Duvet day

Jumping from one disaster to the next, I push snooze and pull the duvet over my head. Digging myself deep into my pit, I fight to revisit the dream the alarm disturbed.  Why is it that it is always when you reach the best bit that you wake up?  I was enjoying flying like superwoman over the Dover Cliffs.  Not sure what a dream specialist would make of that.

As the alarm went off again, I forced myself to sit up in bed.  Thinking of the day ahead of me I shuddered. My sick record flashed in front of me, but I can’t face it.  I’m in danger of being dismissed but with Vile Marcus on my case, playing at being sick is preferable.  I’ve always known not to get involved with a colleague, but his calm confidence drew me too him.  Before I knew it, he cast me aside for another girl and my name became dirt.

The feeling of being thrown away when you start to trust someone, the hurt caused, especially when shared secrets become the departments business.  Reaching for my phone I can feel a story of food poisoning coning on.  In the last few weeks, I think I’ve covered all possible ailments, I’m unlikely to get a glowing reference thanks to Marcus.

Finishing my phone call, I bury myself again in my duvet, when I feel like this, bed is the place to be.

Melinda

Sitting at her desk, she thought of last night.  Catching Marcus with Beatrice had been a punch in the gut.  As she saw him arrive, Melinda wasn’t sure what to say to him.  She had believed all the stuff about Tanya, now knowing it was cruel lies, she felt her palms go sweaty.  They had to stop him, it would be Beatrice next.  How though do you bring down senior management?

Hearing laughter, she looked up.  Seeing Pam and Jenny giggling, she knew something was up.  She thought of things she had told Marcus, private things, how could she have been so stupid?

Overhearing the words, ‘Tim and ‘father figure’ Melinda knew that indeed Marcus had made an idiot out of her too.

Looking at Tanya’s desk she could see she had phoned in sick again.  They had never been friends but now was the time to make up for the twisted stories she had believed.   Surely it wasn’t just her and Melinda hurt here, she wondered what why he left his last job.  Opening up google she entered the name, ‘Marcus Tenneson’, nothing came up.   She tried again with ‘Marcus woman’ still nothing.  Then ‘Marcus, predator.’  Success, up came a photo of Marcus Jeffries dismissed from his lead role.  So, he had done this before.

The boss’s office

Picking up her laptop, she had to do it.  Knocking on the door, she heard sniffing. As there was no answer, she knew something was very wrong.   Pushing the door open slowly, she saw Kerry crying into a box of tissues.

“Kerry, what’s happened?”

She passed me her mobile phone.  There in a text message, partner Paul of two years had finished everything with her.  I’d liked him, I didn’t like him now.

“Kerry this might be a bad time, but it might also be a good time.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, if you want to hate men, look at this.”

Handing Kerry the laptop, Melinda watched as her jaw dropped.

“The dirty rat!  Isn’t he with you?”

“No, I caught him with Beatrice last night.  He finished with Tanya for me, all the nasty stuff he has said about her was private and shouldn’t have been shared.”

“I had wondered, she has phoned in sick again today”.

“To be honest, I considered it this morning.  I didn’t want to see Marcus and he has already shared something that I trusted him with.”

“Yes, this was a good time to tell me.  Task for today, could you please go and see Tanya.  Tell her what has happened.  I will see Marcus and yes, he will be dismissed.  I’m not having him hurting my staff.”

The day improves

Hearing the doorbell I groaned, I just want to be left alone.  Seeing the shadow at the door I questioned my sanity opening it.   Pulling down on the handle, I nearly slammed it again seeing Melinda.

“Tanya, I’m sorry but we need to talk.  There’s something you need to see.”

“No, I’m ill, I need bed.”

“Tanya, you will feel better in about ten minutes, just let me in.”

Leaving the door ajar, without inviting her in, I headed for the kitchen and flicked on the kettle.  What possibly could this woman have to say.   Watching her pull her laptop from her bag and turn it on, what was happening?

“Last night Tanya, I caught Marcus with Beatrice.  Today’s story in the office is how years ago I dated a man old enough to be my dad. That was private and should not be shared.  Kerry knows I’m here.”

Pushing the laptop to me, she added, “he is now being dismissed, sorry I’ve been so horrid to you.”

