‘Fuck,’ came back the response.
‘What? What’s wrong?’
‘Are you with your friends?’
‘I was. I’ve just walked outside to talk to you.’
‘Okay, listen carefully, I need you to go straight back to them. I don’t want you on your own.’
‘Luke! What’s going on?’
‘I’m so sorry, Georgia. It’s Cadence. She’s there. She’s watching you.’
Georgia’s head snapped up. ‘You’re kidding me. How do you know?’
‘She messaged me. Said something about the way you looked in your green top. I was hoping she was bluffing, trying to get a rise out of me. That’s why I wanted to check what you’re wearing. Tell me you’re walking back to your friends now. I’m staying on the phone until I know you’re with them.’
‘Okay, I’m going back inside now.’
Georgia moved quickly, pushing her way back through the crowd yet again. The faces around her had taken on a new feel. Earlier there was a sense of festivity and fun. The drunken dancing people around her had seemed friendly and jovial. Now they were too drunk, too close, invading her personal space. Someone pinched her bum as she moved past them and she swung around, her heart beating fast. A middle-aged guy grinned at her; she glared back at him and pushed on. A girl elbowed her, and Georgia let out an audible gasp. The girl gave her a look and said loudly, ‘Overreact much?’ before turning back to her friends. She was brunette. Not Cadence.
Georgia was still holding the phone to her ear.
‘Georgia,’ Luke’s voice came through, tinny and small, ‘are you okay? Who was that?’
‘Just some girl. I’m fine.’
Finally, she arrived at the table where her friends were. Rick caught her eye and immediately stood. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.
She held up a finger to Rick and spoke to Luke, ‘I’m here,’ she said. ‘I’m with my friends.’
‘Good. Can one of them go home with you when you leave tonight? I still don’t believe Cadence would ever actually do anything to hurt you, but I’m not taking any chances. I feel terrible about this. I’ll be home tomorrow afternoon and we’ll get this sorted out, okay? We’ll go to the police and take out a restraining order if we have to.’
‘Okay, I will. Luke, what exactly did she say? In her message?’
There was a pause. ‘It’s not very nice,’ he said eventually.
‘Please tell me. I want to know.’
‘She said green’s not your colour, and that . . . um, that it’s a really slutty top.’
Georgia stayed silent and Luke filled the space. ‘Please don’t let it get to you. It’s not true, none of it. I bet you look fucking stunning tonight.’
‘Okay, it’s all right, I’m fine. Listen, I’ve gotta go, my friends are all looking at me wondering what’s up.’
‘All right. Call me later when you’re home, okay?’
‘I will.’
There was another pause and then Luke said all in a rush, ‘Georgia, I love you.’
It was the first time either of them had said it and Georgia was temporarily filled with pure bliss. She turned away from her friends and spoke quietly. ‘I love you too,’ she said. ‘Bye.’
‘Bye, take care.’
Georgia hung up and turned back to her friends. Amber and Rick were both looking at her expectantly.
‘What’s going on?’ Amber asked.
‘That was Luke. Apparently his ex is here tonight . . . watching me. She texted him about me.’
‘What?’ Amber looked horrified. ‘What do you mean? What did she say?’
‘She said I look like a slut.’
Rick looked around. ‘You mean she’s here now? Where? I’m gonna have a go at her.’
Georgia looked around too. ‘I don’t know. I mean, I’ve seen a couple of pictures of her but I don’t know if I’d recognise her. She’s blonde, that’s about all I can tell you.’
‘Well, that’s about sixty per cent of the women here,’ said Amber, scanning the room as well. ‘What about that one over there?’ she asked, pointing.
Georgia slapped her hand down. ‘Amber! Don’t point!’ She took a look at the woman Amber had singled out. ‘I don’t think so. Maybe she’s not even here anymore. Maybe she sent the message and then left.’
‘Do you want to stay and finish your drink or do you want to get out of here?’ Rick asked.
‘I kind of want to go.’
