Claire walked to the elevator and took a deep breath to avoid the suffocating feeling of the confined space as she waited for the doors to open. It was past six on a Friday evening which meant most of the office had already left for the day. Claire waited on the elevator door to open to the parking garage which was another source of discomfort for her. Would she ever get over this claustrophobia that she’d been cursed with her whole life?
She opened the door to her Toyota compact and slid onto the thread-bare seats. A new car at any point in the future seemed very out of reach. Luckily, Daisy, as she called her car, seemed to be dependable and loyal but was in no stretch of the imagination a man magnet unless it was a repairman.
Claire turned onto the street towards her mother’s home. Claire’s mother lived a few miles from the beach in a small town called Murrells Inlet. Although close enough to Myrtle Beach to be very busy during the summer tourist season, Murrells Inlet still had a certain small-town charm. As she turned in the driveway of the two-story home, Claire stopped to appreciate the exterior. For those looking for the fairytale of a house with a white picket fence, this was it. It was only when you took a closer look that the house was starting to resemble something from a Freddie Kruger Movie. The last few years of neglect were starting to show. Life had been nothing like a fairytale though for the people who had lived in the house.
Her father was an overbearing, manipulative man who verbally abused them the entire time he was alive. Nothing was ever good enough to please him. If Chrissie or herself didn’t make all A’s in school, they were stupid and lazy; but if they did, it was because they took easy courses that anyone could pass. Everyone walked on eggshells around him, terrified of what would set him off for that day.
Claire had planned to move out when she started college, desperate to escape. Chrissie had begged her to stay at least until she graduated, terrified of being left to face their father’s wrath alone. Claire tried to shield Chrissie as much as she could, which left her an easy target for her father. He had never physically struck them nor did Claire think he had her mother. Words were his weapon of choice, and he used them like knives.
For not the first time, Claire thought about how much easier it would be if her mother lived in a condominium that included maintenance and upkeep because the price of maintaining her home as well as her medication was staggering. She would also love to never have to see this house again. After the death of her father, her mother lived comfortably on his life insurance payment for a few years but in the last year that money had dwindled and now Claire was forced to pick up the medical bills that her Medicare didn’t cover; which seemed to be numerous as well as the maintenance of the home. With a sigh, Claire made her way up to the front walk and was met at the front door by Louise. No matter how bad her day, Louise always made her smile. Standing at just five feet tall, Claire’s taller 5’7 frame seemed to tower over her. Louise still insisted on getting a curly perm in her hair every few months and also claimed that as long as they made hair color, she would never be grey. She might not be grey but Claire had seen various other colors over the years when the hair color went wrong. At the present, it was more of a dark brown and what could possibly be a burgundy highlight. She gave Louise a hug and entered the foyer of the house. The original hardwood floors caught the light and gleamed. The staircase was straight in front of the door with the dining room to the right and living room to the left.
“How is mom doing today Louise? Did she take all her medications without too much of a fight?”
“She’s been having an off day, but seems better now.” Her mother seemed to be having many off days lately. “Her blood sugar was low this morning,” continued Louise “and that really takes her awhile to recover from.”
At that moment, her mother walked in from the kitchen at the back of the house and her eyes just seemed to light up. Her mother rushed forward and grabbed her in a hug excitedly saying, “Chrissie; I knew you’d come by today, I’ve been waiting for you!”
Claire looked over at Louise and saw the tears in the corners of her eyes. Louise stepped forward and put her arm around Claire’s mother and said, “now Evelyn, you know this isn’t Chrissie; this is Claire, remember?”
Her mother looked at Claire in confusion and then Claire could see the agitation beginning. “I think I know who my own daughter is,” said her mother indignantly.
Saddened, Claire looked at Louise and said, “It doesn’t matter Louise.”
