Sarah had learned about Sam’s fame (Sam didn’t believe that he was famous, just that he was successful in his work as an actor) after the first date. He had chosen to tell her, knowing that the new relationship could go one of two ways, intense or on course as normal.
At first it seemed to flow as a new relationship would. They went on dates, talked and dined, all the normal stuff. After a few weeks, Sam was really beginning to like Sarah and decided that he wanted to make them an official couple.
That was when things started to go wrong. Sarah changed. She hated that fact that he lived with Jenny, even though she would never admit it. He did tell her that there was nothing to worry about and that he and Jenny were just friends but Sarah would always go quiet around Jenny. Sam couldn’t cope with the fact that his best friend and his girlfriend didn’t get on well, so he made a decision. He would only see Sarah out-with Jenny’s company, just for a while, to see how it worked.
It didn’t work well. Sam began receiving threatening notes through his door, which said things like Jenny would be harmed if she didn’t stay away from Sam. He and Jenny would receive threatening text messages from an unknown number and creepy silent phone calls, all of course when Sarah wasn’t with Sam.
Sam never could be one hundred percent sure but his instinct told him that his every move was being watched, followed and listened too. He had the prickling feeling on his back whenever he was alone and as the weeks drew on, he decided to confront her who he believed to be behind it all: Sarah.
Sam had distanced himself from her in the time that the threats and stalker-like behaviour had begun. He hadn’t bothered to tell her why, but he was pretty sure that she would know the reason behind his choice. But she still incessantly called and turned up to the flat. He was glad that Jenny had been there to help him; she was able to put sympathy into her tone and make it look as though she understood that she missed Sam but gently tell her that he was no longer interested.
Sam had thought that Jenny’s words had done the trick, but he still felt uneasy. He still received disturbing letters which threatened violence and his phone rang out for the majority of the day and into the night. The threats on Jenny became more violent and intense.
Enough is enough, Sam had thought to himself. He had decided to turn up at her house, unannounced. If he was going to find out about her unnecessary behaviour towards him then he didn’t want to do it with warning. He also wanted to scare her shitless so that she would just leave him and Jenny alone.
As he had approached Sarah’s house, he wondered why it had come to this so suddenly. She had been lovely to begin with and then taken an instant dislike to Jenny. In fact, dislike was too kind a word to use. Hatred would be more fitting, even though Jenny had done nothing to cause it. You could hardly say that being a friend of Sam’s was an excuse.
Maybe it was due to them living together and Sarah had become intensely jealous. It was the only explanation Sam could think of. Whatever the reason, Sam had to find out why and tell her to back off. He walked up the gravel driveway with his jacket slung over his shoulder as he did so. He was surprised to see Sarah had opened the door before he’d even thought about knocking on it.
“Didn’t expect to see you here,” she said with a timid voice.
“No? Well I didn’t expect you to turn out psychotic, but we learn something new every day don’t we?” Sam’s reply was nastier than he had first anticipated.
She stood firmly in the door way, not granting access to the hallway. “You want to talk?”
“You’re damn right I do, although I’ll be doing the talking and you’ll be doing the listening.”
Sarah nodded and stood back, allowing Sam to enter. He hesitated at first, unsure of how she would react when he was inside. “You’re not going to go all possessive and lock me in, are you?”
Sarah’s expression was sad, with a deep sense of loss reflecting in her eyes. “Of course not. I would ever hurt anyone Sam, let alone you.”
Sam watched as Sarah closed the door on the world outside and he genuinely wondered if he would ever see the other side of it again.
She led them into the sitting room, where she gestured for him to sit down. A large rocking chair sat in the corner next to the bay window and an old grandfather clock stood in the opposite corner. The decor was of an older time and Sam remembered that this house did not belong to Sarah. She must have felt lonely in the house; it was huge and she lived here all by herself. It was big enough to house a family of ten and there would still be plenty of room left over.
“Sarah, are you lonely in this house?”
“Meeting you made my life feel fuller than it actually is.”
Sam was beginning to feel guilty for being so brash on his arrival and was beginning to forget why he had made the trip to see her. It quickly came back to him. “Sarah, you have to stop all of this behaviour.”
Sarah frowned in confusion. “I have to stop this behaviour?”
“Yes.”
“If you didn’t want to see me anymore then you could have just said so instead of completely blanking me. I have tried to contact you and you have cut me off!”
Sam was speechless. How could she just sit there and blatantly lie to his face? He was beginning to think that she had completely gone off the rails. Maybe living in the house on her own after the recent death of her only remaining family member had caused it. Sam pushed his feelings of guilt to one side again and tried to remain firm. “Cut you off? I wish, Sarah. I can’t breathe without you knowing about it. I tried to work my time around you and Jenny but it just wasn’t working. If you can’t accept Jenny being in my life then we can’t be together.”
Sarah smirked, “Jenny. She has some hold on you.”
“What do you mean by that?” Now Sam was the one who was confused.
“She hates me because of you.”
“You’re deluded. Me and Jenny ...” Sam couldn’t finish his sentence, Sarah had gotten up from her seat and was already shouting.
