Story: Vanishing Love (chapter 12)

Authors: A Markov

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Chapter 12

Title: Eye of the Storm

Author: A Markov


It was late when Helen got home. Jack-Jack was cranky from eating junk food all day and missing his nap and she was just generally tired and upset with herself over how long they had stayed at the learning center. She had tried to get away several times but somehow ended up being drawn in to a conversation or an interesting activity every time she headed for the door. All she wanted to do now was get Jack into bed and follow his example as soon as possible. The greeting she got forced everything out of her mind.

“Oh, honey, you just missed her.” Bob said unhappily.

“Who?”

“Violet.” He said as he took Jack from her and began trying to cheer the toddler up. “She just left. We tried to call you, but –“

“WHAT?”

“I said, we tried to—“

“No, before that…” She interrupted, advancing on him. “Vi was here?”

Bob, strategically held Jack between himself and his wife. “Yeah, I invited her to Dash’s thing today and—“

“You invited her to Dash’s track meet?” Helen’s voice was getting noticeably shrill.

“Yeah, I thought she’d like to see us and—“

“You figured that if she knew I wasn’t coming, she would?”

“Yeah… NO!” he hastily amended. “I mean, I thought she might come and then—“

“How could you do this to me, Bob?” She screamed.

“What’d I do?”

“You know damn well what you did!” Helen hissed. She turned on her heel and stormed out of the house.

“I tried to call you…” Bob called out to her. “It’s not my fault you didn’t pick up your phone.” He mumbled to himself as he shut the door she had left open on her way out. Jack-Jack burst into tears and for a moment he resented the fact that she’d left him with the overtired toddler, but when he compared the task of quieting Jack to the task of soothing Helen, he whistled a happy tune and went about getting the kid ready for bed with the joy of a man who knows that his wife’s ire will be vented on someone else.


Violet walked slowly toward the apartment trying to get a grasp on the day’s events. Mirage’s confession last night made her question how secret her secrets really were. She wondered how many people actually knew her name and her history and if she was just fooling herself by thinking that a domino mask and a flashy outfit would hide her identity from the world. She needed to seriously consider changing her look, either as a hero or as a civilian. Maybe she should just drop the secret identity all together like that cheerleader over in Middleton.

Attending Dash’s track meet had been a lot more fun than she had thought it would be and she was glad she’d accepted her father’s invitation to join them for dinner afterward. It had been really simple, stir fry chicken and veggies over rice, but somehow it was every bit as satisfying and tasty as the meals she’d shared with Chi (Mirage, she corrected herself for the umpteenth time) at the Astoria. The time spent with her dad had been a bizarre combination of awkward and comforting and she still wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that her mom hadn’t answered the phone that evening.

The information she was able to pick up at The Agency after the meet and before dinner was still rattling around in her mind too. She had asked Rick to give her access to all the records they had on Mirage and he had complied. She had poured over several files detailing the blonde’s recent history, both business and personal. Her claim that she was looking for an equal to be her friend rang true. She seemed to be just what she represented herself as in her confession to Violet: a lonely woman, trying to start over. When she was ready to leave, Rick insisted that she was welcome to use The Agency’s library and files for research on any subject any time she wanted. She wasn’t sure how true that actually was and even if it was true, she wasn’t sure how much leverage he expected to gain over her by giving her that kind of access.

Now she was anxious to get back home so she could call Mirage and talk to her. No matter what the woman’s past held, after a day like today, Violet knew she wanted Mirage to be part of her life. She wanted to be the friend that Mirage needed. Pausing outside the apartment building, she decided that it would be better to surprise her in person than call her on the phone and immediately headed downtown to do just that. Besides, she wanted a hug too. She jumped into a cab and gave the driver the address to Chi Mera Industries downtown headquarters. In the back seat, Violet wiggled in happy anticipation of the look on Mirage’s face when she showed up.


