by Gary Starta
“I’m calling her now to see what’s going on.” Timothy squished the phone against his ear attempting to hear over the next singer performing ‘Before he Cheats.’
Lou Ann/Kate stood with one hand on hip, glaring.
“Don’t you want to hear what I think?”
Timothy nodded, listening to the phone ring. Lori wasn’t picking up.
“I think she’s a low life scum. I don’t know why you let her into the group let alone your house. I mean look at her. She’s just plain weird with that raven hair hanging in her face and those retro clothes. What a freak! I have to say I’m pissed but not surprised.”
Timothy’s brows furrowed. Lou Ann was going out of her way to trash Lori. Perhaps she was still really trying to deflect what she had done by badmouthing the girl. It’s what politicians did when they had nothing else to lose and they did it without a drop of remorse. And here they were, in DC, home of some of the nations’ finest psychopaths.
“I will talk to her.” Timothy raised a hand. “There, she’s picked up.”
Timothy waited a few seconds. Lori hadn’t said hello, there was just silence and then some beeping sounds.
“Timothy, I was right. She’s Kate. I would suggest you proceed carefully.”
“Ah, right. Isn’t that interesting?” Timothy attempted to stall the inevitable with nonsensical small talk. “I think you should come back here,” he said to Lori, “We can work this out rationally.”
Lori made a scoffing sound into the receiver.
“No. I’m serious come back. Lou Ann is a little miffed but if you give her phone back I’m sure everything will settle down.” Timothy realized the only way for the situation to cool would be to return the phone to Lou Ann/Kate without divulging the revelation. But it would be quite hard to explain Lori’s motive without that little kernel of truth. Could he simply accuse Lori of being a kleptomaniac? No, this night wasn’t getting any better. He assumed he also bombed as a singer receiving a less than lukewarm hand for his incomplete rendition of ‘Devil with the Blue Dress.’
Lou Ann seethed while Timothy nodded. He cupped his hand over the phone to close the call.
“I think I talked some sense into her.”
“You did, huh. Well, when I get my phone back I’m calling the police.”
“Just like you did on me?” Timothy’s heart palpitated. He hadn’t meant to say it but it slipped out.
Lou Ann/Kate pursed her lips, her expression screamed mollified. “You knew?”
“I didn’t want to know. Lori suspected you. I didn’t want to believe you weren’t Lou Ann because I was beginning to love you.” He reached a hand toward Kate’s wrist but she flinched.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to deceive you but I had a reason. I think you’ll soon see it was for your own protection.” A tear rolled down Kate’s cheek, smearing mascara.
“What do you mean my protection? Just what the hell were you up to?”
“It’s bigger than you and your precious sun, Timothy. That’s all I can say.” She shook her head side to side. “I’m sorry but I tried to warn you. You need to stop your obsession for your own sake and everyone in your group. They’re watching and I can’t stop it.”
The pair steered their sights in the direction of Lori who entered the bar, Kate’s phone resting in the palm of her hand as if it were a trophy.
Kate strode toward her and ripped it from her hand. “I can still call the police, you know.”
“Go ahead, raccoon.” Lori spoke in her usual monotone voice. Timothy observed the exchange and realized Lori’s unemotional approach diffused Kate’s anger somewhat.
“I think you should leave, ‘Kate’.” Timothy stood his distance, arms folded across his chest, shouting his words.
Kate spun on her heels and left, barely missing a waitress whose eyes and mouth formed ‘O’s.
Lori watched her leave from the corner of her eye and then a small smile emerged.
“What’s that for?” Timothy asked. “Are you happy you just shattered my life?”
“No. This is for the best. This woman was on some kind of mission to discredit you. She was going to break your heart either way. I would never do that.”
Lori surprised Timothy by reaching for his wrist but he reacted in the same manner as Kate. “I don’t know what to think. I need some alone time to sort this out.”
“Sure, but we do need to talk about this and…some other things, Timothy.”