“Just get out, Sam. If you can’t see what is going on here then this conversation is already over!”
Sam stood up and walked slowly over to the door, where Sarah was waiting for his exit. He shook his head, in sadness and frustration. “This could have really gone somewhere Sarah, but you have ruined it before it even had a chance.”
“I didn’t ruin this Sam,” she had tears in her eyes. “Jenny, she just can’t stay out of our business. You need to know the things that she has been saying, about you, about us.”
“No!” Sam lost his temper. “You need to know that you are out of order. You’re right; this conversation is over.” Sam proceeded to leave but Sarah blocked his way. She grabbed his shoulders and would not allow him to move any closer to the front door.
Sam felt a rush of anger flood his veins and he instinctively pushed Sarah away from him, who was now crying. “Get off me Sarah, let me out!” he shouted.
“No,” she sobbed. “This isn’t right. I am not crazy.”
“Of course you’re not. Sarah, just forget us.”
Sam couldn’t understand why Sarah had gotten so mad; they hadn’t been together that long. And nothing had ever happened between him and Jenny for her to become so jealous of. What on earth had happened to her?
He watched Sarah as she slid down the wall in a flood of uncontrollable tears, and Sam’s conscience set in. He approached her slowly, bending down to her level. He saw something in her eyes, something that wasn’t right. It scared him. “I’m sorry if I have hurt you. It wasn’t meant to be this way.”
Sam got up and tried to block out the sounds of her sobs as he closed the front door behind him. He could hear her, shouting something about Jenny harassing her and saying she had been sleeping with Sam behind Sarah’s back. He couldn’t believe she would say such a thing just to try to keep them together. He ignored the words behind the sobs and continued to walk away. Sam wasn’t a bad person, although closing the door on a crying girl made hi
m feel pretty heartless. He really wondered why she had changed so much. Was she really feeling that threatened by Jenny? Jenny had been nothing but nice to her and she had to go and make up lies about her. Jenny would never do anything like what Sarah had said.
Sam had to stop himself from turning back. He knew that as the genuinely caring person that he was known for, he should. But then he thought of the phone calls, the threatening letters and the general crazy behaviour, and that what he had just witnessed would have all been an act. She would want him to turn around and go back.
He decided to go for a drink, by himself to clear his head before heading back to the flat. As much as Jenny was his best friend and he loved her dearly, he just didn’t want to face her questions when he told her what had happened between him and Sarah.
As he sat at a table at the back of a small pub, he felt beside himself. A range of emotions had taken over and he didn’t know how to deal with them. He sipped on a whisky and in his mind he had convinced himself that he had done the right thing. As much as it pained him to walk away from a woman whom he had begun to fall for, he knew that for her sanity, his safety and his friendship with Jenny that it was best all round that he walked away.
He took his time with the whisky. He enjoyed the feeling of it warming his blood. The pub where he consumed his nerve-calmer was not the usual type of pub he would choose. It was what may be described as an old man’s pub and that was why Sam had picked it. No one would think to look for him here. He nursed the same whisky for around two hours before having the mental strength to get up and go back to the flat.
He walked home, taking in the autumnal views around him. The leaves were beginning to turn beautiful shades of red and orange and the pavement was littered with them. They crunched as he placed his feet upon them. He heard his steps repeated behind him, although when he turned, an empty space was where he expected to see Sarah. He expected that the house wouldn’t be the last place that he would see her. She wasn’t going to give up without a fight. Sam just wanted the end of their relationship, if you can even call it that, to be exactly that, the end. Could it be that simple?
***
The feet stepped over the body as it lay on the floor of the house with the old style decor. It lay perfectly still at the bottom of the stairs on the worn carpet and it looked unnatural. It was plain to see that bones were broken.
Sarah had not known of her intruder, not at first anyway. The intruder had followed Sam to the house, went around to the back door and snuck inside as they had argued. The back door was in the kitchen, at the end of the hallway and with the sitting room at the front of the house, neither Sam nor Sarah had heard them.
As the figure crouched down over Sarah’s body, a hand encased in black leather fell over the eyes to close them. The figure stood up to leave, unaware of the soul which rose too. The soul itself was disorientated and unaware of what had just happened as it watched the human figure walk out of the house through the back door.
A few hours passed before reality checked in. Sarah stood over her own lifeless body and wondered helplessly what would happen next.
4
“So you’re going on a date with her then?” Jenny asked as she sipped at her black tea after realising she was being a little irrational towards Claire.
Sam smiled, glad that Jenny had calmed down and was engaging in conversation again. “Yes, I am going to take her to the new Italian restaurant in town then maybe just on to a bar.”
Jenny smiled, “It’s good to see you happy and confident enough to date again.”
“Please don’t bring it up again; it tires me out just thinking about it.”
“I am not bringing up anything. God, I am just saying that it is nice to see you smile and not worry about ...”
Sam cut her off. “Yes, I know. Sorry, I just want to forget about Sarah and what happened. Not every girl will be like that. I just want to move on and enjoy myself.”
