Touch of Deception

EIGHTEEN

The weather was gloomy that weekend. It's been a few days since she received the text with the image. She also blocked the number. Whoever sent her that picture must be someone who knows her and ... probably involved with the incident. 

But why now? She doesn't know why send it to her. Is it blackmail? Or just an attempt to scare her? Well, she must say they've done a good job because she has been restless because of it. 

She has called her parents about it and they were worried as hell. Her father immediately had the police check the anonymous number but the report said the number belonged to a certain woman. Days passed and she received a report that the owner of the phone number who sent her the message has lost her phone. Whoever sent her the message, was smart enough to use a different person's phone. Whoever that person was, he definitely must have something to do with the incident. And he's out there, watching her, sending her a picture of her from over a year ago hours before the incident happened. 

And she's frightened. It was as if the incident only happened yesterday. It all came back to her. Knowing that the criminal is still out there, she couldn't help but feel scared. All those time she spent rebuilding herself, it only took one text message from a person to make her tremble in fear again.

The dreams became worse and she would often wake up in the middle of the night, whimpering as she tries to convince herself it wasn't real. That it would be fine.

But deep inside her, a gnawing fear lurks and is just waiting to be entertained.

What if it will happen again? What if the criminal comes back? She sat in the corner of her bed one night and spent the night watching the doors and the windows. Gail went home for the long holiday and she was left alone with her thoughts.

The painting didn't work. Writing didn't work either. She's scared that if she wrote down what's been bugging her, it will become more...real. She doesn't want it to be real.

She doesn't remember what day it was. As far as she could remember, they didn't have school since Thursday. She didn't go to work either. Clarent has been calling her and when she decided to answer, Clarent already knew she wasn't feeling well so she excused her. She hasn't done a single homework.

But she forced herself to get up at some point when she heard a noise from outside. Her heart thundered. She looked at her phone and found out it's already Saturday. Gail shouldn't be back today. So she listened and heard the door opening. 

Her heart was beating loudly and her hands were trembling and she walked through her door and pressed the lock. Her lips quivered and she covered her mouth with her hand as she remembered what she has been thinking the past few days. What if it was the criminal entering her apartment? He's been watching. He even knew her phone number. He can be anywhere. He might be the one entering her apartment at the moment. Thinking about it made her even more scared as she clamped her lips to stifle her sobs. 

She heard the footsteps again. They were light, casual, steps. And she pressed her back hard against the door when she heard the footsteps getting nearer. Her two hands were still covering her mouth to muffle her whimpers. She closed her eyes firmly, praying. Praying for anyone to help. Praying that the footsteps would disappear. But it didn't. It kept coming closer. 

And it was when her doorknob jangled that she let out a sob. She crawled away from the door.

"Celeste?" A voice from outside called and knocked on her door. She stopped crying and looked at the door.

"Celeste? Are you there? Please answer me."

"Matt," she whispered. "Matt!" she said a little louder and scuttled to the door. She opened the door immediately. And indeed, Matt was there. Relief flooded through her system as she realized it wasn't someone else. All the fears she had earlier disappeared. She sobbed as he looked at Matt who was equally horrified. 

Matt looked at her state and state and said, "What happened to you? Why are you crying—"

He did not finish what he was going to say when she immediately hugged him and sobbed on his shirt.

All thoughts she has bottled up, she let it all go by sobbing in front of Matt. She didn't care if it was embarrassing she sobbed on his shirt as relief flooded her. She clenched her fists as she cried. She felt Matt had gone utterly still. And he didn't move aside from his hand gently caressing her back. He didn't say anything aside from saying that's it's going to be alright. That's it's going to be fine and that he'll be there.

And indeed he stayed there until she calmed down. She sat on the sofa and her hands were trembling as she held a cup of hot chocolate. She thought Matt must have noticed it and took the cup from her hands. He placed it gently on the table and she fumbled on the hem of her sweater. Her face was wet with her tears and her hair was disheveled. Matt didn't ask questions. He figured it's difficult for her to talk about it as she just stared at the table with her knees curled to her chin. 

She heard him sigh and he crouched down in front of her. 

"Why didn't you call anyone to be here?" asked Matt. She was even scared to touch her phone. Scared that she'll receive another message.

Matt reached to touch her face but she flinched. His hand stopped midair and he looked at her. "Whatever it is, you have to know that I'm here. Gail, too. I know you have a reason for not telling us what's wrong. It might be hard for you but we're always here. It's okay to be scared. It's okay to break down once. But don't let it be stronger than you. You have to be stronger than your demons. It's okay. It's going to be fine."

And she believed him. She believed that it is going to be fine. And it somehow calmed her. It's funny that she used to avoid Matt before without even giving him a chance. He wanted to be her friend. And she needed a friend. It was unfair to judge him just because he's a guy.

So she said, "I'm sorry."

Matt stared at her, anticipating what she's going to say next. "I'm sorry I was rude to you when you just wanted to be friends."

Matt stared at her for a few seconds before he chuckled. "I know you are." Then his brows furrowed. "But we're already past that and you're starting to open yourself up to other people." He tapped her shoulder. "That takes courage. So, I can say that I'm honored to be one of the few people you chose to let into your life."

She let out a small smile. "During those times I pushed you away, did you hate me?"

Matt only chuckled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Never. You must have had a reason to push me away. And I might have been a  jerk for insisting on being friends with you. You must have felt suffocated so I want to apologize for that."

She chuckled and Matt did too. It was relief in his eyes. As if he's relieved to see her smiling again.

"Have I ever told you that you're beautiful but even more beautiful when you smile?"

She was taken aback by the sudden compliment that she couldn't even form a response. But Matt stared at her, waiting for her to say something.

So she cleared her throat. "Well, you...you said that it's a waste that you won't be able to see me smile or laugh even just once."

Matt let out a low chuckle. "And I meant that. But these days I've seen you smiling more often. I'm glad I'm one of the reasons."

She scoffed. "Bold of you to assume you're one of the reasons why I'm smiling a lot lately."

"And there's the Celeste I adore." He reached to ruffle her hair. "Welcome back."

* * *