Reclaiming (2 page)

“Oh…” she replied. Her voice raised several octaves at the implication. “
Ohhhh
, you mean, Harold?”

Harold. Of course his name is Harold. What else could it be?

“What did you want to know?” Her mother asked with an eager tone.

“I don’t know…” Daniella replied. “Whatever. I mean, you’ve been bugging me to call him for two weeks now.”

“Well, it’s a good idea you get out there and mingle with people your own age.” Her mother said. “You’ve been putting in a lot of hours at your new job, which is understandable. Even so, being cooped up and feeling sorry for yourself is no way to live.”

“I am
not
feeling sorry for myself, Mom. I’ve just been busy.” Daniella replied as she fidgeted with a lock of her hair. “Anyway, so Harold is around my age?”

“No, he’s about ten years older than you.”

“Uh, Mom!” Daniella exclaimed. “I don’t want to go out with someone that much older than I am. You just said for me to mingle with people my own age!”

“Now honey, Harold is very sweet.” Marilyn began. “I don’t think the age gap is that big of a
deal. Women mature faster than men do anyway. It’s fine. Babs is just a little frustrated with him at the moment. You know, because he’s still living at home.”

“Oh, okay, great Mom. Anything else or should I just hang up now?”

“Don’t sass me, Daniella. Harold is a bit of a late bloomer, that’s all.”

Daniella rolled her eyes. Just what she needed, a mama
’s boy.

“He’s an accountant, never married…” Her mother continued. “What else? Oh! He has
a
m-o-t-o-r-cycle
. That should excite you! I know how much you like the dangerous types. Of course, I would prefer it if you didn’t ride those death traps at all but when’s the last time you ever listened to me about things like that? Really Daniella, after all this time you should at least consider what I have to say. Nothing good ever comes of your obsession with dating bad men. At least if you go on a date with Harold, you won’t wind up with police cars following you everywhere you go!”

Daniella raised an air pistol to her temple and placed a twitchy finger on the trigger.

“Oh! I almost forgot… He’s…” Marilyn began. “It’s not so much that you’d notice mind you… but he’s… just ever so slightly… losing his hair.”

“So he’s bald?”

“No, not bald.” Her mother replied. “He’s balding…”

“But he
will
be bald?”

“At some point, yes, he will dear. But that’s a
long way
off from now.” Her mother said in the most reassuring tone she could muster. “A couple of years, at least.”

“Good Lord…” Daniella groaned into the receiver. “What does he look like? Is he somewhat cute?”

“Babs thinks so, yes.”

“Mom.”

“Well, now, Daniella, what is good looking to one person may not be another’s cup of tea.”

“Mom, before I jump out the window, can you at least describe him a little?”

“Oh Daniella, don’t be so dramatic,” her mother began. “Well, if you were to ask Babs of course you’d think he was the best looking man anywhere. But what else would you expect? Oh my, mothers and their sons. I am so thankful I never had a boy. Nothing but trouble, let me tell you. But the way things are going with you at the moment, I’m beginning to wonder.”

“Mother…”

“Yes, dear?”

“Can you tell me anything about what he looks like? Please…”

“Hmm, well, he’s very active.” Marilyn began. “Well, I mean he’s active
now
. Babs tells me he’s started exercising with a weight set. With being an accountant all these years, he’s put on a little spare tire.”

Daniella lowered her forehead into her palm. She shook it in slow disbelief as Marilyn continued.

“So he’s fat?” Daniella asked.

“
Uhhm…” Her mother replied. “Well, Babs tells me he’s making great progress. She says she hardly notices his man boobs anymore.”

“Oh my God…” Daniella whispered as she moved the receiver away from her mouth. After a deep breath she continued, “Okay Mom, so your idea of me meeting new people is, for starters, going out with a man ten years older than I am. Never mind the fact that he’s an accountant, who lives at home with his mother, is
bald and has breasts. Am I pretty much in the ballpark on this one?”

“Balding… Daniella… not bald.”

“Whatever Mom!”

“You need to meet a nice guy, Daniella.” Her mother said as she exhaled. “Someone that is steady, reliable, dependable and will treat you like a queen.”

Daniella knew that her mother had her best interests at heart but all she heard when she talked about him was boring, boring,
boring!

“Would you rather discuss your track record in this area of your life?” Marilyn said. “Maybe a peek out of your kitchen window would refresh your memory about your skills in that regard?”

“No. I wouldn’t like to discuss it and no, I don’t need to peek out my window, thank you.”

“So? Are you going to meet him or not?”

Daniella was all too aware when her mother wanted something from her she could be relentless. Even worse, were situations like this where she wanted to ‘help’. So against her wishes, not to mention her better judgment, Daniella capitulated.

“Fine…” Daniella sighed. “Give him my number.”

“Oh, wonderful!” Her mother exclaimed. “I’ll let him know that you’re free Saturday night.”

“Mom…” Daniella moaned. “Saturday night? Really?”

“Do you have something else going on instead? Don’t lie to me, Daniella.”

“No. I don’t. Okay. Saturday night.” She said. “Do me a favor though, Mom…”

“What’s that honey?”

“Please don’t tell him I’m free on Saturday.” She begged. “If you are going to insist that I do this, please give me the choice to not seem desperate. Can you do that much for me?”

“Of course, sweetie. I won’t mention a word about it.”

As Daniella hung up the phone, she got up from the couch and dragged herself into the bedroom. She flopped down on the mattress and stared up at the ceiling. After several seconds she returned the air pistol to her temple and fired.

