didn’t like to lead people on.

  ‘Jonathon,’ she said, in a concerned whisper. ‘You do understand we’re just friends, don’t you?’ She did not want Emily to overhear their conversation to save Jonathon the embarrassment.

  He looked at her, gutted.

  ‘Why are you asking that?’ he queried.

  ‘Well, I don’t want to lead you on or give you any ideas. I enjoy your company. We click. I think you’re great and you’re really good-looking, but I already have strong feelings for somebody.’

  He took a deep breath. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘Thanks for being upfront, I guess. Can I ask who this other person is?’

  ‘I can’t say. He doesn’t know.’

  ‘I see. Well then. Does that mean no more movie nights or lunches?’

  ‘Of course, I’d love to catch up for movies and meals. Only as friends, though.’

  He dropped his head. ‘Okay then. Nice to know where I stand. No hard feelings, Sarah. I’ll see you on Monday at work.’ He tried to hide his disappointment. ‘My shout for lunch,’ he said as he walked off.

  Sarah closed the door behind him and paused for a moment before joining Emily.

  With Jonathon gone, Emily and Sarah were ready to set up camp for the night. They planned on sleeping in the lounge room in front of the TV. They set up blankets, pillows, and more snacks. Before settling in, they had showers and put on comfortable pyjamas. Emily prepared coffee, seeing as it was her turn.

  Soon they were settled in for an all-nighter of Netflix. Emily bedded on the couch while Sarah bunked on a mattress on the floor. Sarah was the first one to fall asl
eep. Emily drifted off not long after.

  Later in the night, Sarah could feel herself being shaken.

  ‘Sarah, Paul rang,’ Emily said, waking her. ‘He’s passing through and said he’s got something important to tell me before he takes off again. He wants to talk in person and not at your place. I’ll catch up with you later.’

  Sarah groaned. She tried to pay attention because it sounded important.

  ‘Ok,’ Sarah said before rolling over and drifting back to sleep.

  The last thing she heard was the front door closing lightly.

  Not long after, she woke up. The mattress was getting a bit hard on the floor. Throwing her doona to the wind, she climbed to her feet and made her way to her comfy bed.

  When she climbed between the cold sheets, she promised herself she would buy an electric blanket. She lay still until her own body heat warmed the bed before falling soundly asleep.

  In Sarah’s rush to climb off her mattress and get to her comfortable bed, she had thrown her doona over the bar heater. One corner of the doona had slipped through the bars.

  Neither she nor Emily had thought to turn the heater off.

  The heater was old, one her mother had kept in storage for years. While it did come with a safety sensor that shut the power off if anything touched it, the sensor failed to work.

  Troy Davis was returning from his fishing trip in the early morning when he turned into the Mayfair Ridge Estate. The sun was not yet up. The streets were deathly quiet.

  As he drove into the area he could smell smoke. He turned into his street and slowly made his way down the end to the last house. As he approached his house, the smell became more prominent.

  Panic overtook him when he noticed how bright his neighbour’s lounge room was.

  He realised her house was on fire.

  Troy stepped on the gas and bounced over the remaining speed bump. He pulled over to the side of the street at Sarah’s house and flew out the door, running for the gate before his seatbelt could wind up.

  The fire was already climbing some of the curtains. He yelled out to Sarah but heard no response.

  He ran around to the other side where the fire had not yet reached. He spied an outdoor table and chairs. Grabbing one of the chairs, he smashed the glass window and climbed through.

  He ripped a heavy curtain from the window and started beating the fire out, calling for Sarah.

  Sarah came into the room holding her cheeks, her eyes large and rounded. She ran to the bathroom, returning with a wet towel. She joined Troy in his frantic mission to put out the fire.

  Their efforts paid off.

  The lounge was a wreck, but otherwise the house was intact. The fire had barely reached the kitchen. The lounge room would have fared better if Sarah and Emily hadn’t filled the room with flammables.

  ‘Should I call the fire brigade?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah, you better. It would keep your insurance mob happy.’ He looked around some more. ‘It’s probably the law too.’ He had never been in a house-fire situation. As a result, he wasn’t clued in on the procedures.

  Sarah debated whether to make the calls later in the morning but assumed the authorities would want to investigate as soon as possible, so she called them straight away. She explained the fire was out and no one had been hurt, but it was protocol to involve the police and the ambulance.

  By the time all the emergency services had arrived it was daylight. Troy was kind enough to stay with Sarah the whole time she was dealing with the situation. They were both feeling shattered because neither of them had had any decent sleep.

  The whole Sunday morning was spent dealing with the police and fire brigade, whose presence attracted a lot of attention. Cars drove by all morning to have a stickybeak at the accident. They would have been disappointed as there was no sign of a fire from the outside. Sarah thought it served the nosy parkers right.

  The ordeal was finally over a little after midday when yellow police tape was put around the house. Sarah was advised to seek accommodation elsewhere until the house was liveable again.

  There wasn’t a great deal of damage. The fire had affected the lounge and kitchen only, but the fire brigade said an electrician would have to redo the wiring before they would class the house as safe to inhabit. At some point during the morning, they disconnected the power.

