Chapter 13
Bethany and Amy finally reached the café just beside their office where they saw some of their colleagues waving at them, greeting them a good morning. They then ordered their usual drinks and sat by the window, they could see that the sun was already starting to go down to the west, its sunlight was still bright, but not too stingy on the skin anymore.
“So,” Amy opened their conversation, bothered by the silence that her friend was giving her as she sipped some of her hot coffee. “What were you doing inside your boss’ office?”
Amy saw how startled she was and opened her mouth, trying to say something but could not do it. She figured that in these times that she does this deed, it was something that she could not put into words easily. Normally, Bethany would express her enthusiasm over her work or severe tiredness over her boss’ attitude.
The best friend then figured out that it was the latter.
“Is it because of that… girlfriend of your boss?”
She stopped inhaling her coffee. Bethany simply sighed, put down her cup, and looked at the window outside instead of Amy. It was as if Amy knew that she was going to get some of the words that she does not want to hear right now.
“I am not going to tell you if –”
“It’s not it, all right?” Bethany finally spoke, slightly raising her tone to her friend. “It is just that… why does my heart feel a little racing whenever I am with him, you know? Or that I feel that there is a tension between us every time that we are together.”
“What do you think that is?”
“Honestly, I hate it.”
Amy nodded, understanding where she was coming from. “As we should. That man is already taken by somebody else, after all.”
“I know, I just don’t want to find myself in a situation that will tarnish my reputation as a woman, and I will be breaking everything I ever believed in since maturing to this point in my life.”
Amy did not say anything after that, she only nodded. Deciding to listen to the words she was uttering and the sipping of her coffee. She can’t help but smile at the progress that she has been making since meeting her in the same office a few years back.
“What are you smiling at?”
Amy was taken slightly aback, being caught smiling involuntarily in front of Bethany. She shook her head, waving her hand to her.
“It is nothing. I am just a little impressed with how good you are handling your emotions.”
She chuckled, getting a little more cheerful than before. “Of course, I am. We should always control our feelings and emotions in this time of our lives to prevent those heartbreaks from happening again.”
“Because you know as we say –”
“Little boys don’t deserve us.”
They shared a peal of laughter after saying the words that they came up with when they became the best of friends. It was then that they shared some more time together during their personal break before coming back to the office. When Bethany returned to her station, she then noticed that the blinds inside the office were already closed.
It must mean that the two of them were finally gone together.
Gwen sounded like they fought over something, and she was the one trying to make up with him and Kevin agreed. What could they have possibly fought over to have an atmosphere like that that made her uncomfortable with them and made her leave like that?
Bethany shook her head, trying to erase the picture of the two of them doing an activity that is sinful in her mind, and focused on her work until the time for her to get out and go home came.
It was a long way home for her riding on the bus and halting at the stop where she walked for a few minutes in a brisk manner. It was then that she came across a cat that was walking in her direction.
She was fascinated at the sight of the animal and started petting it, immediately having her stress and fatigue from the day gone so suddenly.
Her stress is getting relieved from playing with and fondling the animal’s face as it makes a purring sound that satisfied her from the soul. Just when she was about to carry the cat, Bethany heard a faint sound of grass coming from a bush just a few meters away from her by the park.
Bethany stood up, ignoring the cat, and started to have her curiosity rising as she walked towards the bush, trying to see if somebody was in there.
“Hello?” She tried to call, seeing if someone would respond to her.
But no one responded.
Still curious and trying to quench it, she approached even further and uncovered the bushes when the light of a flashlight was directed at her. She closed her eyes abruptly from the sudden moment and an officer briskly closed in on her.
“Haven’t you heard? This park is off-limits starting tonight.”
The voice of the officer was thick and had a heavy accent, but she tried not to mind it and instead focused on what he just said to her as a warning.
“What? I am sorry, I just thought I heard a sound coming from one of the bushes here.”
“Ah, that one, probably just another stray rodent or an animal,” the officer told her and attempted to kick the bush that she was talking about, but Bethany stopped him in time before he could kick it.
“But may I ask why you put the park off-limits starting tonight?”
“There is a bunch of stalking happening here in this area,” the officer briefly explained to her, looking in every direction. “It is not just the women who are being the victims of these stalking incidents, also the men, especially young boys who are still in their seventh to twelfth grades.”
“Did the situation become worse?”
“Two of them were already killed last week.”
Bethany was shocked to hear the news from the officer and stepped back. The officer also felt her uncomfortable reaction and he already told her too much information about an incident that they should still be investigating as of late.
“That is all I can tell you now, though,” the officer explained to her and quickly scanned Bethany from head to toe. “Go ahead and take some sleep. Good night, miss.”
“Good night.”
The two of them went away in different directions, but Bethany felt something different as she walked all the way to her house.
It was as if someone’s eyes are still prying on her from behind.