Blink of an Eye: Beginnings Series Book 8

by Jacqueline Druga

  “Hey,” Frank spoke to her, gently tugging her hair and making her head pull back more. “Can I join you?”

  “Not right now. OK, Frank?”

  “OK.” Frank stood for about ten seconds then walked to in front of her, removing her legs from the chair and sat down there. “How about now?”

  “Frank.” Ellen turned her body into the table. “I just want to sit alone. OK?”

  “Nope.” Frank shook his head. “Dean said he went to the house. You stormed out. Henry told him the wedding was off. Is it?”

  “Are you going to gloat?”

  “Nope.”

  “No, I told you so’s ?”

  “Nope.”

  “What’s up with that?” Ellen asked him, holding back her bangs as she leaned for support on her elbow.

  “Let’s just say as your friend for over half your life,” Frank rested his hand on her hand that held her drink, “I’m concerned about you.”

  “I probably look really stupid right now, don’t I?”

  “I don’t know how to respond to that because I don’t know why the fake wedding was called off.”

  “I’m just tired of the lies. I want to change, Frank, and a mock wedding isn’t the way to do it. Plus, Henry ... I don’t know. He ... let’s just say, he’s not always what he appears.”

  “I’ll accept that and let this go. If you wanna make a change, why did you keep going on with the wedding stuff?”

  “First it was for Joe. Then I kinda got all caught up in it. Then, and don’t laugh, I liked being part of the women. I liked ... no, I like Jenny Matoose.”

  Frank nearly choked.

  “You’re making fun.”

  “I’m shocked.”

  Ellen sipped her drink. “You know what hurts the most, Frank. It’s Henry.” Ellen turned her head to look at Frank. “I never expected anything less than the truth from him. I trusted him so much. He doesn’t even realize what I put aside, what I gave up for my obligation to him. No matter how much it hurt, I put aside everything I felt for you so ... so ... I could ... finish my drink.” She held up her glass, widening her eyes as she drank, and looking away from Frank. “I didn’t say that.”

  Frank smiled. He lowered her drink from her mouth. “I didn’t hear anything. El, am I missing something here? Did Henry do something? I mean ... it sounds to me like he did something and you aren’t saying.”

  “He did. And, I’m not going to say what. Please respect that.”

  Frank held up his hand. “Promise. Wanna come back to the house with me. Hang out. I have to be getting back anyhow. Walk with me. Come on, Blind Dean is there.” He tilted his head with a smile. “We can play blind jokes on him. What do you say?”

  “No.” She shook her head with a slight laugh. “I wanna stay here, at least for a little while. Rain check though on the blind jokes?”

  “Most definitely. Will you be all right?”

  Ellen grunted and moaned, “Don’t make fun of me but ... I feel so bad.”

  Frank put his arm around the back of her chair and scooted closer. “I’m sorry.”

  Ellen leaned into his chest.

  “Will you be all right?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Frank leaned into her and kissed her on the cheek. “If you need me for anything, you call me or come and get me. I want to help.”

  “You can.”

  “Good.” Frank began to back away but Ellen pulled him back.

  “Frank.” She slipped her arms around his neck and brought her lips lightly across his neck and to his ear, whispering, “Take me somewhere. Make love to me. Do what only you can do and make it all go away. Please.” She brushed her lips against his ear.

  “El.”

  “Frank.”

  “El.” He pulled Ellen away from him then firmly ran his hands up her arms then to her face. He placed his hands to her cheeks and lowered his lips close to her. Then Frank stopped. “I can’t.” He backed up and removed her arms. “I can’t, sorry.”

  “What? I won’t ever, ever, ever offer it to you again.”

  “Yes, you will.”

  Ellen’s mouth dropped open in shock. “I will not.”

  “Yes, you will.” Frank walked to beside her. “And trust me when you do, you won’t be on your fourth drink. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret and not remember in the morning.” He kissed her on the cheek before he left, but felt bad. Because there was an expression on her face that told him, he probably shouldn’t have left her with Forrest and Josephine, the town barflies.

  He missed something in their conversation. He felt it.

  Frank reminded himself right then and there, as he finished his cigarette on the tower, that he would try to talk to Ellen about it. Or at least get Robbie on it ...

