Here and Now, Chapter 2

The evening passed very pleasantly and when Alec offered to drive her home after dinner, Sarah readily accepted. She had drunk rather more wine than usual and so as she settled into the passenger seat she felt herself dropping off.

And the next thing she knew she was here in this cold, dark place alone and restrained to the bed on which she was lying.

She looked down and was grateful to see that she was still clothed. Her shoes were missing but other than that her dress was intact and in place.

She tried to sit up but couldn’t. Once again she tried to move her arms but they were tied to the bed with duct tape. There was no movement. Her arms were bound tightly as were her legs. She could move her head and was grateful that at least she hadn’t been blindfolded.

She gathered her strength and shouted for help. She had no idea where she was or if there was any chance that she might be heard, but she had to try. The only response to that cry was a door opening and light suddenly flooded into the darkened room from outside. She could see a person moving towards her but couldn’t tell if it were a man or woman. The person took slow, deliberate steps to where Sarah was lying.

When he spoke she realised it was Alec Wishart with whom she’d spent a pleasant couple of hours yesterday, or was it even still Friday evening?

“Hello Sarah” he said. “Are you comfortable?   Is there anything you need? A drink perhaps?”    

“Who are you really? And what do you want?”   Sarah asked.

“Are you sure you don’t want a drink, Sarah?” he asked again.

“Just tell me where I am and why I am here?”

“You’ll find out soon enough why you are here. I have some people I should like you to meet. They’ll be here soon.” With which he left her and once again she was plunged into darkness.

Left to her own thoughts she began to imagine awful scenarios. Was she being held as hostage? Who would pay for her release? Her parents were both dead, having been killed in a car crash some years ago. And her brother was hardly in a position to pay anything for her. He had his own young family to support.

And now she regretted not taking the drink when it was offered. Apart from being dark it was getting hotter.

But now that her eyes had become accustomed to the dark she was able to make out a small sliver of light from far up on the wall to her left. Was it a grating or maybe a window in a basement wall. Was there any exit from this prison through there. But first she had to work out how to release herself from this bed.

Sarah thought back to a video she had seen showing how to release your arms if tied with rope. Well she was tied with duct tape and in the video it said that duct tape was less robust than rope and it is possible to free oneself if restrained with duct tape.

It claimed that duct tape is not indestructible. It is breakable. She tried to remember how to do it.

First she had to wiggle her hands to get some movement. In moving the tape she thought she could tear it. But it would have to be moved backwards and forwards to create the cross tear needed to break the tape. 

It looked reasonable when she had been sitting on the couch in her apartment with her two dogs for company. 

Oh goodness, what about the dogs. They would need to go out and need to be fed. Who would do that, or even know that she wasn’t around to do it? She had made no plans to meet anybody over the weekend, and so she wouldn’t be missed until Monday morning when she didn’t turn up for work.

But for now, she had to concentrate on getting free.

To be continued….

 

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Here and Now, Here and Now Continued

 

 

 

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Here and Now Continued

Did you read the 100 word challenge – Here and Now?

Well,  thought I would explore this further and so here goes…

But what day was it? How long had she been here? And where was here?

Sarah had a usual busy Friday in the office and on the way home she popped into a local bar for a quiet drink. She often did this as a break between the hectic life at the office and her dogs clamouring for attention in her apartment.

There was a quiet bar close by into which she went most Fridays. She was known to nobody there and apart from the cheery greetings from the bartender, was left alone to unwind. This Friday she had taken a file home with her to work on over the weekend. She had been reading the file when the man approached her table to ask if he could sit there.

They passed some pleasantries and she went back to reading her file.

After a time, he said, “That looks like heavy reading for a Friday night. Aren’t you supposed to relax over the weekend?”

“Oh weekends are often given up to catching up with work things, and tying up loose ends.”

“Well, why not take some time off now. Put down that file and talk to me,” he said.

Sarah hadn’t taken much notice of him when he sat at the table. But now she did. She saw a well-dressed, middle aged man sitting opposite her. He wore his dark hair slightly longer than was the fashion, curling around his ears somewhat. His eyes were a deep, dark brown and for a fleeting moment Sarah thought ‘just the sort of eyes to drown in”. He was wearing a dark suit with a blue buttoned down shirt and a darker blue striped tie.

