In the present
Janet drifted across the room. She held her gown like an imaginary partner and waltzed around the room, her polished toes easily gripping the plush carpet of her hotel suite. Janet giggled and squealed. Her cheeks hurt. Even her long dark curly hair bounced with joy. She closed her eyes, losing herself in the sounds of the music coming from the band on the poolside terrace below. A familiar chord was struck, and Janet could see her father holding her, whirling her around and around in their living room, during one of their regular impromptu dance sessions.
‘… Understand me, won’t you try. Let’s just kiss … and say goodbye.’ Janet sang on the top of her voice, in harmony with the fairly good lead vocalist from the band. She hugged her gown closer and pretended to be swooned by her debonair partner. Janet giggled, threw her head back and increased her pace across the floor, deftly switching from a two-step to a three-step.
‘Let’s not rush anything, darling,’ Janet whispered to her partner. ‘We have all night.’ She swished her hair from side to side and giggled.
‘OW!’ Janet crashed to the floor, and rolled across the soft carpet, her momentum stopped by the glass sliding door leading out to the patio. It took a few minutes for Janet to extricate herself from the tangled mesh of her gown and the heavy gold, red and brown patterned drapes that had previously hung elegantly from the ceiling. Janet sat up and looked around at the drapes now lying in a heap at her feet, and the glass oval coffee table that stood with its hind legs in the air.
‘Oh no! What have I done now?’ She struggled to her knees and shuffled across the carpet to look more closely at the table, and with a sigh of relief, confirmed that the expensive-looking table was unharmed. Steading herself, Janet carefully eased the coffee table down onto all four of its sturdy wooden legs. Out of the corner of her eye, Janet noticed a red streak across the off-white carpet, leading from the pile of curtains towards the coffee table. In horror, she looked down and noticed a gash on her shin, where blood was slowly seeping and running down her leg.
‘Oh no!’ Janet exclaimed and ran to the bathroom. She soaked a towel in cold water and pressed it against her shin, which also helped to ease the throbbing.
How am I going to explain the blood on the carpet? Mom is going to kill me! Janet looked around the bathroom for anything that she thought might help. If only we had some Arm & Hammer. I’m sure that would work, Janet thought.
‘Hold on!’ With a pronounced limp, Janet made her way to the minibar.
‘A ha!’ she said triumphantly as she extracted a bottle of tonic water. ‘This should do it!’ She opened the bottle and poured it liberally over the blood trail, and hurried to the bathroom for another towel. For the next fifteen minutes, Janet sat in her underwear and patiently patted the carpet dry.
Only a forensic team could tell that blood has spilt on this carpet, Janet thought as she admired her handiwork.
The telephone rang, startling Janet. She stretched over to the bedside table from her sitting position and picked up the phone.
‘Hello?’
‘Janet? Are you OK?’
‘Oh, yes Dad. Why do you ask?’
‘You’ve been gone for almost an hour. Your mother and I had started to worry.’
‘It’s been that long?’
‘Is something the matter? Do you want me to come up?’
‘No. No Dad. I’m OK. I’ll be down shortly.’
OK. Did you get the stain out?’
Janet gasped. How did he know?
‘Janet?’
‘I … I ...’
‘Girl, what is the matter with you? I’m coming up there.’
‘No. Don’t, I … I just had to use the toilet.’
‘Was it something you ate? Didn’t you have the same meal as I did?’
‘Yes. No. I mean, it’s not that. It’s that time of the month.’
There was silence on the line for a few seconds. ‘Oh.’ Janet’s father cleared his throat. ‘Sorry.’ He cleared his throat again. ‘Did you get out the wine stain?’
‘Wine stain?’
‘Yes, the red wine stain from your gown.’
‘ … from my gown?’ Janet muttered. ‘Oh! That stain! I forgot!’
‘You forgot? That was why you went upstairs in the first place. Are you sure you are OK?’
Janet giggled. ‘Yes, Dad. I’m OK.’ She paused. ‘What did Mom say …’
‘Turn it inside out and run cold water …’
‘Yes! I remember now. You’re the best, Dad. Be down in a jiff.’ Janet hung up the phone, picked up her gown and hurried to the bathroom, without a limp.