Timothy speed walked to the lot and scanned the area. Kate was gone and so was his ride. His heart fluttered from heartbreak. He returned to the bar with hands in his pockets, wearing a sheepish grin. In that instant, and for no reason he could fathom, he felt drawn to the girl in the dark, raven hair even though she may have betrayed him just as Kate had done.
“Can you get me home, Lori?”
“I hope we make it,” Lori said minutes later, attempting to be heard over the car’s engine. “I think she’s on her last legs. But I’m just about broke and she’s all I have.”
Timothy was too immersed in the Lou Ann/Kate fiasco to care about cars or finances. “Okay, so why would this woman want to infiltrate my group, my home and bed? What is so wrong about my sun obsession? It doesn’t hurt anyone.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Lori stared ahead at the road. “You have a power and someone or something wants to take it away. That means you’re a threat to the status quo. The establishment can’t handle it. Whoever Kate Sizemore is, she’s from the establishment.” Lori glanced at the rear view mirror.
Timothy stared in silence, reflecting. Lori’s hands held the wheel in a death grip.
*
Kate arrived home feeling like Kate. She hadn’t felt like herself since her undercover mission. It was freeing but also damning. The first thing she did when she arrived at her apartment was shatter a vase.
I fucking betrayed Timothy and for what? Kate didn’t give much concern to Lori who was a criminal in her eyes. The woman was caught red handed robbing Timothy on surveillance. She didn’t care what reason the woman had for doing it. In the eyes of the law it was simple, she was wrong, case closed. It was so simple to operate under the laws of justice. You didn’t have to wade through the grey areas. Let a freaking shrink deal with that. Yeah, maybe Lori had her reasons. Maybe she was so guilt ridden she needed to make amends with Timothy. But again, that was a matter of rehabilitation. Let the prison system worry about that. She was a cop at heart and cops lived by simple rules.
The anger surged again in Kate as she approached her kitchen. This time an unwashed plate met her wrath. Crash! It shattered against the wall as if it were a skeet shattered by shotgun fire.
Her hand instinctively clenched into a fist, pretending she held a .38 in her hand, her weapon of choice. She never got to fire it except for at the academy in mock practice. What a waste!
At that instant, Kate didn’t know who she hated more: herself, for abandoning her dream of being a cop, or Hayes who had baited her, relying on her gullibility. Of course he played her, she couldn’t wait to play cop again, and freaking Hayes knew it. She fantasized Hayes saw the great law officer in Kate Sizemore, enforcer at large. What a fucking jerk! The two of them!
Kate grabbed the sink for purchase and proceeded to hurl into it. It was a purging, not only of alcohol, but what she had done to herself and the poison she was about to unleash on poor Timothy. What the hell was she thinking? Why would she hurt Timothy when a part of her admired him and wanted to be his mate? So what if she couldn’t see the benefit of watching a sunrise. Maybe Timothy Ray was a better person, a truer person, and that’s why he felt what she couldn’t. Now she had screwed up everything. She had lost Tim and she probably had lost her slim chance of resuming a police career. But after gulping a glass of water to restore fluids, Kate thought about what remained when you had nothing. Ah, yes. She said aloud, “revenge.” She stared at her reflection in frying pan. ‘Lou Ann’s’ makeup was smeared all over her c
heeks. Yes, she was a raccoon with vengeance on her list. Sort of like Rocky Raccoon. The analogy made her chuckle in a very dark way.
*
Kevin’s face was beet red. “I can’t believe you did this without talking to me!”
He flipped his laptop around so Chao-Zing could see the video post.
“There are thousands of hits.” Kevin said, sullen. “Look what you’ve done to yourself.”
Chao-Zing corrected. “There’s tens of thousands and George predicts there will be a hundred thousand by tomorrow evening.”
Kevin shook his head. “Who’s George?”
“My ally at school, a student I can trust.”
Kevin raised an index finger. “So, what you’re saying is that you can’t trust me?”
“Of course not, Kevin, but I knew you would have talked me out of it. Your reaction now confirms it.”
