Shadow of a DoubtA Story by Princess3MoragShort story about a woman who is meeting up with a man and before your imagination is running wild, just read it and hopefully enjoy!In one swift motion Yumi Yoshida turned around. There
was nothing to see, the car park was empty except for her Yamaha motorcycle and
one dark Mercedes. She heard the sound of a howling dog again. It sounded like
it came from the adjoining park. Well, technically it wasn’t a park, it was
just trees and grass stretched out as far as the eye could see. Nothing but
total darkness surrounded the car park and the pub she was heading towards. Yumi turned back and kept her eyes on the pub. She had
been here before to check out the place, but she hadn’t yet been inside. The
ice cold wind caused her to shiver and she quickened her pace. She could hear
the rapid tapping sound of her high heels on the pavement that was still wet
from the rain earlier that evening. She brushed her hair out of her face and
checked her watch. It was exactly midnight. A few lampposts poorly lit up the
car park. From a distance it would seem like the pub and car park were floating
in darkness, like a miniscule planet floating in space. Walking
in an empty car park towards a pub that was situated on a hill in the middle of
nowhere at midnight may have sparked fear in any woman in her late twenties but
not in Yumi Yoshida. She was the kind of woman who could handle herself. She
had moved to London from Kyoto when she was ten and ever since she turned
eighteen she had been moving around the country doing what she did best. She
reached the back of the establishment and stepped into a red telephone box that
was placed at the left corner. There was an old, wet newspaper on the floor
with a distorted picture of some child, and the phone was hanging off the hook.
It smelled like urine and coffee. Yumi picked the phone up by the cord and took
out a handkerchief to clean the phone before putting it to her ear. A
brief moment later she stepped out of the telephone box and walked to the front
of the building. She stopped to look inside. It was a small pub with bad
lighting. The radio was playing popmusic in the background. Behind the bar
stood a middle aged bartender cleaning a couple of beerglasses, she couldn’t
see his face. In the reflection of the window, she saw her long, dark hair
frame her face. Her long fringe covered her eyebrows and beneath the dark
strands she could see her lightblue contacts. She only ever put them in when
she had to work. She stepped
inside and smelled fish, chips and grease. She walked straight on to the only
other person sitting in the pub. His back was turned towards her. “Is this seat
taken?” she asked and sat down without awaiting a reply. “Go ahead,”
said the man and pushed his glasses back. It was a man in his thirties with
short, sandy hair and hazelnut eyes. He wore a gray suit with a deep-purple
shirt and violet tie. “You must be…” “I am, Mr.
Stone,” Yumi
interrupted. “So, what should I call you?” “Call me Yami.” “Is that your real name?” he asked. “Almost, but the meaning is more
accurate.” “What does it mean?” “I’ll tell you later. First things
first.” The man nodded and touched his
glasses again. “Well, I’m married.” “They always are. I assumed that’s
why you contacted me.” He looked down at his coffee and
moved in his chair. He then loosened his tie before he spoke again, somewhat
softer than before. “Her name is Heather and here’s her picture.” From his
breast pocket he took a picture and slid it to her side of the table. Yumi
picked it up and saw it was a picture of them together, holding each other and
smiling, happy and unaware. They seemed so at ease, so at home with each other
no matter where they would be. How could it have come to this? There is no such
thing as true, unconditional love, except maybe with babies and dogs. She
couldn’t help but wonder if it meant that the smarter you are, the less you
become capable of loving. Yumi snorted. The man looked up. “I
got it,” she said and wanted to slide the picture back but the man said: “No,
keep it. I don’t need it anymore.” He then finished his coffee and they sat in
silence for a moment. Yumi was observing him and couldn’t help but think he
didn’t seem like the type of man who was capable of doing any harm. Usually she
could tell for sure, and if she couldn’t she had time to shadow someone, but in
this case everything had gone so fast. It seemed understandable considering the
case. “Do you have many…clients?” he
suddenly asked, breaking the silence and interrupting her in her thoughts. “I have enough,” was her reply. “Don’t you ever find it difficult? I
mean, because you’re a woman…well, I mean…” “No, I don’t. I’m good at what I do,
which means people are willing to pay for something I can give them. It’s that
simple.” “Is it really that easy?” She couldn’t believe his nerve and
just tapped her fingers on the table. It didn’t make a sound though, because
she was still wearing her gloves. She could see him thinking. He had a
frown on his face and was unconsiously tapping his indexfinger on his watch.