  Looking at the cigarette that had nearly burned itself out, Frank, using his middle finger and thumb, flicked the butt over the rail. It sailed through the air spinning. For as much as Frank didn’t expect to hear it hitting the ground fifty feet below, that was how much he didn’t expect to hear the high-pitched shriek beneath him. Knowing that the cigarette probably hit someone, Frank snickering, peeked over the railing. It took everything he had not to laugh out loud when he saw Henry rubbing his arm and looking up at the tower to try to see who had just burned him.

  <><><><>

  It wasn’t turning out to be a very good day for Henry at all. Not like he actually thought it would be, but since the moment he woke up alone, the day had gone downhill. It was bad enough that everybody in town knew, by eight a.m., that the wedding was called off, but what made matters worse was that he couldn’t walk past a single woman in Beginnings without them calling him a prick. Every single one he walked by called him that. Henry kept his head low. It would have hung like that on its own from his sadness but now he dealt with name-calling. He tried to get by Jenny, but she called him a prick and told him she wished she could spit on him. Trish went into her own version of a riot act, telling Henry he was sending her into premature labor, that they still would have a gala and he would eat his heart out at it. Of course, Trish screamed that single slang term for the male anatomy at him at the end of her speech. Even Josephine jumped on that bandwagon adding the word ‘fuckin’ in her sentiments to Henry. Bad day. He would have thought Ellen told the women the truth, but since he was still alive and still in Beginnings he knew no one knew.

  As Henry walked to the Mechanics Division building, he was in pain and ready to kill Steve the guard for that cigarette burn. Henry guessed that red welt was now the cherry that topped the whipped cream that topped his bad day.

  It had to get better. It would get better, when he tried to speak to Ellen ... again. Hopefully on his next round at it, she wouldn’t walk by him. If he could only get her where she couldn’t leave, then he’d be sure to get her to listen to him. To Henry, getting her to listen would be half the battle.

  Walking into Mechanics, Henry tossed his bag on the bench. “Hey, Scott, back already?”

  “Yep, and I’m going back out.”

  “Good.”

  “Henry, Forrest is in your office waiting for you. He radioed and asked where he could find you, and when I told him you were heading back here before your meeting with Joe, he showed up.”

  “Forrest?” Henry tilted his head in question. “What’s he want?”

  Scott shrugged. “Don’t know.” He picked up his things. “See you later.”

  “Scott, did Robbie ever show up this morning?” Henry asked.

  Scott didn’t need to answer. Robbie did. “Yes, Henry, I did.” He came from the stockroom, holding wires.

  Henry turned from Scott who left and faced Robbie. “Why are you here and not out working?”

  “Uh ...” Robbie looked up at the ceiling in a thinking mode, his middle finger pressed to his bottom lip. “Supplies maybe.”

  “You were late.”

  “So what? I’ll work late.”

  “You can’t be late, Robbie.”<
br />
  “I slept in, don’t start on me.”

  Henry grunted. “I don’t care. You can’t be sleeping late all the time. You have to learn to pull yourself from that bed.”

  “Normally I would, Henry.” Robbie gave a shitty grin as he walked to the door. “But why pull myself out of bed this morning when Ellen was still there.” He gave swift pat to Henry’s back as he walked out. “Bye.”

  Henry spun fiercely to the just shut door. “No. He didn’t ... shit.”

  “An-ray,” Forrest called out chipper, stepping from Henry’s office.

  A squeak of Henry soles occurred when he spun back around to see Forrest. “Hey, Forrest.” Henry took a second to let his heart stop racing at the vision of Robbie with Ellen.

  “An-ray, uh woo luck ta speck with you if uh cooed.”

  “Um sure, Forrest. What is it?” Henry placed his hands on his hips and looked down to the much smaller man.

  “Uh woos specking ta Trash un shay tod may dat you un El-loon half cod ef de wadding. Oui?”

  “Um ...” Henry quickly deciphered what Forrest had said. He really wanted to rush him along; he had to get his notes and head to Joe’s office. “Yeah.”