Mirage wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing in the foyer. She was trying to get up the nerve to walk to Violet’s room and see with her own eyes that the girl had abandoned her. Several times she started to move that way, but each time she hesitated. So she remained standing in the entryway, afraid to walk through her own home. Finally she took a deep breath and forced herself to take a few steps toward Violet’s room. When she reached the door to the kitchen, she made a hard left and poured herself a drink. She told herself that it was to help calm her nerves but deep down, she knew she was trying to avoid the inevitable. She wasn’t even sure why she was reacting this way. What had she expected from Violet after telling her that she’d been deceiving her for months? Why did this rejection hurt so much anyway? She barely knew the girl. It wasn’t like they were life-long friends suddenly torn apart by forces beyond their control. And yet, here she was; afraid to face up to the fact that she was alone, again; afraid to face tomorrow without Violet’s shy smile and sympathetic ear; afraid that the empty space in her gut would grow large enough to consume her. If she stayed out here, she could pretend that Violet was in there. Perhaps sleeping, perhaps reading, but definitely there. Tears ran silently down her cheeks as she tried to force herself to face up to reality. But still her legs wouldn’t obey her and she stood in the kitchen, numbly sipping her drink, trying to imagine that she heard some sounds of life from down the hall.


Violet paid the cab driver and skipped up to the side entrance of Chi Mera Industries. “Hey, Gil.” She called out to the security guard on duty.

“Hello, Miss.” He replied with a smile.

“Oh, come on!” She exclaimed playfully, “I’ve been working here a whole week and you still don’t know my name?” She teased him, holding out her badge.

“Well, Miss Parr, I’m usually pretty good with names, but you’re just so pretty, I guess I never got past your picture when I looked at your ID.” He smiled kindly and waved her in.

“Which apartment is Ms. Mera in?” she asked.

“Hold on a second…” Under the guise of looking up the information Violet asked for, Gil checked the security list and found her name. He was surprised to find that someone so new to the company was cleared for direct access to the owner, but he didn’t make the rules, he just made sure that everyone followed them. “She’s staying in the blue suite. Would you like me to call up?”

“No, I want to surprise her.”

That caused an eyebrow to rise. “All right, but let me get you an escort.”

“Huh?”

“We’ve had a couple of undesirables sneak into the building lately and Mr. Kane instituted a new policy.” He said smoothly, with a reassuring smile. “After business hours, all guests and employees are to be accompanied by a member of security while in the public areas of the building.” It was a lie, but it allowed him to make sure that the company CEO wasn’t going to be in any danger. Even if the girl was on the all access list, you could never be too careful.

“OK.” She agreed, but it was with some impatience. Now that she was in the building she was getting really anxious to see Mirage again and this latest delay was really irritating. After what seemed like an eternity, but was really less than three minutes, a young man dressed in the same uniform as Gil arrived. “Jake” was embroidered on his shirt over the left pocket and he accompanied her to the blue suite. When they knocked, there was no answer. Jake flatly refused to let her into the suite without authorization. Authorization could only come from Gil so back down to the lobby they went. Gil flatly refused authorize it, but he did offer to call up and try to speak with Ms. Mera by phone. When he didn’t get an answer, Violet asked him to try Ms. Mera’s cell phone but the call wouldn’t go through. She tried to call from her cell also, dragging Jake to several different areas inside the building and a couple outside as well. Jake was clearly getting tired of following her around, but she insisted on roaming around to see if she could find an area where her call would go through. As a last resort, she tried calling Mirage’s cell from a public phone but that call didn’t go through either and she got dumped into voice mail. Gil regretfully informed Violet that she’d have to either go to her designated work area or leave the building. She managed to convince him to let her hang out for a few minutes in case Ms. Mera listened to the message and called back. But after twenty minutes, he politely kicked her out of the building.

Violet stood on the sidewalk for a few minutes wondering what to do. She tried her cell one more time, to no avail. Finally she decided to just head for home and hope that Mirage would call her the next day. Frustrated and disappointed, she was almost crying when she got in the cab.


Helen stalked down the street trying to be angry at Bob, Violet, Rick and anyone else who wasn’t her. For a while she focused her anger on Jack for keeping her busy later than she wanted at the Learning Center. But that played out quickly. Then she tried to get angry at Bob, but her cell phone wasn’t working, and that wasn’t his fault. She tried to be angry at the cell phone people but by then she was confused about why she was angry in the first place. Violet’s words still burned in her gut like hot coals. I sure as hell don’t want to be here with you! I hate you! Even months later, she could see the anger and pain on her daughter’s face as she accused her mother of willfully destroying her life over something as picayune as a kiss. Violet had been betrayed and Helen hadn’t done anything to stop it. Guilt for feeling relieved about the Keen family being relocated ate at her as well, fighting for top spot in the inner turmoil that had become her lot since that day. For a while she wandered aimlessly, vacillating between anger and despair unable to keep anything straight in her mind. Something broke into her reverie. Something wasn’t right and as she looked around trying to find it she recognized her surroundings. Even though she hadn’t been thinking about where she was going, her subconscious must have kicked in. Still trying to pinpoint whatever had interrupted her train of thought, she found herself staring at the apartment building where Violet was staying with that woman. For several minutes she warred with herself about whether to intrude or not. She couldn’t bring Kari back. She probably couldn’t have stopped her from being sent to Norway in the first place. But if that woman hadn’t been around, Violet would have come to her mother for comfort instead of going to that home-wrecking bitch. If she wasn’t around anymore, Violet would come home. They could talk about Kari and The Agency and anything else Violet needed help with.

