chapter four

The next morning Annabelle was woken with another headache, she really must stop this unintentional drinking. Emma had left in the early hours of the morning and she remembered trying to do some work. Never mind, she had today, she would settle down to it now. The kitchen didn’t look too bad considering the carnage they created last night. The tarot cards sat on the side still with the empty wine glasses. She turned on her netbook and prayed there were no more letters for her to respond to. She had enough to do.
As she made herself a cup of tea, she opened her inbox and there was an urgent email flashing up before her: it read:
Dear Annabelle,
I was very shocked by your curt reply to my letter, My initial reaction was to call your editor, however having slept on it, I fear you may be right so I think it is my fault and so will be saying goodbye to my sad and sorry life and doing what I should have done along time ago.
Goodbye.
Annabelle didn’t quite know what to think, what was this crazed woman talking about, what reply. She looked through her sent items and there it was. OH GOD! She can’t be held responsible for this woman killing herself. She quickly searched through the letters and found an address on email, they kept these for responses. She ran upstairs and got herself dressed as quickly as she could. This woman only lived a few miles from her in Surrey. She would be there in no time. She checked when the email had been sent. 4am this morning, oh god what if she was too late. This wasn’t meant to happen, oh god, this was the death card, this was her payback for her bad behaviour all this time.
“I’m sorry I’ll be a better person I promise, i’ll be a kinder person I promise” She started saying this to herself as she got in her car. She knew where Walton on Thames was, it wasn’t far.
“Bloody rush hour traffic, I am never going to get there.”
Two hours later and finally Annabelle reached the village, she asked an elderly couple the way and got pointed in the right direction. She was so nervous, what if she found a dead body, what if she was too late, it didn’t bare thinking about.
She ran up to the door and was about to barge it down with brute force, she hadn’t thought of knocking first, when it opened and out came a woman about 40 with a suitcase.
“I’m looking for Susan” Annabelle spoke out of breath.
“Thats me,”
“Oh thank god, thank god” she puffed as she sat on the stone step, “I thought you were a gonner”
“ Well I nearly was....I”
“Don’t do it, I didn’t mean what I said, it isn’t worth it.”
“Well I was only going to do it for a few weeks, whilst I calmed down.”
“I’m sorry, do what” Annabelle spoke in a slightly more controlled manner.
“Go away and consider my options.”
“Oh,” Annabelle started laughing, she realised she was still in her pyjama bottoms, she hadn’t brushed her hair and she must look like a mad woman.
“I’m sorry who are you” Susan spoke slowly as if Annabelle was rather slow.
“I’m Annabelle, the one who sent you the advice.”Annabelle spoke rather sheepishly.
“Oh, so why are you here at my house?”
“I thought you were going to kill yourself, from your email, I wanted to say don’t do it, and my tarot cards said you would and..”
Annabelle realised how foolish she sounded now. Now it was Susans turn to laugh.
“Actually, I thought your advice was rather apt, no-one has ever been truthful with me before, everyone is always walking on eggshells, you were the first one to stand up to me. Friends don’t feel they can and colleagues definitely don’t feel they should or I might fire them.” She spoke with a slight smile.
Annabelle suddenly became intrigued, who was this woman that could fire people if they disagreed with her.
“I’m a producer on TV. I have my own show, I am always working and don’t have much time for my family so maybe it was my fault this happened and so now i need some time out.”
“What show do you work on?”
“It’s this morning, we have been so busy recently looking for a new presenter, I have let everything else slip in my personal life.”
“I know,” Annabelle stammered “I am just about to apply for the job, Ferns job.”
“ Oh, I see, well we have actually filled it with Holly Willougby, the young pretty one, sorry.”
Oh well thought Annabelle at least that was a job off her list, no show reel needed now.
“Well I am sorry to have bothered you, I’ll let you go” Annabelle started to make her way back to the car
When Susan suddenly shouted after her.
“We are looking for a new problem lady though, maybe you could apply for that”
And that was all Annabelle needed, she took all the details and rushed home to prepare for her audition the next day.