The confusion and the agitation that followed was the reason Claire was forced to have a separate residence when it would be much easier financially for them to live together. For some reason, her mother never seemed to forget Louise, but she often confused her with Chrissie or didn’t recognize her at all. Even though she forgot that Chrissie was dead at times, she never asked after her husband. It was as if she could accept his death but couldn’t process Chrissie's.
“I’ve the dinner ready Claire,” replied Louise, and she gently turned her mother around and they all headed towards the kitchen. With just her mother, Louise and herself, the formal dining room had long ago stopped being used in favor of the smaller breakfast nook in the kitchen. Louise made a simple dinner of tomato bisque soup and ham and cheese sandwiches. Louise settled her mother in a chair, and Claire took a seat on the other side of the table careful to keep from startling her mother in her present state of mind.
Her mother suddenly looked at her and said in an excited voice, “Oh Claire; you made it for dinner! When did you come in honey?”
“I got here a few moments ago mom.” Louise looked over at Claire as she was sitting down with a sad expression on her face.
“How was your day honey?” continued Claire’s mother.
“It was fine mom, just busy as usual. I’m going to Columbia on business this weekend, so I won’t see you guys again until Sunday evening.”
“Oh Claire, you work so hard, doesn’t she Louise?”
Louise winked at Claire, “You know these young people today Evelyn, work, work, work.” the rest of the meal was spent in relaxing conversation.
After dinner was finished Louise led her mother into the living room and settled her in front of the TV to watch her favorite soap opera on DVR. When she returned to the kitchen she looked at Claire and said, “The roof is leaking again in the master bedroom upstairs.”
Looking at her in dismay, Claire said, “I just had that fixed last winter, how in the world is it leaking again?!”
“Honey, it was two years ago and that’s about how long the roofer said it would hold.” Claire sat down in a kitchen chair and wearily closed her eyes for a moment. “The lord never gives us more than we can handle, things will turn around soon, just have faith,” soothed Louise.
“Faith has been in real short supply lately, and I’m not sure of how much longer I can handle the upkeep on this house Louise. I know it would just kill mom to have to move.”
“Honey, we will do what we need to do, your mother would be confused, but I think she would adjust in time,” said Louise. “Let me call my nephew Brent; he’s a good handyman and might be cheaper than a roofing company.”
“Thanks Louise, I don’t know what I would do without you,” said Claire as she stood up and walked across the kitchen to hug her. “I’ll call you this weekend while I’m in Columbia but if anything at all comes up, call me Louise, and I’ll come straight back home,” said Claire.
“You don’t worry about us; we will be just fine,” assured Louise.
Claire walked into the living room and said, “Mom; I’m leaving now,” as she leaned down to give a kiss on the cheek.
Her mother absently patted her cheek and said, “Ok Chrissie; I’ll see you tomorrow,” and went back to her soap opera. Not bothering to correct her, Claire called out one last goodbye to Louise and made her way out the door to where Daisy was patiently waiting. She backed out of the driveway and headed back to Myrtle Beach and her small one-bedroom apartment on the south side.
>
Chapter Four
Myrtle Beach was a busy tourist town, and rent was not cheap. Claire had been fortunate to find a reasonably priced apartment in a quieter area of town that was a little further away from the ocean than most of the tourist crowd liked. She spotted her neighbor William ‘but call me Billy’ in the parking lot and desperately looked for another parking spot. If she couldn't park on the other side of the complex she would sleep in her car if she had to until he went inside his apartment. The lot was completely full except for her space in front of her apartment so it was either flee or suck it up and park. She could see Billy’s eyes zero in on her immediately as she pulled into her spot.
Billy was on the short side for a man with a pudgy build and hair that looked as if he poured oil straight on it each day to slick it down. He also had a very disturbing habit of ‘adjusting himself’ constantly. Claire could only hope this was a bad habit and not an indication of how much she excited him. She shuddered at the last thought as he strolled towards her in his ‘trying to be sexy way.’ Claire hurriedly stepped from her car and attempted to walk towards her apartment door.