Claire had distanced herself from the table, allowing the unwanted attention from Jenny to ease off. She kept her ears on the conversation and her mind on pouring coffees.
I cannot believe that he is actually here, at my place of work, Claire thought to herself, almost scolding her wrist with boiling water due to excitement. I mean, he is actually here — it’s insane.
She listened to the exchanging words between Sam and Jenny and wondered who they were discussing. It became apparent that it was an ex- girlfriend that Jenny seriously didn’t like.
“There is no reason for you not to enjoy yourself; however, all I am asking is that you are wary of who you enjoy yourself with. It was bad enough the first time, and you don’t want to let your guard down and have it happen again!” Jenny sipped at the tea once more.
Sam sighed, “I know you’re right. I just hate to think about it.”
Jenny was right and she was the only person who knew how he really felt about the whole situation. She was the only one that he ever really opened up to about personal things.
“Why don’t you just take things slowly with Deborah first off and see how it plays out? If you keep her at arm’s length then maybe things will develop well alongside your trust?”
What on earth happened? Claire thought as she listened intently, careful of her mannerism.
Sam nodded, accepting this to be the best scenario for future relations with other females. He understood that Jenny’s worries were justified considering the hell he had been through with Sarah and how she had been so offended by his relationship with Jenny.
“Is there anything else I can get for you both?” Claire was suddenly at the table.
Jenny smiled, trying hard to keep the irritation from her tone and expression, “No, we’re fine thank you.”
Sam looked up at Claire, who was now staring into his eyes again. He relaxed under her gaze, “Thank you.”
Claire nodded and returned to the counter. He’s so beautiful.
Sam sighed deeply, then the light came back to his eyes and the charm to his smile, “Ok, enough with this dreary reminiscing session. Let’s get out of here and go back to the flat and open that bottle of wine that’s in the fridge.”
“I love that idea,” Jenny replied.
They stood up and proceeded to approach the counter where Claire pretended not to notice his presence.
“Could we pay please?” He asked.
Claire spun round to face Sam, disappointed to see Jenny stood next to him, “Of course.”
Jenny linked her arm through Sam’s and was unaware of Claire’s jealousy. She watched Jenny out from the corner of her eye as Sam punched his pin number into the card machine to pay their bill. She was stunning, with a figure to die for.
Bitch! Claire thought. Her thoughts were halted when Claire reached over to hand the receipt to Sam and her skin connected with his. She felt her hand begin to tingle and her heart leapt. On connection, she raised her head and saw that he had already pulled his hand away, proceeding to put his card back into his wallet.
“Was service to your satisfaction today?” Claire’s voice quivered.
“Everything was fine thank you.” At his reply, she felt the heat rise from her neck and once again, her face changed from pale to crimson in a second flat.
For god’s sake, Jenny thought, rolling her eyes.
As they left, Claire watched as she tried to control her breathing. She couldn’t get her head around the fact that she had just served Sam Leonard. The one time she finally got to see the man whom she had followed from play to play through most of his acting career and she was in her work attire.
Nice! I’m dressed in the worst possible apron with coffee stains on it and this is when the universe decides to put him in my path.
Just at that, Jenny appeared back in the cafe, looking for something under the table where she and Sam had been sitting moments before.
“Have you lost something?” Claire called over.
“I left a bag in here,” Jenny replied.
; Claire walked over to the table and pulled one of the chairs out to help Jenny look for her missing item.
“I can do it myself,” Jenny snapped.
Claire took a step back in shock. She hadn’t expected to have her head bitten off when she was trying to help. “Alright, I’m only trying to help!”
“Well, you’ve done enough!”
Claire frowned at the comment. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Jenny retrieved the bag and stood up, pushing the hair away from her face. It shone beautifully in the sunlight flowing through the windows, a lovely autumn red colour.
“Just do as you’re told and stay away.”
“What?”
“You heard, stay away!”
Claire could see venom in the eyes of the girl who stood in front of her. She felt as though the venom had been injected into her bloodstream and she could feel it trickling through the veins inside her, burning as it did so.
“What the hell is your problem?” Claire stood her ground.
Jenny turned her back on Claire and made her way to the door of the cafe. Before leaving, she turned to Claire and smiled. “Have a nice day,” she replied sweetly as if the last thirty seconds hadn’t happened.
The bell on the door rang as Jenny walked out and left Claire, standing in bewilderment in the middle of the cafe.
“Are you ok?” a voice came from a corner table.
“Yes, thank you. Just an angry customer I think,” Claire replied to the girl who was sitting with her back to the window.
Claire felt a little shaken. What the hell was that? Did I do something wrong?
After a few moments of being rooted to the spot in disbelief, the cafe came to life with fashion students from the local university. Claire instantly snapped back to reality when her ear canals were flooded with the sound of girly giggles and shoe chat.
She was about to turn to the counter once more before realising that the girl who had been sitting in the corner was gone. She had been the only one in the cafe when Jenny and Sam had left. Claire hadn’t seen her leave.
Henderson Manor Page 3