2002
Mary Louise Austin was
not having a good day. Not at all. It made her sick to her stomach that someone
of her caliber with her educational background had been reduced to working for
an insurance company. Worse, she wasn’t even a claims officer. She sat at a
beat up desk in a beat up office being bossed around by a beat up old harpie
who wouldn’t know a talented employee if one fell into her lap and bit her nose
off. Mary loathed her boss, her co-workers and her salary. If it wasn’t for her
relationship with Ron Schuyler she would have blown this pop stand of a town a
long time ago.
Letting herself into
her house and pouring a coffee cup full of Captain Morgan’s, Mary sat down in her
recliner and brooded. She had known Ron for four months, had been sleeping with
him for three and had been growing more and more irritated with him for the
past six weeks. Ron kept promising that they’d sneak away for an illicit weekend
in the Wisconsin Dells but he also kept on putting her off. ‘Too busy.’ ‘Annual
report coming up.’ ‘I think I might have a head cold.’ Did he think she was
stupid? Apparently he did and he just might be right about that one.
The problem was that
Ron was getting something for nothing. The old why-buy-a-cow-when-the-milk-was-free
syndrome and she was Elsie. Mary’s mother had warned her about men like Ron
Schuyler but from the very first moment he’d walked into A-One Insurance to
discuss a claim all of her mother’s warnings had flown out of her head like she'd stuck one of those mega vacuums at the do it yourself car wash next to her ear and let the sucker rip. That first day Mary had gotten Ron coffee, looked into his gorgeous blue eyes and fallen in
love. One, two, three, just like that. Only he was married to someone else, a problem that
seemed to be getting more and more insurmountable with every passing day.
“But what am I
supposed to do?” Mary said out loud. She was in too deep just to break things
off. He was letting her live in a house owned by his company for free.
He loaned her one of his cars, a very nice Hyundai with less than 200,000. And every other Thursday night he let her borrow
his platinum card so she could get her nails done at Totally Toes and Fingers for
half-price and he could get a few more points toward some free airline miles.
Let’s face it: the man owned her.
Only Mary had the
feeling that their little secret affair wasn’t quite so secret any longer. There
was that weird message she’d gotten on her answering machine—the one where a
breathy voice said, “I know about you, you tramp, and you’d better watch your
back!” For the life of her Mary couldn’t tell if it was a man's or a woman’s
voice but it scared her. Then there were the odd items that had been left on
her front porch; a doll with its head broken off, an ash tray full of smoked
cigarettes, old copies of the National
Enquirer with articles on Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson’s marriage circled in red and Loni's head cut off. What
the hell was up with all that?
It was like someone
was trying to send her a message but for the life of her Mary had no clue what
they were trying to say. Maybe if she talked it over with a friend. Finishing her cup of Captain Morgan, Mary reached for the telephone and began to dial. She stopped almost immediately when she remembered that her list of friends in Schuyler Square was pretty short as in blank. Maybe that dingbat next door would listen. Chelsea What'-s-her-name. Mary thought for a moment and then refilled her coffee cup. She'd go chat with Chelsea after one more pick me up...
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