Dark Eyes

7. Bethany

      Selina sat by herself at her favourite café sipping on a coffee. It was her lunch break from her new job. A real estate company had advertised for a receptionist. They wanted references and she didn't have any, so she turned up for the interview wearing a short skirt and low cut top, hoping it would be a man who interviewed her. She was in luck. Two of the realtors, both men, sat down with her for the interview and couldn't keep their eyes off her. Later that day they called her asking when she could start.

So she had started a week ago sharing the office duties with another girl. The male staff all seemed to love her, all she had to do was wear slightly revealing clothing and smile provocatively when one of them spoke to her. She smiled to herself. Men were such stupid creatures, so easy to manipulate.

The other girl in the office, Julie, had taken an obvious dislike to Selina, probably jealous of the attention she was getting from the male staff. After what had happened at her last job with a co-worker Selina had decided it might be better to have Julie as an ally rather than an enemy. So Selina invited Julie to have drinks with her at a nearby bar after work one afternoon. Julie was hesitant at first, but Selina was insistent.

So on Thursday afternoon they had sat down for drinks. Selina was used to alcohol so she was perfectly alert and able to take in everything poor Julie in her drunken state babbled to her. Two hours later when they left the bar Selina knew all the secrets of the staff at the office. She would set her sights on the junior realtor John Edwards. He had been caught cheating on his wife a couple of months ago, but she had forgiven him and taken him back. What a stupid woman! If they cheat once they'll do it again. Selina made her plans.

A shadow fell across her table as someone came up and stood next to it. Selina looked up and gasped in surprise. A girl with freckles and long curly red hair looked down at her. For once in her life Selina was at a loss for words.

The girl spoke in an almost sad voice, "Hello sis," she said.

"Bethany," Selina said in almost a whisper, "What are you doing here? How the hell did you find me?"

"You gave yourself away on Facebook. You mentioned this café by name at least twice. So since I'm in Brisbane for a few days I thought I would try and find you here. I've been coming here every day for the last five days."

"But why, Bethany? I've been gone four years. No one back home liked me anyway. I thought they would be glad I was gone for good."

"Well I missed you. I know you were wild and rebellious with your teachers and with Mum and Dad. But you were always good to me, even though I'm not your real sister."

Selina thought back to her childhood. Adopted from foster care at the age of five, she didn't settle in well with her new family. Her new parents tried hard but she rejected them, often yelling at them that they were not her real parents and couldn't tell her what to do. She was always getting into trouble at school, in fact now she thought about it she liked being in trouble. She ran away from home twice, but returned when she realised she had nowhere to go. Then one day when she was sixteen and she had saved some money from a part time job, she ran away for good. She took a bus down the coast to Rockhampton where she stayed in a caravan park for a few weeks before heading south to the big city.

She left behind a huge scandal at her high school which had cost her physical education teacher his job and his marriage. She had only just turned sixteen when she had developed a crush on Mr Riggs, a P. E. teacher at her school. He was young and tall with dark hair and handsome looks He was also married. Half the girls in the school had a crush on him, but Selina had taken it one step further. She knew the park he jogged in every Saturday afternoon, so one day she 'happened' to be jogging along the same path at the same time. At a remote spot with no one else around she had pretended to hurt her ankle and fall. When Mr Riggs stopped to help her and massage her ankle she pulled his head down to her lips and gave him a long passionate kiss. Five minutes later they were lying on the grass out of sight from the path with him massaging her clitoris while she gave him a blow job.

From there it developed into a full on affair with them having secret liaisons two or three times a week whenever he could make some excuse to get away from his wife. She had fallen in love with him, he said as soon as she turned eighteen and left school he would divorce his wife and they would get married. Young naïve Selina had believed him. Then one day after their affair had been going for six months, he told her it was off. He had never intended to leave his wife, he was just using Selina for sex. She was devastated, and when she pleaded with him to change his mind he laughed at her calling her silly and immature. Then he warned her not to tell anyone or she would be sorry.

As it turned out she told everyone, and Mr Riggs was the one who was sorry. She went to the school principal and told him the P.E. teacher had raped her and forced her to have regular sex with him for six months. Selina was a known troublemaker and her claims would probably have been dismissed except for the ace she had up her sleeve. During a couple of their sexual romps she had set her mobile phone to video mode leaving it on a desk beside the bed recording everything they had done. She showed the incriminating evidence to the principal claiming Riggs had set up the video himself and sent it to her later. The police were called in and he was charged with rape. That was the end of his career and marriage.

Things seemed a little too hot for Selina after all this had happened, so with the money she had saved one night she left taking a bus south down the coast, leaving no note or message of any sort for her foster parents.

The whole affair had left her bitter against men, particularly married men who cheated on their wives and told lies to their lovers. She had got even with Riggs, but she vowed she would make other cheating men pay for their crimes.
She also left behind her little sister. Bethany had idolised her older wild step sibling. At first Selina had hated her, telling her to get away and stop following her around. But Bethany had persisted until Selina finally softened her heart to the little girl and they had grown up friends. They had their fights, but a bond had developed between them, and Selina had to admit she had missed Bethany these last four years since she left home. She stood up and gave her sister a big hug.
"I missed you too," she whispered feeling tears in her eyes.

When they stood apart Bethany glanced at Selina's name badge from the office. "So that's what you're calling yourself these days?" she said with a laugh, "Selina Smith?"

"It suits my purpose," Selina answered, "What happened to Riggs?"

"He only got twelve months jail based on those video recordings, but he would have got a lot longer if you had turned up for the trial."

"I didn't want to hang around. I thought it was better for me to get out."

"Mum and Dad want you to come home, but I know you won't. Can you at least call them and tell them you're okay? They miss you too."

Selina shook her head. "I can't. If I do it will just turn into a shouting match when I tell them I'm not coming home. You can tell them you've seen me and I'm fine."

Bethany sighed, "All right, but promise me you'll call them yourself eventually, like if you decide to get married."

"All right, I promise. So why are you here in Brisbane?"

"I'm flying out to America tomorrow. I have a two year fashion course in New York to finish my university degree."

"So you'll be in the US for two years?"

"Yes, maybe longer."

Selina looked at her step sister for several long seconds. Eventually she spoke in a quiet voice, "I'll miss you. Will you keep in contact with me through Facebook?"