Sandra
had a corner apartment on the third floor.
They were the only units in the building that offered the large
obnoxious roman bathtubs. The only draw
back, if you saw it that way, was that they were at the end of the living group
for the hallway. The closest thing to
her door was the fire escape across the hall. It was open, and Sandra loved to
climb it instead of taking the elevator or the interior stairs. In her heart of hearts Sandra was really a
recluse, and this suited her.
While
musing over the oddities that comprised her best friend, Charlotte had locked
the door, and had that feeling. As soon as she had turned the bolt, the sudden
creepy crawly feeling of being watched covered her. It had been in a split second, but her mind
had yelled RUN!! She hadn’t thought
about it, she had just reacted. She had
run to the elevator of the long hall way as the door was closing. Then she bolted for the stairwell at the end
of the hall. Charlotte hadn’t heard the
footsteps, but she had felt the eyes.
‘Don’t
look back.’ She heard her brother in
her head yelling at her. The
self-defense pointers he had given her starting to play in her mind.
‘Focus
on what is in front of you. Will
yourself to that place.’ She flew
through the doorway to the stairwell.
‘If
you get a chance, hide, don’t try and outrun them.’
She
turned the stairwell, and went up instead of down. The stairwell was a myriad of walled half
flights, carpeted, and quiet. She crouched
on the other side of the wall facing the steps leading to the next level hoping
her pursuer didn’t realize that she was there.
Charlotte pressed her back to the wall of the stairwell flattening her
palms near her hips. She balanced on the
balls of her feet ready to spring because of the low heels on her black
boots. Her breath was coming out loudly
almost panting. The air-conditioned area was musty like carpet that had been
left wet. There was a single oval
recessed light on each landing right above the open space before you stepped
through the door.
The
creaking of the door on the landing beneath her as it flew open made her stop
breathing. Charlotte swallowed her gasp.
Her heart was beating so loudly it could probably be heard from the street. She
flexed her hands against the wall willing herself not to move. Even as the
slight sound of padded footsteps receding reached her she waited before she let
out the breath she had been holding.
‘Be
patient. Don’t make a mistake now. You’re almost there.’
Charlotte
slowly moved away from the wall, and made her way back down to the landing she
had come from. She walked slowly,
fearful that her pursuer would get wise, and come bolting back up the stairs at
any moment. When she reached the hallway she stood nervously in front of the
elevator knowing that she couldn’t go down it alone. She paced a few moments as a crowd of young
adults made their way to the elevator. A
few of the ladies had hair like hers.
‘Don’t
shy away from people. Other people are
your best cover if someone is looking for you to be alone.’
She
boarded the elevator with them. They
reached the garage under the building where she had parked her F-150. Because of her brother’s diligent teachings,
she always parked very close to elevators, and always under highly lit
areas. Charlotte streaked for her F-150,
and got in locking the doors, and starting the truck in the same motion. The creepy feeling returned, and for a split
second she stared into the black eyes of a tall stocky man with a greasy look
and feel to him. His face snarled as she
hit reverse, shifted to drive, and burned rubber pealing out of the parking
lot.
It
had all happened so quickly. She had
come home locked all her doors, closed all her blinds, and battled herself into
not calling the police. What would she
say? I think this guy was following
me. Oh yeah because my best friend and
me have gotten ourselves into some serious trouble with a local oil baron. And did I mention the CIA agent that
kidnapped her off to Japan.
She
had finally convinced herself that she would’ve sounded nuts. At that time she most likely would have. After all who was to say the guy didn’t need
change or something. Maybe he was a bill
collector she had missed and was trying to find Sandra. Charlotte had spent the night concocting an
array of amusing, interesting antidotes that would explain what had happened at
Sandra’s apartment. Then it had happened
again.
An excerpt from Charlotte's Chance on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords
An excerpt from Charlotte's Chance on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords
