Red Hot Valentine

Bess sat at her desk and sighed. “Cynthia, do you know what I miss about elementary school?” She pushed her large glasses up a little on the bridge of her nose.

“I can’t imagine,” Cynthia answered. “I am so glad to be graduating this year and getting out of here I can barely stand it.”

“There is that,” Bess said. “It’s Valentine’s day in a couple days. In elementary school everyone got a card, several actually. It was forced, but so what? No one was left out. Once you get to the upper grades nothing. Not one.”

Cynthia started laughing. “Do you want me to give you one?” 

“Asks the girl who gets one from nearly every guy in the class. No, I do not want a pity Valentine from my best friend. I want a genuine Valentine from a guy who is interested in me. But since I am not a knock out beauty, or a cheerleader, or any of that other popular girl stuff, it isn’t going to happen.”

“Bess, you are not ugly. We have an unusual ratio of girls to boys here. When a new one shows up, girls act like sharks to blood. The poor guy doesn’t stand a chance,” Cynthia pointed out with a chuckle. 

“I noticed. That’s why I stand back out of the way. I don’t stand a chance.”

“Stop being so negative! You’re actually quite pretty under those glasses. I know you can’t wear contacts, but you might try a little makeup once in a while. They won’t even notice those giant frames,” Cynthia told her.

“You can hardly miss them. Anyway, maybe college will be different.” She tried to look hopeful and smiled.

“You just wait. I’ll bet someone will see you for who you are. Prom is coming up in a couple months,” Cynthia reminded her. 

“Tell me about it. I’ll probably just sit it out like last year. I will not go stag!”

The bell rang and the girls gathered their books and moved out into the throng of students making their way to their next classes, stopping at their lockers to exchange books and greeting friends along the hallway. 

One boy watched from behind his locker door at Bess and Cynthia as they disappeared behind a classroom door. He slammed his door shut and leaned his head against the cold metal. “Just a couple days left,” he muttered and jumped as one of his friends cupped his shoulder on the way by. He looked up at the other boy who had turned and grinned at him motioning him to get to class. He did that a lot. 

“So, did you ask her yet?” Jerry asked Sam as he pulled his text book out of his backpack.

“She is way out of my league,” Sam said. 

“Why don’t you let her be the judge of that?” Jerry said, giving him a slug in the arm. “The prom is coming up. If you don’t ask her someone else might beat you to it.”

Sam grinned a lopsided grin. “Maybe I’ll give her one of those goofy valentines. I think my mom kept some of my leftovers.”

Jerry snorted. “Dude, no!” He lowered his voice when his classmates turned to stare at him. “No Ninja Turtles. We are way too old for that.”

Sam nodded his head. “Yeah, I guess we are. I’ll come up with something.”

Valentine’s Day arrived and girls were finding cards stuffed in their lockers and placed on their desks. A few had flowers and some had red velvet heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. Bess and Cynthia walked into their history class chatting about all the cards Cynthia had accumulated.

“Oh, look, someone put it on the wrong desk,” Bess said, lifting a handcrafted envelope off her desk and handing it to Bess.

“Thanks,” Cynthia said taking the envelope. She read the front and handed it back. “Actually, this one is for you.”

“What?” Bess grabbed it, a shocked look on her face. She read the front and stared at it with her eyes wide.

“Don’t just stare it. Open it! It’s kind of heavy for a card,” she added.

Bess nodded. She turned it over and carefully lifted the edge. “I think it’s edible,” she said. She pulled it out slowly. It was made of heavy white paper with a red paper lace doily in the shape of a heart. The center had cinnamon heart-shaped red hots attached with a small amount of icing. She opened it up.

Cynthia read it out loud over her shoulder and burst out laughing. “To a girl who is as hot as the candy! Be my Valentine. Sincerely, Sam Johnston.” 

Bess turned red and then she smiled. “He’s in trig with us. He sits two seats down. I like him.”

Bess hugged her friend. “Prom date!” she exclaimed.

Murder So Convenient Now Available for Kindle!

My first published book Murder So Convenient is now available for purchase at Amazon.com in Kindle format.It was first released in 2003 as a paperback.  Next week, January 31, 2014 through February 4, 2014, as a promotional program, Murder So Convenient in Kindle format will be available for FREE! Please stop by Amazon.com and purchase your copy of Murder So Convenient now (or next week!)

