Behind Evil Eyes

“Last round!” I shout, ringing the small, golden bell behind the bar. The last few customers speed up to us, bills held tightly in their shaking fists as they compete for our attention.

Once the last person leaves, my colleague Megan and I set about our routine of cleaning sticky booze bottles and wiping down the tables.

My feet are aching, I haven't had a chance to sit down since I came in at seven this morning. I suppose I can't complain, more hours means more tips, which adds to our savings.

After polishing the last bottle and settling it on the shelf, I drop onto one of the chairs and watch as my short, petite friend takes her apron off, folding it neatly before setting it aside.

She looks up at me and smiles sweetly, tucking a loose strand of pixie-pink hair behind her ear as she takes a seat next to me.

I watch as she begins digging in her handbag. After a few seconds, she triumphantly holds up a small stack of papers, an excited grin plastered on her perfectly made-up face as her eyes study me and she asks. “Hey Kayla, have you and Mark found a place to buy yet?”

I sigh and shake my head, “No, unfortunately not. We've looked everywhere. Everything is just super expensive these days. We've saved as much as possible from Mark's exhibitions and my salary, but it's still not even close to enough for us to be able to afford our own home. To be honest, it looks like we'll be saving for the next few years before we can find something perfect.”

She pulls out a few pieces of paper and sets them out on the table.“Well, I might have found something for you.” She says.

I can tell by the way she's beaming at me that she's so excited about this, so I give her a tight smile and lean forward to pick up the first page.

On it, is a picture of a cute double story home with peach walls and a neat, white picket fence. There's one large window above a beautifully designed front door, and three on either side of it on the first floor.

The best part is the fact that surrounding the gorgeous house, there are mountains stretching out in the distance, as far as the eye can see. Complimented by the luscious green grass and rose bushes running alongside the fence.

It would be the most amazing place for family picnics and lazing around on a hot summer day.

In short, it looks perfect, but my heart sinks as I realize that we've looked at houses similar to this, and they all cost a fortune.

I put the picture down and turn to Megan who's watching me, biting her lower lip in anticipation. Her emerald eyes are still glowing with excitement as she studies my face.

“It's perfect.” I say.

Suddenly her smile drops and her eyebrows knit together. “Uh-oh. I know that look. I smell a 'but...' coming along.” She leans back, crossing her arms as she says, “Come on, you can say it. I know you want to.”

I smile and stick my tongue out at her teasingly. I hate how well she knows me. “Ok, you're right, there is a 'but'. I appreciate the help, Hun, but you know we could never afford a place like this.” I say with a sigh, looking at the picture of the house with longing.

She shakes her head and slides the next piece of paper in front of me, tapping the bottom of the page loudly. “Look at the price, Kayla!”

I look down to where she's pointing. I don't think she realizes how broke we are. The second I read the number, I look back up at her, not really believing my own eyes. “No way. It says here that it's selling for fifteen thousand Rand? That doesn't seem right.” I tell her. Shaking my head, I let out a nervous giggle. “Perhaps they're renting it out for fifteen, but nobody in their right mind would sell something this beautiful for such a small amount of money when they could make at least a million out of it.”

She didn't even hear a word I said, because as I started speaking, she started shaking her head, causing her light, pink hair to fly wildly around her face. “I thought so too! So I called the agent, and she said there was no mistake! It's definitely for sale. Apparently, the last owner passed away like, four years ago and left it to her niece who wasn't interested in taking it, so she put it on the market.”

She slaps me gently on the arm before leaning forward. “Don't look at me like that, I'm serious. Since then, it's been vacant, nobody wants it. It's your day off tomorrow, right? Just call the agent and have a look at it, what's the worst that could happen? If you hate it,” She shrugs. “Then don't buy it, but it could end up being the perfect place for you guys.”

Bless her heart. She just wants to help. “Okay, fine, I'll call her and see if Mark and I can go check it out. I'll text you afterwards and let you know, okay?”

She nods and gives me a small smile. With that, I take the pieces of paper and, after glancing at the image one more time, put them in my bag.

Once all the cleaning is done and the chairs are all stacked up, I grab my stuff from the staff locker, give Megan hug goodbye and head home, taking a feel breath as I step outside into the cool air.

******************************************

As I climb the lengthy stairs to get to our small apartment, I hear the familiar sounds of people screaming at each other, music blaring from one of the doors, a baby crying from another, police sirens blaring outside, along with cars hooting and cats screeching.

I can't wait to get out of here, I think to myself as I look down. I can't wait to just escape to a nice home of our own, where we can finally settle down, and maybe even think of starting a family.

The image of cute little toes and toothless grins on the faces of our one-day children brings a smile to my face.

I reach the sixth floor and looking at my watch, I see its already 1AM, Mark will probably be up painting but just in case he's asleep, I unlock the door and sneak in.

Quietly placing my keys and handbag on the kitchen counter, I put the kettle on and walk to the living room that doubles as Mark's art studio.

Peering around the corner, I see that all the lights are off except for the little green lamp next to my chair.

I groan, annoyed to find that his art supplies are scattered everywhere.

Paintbrushes are laying on pieces of stained newspaper on the floor, and tubes of paint occupy every inch of the wooden table in the middle of the room.

I really want to go in and tidy up, but I know better than to clean up his so-called organized mess. Instead, I just turn the light off and go to the bedroom.

As my fatigue sets in, suddenly having a cup of coffee doesn't seem as appealing as climbing into our warm bed and drifting off to sleep, and seeing Mark's sleeping form cuddled up beneath the duvet just makes me feel even more tired.

