Pieces©

She sat on the floor cross-legged willing herself not to cry.  She had asked God for a sign, but was not expecting the one that slapped her in the face on Facebook.  How ironic.  He had been pushing her away for the last year but every time she tried to walk away he would pull her back in.   He had hurt her so many times, in little ways.

When she was diagnosed with cancer a year ago he tried to be supportive but in reality he was emotionally unavailable.  He told her he cared about her, even loved her but when she needed him most he was cruel to her, pushing her away.

He had talked about taking a trip with some friends to see the eclipse from an ideal location.  She said she would love to go but he was evasive and said it was really his friends’ idea and that friend was in charge of the guest list.  She should have known then, but when he said he would go with her to the west coast for a week.  Again, he couldn’t just commit, always had ‘logical’ excuses, that should have been clue number 2.  Now she is reading on Facebook that he took someone that she never expected especially since that person has limited resources and he insisted that everyone would have to pay for the gas.

She had loved him unconditionally.  She was a covenantal person and he had broken that covenant.  She lays on the floor in a fetal position, the coolness of the wood against her cheek.  He has finally shattered her into a million pieces, like a broken mirror, each jagged piece a reflection of her pain.  There are no tears only profound sadness.

William©

It was a warm, early August evening.  Andie had been invited to a happy hour with several of her ex-colleagues.  She had not seen them in almost 3 months, not since she had left the organization and lost 30 pounds.   Since she worked in technology the vast majority of her former colleagues were men.  The makeup of this happy hour would not be much different.  She speculated that there might be 2 other women there, maybe 3. 

She ran a brush through her hair and checked her sparse makeup in the rearview mirror.   She climbed out of her car and smoothed her blouse.  It was Friday so she was wearing jeans and wedge sandals.  Since no one from this group had seen her for 3 months, none of them knew about her transformation.   She hadn’t been fat, but clearly carried extra weight.   She was now down to 125 which was fine for her 5’ 7” frame.  Maybe even a little too thin, but she wasn’t complaining.     

She walked through the bar to the back patio where everyone was gathered.   She was a little nervous to see one man in particular so she stopped before the door to the patio and gathered herself before pushing through.

John noticed first.  “Holy crap Andie, what the hell happened to you?” catching himself he added, “I mean, damn you look good”

She smiled.   “Thanks John, nice to see you too.   So glad things haven’t changed.”  She smiled sarcastically.   Will turned around and the look he gave made her heart soar just a little.  

‘Mission accomplished’ she thought.

Dan, ever the gentleman, pulled a chair over to their table for her to sit.  She was now sitting between Dan and John with Will on the other side of John.   He had to lean on the table to look at her around John who was purposely blocking his view.   Andie smiled.   The waitress came by and asked her what she would like to drink. 

“Do you have Chocolate Rouge, their milk chocolate?”

“What the hell did you just order?”  John asked.  He fancied himself a wine connoisseur.

“It’s chocolate infused red wine.   It’s delicious.” 

When the wine arrived Will reached past John and grabbed the glass.  Very carefully he took a sip.  A slow  smile crept across his face.   “Bring her another and then bring one for me” he told the waitress. 

John who knew how easily Andie could get tipsy, looked at Will and said, “Trying to get her drunk?” with the emphasis on ‘trying’.

Will just smiled.   Will was the boss of everyone at the table.  He was the CEO of the IT organization that they all worked for.  It wasn’t a huge organization, but it had around 2500 employees nationwide.  Andie had left after the last acquisition.  There just wasn’t anywhere for her to go in the company.   She had been offered a very good position with a bleeding edge IT organization.  Andie felt it was a better fit.   She was back managing an Application Development department.   This company was much smaller, under 500 people.  That also suited her better. 

Several people asked Andie what the company was like and how she liked her new position, some because they cared and others because they were jealous.   When she was tired of answering questions she carefully moved the conversation to what they were doing and how the new acquisition had panned out. 

Will quietly took it all in.  Andie had finished both glasses of wine and was just sitting there taking in the beautiful evening.  People were starting to leave for their respective homes.  Now only Dan, John, George, Lizzie, Jen, Will and Andie were left.   Andie got up and grabbed her purse. 

“You’re not leaving yet, are you?  The party is just getting started.” Will said.

“No, I’m just going to powder my nose”, Andie smiled as she walked away.

When she got back John had moved next to Dan and the only empty chair was next to Will.  There was a fresh glass of wine in front of that chair. 

