[DeepInnerFreak]

The Lake House

Chapter Two

Bethany sat on the sofa in the living area of the apartment drinking a coffee that she had to begrudgingly make herself as she waited. Her knee bounced which was accompanied by the occasional sigh as she read the text from Nick. It said a girl called Chloë would be arriving sometime around ten a.m. Her fingers tapped on the surface of the coffee table, it was already twenty past.

BUZZZ.

Bethany rolled her eyes, hit the button to open the main entrance door. She prepared the apartment quickly before opening the apartment door and heading into the corridor.

At the top of the stairs a blonde haired girl appeared, struggling with a large black suitcase. She was slender, around five–and–a–half–feet tall and her hair tied in a bun. She was wearing plain, unbranded trainers, a pair of torn denim shorts and a small white tank top which showed off her slim midriff.

Bethany ignores the girl’s lateness and eyes over her body, “cute”, she thinks to herself, “Nick picked well. I’m looking forward to seeing this one naked and begging me for the smallest things”. Having been through this routine several times, she knew playing nicely at first and giving the impression she wanted to be friends, was the best strategy. She puts on a smile. “Hey you must be Chloë”, trying to sound as excited as she could muster.

“Yup”, said Chloë out of breath as she yanks her luggage up the last step and manoeuvres it onto its bent wheels.

“Huh”, thinks Bethany, “a little older than usual, not as chatty”. Giving up on waiting for any further conversation she decided to introduce herself. “I’m Bethany”.

“Oh yeah, of course, Hiya”, Chloë responded, pushing the heavy case up the hallway to the front door like she knew where she was going. “Nick said you’d be here, there was really no need though”.

“Ungrateful bitch”, Bethany thought. “I’ll enjoy making her suffer”. The girls made their way into the apartment, “how was your trip over”.

“With this lump? It was awkward. Getting it on and off the tube was a nightmare. But driving in London this time in the morning would have been worse. Anyway I’m here now”. Chloë catches her breath, taking her keys, phone and cards from her shorts and places them on a shelf above the chest by the front door.

“Nick said you were a lawyer?”

“Nah, not me. They’re all arseholes. I’m a paralegal”.

“Arseholes?”

“Yeah, I work at a place that personifies mid-nineteenth century culture”.

Bethany stared blankly.

“You know, I’m there to do a job, they don’t give a shit about some low grade paralegals’ personal crisis. Had to pull a sickie today. I hate it when people do that, but needs must”.

“Okayyyy then”, Bethany didn’t care for the waffle and preferred it when Chloë was less wordy. She showed Chloë around the apartment, pointing out where everything was.

“Great”, said Chloë, seeming fairly distracted. “I’m not here long, gotta go get my car. I’m heading to a friend's house for the weekend. He’s having a party. I didn’t want to go after what happened yesterday but everyone said it’d help to take my mind off it. My friends are usually right”.

“For fuck’s sake”, thinks Bethany realising she won’t be able to follow her usual method of blackmail until after Chloë returns. “Thanks a bunch, Nick. Nick the almighty prick”. She looked over at Chloë who was hot and sweaty from the trip and lugging the suitcase up the stairs. She thought she’d at least try and get a few naked pictures before she left. “Hey, looks like you’ve built up quite a sweat. Why don’t you take a shower now you know where the bathroom is, so you feel fresh for your friends?”

“Yeah, good idea. I’ll just grab my towel and stuff from the suitcase”.

“No need, there’s toiletries and everything you need in the bathroom, I’ll grab you a fresh towel”.

Chloë pauses for a few seconds.

“Come on you stupid bitch, it’s not a fucking brainteaser, just get in the shower”, Bethany thinks as she watches the girl debate with herself.

“Yeah, okay, sounds good”.

“There’s a good girl”, Bethany thinks as she heads off to her room to grab a towel, shouting behind her. “Do you have time for some lunch? I was about to order”. Bethany has to think on her feet and adapts her plans quickly. She knows she hasn’t got the time to do the whole hiding Chloë’s luggage thing. “That will have to wait until Chloë gets back”, she tells herself, “but I can have a snoop around her phone and get some pics so we’re ready to start when she returns”.

