After leaving the doctor's office that Monday, Jim parked the Mapleview Cable bucket truck on the shoulder off Mapleview Road for some much needed time with Ekaterina. He was such a fool for leaving her on Saturday! Where did Jim ever get the idea that playing family man with Kimberly would have been the right thing to do? Ekaterina was his new wife and new purpose in life.
He climbed over the guardrail and descended into the forest. Immediately, the small trail created by Jim and Ekaterina could be spotted. Even with the snow melting, the ground had been worn so that the presence of the narrow, off-beaten path could be seen. It zigzagged and curved around large trees, bushes and streams. After traveling them since December, Jim knew these woods like the back of his hand. They were home. This was his neighborhood; the place where he, Ekaterina and their soon-to-be child would live.
Ekaterina was so right with her statement from several weeks ago. Being that her home had been built by herself and sat in the middle of wilderness, there would be no concerns if she ever lost her job. Ekaterina lived in nature. All food, water and shelter were found here. And if Jim did, in fact, lose his job at Mapleview Cable; he wouldn't have to worry about a thing. There was no mortgage, utilities or taxes on Ekaterina's cottage in the woods. Jim could simply get a job at Walmart or some small business in Mapleview to afford food and needed items for the baby.
As for Kimberly; let her run off and live with Samuel Crummings at his brainwashing commune. The kids? In recent times, even they had turned against Jim. Let them go with their mother to become super-achievers and leaders of the Samuel Crummings brainwashing cult.
Jim passed the tree where Ekaterina had jumped out from behind on Saturday afternoon. He continued to hike and passed the area where he finally tackled her and kissed her silly. How he loved the sound of Ekaterina's laughter. It filled Jim with such happiness. Although the snow in the area was nearly melted, Jim knew that the two had lain there only two days ago.
Now nearing Ekaterina's cottage, Jim called out, “Ekaterina!” He laughed before making a very, bold statement, “I'm home!” But of course she would want Jim to move in with her. That was the whole point of her suggestion on Saturday afternoon. “Ekaterina!” It was as-if he expected her to run out after Jim and meet him with a loving embrace and wild kisses.
But then something didn't look right. “Ekaterina?” Jim was now at the very place he had been many times before where he faced the cottage. He was still some distance away, but why was Ekaterina's home not visible? Did Jim make a wrong turn? Did he get confused with the melting snow and change of scenery and turn a different direction? It was the only explanation.
But, no! This was the place. This was the very place where Ekaterina's cottage was supposed to be. Jim recognized every tree—in particular the tree that made a perfect Y-shape. There was the circle of five pine trees off to the right that, had it not been for one of them misaligned and closer to the interior, would have made a perfect circle. There was no denying; this was the exact location in the forest of Ekaterina's cottage.
So where was it?
“Ekaterina!”
Rather than her cottage in the expected location, there was a thick, overgrown patch of bushes. It was as-if they had been there for decades. There was no foundation or impacted evidence of a home ever being there. As for Ekaterina's well that provided water to her cottage: from what Jim could see through the dense bushes, there was nothing—not even evidence of a hole once being there.
Jim placed his hands to his face out of panic. What was happening? Was he experiencing some sort of hallucination brought on by no longer taking the ErexBoost? Should he have returned to Doctor Millheimer and mentioned this incident? But then what would Jim say? Who was Ekaterina, and why did she live in the forest? The very situation described might cause alarm in itself. Confused and unable to deal with what was happening, Jim had no choice but to turn around and head back for the bucket truck.
Chapter 63
It had to be a hallucination, or maybe a moment of serious confusion brought on by the recent stress in Jim's life. This was the only reasonable explanation. Of course Ekaterina's home didn't suddenly vanish! Since December Jim had been visiting her on a daily basis. He saw it with his own, two eyes. He had been inside of the cottage time and time again. But the momentary incident of hallucination that afternoon had disturbed Jim. He sat down at the dinner table that Monday evening with the intention of working the conversation in the direction of April's orchestra teacher.
But before anything could be said, Kimberly seized control of dinner talk. “So did you go to the doctor this afternoon?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“Well, he said I'm losing weight and that my blood pressure is under control. I think he also did some sort of evaluation on me to make sure the medicine didn't hurt me.”
As little Collin reached for a piece of garlic bread he asked, “What medicine? Are you on medicine?”
“Nothing…” reassured Father to little Collin.“It was just some new medicine for my blood pressure. But the doctor realized it wasn't good for me and told me to no longer take it. I'm fine, though. Don't worry.”
Kimberly stared at Jim and finally asked, “Well?”
“What?”
“Well, what did the doctor conclude? Did he notice anything wrong?”
“No! He says I'm fine. He said I passed his mini-psychological exam with flying colors. He just doesn't want me to take the medicine anymore.”
Kimberly sighed, “Okay…?”
Jim would have liked to have argued and asked his wife, “What the hell is your problem? Did you want me to have something wrong?” But instead, he moved the conversation towards the direction of Ekaterina. He looked over to Collin, “So… how was school today?”
“Fine…” answered Collin.
Then he looked over to April, “How about you? How was your day?”
“Good…”
“How's orchestra coming along? When's that upcoming concert?”
“In a few weeks…”
“Yeah? How's your orchestra teacher… Ms. Lutrova, I think it is?”
April returned a queer expression, “Don't you mean Mrs. Linder?”
“No, I mean Ms. Lutrova; Ms. Ekaterina Lutrova.”
By now Kimberly set down her fork. “Huh? Jim, what are you talking about? April's orchestra teacher is Mrs. Linder.”
Jim did his best to cover his outrage. “Come-on! Ms. Lutrova, the Russian lady! I've seen her plenty of times. You have to know who I'm talking about!”
“Jim, are you sure you went to the doctor, today?” asked Kimberly.
“Yeah!” Then with every second, Jim's heart raced faster and faster. Adrenaline spiked through every nerve and every vein. He was on the verge of a serious breakdown. What was happening? It really appeared as though Ekaterina and her cottage in the woods never existed. And what about the lively, Russian orchestra teacher who placed Jim under a spell of fascination? Even she didn't exist? Now April suddenly had an orchestra teacher named Mrs. Linder, and she was the teacher all along?
It was Jim's pale face and bluish lips that suddenly alarmed Kimberly. “Jim, are you okay?”
“I… I… I just…”
“What? What is it Jim?”
“I'm just having trouble at work and under some stress?”
“Stress? What sort of stress?”
“The company is being sold. Things are kind of up in the air right now.”
* * *
The following morning, Jim pulled out of his subdivision in the Mapleview Cable bucket truck. Perhaps a good night's sleep might have restored his sanity. Jim knew that Ekaterina existed, and was bound and determined to prove this to himself. Jim saw her with his own, two eyes. He spent time in her house. He had sex with her and fell in love with her. There was no denying what his eyes had seen, what his lips had kissed and what his hands had touched. Still, the recent events were a little bothersome. Why was ther
e a seeming conspiracy to cover up the existence of Ekaterina?
Perhaps Ekaterina was in trouble. Maybe Doctor Millheimer was a witch hunter and realized that Jim knew of a witch's whereabouts. Ekaterina might have sensed this and quickly performed a spell of non-existence for safety. She was probably somewhere in a magickal, invisible realm where she would eventually come out of hiding once the witch hunters had gone away.
Surely Ekaterina sensed Jim's alarm and frustration. Oh, and of course she could telepathically receive his desperate thoughts. She was a witch, after all. Jim called out through telepathy, “Ekaterina? I know you are there, somewhere. I know you are in hiding. Don't worry! I won't leave you. I'm still here and waiting for you. I'm sorry about Doctor Millheimer. I didn't know he was a witch hunter. You know I would never do anything to hurt you. I love you. I'm here to protect you. Don't be gone for too long.” This is what Jim telepathically communicated to his witchy lover while pulling into the Mapleview gas station. His tank was nearly on empty and in need of a refill.
