Rated R for language

Got this thread going for Jan. I’ll weave, slowly, but surely.

Some subliminal advertising enclosed too,

J

Carrie

(35) Glass Princess

Jan was about to enter her car when her cell phone suddenly rang. She answered it quickly, “Hello?”

“What are you doing?” Phil asked.

Jan’s heart sunk slightly in disappointment. “I’m about to go shopping, why?”

“I’m bored.”

“You’re telling me because?” she answered sarcastically.

“Let’s go do something.”

“I told you already, I have plans.”

“Go shopping later.”

“No!”

“Come on.”

Jan gave a sigh, “What did you have in mind?”

“Racquetball.”

Jan rolled her eyes and cracked her gum, “Can’t, don’t know how. Never played a game in my life.”

“I’ll teach you.”

“I don’t think so. Thanks anyway Phil.”

“Great, I’ll meet you at 24 Hour Fitness in an hour,” he commanded before hanging up.

Jan shook her head and muttered, “So arrogant.” Even so, she was up for a challenge that day.

***********

Phil was more than eager to teach. He found her an able pupil, catching on quickly. She fumbled at first, then eased into a couple of practice runs.

Jan swung her hips back and forth and tightened her ponytail. “All right, I’m ready for the real thing.”

Philip flashed her his dimples and bounced the ball off his racquet, “You sure? We can practice more if you want.”

Jan cracked a bubble, “I’ll be fine.”

Philip poised to serve, “You’re asking for it.”

“Hmmm,” Jan murmured.

Phil glared at him when she secured a close win on the first run, 15-13. “You’re a competitive little shit, aren’t you?” he muttered.

Jan shot him an innocent look, “I’m just playing the game the way you taught me.”

She beat him again, 15-10, securing 2 of 3.

“Four out of five,” Phil grumbled irritably as he attempted to catch his breath.

Jan slumped to the floor, “Philip, I’m tired. I’ve got shopping to do.”

Philip glared at her, “What’s the matter, afraid I might beat you?”

“No, not at all.”

“Then let’s play.”

Jan bounced the ball and prepared to serve, “Whatever you say Philadelphia, you’re the man.”

She beat him again by a narrow margin of 15-14.

“You’re full of shit, you’ve played this before,” Phil hissed from across the court

“No I haven’t,” she said, losing the battle to control her smile.

Phil gave her a disgusted look and yanked the court door open.

Jan enjoyed a sweet victory chuckle.

She found him in the hallway lapping at the drinking fountain. She stood behind him, “I’m serious Phil, I’ve never played it before.”

Philip turned to face her and wiped his mouth, “You expect me to believe that was some kind of beginner’s luck?”

Jan peered up to him with a small smile, “Yes.”

“Fuck that,” he snipped before stomping off to the men’s locker room.

Jan took her own lengthy sip of water before whistling off to the ladies room.

***********

Jan emerged from the dressing room several minutes later, showered and vibrant. Phil was standing in the hall grabbing a Pepsi out of the machine. He noticed her coming his way. He turned to walk, purposely ignoring her.

Jan smiled and called out to him, “Oh come on, don’t be such a sore loser.”

“Shut up,” he grumbled over his back and threw the exit door open.

Jan whistled and whispered a subtle “loser” again.

Phil stopped in his tracks for a second then kept walking.

“Loser, loser” she taunted as she followed him down the stairs. Not paying attention to where she was going, Jan lost her footing when she reached the bottom step. She stumbled onto the sidewalk and slipped on a small patch of ice. “OW!” she cried out.

Phil turned around to find Jan sprawled on her backside, her face curled in agony. She attempted to sit up, hands shaking wildly. “Shit,” she muttered, reaching for her backside.

Phil walked up to her and hovered over her. “Are you ok?” he asked, genuinely concerned. Her forehead crinkled in pain, Jan rubbed her tush. “I’m fine, nothing’s broken.”

“You sure?”

Jan nodded, “Yeah, it just hurts like a bitch, that’s all.”

