Chapter 1 A Letter from a Stranger

Alexandra slammed the door of her SUV after parking it in the garage and went straight to the porch of her house in a stride. Before her shoes landed on the porch, the front door opened with an excited St. Bernard jumping on her chest.

"Smarty!" Alex exclaimed. "Always too excited to see me?"

She hugged the dog back while its paws played on her chest and raised her shoulders hugging her back.

"Missed me much?"

The dog licked her face to answer her back.

"Right. I'm now washed with your saliva, you cuddly monster."

She lowered the dog on the porch and kept on petting his head.

"Got any news for me, buddy?" asked Alex while rubbing its neck which Smarty seemed to enjoy very much.

Smarty turned its back and opened the door. Alex followed the dog. They went into the living room. Smarty nosed its way on a coffee table, bit a pack of letters, and gave it to Alex.

"Letters for me, buddy?" she asked as she took the letters from the dog's mouth. "Stay Smarty while I check this."

Smarty sat in front of her. Alex checked the letters one by one. She received two letters of the bill. One letter from her friend Chloe who was having her vacation in Sicily and an unfamiliar letter from a stranger. I'll check the three letters later, she thought.

"Smarty, return these letters to the table, please?" she asked of the dog who immediately bit back the letters and placed them back on the table.

Alex sat on a nearby sofa and tore open the envelope. She started to read the letter.

July 15, 2019

Dear Miss Alexandra Jane Diaz,

Hello, Alex. I'm Daniel St. Claire, a new resident in your old hometown in Avery Hill. I'm a fan of your book illustrations. I'd like you to make an illustration for me. Would you care to meet me? Drive back to your old hometown here in Avery Hill. I live across from your house.

P.S. I hope you consider this proposition. I really like your illustrations. I find them interesting, amusing at times, and very entertaining to look at.

Yours sincerely,

Daniel St. Claire

The letter was short and direct to the point. So, she got a fan named Daniel St. Claire and would like her to make an illustration of it. Of what exactly? As she thought about it, she felt two more papers under her letter. It was a cutout of her illustrations that were once featured in a magazine.

It would be Saturday tomorrow so, she thought, why not? Alex would always feel excited when there's work waiting for her.

She rose from her seat and went to the kitchen. Smarty followed her. She plugged in the coffee maker. She took a box of Kellog's from the cupboard and a carton of milk from the fridge and put them on the counter. Then, she took Smarty's dish from the rear side close to the back kitchen door. She placed it on the counter beside the Kellog's box and the milk box and poured the flakes and the milk into the dish. Then, she placed it down where Smarty was waiting. Smarty liked Kellog's better than dog food so she feed him it to keep her dog happy. After feeding her dog, Alex picked the receiver from the wall and dialed a number. She waited on the other line until a female answered with a hello.

"Sabina!" she said. "Thank God you answered the phone."

"Yeah, Alex. I just arrived home. You left early today," replied Sabina from the other line. "Are we still going out tomorrow?"

"Oh, that's the reason why I call you, Sabi. You see I got a letter from a Mr. St. Claire today and he asked me to do him an illustration."

"An illustration? What kind?" asked Sabina, curious.

"I'm about to find out," said Alex, pursing her lips. "So, do you mind if I skip our lunch date tomorrow at your gramps?"

"Sure, no, problem, Alex," Sabina replied from the other line. "But you would miss seeing Julian and gramps. Julian is so set on seeing you."

Alexandra rolled her eyes before she answered back to Sabina.

"You know what Sabina if that's the sole reason why I would not miss our Saturday's date, I would really miss it."

She said sarcasm curling under her tongue.

Julian Carter is Alexandra's ex-boyfriend who wanted to rekindle their relationship. He is Sabina's first cousin. She would rather kiss a dragon than a frog who turned out to be nothing but a Casanova. She must be his longest girlfriend that stayed with him for three years but a snake doesn't change his scales fast. After they broke up because she caught him with another woman on his bed, he moved on fast from her and got a new girlfriend almost every month.

"Doesn't that guy have a new girlfriend every month?" she asked, half-curious.

"Oh, he does. Her name is Anna. She's a young model on the rise."

Alex thought for a moment and saw a magazine she carelessly laid on the table after checking it earlier in the morning during breakfast. She picked it up and re-studied the face of the girl. It was an Anna on Flair front cover.

"She's on this month's Flair magazine."

"Yeah. I met her once when Julian asked me to join him for lunch. She's seventeen years old."

Alex placed back the magazine on the counter and checked the coffee maker. It wasn't yet boiling.

"Isn't your cousin celebrating his 30th birthday soon?" she asked.

"That wouldn't be until December, Alex."

"Then, you could tell him on our missed date tomorrow when he comes to meet you that he should stop dating teenage girls."

She said on the receiver. Alex heard Sabina giggled.

"Jealous, Alex?" Sabina teased from the other line.

"Hahahaha. Very funny, Sabina," she replied, calmly. "But it would do him good to date women his age."

"So, you still care after him, after all."

"Sabina, I'm so dropping this conversation if we insist about your cousin."

"Alex, wait. Don't hang up yet," Sabina said in a rush. "Since you can't come tomorrow, tell me the details of you meeting Mr. St. Claire."

"Sure, Sab. I'll tell you all the juicy details you wanna know."

The coffee maker made a beeping sound.

"I'm hanging up now, Sabina. Call you soonest. Bye."

"Call me soonest, Alex. Bye."

Alex replaced the receiver on the wall. She walked to the sink and took a mug from the tray rack and went to pour coffee in her mug. She opened the fridge and added vanilla creamer to her coffee. She also took a slice of carrot cake, sat on the stool, and ate by the kitchen countertop.

By the time she finished her late afternoon snack, it was already dark outside. She finished two more slices of cake and a bowl of salad and made another mug of coffee. She checked the watch on her wrist showing 6:00 pm. She washed the plate and the mug, then Smarty's bowl. And went back to the living room to watch the latest news on TV.