He didn’t appear to offer a threat and although it was not something Sarah usually did, she put aside the file and turned towards him with a smile.

“That’s better” he said and “I’m Alec Wishart. I’m 50 years old, unattached, recently divorced” this with a rue smile “and I have twin boys of 15. Now it’s your turn”.

“Oh I’m Sarah Holliday” she offered “Single, unattached. No children but a couple of very demanding dogs waiting for me at home.”

“Well they can wait a little longer I’m sure. Let’s have another drink and spend a little time getting to know one another.”

This was so unlike Sarah and she surprised herself with her ready agreement to both anther drink and some time spent in the company of this man.   What harm could come, she thought to herself. And those dogs could manage for an extra hour without her.

They sat in companionable quiet while the waiter took their order and returned with their drinks.

“So what do you do Sarah Holliday, that you have to take work home at the weekends?” he asked.

“I’m a very junior paralegal in a very large legal firm. I’ve only been there a short time and find it difficult to get through the mound of work that appears on my desk each day. I think it reproduces itself overnight.” She laughed.

“And what about you Alec Wishart. What do you do when you’re not meeting strange women in bars?”

“I’m a property developer” he responded “But in a very small way. I’m working on a project in the dock area, quite near here. And I was on my way home from a meeting when I saw this bar and decided a quiet drink would be in order. Then I saw a space at your table and came over to sit with you.

So you might say it was fate that we both happened to be at a loose end and happened to chance on the same bar.”

At that they both laughed.

The hour Sarah had given herself stretched into another as they  decided that food was in order. So once they had ordered their food,  they got back to discussing themselves and their lives, and to Sarah it seemed perfectly normal to be sitting here with this stranger sharing details that usually she kept to herself.

To be continued…

 

Related posts – Here and Now.

 

 

Here and Now.

Where was she and how did she get here? It was so dark and she could feel a heavy load crushing her chest. She couldn’t stand. Couldn’t even lift her arms. Were they restrained?

The last thing she remembered was accepting a lift home from the attractive man with whom she had spent a pleasant evening.

She had been sitting sipping her drink when this well presented man came and asked if he could sit at her table. She smiled and agreed and went back to the papers she had been reading.

How she wished she could change that decision.

This week’s word in the 100 Word Challenge is change.  If you want to play along go to Tara at Thin Spiral Notebook for all the details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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You’re How Old?

Sixty years.  Can it really be that long ago?

March 9 1956 – I know that many of you weren’t even born then, but think back to when you were about to turn 18.  It was the norm then for girls to marry before they were 20.  I hear the gasps and know you are all wondering at the craziness of that.  I had met and gone out with Mr S for about a year, yes even when I was in school  He proposed, we bought a beautiful ring and on March 9 we celebrated our engagement with friends and family.

His family owned a factory that made dresses for various designers and so of course, I had the pick of the season’s dresses.  I thought I looked beautiful.  Unfortunately, no photographs of this event have survived. Well of course we were both only 17 and far too young to know our own minds.  The song that played during the celebration was Nat King Cole singing Too Young.  I’m sure you know that one.

Well we were sure that “this love will last though years may go” but of course, it didn’t.  We continued to see each other, talked about waiting several years before we married, where we would live etc, etc.  It was all very exciting for a young woman/girl.

But then …about a year after this event, I met my DYS (Dashing Young Scotsman) and family lore has it that I went home and announced to the family that I had met the man I was going to marry.  I broke off the engagement to Mr S.  We agreed that our engagement was a mistake.  Well at the time I thought we agreed.  But that’s another story for another day…..

So that young love was really a case of Puppy Love.

As I have always loved dramatics, I gave him back his ring with the words “can we still be friends?” and strangely enough while we weren’t particularly close after that, he and my DYS became firm friends.  Mr S came to the wedding and I have a photo of the day standing between he and my new husband.

So today I’m asking myself “And was I ever that sweet, innocent  17 going on 18 year old who thought the world was made of all things good, just for her?”  And wasn’t I lucky to meet my DYS and not go through with the marriage which no doubt would have been a catastrophe ending in divorce as so many of my friends’ early marriages did?

I have written at length about the marriage I had with my DYS, for the most part, good but with the ups and downs that all relationships experience.

At the beginning of my blogging journey, way back in March 2011 I wrote Yesterday When I Was Young.  Perhaps you might like to read it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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