It was a room filled with things that had given him a degree of pleasure when they were initially purchased and delivered to his home. Things that, up to this point, only he had ever viewed and enjoyed.
Drew’s thoughts shifted a little bit.
He made pretty good money. Therefore, he could afford nice things. In fact, his condo was full of nice things.
Things.
Stuff.
Inanimate objects.
Possessions.
Things that, unfortunately, were doing nothing to alleviate the feeling that his life held no real meaning. Nor did his things relieve him of the feeling that he was guilty of something.
But what was life if not pleasure and things?
Life is sensation. Visual sensation, physical stimulation … pleasure.
I get to make life what I want it to be. It’s my life! My choice what I do with it! I should be nothing but happy about that!
Drew lifted his arms and laced his fingers behind his head for a moment. Then he closed his eyes and dropped his hands to his thighs. And he sighed. Again.
Did he win the argument with himself this time? Or was he still lacking that silver bullet to put to death the idea that there was some governing authority over life?
Purpose.
He squeezed his eyes together more tightly, his brow furrowed in angst.
That was it, wasn’t it? If he had a purpose, it would have to have been given to him.
Purpose was given to an object by the one who created that object. Logically, if he truly didn’t have a purpose, then God truly wouldn’t exist, because a real God wouldn’t have made anything without intent—without purpose.
Drew opened his eyes. The answer was no. No, he had not found the silver bullet. Not this time.
Next time, maybe. Maybe next time. And considering how long he’d already been on this rationalism roller coaster, maybe it would even be the time after that.
How many “next times” had he already endured? A hundred? More?
Next time.
At least for this day he had a self-created purpose. Today, he could play “God” for an afternoon and help another human being; rational human thought implementing a self-ordained idea to help a broken girl.
He could be satisfied with that. If only for a day.
Purpose.
Drew shook his head, stood to his feet, and walked downstairs to make his morning cup of coffee.
SATURDAY MORNING HAD finally arrived—a day of such promise for Elizabeth. She virtually bounced out of bed to make her way to the bedroom window. Pulling back the curtain, she surveyed life outside.
“It’s a beautiful day!” she pronounced.
To her right, she heard Kyla stir. A quiet “Mom-Mom” was followed immediately by a stretch and yawn.
Elizabeth walked up to the crib and leaned down toward her little one. “Did you hear, my lovely little girl? It’s a beautiful day!”
A smile formed on Kyla’s face. “Out?”
“Yes, we will be going outside.”
A little laugh and another yawn.
“We’ve got to get you some breakfast, then Mommy’s got to find some clothes for her photo shoot today.”
Photo shoot! I’m doing a real, honest-to-goodness photo shoot! I’m the model! The model!
Elizabeth swooped her daughter out of the crib and made for the kitchen.
IT WAS 9:45 A.M. and Elizabeth was feeling the pressure of getting everything prepared on time. She still had to apply some makeup now that her hair was done. Just a tinge. Mark had said to keep her look natural, like she had been at work. But in truth, she hadn’t been completely natural. She’d hidden a few blemishes, and it was hard to live without at least a little eyeliner.
She had opted to keep her hair straight. Well, with just a touch of body. She thought it best, should Mark ask her to put her hair up and let it down a few times.
She also had to narrow down the clothes she’d bring. Mark hadn’t exactly put a limit on what to bring, but she thought she should limit her selections. Maybe six or seven carefully orchestrated ensembles.
The trick was going to be getting a duffel and a garment bag out of the house unseen. Especially when the garment bag had been smuggled out of Tara’s closet.
By the time she was ready to crack open her bedroom door, it was 10:30. If everything went smoothly, she’d have just enough time to drop Kyla off at FreeTime.
First, though, the trips up and down the stairs.
Trip number one had to be the bags. If she could get away with that, getting caught taking Kyla out for a “play date” would be nothing to worry about.
Kyla was playing quietly in her crib, soft chatter taking place with her stuffed koala bear. Elizabeth smiled at the sight. Then she walked over to her bedroom door and cracked it open. First, she looked down the hall to the open-air landing above the living room. No movement. She placed her ear to the small gap between the door and frame.
Shoot. Someone’s downstairs. The TV’s on.
She pulled open the door and walked into the hall, then past the landing to where she could look down into the living room. No one was sitting on the couch or the recliner close to the picture window. That was only partially good, though. Directly below where she stood was another recliner, obscured from view.
Elizabeth walked to the stairs and took five steps down. She angled her head to the right to see just below the living room ceiling. No one in the other recliner.
Clank!
A pan, or something like it, was loudly placed into the kitchen sink and the water turned on.
Good!
Elizabeth ran back up to her room, grabbed the two bags, and darted down the stairs. Halfway down, she heard Tara open the back patio door and call out. “Brent, don’t forget to pick up that ankle monitor. Mom’s hoping to get it today.”
Brent answered back, “On it. I’ll head out there now. I’ll probably be gone for about forty-five minutes or so.”