Phil extended his hand out to hers. Jan reached up to receive his help when Phil withdrew his hand in quick snap and ran it through his hair instead. He gave her a wicked smile, “Sorry about your little accident. You should have been paying attention instead of chasing after me”

Jan glared at him, “You are such a loser,” she breathed.

Philip mocked her whistle on the way to his car while Jan managed to get to her feet.

She limped to her own car and flipped him the bird when he sped by in his roadster, the sound of D-12 and Eminem thumping through his speakers. “Asshole,” she mumbled before gingerly taking a seat in her own BMW.

**************

Later that night, Jan fingered her favorite silk gown in her top dresser drawer. She pulled it out and laid it on the bed as she undressed. She slipped on her nightgown and yawned. It was late, and the house was deadly quiet. She made her shopping adventure a rather long one. Despite the tenderness hindering her comfort, she enjoyed her expenditures-every one of them. One in particular-her newest pair of stiletto sandals. They added a good three to four inches to her frame. But that wasn’t the main benefit. She felt ethereal in them. Like a goddess, a princess.

She sat on her bed and opened her shoebox to pull them out. She slipped them on slowly, admiring as she flexed and pointed her toes. She stood up again and went to her vanity, searching for her favorite set of hair pins. She fished through her selection until she came to her silver and diamond studded butterfly pins. She placed them in her hair thoughtfully, assuring she had the best angle. She took a few paces back from her vanity. She eyed her reflection in the mirror as she made a few circles.

“Princess,” she whispered to her twin in the mirror. “You look lovely tonight. And those shoes, ugh, TO DIE FOR.” Jan did another spin before stomping over to the vanity. She grabbed her eyeliner and drew a quick sketch of her reflection right on the mirror. “Take a picture, it will last longer,” she mumbled under breath and she finished the details of her drawing. She admired the visual and labled it with her fanciest script, PRINCESS. She capped her eyeliner and threw it back into her make-up compartment.

Jan’s eye caught on image in the lower right-hand corner of her mirror, nearly hid by her perfume bottle. She reached out to grab the narrow strip of black and white photos. They were of her and Jason from over three years ago. They were in a photo booth. Their poses were silly and affectionate-that of a happy couple. Jan stared at the image, her heart now in her throat. Why? Her mind asked for the billioneth time.

Jan set the images on her dresser, face down. She slid them under her jewelry box.

“I’m thirsty,” her coping mechanism whispered.

Jan responded to her craving without a fight. Still donned in her Princess attire, she marched straight to the bar to fix herself a strawberry margarita. Tonight she was craving the sweet taste.

***************

She worked her way through the darkness to her mother’s bedroom. She turned on the light and sipped her drink. She dimmed the lighting to an amber hue and set her glass on the bathtub. She used her index finger to loosen and remove her sandals. She set them on the carpet and turned to the bathtub faucet. She drew a warm stream and set the plug. She squirted in her mother’s bath foam and watched the bubbles form.

Jan removed her gown and reached for her margarita as she slowly sank into the heated bathtub. Hot water, cold drink. Cold cold drink. She embraced the contrast with a satisfied smile and closed her eyes. Right now, life was very good. She took another sip and propped her toes on the faucet, watching the bubbles slide down to her calf. She grabbed the wash cloth and massaged her feet, calves and arms one at a time.

She found her mind drifting to Phil. It was a common, yet annoying occurance quite often these days. She knew she wasn’t attracted to him in a conventional way. She couldn’t really put her finger on what exactly she felt for him. It changed from minute to minute, by his responses, and her own, which she often questioned. She found herself wanting to impress him at times, nurture him at others, and sometimes just smack him across the face.

One thing she couldn’t deny was her physical attraction to him. The guy was cute, and there was no way around it. To her, Jason was, is, and will always be the handsomest guy she ever laid eyes on. But Phil gave her the chills to at times-especially when he was mad. His eyes turned deep blue, and his skin flushed an olive-reddish hue. The dimples were just too much. He used them as a source of manipulation, and he knew it.

She polished off her drink and crossed her arms in a tight embrace beneath the bubbles. She counted the opaque glass bricks comprised of the shower wall. Her eyes fluttered with sleepiness before finally drifting off into a light doze.

