Laura kissed the hand Terry had touched gently, she wondered if she will ever wash that hand, she remembered how she felt when he took her hands in his in handshake; she blushed, he looked dreamy! just like in her dreams, but when she recalled that he could not remember who she is, her heart flopped. If he felt the same way about her as she did him then why did he forget about their encounter the stormy night? , but still her feelings surpassed her reasoning on the matter; the little conversation they had thrilled her, it filled her with estacy and hope that perhaps, they were meant to be together. The time business day was already over and Laura had a very long day with her being in charge due to Mr OC's absence. Everyone had left and only Laura was left in the store taking stock. when she finished with the record the time was already past 10: pm and she needed to lock up and head to Mr O'Connor' s house to check on him, she prayed he was doing fine as he was like a father to her; even much more than her uncle Greg. Laura walked in briskly in the still of the night, she knew there would not be anyone about by this time of the night, the townspeople usually retired quite early to be; the is not to say that Little Borough was unsafe in any way, as a matter of fact the town was a safe heaven for its inhabitants and rarely had any record of Crime. Infact, Laura had only witnessed one burglary since she came to live in the town, and even at that the thief was caught tying to break into Mr Dankils Farm to steal one of his horses; quite a funny story, everyone told it in town narrating how the poor horse ran over the thief who was found laying on the ground with bruises on his head and a broken spine. As she approached Mr OC's cottage on the Old Musky lane, she could see lights streaming from his window and she could perceive a delicious aroma; smelled like garlic bread. Mr O'Connor's beautiful cottage was dreamy looking, he looked like something out of a story book with brightly colored marble walls, roof made of bricks but somehow it's was overgrown with wild lilies making the roof look like it was made of wild lilies, so bright and colourful. The front yard was beautiful decorated with beautiful colored flowers and blooming vegetable in the garden. She knocked on the door and waited, she could hear shuffling feet and a loud sneezing from within, the door flung open to reveal Mr O'Connor looking dazed to see Laura by that time of day. " Laura my dear, oh please do come in before you catch a cold" he said as he gently guided her inside the house and on a comfy sofa by the fireside. " How are you feeling Me OC? I have been so worried about you. have you seen a doctor?" Laura asked the kind old man who was already by the stove pouring a cup of hot tea for her. " It's nothing serious Laura, i think I just got the flu and needed a bit of rest, now dear tell me all about your day, How did you manage at the store today?" the old man asked as he handed Laura the cup of tea and sat Close to her. Laura took a sip from her cup as the hot liquid burned her mouth but warmed her inside out. She felt a little bit warmer after taking a sip of her tea, she relaxed on the sofa; she always felt at ease whenever she was with Mr Oc. Laura began to update her boss about the work and activities they happened at the store in his absence; she updated him about the store inventory, the accounts and the missing box of oatmeal which she felt must have been mixup during the delivery of the goods by their suppliers. Mr O'Connor nooded in acknowledgment of her report praising her for a job well done, but he noticed a certain glow about her which was not there the previous day, he was glad to see her happy. Suddenly, Mr O'Connor heard her say "I want to tell you about someone I met" she blushed " you met someone? who is it? is it a man?" he asked with concern. Laura took the last sip of tea from her cup, leaned forward and began to tell her boss about Terry " So, this is not the first time I had met him, I literally bumped into him three weeks ago on my way home on a stormy night, he is truly one of a kind, tall and handsome and so sweet" she gushed. "Mr Oc, I think I may have fallen for him already, although i don't know if he feels the same way about me". Mr O'Connor listened as Laura described the man she had a crush on, he could not put a pin to it but he had a bed feeling about Terry and he did not hesitate to let Laura know. He knew Terry's kind, city playboys who visited little towns to take advantage of naive young women, nothing good will come out of this and he knew, but he did not want to upset Laura. "Are you sure about him? he asked, "I think the young man is bad news Laura, those bloody Writers who come to town and... and ... deceive young women into sleeping with them; be careful Laura, always be on your guard with this one" Mr O'Connor advised. He could see Laura was disappointed he did not share in her sentiments, but he had to tell her the truth.
Laura left Mr O'Connor's house shortly after they had the conversation about Terry, she knew his advice came from a place of concern and care, but she knew in her heart that Terry is different.He spoke to her with so much kindness in his eyes and care in his touch, he could not possibly be such a deceptive fellow as Mr Oc described. The time was already 11:30 pm by the time Laura got home, she had her own keys so she did not bother to knock, she opened the front door and stepped into her uncle sparsely furnished living room. The house was dark, her uncle's family must have gone to bed, him on the other hand might be out drinking at the pub like he does everyday. she walked up the stairs to her bedroom trying not to wake anyone, but even as she tiptoed the wooden floor creaked. When Laura stepped into her room she quickly turned on the lights, she reached for her piggy bank stashed under her bed and shook it gently, she inspected the box to ensure it was not tampered with, everything seemed fine, she stored it away under the bed and went inside the bathroom to freshen up for bed. Laura got into bed after brushing her long thick black hair, she pay on her back staring at the ceilings and began to think about Terry. one thing troubled Laura, he could not recognize her, which means she did not cross his mind ever since that night; which also means he may not feel the same way she does about him. Could her boss be right about him? but if he had any bad intention towards her then he would have hit on her which he never did. A day that began on a great note for Laura ended with her feeling doubts, fear and unhappiness.
The next day was a Sunday and Laura's day off from work. She woke up to the birds singing and the sun streaming through her window. She lay in bed scrolling through her phone, she checked her email and Whatsapp for any messages but there was none; she sighed. Laura lived a life of Solitude so she had no friends other than her colleagues at the store and of course her boss Mr Oc, so she often had no Whatsapp messages, her social media was always without any activity. She logged on to Facebook to watch some reels but was so shocked to see a friend request, who could it be, she wondered. Laura tried to view the user's profile simply named Junior M but it was locked, she decided to reject the request, she did not know who the user was, and to top it all there was no display picture on the user's profile. The last thing she needed in her life right now is a weirdo stalking her. She placed her phone on her side table and made for the Laundry room downstairs, she planned to get her laundry done and go sit by the stream, this was mostly her sunday routine; and also it helped her get away from the house and not face her uncle nagging her all day.