Elizabeth’s heart jumped into her throat. If she had been just a few seconds faster, he would have caught her out in front of the house putting the bags in her car.
She sat midway down the stairs and listened for a car door to close and an engine to start.
Some sadness began to rise in Elizabeth. Brent’s dad was in a sad state. The Alzheimer’s disease was starting to have greater consequences than just forgetting a few memories here and there. Twice, he’d gotten lost in his neighborhood during his daily walks. Concerned neighbors had walked him home both times. Apparently, Brent’s mom had ordered a GPS ankle monitor to help keep an eye on her husband and elected to have it picked up at the store rather than have it delivered to the house and her husband intercepting it and raising a fuss.
It’s so sad. He’s such a nice man.
She heard both the car door and the engine. Time to get going.
Elizabeth peeked into the kitchen area again. This time, Tara looked into the living room at the same time. Seeing Elizabeth, she asked, “Is Kyla awake?”
Slightly startled, Elizabeth left the two bags lying on the stairs and walked the remainder of the way down. She walked toward the kitchen.
“Yep. She’s all full of energy. I’m surprised she’s being so quiet.”
Tara giggled. “Me too! So, what do you have going on today?”
Elizabeth was prepared for the question. “A play date for Kyla. We’re going to be leaving in a few minutes.”
“Oh, that’ll be fun. Who with?”
She was prepared for that question too. “One of the other servers at work brought her daughter in on her day off, and I got to meet her. We decided to see if they’d like to spend some time together. And voilà! Today’s the day!”
Elizabeth could see something in her mom’s face. Was it a look of doubt? Disapproval? But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone again, a smile growing on her face.
“I hope the four of you
have a good time. Let me give Kyla a big hug before you leave. Here, let me give you one too!”
Tara’s arms opened wide, and Elizabeth eagerly walked into them. Tears began to surface. The realization that this woman wanted to have her in her arms was such a big deal, that she’d just as soon stay within them than go to her photo shoot.
“Love you,” said Tara.
Elizabeth sniffled, squeezed tighter, and said, “I love you too.”
She realized that Tara wasn’t letting go first.
Oh, what a wonderful feeling!
Elizabeth finally let go and took a step back. Unashamed of the emotions presenting themselves through tears, she just stood and looked at Tara, a soft smile radiating forth.
“That was the best part of my week.”
“And you saying that was the best part of mine,” said Tara. Clearing her throat, she said, “Well, don’t let me hold you up. You’ve got places to go and people to see.”
“We’ll be back before you know it.” Elizabeth turned to go back toward the stairs. “I’ll bring Kyla to you in a couple of minutes.”
“Good. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
Elizabeth reached the stairs, looked back toward the kitchen, and grabbed her bags. She darted outside and to her car, tossing them into the back seat. Then she looked at the child safety seat and made sure that the straps and buckles were cleared away to easily receive Kyla.
It was time for the adventure to begin!
Chapter 34
I
t was 11:06 when Elizabeth pulled her car into the small park called Tanner’s Creek. In the distance, she could see a car trunk open and a man walking from it toward a small stand of trees where a park bench sat.
Her heart was beating hard. This was really happening! If she’d been with Jenna, she’d have let out a scream of excitement. Time to be cool, though.
She parked her car next to Mark’s BMW.
Wow. I guess he does pretty well for himself.
Getting out of her own car, she heard Mark call her name.
“Elizabeth, I’m setting up over here!”
She waved at him, an exuberant smile taking over her face. She began walking toward him and he encouraged her to keep coming.
“Come here. I’ll tell you what I have planned for this location.”
This location. She giggled internally. It sounded so official.
When she got near his tripod-mounted camera, she realized that she was trembling.
Mark walked up to her and must have noticed. He chuckled and said, “Yep. Happens to just about every woman I introduce to the camera.”
“Shows pretty badly that I’m new to this, huh?”
“Sure does.” He winked at her. “Before you know it, though, you’ll be having fun and all of that nervousness will be put to work for you in the form of energy. I plan to make you work for this, Elizabeth.” He smiled broadly at her.
She laughed. “I’ll do my best.”
“This is where our first shots will take place. I like the background and especially the style of this bench. Pretty classy looking.”
She turned back toward her car and said, “My changes of clothes and stuff are in the car.” She looked at him again. “What do you want me to do?”
“Well, let’s see what you brought.”
Mark boldly took control of the situation, placing his arm around Elizabeth’s waist and escorting her back toward the vehicles.
Back at her car, she opened the driver’s side rear door and took out the two bags. The garment bag she lay across the trunk lid. Unzipping it, she opened it up to show the six different outfits she’d put together.
Mark rifled through the contents and pulled out the fourth set. He held it up, then looked back at the stand of trees. “I think this will do nicely. There’s a women’s restroom over in that building.” He pointed to a dark-wood structure about fifty yards away.
“Yep. I’ve been in there a time or two. Hope it’s unlocked.”
“It is. I already checked. Well, the men’s room is unlocked anyway.”