“Hey good looking, long time no see,” began Billy.
“Er… yeah, long time, I’m in a bit of a hurry though.”
Completely ignoring that last line, he continued, “I’ve been trying to catch you at home; I got two tickets to a Neil Diamond show. This tribute band is so good you’d never know the difference.”
“That sounds um… lovely, but I’ll be going out of town for awhile on business and have no idea when I’ll be back.”
“That’s ok; it’s not until next month, and you should be back by then, right?”
“It could be a really long trip,” Claire stressed, “I’ll have to get back to you.”
Claire cringed as he leaned in closer, “just give us a chance Claire, old Billy will rock your world.” Another annoying problem, Billy liked to talk about himself in the third person as well.
Thanks to either good timing or what Claire liked to think of as divine intervention, the neighbor two doors down came out of his apartment and yelled, “Hey Billy, I need a lift to the store man.” Claire took this as her cue to run like hell and took off towards her apartment. She quickly unlocked her door and almost fell inside in her haste.
Claire went straight to the couch and laid down intending to take a short rest before packing for the trip. She shuddered one more time at being cornered by ‘William but Billy,’ and hoped she never got that desperate. It had been well over three years now since she’d actually had sex, three long years and to say that she was so horny she literally followed the hunky mailman around like a stalker was an understatement, but please lord, never let me get that desperate. Maybe it is time for one of those vibrating rabbits like Suzy had been suggesting.
When Claire opened her eyes again, the dawn was just starting to break. She jumped up from the couch with her heart pounding; she’d slept through the night, and it was now 7:00 am. She ran into her bedroom and grabbed a suitcase out of the closet dropping it onto the bed. She began pulling slacks and shirts out and within an hour she was fully packed and ready to leave for Columbia. Claire said a quick prayer to herself that she actually had some clothes that would match as she locked her door and packed the suitcase in her car.
Within an hour she was on I-20 heading towards Columbia. She vowed to stop at the next rest area to look over her directions from Jason. Claire finally allowed herself to take a deep breath and relax. She would probably be a bit later than Jason intended but hopefully there would be no news of the contracts yet and she would have a moment to get settled in. She turned on her radio and heard Jon Bon Jovi proudly belting out "Livin' on a Prayer".
When she saw the sign for a rest area, she pulled in and went over her directions. After quick restroom visit, Claire was back on the road, and traffic was picking up as she drew closer to the City of Columbia. She spotted her exit up ahead and turned on the adjoining road. Thanks to Jason’s very precise directions Claire was soon turning into the driveway of Jason’s friend, Harold.
Jason had told her that Harold’s family ran a large ranch that bred and sold very expensive race horses to people from all over the world. The buildings and stables close to the house seemed to be a hub of activity. Claire felt like she was looking back at an episode of her mother’s old favorite night soap opera, Dallas. You almost expected to see Bobby or J.R. Ewing walking out the door. Maybe she could be Pam for the weekend, and Jason could be Bobby. She chuckled to herself at that thought as she pulled her car into an available parking space. Claire spared a glance at her reflection in the rearview mirror and opened the door to exit the car.
She lifted out her small suitcase from the boot of the car just as an enormous dog bounded up to her. Reflexes kicking in, Claire quickly jumped back as the dog skidded to a stop in front of her and proceeded to lick her hand.
“Wolf you crazy dog, stop!” Claire looked up as a pretty girl with a rather harassed air approached the car. “I’m sorry about the impromptu bath, but Wolf has never met a stranger he didn’t lick. I’m Elizabeth, Harold’s fiancée, and you have already met Harold’s mutt, Wolf?”
Claire gave Wolf a quick pat and scratch behind the ears. She offered her other hand to Elizabeth, “Hi; I’m Claire, Jason’s assistant.”
“Good to meet you Claire, Harold asked me to keep an eye out for you since he and Jason have gone riding and have not returned yet.”
“This is a beautiful place; I’d no idea that this was such a large ranch,” said Claire.
