Suzanne was getting sick of breakfast in bed. It was hard to imagine
that such a thing was possible, but there it was. Lester stole out
from between the covers before 7AM every day, and then, half an hour
later, he was back with a laden tray, something new every day. She'd
had steaks, burritos, waffles, home-made granola, fruit-salad with
Greek yogurt, and today there were eggs Benedict with fresh-squeezed
grapefruit juice. The tray always came with a French press of
fresh-ground Kona coffee, a cloth napkin, and her computer, so she
could read the news.
In theory, this was a warm ritual that ensured that they had quality
time together every day, no matter what. In practice, Lester was so
anxious about the food and whether she was enjoying it that she
couldn't really enjoy it. Plus, she wasn't a fatkins, so three
thousand calorie breakfasts weren't good for her.
Most of all, it was the pressure to be a happy couple, to have
cemented over the old hurts and started anew. She felt it every
moment, when Lester climbed into the shower with her and soaped her
back, when he brought home flowers, and when he climbed into bed with
her in the morning to eat breakfast with her.
She picked at her caviar and blini glumly and poked at her
computer. Beside her, Lester hoovered up three thousand calories'
worth of fried dough and clattered one-handed on his machine.
"This is delicious, babe, thanks," she said, with as much sincerity as
she could muster. It was really generous and nice of him to do
this. She was just a bitter old woman who couldn't be happy no matter
what was going on in her life.
There was voicemail on her computer, which was unusual. Most people
sent her email. This originated from a pay phone on the Florida
Turnpike.
"Ms Church, this is -- ah, this is a person whom you recently had the
acquaintance of, while on your holidays. I have a confidential matter
to discuss with you. I'm travelling to your location with a colleague
today and should arrive mid-morning. I hope you can make some time to
meet with me."
She listened to it twice. Lester leaned over.
"What's that all about?"
"You're not going to believe it. I think it's that Disney guy, the guy
I told you about. The one Death used to work for."
"He's coming *here*?"
"Apparently."
"Woah. Don't tell Perry."
"You think?"
"He'd tear that guy's throat out with his teeth." Lester took a bite
of blini. "I might help."
Suzanne thought about Sammy. He hadn't been the sort of person she
could be friends with, but she'd known plenty of his kind in her day,
and he was hardly the worst of the lot. He barely rated above average
on the corporate psychopath meter. Somewhere in there, there was a
real personality. She'd seen it.
"Well, then I guess I'd better meet with him alone."
"It sounds like he wants a doctor-patient meeting anyway."
"Or confessor-penitent."
"You think he'll leak you something."
"That's a pretty good working theory when it comes to this kind of
call."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account