Revenge

Chapter 8

Connie had woken up early that morning, the same as she had done every morning that week. Deep down she knew that it was due to the fact that she had gotten used to sleeping with Jacob. She had gotten used to falling asleep in his arms and waking up held in a warm embrace. She knew it was stupid. After all, she had slept alone in that bed for a long time before Jacob came along and she had never had any trouble then. But she'd have to get used to sleeping alone again, she thought. This was how things were going to be from now on.

She had booked a couple of days off work so that she could spend some time with Grace... And not seeing Jacob for a couple days also seemed rather appealing.

Not able to go back to sleep, she decided to drag herself out of bed and take a shower. Walking into the bathroom, she noticed that Jacob still hadn't been to collect the rest of his things. His aftershave was still in the cupboard above the sink, and he'd even left some photos he had insisted they hang on the wall. The reason they had been put up in the bathroom was that Connie hadn't wanted them visible to any guests. They didn't exactly match the house decor.

"Grace," she said, peering around her bedroom door after having gotten showered and dressed. "Do you want to make pancakes for breakfast?" she asked, recieving a smile from her daughter.

Not long after, the two of them were downstairs and clearing the counter to make their breakfast.

A good fifteen minutes later, their pancakes were ready to be cooked. Just as Connie turned the gas on, the mail fell through the letter box.

Connie looked over her shoulder at the small pile of letters on the floor being chewed by the dog. She rolled her eyes at him before going to pick the mail up.

"Just keep an eye on that pancake, Gracie," she said as she bent down to pick up the envelopes, having to pull a couple out of Simba's mouth. They had gotten used to their mail being slightly chewed at the edges by now, it was becoming a habit of Simba's.

Mostly they were all just bills but one of the letters stood out from the rest and caught Connie's eye. It didn't have a stamp on it, it didn't even have an address on it for that matter. 

After turning it over and looking for a name or any indication as to where it had come from, she decided to open it and find out. As she pulled it out, she realised it was no ordinary letter. One sentence was written in capital letters across a piece of paper. She stared down at it, reading it over and over, trying to work out what it could mean. 

Whatever it was, it was obviously meant to scare her. She wasn't sure she was scared though, she was more confused than anything else. What did it mean? Who-

"Mum," Grace called over, pulling her out of her trance, causing her to lift her head up quickly towards Grace. "The pancake is burning," she told her. Connie rushed over to the kitchen, shoving the letter in her jeans pocket.

Later that day, as Grace and Connie were sat watching a film together on the sofa, Connie phone's rang.

She stood up from the sofa, deciding to take her call in her room. Grace rolled her eyes. She knew what that meant.

"Henrick," Connie answered in an overly enthusiastic voice, making it quite obvious to him that she wasn't too happy about his call.

"Yes I'll come in," she sighed. "But if the meeting goes on for more than hour, I'm gone," she said. If he was going to make her attend a board meeting on her day off, it was going to be on her terms.

After hanging up the phone, she quickly changed into some smarter clothes, throwing her jeans onto the bed, causing the letter to fall out onto the floor. Not having noticed, she headed downstairs, forgetting all about it.

"Gracie," Connie said guiltily. "That was work-"

"I know," Grace replied, cutting her off. She knew exactly what he mum was going to say, she heard it all the time. Besides, she had almost expected it - there was no way she was going to spend a whole two days with her mum without something going wrong.

She looked up at Connie and sighed. "How long w- will you be?"

"An hour," she replied straight away. "Tops. I promise." She had told her that before and never actually meant it but this time she did. She wouldn't be more than an hour.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," she said, knowing she'd let her down again. She walked over to her and ran a hand through her hair. "I'll be back by the time the film's ended-"

"Mum, it's ok," Grace said, smiling up at her. "I'll be fine." There was no point in getting into an argument with her mum, she knew from experience that it only ever made things worse. She knew better now. Besides, an hour wasn't too bad - as long as it was only an hour.

"Just don't be late," Grace told her as she watched her pick up her bag and keys.

"I won't," she promised, turning to open the front door. "One hour."

I'm sorry for not updating this yesterday but as I said, I was busy. But to make up for it, I will be posting two chapters today.

This is the first and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thank you again for all the reviews and votes. They mean a lot.

Before I write the next chapter, I'm going to watch last night's Casualty - I missed it and I really need to catch up before I do anything else!

I hope you all have a good sunday x