The Upward Ripple

Chapter 5

Cynthia’s phone rang again for the umpteenth time that day. She did not need to look at it to know who was calling her. Nate had been blowing up her phone since their encounter at the house. She had told Deloris what had transpired and that she was now scared to the bone when she even thought of him. Deloris’ opinion was that he’d maybe had an off day. Understandably, everyone had one of those but what Cynthia had not disclosed to her new friend was the fact that her dreading Nate went further than just pure fear. Back when she was hard strapped for cash, Cynthia had been forced to do something that she could never live down. It was when she was still convinced that her grandmother still had a chance. Back when she was sure of the fact that her sickness was just a small grey cloud that was going to clear up sooner than later. But she was gravely mistaken. She needed money, desperately, and the temp jobs she was doing did not seem to be putting any dent on her ever-growing debt. Before she decided on selling the house, she followed the ill-fated advice of one of her former classmates and joined a website. It was a companionship website, her friend had said, one that was only used to get old, rich men the vibrant conversation they lacked in their professional lives.

It was not until her first and only date that she realized that the ‘companionship’ advertised on the website was of another kind. At first, everything seemed perfectly normal. Two adults having dinner and sharing a hundred-year old bottle of wine. It was only after Cynthia asked to retire for the evening that everything changed. The man who had been friendly and gentle with her suddenly became violent and forceful. He wouldn’t let her leave and he kept on asking her why she thought a simple date with him was worth five thousand dollars. He then went ahead to take her, forcefully. It was terrible and definitely not the way Cynthia pictured her first time. It was no wonder she was never bothered to date. The stain of that fateful evening was forever etched on her mind.

As far as she was concerned, all men were exactly like that man she had met on that website. Warm and inviting, generous and loveable but all on the surface. Upon deeper investigation, she was almost too sure that every man would turn to be an animal exactly like that man had been.

The way Nate had twisted her arm that day, the way he held her neck roughly, panting as his bloodshot eyes stared into hers…it brought it all back. Her heart raced a little every time she thought back to that day. She had not even shown up at work for several days giving excuse after another. Geraldine was not worried. She had no reason to be. Cynthia always delivered. She had not won Employee Of The Month for almost eight months straight for nothing. So, whether she was at her desk or not, she knew that Cynthia was working hard wherever she was.

It had been four days and with every passing second, she knew that she had to decide about the Duncan property. She already had a favorable offer from a young family: a couple of newlyweds with three-year-old twin daughters. They were offering almost one hundred thousand over the asking price beating all the other offers she’d narrowed down. She had already contacted them, but she was having a hard time moving forward. Taking a step forward meant meeting Nate, something she was working hard to avoid. She did not know how long she could continue stalling the process, but she was convinced that she had to keep on trying.

It was on Wednesday morning and she had just finished with her breakfast: a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice. She just had sat down to binge on some well-deserved television time. It had been so long since having any time to watch TV that she did not even know what to focus on. She settled on Prison Break, a show that she’d heard a lot about. She was sure that it was going to be a good way to spend yet another day indoors being a couch potato. All she had to do was remember to set her alarm to remind her to order some pizza or maybe some Chinese food.

“Five seasons,” she thought as she leaned back in the couch. “This definitely calls for pizza rather than some egg rolls and Kung Pao Chicken.”

She had just started watching the first episode when she heard her doorbell. She paused the show and sighed loudly before she got up and began walking to the door.

“I’m coming. Just hold your horses!” she called out when the doorbell rang again.

She could not think of anyone who would have had any reason to come to her house. Part of her was screaming that it might very well have been Geraldine but another part of her wondered why her boss would have bothered to come all the way. She was not looking forward to seeing her boss in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. Her hair was held in a loose bun, but it was rough and unkempt. The way she looked was true testament to how she had spent the last few days in the house. But that was the last thing on her mind. She was not in the right headspace to see anyone who knew her in a professional capacity. If anything, Geraldine could have easily done what she usually did, blow up her phone with texts and voice messages. Part of her was almost sure that she was not going to find her boss at her doorstep. And she was right. She gasped when she opened the door to find Nate standing there. She suddenly panicked and without even knowing it, she was slowly backing up.

“I am sorry for showing up unannounced,” he started.

“How… how did you even find me? How do you know where I live?” she asked.

“Well, you were not answering my calls and I looked you up on the company website hoping to get your home number, but your company website is wildly detailed. There is too much personal information in there… you may want to have that looked into.”

Cynthia bit her lip.

“What are you doing here?” she asked looking at him.

“I was hoping to talk to you… try and explain myself about. you know, the last time we met.”

She looked at him, not reacting at all.

“Okay,” she said and shrugged.

“May I come in?” Nate asked and she bit her lip again.

She did not know how to answer him. The truth was that she was still not confident enough to be around him. Time seemed to have stood completely still as she grabbed the baseball bat, she kept in her umbrella stand.

“You should know that I have been known to have quite the swing and I will not hesitate to use this,” she said in a soft but scared voice.

He nodded and began walking into the house.

“Wait!” she ordered making him stop in his tracks.