Forgetting the Murder

7: Lake Placidus

Have you ever got the feeling that your world is coming down around you but yet you can't do anything about it? That's how I feel now. I mustn't be upset, I must keep strong, for both of our sakes. He would want me to be happy, he wants me to always be happy. I was so much happier with him.

***

I woke up to the sun shining though the crack in the curtains. I lay in bed for a while, thinking of how amazing today will be. I want to forget about everything that's been happening lately and just focus on Zeke. Eventually, I got out of my cosy bed, shivering a bit as the cool air hit my skin. I picked up two paracetamols, filled a glass of water and headed over to Emily's room.

As I entered her room, Emily was lying in bed hold her head and groaning a little in pain.

"My head hurts like hell!" she moaned. "I'm never drinking again!"

"I'd like to think so, not until you're eighteen anyway. What exactly happened?" I asked as I set the pain killers and water down on her bed-side table.

Emily took the tablet and swallowed it quickly, taking a sip of her water. "Can we maybe not talk about it today? After all, you need to enjoy your day with Zeke." she said, adding a wink at the end.

I shrugged and walked out the door, going into my own room to pick what I wanted to wear today. I rummaged through my drawer, trying to decide on what swimsuit to choose. All of them appeared to be too small or worn out, as I haven't been swimming in years.

I walked into Emily's room again, this time to borrow one of her swimsuits. I picked a nice little pink and purple bikini, which was probably the most suitable one there for me. I slipped on a pair of denim shorts and a light pink tank top, with a matching pair of flip-flops. I ignored all Emily's suggestions to dress a little more "sexy". Even with a killer hangover she still manages to annoy me!

I went down to fix myself some breakfast, as I was doing so I got a text from Zeke.

"Can you please drive over to my house? I, um, can't drive yet." the text read.

I giggled a little at his text, before texting back, "Sure, no problem."

After I had eaten my breakfast, I called goodbye to Emily and headed into my car. It was such a nice day that day, the weather was perfect for swimming. I drove to Zeke's house, making it there in just under half an hour. When I arrived he was standing in his driveway waiting on me.

"Abby!" he cried. That seems to be his normal greeting for me now. He raced towards me and pulled me into a huge hug, smothering me slightly.

"Hi Zeke." I said, returning his hug.

We walked up to the lake together, making small talk along the way.

"What's the lake called?" I asked.

"Lake Placidus, it means 'peaceful' in Latin." he replied.

After about five minutes we reached the lake. It had to be one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. It was a circular lake, not very large, with a small waterfall running into it from above. There were loads of ivy and bushes around it, slightly covering it from view. It was very tranquil, the only noises that could be heard were the birds singing.

Zeke took off his top, revealing his toned abdomen. I blushed a little at the sight of his half-naked body, but I looked away so he couldn't see my flaring cheeks. When he was simply in his swimming trunks he gracefully dived into the lake, giving me the impression he had been practising. After he had swam around a bit he called me to come in.

I slowly took off my top and shorts, feeling slightly self-conscious. Then I headed towards the lake, attempting a dive but landing in a painful belly-flop. Damn! Why am I so clumsy? Although, he seemed to find my misfortune and embarrassment quite amusing.

The water was a comfortable temperature, which made swimming in it a lot more enjoyable. We basically just splashed around in it a bit, not taking ourselves too seriously. Half an hour went by before the blue skies passed and the grey rain clouds came out. Soon, it started to rain. Zeke and I grabbed our clothes and tugged them on before running back to Zeke's house.

When we got back to Zeke's house, we sat down on his sofa in his front room to watch T.V. After flicking through the channels for a few minutes he finally settled on The Mentalist. Halfway through the show he suggested getting some ice-cream, which disappointed me slightly as I was really getting into the programme.

We walked into his kitchen and he went over to the freezer. I sat down at his kitchen table and watched him get out the vanilla ice-cream and cones. He fetched an ice-cream scoop from the drawer and started to scoop the ice-cream onto the cones. When he had finished he handed me my cone and sat facing me.

"Do you reckon ice-cream flavours have gone too far?" Zeke asked me as he licked his ice-cream.

"Yeah. When I went to Italy there was over fifty flavours in just one shop, and that wasn't that much apparently!" I answered, laughing a little. "I remember when you walked into a shop and there was three flavours: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry."

We started discussing the issue of ice-cream flavours until we had finished our own ice-cream. I excused myself to visit the bathroom, but honestly I just wanted to look around upstairs. I walked into a room next to the bathroom, "accidentally", and looked around a bit. I had never been in this room before. The walls were cream with a dark brown wooden skirting. There was a large bed near the window with cream sheets and a wooden headboard like the skirting. At the far end of the room was a chest of drawers and that's all there was. I walked around a little but stopped suddenly when I found a drawer slightly open.

I walked over to close it, but the curiosity got the better of me and I pulled the drawer open. The drawer was basically empty except for a brush, a pearl necklace and a picture of a woman. When I looked at the picture more closely I could see the woman had dark brown hair and large brown eyes. Her cheek bones were very defined and she had full lips. She was extremely pretty. I turned the photo around and on the back there was written:

"Gabrielle, 14/5/09"

I tried to work out what this date meant, was it a birthday or an anniversary? Whatever it meant, it obviously meant something. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and I quickly dashed out of the room and into the hallway.

"Abby? Are you OK? You look a but flustered." Zeke said.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just a bit tired, that's all." I replied quickly.

We walked downstairs and watched T.V again, making small talk every now and again. When it started to get dark I decided I would go home. I hugged Zeke goodbye and headed out to my car, as I stepped outside the cold air nipped at my skin. I slid into the driver's seat and drove on home.

When I reached my house I thought it would maybe be a good idea to question Emily about last night. Luckily when I got in, she was sitting on the sofa peacefully. I went over and sat down beside her.

"Is it time to inform me on what happened last night?" I said to her.

"OK, I guess I can't run away from it forever." Emily replied, sighing heavily. "I was in the club with Amy, my friend, and that man came over to us. We danced for a bit and then I left Amy, and me and the man went to the bar. He offered to buy me a drink and I asked for Coca-Cola. That's what he said it was."

"Do you know his name?" I asked.

"I can't remember, he didn't really say. I think it was Mark."

"Did you hear him order your drink."

"No, I was looking for Amy."

"Did he ask to come back to our house?"

Emily rubbed her forehead. "I think I suggested that, after he spiked my drink and made me drunk."

When I finished my interrogation, I went upstairs to bed. I settled under my covers and closed my eyes, hoping I would get a peaceful nights sleep. Knowing my life, I would probably be wrong.