Bingo My Heart Out: A Bingo Romance Part 10

"Love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle."

September 24th, 2007

Paula stared at herself in the reflection of the ladies room mirror, in the nice Italian restaurant where her lovely date was waiting at their table for her to return. She thought she looked pretty tonight, her make-up hadn't faded, she had colour in her cheeks, and she could walk back to the table to join Dan for an after-dinner coffee.

And pretend like she hadn't just learned of the unfortunate circumstances that had befallen Patrick over the last few days.

Calm and collected, Paula double-checked her reflection in the mirror and walked back to Dan.

"Everything alright?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes, everything is fine," Paula replied.

They left the restaurant, went for a stroll in the old village, and then Dan drove her home, promising he'd call her very soon. Paula felt a shiver in her spine and then a pang of guilt when she let Dan kiss her goodnight, even if it was only on the cheek. She had a sudden fear Patrick was watching in the darkness, as ludicrous and incredible as that would be. Besides that, why should she feel guilty? It wasn't as if she had any obligations to Patrick. That's life - love is war, right? And who said anything about love, anyway?

Paula's conscience had the habit of sometimes plaguing her over the littlest things. And now as she locked her apartment door behind her, her stomach felt tight at the anticipation of seeing Patrick tomorrow.

All of a sudden, Paula was paralyzed in fear - someone was there! Someone was in her apartment, walking towards her! Paula stiffened, her right hand clutching her keys tightly in mid air. What do I do? thought Paula in a panic. With one swift movement, the shadowy figure raised an arm and swiped at the light switch, yellow light flooding into the hallway.

"For - what the - you almost gave me a - bloody hell, Phoenix!" Paula yelled at her sister.

"How was your date?" asked Phoenix nonchalantly.

"How did you get in here?" replied Paula, feeling her heart finally pounding again in her chest.

"No matter. So was he cute?" Phoenix asked. "Any tats? Piercings? Would I like him?"

Suddenly Paula had an idea.

"What are your plans tomorrow?" Paula asked her sister.

"I got stuff to do... a lot of stuff."

"You don't have a job."

"I might be looking for a job tomorrow," replied Phoenix defensively. "So you can forget it if you think I got time to waste..." But she trailed off and though she wouldn't admit it, she was curious to hear what her sister wanted. She thought she recognized the look in Paula's eyes from years ago, when she was younger and more roguish.

Paula would send her sister to meet Patrick tomorrow.


Stay tuned for the next chapter of Bingo My Heart Out: A Bingo Romance next week.