Essence of Life

Two loveseats stood against the walls. Four naugahyde chairs encircled a short, wood grained, Formica table. Fake plants and flowers rounded out the room. She thought, how quaint.

            A baritone voice pulled her attention to its owner. The man was a tank in a dress shirt and jeans. His slate blue eyes were clear and soulful. His sandy brown hair swept back from his sculpted features. He was walking straight for her. She struggled to maintain her stance as her legs turned to spaghetti. He was speaking again.

            “ Good afternoon, my name is Travis. Its good to finally meet you in person.” He offered his hand in greeting.

            She quickly regrouped and took his hand. “Hello, I am Nora Krispin, I will be representing Koncler Construction in this matter.” Her words were all business but her tone had softened considerably.

            Christina watched the lady with some amusement. She loved to see the way people react when they first met Mr. Marsh. The men usually tighten up and the women usually melt into a puddle. She was the same way her first time. She has since learned, that he is a gentle giant. She also knows that you cannot pry the pants off that man. She knows that from experience. He was the first ever to turn her down. She considered Rietta one of the luckiest woman in the world, that much is certain.

            Travis released her hand and stepped to the side. He indicated the eastern hall. “Right this way Miss Turner.” He proceeded to escort her down the hall. They went into a room marked simply, “PLANNING”. Then Travis shut the door behind them.

            Apart from Bethany seeing to their wants, no one saw them. That was until almost four, when the two came back up the hall. Both of them were smiling and chatting as they entered the reception area. They said their good-byes as they crossed to the door. Travis held the door for the lady as she left. He them came back inside, with a last wave.

            Bethany came from the hall as soon as the door had closed. She was searching for some clue, a sign. He walked slowly, feeling her gaze on him. The silent tension threatened to squelch out the music. She couldn’t take anymore. “Well, how did it go? Sounded like it went very well.”

            He just continued past her saying, “Wait till she leaves.” He walked a short way down the hall and waited.

            Christina watched the lady get into her car, then pull out. Once the car left her field of view, rolling east on Beach View. She waived to Travis saying, “Okay, coast is clear now, she’s gone.” She started bobbing in her seat, like a cork in choppy water.

            Travis returned saying, “Let’s just say, it went great. We start the Monday after Halloween. I have a conference call next Monday, but the papers are signed.” He turned his full attention directly on Bethany. “Miss Beth, I would like to get with you tomorrow in the a m. I have a residential also. So, it will have to be early. We need to hire eight people in the next week or so. We will have about a week, week and a half, to get everyone up to speed. So, we will have to pick up the pace. However, as for the rest of today, let’s wrap it up.”

            Extracting the file copies, he made six piles on his desk. He prefers hard copies when he investigates a report. Even if they do take so much room. David thinks that he can see things that he would otherwise miss on a computer file. He arranged them by date. Then he went through them again. All the same M O, but apparently no other connections. All this was doing was, making him weary.

            First there was a PI. He burned to a fine powder. Then there was a vagrant in an alley. Nothing around him was even scorched. Also the gang bangers, they were performing some kind of ritual. No one really knows what happened out there. Then the drug lab behind Julio’s garage. It had the flavor of a vigilante. Some screwball taking the law into his own hands and dispensing his own form of justice.

Formats

Softcover

£9.59

Softcover

£9.59