“Why shouldn’t have I? As a professor, you still have a hope to change minds. Now what have you got?”
“That’s a good question.” Chao-Zing stared ahead pensive, tapping a foot. “I may have changed the paradigm for future teachers and students.”
“So you fell on your sword, huh? Well, what are you going to do now?” Kevin stared at her for a long moment before his features softened. The lines disappeared from his forehead and he caressed Chao-Zing’s check with his hand. “There, there. I’m sorry for such a blunt reaction but you surprised me. When I first came across it, I thought the school board sabotaged you. And to hear something about the one I care for on the Internet before I hear it from their lips isn’t very assuring.”
“My feelings toward you haven’t changed.” She rested her arms on his shoulders. “Now don’t worry about me. I’m not going to cry and I’m not going to crumble.”
A knock on the door interrupted.
Kevin held her hand tight. He whispered, “I think I should answer.”
Chao-Zing observed the alarm in her lover. He was petrified. Maybe it was the school board and an army of lawyers ready to file suit. In that case, maybe Kevin was justified to feel alarmed.
When the door opened, Kevin quipped. “What do you guys want? It’s a little early for Halloween.”
“I think we have some treats…for you.” George said, pushing his way in without invitation. About half a dozen students trailed behind.
“Oh, why don’t you make yourselves at home?” Chao-Zing raised a hand to her lips and chuckled at Kevin’s sarcasm.
“What do you mean by treat?” Chao-Zing asked. Her smile ebbing.
“We’re all behind you.”
“Well, that’s wonderful.” Chao-Zing paused a moment to acknowledge them, eyeing each individually. “I really appreciate this but I think you’re going to slit your throats if you follow me. Besides, what can be done now? I fell on the grenade and it’s all over but the crying.”
“No.” George said, his voice ragged, “it doesn’t have to be. I mean, I know we can’t pay you but would you be our new astronomy/astrology professor?”
“Come again?” Chao-Zing asked. Kevin repeated the query.
“It makes perfect sense. It’s why you threw yourself on the grenade so to speak. It was because you were tired of the university’s bureaucracy but you were also against their rising tuition rates. In protest, you’re providing free education for your students.” George smiled, eyebrows raised.
Chao-Zing fought a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
George beamed. “Your brand could be free education for free thinkers. You’re going to be so famous.”
“I am?” Chao-Zing reflected, hands clasped, asking the universe for confirmation. A small beam of late evening twilight cut through the kitchen windowsill. I’ll take that as a sign.
*
Lori parked her car and waited for the engine to stall. It always ran for a few moments before it cut out. It was embarrassing but it was just a hunk of steel. She was made of flesh and she had bigger problems.
Because of this vulnerability, tears flooded her eyes. A car might die, but it would die without pain or grief. She was different and couldn’t change her fate no matter how cold she constructed her veneer. The dark hair, the retro clothes, the dark literature; maybe it was all a façade just as Kate’s drawl had been a ruse. In the end, she wasn’t any better than Kate Sizemore and there wasn’t really much more she could do but confess to Timothy and wait for the inevitable ending. In the end, she wouldn’t be any better a person than Kate Sizemore was. At least Kate allowed true human emotion to surface in the end. But when she allowed her true emotions to surface with Timothy would he feel any sympathy for her? He hadn’t for Kate. Maybe it would serve as her karmic retribution.
She waited in her car for about half an hour, hands clenched on the wheel. There was literally nowhere else to turn but to plead for mercy from her unrequited love interest. No matter how much Lori believed in Timothy’s sun, she didn’t feel it could cure her. Her hand felt for the lump. Yes, she was sure of it. Sunrise was hours away and it was dark again.
Chapter Eighteen
Kate drove with a dry mouth and unkempt hair through busy morning traffic. Hurry up, damn it! She had to get there before Jim Parsons. That’s about all of a plan she had but it was something. Would Parsons assist her? That was another part of her oh so tiny plan.