She woke twenty minutes later, the water significantly cooler. She rubbed her eyes and squinted to read the clock positioned adjacent from her mother’s vanity. It was only 9:30. Margaritas- they had that effect on her.

She flipped the plug with her toes and shivered as the cool water slowly gurgled down the drain. She lay in the tub, still terribly groggy and unwilling to move despite her goose-bumps. Jan tilted her head lazily to look at the glass bricks.

Schlllllllllllllllllllllllll the water gurgled noisily, echoing in her eardrums.

Jan’s eyes were half closed when she noticed a dark shadow pass behind the glass bricks. Her eyes flew open in surprise.

Schlllllllllllllllllllllllllll

The figure stopped, swaying slightly. It was human.

Schlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Jan froze, watching the figure. It stood still, as if watching her.

Now terrified, her heart hammered inside her chest, the sound of a base drum colliding with

Schlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

It stepped away slowing, retreating to the direction it originally came from.

Schllllllllllllllllll

The last volume of water whirled tornado-like down the drain. She was now in an empty tub. She hesitated to sit up. She reached for the towel, still eyeing the glass bricks for movement.

Who in the hell was that?

Recently, under a vague explanations as to why, Jan’s mother insisted on a sophisticated security system for their property. Iron fences, alarms, strict adherence to the privacy of a numeric code. Jan mused at her paranoia during the installation. “We have a lot of nice things, and there has been a lot of burglary lately,” her mother quipped. Jan blew off her reason without question nor concern. She kept the stupid code to herself easily, for she had no one to tell. Well, no one important like Jason.

Which meant the only person that DID know the security code was herself, her mother, and her step-dad. The figure COULD have been him, or her. But it looked more like a guy…

Jan dressed quickly and listened for either one of them to enter the house. She shivered at the piercing silence throughout the house.

They weren’t there.

Jan struggled to catch her breath as she felt her heart race even quicker. She entered the hallway reluctantly, flipping on each light until she reached the confines of her bedroom. She threw on a modest robe and listened intently, hoping they were still outside, in the car, in the garage, doing God knows what.

She sat on her bed waiting, and waiting, and waiting.

Still nothing.

She stood in the doorway of her bedroom, eyeing her empty, well-lit hallway. She stepped forward slowly, one step at a time, each quickening until she reached the living room. First thing she noticed were all the curtains drawn, revealing a strong glare off each window. She could see the reflection of her furniture, ther bar, and even herself. She could see everything, INSIDE, but nothing OUTSIDE, where he or she stood.

She was being watched. She could feel it. Her eyes scanned the glass aimlessly. She swallowed hard and reached for her phone. She dialed the memory button for her mother’s office- her machine picked up. She wasn’t there. She dialed her step dad’s number- it was busy. If her mother had left, she would have been here already- unless she went to make a quick trip to the store, which she sometimes did. Jan dialed her cell phone, only to find it unable to be reached. Damnit! Jan cursed her. She was always running low on her batteries.

Jan’s mind raced with the possibilities…Phil. It had to be Phil. He was playing a sick joke on her.

Jan gave a nervous laugh. Or course! How could she be so stupid? He was getting her back for beating him at racquetball earlier that day. In a sick, evil way, but hey, like she said, Phil was a sore loser.

The question was HOW did he get through her gates and into the backyard?

Jan dialed Philip’s cell phone number. He answered on the third ring, “Buenos noches,” he mumbled lazily.

Jan took a seat on the sofa. “Very funny Phil.”

“Huh?” he asked.

“I said, very funny.”

“Ok, if you say so,” he answered with a twinge of confusion.

“Actually, it’s pretty sick,” she lashed out in fury.

“What are you talking about?” he responded, clearly offended.

“WHERE ARE YOU PHILIP?” she shouted.

“I’m at HOME Jan,” he yelled back.

Jan froze. “No you’re not.”

“I am too.”

Jan let out a sigh and looked up to the window. “You’re joking.”

“No I’m not,” he insisted. “Call my room now and you’ll see.”

Jan shook her head absently in disbelief, “What is your number?”

