ANISHA'S POV
"I could ask you the same question," Carter smiled and sat next to me.
"Well, Gareth, Lisa's husband, is my brother. That's why I am here. And you?" I gave him a quizzical look.
"Carter and I have known each other for a long time. We're old time friends," Lisa explained, and I just nodded and smiled.
Lisa started pouring some juices into glasses which she took from the kitchen sink. There were a lot of glasses, and she poured gracefully, while standing at the kitchen counter.
My gut feeling was telling me that things were getting very bad, and although part of my heart told me to leave at that same minute, the other part told me to stay. As if to confirm my worries, my phone chimed. Assuming it to be Dylan, I immediately smiled and lifted it to check the newly received message. It was not him. It was none of the people who usually sent me messages. It was not Dylan, it was not Valentina, it was not Ms Meyerton. Those were the people who spoke to me the most. Instead, it was Iris. Iris…I could not recall ever giving Iris my number! I only saw the first part of the message….its Iris….
My fingers slightly trembled as I hesitated a bit, wondering what Iris wanted. Part of my mind wanted to ignore the message until after diner, because I feared that, what if it was Mrs de Milo who sent Iris to call me for some meeting of some sort? What had I done? Was she angry with me for something? What on earth had I done now?
"Is it Dylan, hmm? He's the one who sent you a message?" Lisa smiled brightly at me.
"Yes it's him. Just telling that he's missing me." I lied. Why was she being so nosy? Telling her what she wanted to hear was my best option.
"Already!" Lisa laughed and continued setting the table.
My phone battery was at four percent, so I wanted to ask for a charging port. But before charging it, I felt the need to check that message from Iris. With my phone under the table I quickly scrolled on my phone and opened the message. From the spelling errors in it, and just the way it was presented, I could tell that it was typed in a hurry:
'its Iris. Dont , drnk anythng in Lisa's house.dnt,,, eat nything at alll. Anisha, Yyou 're being targeted,!,,'
What? Who was targeting me? How did Iris get to know about it? Wait….could it be….could it be that Iris heard something from Mrs de Milo? Could…would Mrs de Milo part of the team that was targeting me? But then, it did not make any sense….if Mrs de Milo was the one targeting me, then why was I being targeted at Lisa's house? Could Lisa and Mrs de Milo be working together? No way! They did not even know each other. Besides, Mrs de Milo valued class so much that there was no way she could ever associate with someone like Lisa. She loved the rich, the billionaires and multi-millionaires of Southrain were the only people worth her attention and friendship. So who was targeting me? What confused me the most was …how did Iris know about it? Or…was Gareth involved in this? Was he….Gareth? He seemed loving and kind…..could he….??
If at all these people were planning something …of targeting me, as per Iris' message….then if I told them I was leaving, they were going to suspect that I knew their plan, and would not let me go. I felt trapped, I felt like a small little chicken, trapped in the corner of a windowless room, with a jackal and a lion standing right at the doorway. It took a lot of effort and energy to get myself composed. My phone battery was dead, and I was in so much fear that I failed even to ask them to charge it for me.
"Do you need any help?" I called out to Lisa, trying hard to hide my anxiety.
"Not now! For now I'm just serving the juices. You will help me when we serve the main meal!" she started walking towards the dining room table, holding a tray with juice glasses in her hands.
My heart could have escaped, for I was in utter fear and anxiety. Iris' words kept echoing in my head, "don't drink anything in Lisa's house. Don't eat anything at all! Anisha, you're being targeted." Lisa carefully placed the juice glasses, making sure to place each glass right in front of its owner. Ok. I got it. I understood it. My glass was supposed to be mine alone, and no one could have it. So how was I going to handle the situation? How was I going to escape it? It was already two against one, and I doubted if I could manage to fight the two of them on my own; in case it came to the point of a physical fight. In my mind I already imagined them forcing me to drink the juice. What could I do?
One of my nephews gulped down their juice and ran over to throw their glasses into the sink. The younger brother, still with juice in his glass, followed his brother, and the two boys played merrily in the kitchen.
"May I have a charger for my phone, please?" I asked Lisa.
"Oh, of course! Let me see, what type of charger does your phone use?" she looked closely at my charger. "umm, this phone looks very complicated. I do have a charger in my bedroom, but I doubt if it fits. Gareth once owned one of these fancy phones…let me just grab it for you."
"Thank you," I smiled.
"You may take your juice in the mean time," she headed for the stairs.