“Life really is all about money, isn’t it?” His voice sounded gentle. Yumi
remained silent. He got up to go to the lavatory and excused himself. Yumi leaned back and let out a sigh.
She still had the picture in her hand and looked at it again. She was actually
thankful for the life she had, at least she had the chance to do something
meaningful. After a couple of minutes she saw
Mr. Stone coming out of the lavatory and got up. She gestured towards the exit
and dropped a twenty pound note at the bar. Then she walked towards the door
with Mr. Stone on her heels. Together they walked past the
building back to the car park. Yumi closed her eyes when the cold wind struck
against her face. She had kept on her leather jacket and gloves inside, which
made the drop in temperature very welcome. “You said both was fine, but I
brought cash with me. I figured that would be harder to trace,” Mr. Stone
suddenly explained. “It is,” Yumi said coldly. He unlocked the car with his key fob
as they nearly reached it. Yumi looked around and noticed it was still as
deserted as when she had arrived. The car was right beneath a lamppost and when
Mr. Stone opened a briefcase in the trunk she could clearly see all the money
in it. “Half up front and after, right?” “Yes, Mr. Stone. That’s correct.” “Considering what you’re about to
do, you can call me…” “No,” Yumi interrupted. “I don’t
want to know any first names. It’s easier that way.” “But then…you know my wife’s name.”
The light of the lamppost reflected in his glasses. “That’s not a problem in this case,”
Yumi answered and walked slowly to his other side. “You know, you still haven’t told me
what your name means.” “Darkness.” He opened his mouth to say something
but closed it again. “Why do you want to do this to your wife?” He grimaced. Not in an evil way, but
more like he was disguising his discomfort. He put his hand in his jacket and
Yumi automatically reached for her gun. He took out a picture and handed it to
her. It was the picture of a little boy. He had brown hair and freckles and his
broad smile showed he was missing two front teeth. “That’s my son. He was from my first
marriage.” “Was?” “Yes, he died a few months ago. My
wife has always treated him very poorly, without me knowing. I was always at
work and even though I noticed he was mostly quiet, I thought it was because he
missed his mother. But then I found his diary and even though his death was
technically an accident, I can’t help but feel she’s responsible. I can’t even
look at her anymore and I don’t remember the last time I said more than a
sentence to her.” “So you never abused her daughter?” “What? What are you talking about?
We don’t even have children together.” “I see. Well, that’s what she told
me.” He looked down and fumbled his
watch. “I’m saying she found
out what you were going to do and she wanted to beat you to it.” Even though it was cold
outside, little drops of sweat began to form on his forehead. He was mumbling
incoherently. Yumi closed the trunk.
“Don’t worry, I don’t take money from a dead man.” She saw him tremble.
“If you’re going to kill me, just do…” “No.” Everything happened
fast from that moment on. She’d taken her knife and cut the palm of his hand.
Following her instructions he had held his hand over the front seat of his car.
He had put his tie around his hand to stop the blood from spilling on the
ground. He left his car keys in the ignition and only took the briefcase. It
didn’t matter if his wife thought she’d taken the money. Now, he had a chance
to start over. Yumi walked back to the
telephone box and dialed the number she had dialed before. “It is done,” Yumi
coldly stated. “I’m transferring the other half
now,” the woman said. “Alright, Mrs. Stone, goodbye.” Yumi took a deep breath before stepping out in the cold wind. Her black
hair moved fiercely in front of her face, almost dancing. She ripped up the
picture of the happy couple and the wind blew away the pieces into the
darkness. © 2011 Princess3MoragFeatured Review
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3 Reviews Added on January 13, 2011 Last Updated on January 14, 2011 AuthorPrincess3MoragNetherlandsAboutI am 21 and I am a writer. (not yet author) I'm still studying, I should have my Bachelor in the summer and after that I want to study Creative Writing MA. in England. I love to write as diverse as p.. more..Writing
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