Forgetting about the sense of wrongness that had broken her internal musings, she started for the building determined to end this business once and for all. She wasn’t sure how it was going to happen exactly, but she’d confront that woman, and take Violet back home where she belonged. She was so focused on her goal that she didn’t notice the outlandishly dressed man point a gloved hand in her direction.


The short taxi ride deepened Violet’s gloom and she dragged herself into the apartment building. She hesitated in the lobby. She was feeling seriously conflicted. For some reason, not being able to get a hold of Chi made her feel abandoned. She really didn’t want to go back to an empty apartment. Whatever crap her mom would dish out had to be better than spending the night alone and worried about where Mirage was. Only the realization that she had no toiletries at her parent’s house forced her upstairs into the penthouse apartment. Running through the list of things she’d need for an overnight stay, she thought about the way she’d been snubbed tonight and briefly considered just taking everything. The sound of sobbing chased everything else out of her mind.

“Chi…?” She called out hesitantly.

Vi…?” Hope and disbelief mingled in the strangled cry. It was accompanied by the sound of breaking glass.

“Are you all right?” Violet asked as she ran toward the kitchen. She spotted the blonde woman coming out of the door and threw herself into her arms. Blinded by her own tears of relief and joy and overwrought by the emotional rollercoaster she’d just been on, it took her several moments to realize she was babbling incoherently while hugging and kissing the older woman with abandon. She pulled away slightly but couldn’t bring herself to let go of the woman entirely. Her new position gave her a new perspective and she noticed the look of shock on Mirage’s face.

“I’m so sorry.” Violet whispered.

“Why?”

Laughing and crying, Violet sputtered out: “I promised you I wouldn’t jump on you and kiss you…”

Mirage’s eyes sparkled. “I remember.” She whispered. Her green eyes burned into Violet’s soul, pinning her in place. “But I think what you said was that you wouldn’t jump on me and kiss me… without warning me.” Mirage’s voice was suddenly very husky.

The words touched off an unexpected whirlwind of physical and emotional feelings. Violet’s stomach dropped and her mouth went dry. Joy and relief morphed into something a lot more complex and confusing. Her world seemed to be spinning. She tried to keep her balance but she was being drawn in to those sparkling green orbs. “Consider yourself warned.” She breathed and leaned in. “Last chance to run…” But Mirage wasn’t going anywhere. Their lips met and suddenly they were kissing with an urgency that surprised them both. It was a long time before either one of them was aware of anything else.


Skippy Johnson realized he was laughing maniacally and suppressed it. Then he looked over at the unconscious woman and realized no one could hear him so he started up again, first as just a little giggle, then growing into long drawn-out fits of uncontrolled mirth. The unnatural slut would surely come to rescue her mother and then he would destroy her. He looked at the sleeping form of Helen Parr and savored the feeling of power that he held over her life. He checked through the gizmos he had lifted from the evidence locker and wondered which one would be best for killing the little pervert and her mother. For now, he would keep the mother alive. It would be so much more effective to kill her in front of the girl. It would probably make it easier to kill the little pervert too.

He looked at his reflection. The tights didn’t fit very well, but he didn’t care. They were packed with electronics and weapons invented by their previous owner and he could always claim that the “S” stood for “Skippy.” Once again he indulged himself with a maniacal laugh. After he killed the women, Jack Parr would crumble… He could take over The Agency, bring the city to its knees and soon enough Rick Dickhead would be fetching his coffee and filling out forms long hand. He sat down to compose his message. It would have gone a lot faster if he could have controlled the giggles.

 

 

[End notes:

 

Next Time:
A Woman Scorned

]

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