Coming of the Storm (cont)

Outside the rain was not showing any signs of lighting up. Streaks of lightning were still webbing their way throughout the sky, accompanied shortly by rolling thunder. Finally deciding that the coast was clear, the hedges on the edge of the women’s yard parted ever so slightly. A dark figure was crouched carefully within the huge bushes, hidden from view.

“What a close call,” he thought to himself. “That is twice tonight he thought he might have been discovered.” He was getting careless. He would have to be more discrete in the future. He resituated himself, trying to get comfortable. His mission was clear; he must not fuck it up. After years of carrying around this responsibility, he had almost destroyed everything in one single evening. Bringing his gaze to the now unobstructed window, he chuckled to himself. Thana had made his job easier with her hilarious and theatrical fight with the curtains. He would have to thank her one-day. Without the curtain to shield them, he could see directly into their living room. He was close enough to the house that he didn’t even need binoculars. He watched as the women laughed and spoke with each other. How he wished he knew what they were saying. He watched Ally disappear into the kitchen, but he could still see Thana relaxing on the couch. Then he saw Ally leave the kitchen and head to the stairs that led her to the upper levels of the house. Maybe he could chance it and get jus a bit closer.

Ally made her way up the long stairs, to her part of the house. Thana and her arrangement was that the upstairs was mostly hers, while the lower levels were mostly Thana’s. Of course there were exceptions, but this gave each of them a sense of personal space. Not that they really needed it in a place like this. Between the two incomes, the ladies lived very comfortably. Ally entered the large studio and turned on the light. Paintings and other forms of artwork tastefully decorated the walls, a number of them were pieces that she had painted. Allessia was an imminent new Artist. Her paintings were extravagant and unique. Most of them depicted a combination of present events or places with mythological beings as the focus. They were dream-like. Ally used a two- point perspective in a lot of her paintings accompanied with long brush strokes, and soft edges. In most of artwork, the focus of the painting tended to gradually blend into the rest of the painting. Critics raved that her emotional and visual content were both powerful and easily communicated. With such buzz forming around her, Ally easily found herself on the VIP list of most clubs.

Her studio was her place of sanctuary. Allessia loved it in here. On her immediate left is where she kept all her canvas and supplies. Leaning against the wall, in various sizes, were her canvas, next to it were numerous shelves that held all of her paints, paint brushes, sponges, etc. These shelves continued the length of the wall. To her right, was a modest entertainment center that included a television, DVD player, and stereo. Farther down the wall was her impressive DVD collection. The back left wall was a picture window that allowed natural light to flood the room. In front of the window sat her easel and a stool that she sometimes sat on. The back right wall was kitchenette. Ally went to the little kitchen and opened the fridge selecting a half full bottle of Grey Goose. Satisfied, she headed out of the room and back down the stairs.

"So are we still going to the club tonight?" she yelled as she came down the stairs.

"I do not know Ally, I have had a really weird night," Thana admitted "I don't know if I am up for the party scene tonight." Thana could not believe that Ally really expected her to go out.

Ally returned and proceeded to make herself a refreshing beverage. She smiled "You never want to go out anymore," she stated, " You are becoming a regular homebody."

Taking no offense to the accusation, Thana just shrugged. "Sorry if I am ruining your nightlife." Giving Thana the full strength of her big eyes.

Ally responded, "You know you are not," giving her a teasing smile, "you know I have fun anyways, but it is so much more fun when you are involved."

Thana couldn't help smiling at that comment. It was true. They always had a blast when they went out together. She did have quite a scare tonight. Would a night of dancing and hedonistic behavior cure her? Who knows.... but was she willing to try?

“You know…getting laid might help relieve some of that stress that you think you are hiding behind that pretty face of yours.” Ally said with no hint of ridicule. “It's a fact! Sex releases endorphins into your brain making you happy.... well... that's not the ONLY thing that can make you happy...orgasms are known to do that as well,” She grinned from behind her glass.

“No Shit?” Thana thought to herself. Like I have never had sex before. Sex did sound very appealing especially with the raging storm outside. She laughed to herself and glanced over at Ally. Not ready for one of Ally’s sex talks, Thana changed the subject, "So are you almost ready to go?"

Ally almost choked on her drink, seemly surprised by the question. "You still want to go?" she said with curiosity.

