Home Invasion

Home Invasion
When she reached the white picket fence that bordered the garden Serena reached in and opened the walking gate next to the driveway.

Heather placed an elbow on Paul's shoulder and pressed her index finger on her lips. "Little Serena Ellison," she said with a look that made it clear she knew how much it annoyed her.

"Evening Heather. How is your husband doing this fine evening?" As she approached the porch she looked pointedly at her rival with a feigned smile. "Is he en-route or shall I call and ask if he'd be interested in joining us all for a nightcap? That is," she said as she climbed the three steps to her porch, "if he even knows you're out at night meeting alone with your ex?"

As Serena passed Paul's tall frame, he muttered lowered his head and muttered, "Play nice," under his breath.

Serena took advantage of his proximity as well as Heather's to cradle Paul's face between her hands and pull him in for a deep open-mouth kiss.

There was no emotion attached to the action other than anger toward that vile woman who had trespassed on her property tonight when her presence had never darkened her doorway before Paul's arrival. It may not be clear to Paul what game that hag was playing but Serena could read her intentions a mile away. When she felt Paul's shoulders begin to stiffen, she released him and looked at Heather's face who was staring at Serena with open hatred.

"Have a good night Mrs. Harrison," she said facetiously before placing her hand on the doorknob and looking at Paul. "Darling, say goodnight to your old pal, will you? I need your hands on me," she said seductively with a wink. "Your hands on me first and then," her eyes roamed to the zipper on his pants, "my mouth on you."

Paul was still giving her a funny look when she opened the door and walked into the cottage. She purposefully left the door slightly ajar so she could eavesdrop on the two people outside on her porch.

"Now," Heather began. "Where were we before we were rudely interrupted?

"You heard Serena," she heard Paul say. "She needs me, and I don't want to disappoint her."

How she wished she could see Heather's face right now.

After a brief silence, she heard Heather begin to laugh sardonically. "Don't tell me she finally got you, Paul. I thought you were much smarter than that."

Serena listened, hoping Paul would come to her defense; his silence felt like murder.

Apparently, his silence sounded like encouragement to Heather because she continued to put Serena down. "Do you remember how she followed us around everywhere? Why it was simply pathetic. And the way she looked at you with those lovesick puppy dog eyes. It always made me feel uncomfortable."

Serena heard clacking steps on her porch. The clacking that came from heels on wood.

Heather was getting ready to pounce on Paul whom she imagined as a sitting duck.

Serena's breath caught.

"You know she's the reason I broke up with you, Paul," she dropped the tone of her voice a few decibels Serena struggled to hear. "I couldn't stand seeing that pitiful little face everywhere we went but now that we're adults and you're a successful author who lives in Las Vegas, I can divorce Jonah and-"

Paul began to chuckle. The sound interrupting Heather's one-way conversation.

"You know, don't you?" She heard Paul speak.

"Know? Know what?" Serena muttered to herself.

"That you write under the name Bruce Marshall?" Heather stated. "Yes, I know. I hired a private investigator to look into your life."

Paul began to laugh once more.

Serena reached into her jeans to Google Bruce Marshall, but she remembered she didn't have the phone on her body. Her attention went back to the conversation on the porch.

"Let's get out of this damn town, Paul," Heather pleaded. "Away from Serena's horrible lovesick face. You and me. Let's leave everyone and everything behind. Tonight! I won't even pack. You can buy me everything I need in Las Vegas."

An uncomfortable silence followed. Serena's stomach began to hurt. Did the silence mean that the two were holding each other in a passionate embrace? Were they kissing?

Serena was about to pull the door open when Paul began to speak.

"You know Heather - your recollection of the past differs vastly from my memories." Serena saw Paul move close to the door through the crack. "Serena didn't follow me around. When I walked you home, I was also walking Iris and Serena to the Worthington home after school. And in case you forgot, Serena's father died when she was a little girl just as my father died when I was a small child. We looked at each other in a mutual understanding of pain that no one else in town could possibly grasp."

Serena smiled. The pain in her stomach turned into butterflies.

"And the reason you broke up with me had more to do with the material objects the Harrisons could buy you that I couldn't. In case you forget just look at all those sparkling diamonds on your left ring finger." Paul reached for the door pushing it open. "Little Serena Ellison grew up to be a spectacular, independent and beautiful woman who used her brain to get ahead and do something with her life instead of selling her body to the highest bidder. I am very fortunate that she has always seen me and not my bank account." The door opened all the way.

Serena rushed to the nearest door which belonged to her bedroom. She tried to close the door quietly but stopped when the beginning of a creak began to sound.

"Goodnight, Mrs. Harrison." She heard Paul echo her words before closing the door.