  Troy was adamant about not leaving his neighbour alone. She was too shaken up. He offered her a spare bed until she made other arrangements. He was also kind enough to insist she store her perishables from the fridge and freezer at his place. She was only too pleased for the offer on both accounts.

  ‘I need to unhook the boat and freshen up, so I’ll meet you over there,’ Troy said. ‘Will you be okay?’

  Sarah nodded yes.

  ‘Is there anything you’d like me to take with me?’

  Together they went through her perishables and put them in shopping bags, which Troy took with him.

  Sarah then went to her bedroom to sort out her clothes. Her casual clothes she threw haphazardly into a clothes basket. Her work uniforms she was extra careful with. They were already ironed and hanging in the closet.

  Before going into the bathroom, she text-messaged her parents. They were on a getaway and were not planning to answer their phones all weekend. She left the message for them to read at their leisure. She also left a message for Emily and Jonathon to let them know what happened. She told them not to panic and she would catch up with them tomorrow. Luckily for her, she had left her phone in the bedroom, so no damage had come to it.

  Jonathon replied straight away, insisting on returning to Emerald. Sarah was adamant he not cut his Rockhampton trip short, saying she would go to work early tomorrow morning to meet him. She thought about dropping into her parents’ place first thing Monday morning, but because she would be seeing her father at work she decided she would talk with him there and catch up with her mother later.

  Sarah knocked on Troy’s front door, hoping he had not fallen asleep yet. Her angst was quickly relieved when he swung the door open and greeted her with his dazzling smile. Though she had fought hard in the past months to quash her feelings for Troy, the warm reception he gave her succeeded in igniting a warm glow inside her.

  As she walked through the house, the smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the air. Troy had prepared a meal while he was waiting for her to join him.

  She didn’t think she had taken that long. It must have been the phone calls.

  ‘Something smells good,’ she said as she inhaled the welcoming aromas.

  ‘Thought we might have something to eat before we get some sleep,’ he suggested. As he was leading her to the kitchen he stopped in the lounge room. ‘Just leave your stuff here, sweetheart. I’ll show you to your room afterwards.’

  As instructed, she plonked all her stuff in a heap and followed him into the kitchen. Troy pulled out two large dinner plates from one of his cupboards and placed them on the bench.

  Sarah sat at his dining table while he prepared their plates. The fragrance of grilled onions and gravy sauce incensed her hunger. She could smell toast, heavily buttered toast. The pangs in her stomach were screaming.

  ‘Need a hand?’ she summoned the courage to ask, though she wasn’t much of a wiz in the kitchen. She had an inkling he would say no but asked anyway. He seemed quite the chef.

  ‘No, all sorted. You just sit there, love.’

  Grateful, she did as she was told.

  Troy plonked two man-sized meals on the table. The finished presentation was a mixed grill with onion gravy that was packed to the rafters.

  The table was already set up with cutlery and condiments.

  She wasn’t expecting to get through it all, but she hadn’t eaten all day. To her shame, she devoured every morsel and even sopped the sauce up with her side of toast.

  After a good meal like that, she insisted she help with the clean-up. This time Troy took her up on the offer.

  Sarah decide
d it was fun working side by side in the kitchen with a good-looking man. The tedious chore suddenly felt special. Sarah imagined she could do this forever. Such a shame he was already taken, she thought.

  When they were done, they chose not to seek out their rooms. Instead, they had a cup of coffee and chatted for a while. Unable to help herself, Sarah asked about the lady who occasionally paid him visits.

  Troy told Sarah he and the mystery woman had grown up together in Blackwater. Juanita Anderson had dated his best friend all through high school. When Juanita broke up with her boyfriend, she stayed in touch with Troy and over time they became the best of friends.

  By Sarah’s guestimation, Troy still felt loyal to his best friend, Ben, and would never date the ex, no matter how bad Juanita wanted it. Ben was now married with two kids and, according to Troy, still carried a torch for his first love.

  Sarah was too intrigued with his story, wanting the nitty gritty details. ‘Why did they break up? No pretences. What was really the underlying issue behind them breaking up?’

  Troy scrutinised her. His eyes narrowed while he contemplated who he was dealing with.

  ‘You’re a real snoop, Sarah Larson.’

  She met his inquisitiveness with honesty. ‘I have a few notions what was going on between the lines. I bet any fool would have seen it.’

  ‘Do tell,’ he dared to propose.

  ‘Juanita fell out of love with Ben and in love with you. She dropped Ben, so she could go out with you, but you wouldn’t betray your best friend like that. You saw how deeply she broke his heart. It would have destroyed him if you had started dating her.’

  Troy was looking at her with all sorts of expressions, but mainly he was blushing. She had hit the mark.

  ‘Smart girl, all that from just a few details? Who are you, Sherlock Holmes?’

  ‘Just a girl from the hood. We smart girls pick up on these things.’ Especially when our own interests are invested, Sarah thought.

  ‘Yes, well, Juanita realised I would never go out with her. She sees me as a close friend now.’

  ‘Yes, I bet,’ thought Sarah. She left it at that.

  She finished her coffee and took her empty cup to the sink, rinsing it before sitting it on the tray. ‘Could you please show me to my room, Troy? I’m ready to pass out.’