That's when he spotted a sight for sore eyes. No, it wasn't Ekaterina. It was Amber, filling the gas tank of her black Pontiac Grand Prix. She looked so beautiful which triggered a sudden longing for her.
She noticed Jim as he pulled into the gas pump next to hers. Then he stepped out of the bucket truck and approached her.
“Hi! Long time no see!” greeted Jim.
But Amber wasn't exactly thrilled in seeing Jim. “Hey…”
“So what have you been up to?” asked Jim.
“Same-old, same-old.”
“Oh yeah? I've been alright.” Suddenly, Jim realized how important Amber was in his life, and strangely wished for their friendship to resume. “Hey… you know… I guess maybe some months ago I had gotten a little overwhelmed and didn't know…”
Amber interrupted, “It's okay, Jim! I understand. I'm okay. I'm actually seeing someone right now. I'm over us.”
“You are? Yeah?”
Amber nodded, “Mmm-hmm.” Then she removed the hose from her tank and fastened it back to the pump. “Not to cut this short, but I'm running late for work. See you around.” And with that, Amber walked over to the driver side door, entered her Grand Prix and drove off.
And I guess that's how life works. We really don't know what we have until it's gone. Only months ago, Amber wished for Jim to be closer. But he pushed her away. Now confused and heartbroken, he needed a friend; someone to confide in. But Amber wanted nothing of Jim. She found someone else who really cared about her.
Jim had to focus! He needed to forget about Amber! The important thing was to somehow find Ekaterina and ensure that she was alright. But there was a little matter of reporting to work that morning as well as training the kid who was obviously to replace him. At some point in the day, Jim planned on returning to the forest and finding Ekaterina. But that would have to take place later.
As Jim walked through the office hallway of Mapleview Cable, he glanced into Ryan's office where he spotted Ryan and Cody. Both young men had sickening smiles on their faces, as-if they were up to no good.
It was difficult for Jim not to hear the words of Doctor Millheimer in his mind at that moment, “How about the delusion that people conspire against you, or set out to hurt you?”
“Jimmy!” called out Ryan. “Here's your buddy for the day. Train him well!”
Jim nodded.
About 20 minutes later, Jim and Cody drove along Mapleview Road like two peas in a pod. Despite how Cody represented the Bearer/Bringer of Change, Jim had to be friendly, almost nurturing to the young cable cadet.
Jim demonstrated the signal leakage detector mounted on the dashboard. “This will probably be one of the most important tools in your job. Once a year, the FCC will do a flyover and measure any signal leakage coming from our system. In some places of the country, portions of cable systems have been shut down because of leakage. We cannot have that!”
Cody agreed, “Of course!”
Jim continued, “The detector is connected to a small antenna on the roof. When driving around, sometimes you might notice it squeal. That area could have leakage at one of the taps or utility boxes.” Jim and Cody were about to pass a utility box that always caused Jim's detector to sound an alarm. “Now listen closely; once we get near that box, you'll hear the detector alarm.
Right at the intersection of Mapleview Road and 6th Avenue, the signal leakage detector loudly squealed.
“Hear that?” asked Jim.
“Yeah!” answered Cody. “Aren't you going to do anything about it?”
“Nope!” Every system is allotted a certain percentage of negligible leakage. That box contains an extra amp to feed an additional square mile of homes. The only way to fix it is to cut down on power by removing the amp. But then you would lose a square mile of service."
Suddenly, Cody was a seasoned veteran in the cable business as he argued, “It seems to me there should be a way to fix it. You can't have leakage like that.”
Jim reassured the cadet, “Dude, relax! Our system has passed year after year with that box generating leakage. It's all under control.”
“Still, you think we could install another utility box up the road. I'm surprised you never brought this to Ryan's attention and proposed a new box. Ryan likes proactiveness, you know.”