“Harold’s family has been in the business for generations. His parents retired to Florida a few years ago and now Harold is running the business; or actually, it seems to be running us most days, but we love it. Come on inside Claire, I made up a guest room upstairs for you near Jason’s room. How long have you worked with Jason?”
Claire followed Elizabeth into a surprisingly homey entryway and replied, “For almost three years.” Suddenly, something under Claire’s foot made a loud squeaking sound. Automatically jumping back with an apology forming on her lips, Claire looked down to see a plastic bone that she’d overlooked on her way across the foyer. She looked over at Elizabeth and they both burst out laughing.
“As you can see Claire, we’ve a pretty informal home, and Wolf is generally the boss of it.” Claire was pleasantly surprised at how friendly Elizabeth was and how comfortable she felt with her. “Jason, Harold and I all went to college together,” continued Elizabeth “and I just think the world of Jason. The other groomsmen are staying at a hotel closer to downtown and they’re all going out tonight for what I highly suspect is a bachelor party for Harold,” laughed Elizabeth. “Harold is on the shy side, and the guys love to embarrass him. I think Jason and Harold were always close because with Harold being the quiet one and Jason being the serious one, they seemed to blend well together. That’s the reason Jason is staying here with us and the others are staying at a hotel; Harold was afraid they’d do something to embarrass him in front of the neighbors.”
Claire followed Elizabeth up the stairs to the end of the hall. Elizabeth opened a door saying, “This is your room,” and, pointing to a door, she indicated an adjoining bathroom. “The door on the left side opens into a connecting bedroom, and Jason will be there. Jason has an office set up in the sitting area of his room, and I thought it would be easier for you to work together if you are close.”
“Thanks so much Elizabeth, I really appreciate everything.”
“Oh call me Liz, everyone else does. I’ll leave you to settle in; if you need anything I’ll be at the other end of the hall in the office on the right working so feel free to drop in. I expect the guys to be back around lunchtime, and we can all have a bite on the patio outside.”
“Thanks again Liz.” Claire heard the door open down the hall as Liz went into her office. The room held a queen-sized bed in the center with a lovely pale yellow comforter which matched the soothing color of the w
alls. An antique chest sat at the foot of the bed with a dresser of similar design directly in front of it against the wall. Claire opened a door beside the bathroom and found the closet to be empty. She quickly unpacked and hung her clothing up to avoid further wrinkling. A quick check of her watch showed it was close to noon, and she wondered what time the men would return for lunch. Claire took her vanity bag into the bathroom to freshen up and gave an appreciative sigh.
The bathroom had obviously been upgraded recently and contained a huge, separate, glass enclosed shower and a lovely Jacuzzi bathtub. The floors were white marble, and the walls continued the yellow color of the bedroom. Claire used one of the cloths that had been laid out on the vanity to wash her face and reapplied a light tinted moisturizer along with pale pink lipstick. She released her hair from its clip and attempted to tame it into something tolerable before she put it back up.
Claire accidentally knocked over her vanity bag, the contents of it scattering all over the floor. She smothered a curse under her breath as she leaned over to pick up the mess on the floor and promptly hit her head on the corner of the vanity. Ouch! Claire stood with her hand over the injured area and saw in the mirror that she’d somehow managed to make a small cut. Damn, why must I always be such a klutz? ‘Mishaps’, as she termed them, had plagued her for most of her life. Claire went back in the bedroom to retrieve her purse for the emergency box of band-aids she never left home without. Suddenly, the door at the opposite end of the room opened, and Jason stepped through.
“Claire, I heard a crash. I knocked a couple of times but there was no answer.” She froze as Jason walked into the room. Looking incredible in a pair of well-worn jeans that hugged him in all the right places and a black polo shirt, he was staring at her with a look of impatience on his handsome face. The room that had seemed very large at first now seemed to shrink to almost a suffocating size with Jason in it.