I take off my ugly, orange uniform and put my favourite sleeping shirt on before climbing into bed and laying down. I let out a sigh of relief as my body and mind start to relax, bringing on the sweet peacefulness only sleep can offer.

******************************************

I wake up and groan, bringing my hand up to shield my eyes from the harsh sunlight streaming in from the window.

I use my other hand to stretch out and feel for Mark but his side of the bed is empty, so I sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes.

Walking to the other side of the room, I gather a pair of blue jeans and a white tank top. After a long hot shower, I grab my toothbrush and walk over to the mirror.

Oh my God, is that what I look like? Damn waterproof mascara. No matter how many times I wash my face in the shower, I still manage to have black stains surrounding my light brown eyes, making me resemble a raccoon.

I quickly brush my teeth, grab a cotton pad as well as a make-up remover, and begin wiping the remnants of last nights make up off.

Once that mission is complete, I take one look at my wet, curly, blonde hair and decide to just tie it up and deal with the knots at a later stage. The messy bun compliments my heart-shaped face more than any other hairdo anyway.

I walk out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where my oh-so-amazing boyfriend is busy frying bacon and eggs for breakfast.

Walking around the counter, I give him a kiss on the cheek before standing on my toes to reach the cupboard and take our only two coffee mugs out.

I add sugar and coffee into the empty cups, add boiling water and some milk before stirring and placing his cup next to the stove.

Oh yes, the house! I can't believe I almost forgot.

I walk over to my handbag, take the papers out and hold them out in front of Mark, who's happily chewing on a piece of crispy bacon.

He looks up at me, slightly confused as he takes the paper and hands me a plate.

I use my knife to cut a perfect circle around the middle. I add salt and pepper before popping it into my mouth, closing my eyes as I savor the rich taste of the runny yolk.

I open one eye to watch as Mark's face scrunches up in concentration. He always does that when he reads, it's the cutest thing.

“Kayla, you know we can't afford a place like this...” He starts, but I cut him off quickly.

“I know! I said the same thing, but Megan already called the agent, it's still available. And if you look at the second page.” He puts the picture of the house aside and looks at the next piece of paper.

“Fifteen grand? That's impossible, Babe, it's probably a scam.” He says, setting the pieces of paper aside. I place my hand over his and look at him with pleading eyes.

“Come on Mark, let's just arrange a viewing. If it sucks, we'll keep looking, but what if it doesn't? This could be perfect for us.”

His gorgeous grey eyes study me for a moment. I can see he's thinking of reasons we should avoid going.

Just when I think he's about to tell me to look for something more realistic, he looks at me and says, “Fine, I'll call the agent and see when we can view it, but don't get your hopes up, nothing that looks like that comes cheap.”

I jump up and wrap my arms around his neck from behind, kissing his stubble-covered cheeks. “Yay! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm sure we're going to love it. Maybe there is someone looking out for us after all.” I say, leaning forward so that our eyes meet.

Mark just rolls his eyes and kisses me quickly before shoving another piece of bacon into his mouth.

I kiss him back and take a seat on the modern bar stool next to him.

Mark has always been the type of man that only believes in what he can see. He says anything to do with religion or the supernatural is meant for people without brains, people who want to blame the noises old houses make on ghosts, or feel they have an excuse to do whatever they want because they'll just pray and afterwards feel better because some invisible being has forgiven them.

Unable to conceal my excitement any longer, I quickly grab the phone, punch in the number and shove it into his free hand.

“What, right now?” He asks with a mouth full of food, looking at the phone as if it’s some foreign device.

I stick my tongue out before smiling brightly. “No better time than the present!” I tell him, feeling giddy all over.

He looks at me for a second and I see his eyes soften as he laughs and swallows before pressing the call button.

After chatting to the agent for a minute, he puts the phone down and stands up, pulling his brown, leather jacket over his shoulder as he turns towards me. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

“We're going right now?”

He leans over and kisses me before giving me a lopsided grin. “No better time than the present!” He makes a game of trying to block my way to the room, and I lose as he bites down on his lower lip, distracting me as I ran past him at a slower-than-usual pace, earning myself a hard slap on the ass as I rush into the bedroom to slip on a pair of golden sandals before meeting Mark at the front door.

We get to the Jeep and climb in.

I wait for him to start the car and pull out into the street before asking. “So, where is it? Megan said it wasn't too far, but she never actually mentioned which town it was in.”

“It's in a small town just an hour outside the city, she called it Graaff-Reinet.” He says, briefly looking at me with loving eyes before returning his steady gaze to the road ahead.

“An hour?!” I exclaim, groaning at the fact that the one thing I forgot to check was exactly where the new house is. “How am I supposed to get to work and back if we live an hour away?” I ask him, suddenly feeling deflated, “I've had this job for two years.”

He doesn't look at me as he places his hand gently on my leg, giving it an encouraging squeeze as he says. “We're just looking, Kayla. I told you, don't get your hopes up. If it's perfect for us, and going for that price, then we'll work something out. There are plenty of bars all.over the country. I'm sure you'll find a job wherever we move to.”

I nod and turn, looking out of the window as I lose myself in my thoughts. He's right, I know. There's no use in fretting over consequences of an action that hasn't even happened yet. I refuse to let one possible minor set back change my mood. I just have such a good feeling about this, if we take it I'm sure Mark's right and I'll find a job close by.