For Part One of Heart's Content...click here
Jacqueline sat at the kitchen table staring at the coffee in front of her, a look of concern on her face. Something about the non conversation she'd just finished with her daughter wasn't quite right. Call it mother's intuition or the instinct of a cop in her twelfth year on the beat. Gordon was now pulling down the plates and glasses he'd just hand washed and stacking them back into the sink. The late morning sun silhouetting him in a golden glare through the daisied curtains of the kitchen window.
"G darl'n, you are aware this is the third time you're washing those right?" Gordon looked over his shoulder at her as he squeezed a long stream of soap under the running tap with a flourish, shrugged his shoulders, smiled and said; "Busted! Ya got me copper. I'm a known felon in my own kitchen." he laughed... "You know me Jackie, third time's the charm and all that." He winked and pursed his lips in her direction... "I'll be done in a couple more minutes. Coffee's still on and hot if you want more."
"I don't think so, I've got a couple things to pick up before I get home. Maybe I can catch a couple hours sleep before my shift. You wear me out with that third time's the charm thing you got go'n on. Old man!" It's true she thought... I show up here after midnight, exhausted, trying not to wake him as I climb under the sheets and up the old man rises.
A smile crosses her face; "For a guy pushing hard toward fifty you sure have the stamina of a twenty year old. What are you putting in this coffee?" He let out a hoot and hollered over the sound of the dishes in the sink..."Been holding back on all my tricks girl. We're still fresh, let me know when you're getting tired of me and I'll pull down the shoe box in the closet!" He decided to keep the secret of the big old wooden box under the bed just that. A secret...for the time being.
Jacqueline got up, sneaking behind him she pressed her body up against his back, kissed him on the neck and shoulders and whispered in his ear "I can just imagine what you've got in that shoe box. You can just keep it there. I like your manual dexterity just fine G." He playfully bumped her off of him. "Man at work here. Shove over and grab a towel." She picked one up as he handed her a single fork. Then a spoon followed too quickly with an amber colored tumbler. She dropped all three back into the sink and lay the dish towel over his shoulder.
"Gotta go G, you keep doing what you're doing. It's not like I could stop you anyway, even if I wanted to. I'll see myself out sweets. See you after work? I'll lock up on the way out so don't trouble yourself. Love you muchly...old man." She gave him a playful smack on the butt. "Nice shorts by the way. You know you have them on backwards right?" "Yup I know. Giving his cheeks a cute little shimmy shake. "Decided this morning to keep an open door policy. Just for you gorgeous! Gimme a kiss." She brought her hand up and caressed some suds from his chin and leaned into an honest to goodness miss you already kiss. He smiled and rolled his eyes. "Better go...before I make you late again."
Deciding to take the stairs down thirty three flights to pump some blood into her tired body. Jacqueline's thoughts returned to the conversation with her daughter Stephanie. Or Stevie, as she's made it ever so clear, she is to be known as since just last week. Why the new name? she thought. This is her first year of college. Maybe it's just a nickname one of the students tagged her with. Could be worse I suppose. She stopped on the twenty first floor. The echo of her rapid decent fading, the muffled sounds of activity in the building and traffic outside replacing the loud echoes. No silence in the city. The thought struck her suddenly. Like a punch to the solar-plexus. Boyfriend! Lightly running her left hand atop the rail, she took the remaining steps three at a time.
Once outside she stopped to catch her breath. Early fall air crisp and cool in her lungs. An unnerving panic beginning to tweak at her brain. Unwelcome thoughts running in her mind like ants. Butterflies in her stomach. No sun here, her breath appearing and disappearing in front of her as she began to jog toward her car on the east side of the building. Turning the corner she stopped at a small Japanese red maple on the boulevard. Leaning her forearm against the trunk she bent over, wretched a couple times and then emptied the contents of her stomach...and part of her heart along with it.
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photo and story copyright b.a.paul 7/22/17
In case you missed the link...Part One of this story can be found here If you like my photo's I've posted some of those as well, with more to come.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Feel free to leave a comment.