Taking quick steps, she went inside her house, locked the screen, and bolted her front door. When she looked through the peephole, Walter stood staring at her door. For a long while she watched him until he finally walked away. She shivered.The guy’s a nut.There was something odd about him. On one hand, he helped her out, but on the other, he basically told her it was her fault that Brent had accosted her.
After she put everything away and fed Sooty, she plopped down on the couch with a bottle of iced tea in her hand. She took out her phone and called her friend Ava, asking if she wanted to try out the new Mexican restaurant that’d opened on Champa Street. When she said yes, Raven smiled broadly.
They made plans to meet at Alfonso’s at seven that night. A thread of excitement weaved through her. It’d been a long time since she’d gone out with a friend on a Saturday night. After her breakup with Brent, she’d been so brokenhearted that she’d had no interest in doing anything but painting and jewelry making. But that night, she was restless and had to get out. She wanted to rid her mind of everything, especially Muerto.
As the time passed, Raven became engrossed in a painting she’d started for an art gallery in Denver that had asked her to send two. She painted pop and contemporary art, loved mixing realism with fantasy. Her signature style was the use of bold colors and textures. When she dabbed pink on the canvas, brushing it out to resemble streaks from the setting sun, her phone alarm went off. She’d set it so she wouldn’t let the time slip away from her as it usually did when she was engrossed in her craft.
After cleaning her paintbrushes, she jumped into the shower and then sat at her small vanity, applying her makeup. She’d always loved makeup, and experimenting with it had become a passion of hers over the past several years. Inspecting herself in the mirror, she muttered, “Perfect.” Her winged eyeliner gave her an alluring, sultry look which she adored. She slipped on a pair of black skinny jeans, a black and white striped crop top, and a pair of patent leather red high-heeled sandals. The marcasite in her feather-and-skull navel jewelry sparkled when it caught the overhead light. She spritzed her neck and wrists with her signature perfume and headed out of the room.
After feeding Sooty and making sure the back door and all windows were secured, she walked out the front door and headed to her car. She so needed a night out.
I’m dying for a margarita. And I haven’t seen Ava in such a long time.
Ava owned a small boutique on Main Street, and she’d fallen in love with Raven’s jewelry and art when she’d seen them at one of the county fairs. She’d asked Raven to put some things in her shop on consignment, and they soon became fast friends. Ava had been a huge help to her when she’d found out about Brent. Her friend had been her support when her world had crumbled.
As she drove to the restaurant, she cranked up the radio, adrenaline shooting through her.My days of mourning are over. I’m ready to live again.
