Chapter 6: Drunken Oblivion

“Perfect!” said Jared Reznik to himself.

“Just PERFECT!” he said again but just slightly louder.

Jared lifted his head suddenly and looked towards the front window of the lounge room. He heard the noise of a car engine coming down the road. This caused Jared to quickly dash about the dining room as he tidied away some dishes, closed down the scraps bin lid, wiped down the bench area, lit two candles on the dining room table, dimmed the lights then finally hit the ON button of the stereo system’s remote control.

The softly lit room Jared was standing in was suddenly filled with the strains of Celine Dion singing ‘All The Way’ with Frank Sinatra. As Jared listened to the music he looked down at the lovely suit he had on then quickly adjusted his tie and smoothed down his shirt and trouser legs.

Jared heard the car come up the driveway. He heard the engine stop. He heard the car door open and shut as two high heeled feet clip clopped their way up the path to the front door. He heard and saw the door handle turning and he felt his own heart beating wildly in nervous anticipation of Amanda’s entry and her response to what he had just spent most of the afternoon setting up.

What happened next went in such a blur that even years later Jared Reznik had trouble remembering it all in any sort of detail.

The front door swung open as Amanda Shore stepped inside. She looked across at her boyfriend in the light of the candles he had just lit but she didn’t seem to see him. In fact she didn’t seem to see anything in the room and she didn’t even seem to hear the soft music of one of her most favorite tunes. After that first entry it was only a matter of mere minutes before Amanda was heading back out that same door with two very large suitcases jammed packed with all her clothes.