"Hello there, Addie."
Those were the words that froze my soul. The voice that spoke those words had not been welcoming or pleasant. As soft and soothing as the voice tried to sound, there was nothing but cold malice filling its deep, rumbling tones.
Why was he here? What did he want? Why today of all days? Why couldn't he wait? Why couldn't he come and spoil a different day? Why did he have to come to check on things on my birthday?
It's not like Mr. Boberre didn't know that it was my birthday today. He had shown up here last year on my birthday, seemingly coincidentally. He knew that today was my birthday and I just knew that he came today on purpose. He wanted to ruin our festivities.
Also, Dad and I still have another two months before he is supposed to come collect his payment. I was sure that today was just another one of his visits to make sure that we weren't running away to skimp on the payment.
