Episode 2 – Interrupted Dinner Plans
The aroma of the hand-crafted meal for two wafted from the gourmet kitchen into the living room. The sun continued to drop behind the tree lined back yard slowly plunging the kitchen into darkness.
The slender hand belonging to Veronica King flicked to light switch on the wall, and thus showering the kitchen in a bright array of lights. She was playing chef for the evening and had spent the last two hours whipping together some of her childhood favorites for tonight’s cuisine.
She retrieved the half-empty bottle of Meiomi Pinot Noir from the bucket of ice, carried it into the living room, and filled the wine glass that run dry.
“Three minutes before dinner,” she said heading back to complete the meal’s final preparation.
On the sofa in deep contemplation sat Terri Buckley who was in a foul mood, even for her. The two had this evening planned since the beginning of the week, and from the moment Terri walked through the door, Veronica could sense something was off.
After asking, “What’s wrong?” and receiving a dismissive glare in response, Veronica decided to let it go. If Terri wanted to talk about it, she would, and if not, she wasn’t going to force the issue. Dinner was her priority for the moment and she was just pulling it from the oven when there was a knock at the door.
Veronica sat the tray on the island and began toward the door when she realized Terri had already started in that direction.
As Terri drew near the entrance, she was preparing to let off some steam. Whoever was on the other side of the door would endure her verbal wrath simply because it would make her feel better.
Earlier that evening as she drove home, she was involved in a road rage situation. One in which she tried to defuse because she didn’t want anything to ruin her plans for the evening.
But the jerk and his friends in the Ford F150 wouldn’t let up. They even went so far as to tap her car causing her to almost spin out of control. Her instinct was to reach for her newly purchased Staccato 2011 that was stowed under her seat, but instead she placed her hand on the steering wheel, knuckles bulging as she drove.
After 5 minutes of this reckless behavior the idiots gave up and went on about their business. For the remainder of her trip home, she tried to calm herself down, but she couldn’t get over how docile she had been in that situation, and it burned deep in her gut.
She was a mere two steps from the door when the shattering of the door jamb caught her attention before the sound of it breaking upon impact. The force in which it was kicked open caused the door to violently swing open instantly shattered the hinges.
As quick as she was, her reaction time was dulled by her mood and the liquor and the swinging door smacked her in the face, likely breaking her nose.
She stumbled before dropping to one knee and swiped at the blood flowing from her nose. In that moment she saw bounding through the doorway, the driver from the F150 followed by his two friends.
“Well look who we have here,” he said with a sinister smirk filling his features as he balanced a baseball bat on his shoulder. “You didn’t think our fun had come to an end did you?”
“Looks like she has a friend,” the baldheaded one with the severe acne covering three-fourths of his face said.
The driver, the likely leader of the group, looked in the direction of Veronica King, noticing her for the first time. “Well, well, well. Two hotties for the price of one. It’s our lucky night boys.”
Idiot number three walked through the shattered entrance licking his lips while embracing the fortune that had fallen in their laps.
Our bumper car session on the roadway was simply foreplay for the evening, the real fun is about to start.
He leaned over preparing to yank Terri from the floor when he was struck harmlessly in the chest with a flying knife from the kitchen.
He diverted his attention toward Veronica and spoke while laughing, “That didn’t hurt one bit. But don’t worry sweetheart, each of us will make time for you as well.”
It was now Veronica who chuckled and said, “The knife wasn’t for you, it was for her.”
He next felt a searing pain in his left Achilles that instantly gave way and dropped him to the ground. Before his body came to rest, Terri was on her feet thrusting the blade into the back of the neck for freckle face. With the furry and force she put into this strike she detached his C1 vertebrae from his C2. His body crumbled like a ragdoll and made a resounding thud upon impact with the hardwood floor.
The smile and laughter was caught in the throat of guy number 3 as he witnessed the speed and efficiency in which Terri disposed of his comrades. He opened his mouth to plead for mercy, but before he could utter a word, the knife Terri had been wielding entered through his mouth and out the base of his skull. Unlike his incapacitated friends, he was dead before he hit the ground.
The freckled faced intruder was yelling that he couldn’t move his arms, so Terri kicked him in the face with as much power as she could muster. The complaints ceased as he was knocked unconscious.
Terri methodically walked into the kitchen and asked Veronica, “Are you okay?”
“Absolutely, but I think some of his blood landed on our dinner,” she said as she nodded her head in the direction of freckle face.
Terri glanced down at the meal, that looked even better than it smelt, and noticed the stream of blood. She shook her head as she pulled another knife from the block and headed in the direction of the living room.
The ringleader, while still alive attempted to army crawl for the nearest exit, but he only managed to make it three feet from where he fell. Terri kicked him in his ribs hard enough to turn him over.
“Who are you?” He managed to croak looking at her with wild eyes.
She leaned over and whispered, “I’m the last face you’ll ever see.” Just as she pushed the blade between his ribs directly into his heart.
She stood, retrieved her phone from her pocket and dialed a familiar number.
After one ring the voice on the other end said, “Yes?”
“I’m in need of house cleaning at my current location. Three bags of trash, two of which are rancid and one you can do with as you please. And bring a handy man, I seem to be having problems with my front door.”
“Twenty minutes,” the voice said and disconnected the call.
Veronica dumped the meal in the trash and came to stand next to Terri. Buckley said, “The new Thai restaurant opened around the corner.”
Veronica responded, “I could go for some curry.” And then with a frown on her face said, “We now need a new knife set. Didn’t we just buy those last week?”
“Two weeks ago,” Terri corrected. “And it just so happens they’re on sale until Sunday. We can pick them up after dinner.”
“Sounds good to me,” Veronica said as they stepped over the body in the doorway and headed for the car.