5:00 the next morning Wednesday, December 2…
“Get up boy. Let’s go,” Kelly said quietly. The pup stretched and followed Kelly into the bathroom. “We got to be quiet so that we don’t wake up Madison.” Kelly put her hair up in a ponytail and walked back into her closet. She took off her sleeping pants and pulled on some Northface running pants and an old Stanford sweatshirt. Kelly silently left her bathroom and walked back into her bedroom. She sat down on the bed and tied her running shoes. “Come on.” Kelly silently walked through her room into the living room and then on into the entryway. She clicked Riley’s leash on and they went out the door. “Let’s run the Broadway loop today boy.” They walked down the stairs and out of the terrace and began running.
It was cold out and both their breathes could be seen in the air. A half an hour later Kelly began picking up her pace. “Half an hour left boy.” Kelly was thinking to herself about how much fun Madison and her would have for the next month. Parties and clubbing. It would good for her to finally get on with her life. Her thoughts were cleared by the sound of a trashcan knocking over. She turned around. She thought to herself, “It’s still a little early for the street vendors to be out. What in the world did that?” She heard footsteps and she looked down the street. No one was there. She shook her head at herself, blaming it on her nerves. They continued running. A few minutes later the footsteps came back. When Kelly and Riley stopped, the footsteps stopped. Someone was following them. They kept going, then Kelly stopped running. The other footsteps stopped too. “Riley someone is following us. We have got to go.” Kelly moved across the street and ran into the well-lighted alley. The person followed her. She couldn’t see well as she turned around, the person’s face, but she could tell that it was a man. She ran all the way home. The whole time she was crying and Riley was scared out of his mind. His tail was between his legs. They ran faster and faster.
Finally they reached the house. Kelly looked around. There was no one outside. Kelly pulled Riley quickly up the stairs into the apartment and slammed the door. She locked all the locks and sat down and cried. “Why does it happen to me? Why Riley?” Riley came and licked her face as if to say it would be okay. “I know Ri. Paranoia right? I’m going to go take a shower.” Riley barked and laid down on his bed. Kelly went and took a long shower and changed into her doctor’s scrubs. She put on her makeup and put her hair up. She found her stylish glasses and put them on top of her head. She was ready for the day. “Now,” she thought, “it’s time to go wake Madison up.” She walked up the spiral stairs and pushed up the trapdoor into Madison’s bedroom. She took a deep breath to clear her thoughts because she didn’t want Madison suspecting that anything had happened. Kelly walked over to the bed. Madison was on top of the covers. She hadn’t even changed out of her clothes. Kelly thought to herself, “Poor girl. Maybe I should let her sleep. Nawww! Get up. Come on. It’s time to go.” Madison woke up with a start. “Alright, I’m up. God, give me a heart attack why don’t cha!!” Kelly was laughing. “You have got ten minutes to be ready. We are running late already today. We have 2 hours to get your car and have breakfast and find a dress for me. Let’s go.” Kelly said. Kelly and Riley walked down the stairs. Kelly walked into the kitchen and fed Riley. Kelly turned on the TV and watched Sportscenter while Madison got ready. “I wonder who won the game last night? Just then the show’s announcer was showing highlights of the Kentucky Wildcat’s game from last night. The Cat’s had won. The announcer went on to say that there had been special people at the game last night. It was the Backstreet Boys. They showed a clip of five guys cheering. The announcer continued on to say that they Boys had just come a few days to Kentucky and to watch the game and flew out last night for New York to continue with their tour. Kelly clicked of the TV. “Man, I turned on the TV to hear about sports, not some flashy boy band. Who are they anyways?” Just as promised, Madison came flying down the stairs. “I’m ready. Let’s go slowpoke.” They picked up their jackets and purses and said bye to Riley and locked the door. They went down the stairs into the garage. Madison stopped in her tracks, “Wow, this gets better and better. Nice car.” Kelly laughed and started the Jeep and they were off.