Reading the screen, I knew he was bad, but this was very bad.

“So, what is his name? Is it even Marcus?”  The tears started again.

“Tan, I don’t know but you can come back to work tomorrow.  Kerry’s given me the day off to come and see you.   It will be Beatrice hurt next but he will be gone today.”

“How did you find this Melinda?”

“Internet search and there he was, he didn’t cover his tracks very well, serial womaniser.”

A better day

Today had evolved in a way I had not expected.  Thanks to Melinda, who I had hated this morning, Marcus was now out and I can go back to my life again.

Spending the afternoon with Melinda was actually better then hiding under the duvet. Exchanging stories we found that we did like each other. Today was a good day and tomorrow I will start repairing my sick record. It will be another day, without the need of my duvet.

Here is my fundraising page if you would like to donate, any size donation is appreciated

Written for A story a day for Pancreatic Cancer UK

Written for Pancreatic Cancer UK to fundraise and raise awareness of this terrible disease after losing my dad in November 2020.

Lucy

Sand between my toes, I look at Paul and wondered what I did to deserve him.  You may read this and think I’m lucky, I’m not.  I might be with an impressively handsome man, but at what cost? We have fantastic holidays, and we work well when together.  However, are we a team? He works away regularly; we hardly see each other.   Money means working long hours and though he says he loves me, I’m not sure how committed he really is.

There are times I dream of another life, there’s going to be few men who would buy me diamonds like spending pocket money.  However, is love, attention and Cubic Zirconia really that bad.

Standing here in Hawaii the beach is beautiful, I should be happy.  Its so rare that we have a weekend together before he is called back to work.  Many women would love to date an FBI hero’, but I’ve had enough. If he told me that he was quitting to work on a supermarket checkout I would selfishly be pleased.

Christopher

For years he had listened to Lucy, all her frustrations with Pete and issues with life.  He had known her since school, and she had never noticed him as more then a friend. He knew all about her as a best friend should.  She had always been worth more then the checkout girl that she had become.  With no confidence in her own ability, she refused to use the degree that she had achieved years ago.  When offered a management job she had turned it down.

Convincing a friend to choose poverty over financial freedom was not something he could do.  He had always believed that if it was meant to be, it would be. After knowing her thirty years he knew things were unlikely to change. Christopher had never met anyone like Lucy, no one who he loved as much.   Married to Kayley he knew that he had done the wrong thing and the adoring eyes of daughter Elsie made him think he had done the right thing.  Lucy would never love him.

Lucy

Good times always come to an end. Getting of the plane at Gatwick I just wanted to get home.  Conflicted over Pete, I thought of the necklace in my suitcase.  With talk of a ring and marriage I need to make a decision.  As much as I love the money, I need love and company.

As I see the familiar features of my best friend walking towards me. I do wonder why we have never got together.  Kayley seems a nice girl, but we have never really got on.   He has never shown any interest in me, stuck in the friend zone we will always be just friends.

Putting his arms out to meet me, I trip into his arms and the tears start to pour.  Feeling my life tumbling around me this wasn’t good.  Feeling his hands on my face I look up.  Trying to read him, I am confused.

“Lucy what’s wrong?”

“Its Pete, he asked me to marry him?”

Christopher hesitated,

“Isn’t that good?”

I cried harder, “I don’t know.”

“Right Luce, Coffee now.”

Steering me into the coffee shop, the confusion was flooding through me.   It was ten minutes later that I now sat in complete shock.

Finally

“I’m going to put this out there.  You are my best friend, but I need to tell you.  Lucy I’m sorry but I love you.”

“But you married Kayley.”

“Well, you don’t love me. You are with Pete.”

The tears started rolling again.

“Chris, I’ve loved you years, but you married Kayley”

Things were even more of a mess now and I longed to be back on the Hawaiian beach.  Chris had always been there for me. He even fought off my school bully, it had always been him and me.  What was I supposed to do?  I didn’t want to hurt Kayley and Pete, but I deserve happiness too.

Sat in the Gatwick café, I had finally heard the words that I’ve always wanted to hear.  Why though after he has got married and my proposal from my FBI Agent.   Do I take the easy option, ignore Kayley, daughter Elsie and Pete?  Do I grab him and ignore the consequences?  Looking at Chris, I don’t know what to do or say,

“Come on, let’s get home.”

