The American Nightmare

It was supposed to have been their dream home. But neither of them had imagined her vengeful ex-boyfriend would travel almost 5,000 miles to try and burn it down whilst she and her young son were still inside.

  Amber was born in Houston, Texas, eventually moving to Dallas, meeting and falling in love with her previous boyfriend in her early twenties, getting engaged and giving birth to their son. But, they were from completely different backgrounds and, despite living with him in an almost one-million dollar house and driving around in a limousine, she quickly realised that he cared very little for her or their son, preferring instead to concentrate on reviving his previous career as a wrestler.

  Amber had dreamed of being a model for many years, despite growing up in a low income family, with her father in jail, and she had thought that meeting someone like him might allow her to achieve her dream. But she was wrong. He treated her merely as a trophy wife, expecting her to always look good on his arm, and just to keep quiet and do as she was told. So she began to turn to social media, posting many thousands of photos of herself online, desperate to gain 'likes' and followers, and hoping to be 'discovered' as a model. Perhaps there was even a chance that she might find a new love online, too...?

  One day, she began following a man called Simon from England on Instagram, and she felt very happy when he quickly followed her back. He was considerably older than her, but she really liked the photos on his Instagram account. Over time, Simon began to 'like' and comment on Amber's posts more and more frequently, and she did the same. Soon she would only like comments posted by him on her posts, and then one day, after about three or four years, she noticed he had liked several of her photos on Facebook, too. 

   Amber had recently entered a contest to become a magazine cover girl. Whilst on a holiday in Crete, Simon voted for Amber daily, and because the website promised that his chosen model would send him a private message of thanks if he did so, he decided to buy some votes too, instead of just using his daily free vote.

  Very quickly Amber promised to meet him face to face if she won, and this encouraged him to buy more votes, so she begged him to stop 'wasting his money,' and she promised to meet him one day, even if she didn't win. So stopped, but he spent the entire holiday thinking about her, wishing they were there together. Then, because they were quite friendly on Instagram already, Simon decided that he would try to get her to become his friend on Facebook too, and see if anything might develop between them.

                                    ......

  Simon arrived home a few days later, to an empty house (apart from the family cat), and he quickly got back onto Facebook, seriously considering sending Amber a Friend Request. But, not wanting to risk her saying no, and then possibly blocking him on Instagram too, he decided to 'like' her Facebook posts instead, specifically those relating to the contest. Hopefully, she would see the 'likes', recognise him from Instagram, and send him a friend request instead.

  Simon 'liked' several pictures and then sat back and waited. To his astonishment, Amber did indeed send him a Friend Request, less than five minutes later, and they were both secretly very excited. He accepted the Friend Request immediately, and they spent the next few hours exchanging messages. 

  Over the next few months Amber and Simon would exchange numerous messages, learning more and more about each other, and then, during the last week in November, he went on holiday for another week, alone.

  During that week, every evening, they would message each other again, for several consecutive hours, until he reluctantly told her he was going to bed, due to the time difference between their two countries. During one of these chats, Amber gave Simon her mobile phone number. She was extremely happy when he immediately gave her his number in reply, although they both admitted to being very shy at the time, and thought that they would hardly ever use them.

  Over time, they became more and more chatty, and even a little flirty, on social media, not really caring whether anyone noticed. Even the fact that she had already had a boyfriend for seven or eight years, was engaged to said boyfriend, and even had a young son with him, did not stop her receiving plenty of attention from Simon, and returning it. She made it clear immediately, that she had wanted to leave her boyfriend for a long time, and she had no intention of marrying him, despite originally saying yes. But her boyfriend had other ideas. Within a couple of months, her boyfriend had also sent Simon a Friend Request, which left Simon conflicted; If he said 'yes', it would mean her boyfriend could monitor their online interactions, but if he said 'no' it would look like they had something to hide. So, reluctantly, he said yes and, everything was very amicable at first. But, perhaps foolishly, they continued to flirt openly online, and eventually, Amber's boyfriend decided to send Simon a voice message Messenger, via giving him a 'friendly warning' to stay away from his 'wife' - despite the fact that they weren't actually married!

  Simon was slightly worried by the message if he was honest, because Amber's boyfriend was threatening to 'come and find him, and hurt him'. But his feelings for the beautiful Texan were too strong to let a vague threat stop him from messaging her. She clearly didn't want them to stop being friends either, so they carried on. After a short while, Amber gave Simon her email address, so that they could email each other instead of using Messenger, which was fine at first,but then her boyfriend began monitoring these too, forcing her to seek the help of her brother to set up a new, secret email address. 