“Yeah, should just have enough time if it’s quick”, said Chloë.

Bethany lays the towel over the rail in the bathroom. “You’re good to go”.

“Ta”.

Chloë closes the door and Bethany hears the shower flowing. She waits a few moments, giving the girl enough time to get naked before walking back over.

“Hey, Chloë”, Bethany shouts so she can be heard over the powerful shower.

“Yeah”.

“The WiFi has gone down and my phone’s out of data. Can I use yours to get the food?”

There was no response from Chloë.

“Hey, Chloë, did you hear…” Bethany is interrupted by the door unexpectedly opening. Chloë sticks out her head. “What did you say?”

Bethany tries to look but can’t see Chloë’s naked body. “Oh I was asking if I could use your phone. I’m out of data on mine and the WiFi’s gone down”.

“Oh, shit, that’s no good”. Chloë opens the door fully, revealing to Bethany that she is still fully dressed, even has her trainers on.

“Urgh”, Bethany thinks, “I went too soon”.

“Where’s the router”?

“Erm, I…” Bethany stumbles for words. “It isn’t supposed to go like this. I hate you so much already”, she mumbles to herself. She watches the girl heading back into the living area, her head searching.

“I’m not really sure”, lies Bethany, hoping Chloë will give up and doesn’t find it. Playing stupid she asks “What does it look like?”

“Oh, come on, you’re not that dumb, you must know what a router looks like. It’s twenty twenty three, where have you been living, under a rock?”

Bethany watches Chloë as she continues to look around the apartment. “Fucking stuck up bitch calling me dumb, I’ll show her who’s dumb when I have her tied up naked, fucking her butt red raw making her beg me to keep going. Yeah that’ll bring a whole new meaning to the phrase - stuck up”. Bethany decides to join in the search and pretend she doesn’t know what she’s looking for as she plans a gruesome future for Chloë in her head.

“Does this happen often?” Chloë asks as she looks around the living area. “Only I have to do a lot of work from home so I can’t have the internet keep dropping, might have to find a different company”.

“Erm, once every couple of months or so”, Bethany said. This was not a lie. This was generally the turnover of tenants she has to go through this rigmarole with.

Chloë makes her way behind the TV unit, “ahaa, found it”.

“Oh great”, Bethany responds, feigning relief.

“Ahh, it’s unplugged itself, how weird”.

“Oh, yeah very strange”, Bethany responds knowing full well she unplugged it earlier after answering the buzzer.

“Well, at least we don’t have to look for a new supplier. Must have just got caught on something and tugged itself out”.

“Must have”. Bethany nods slouching on the sofa, realising she’s just cleared her entire weekend for literally nothing.

“Don’t think I have time for that shower now Beth, or even food. May as well start unpacking. My weekend stuff is already packed in my car”.

“It’s Bethany”, she responds trying not to sound too frustrated but her temper is close to boiling over.

“Oh right, yeah sorry”, Chloë said as she sauntered over to her heavy suitcase before turning back to her new flatmate. “Hey Beth, why don't you come with me? We can get to know each other better. My friends are a blast, you’ll love them”.

“Bethany”, she snaps, “my name is Bethany”. She rolls her eyes. “She could start getting to know me by getting that right”, she tells herself.

“Shit, sorry. I’m crap with names. I’ll get there”. Chloë trundles the heavy suitcase towards her room as she continues with her suggestion. “It’ll be great. We can get drunk, eat loads of bad food, watch and laugh at stupid boys, doing stupid things. So what do you reckon? Girls road trip?”

Bethany takes a moment. “I already absolutely detest this girl. Spending all weekend with her will be torture. My weekend is free though and I might be able to get the ball rolling. Get some pictures of her, find out what happened between her and her boyfriend. She’s already admitted to pulling a sickie, maybe I can use that as leverage. Yeah, by the time we get back on Sunday, she’ll be my little needy, desperate bitch”. She looks back over at Chloë, imagining her naked, spread out and begging for attention. “If we go now, she won’t have time to unpack which will make things easier for me later”. She put on her best fake smile. “Okay, you sold it to me. Don’t worry about unpacking, it’ll take too long. I’ll just go throw a few things in an overnight bag and we’ll head out”.