‘Really?  Really!’ she thought.   He never changed, always had to be in control, even of her.  There was nothing romantic between them.  They had always been friends.  But Will always wanted to be in control, even when he knew that she knew his secrets, who he was, how easily she could read him.  They once had a management meeting where he was trying in earnest to get the other managers to agree to something he wanted.  She realized that he really wasn’t looking for their opinion, just their agreement, so she had said ‘you really don’t care what we think, you just want us to agree with you’.  He said ‘pretty much’.  She then had said,’I just wanted to know where we were at’.  After that they became good friends.  She would go nose to nose if she did not agree with him.  He had seen her nearly bite a consultants head off when the consultant was trying to pitch something that was so ludicrous it infuriated her.  One thing she did not like was ignorance, chosen ignorance.  That and people trying pretend that they had a clue when it was obvious that they did not.

Lizzie was one of those people.  She was the type that attached herself to someone new that she might be able to convince to help her move up the ladder.  Usually it involved sleeping with them.  She tried to be discrete, but she was incapable of discretion even when she tried.  She and George were the real reason that Andie left.  She could only take so much.  Lizzie reported directly to George.  Professionally it was just wrong.  It was wrong on so many levels.   George was married.  Andie had reported to George.  George was intimidated by Andie and her relationship with Will.  Andie and Will’s relationship was totally above board.  She did not work directly for him when she was at the company.  They rarely went out for lunch.  She did buy him birthday and Christmas gifts, but that was because she loved to give gifts.  She put a lot of thought and planning into buying gifts.  It was never about the money, only about the pleasure that it brought.  She would listen carefully.  Patiently wait for the birthday or Christmas.  Will loved her gifts. 

She sat down in the empty chair next to Will.   Will put his arm around her.   Andie gave him a sideways glance.  A cross between, what are you doing and a sarcastic are you serious?   Lizzie looked puzzled. 

“Lizzie you look a little puzzled.  Didn’t you know about Andie and me?  Oh, I suppose we were better at keeping it a secret, unlike you and George.”

George blushed; Lizzie looked down at her glass on the table.  Will was being unusually cruel.

“Lizzie, Will is only teasing you, there is nothing between us, never has been, never will.”  Andie stated.

“I wouldn’t say never, Andie” Will smirked.

Andie so wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.  Turning to Will she said, “You couldn’t handle me”.  

“Is that a challenge, Andie?”  asked Will.

Will had pushed his chair back from the table so Andie took full advantage.  Standing up she turned, stood between his legs, bent slightly and looked directly into his eyes.    Will was caught a little off guard.  This was not the Andie he knew, or so he thought. Placing her hands on either side of his face she kissed him full on the mouth, very seductively.  When she was done, she stood up and turned, but before she could sit in her chair Will grabbed her and pulled her to his lap.   This startled her.  She landed a little hard.  Once she was able to regain composure she could feel the reaction that she caused Will by that kiss.   The thought made her smile.

“Will you two get a room?” John said mockingly.

The Lake ©

The moon glistened on the glassy surface of the lake.  The air was cool and sweet.  There was barely a whisper of a breeze now that the sun had long since slipped beyond the horizon. Crickets and bullfrogs filled the air with their serenade; from across the lake, the mournful call of a loon.    Away from any artificial lights of the city it looked like an explosion of stars in this desolate area of northern Minnesota.   This place, this quiet, beautifully wild place held many secrets.  Tonight she would give up one.

Lying, almost peacefully among the dense brush, was a young woman, petite and well-toned with flowing dark hair.  The owl sat motionless on a branch directly above her, her spirit not quite ready to leave.  At first glance you would never suspect the violence that took her life nor the lives her death would affect.

Ella ©

The evening was clear and crisp.  The damp country air sent a slight chill through Ella.  Off in the distance she could see the fog rolling in, swallowing up the stars and surrounding wood. This fog felt different, ominous.  It felt like an evil presence was sliding over the countryside.  She stood frozen; an odd sensation began creeping up her.  It started in her toes and slowly crept up her legs.  When it reached her stomach she shivered which seemed to have broken the spell.  She gathered her skirts and ran with all her might towards the manner house, afraid to look back and see what was truly chasing her.

As she reached the gardens surrounding the house she stopped to catch her breath. Turning slowing to see how far the fog had come, she was startled to see it right at the garden gate.  Alarmed, she again gathered her skirts and ran, nearly tripping over the threshold as someone inside had seen her and opened the door. 

“Lord child, you look like the devil himself were after you”

“He was,  Mrs. Baldwin”, Ella gasped. 

“You go sit in the parlor child.  I’ll bring you a cup of tea and some biscuits.”

