That afternoon with some difficulty Sarah went out shopping for some groceries at the neighborhood market—mostly health food, for which the little store was known. She managed also to fill her car up with gasoline, preparing for the routine of work to begin the next morning. All the while, she kept her smartphone close by, fully expecting that by the evening she would hear from Jess. When the phone suddenly did ring, just as she was pulling her car into the secured parking garage below her apartment, she looked with anticipation at the small screen. It was instead her mother.

"Yeah, mom. I'm fine. If that's what you're wondering . . . Just did some shopping for tomorrow."

"Well that's fine Sarah . . . so . . .are you ready now to tell me what happened in England? Why you rushed home?"

"Mom, it's not something I want to discuss. OK?  I'm a big girl, remember? And I'll get over it."

"So did something happen between you and Jess? Because you know  . . ."

"I told you, mom!  Don't want to talk about it! It's just that . . . men are real jerks and that's it. No more to say."

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. Maybe you should just . . ."

Maybe I should just park the car, mom!  Get something to eat . . . and get ready for work tomorrow!"

"Alright Sarah. So did you call them at work? Tell them you're coming back early?"

"Yes, mom. That's all been taken care of."

"And . . . did you at least have a good talk with Carrie, your friend?"

"Yeah, we had dinner last night. She made me feel better. Now mom . . . I really have to go, OK?"

"Alright, darling. You know if you need . . . "

"I totally know mom. We'll talk again soon. OK?"

"Promise?"

"What do you think?"

"OK Sarah. Take care."

"Yup."

She closed the phone and continued maneuvering her car into her designated space. Struggling to carry the three bags of groceries to the elevator, she activated it and felt more relieved when the small lift brought into view her front door. Entering her home with a combination of numeric keys next to the door, Sarah turned on the lights as the windy afternoon had morphed into a blustery early evening. She could see the trees swaying in the dark and foggy atmosphere out the back windows. Placing the bags in the kitchen and turning on more lights, she quickly went over and looked more intently out the window at the line of dancing trees. They were blowing violently in the wind, obviously the result of a tropical storm which can come up unexpectedly from Mexico.

As she tightly closed the drapes, Sarah was suddenly reminded of when she was a girl of twelve. After watching a thriller about a serial killer on television one night with her cousins, she had serious difficulty sleeping for weeks. She remembered not wanting to be alone at night and had to have the lights on in her bedroom in order to feel safe each of those long nights. It angered her that she felt this way again, now in her mid-twenties. She passed into the spare bedroom she used as a study, and switched on her laptop computer to check her emails. Perhaps that was the way Jess would contact her, she thought. But once again, there was no sign that he was attempting to reach her following her frenetic flight home from England.

As she went back into the kitchen and began preparing a salad for her dinner, her land line suddenly began ringing in the bedroom. She quickly went to the night stand where it stood in a stand and picked it up without opening it. She could see from its small digital screen that the call was again coming in from an "unknown number."

She impulsively opened it.

"Hello?"

There was no response.

"Hello? Yes?"

She could hear the phone was kept open at the other end. But the caller would not speak.

"Jess?  I know this must be you. Speak to me!"

Again only an open but speechless line.

"What do you want? Jess? Who is this?"  Sarah's voice was now agitated and detectibly more afraid.

"Jess . . . we need to talk. Why won't you answer me?"

Overwhelmed with anger and fear now, Sarah hung up the bedroom phone and thought immediately of calling Carrie in San Francisco. But what good would it do? That would only make her look more helpless and immature in her friend's eyes.

The phone began ringing again, startling her. It showed the same "unknown call" message.

Fearfully, she opened it again.

"Jess . . . talk to me! Please!"

Again silence.

This time she closed the phone, immediately opening the line again to deactivate it from future calls. After several moments of just holding the house phone in her hands, it was now her smartphone that could be heard ringing in the kitchen. She threw the remote telephone on the bed and ran in to find the same unidentified call indicated on her cell phone.

Sarah again opened the line, hung up, and reopened it to disallow any further calls. Placing her cell phone into a pocket of her jeans, she went over to the window and nervously peeked out through a narrow slit in the curtains. Moving them gingerly and slightly more apart, just to peer more clearly outside, Sarah could see that the wind had picked up even stronger. It threatened to be one of those major Pacific squalls which could bring the surf up to people's back yards and toss about the pine branches, causing them to sway erratically and sometimes break in the powerful gusts.

Gathering her courage, Sarah thought it was now time to try and reach Jess herself. It was imperative for her to know at least where he was, as the anxiety of her thinking he might have followed her to California was overwhelming. Sitting on the carpet of her living room, listening to the sounds of the bushes and branches slapping against her outside walls, she started to tap out a text message on her phone:

Jess: I know you were surprised and angered that I left you back in London. But I had every reason to. And every reason to never see you again! I am just so sad that you betrayed me. And in such a sick and perverted way! Will you ever be able to explain why you did such a terrible thing? Why you made me believe you ever cared for me?"

She wanted to say so much more but knew it was futile. For as Carrie had told her, Jess was obviously just a sociopath with no ability to have real feelings. For anyone. She sent off the message as it was, hoping he would respond.

Suddenly and without warning, the total power to her apartment went off, causing her alarm system to emit a steady series of beeps. It also left her in total darkness. As Sarah's fears were now multiplied that Jess might have something to do with the power failure, and her safety was now in real jeopardy, she frantically tried to stay calm.

Sitting and waiting for the power to come back on, she could feel her hands trembling while holding her warm and glowing phone. Her breathing was pronounced as she was now somewhere between panic and lingering anger. She could not believe she had become so vulnerable in her own home. And feeling so utterly defeated. Every ounce of her strength was now used to just hold on, to keep herself centered. And to be ready for whatever curse might next present itself.

Suddenly the cell phone in her hand, which had long since timed out and shut off, began to ring, playing Sarah's once happy ringtone. The melody was steeped in irony and growing surreal in that fearful moment. She peered breathlessly into the little illuminated screen.

It was Jess calling . . .

* * *

Text and e-book copyright © 2015 Califia Montalvo

All Rights Reserved