"Of course! I mean, we are both expected to make an appearance tonight. You really don’t think I would let some make-believe stalker ruin MY evening would you?" making it sound like it was some mundane detail, but in the back of her head she was really thinking that it would be safer to get out in public. She didn’t believe it was all in her head. Or maybe it was…. maybe she was just finally losing her mind.

Thana has gotten an invite to the club called The Point from one of her clients; he informed her she was the list. She was always getting invites to popular hangouts: clubs, restaurants, or premieres. She was a talent agent. She always came across the most unusual people in her line of work. Some were completely awful, but there were those few that really had a future. She mostly worked with actors trying to get their big break onto the ‘Silver Screen.’ With Thana in their corner (if they had a shred of talent) she could usually get them some type of role. A lot of times it was just enough to get their ‘foot in the door,’ other times it was a lead role. Thana was quickly becoming the ‘person to know.’

Ally gave her an approving smile and nodded her head. "Of course not, you party animal you...give me a minute to freshen up and Ill be ready to go." Grabbing her drink she excused herself to her bedroom to change. Not missing the troubled look on her friends face, she secretly fished out her cell from her pocket and called her friend Heather as she went back upstairs.

"Hello?" Heather answered.

"Heather?" Ally asked.

"Hey sugar!" Heather replied, "Haven't talked to you in awhile. How have you been?"

"I have been great actually," responded Ally. "My pieces have really taken off lately. Hey I have a favor to ask you."

"Oh yeah? I haven't talked to you in weeks and you call to ask me for a favor," she teased. Heather had been a friend with Allessia since 2nd grade, but no matter how much time had passed or how little time they were able to talk to each, it always seemed like time 'stood still' for them. They just picked up with each other like it was yesterday. They were ALWAYS there for each other when things got hectic, but they also understood that "life" happens and sometimes you do not keep in touch as often as you would like to.

"Yeah, sorry to ask, but I was wondering if it was possible to send a patrol car to check out our neighborhood a few times tonight?" Ally hated asking, but Thana seemed real shook up about tonight's events.

"Of course, why? What happened? Do I need to send someone over right now?" Heather inquired.

"No, no, no," Ally insisted. "It is just a precaution. We had a incident tonight and I do not want to belittle it."

"Oh yeah? Tell me about it," Heather demand.

Ally gave her a quick recount of the event and what she thought she saw. "It could have been the shadows or the bushes, but I would feel better if we had another set of eyes checking out the situation."

"Hey sweetie, it is NO problem whatsoever," Heather reassured her friend. "No worries, if there is anything out of the normal, I'll call you personally. I promise," she said in sincerity.

Ally said "I do not want you losing your job over this, if you want me to, I will call and make an official report."

"No, it is no problem,” she said with conviction.

Grateful for her friend’s willingness to help, Ally said, “Thank you hun. I'll call you tomorrow if I do not hear from you sooner."

"Sounds good," Heather said. "Talk to you tomorrow." She hung up.

"Bye," Ally said to the dial tone.

Feeling satisfied, she began to get dressed. Allessia chose a brownish-red slinky silk tank top that showed just a bit of her cleavage, not to mention over half of her back. She added low cut jeans for the evening, along with deep brown-heeled boots. She combed and fluffed her hair; amazingly it still held the bounce from this morning. She studied herself in the mirror. Not satisfied with herself, she freshened her make-up and added a belly chain. With low cut jeans she felt it was okay to wear the out-of-date trend. She liked it, and that was enough for her. She returned to the living room where Thana looked deep in thought.

"Hey, I am about ready." she announced. She took another few sips of her drink while watching her roommate stare into space on the couch. "Everything okay?" Ally asked.

Thana looked at her and then stared out the window. "Yes. I am ready,” she stated simply. Noticing her bare feet, she added "Let me fetch a new pair of shoes real quick." She bounced off the couch and headed to her room. Allessia took this time to crudely fling a black sheet over the exposed picture window.

“We'll, have to replace this later,” she thought as she examined the broken curtain rod.

By the time Thana had rejoined her, the window was covered and Ally was busy switching her ID and a few choice items from her everyday purse to her clutch for the evening. Thana had already done the same ritual while in her bedroom. Now they were ready to go. Finally, they were going out…only about an hour late.