***

When the alarm on her cell phone sounded the next morning, Daniella hit the snooze. The universe owed her five more minutes and she would have it. But just as she was about to doze back off, the memory of her rendezvous with Harold the Accountant returned to her awareness.

“Kill me now…” she moaned into her pillow.

With that image ingrained in her mind, any notion of sleep disappeared. She rolled over and tossed the covers aside. As she swung her feet over the edge of the bed, she knew that tomorrow at last, the end of the workweek would at last arrive. And not a moment too soon either. Thirty minutes later she walked into her kitchen to eat breakfast and get lunch ready for the day.

“Stupid dishes…” she grumbled as she walked over to the kitchen sink. Even though they were the last thing she wanted to do, she knew that if she didn’t, they’d stink up the whole apartment by the time she came home. With reluctance, she picked up the sponge and dish soap and got to work.

For several seconds, she scrubbed and stared out the window. Pine Hill was a pretty area and she did love the location of her new place. After all, one of the main reasons she picked it in the first place was for the view. Of course, since she
’d moved in, the ever present patrol car parked across the street ruined the scenery.

Daniella placed a freshly cleaned plate down and then picked up a dirty glass when something caused her to do a double take. She leaned over the sink,
squinted and looked up and down the entire length of the street across from her apartment. She toweled her hands dry and walked around to the living room to get a better look.

As she pulled open the curtains, she looked yet again. To her disbelief, there wasn
’t a patrol car anywhere in sight. For the first time since she’d moved to Pine Hill, she wasn’t under surveillance. At once her mind jumped to conclusions as to the meaning. Unless the morning shift was late or at the donut shop, there could only be one reason…

Jett was in custody.

“Shit!” Daniella exclaimed as her awareness returned. She looked at her cell phone. “Late already…”

She gathered up her things and hurried out to her car.

On the way to work, she turned on the local news station. She was certain that if Jett was under arrest, it would be all over the place. But after a fifteen minute drive in, there was no mention of it all. The only thing left to conclude, if they did have him, was the police weren’t releasing any information about the case until it was time.

Even so, Daniella
’s mind raced with endless scenarios not the least of which was Jett shot by them on a back country road. The very idea of it made her feel ill but now was not the time to worry about it. If they had him, everyone would find out before long. She hoped that when the facts did emerge, she’d be spared any mention of being involved. No one at her new job had a clue she was a part of it and she prayed it would stay that way.

***

Early in her life, Daniella knew she loved children. She always assumed she would have kids of her own someday, of course, but she also had a deep need to help those less fortunate. And that’s the main reason she wound up at the largest children’s charity within five hundred miles. The organization, known as Miracle Kids Foundation, provided medical care to children that otherwise didn’t have the means. More often than not, this meant orphans, the poor or those with life threatening illnesses which resulted in extreme financial hardship.

The work challenged her and that was a good thing. It provided a much needed distraction from her current situation but also, gave her a sense of control and direction she lacked elsewhere. Today was the end of her first month in her new position. She was up for review soon and more than anything, she wanted to make certain she didn
’t blow it.

As she arrived at the office one her coworkers,
Candi, greeted her. As luck would have it, the two of them and another woman were at the end of a three week long project. They were in charge of a new fund raising event for kids with juvenile diabetes. Even though the finish line for the project was in sight, there still seemed to be an endless list of items to check off their list.

“Hey…” Daniella said as she hurried to her desk. “Sorry I’m late.”

“That’s okay,” Candi replied as she smiled. “There’s a first time for everything.”

Candi
Dillon was a short, cute brunette with curves in all the right places and men everywhere interested in grabbing them. But as cute as she was, she was also smart and no pushover when it came to dealing with affairs of the heart.

“Thanks,” Daniella groaned. “Crazy morning… Where are we with the caterers? Did we get the ice sculpture problem worked out?”

“That, I couldn’t say,” Candi replied. “I think Victoria was handling that.”

“Where is she?” Daniella asked. “Oh, that reminds me that we needed to check and see about doubling the space for the banquet hall.”

As if being the new girl wasn’t enough, her boss gave Daniella the job of lead coordinator on the project. Stressed wasn’t an adequate enough term to describe her mental state at the moment.

“Hang on, let me try her cell.”
Candi said.

While
Candi tried to track down Victoria, Daniella scanned her desk for the folder which contained her to-do list for all the details of the event. It wasn’t there. She had no clue what she did with it. It was in her bag when she left the house so it had to be around somewhere. But after a few minutes of searching, there was still no sign of it.

“She’s not answering…”
Candi said as she hung up the phone.

Daniella turned to her.
“Um, okay. Hey, I have to run back out to my car. The folder… I dropped it somewhere.”

Candi
’s eyes widened. “Well, get going!” She exclaimed.

Less than a minute later, Daniella stood at the bank of elevators and tapped her foot.

“Come on, come on…” she groaned.

At last, the doors opened and in front of her stood Victoria Daly. She was a tall, thin, natural redhead unfairly endowed in all the right spots.

“Hi…” Daniella said as she rushed past her. “I’ll be right back. I have to run out to my car for a minute.”

Victoria
’s hazel eyes flashed at Daniella as she walked out of the elevator. “Oh yeah?” She said as the doors started to close. From behind her back, she produced a large manila folder.

“Looking for this?” She asked as she swished it back and forth in front of her face.

“Hey!” Daniella shouted. She reached down and fumbled around for the button to open the doors. After a couple of seconds, they swung open, she emerged and went to grasp at the folder.

“Ah, ah!” Victoria scolded as she snatched it from her grasp. “Not unless you agree to come out with
Candi and me for happy hour tonight.”