                                       ......

As time went on, Amber hinted, twice within five months, that she wanted to marry Simon, despite the two of them never having met face to face. But it wasn't until she actually asked him if an Englishman could marry a foreigner and move her to the UK, that Simon actually took the hint. So, just under two years after becoming Facebook friends, on Amber's thirtieth birthday, Simon sent Amber a parcel, which included a couple of gifts, a ring...and a cartoon of a man proposing to a woman, with his own words written into it.

                                      ......

  Amber opened the parcel as soon as it arrived, even though it was four early, and she emailed him immediately to 'confess' what she had done, and to thank him profusely for all of his gifts. She accepted his marriage proposal immediately, but they both knew they would face many obstacles before their big day. He had lost his job four months earlier, but she had stuck by him, determined to make a life together in England. On top of this, the documents they would need in order to get married, and for her and her son to immigrate to England, would cost several thousands of pounds, money which neither of them currently had. They were also required to meet face to face at least once before applying (video meetings were not acceptable), and to prove they were in a genuine relationship.

  To make matters worse, there was now a serious worldwide virus to contend with, meaning that they were very restricted in their plans to meet each other. But Amber and Simon were determined to be together, and marry asap.

  Every day, Simon spent hours searching and applying for new jobs online, hoping to find one that would pay enough to fulfil the Visa requirements. Ironically, by sacking him, his employers had done him a favour, forcing him to find a better-paid job, because his previous wage would need to increase by at least fifty percent in order to fulfil his dreams of marrying his American fiancée. 

  Finally, after more than a year, Simon landed a job which paid almost double his previous salary, and he put his heart and soul into making a success of it, so that he could marry Amber.

  By Christmas, despite the virus, Amber and Simon had made plans for her to visit his home in London for the first time. They both knew she would have to quarantine inside his house for her entire visit, but they both agreed that they would make it work - they had too. 

She and her son arrived at the airport a couple of days before Christmas and, of course, Simon was at the gate to meet them. Amber beamed with happiness as she entered the Arrivals area, and she ran towards Simon, with open arms. They met in a hug and stood holding each other for several moments, before slowly pulling apart.

"May I kiss you?" Simon asked as he looked into her eyes. Amber nodded. So they both closed their eyes and, as her son gazed silently up at them, they shared their first kiss.

"It's so great to finally meet you!" Amber said with a slight giggle, as they pulled apart.

"I've waited five years for this!" Simon replied, then he began to lead his two visitors towards the car park. On the journey home, Simon switched on the car stereo, and Amber immediately realised that they were hearing the same songs he had sent her on an MP3 player as part of her birthday gifts in June. He had named the playlist after her because all of the songs reminded him of her, and soon they both found themselves singing along, in unison, to all of the songs, on the journey to Simon's house.

  Amber stayed for three weeks that Christmas, because she had to quarantine for two weeks anyway, due to the virus, which meant that she and Simon couldn't go anywhere. He wanted to show her some of the London sights, so at least they would have a week to do so before she returned to the USA. (ETC ELABORATE THIS)

  The three weeks passed by in a flash for Simon and Amber, and suddenly they found themselves back at the airport again, preparing to say goodbye, temporarily of course.

As they shared their final kiss (for now) Simon whispered, “Stay safe, stay strong. We will marry very soon, I promise.” Amber gave Simon a lingering hug and then led her son down the corridor to the plane.

                                      .....

  Time passed very quickly and they were married within a year. Amber readily agreed to move with Simon to his favourite area, North Yorkshire, to live as husband and wife. Against the odds, they had also managed to secure permission from her ex, for Simon to adopt her young son and become his stepfather, so they both felt that their life together was complete. But there was a nagging thought in the back of Simon's mind, that perhaps her ex had given up on her, and their son, a little too easily...?

  Their first Christmas as a married couple promised to be a wonderful occasion. Her son, who was now eight, seemed to have accepted his new 'dad' into his life, and had not even mentioned his real father for a few months, which pleased his mum and her new husband. 

  They had no idea that, almost five thousand miles away, her ex-boyfriend was still intent on getting his revenge.

                                      ......

  One evening, just before Christmas, they were sitting in the living room together. Amber's son was playing with his toys on the rug in front of the fire, whilst she and Simon were cuddled up on the sofa, watching a Christmas film. The moon was very large and bright, shining in through the open curtains and as she gazed at it, she smiled excitedly.