“555-8651, call it. I’m hanging up now.”

Jan flinched at the instant click. She reached over and turned off the nearest floor lamp. She stood up, hands trembling as she dialed the number to Phil’s personal line at the mansion. “I told you so,” Phil uttered as he answered the phone. Jan stopped, completely stunned. “How long have you been there?” her voice quivered.

“All night,” he said through a laugh. “Why?”

Jan nearly dropped the phone. “No reason,” she said in a near whisper. “I got to go…bye.” Jan fumbled with the buttons to hang up. She stood in the same place for what felt like an eternity before she got the courage to cross the room to turn off the other light.

She backed up to her couch and grabbed the blanket. She curled herself in it snuggly, still clutching the phone. She didn’t want to budge. She wanted to sink into the couch, into the floor, anywhere safe. Her terror paralyzed her and she remained still, staring at the darkness in front of her, snow flurries falling like crazy.

No, this isn’t real. This isn’t real, isn’t real, isn’t real, her mind echoed. It was all her imagination. It was the only thing that made sense. Her mind was playing tricks on her, envisioning things that were not real. The shadow she saw behind those glass bricks was a tree. THIS WASN’T REAL.

Still, she couldn’t shake the nagging sensation that someone was watching her. Someone was witnessing her fear.

Jan blinked wildly at the darkness. She didn’t even notice when she rocked herself to sleep.

*************

The man in the Cantrell Security Systems coat stood strategically in the shadows until the right time. Waiting was the easy part now, for he could still see her. He had come very far, and waited very, very long to get where he was now. Patience had become his virtue, although originally not by his choice.

His princess met his eyes. His beautiful, gifted princess. He watched her moves for a few months now, unbeknownst her.

Until now. She made the connection. She sensed him, and she looked right at him.

One day they would come face to face, they way should.

They were a pair forever bonded.

His sleeping princess…

****************

Jan’s heart lept when she heard the loud grinding noise from behind her. She stood up panting, holding her chest. The garage door was opening. She waited anxiously, sneaking a quick glance at the clock. It was 12:11 am.

She had fallen asleep. HOW could she have fallen asleep?

Jan’s heart sunk when her mother trudged through the kitchen entrance from the garage. “Mom?” Jan whispered hoarsely, “I tried to call you earlier.”

Her mom looked over to her with red eyes as she sat down her briefcase. “Really, I didn’t get your message.”

“I called a couple hours ago.”

“I brought dinner to your father’s office. He took a break and we talked for awhile.”

“I tried to call your cell phone too.”

Jan’s mother rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, “I’m sorry honey, my battery ran out and I left the charger here. I’m sorry you couldn’t get ahold of me.”

“Not as sorry as I am,” Jan answered.

Her mother looked at her in concern, “Why honey, is there something wrong?”

Jan stared at her in disgust, “So then where is he at?”

“He stayed at the office. He has a very tough case he’s working on. He’s going to be putting in a lot of late hours.”

“Why?” Jan implored, visibly frustrated. “You guys are never home. You’re ALWAYS working late, ALWAYS. I don’t know why you bother to even come home.”

“What has gotten into you?” her mother yelled back.

“You two! It’s like you could care less what I’m doing, or what is happening to me. You’re too damn busy with your work.”

Jan’s mother rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, “I’m really not in the mood for one of your tantrums right now, honey. I’ve got a splitting headache and I’m exhausted. We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

“No! I want to talk right now,” Jan demanded.

“I have a headache Jan, we’re not talking about this now, and that’s final,” she yelled back. She snapped off the light behind her and stomped off to her bedroom.

Jan watched her go, choking on her tears when her mother shut the door of her bedroom. “But mother,” her heart cried out.

Story of her life. No one listened, and no one cared. No matter what she said, good or bad, subtle, or unsubtle.

Once she finished crying, Jan wiped her face and walked to the sliding glass door she peered out in terror..

Breathing in a breath of courage, Jan flicked on the patio light.

Her eyes journeyed downward, to the fresh set of footprints in the snow, their large imprints facing her own two feet, only a few inches away, separated by the safe confines of the glass…