  “Uh um saw-ray, An-ray. Trash has tod may dat El-loon es don with you. Shay hes mud de sue-gestion dat ma-bay uh cooed stop en un hop El-loon. I luck El-loon and uh ned ta knew ef you wooed mund, An-ray, ef uh wooed tuck El-loon on a det.”

  “Uh, what was that, Forrest?”

  “Woo you mund ef uh tuck El-loon on a det?”

  “One more time.”

  “Tuck a on a det. A det. A det.” Forrest was a bit frustrated.

  “Um ... uh yeah, sure.” Henry nodded.

  “Tank you, An-ray.” Forrest blew out of his mouth and moved to the door. “An-ray, ef I mut? Ma-bay, de problem woos dat you dud net lis-soon e-niff.” He opened the door giving his final advice before he left. “De woo-mun, day ned ta bay heard.”

  Henry scratched his head after the smiling Forrest left. He was certain that whatever Forrest was saying was important. It probably was some worldly advice from a father figure, but Henry just didn’t have the time to take to make out his messages. So, shrugging, Henry hurried and gathered his stuff he needed for his meeting.

  <><><><>

  Joe rubbed that spot above his eyebrows so harshly that if Dean could see, he would know about the huge red spot the action was causing as Joe masochistically placed it upon himself. “It’s not that funny, Dean,” Joe told him.

  “Sorry.” Dean caught his breath. He stood side by side with Joe in the clinic lab. “Those are my choices? What about I finish these tests in this lab then I run to the mobile as planned?”

  “What about not,” Joe stated. “Dean.” Wanting to rub the irritation away some more, Joe stopped. “Andrea has a flu bug or something. She can’t wander two feet from the commode. Now, you wanted to be treated no differently than if you hadn’t lost your sight, and I’m not. If you could see, you wouldn’t be laughing.”

  “Yeah, Joe, but I can’t see. So explain to me why you can’t just have Jason work the clinic and you run Containment when Ellen’s done there.”

  “I can’t run Containment, Dean. After my meeting I have to run out to Metal. They’re shorthanded for the melting. I’ll be there until night.”

  “What about Dan?” Dean asked.

  “Dan is working Perimeter Nine for Huey who broke his ankle.”

  “Robbie.”

  Joe grunted. “Robbie is in Mechanics today, all day. He got a late start and he has to fill in for Dan tonight on Perimeter Seven because Dan is filling in for Huey today.”

  “Why not just leave Ellen in Containment all day then? And I’ll go up to the mobile lab and work with Johnny up there.”

  “Dean! Johnny is up there now running experimental batches. Didn’t we decide he’d do that in the morning, and you and Ellen would do the Agent Seventeen testing afternoon and evenings so no one else knows? How do you propose we keep up the Agent Seventeen facade if you go up there and work with Johnny on it? Though I trust my grandson explicitly, he is his father’s son and I can’t trust what will escape his mouth when a female questions him, trust me. He tells me that Denise is constantly asking him if they are close to curing it. It’s getting on his nerves just like you’re getting on mine now! Now your ass either works this clinic or you’re Ellen’s relief at Containment. Which will it be?”

  “Forrest. Why can’t Forrest ...”

  “Dean!”

  “All right, all right.” Dean held up his hands. “Containment. I’ll work Containment for the next couple days.”

  Joe let out a long audible breath. “Good.” He turned his views from Dean and to the door. “Thank ... Hey! Hey you!”

  Dean jumped from Joe’s yell. “What, what did I do?”

  “Hold up Missy! Stop!”

  “Joe?” Dean asked with such a hesitation. “Why are you calling me Missy?”

  “Not you. Sorry, Dean.” Joe walked away from the counter and he held out his finger to the door, curling it in a call to Ellen. “Now, come here.”

  Ellen whined, “Aw, Joe, I’m busy, I have to get back over to Containment.”

  “Not so fast.”

  Dean snickered at Ellen’s stomp as she entered the lab. “Hi, El.”

  “Hi, Dean.” She walked in. “Can I kiss you yet?”

  “Nope. Cowboy law. I don’t want to get killed.”

  “Aw,” she whined again. “It’s a Slagel thing, this cowboy law. It’s not real.”

  Joe cleared his throat. “I beg to differ. Clint would beg to differ ... the Duke would beg to differ with ...”