About Murder So Convenient
A serial killer is loose in Chicago and the police seem helpless to stop him. Intertwined is the story of Catherine, a victim of spousal abuse, who makes friends with Shawna McGreggor after going to work at a convenience store. Catherine's husband is relentless in his pursuit of his estranged wife. To what lengths will he go to get her back?

Shawna is in the sights of the killer who is just waiting until he gets the opportunity to get to her too. As the the ladies get acquainted with the detectives on the case, one of them, Richard Collins, falls in love with Shawna, jeopardizing both her and his career. Will he be able to protect her from the killer? Or will she become his latest victim?

(The paperback version from the original publisher is also available in limited quantities.)

Reviews of Murder So Convenient can be found on the paperback version's customer review page.

Why Did You Do It?

Okay, here is another writing prompt inspired short story.  How would you handle it if you kept getting notes asking, 'Why did you do it?' No one wants to take the credit for it and you have no idea what they're talking about; or do you? 

This IS a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, place, company, or event are purely coincidental.

Jessie walked into her office and sat her double latte down on her desk. She dropped her briefcase on the sidebar, straightened her Harvard diploma on her wall, and sat down to start another day of working on the marketing campaign that had earned her the title of vice-president. It was a big account with one of the largest companies in the country, Medicorp, and they had just been bought out. She had to impress its new CEO Cassandra Thompson. The first meeting had gone well and Jessie saw it as a chance to move up in the company. She spotted something under her Starbucks cup and moved the cup to see the note. She knew she had left the desk clear of all notes when she left on Friday.

"Why did you do it?" she read out loud. "Do what?" She looked around to see if she could figure out who had left the cryptic message on her desk. She buzzed her secretary. "Liz, could you come in here please?"

Liz came in with her steno pad and a freshly sharpened pencil. "Yes, ma'am, what can do for you?"

"First, stop calling me 'ma'am'."

"Yes, ma'am, I mean, yes, Ms. Dyson."

Jessie looked down at her desk annoyed. "Did you leave this message on my desk?" She held up the note.

"No, I hand you any messages I have when you come in."

"Well, did you see anyone else come in here?"

"No, Ms. Dyson." She tapped the pencil on the steno pad. "Is there anything else?"

Jessie got up. "No," she answered. "I'll ask around before I get started."

Liz went back to her desk and began typing while Jessie headed to her boss's office. "Sandy, is Mr. Kramer available?" she asked his secretary. After a short nod, she went into the office.

Mr. Kramer sat behind a mahogany desk the size of Jessie's office. She often dreamed she would have this office someday and sit at that very desk. He had a carafe of coffee ready on one corner if he wanted a refill and he offered her a cup, which she declined. The sun shone in the windowed wall behind him that overlooked the city. Yes, she very much wanted this office.

She placed the note on his blotter. "Is this from you?" she asked him.

He glanced at it a second. "I know nothing about it, but I'll see if I can find out who left it."

"It's no big deal really; I'm just curious who left it and what it means."

"I'm sure that was the desired effect. Don't worry about it. It's probably just a prank."

"I'm sure you're right, sir." She left the note with him and went back to her own office.

By Thursday she had received the same note three more times and she still didn't know what to make of it. It distracted her from her work. Mr. Kramer had questioned the night cleaning crew and the other office staff to no avail. No one had any idea what was going on. She decided to work late and find out for herself. That campaign was nowhere near done anyway and she couldn't concentrate at home.

At midnight she threw her takeout container in the trash. The cleaning crew had long since gone and she was a little spooked by the quiet in the office late at night. She grabbed her briefcase and started to leave when she heard the bell ring on the elevator. Off stepped the new CEO of Medicorp. She was slender and dressed in black slacks and a red sweater. She held her head high as she marched right for Jessie's office. Jessie turned off her desk lamp and sat down in her chair and waited.

Cassandra Thompson only mildly started when she saw Jessie. "I wondered how long it would take you to wait for me," she said.

"Why did I do what?" was all Jessie said.

"You really don't recognize me; do you?" Cassandra asked. "I guess it has been a few years and I have dropped a few pounds. And since the accident, or so they called it, I had a little reconstructive surgery on my face, so it doesn't quite look the same either."

"What are you talking about?" