“Hey birthday boy, a dance?” Sandra asked, as she held out her hands to him. On any other day, he would have been reluctant to indulge her but was in such an agreeable mood that he found himself smiling and leading her to the dance floor.“I hear I’m in your debt?” Steven whispered“Oh yes, you are. But I did good, didn't I?”“You excelled. And I think I owe you a gift.”“Oooh, I love gifts.”Steven smiled and said nothing else. After a couple of minutes, Sandra said“Marie loves you so much, Steven. The things she had to go through and do to have this party? I’ve never seen her so stretched before. She simply refused to give up.”“That's my wife. I live in total awe of her, I doubt I'll ever deserve her.”“Maybe we both never will,” Sandra said as she looked at Marie with a smile on her face.After dancing with Sandra, Steven went over to his grandfather who was chatting with another old timer at the firm, Dean Fallon.“Hello, permit me to intrude to say a quick hello.”“Oh, that's p
Who could be calling him at this time? Steven thought as he yanked the errant cell phone from his breast pocket. He was about to toss the cell away without looking at it when his eyes caught his caller ID. It was his father. Marie looked just as livid as Steven but withdrew far enough to give him privacy to answer the call. A part of him wanted to ignore the call, and then text his father later.Steven doubted that anything the old man had to say was important, but Marie had already retreated to the far corner of the room and was texting. Besides, the last thing he wanted was the unease from wondering his father's reason for calling this time. Steven wasn't optimistic enough to believe that his father had remembered his birthday, after all.“Hey Son. Long time no speak.” William King's voice boomed over the phone.And whose fault was that, he thought but thought better of speaking it out.“Yes, Sir.”“You can't afford to forget your old man, Steven. We're all we’ve got. You and me. We
On the next day, a beautiful sunny Sunday, Marie gazed down lovingly at her husband whose arm was fastened around her waist despite being fast asleep. It was as though he was unwilling to let her go and discover that last night was a dream. It definitely wasn't, at least not with the warmth that was coursing through her. She closed her eyes and rubbed his cheek softly with hers before trying to sneak out of his embrace. She was about to lift her other ankle to the floor and congratulate herself when he grabbed her waist and pulled her back into bed.“Steven,” She giggled, turning to face him.“We can't stay in bed all day.”“Tell me one good reason why.” He mumbled, his face still buried in the sheets.“For one, I’m hungry.”“So the chef will make something for us. Next?”“We both need to shower.”“Highly debatable. Keep going.”He said, turning on his side to look at her.“What will we do in bed all day?” She asked before she thinking better of it.With a wicked gleam in his eye, Stev
“Where are we going?” Steven King asked, as he jogged alongside Marie.“Where does it look like we're headed, Steven?”“You tell me, I don't know. The only thing down this way is the hangar where my jet is parked.”“Exactly, Steven.” She said, turning back to wink at him before picking up her pace again.Two minutes later, they stood facing Steven’s jet.“Do you know how to get this thing up in the air?” She asked, knotting her fingers together and looking up at him. She was sweating, but couldn't decide if it was from the nervousness about what she was about to attempt, or the fact that she had just run longer than she had in a long time. She closed her mouth to stop panting before Steven got started on how she needed to start exercising.“I do, but why do you ask?” Steven responded, staring at her with caution“Because I want to fly with you, Steven.”“Absolutely not,” Steven said, already backing away from the jet“Wait, Steven. At least hear me out.”“Marie, I appreciate what you'
Steven held Marie in his arms as she continued to sob. It broke his heart that his precious wife was hurting so badly. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got with himself. No matter how much she had insisted, he should have tried harder to stop her, to convince her. Instead he had seen a few tears and caved and now his precious Marie was suffering for it.“Therapy is stupid.” She said, wiping fresh tears with the back of her palm.“No, love. I know you've heard this before but healing isn't a linear journey. Sometimes, it can seem like everything is getting worse, when in reality, you’re better just not on that day.”“This is so stupid, Steven. Gosh, I'm such a… a… hot mess. Do you know how much not being able to get on a plane limits my life?”“I can imagine,” He said, not sure what he could say that would make her feel better.“You should stop wasting all the money trying to fix me, Steven. Maybe this is the best I'm ever going to be.”“Trust me, Marie. That is not true. A
“She's quitting the case? And what does she mean by ‘you shouldn't trust anyone’?” Marie asked, her eyes scanning his cell phone.“I don't know, Marie. I haven't the foggiest clue. Just when I think this thing is wrapping up nicely and I'm getting somewhere, Cadence gets spooked and is asking me not to trust anyone.”Sighing, Steven pushed his plate away and ran a hand across his face before cupping his mouth.“Problems at work?” Joanna asked“Yeah, Jo. And now it's more dangerous than I'd like.”Joanna nodded at him with a sympathetic smile and placed her hand over his.“She can't just leave, can she? She has to tell you what's scaring her. Who's spooking her? Do you think she was paid off by whoever it is that's doing this?”“Probably. There goes my happy weekend. I'm sorry guys, but I need to make some calls to sort this out.” He replied before dumping his napkin on the table and walking away.Marie sighed and dropped her spoon on her plate. There was no way she was getting her app
Marie felt stuck to the spot as Zed continued to lash out at Sandra. What had her best friend gotten involved in?Sandra collapsed to the floor as Zed released his grip on her throat and shook his hand.“Look, I don't have all day for this. When are you going to deliver on what you were meant to?”“I'm working on it. It's not been easy. I’ll figure out a way and find it soon.”“You had better because there's no way I'm letting you get away with my money and not doing the job.”“I know.”“Good, now get in the car and take me home to where you have the other set of my stuff stashed.”His stuff? Was he using? Was Sandra using? Did her best friend have a drug problem? Marie knew she should reveal herself at this point but found herself unable to move. If he could grab the neck of the woman he had been fake-dating so easily, what would he do to her?She waited till she heard their car zoom off before she stepped out. She hoped Sandra didn't recognize her car. She had so many questions fo
“Marie? Why were you at the office?”She had three options.Deny that she had said Alden Kings by mistake when she meant Sandra's house, or she could tell him she went to the office because she had forgotten something she needed urgently, or she could tell him the truth.“That's not really important right now,” She stalled, hoping he would let the matter rest. He said nothing for so long that Marie began to fear that he knew why she had gone in the first place. She was about to blurt it out when he said,“So what happened in the parking lot?”She narrated the rest of the events to him, and he didn't interrupt till she was done.“I'm sorry Sandra had to go through that.”“Me too.” Marie said, shivers traveling down her spine as the mental image flashed in her mind again.“Okay, I'm dropping Rick off. I’ll be home soon, Marie. And when I get back, please be there.” He said and hung up.Ugh. Was this what being married meant? That she had to do what he said? Well, she knew she had the fr