I smiled and lifted the glass of juice to my mouth. As soon as she was up the stairs, I handed over my car keys to Carter with a smile, "Carter, please check in my car in the centre console. I am remembering now that I must have left my charger there."
"Of course my lovely Anisha," Carter grinned as he snatched the keys from me and disappeared out of the room.
Without wasting any time, I literally jumped off my chair, my juice glass in my hand, and ran to the sink. The two boys, who were playing in the kitchen, were sleeping on their tummies on the floor, concentrating on a game on their tablet. Paying them no attention, I grabbed one of the many glasses that were there, and poured all my juice in it. I placed the poisoned juice right under the tap, among some other dirty cups which were piled up there. I quickly tossed my juice glass into the already full sink, and pulled out another clean glass. With shaky hands, but operating at the speed of lightning, I poured some fresh juice into my glass and hurried to sit down, with the half full glass in my hands.
The reason why I decided not to throw the poisoned juice down the drain was because I wanted to know what it was. My plan was, after eating I was going to offer to wash the plates. I was sure that in the kitchen there would be an empty container or anything of that sort, into which I could pour the juice. I needed to have it tested, so that I could properly place charges for attempted murder or whatever it was that they wanted to do to me.
I was just in time, for as soon as I sat down, I heard Lisa's footsteps as she came down,
"Here is the charger, my dear. Let me plug in your phone."
She widened her eyes in shock, "where is Carter?"
"I asked him to check for me in case I left my phone charger in the car." I told her.
There was worry written all over her face, until her eyes landed on my half empty glass. She smiled. Lisa went on to hand to me a portable charger, and my phone started charging. I saw her eyes trailing and landing on me as I pretended to take a sip of my juice. Her lips curved into a satisfied smile. What was she planning? Was Carter part of the plan too? Were they really old time friends…?
Carter came back, without any charger, for I had never kept a charger in my car. The moment he sat down, he stared at my half full glass, smiled and looked at Lisa. Lisa also smiled before disappearing into the kitchen. I was becoming seriously scared. The scenes of the poisoned sprite unfolded and played vividly in my mind. I continuously asked God why, why God? How can a girl's juice be spiked twice in her lifetime; within a short period of time?
"May...may I have my car keys?" my voice almost betrayed me, for it was shaky and full of fear.
"What's with your voice? You seem like you're too tired." Carter commented, without handing over the keys to me.
Lisa was taking out a tray of roasted meat from the oven. She suddenly screamed out loud, "oh I burnt myself!"
"Sorry", both Carter and I said at the same time. Lisa quickly placed the tray next to the sink, and she looked at the cup of juice.
"Whose juice is this?" she asked with a deep frown.
I panicked, but maintained a straight face while talking, "the boys poured more juice for themselves," I found myself saying that. in my heart I prayed that none of them were going to object. But they seemed too engrossed in their games; they did not even hear what we were talking about.
"These kids are very wasteful. Boys, didn't I give you enough juice already? Did you have to pour some more? And what did I say about taking too much juice just before the meal?" she shouted at the little ones. The boys, who were physically involved in their game, for they were yelling and punching in the air, did not respond. I doubt if they even heard what their mother was saying.
"I hate wasting food. Kids nowadays are too wasteful," Lisa spoke as her hand reached out for the juice. She brought the cup to the dining table, and placed it carefully on it. Smiling shyly, she explained, "the juice is still ok. It's clean, I have to drink it. I hate wasting food, and I have told these boys too many times. They never listen."
"They're too young to understand," Carter smiled at Lisa.
"I bet for you it's no big deal. You can just throw away as much food as possible, hmm, Anisha?" she winked at me.
"Why would I throw food away?" my voice was husky.
"I mean…living with the billionaire; you get everything you need." She teased.
I just chuckled a bit and decided not to respond.
"As for me, I work with a budget. So all the supplies in the home are used carefully, making sure that they meet the targeted time. I go shopping weekly," she explained.
"Oh, nice." I had no idea how I was supposed to respond to that.
"How often do you go shopping?" she asked me. Before I could open my mouth to respond, she said, "daily, I bet? I mean, you are in love with a de Milo. What else can be expected from you?"
My eyes were on the cup of poisoned juice. I did not know what to do. I had only saved that juice for I wanted it to be tested in a lab; it was not my plan for anyone to drink it!! Lisa picked the glass of juice up. In four large gulps, she emptied it. She smiled like a little child, let out a sigh, swallowed a burp in a disgusting way, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before muttering,
"oh sorry, please excuse me."