Her tires screeched against pavement and her car lurched nearly bumping into curbing but she had made it. Leaping from her car like a crazed superwoman, Kate Sizemore bolted after Parsons ignoring stares from Harris & Rosenberg employees.
She grabbed his wrist from behind and Parsons mewled catlike.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” He placed a hand over his heart.
“I need your help. I’m begging you. We have to stop Hayes. Will you help me?”
Parsons mouth fell open. “What? I don’t know. Well, I’ll see.”
Good she had gotten at least his attention if not his affirmation to assist. She sensed Parsons despised her but at the same time was attracted to her.
“I can’t talk here, Jim. Can we meet for lunch? I’ll explain it all. I promise.” Kate’s hand crisscrossed her chest.
She watched Parsons stare at her low-cut top. She hadn’t planned on using her chest as a bartering tool but it came in handy in a pinch.
“Okay. Where do you want to meet?”
“Alisha’s.”
“I see you spare no expense, Kate. And what with all those extra assignments you’ve been doing for Hayes, I thought you’d be rolling in the dough.”
Kate scoffed. “I really don’t need the sarcasm right now. I was wrong. I guess you knew somehow and that’s why I’m praying you can make things right.”
“Do not bring your cell phone with you.”
*
Parsons nodded and turned to enter the building. Within a minute, he was greeted by Hayes who seemed to waiting for him when the elevator door swooshed open.
“Good morning, Jim. You look a little flustered. Is there anything wrong?”
Lying would do no good. It was likely Hayes had seen him talking to Kate from a window or via another spying apparatus.
“It was Kate, Sir. She’s sick and needs a day.” He smiled weakly. “I’m relaying the information.”
Hayes bowed his head and began walking toward his office. “That’s strange.” He stroked his chin and finally allowed his hands to rest in his pockets. “Why drive to the office to report a sick day?”
“I think it was sudden, Sir. She did look a bit haggard.” He almost slipped and said, ‘because she couldn’t trust using the phone.’ Parsons bit his lower lip and prayed Hayes would let the matter lie.
Hayes paused and Parsons felt like he was playing a game of chicken in drag cars. Who would turn the wheel first? Hayes sighed after a long minute. “I’ll note the sick day, Jim. Have a productive day.”
*
Hayes rubbed his hands together and paced the confines of his office as if a caged tiger. What was going on
with Sizemore? Had she failed the mission? It wasn’t a stretch to imagine the worst. Kate Sizemore had the drive and ambition but she lacked any real field experience. What if she had turned to Ray’s side? His heart beat a bit faster just like it did when he spied on his ex-wife. Betrayal was a bitch but it also had an addictive quality like gambling with your house at stake.
He would give it a day. Maybe Kate was really ill. She had been burning the midnight oil, working an office job and moonlighting at night in Timothy’s bed among other places. But if there was something wrong, Hayes vowed to squish Timothy Ray and that damn pesky professor like bugs against a windshield. He imagined them as two love bugs entwined together, both presenting large targets for the likes of Harris & Rosenberg to squash.
*
Daylight streamed through a curtain, a strobe of concentrated light fell into Timothy’s eyes as he stroked Helena’s arched back. The cat had really come a long way since he scooped it up off his doorstep. She was only defensive with Lou Ann. Oops. He meant Kate. But now that didn’t matter. His union with her was over and at some point he would make arrangements to return her belongings. He wasn’t about to make the first call. What she had done to him was heartless, especially after he lost his fiancée and job. But more so, after he had discovered his light and felt truly at peace. Was this event a rip in the universe’s fabric, a means to see through the illusion he had created?
He brooded for a while, wondering if he had allowed himself to be fooled. The sun presented a means to heal after tragedy and Timothy imagined anyone would have situated themselves to absorb the promise of a light rather than be swallowed into the darkness of despair. He saw the despair in Lori’s eyes. Something was wrong beyond the surface and it might be the reason he felt drawn to her. If the fiasco with Kate hadn’t happened, he supposed he would have never allowed himself to ponder if he had a connection with the raven-haired recluse.
