101 Torridian   The Trainer 102
#14 - Indecent Proposal - 04/26/99 MON

Robert’s BMW — 11:07 a.m.

As the consummate April shower pelts Robert’s windshield, he flips his wipers from mist to low then returns the cell phone to his ear and continues looking out and around, in a searching manner.
“Honey, I know you’re craving glazed honey mustard pork rinds, but I just can’t find this place.” Robert pauses to listen as he continues driving and scanning the area around him. “Why don’t you fix yourself something to tide you over until I get back? o.k.? o.k.. Yes. You’re breaking up on me. I said you’re… Honey? Angie? Hello?”
Robert pushes a button on his cell phone and tosses it down. Through the rain he finally spies a familiar landmark. With his eyes and even his head locked on the building he is passing, he squints to try to get a better look at the sign above the window. Just then the phone rings and he picks up. Robert resumes the monologue with, “Honey, they must have shut down the Pork and Dumpling Emporium. I think it’s now a health-food deli, or soup bar, or something.”
Steam rises from a tall, porcelain cup of herbal tea sitting on the table of a booth in the deli. A waiter walks toward the booth to the woman seated with her back to him. He observes her stirring the tea with an ornate pewter spoon, cell phone in her other hand. Reaching her booth, he sets down a bowl of lemon grass soup and a plate of tossed house salad with light vinaigrette. She acknowledges his service with a nod, and then speaks into her phone. “It is. Why don’t you pull in and join me for lunch?”
Robert freezes and his complexion pales. It’s as though he has just stepped onto train tracks only to discover a locomotive barreling down on him. With a shaky voice, he utters a word into his cell phone that he has not uttered in many years, “Jacqie.”		 Robert’s eyes grow wide and reflexes kick in as he slams on his breaks. His eyes and body turn to the right front of his car as he gestures in apology at a pedestrian he just soaked with road water, narrowly missing him at the crosswalk.
“Hey! Watch where you’re goin’!” Robert hears the pedestrian exclaim in an extremely irritated tone.
Unable to see the pedestrian’s face, Robert moves his head closer to the windshield as he yells with obvious futility, “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
“S-O-B on a cell phone,” the pedestrian mutters under his breath as he tilts his umbrella and continues walking.
Robert gestures more apologies; then seeing that the pedestrian has cleared his path, he pulls into the small parking lot of a deli sporting a “Grand Opening” banner. Looking up at the rainy sky, Robert gets out of his car and makes a quick dash to the door. Unfortunately, his attempts to run between the raindrops garner little success.

Deli’s Grand Opening — 11:12 a.m.

Wet and shaky with anxiety, Robert pushes open the squeaky door. He scans the small deli but doesn’t see Jacquelyn. With her back to Robert, making no effort to turn to him, Jacquelyn waves her hand. The gleam of her wedding band catches his eye. He stumbles to the booth and stands beside the bench opposite Jacquelyn, looking down at her as if she was the Ghost of Caesar. A solitary raindrop rolls off his cheek, falling to the edge of the table.
Without making much of an effort to look up at him, she says simply, “Sit.”
Robert sits immediately. His demeanor resembles a private accepting orders from a decorated general. He continues to stare, wild eyed, his gaze now very direct as his eye meets hers.
“Jacqie.” Robert utters the word as if he had been on an arduous expedition spanning decades and finally found the object of his quest.
Jacquelyn says nothing, quietly sipping from her steaming cup instead. In time she breaks the uncomfortable silence, but her voice is cold and dispassionate. “That’s still my name. But yours has changed. It’s Robert now, isn’t it?”
“My God, Jacqie, what…?” Robert pauses to try to think of how to ask so many questions ricocheting through his mind. “How…?” He continues to try to distill all his thoughts into a coherent statement, but his eyes preempt his thoughts. “You

. home next page >

Copyright © 1999-2008 Torridian, LLC. All Rights reserved.
Questions/Comments about this web site can be sent via our feedback form.
All brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.
This is a work of fiction. All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any real persons,
living or dead, is purely coincidental. Similarly, any resemblance to real entities is likewise coincidental.