‘That’s fair enough,’ said Amber, ‘even though it sucks. That bitch has completely ruined your night. How do you think she even knew you were here? Do you think she followed you?’
‘Probably. I hate to ask this, but could one of you come home with me? I don’t really want to go alone.’
‘Of course,’ Rick said immediately. ‘There’s no way we’d let you leave here on your own.’
‘Yeah, I’ll come too,’ Amber said. ‘I don’t feel like lining up for half an hour for my next drink anyway.’
In the cab on the way back to her place, Amber and Rick chatted animatedly about Cadence while Georgia fell silent. She realised that from their perspective it made for an exciting drama — a strange woman watching them at the bar, sending nasty messages, disappearing into the night. If it had been happening to someone else, Georgia probably would have got caught up in the excitement of it herself. But right now, she just felt flat. The comment about her outfit being slutty had stung, and even though she’d always loved this green top, she found herself self-consciously tugging at it now, trying to hide her cleavage. She hated that Cadence had managed to get inside her head. And she was sick of that word haunting her.
She opened Facebook on her phone to try to take her mind off everything and checked her notifications. There was a friend request from an old schoolmate she thought she was already friends with. She accepted it, figuring she must have been mistaken.
She scrolled through her newsfeed and saw the photo that Ally had taken earlier of them all. She zoomed in on the picture and examined her top. The very edge of her black lacy bra could be seen. Maybe she did look slutty.
Amber glanced over. ‘Hang on,’ she said, snatching the phone from Georgia. ‘This is it. This is how she knew where you were.’
‘What?’
‘Look, Ally tagged you in this photo and she checked us into the Bella Vista Hotel.’
‘Okay, but I’m not friends with Cadence on Facebook. How would she have seen it?’
‘Ally’s got it set to public. Anyone can see it. If this girl is stalking you and Luke, then I’m guessing she knows your full name somehow. I reckon she’s searched your name on Facebook, this photo’s popped up and, bang, she knows where you are.’
‘You realise this means she might not even have been there tonight,’ Rick put in. ‘Maybe she pretended she was there when she messaged Luke, but all she actually did was look at your photo and describe you from that.’
‘Maybe,’ said Georgia.
She wasn’t sure if she felt better or worse about the possibility of Cadence having tricked her. On the one hand, it was less serious if she hadn’t followed her physically. On the other hand, Georgia felt humiliated at the idea that this woman had chased her away with a simple message.
They arrived back at Georgia’s apartment, and Rick and Amber came in for a drink.
‘Hard stuff is above the fridge,’ said Georgia as Rick headed into the kitchen. ‘Deja vu,’ she added. ‘This is exactly what I did with Luke when Cadence sent him the note at that restaurant. She’s going to turn me into an alcoholic.’
‘I can make it a weak one if you like?’ Rick offered.
‘Fuck that,’ said Amber. ‘Girl needs a strong drink. Something to put her to sleep.’
Georgia shrugged. ‘Yeah, screw it. Strong sounds good. Actually, do either of you have a cigarette I could steal?’
‘Since when do you smoke?’ Rick asked.
‘I don’t. I mean, I used to, long time ago. And I had, like, half a c
igarette at my brother’s wedding, and I don’t know . . . suddenly I just feel like one.’
Amber was already reaching into her handbag. ‘Here you go,’ she said. ‘I’ll have one with you.’
‘Me too,’ said Rick, bringing the drinks around from the kitchen. The three of them went out onto her balcony. Georgia brought a blanket from the couch out with them and they huddled together on her bench seat with the blanket across their knees, drinking quietly and listening to the night-time sounds of suburbia.
‘What’s that rustling?’ Amber asked. ‘Coming from the trees over there?’
‘Fruit bats,’ Georgia said firmly.
‘Oh,’ said Amber, sounding disappointed.
‘Amber! Were you hoping that my boyfriend’s ex was hiding in a bloody tree, watching us?’