Picking up my coat and bags, Chris reached for my suitcase.  Following me through the airport in awkward silence we had finally had the conversation that should have happened years ago.  Now we just have to work out what to do next and if we follow our hearts then at least three people are going to be hurt.

Here is my fundraising page if you would like to donate.  Any size donation is appreciated.

Written for A story a day for Pancreatic Cancer UK

Written for Pancreatic Cancer UK to fundraise and help raise awareness of this terrible illness since losing my dad in November 2020.

The Detective

With the fire raging, fiercely in the fireplace, the evening should have been romantic.  With the half-eaten take away pizza on the table and the full glasses of wine next to it, the evening should not have ended like this.   I see this too often, nice looking couples that have more to tell then your normal person on the street.  These two had a story to tell, it’s my job to work that out.

I’ve always wanted to be a Detective, catching bad guys a lifelong dream.  The good guys on the television will always catch the bad guy.  I wanted to be like them, doing something good for my community.

I enjoyed unravelling puzzles but this one had been particularly difficult. The body count was adding up and as we are desperately trying to tie the murders together more are getting killed.

Ella and Mark

Today’s bodies appeared to be boringly normal, digging deeper, Mark had been involved in a Cocaine Scandal years ago.  Researching Ella, we learned that she was an innocent party who had only known him a few weeks.  Her family didn’t know that he existed. Was she really just an unfortunate soul caught in the crossfire?

Digging up facts on the others, we found four cocaine dealers and two with no criminal record.  The count was now at eight and they had all been found at home.

Leading the investigation, we have our suspect, but we don’t know their motive.

The Cat

His life had taken a downturn the day he met mad Carla.  To keep him happy he had dealt with her customers and hid his cash in various bank accounts.  Now walking a fine line, he had always been honest till a drunken night in a bar when everything went wrong.  Taken in by her charms, he was a willing puppet and quick to do as she demanded.

As the business evolved, she had taken on Crazy Kev.  A man with a massive temper who didn’t take no, easily.  Once he had met his first victim he had continued, Cat knew that if didn’t keep his head down and carry on he was likely to be Kev’s next body.   Problem was, aware of the rising body count he wanted out, he had had enough.  Pulling out his phone he knew what he had to do.

The Detective

I’m Julie, working for homicide, you need a strong stomach for things I’ve seen.  This case has run for months and as I wondered where this would end, I received the phone call.  Grabbing my partner, we jumped again in his Ford.  Rushing to the address we had been given, the armed police were standing, guns ready.  Too often we raced in to find our informant already dead.

As we knocked on the door, we waited.  Hearing shouting, I was grateful for the men hiding at the back.  As the men around me are getting louder, we now break down the door.  Entering the property, the stench hit us. Walking into the living room, the blood scene was too gruesome to take in.

My detective made the discovery that we needed.  Down in the basement were more bodies and a man tied to a bar.  Evil lashes across his face which was red from crying and fear.

Calum

Rescuing Calum, we learnt about Mad Carla and Crazy Kev.   Knowing that Calum was uncomfortable, Kev had taken matters into his own hands.  Not realising that he had already phoned the police he brought him back to their central house.

We had been close to catching our man but needed to tie all murders to Kev.  With Calum safely in custody we finally had all the answers and all the victims finally had justice.   With Kevin and Carla jailed for life, Calum, known as Cat was able to finally enjoy his life as long as he attended Rehab, community service and stayed away from cocaine.

My life

From one case to another.  With this one now tied up; my mobile went.  Another murder and a new mystery to solve, calling my partner, once more we sat in his Ford.  This is my life; my career keeps me going and after losing my husband two years ago it keeps me sane.  My family have told me to stop, but I can’t.  If I stop, I will break so one case after another I will continue until the day that the I’m forced to retire.  Life has to go on, and it will as long as I keep the bad guys of the street.  Reaching our destination, I can hear the screaming.  Here we go again, back into another crime mystery.

Here is my fundraising page if you would like to donate.  Any size donation is appreciated.

Written for A story a day for Pancreatic Cancer UK