Ella did as she was told.  Although she was seventeen years old, she still did as Mrs. Baldwin, the housekeeper, told her.  Mrs. Baldwin loved Ella as if she were one of her own.  Ella had a mother and father, but her mother was distant and chose to ignore her only daughter.  Her mother was beautiful and elegant and clearly unhappy.  Her mother’s father and Lord Stidolph had made the match to unite their families.  The name Stidolph was old English for ‘strong wolf’ and old Lord Stidolph was just that.  Ella did not care for her grandfathers.  They were cold men who had no time for their only grandchild.  

The Call ©

The call came around midnight.  Genevieve had been in bed and asleep for an hour.   It took her a few minutes to first realize her cell phone was ringing, then another few to determine where her cell phone actually was.   She answered it on the last ring. 

“Hello?”  No one called her this late except one of her kids when they were in “crisis”.

“Genevieve?  This is Frank”.   His real name was Francisco and he was originally from Madrid.  Frank had been in the US since he was 16 and his father was transferred here; you had to listen very carefully to hear the accent.

“Frank?  What’s wrong?  Why are you calling so late?”  Frank and Genevieve were colleagues.  They had known each other for 10 years and considered each other friends, but rarely did anything outside of work together.

“Can you come over?  I really need to talk to you” he said this with just a hint of desperation. 

“Frank, I was already in bed and asleep.  Is it that urgent?”

“Please?” again a slight pleading in his voice.

“Umm, give me at least 40 minutes, but you will get me looking like I just crawled out of bed, which I did.  AND I am not putting my contacts back in, so deal.  What’s your address?”

“12565 Whispering Pines Dr.”

“Ok, 40 minutes”

Genevieve got up, grabbed her glasses off the side table, flipped on the bedroom light and stood there for a minute trying to get her bearings.   Yawning, she padded into her bathroom.  She flinched as she turned on the bright bathroom lights.  Looking at herself in the mirror she shuddered.  Her long auburn hair was in a ponytail that she had caught up again in the same covered rubber band so that it was not hanging down and wasn’t really a bun.  She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and quickly washed her face.  She grabbed her mascara and put just a hint of it on.  She wanted to look presentable, but not like she was making an effort for him.   She was 50, but looked 40 and she knew it.  Both her parents had looked much younger than their real age.  “Good gene’s “, she muttered smiling.  She brushed her teeth, pulled the rubber band out of her hair and bent over to run a quick brush through her hair.  As she stood up she whipped her hair back.  Another quick brush through and she was satisfied.  She padded back into her bedroom and tried to decide what to wear.  It was mid-summer so even at midnight it was still in the mid to upper sixties.  She settled on a pair of green capris and black t-shirt.   She had to dig for her black flip-flops but found them kicked half-way under her bed.  She unplugged her phone and brought up Google.  She punched Frank’s address in and squinted at the screen to figure out the best route to his house.  Her cat Poser gave her a puzzled look as she grabbed her purse and keys from the living room coffee table and headed for the front door.  “What are you looking at?”  she growled at him.  He gave her an indignant swish of the tail and laid back down on the top of the couch.

She had just bought her car two weeks ago, a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid.  She loved that car.  Crawling into the car she pushed the start button.   Her radio blasted making her jump and she quickly turned it down.  Shifting into reverse she backed out of the driveway then into drive and turned left at the corner.  Fifteen minutes later she was pulling into his driveway.  Suddenly she was nervous.  That was not an emotion that she would have ever associated with Frank.  She chalked it up to having been woken up in the middle of the night and not really understanding why Frank had called her.

Frank was 8 years younger than Genevieve, married with two kids.  In the ten years that she had known Frank, she had never actually met his wife Ann.  She had never really thought about it.  She had been to one party at his house a few years earlier, but Ann had been out of town.  Now she started to panic, was something wrong with Ann, or one of the kids?  As she got out of her car the garage door opened and Frank stood at the back door.

“Hi.  You found it”

“The miracle of Google” she quipped then quickly added, “Are you alright?”

“I’m good now”

“So what was the urgency?”

“Come in, we’ll talk.”    “I like you in glasses” he added quietly.

She entered his house through the garage door which led into the kitchen.  He guided her through to the living room and motioned for her to sit on the couch.  

“Ok, it’s late and you woke me from a dead sleep.  What is going on that it is so urgent you needed me right away?”

“I’m sorry.  Ann left me”

“Oh my god!  Are you ok?  Did she take the kids?  Where did she go?  What can I do to help?”

“She left last month.  She walked out on me AND the kids.  I have no idea where she is at, but I can guess.  I’m just glad you’re here.”