With that, Elizabeth walked off to begin her transformation from small-town waitress to single-Saturday-afternoon, big-city-girl, magazine model.
SO FAR, SO GOOD.
Drew was playing his part convincingly, based on Elizabeth’s responses and appearance. She had complete faith in him, he could tell.
Even better was that he was having complete faith in himself. He was determined to play this whole scenario out properly—innocently.
He went back to his car to grab his mom’s light meter from his camera bag. He noticed his license plate. Ohio.
Oh, no. If she noticed, it could put a kink in things. He was supposed to be from out of state.
Wait. Rental!
A wave of relief struck him. He could easily play it off as a rental car. No big deal.
He made his way to the trunk, grabbed the light meter, and placed it in his right vest pocket. He then grabbed a large circular light reflector and stand. He was going to have to redirect some sunlight into the area beneath the trees.
This whole photo shoot had drawn his thoughts back to spending time with his mom. Today he was grateful that she had been an avid photographer.
Back in the day, when he’d been a teen, she had bought herself a decent camera just for something to do—a hobby of sorts.
She would have him go out to various locations with her, and sometimes they’d meander for hours through forested areas trying to get some good wildlife shots. Eventually, she began submitting her best ones to different nature-oriented magazines and, to her surprise, some of them started paying her for her work.
When she realized that she could make some decent money with her camera, she bought a better one and began looking for other freelance work outside of the nature and wildlife categories. That was where her skills really paid off. Magazines and newspapers would often pay for her photos of people, places, and events.
He remembered several times when she had excitedly told him about another project that she’d gotten. And he knew that meant that he’d be out on location with her. Sometimes he’d hold reflectors, sometimes he’d hold an umbrella over her in the rain, and much of the time he’d be flat out bored, wishing he could have been just about any other place.
Today, however, all that boredom was paying off. Through all the tedium, he’d gotten an education from his mom. Back then, everything had been photographed onto film. Fortunately, he wouldn’t have to keep changing out film rolls in the camera he had in his possession today.
Drew set up the reflector, directing some much-needed light into the shadows of the trees. He’d tweak it once Elizabeth was back.
Elizabeth.
As professional as he was pretending to be, he was still quite stirred by her. She was everything he’d fantasized about. More, even. But included in that gorgeous body was a heart that he’d now begun to care about.
Who saw that coming?
“So … how do I look?”
The question brought his eyes to where she now stood. Her dark brown hair was draped over the front of her left shoulder. She wore a sleeveless, burnt-orange dress with a bronze belt. The dress came down to just above her knees, and her shapely legs ended in a pair of bronze-colored flats. All in all, it was quite the alluring look.
Drew took his time gazing at her, deliberately trying to look as if he were appraising her appearance without looking like he was enamored by her.
Finally, he said, “I think the camera is going to like you, Elizabeth.”
She lit up. “Thank you!”
“Uhh … well, let’s get started. How about just sitting on that bench in front of the trees while I adjust the lighting.”
She took a seat, knees pressed together, feet flat on the ground.
Drew grabbed the camera off the tripod and looked through the view finder. Hmm. Still needs some adjustment. He put the camera
strap over his shoulder and walked to the reflector. Picking up the whole stand, he moved it to the left side of the camera tripod. Tilting it this way and that, he finally found the best light. He unslung the camera and moved back into position.
“Ready for a taste of the model life?”
“Yes! I can’t begin to tell you how much this means to me.”
“Yeah, well, I hope you won’t be disappointed. I’m not in full-blown photographer mode. These will be good photos, but since this is so impromptu, you’ll only get a piece of the pie, not the whole thing. All right?”
“That’s okay. This is more than I thought I’d ever have! I’m excited!”
Drew laughed. “Okay, let’s get this whole shebang started. What I want you to do is come to the edge of the bench and scoot down to your left, almost to the armrest. That’s it. Now, angle to your right, cross your ankles, and bring your feet slightly below the bench. Yes! Perfect. Now hold that.”
Drew brought the camera up and manually focused.
Click!
“Good. Now, let me take a quick look at this.” He pulled the photo up on the LCD screen. “Terrific. The lighting is good, and I’ve got a very pretty subject. The camera apparently does like you.”
Elizabeth beamed.
“Now let’s do some grueling modeling work, shall we?”
She nodded.
“From time to time, I’m going to approach you to make adjustments. It may mean moving your hair, eliminating a fold in your clothing, picking something green out of your teeth. Whatever. Just be comfortable. I’ll be doing it somewhat regularly. You okay with that?”
She nodded again.
“Good. Right now, we’re going for a regal appearance. Elite. Let’s start with you lifting your chin and angling your head slightly to the right. A little more. Perfect.” He looked through the viewfinder. “Okay, relax your face. I want just the slightest hint of a smile—just a pleasant look. Good. Now, unfold your fingers. Lay your right hand over your left on your left thigh. Okay, now keep your fingers extended; I want to see your nails. Perfect.”
That Dark Place Page 19