It was time to put Cody back in his place. For now, he was the inexperienced cadet, and so was Ryan for that matter. “Well, when Ryan was in grammar school and high school, we had no problems with the signal leakage coming from that box. Aside from that, are you going to lobby a million dollars for additional infrastructure and construction crews to install the equipment? The leakage level from that box is acceptable.”
Cody wouldn't be put in his place. There was a new generation taking over Mapleview Cable, soon to be Fernsehen Comm. It was best that Cody shove Jim out of the way by softly answering, nearly under his breath, “We'll just have to see about that…”
“What's that?” asked Jim.
“Huh?”
“You said something.”
Cody remained silent.
“Look, you can drop the attitude with me!” declared Jim. “I get it. I pick up what you're doing. But don't forget that I'm the one who holds the key to your training, alright?”
Cody finally looked over, “Listen, it's no secret that Ryan and I are family. His dad comes over to our place a lot. I mean they're brothers—my dad and his. Over the weekend, Ryan was saying how he needs people who seem to know what they're doing, not people who screw things up or slack off on the job. Maybe he just thinks I can do a better job than you because I'm younger, you know? It's nothing personal.”
Jim sighed. When did life become so cruel? Is this what getting old meant? Ryan and Cody seemed like nothing more than a couple of little shits who didn't know what they were doing. But maybe Jim was just getting too old for his job, and Cody could do it better than him.
Jim pulled up to a utility box at the side of the highway. “Time to get you acquainted with the insides of these.”
As the two stepped out of the bucket truck, Cody asked, “Hey, shouldn't you have a safety cone behind your truck?”
It was best that Jim play it by the book and provide a good example. “Good point, Cody. Yes, you should have a cone out. Although we do have the yellow, flashing light; it's still best to follow the rules for safety.”
“Very good!!” answered Cody. “I'd hate to have to let Ryan know about safety violations on my first week with you.”
Jim bit his tongue and remained silent. He walked over to the utility box, opened it up and began pointing out the various cards along with amps. But when turning towards Cody, he could not be found. “Cody?”
Cody was standing behind the truck with the rear door open and examining the safety inspection log. He turned towards Jim, “Hey Jim? It says your safety gloves are a month overdue for inspection and certification.”
“Yeah, I know. The certified inspector is behind sch
edule. What can you do?”
“Well you should have said something to Ryan!”
Jim was losing patience. “Ryan knows about it, Cody. And did you want to see the insides of the boxes; get your training?”
Cody sighed, “Sure…”
He slowly walked up to the now flabbergasted Jim while further commenting, “I mean I just can't believe you're touching the inside of that box with safety gloves that are overdue for inspection.”
Jim proceeded to demonstrate the inside of the box. “Okay, this is the Master Control Unit, Main Memory; these are your row of Control Access Modules…”
As Jim looked over at Cody, he had the sudden urge to beat the living shit out of him. Rather than actually get something out of his training, the young cadet stood with arms crossed and a goofy smirk on his face while staring at Jim's gloves and shaking his head in disbelief. How would you like to remain courteous and respectful in such a situation?
* * *
Bringing Cody with to service calls or to assist with routine maintenance provided more opportunities for verbal abuse by the young cadet. But Jim's darkest moment in life in which he felt no larger than a bug occurred as the duo had some downtime and a chance to work on the telephone pole addressing project. Of course that project had been completed thanks to Google Earth. But Jim had to go through the motions as-if not to alarm anyone that the job was done.
Jim drove to some remote, forested road in Sillmac which presented a couple miles of telephone poles. “Well, we've got some downtime. We might as well stay busy and do Ryan's pole project.”
“Don't you mean your pole project?” asked Cody. “Ryan was asking me how that was coming along while reminding me to keep an eye on you.”
Jim's face turned flush with outrage but kept his words to himself.
Then Cody apologized. “I didn't mean it like that. He just wanted to know.”
Sex Magick Page 37