‘No! I was just making sure.’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Georgia woke early from a restless night, glad to feel the sunshine streaming in through the window. Daylight. Everything felt so much better in the daylight. The more Georgia thought about it, the more confident she felt that Cadence had been bluffing about being there last night. Luke’s old apartment with Cadence was in Artarmon. How could she have had time to get from Artarmon to Bella Vista after seeing that picture on Facebook? Why would she bother? She wasn’t a threat, she was a nuisance, that was all. Georgia needed to stop letting this woman stress her out, stop letting her control her life. She needed to see this woman for what she was — a jealous ex who couldn’t let go, instead of a boogieman who scared her out of a fun night with her friends.
Georgia rolled over and picked up her phone to check for messages. There was a new Facebook private message showing up in her notifications. She clicked through to it, stifling a yawn. It was from her old school friend Rachael Carver.
It was cute how you just accepted my friend request without bothering to check that I am who I say I am.
Georgia sat up straight. She continued reading.
Tell me something, Georgia, is there anything missing from your apartment?
She was breathing hard. Her heart thudded against her ribcage. She looked around the room, her eyes roving as though she would immediately see some obvious omission from her bedroom. Everything looked normal, everything looked the same. She held still, torn between the desire to race out of her bedroom and check the rest of the apartment and the paralysing fear that told her not to move a muscle.
You can’t stay here in bed, Georgia, she told herself firmly. Move.
She threw back the covers in one swift movement, then slammed her feet down on the floor, making as much noise as she could.
‘I’m not afraid of you,’ she said out loud, but her voice didn’t come out as strong as she’d intended. She strode out of her bedroom, banging the door against the wall as she went, stomping her feet and ignoring the desperate flutters of her heart inside her chest.
She stopped in the middle of the living room and spun around in circles, eyes darting, searching, checking. Did anything look different? Was anything gone? Was there anyone here?
‘I’m not afraid!’ she said again, louder this time. ‘I’m not afraid of you! You can’t scare me.’ But on the last word her voice almost tipped from a shout to a sob. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. A guttural scream left her throat but at the same time she realised it was an Indian myna bird, landing on her balcony.
She let all of her fear and rage and anguish out on the bird, running to the balcony door and banging her fists against the glass. ‘GET OUT OF HERE! GO AWAY YOU STUPID, HORRIBLE BIRD!’
The bird flew away and then the tears came properly. I’m not brave, she thought, I’m not. I’m fucking terrified.
She sat on the floor of her living room and cried for a good ten minutes before she decided it was time to stop. Enough, she thought. Georgia, that is enough.
She picked herself up and walked through her apartment again, but this time she checked it meticulously. She opened cupboards and drawers in the kitchen. She scanned each shelf in the living room. The coffee table, the couch, the dining table. She went into the bathroom, looked in the shower, opened the cabinets. Then back into the bedroom, where she opened bedside drawers and searched through her cupboard. Nothing seemed different. Nothing was missing. Cadence was messing with her. Playing with her mind.
She picked up her phone and was about to call Marcus to tell him all about it, but then remembered he was in Europe. She couldn’t bother him with this while he was on his honeymoon. It was going to be difficult not chatting with him or messaging him for two weeks. They usually flicked one another a text at least once every few days. She went back onto Facebook and looked at her friends list. There were two Rachael Carvers. How could she have been so stupid not to realise that when the new request had come through from Rachael? It was a fake account using a stolen photo.
She went into the message again. The logical part of her brain told her she shouldn’t respond. That’s what Cadence wants, she thought. She wants to get a reaction out of you, a rise. She was bluffing again in order to screw with you.
But Georgia couldn’t help it. She was too filled with rage to simply let it go. She typed out a reply, her fingers banging against the screen.
Fuck you. Your little game didn’t work so give it up.
As soon as she’d sent the message, she reported the offending account to Facebook as fake and then blocked it as well.
