Chapter fourteen: Sleep Deprivation
Chapter fourteen: Sleep Deprivation
Camilla
The vibration from my phone wakes me up from the closet thing I have had to sleep in days. I rolled over, fluttered my tired eyes open and glanced at the clock on my table and it read ten o'clock in the morning. Thank goodness, I probably would have slept longer if it weren't for the buzzing phone beside me.
But wait! My phone? Jumping out of bed, last night's incident hit me like a train. The scream, the gunshot, the blood and the police telling me there was no evidence, despite what I saw. The piercing four pairs of eyes that held me captive in their gaze and the large hand that kept me pinned by the throat and my phone that very much dropped from his pocket.
A flashback of memories swarms me but if this were all true then how was my phone ringing beside me? Looking at the screen, it was from an unknown caller. Gosh! It is probably officer Stella wanting to update me on just how crazy I am. Reaching my hand over, I grabbed the phone and picked up the call.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is the Camilla Ranger?" A male voice asked.
"Yes, I am the one."
"My name is Daniel Parker, my fiance saw your business card when she was in town yesterday and we are in desperate need of a last minute wedding planner. We were hoping that you could maybe be of help."
I guess it is not the police then, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I find myself actually really excited that I might finally have a new project to work on.
"Yes of course. If you don't mind me asking, how exactly late is the last minute?"
"The wedding is this coming Saturday. I know it is really short notice but our original wedding planner mother was in a fatal accident and had to fly out of the country for her surgery."
"Oh no, I am so sorry about that."
The wedding is only in three days now, I am considering if it is even possible for me to accept this offer. I know I am really in need of money but I am worried that I won't be able to deliver the results they are looking for with such little time to plan.
"Thank you, it was so sudden. It took us all by surprise but now of course we don't have a wedding planner which led us to you."
"I am really glad you chose to reach out to me but Saturday is really close. Typically, clients call me months before the wedding and while I am more than happy to try to make something work, I can't promise the process will be as smooth as it would with weeks of planning."
"That is totally understandable but we aren't expecting much from you. We just need something to put together for this important day in as many ways as we can."
"Okay, no problem."
"Really? Thank you so much, everyone else we have contacted has turned us down."
"It is my pleasure. However since we were in such a time crunch, I think that the best way to start would be to set up a meeting for today with you and your partner if possible. We will discuss things and what you are looking for. We should be able to cover everything of high importance within a few hours. Does that sound alright with you?"
"That is more than perfect. Does Zenith Restaurant on the tenth avenue work for you at 12 noon?"
"Sure, that sounds great."
"Wonderful, we will see you there and once again. Thank you."
"You are welcome, I will see you soon."
"Okay, bye." I hung up the call.
Notice the picture of Robin and I still as my wallpaper, I remembered the vow I made last night. I needed to cut him off from my life completely and the first step was with this picture.
Despite how hard I tried to keep it in, a single tear rolled down my face and dropped on my phone. Wiping it away with my thump, I open my phone and replace the picture with the photo of my father and I. This is the only picture I have with my father.
Another tear falls but this time it is not out of sadness, I think it is just from exhaustion and partially from the fact that I am kind of proud of myself for being on my own. It is really scary but I think that I have only just realized that there is a major difference between being alone and being lonely.
I have a few things in my life that I am proud of and I know that I will be okay. At this point, I just want the police to call me so I can get that over with too.
I thought that there was still the possibility that the scene from last night had just been cleaned up but with my phone in my hand, I know there is no chance of that being real. I went out with my phone and I didn't return to the room with it but then again, it is in my hand now. How come?
I know I shouldn't but I can't help but feel a little crazy at this entire situation. Last night was likely just a side effect of sleep deprivation but despite this, I can't shake how real everything seemed.
I felt things last night that I didn't even know I could feel. I can't describe it but the second those three sets of eyes met mine, my heart raced out of more than just fear. They may not be real but at the same time, I know the last night incident will be a part of me forever. That is why the distraction of this project is good for me, I can't think of this anymore. Maybe the stress of planning the wedding will be strong enough to overpower the stress of my everyday life.
It may still be obvious that I am tired but at least I am a little more put together. I walked into the bathroom and when I returned, I just realized that my room had been cleaned. I failed to notice this when I woke up but all my take out containers have been disposed of and my clothes are now neatly arranged in my bag.
I wondered when the housecleaning did that but either way, I am not complaining. It is one less thing for me to worry about now. I opened my suitcase, going through my clothes to find something to wear. Settling on the blue floral summer dress, I removed the towel and got dressed. The soft, flowy material falls nicely around my legs, ending at just above my knees. I loved this dress and the best part was that I wouldn't overheat in it.
I was just about to do my makeup when my phone buzzed for the second time today. I had a feeling that I knew who it was.
"Hello?" I picked up the call.
"Camilla?" Officer Stella's voice said from the other side and l was a little surprised.
"Yes, that is me." There is a short silence before she continues.
"It is officer Stella, I am calling to update you on last night's incident."
"Okay, go ahead."
"You might want to sit down for this if you are able to."
"I am okay but thank you. I am pretty sure I know what you are going to say anyways."
"Well, as you know, a forensic team was sent this morning and conducted a series of tests on the crime scene. I am sorry but they weren't able to find any evidence confirming your story apart from a few partial prints."
Despite her confirming what I feared, I surprisingly didn't find myself sad, I was just tired and I let out a sigh.
"That is okay, like I said. I am not too surprised by that."
"If you don't mind me asking, is there a specific reason that you aren't? You seemed very convinced that last night's incident happened."
"Yes I was but when I woke up this morning, my phone was right beside me."
"It was?" She seemed a bit shocked.
Of course, how else did she think she was able to talk to me right now?
"Yes but like you said, it was just a hallucination. It makes sense that my phone wouldn't be with me if it actually fell from that man's pocket, right?"
"Yes of course, that makes sense."
We spoke for the next half hour or so just about what the forensic investigator did and how there was no reaction observed during any of their testing.
She then proceeded to advise me to talk to a doctor about my lack of sleep recently and if it really was a hallucination or not. That is going to have to wait until after this wedding I am planning.
Speaking of which, I have to leave soon. After I hung up with her, I touched my face with a little make up. I already knew I should head to Susan's place before I go.
She is going to kill me...
For going silent for a whole four days so I may as well get that over with!
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