  "It's snowing..." she breathed. Coming from Texas, she had rarely seen it snow before, and he kissed the top of her head, marvelling at the sheer wonder in her voice. They both watched the snowfall for several minutes,but then he noticed a few bright flashes, seemingly right outside the window. He frowned slightly, wondering what they could be. But, after a few minutes, they seemed to stop, so, as it was dark and cold outside, Simon decided to investigate tomorrow. 

  "Come on," Simon said, standing up and gently taking Amber's hands. "Let's go to bed."

  They fell asleep very quickly, in each other's arms, but, a few hours later, Simon woke up in complete darkness, sensing that Amber was not beside him. That was when he heard her shouting from down the hall. He also noticed thick black smoke was creeping into the bedroom, so he leapt out of bed and ran to find her.

  As Amber had raced into her son's bedroom, she trod on a discarded toy, causing her to painfully twist her knee and her ankle. His rug was ablaze, and he was cowering on his bed in terror, unwilling to run to his mum. Amber tried to stand, but her knee would not support her so she yelled for Simon at the top of her voice. Simon raced to the bedroom, and saw the flames already licking the edge of the bedclothes. He stood still for a moment, his eyes flicking rapidly between his injured wife and her son, unsure who to help first. But then Amber made his mind up for him. 

"GET HIM OUT!!" Amber yelled, tears streaming down her face. "PLEASE!! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME, JUST GET HIM OUT!!!"

Simon picked up a blackboard and used it as a shield against the flames, as he raced to the boy's bed and tried to encourage him to go with him.

  "MUMMY!" the boy shouted, unwilling to leave without her, but she gently insisted.

  "Go with Simon, honey! Please! Mummy will be fine, I promise!" Amber urged. 

Finally, the boy did as he was asked, allowing Simon to take his hand and race downstairs.

  Simon almost dragged 8-year old boy out of the burning house, ushering him into the back seat of the car, then he told him to stay there and lock the doors. The boy nodded obediently and pressed the button, wiping away his tears with his other hand. 

Simon rushed back into the blazing house, trying to push back the smoke with his hands.

  "AMBER, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!" He yelled. "I'M COMING!!" He was so relieved when he heard her muffled reply. It didn't matter what she had said, only that she was able to say something! At least she could still answer him. He raced back upstairs and he could see the flames starting to lick the paint off of the bedroom doorframe. Amber was now cowering behind the wardrobe, trying to hide from the flames.

  "My leg! I can't walk!" Amber said, weeping. Simon carefully helped her to stand and placed her arm around his shoulder, his arm around her waist to support her. Then they hobbled out of the room, downstairs and out the front door.

                                  .....

  Eventually, the three of them were sitting safely in their locked car together, their faces smeared with soot, watching tearfully as their house began to collapse in flames. Suddenly, Simon spotted a brief movement in the trees. It could have been the wind, but he was certain it wasn't. Something told him that they were being watched...

  "Stay here!" he insisted gently, as he opened the car door.

  "What?! Where are you going?!" she asked worriedly. She tried to follow him, but he gently pushed her back into her seat.

  "I think he has found us. Please. Just stay in here and lock the car!" Simon urged.

  "What?! But how...?" she began, astonished at the sheer lunacy of the idea. But she did as he asked, turning round to check on her son as she locked the door. The boy had fallen asleep in the back seat, despite the traumatic situation, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Simon investigating the surrounding area. 

  "What's going on?" Amber called.

  "Call triple nine!" Simon shouted. Amber fumbled with her phone, but her hands were shaking so badly that she almost dropped it twice. Eventually she got through to the operator. 

Suddenly, the trees in front of her shook violently and then, as Amber watched in horror, Simon emerged from the trees, engaged in a fight with Amber's ex-boyfriend!

  "Police! A-And the Fire Brigade too!" Amber stammered as the operator answered. She gave the details and then hunkered down with her son, to wait for Simon to come back. 

  Amber screamed as her husband and her ex-boyfriend fought hard, but she soon heard sirens in the distance. Moments later, two fire engines and a police car containing three large, muscular officers and a policewoman, arrived outside the burning house.

  Amber's ex fought hard against the police, but they were too strong, even for him. He was soon arrested and put into handcuffs, by the male officers, as the policewoman tried to calm Amber down. Having spoken to the male officers, and seen them into their car, Simon rushed back to his family sitting in the car.

  As the police car drove off, Simon climbed back into his own car and closed the door. As he glanced into the back seat, where Amber had now moved to better comfort her son, they exchanged relieved smiles, knowing that her ex-boyfriend would soon be locked up, and then sent back permanently to the USA. Then, as the few remaining embers drifted up into the night sky, the trio drove off into the night, to try and find a hotel room, on Christmas Eve.