Taking action had given her courage. She wanted to do more. She wanted to put an end to this, once and for all. What if she could stop being the one on the back foot? What if she could stop being the victim in all of this? What if she could confront this woman, face to face? After all, most of Cadence’s stalking had been from a distance, through handwritten notes and messages. Chances were, she wouldn’t be able to keep it up if it came to the crunch. Wasn’t that why online trolls said such horrendous things? Because it wasn’t straight to another person’s face. That was what Cadence was — a nasty troll, nothing more.
The problem was how to find her. If she called Luke and asked for the address, he’d want her to wait until he got home. He’d want to do it with her. Georgia couldn’t wait. She needed to do this now before she backed out. She just needed to figure out how.
*
Georgia stood on the footpath, looking up at the building in one of the side streets up the hill from Artarmon train station. It was a lot more rundown than she was expecting and she checked the number again, making sure she had the right one. Definitely number 428. This was it. She wasn’t sure what exactly it was she’d been expecting. Why she’d had an idea that the building might be nicer than this.
The front door was propped open with an old Yellow Pages book, so she didn’t have to worry about trying to get Cadence to buzz her in. She pulled open the heavy door and headed inside. There was a small lift with a brown door and she jabbed at the button and waited for the door to slide open. Inside, she chose the fifth floor and willed it to take her there slowly. Earlier, she’d been filled with confidence about what she planned to do, but the drive here had given her too much thinking time and now she was having doubts. What if she was wrong in her assessment of Cadence? What if she really was more than just talk?
She’d felt so clever when she’d figured out where Cadence lived. She’d found the receipt from when Luke had hired the truck for the move. The address on the top was Luke’s old apartment.
The lift was ignoring her pleas to move slowly and it juddered to a stop on the fifth floor much faster than she would have liked. The door opened and she stepped forward, but then hesitated. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe she shouldn’t do this.
Come on, Georgia, move. Do it, you can do it.
I can’t. I can’t do this.
The door started to close. She hadn’t even noticed she’d been holding her breath until she found herself breathing out slowly. She realised she’d been on the verge of a panic attack, just like that day at the hospital. This was the
right choice. Go back home, regroup, tell Luke what happened, take action from there. What had she been thinking, coming here?
The door was almost closed when an arm was thrust through the crack, causing it to jolt to a stop and then slowly shudder its way open again. Georgia stepped back.
Whoever it is, just don’t let it be Cadence, don’t let it be Cadence. Please, please, don’t let it be Cadence.
A woman stepped in, her eyes down, her face blotched with angry patches. Blonde hair partly obscured her contorted features. But Georgia could still recognise her.
Cadence.
Georgia took another step back, until she was almost pressed against the back wall of the lift. Cadence hadn’t seen her yet, she was facing the doors. Georgia’s breathing rate increased, she was trying to keep quiet but her chest was heaving and she knew that Cadence was going to hear the sound of her ragged breathing. That she was going to turn around, going to see who it was. And then what? What would she do? What would happen? She should never have come here.
Fourth floor.
Third floor.
Hurry up, hurry up.
Second floor.
Just get me the hell out of here.
Cadence suddenly lurched towards the control panel and slammed her hand against the large red stop button. Georgia’s head snapped up. What was she doing? What was about to happen? How far was she willing to go? Cadence stayed where she was, facing away from Georgia, breathing hard, her forehead resting against the elevator wall.
Georgia’s lungs burned, she was gasping for air. ‘H-hey,’ she said. ‘Can you . . . please, can you just let me out of here?’ She was trying to keep her voice as calm as possible; maybe if she pretended that this was no big deal then Cadence would snap out of it.
Cadence swung around to face her. She ran her hands through her hair and then her fingers tightened and she was pulling at it, pulling and pulling. She took a step towards Georgia and Georgia slid sideways along the back wall of the elevator, crumpling into the corner. She held her hands up defensively.
But Cadence stopped still. ‘I don’t,’ she began. She paused. She let go of her hair and looked down at her feet. ‘I didn’t mean to . . .’ she said.
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