The Incident©

“Sir, I think you should take this call”.

President Baker took a deep breath and exhaled. ‘Please, not again’ he pleaded silently.

“Baker here”

“Sir, this is General Myers.  We have another incident.”

‘Oh god no!’, he screamed in his head. “Do we have details?”

“It’s still sketchy sir.”

“Get me those details as soon as possible.” Baker demanded. “Situation Room in 15 minutes”, he shouted to his Chief of Staff.

The room burst into action, energy spilling out into the hallway and down into other offices.  Soon the whole West Wing was buzzing with chatter, faxes and phone calls.  Press Secretary Angie Leventhall scrambled to get on top of the story.  She had exactly 10 minutes to pull something together and then revise as soon as the President came out of the Situation Room.

Phones started to ring off the hook.  Nikki Chang, the President’s personal secretary, began fielding calls and running interference.  Josiah Whitney, Communications Director, and Jamie Valencia, Deputy Chief of Staff strode into the Oval Office, arguing as usual.

“Sir, this is the 6^th attack in as many days, Jamie feels that it is domestic.  I feel that it is the work of an outside extremist group.”

Jamie frowned, “It just feels like a domestic extremist group, although we can’t determine what the motive is.  They are being very specific as to their targets, but we are not seeing a reason to the pattern.”

“They appear to be non-discriminatory”, chimed in Dennis Joblanski, Chief of Staff. 

“Republicans, Democrats, white, brown, black, Senators and Representatives.  The Situation Room is ready, Mr. President.  I suggest we get this meeting started.”

They all gathered in the Situation Room, anxious, waiting for further instructions.

“Sir, we understand that it was Senator Joe Jackson from Illinois.”

“Yes, and we are still no closer to determining who is responsible.  Do I need to put a security detail around all Legislators until we get to the bottom of this?  I need answers and I need them now.  What is Homeland Security getting on this?” demanded the President. “Is there any chatter here or abroad? Are we working with the other agencies?  We can not afford to lose another legislator.  At this rate our government will be crippled in two weeks.”

“Sir, we are not hearing any chatter abroad.  We believe this to be the work of an extremist group within our borders with no ties to other groups”, stated General Johnson.

“Mr. President, this group is not making any claims, nor are they leaving any messages as to their motive or demands.  Homeland Security is working with every agency possible” Secretary of Homeland Security James Calhoun said looking fatigued and frustrated.

“I want you to turn over every rock; you find me the person or persons responsible.  I don’t care if you deliver them to me in pieces, just catch these bastards!”  Calming down a bit, the President continued, “I need these people caught.  They are single handedly destroying our government.”

The group remained in the Situation Room as the President left to prepare for the press briefing.  As he leaves the Situation Room Angie and Josiah fall in step with the President, briefing him on what they know and handing him a one-page speech. 

“Sir, it is important that you be brief,” said Angie.  “I’ll field the questions; I need you to make the statement and leave.  Do you understand, sir?”

“Yes, read speech, leave”.  The President looked drained.

Jamie came running at a full sprint, and breathlessly exclaimed, “Sir, we have another incident, it’s the Vice President”.

The Cabana Boy ©

It started out as a playful joke.  She was not happy that he had put her in charge of a project that was half done and a complete disaster.  To show her disdain she had told him when she brought the project in on time and on budget he would owe her a trip to the Caribbean.  Not only the trip to Caribbean, but she wanted a tall, dark, handsome cabana boy waiting at the hotel with an umbrella drink in his hand when she arrived.  She was emphatic about the cabana boy. He had laughingly agreed. 

Recently it had morphed into just a cabana boy.  The sexual innuendos were there, just below the surface. Nothing overt.  It was an odd, artful dance around the subject, staying just this side of PC.

He teased her about finding one for a bargain, she was not amused.  “I am worth so much more than that”, she exclaimed with mock indignation. 

He somehow instinctively knew how to push her buttons, what drove her crazy and how to use that to his advantage.  What he didn’t know was that she found this endearing, sweet and as he revealed pieces of himself to her she couldn’t help but feel drawn to him.  She was careful to never allow him to know this, to see her labored breathing whenever he got too close.  She was being silly and allowing a “school girl crush” to drive her hormones crazy.  She was much too old to allow her vivid imagination to run amuck.  Yet they did.  Oh how she wished that he would be her cabana boy. How she fantasized about going to collect her reward and having him pull her close, then in a very sensual voice, with just a hint of a Caribbean accent, telling her that he was her cabana boy.  And then reality sets in and she is snapped back to the real world.