About half way through the lecture he realized just why he liked her. She was intelligent, confident, and had the face of an angel... face of an angel... he felt like that sounded a bit chauvinistic but it described his feelings accurately.
She was graceful, elegant, all those words that had described a real lady to him as a kid... the attributes he had admired so much in his mother. Yet she was different somehow… stronger maybe... more confident... maybe she was just more of a today’s woman.
Berry's mom was of the generation that believed they were to stay at home, raise babies, and serve their husbands. It was the way things were done then. Now a woman could do whatever she wanted. She isn't limited to becoming a housewife... housewife... Berry never did like that term. It sounded as if the woman was married to the house... and that may be how it seemed to them too he thought...
Mr. Sullivan… would you to please come up here now. Ladies and gentleman I have asked one of our local investigative professionals to assist me in a demonstration of crime scene observations. As you will see when the curtain is pulled, we have set up a crime scene. In this scenario a call was received by the local police department in which the caller reported that his house was broken into and he was robbed by two men wearing ski masks...
As Berry crossed the stage he couldn't help thinking about the call he had received and the meeting tonight at 11:00. Had it something to do with his current investigation? Would he find out some deep dark secret about a member of the Board? She had said that her information... how did she put it... would bring the entire organization down. He would have to wait till eleven to find out. This was one time the clock was running too slow!
Pardon me... oh yes... that is correct.... his mind was not on the lecture... he figured he had better get with the program or he was in for another lecture when he was finished. Berry began to concentrate on the demonstration...
...
Afterwards Berry met with Dianne back at her office. As he walked through the office door she waved to him to take a seat. He could tell she was on the phone with some department head discussing finances.
Can't you see how that makes us look Henry? We can't even provide properly bound material for our lecture notes... Yea, well who's gonna wanna come, Andy Taylor and Barney Fife? ... Yes, I know, but if we don't do something soon we're gonna lose more money from lack of attendance... that WOULD be a shame. We have so much to offer! ... Well, you’re the boss, I'm just one of the worker bees... Ok... I have some ideas...I'll discuss them with you later... Bye
Money troubles at the institute? Berry tried to show some interest.
Oh, it’s the same all over the university. The state's cutting back so we have to cut back, only I wish they'd find some other place to cut funds. This lecture series is aimed at top level police management and professional law enforcement personnel. It’s not that I want to impress these people, it’s just that quality always speaks the loudest... and what we have to say is important... it could mean the difference between allowing a criminal to strike again or putting them behind bars.
I'm not sure putting criminals in jail solves anything. The only skills they seem to learn is how to be better criminals. Berry wasn't soft on crime… he just believed that work camps and educational work programs provided a better alternative.
We all know your stance on prison Berry, I was just saying that better detection provides better evidence... and evidence is what convicts. Listen… let's not get into that now... I have enough hassles with Henry over finances...you want to go get an early dinner? I'm free until seven. We could get some take out and go back to my place.
Sounds good to me. You buyin?
I didn't say that. I just said we could get some take out. But I suppose that if you're low on cash... like always... I could treat. What do ya say?
Sure. Berry grinned a sheepish grin. He was thinking that he hadn’t meant to “beg” dinner, he had money... it was just his way of playing that game of give and take... that funny word game that so much of the world’s conversation revolves around. He had never been very good at that, always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time... and here it was again... she had money worries at the school, and he was reminding her by discussing who pays... I have got to be more sensitive to these things... pay more attention... his thoughts were formed from a real concern...
...
The trip from Gruderman’s Deli to Dianne's house took about 20 minutes. It gave both of them time to relax and enjoy each other’s company. They didn't say much. They didn't have to. There is a kind of silent conversation that exists between kindred spirits, and for them it allows a form of communication that uses only their feelings. Words would have just gotten in the way...
...
After dinner they spent some time discussing each other’s day and exchanging hugs for support. They left the apartment a little before seven and she dropped Berry off at the Institute where he had left his car. Dianne sped off to a 7:00 meeting leaving Berry to sort through the cars in the lot until he found his.
Maybe that's why she always has more money he thought. Her car is at least a year older than mine! As he climbed in he was thinking how much payments would be if you combined the two car loans. Might be cheaper... Whoah, what am I thinking? One step at a time... the last time you rushed things it did some real damage... didn't really get to know the situation well enough... I won't do that again! His mind wondered to the past...
He hadn't had much luck with women. Most of them had only wanted something he had, and it wasn't him! His first wife got a quick divorce and took off with an actor type she met at the local community college. They had only been married eight months when she left Berry. Her new lover was tall, dark, and had the look of a worldly man, as she had put it... He was worldly all right. He left her alone in California a few months later leaving her without an income or friends to fall back on.
His second marriage had lasted a little longer. He and Denise had been married almost a year when things went bad. She began staying out all night. Towards the end, she would stay gone for several days at a time.
She had become addicted to cocaine again. As it turns out, before they met, she had been in several institutions trying to kick the habit. One night a sheriff’s deputy came to his door. Denise had been found in one of the local crack houses. She was dead. She had overdosed on cocaine. The funeral and the months following also took their toll on him
The most important relationship had been with Celeste. She was a top fashion model. Celeste was tall and slender… a perfect figure for modeling, and a face to match. Beautiful features, a creamy complexion, high cheek bones, and long blond hair. He had admired her from a far for many years before they actually met. She was class, and seemed to elevate him to a higher level just by being with him. They had been married seven years but never had children.
Things begin to fall apart after a while. Between her drive up the social ladder, and his need to continually educate himself, their relationship was left out in the process. Her affections wandered and his faded, leaving an empty shell where love once had been.
...
Maturity brings wisdom they say. He may have become wiser now, but he had definitely become more cynical from it. Pulling into the garage on the bottom floor of the old warehouse, he pressed his thumb on the control and closed the door behind him. He kind of liked that.
It was like shutting out the world. A symbolic gesture of closing out all that does not belong. When the door is shut only those things you want to include can come in. You have the control. Not like the real world, where some invisible force controls the sway of human business... first bending it this way and than that... like a tree being pushed and pulled by the forces of the wind.
Walking in the door and turning to the alarm control Berry was chastened again. There on the alarm box, just above the keypad, was that never tiring blaze of digits spelling out the time. 7:45 and I still haven't checked all
of the info from ALLADIN.
He was beginning to think there was some dark force swaying him... away from the data...off to another area, one that leads him away from the truth... it wanted him to ignore the information... wanted him to miss something... Nahh... it's just his lousy timing.
I TOLD Muffin I have bad timing... he was thinking about jokes now. Funny stories he could tell her, something to make her laugh and enjoy his company. He really wanted to please her more than any relationship before...
It was curious, and not like him to spend so much time thinking about love... he made a mental note to check his emotions for bad programming...