Chapter 16

Lena heard Mark coming down the stairs again. She was almost glad to see him. She felt well rested, in spite of the sleeping conditions, and she needed to use the washroom. She was also pretty hungry. She wasn’t sure how long she had been in the basement this time. For that matter, she didn’t know how long she had been in the basement the previous time either. As Mark untied her, she asked, “What day is this?” “It’s Sunday.” “I missed church.” “I’m sure they’ll get over it.” Mark smiled. “I’m certain that God will forgive you, just blame it on me.” At least Lena knew that by now somebody would have missed her, although possibly not anybody who would actually do anything about it. There was a good possibility that no one would actually start looking for her until tomorrow morning when she didn’t show up for work. There was some groundwork being laid for a search party, though. She wondered what Mark was going to do. He had a job; she wasn’t sure that he actually needed the money, but if he didn’t show up for work, would they just write it off as the spoiled little rich kid deciding to quit pretending he was supporting himself? Would anybody catch on that he and she had both disappeared at the same time? He led her to the bathroom. Once again, she took care of her business, and then spent a few seconds looking out the window. There was actually a significant drop between the house and the beach. She judged it to be at least 30 feet. She still couldn’t tell for sure what was up the beach or down the beach from the house, but there was no sign of any close neighbors. She washed her hands, and opened the door. Mark led her back to the kitchen. Once again, she fixed salads. This time he grilled steaks. Lena almost smiled to herself at the thought that Mark must have decided that he wanted steaks because he thought he had something to celebrate. While he was grilling, she went to the silverware drawer, and got out everything she would need to set the table, including 3 steak knives. One of those knives went in her sleeve while Mark was preoccupied with the steaks. When the steaks were done, the table was set, and they each had a bowl of salad. Once again, they ate in silence. Lena didn’t normally eat steak, she tried to stay away from red meat, but this time, the knife in her sleeve made her feel that she had something to celebrate. She decided to broach the subject of work tomorrow. “Are you going to leave me here alone while you go to work tomorrow?” Mark shook his head. “Don’t worry, I’ve put in for a couple of weeks vacation time. My boss thinks I’m in the Caribbean.” He laughed. “I guess I should work on my tan. It might be suspicious if I came back from a two week vacation in the Caribbean looking white as a ghost.” Lena contemplated whether she smelled badly enough to ask about the shower. She wasn’t entirely sure, one way or the other. She felt like she should need a shower, if this really was Sunday, but she really wasn’t smelling herself. Of course, she was aware that one can become acclimatized to smell, especially if the smell builds up gradually, so that might be why. Of course, if he insisted on helping her shower, then he would discover the knife in her sleeve. She decided to wait until next time.