  “Oh, Joe, the Duke is dead and we should assume so is Clint. I have to get back to Containment. The animals are left unattended.” She turned to leave. “Bye, Dean.”

  “Not so fast,” Joe called out.

  Dean was curious. “El? What did you do?”

  “Nothing,” she answered. “Joe, I have to go.”

  “Ellen,” Joe spoke firmly. “I know, no wait, the whole goddamn town knows you and Henry broke up last night, but do you think it helped matters by getting drunk ...” He saw Ellen open her mouth and he held his hand up. “Don’t deny it. Josephine told me.”

  “Oh Josephine could barely stand last night. She was offering herself to Forrest.”

  “Still,” Joe continued. “Do you think ...”

  “Joe, my head hurts.”

  “Ellen it’s bad enough you got drunk beyond walking straight, but do you mind telling me why in God’s name I had to walk into my son’s bedroom and see you in bed with Robbie?”

  A thump, a rattle, and a bang.

  Ellen hurried to Dean’s aid. “See, Joe, you knocked a blind man off his balance. Here, Dean.” She helped him to his feet. “How did you fall?”

  “Frank!” Dean yelled.

  Ellen looked at Joe then back to Dean. She spoke to him like he was three, “Sweetheart, Frank isn’t here. Did you think he pushed you?”

  “No.” Dean felt out for the stool. “He keeps moving my things on me. I always have that stool at the end of the counter.”

  Ellen giggled. “Sorry.” She bent down and picked up the stool. “Here.” She led his hand to it. “Joe, for your information, I didn’t have sex with Robbie last night.” She looked at Dean. “I didn’t have sex with Robbie, Dean, honest. I wanted to sleep at your house and ... never mind, long story. I told you most of it. I just slept in the same bed as Robbie. He was so sound asleep, he didn’t even know I was there.”

  “Sex or no sex,” Joe said, “it’s the same thing.”

  Ellen laughed at him. “Oh I beg to differ, Joe. Really I do. Has it been that long for you?” She snickered and nudged Dean. “Anyhow, why are you preaching morals to me?”

  “This has nothing to do with morals, Ellen. This has everything to do with my goofy-ass son. He woke up in bed with you this morning and you know as well as I do, there is nothing he loves more than to get p
eople started. I have spoken my peace.” Joe stepped back. “Since you were in such a hurry to leave, I’ll walk your ass to Containment so you can prepare a day for Dean in there.” He heard Ellen snicker. “Yeah you heard me, Dean in Containment.”

  “But, Joe, he’s blind. How will he control them?” Ellen tried not to laugh.

  “Get your new buddy to help. Let’s go.” He reached out and snatched her by her arm. “Say goodbye to Dean.”

  “Bye, Dean.” Ellen tried to kiss him but Joe pulled her back. “Hey!”

  “Cowboy law.”

  <><><><>

  Joe remembered well in the old world how, whenever he used to enter a store, a slight buzzing would occur to let the clerk know someone had entered. It was a great idea, Joe thought. He didn’t know they had one in Beginnings, but found out his office did when he opened the door and heard the moan.

  Alarm system or stupidity? Knowing that deep voice well, Joe shut the door and opened it, again another moan. “Frank?” Joe walked into his office. “What is wrong with you?”

  “You keep hitting me with that door.” Frank stood to the side of the open drawer of the file cabinet. “Here I am, putting away your stupid reports, and you hit me with the door.”

  “I wouldn’t hit you with the door if you would stand in front of the file cabinet.” Joe walked behind his desk. “Sorry I was late.”

  “That’s OK.” Frank shut the top drawer. “Henry isn’t here yet. So, where were you?”

  “Fighting with Ellen. Arguing. Seems from what I heard, she was quite wasted last night. Then I tried to tell her she can’t live with me. Nothing against Ellen, Frank, but I don’t want her with me. Christ, she has your house and Dean’s. Lord knows I don’t want to open Robbie’s bedroom door again and see her in his bed.”

  “What!”

  “Now don’t get yourself all worked up. She was in his bed and ... and ... you’d better have a talk with that brother of yours, taking advantage of her in that state.”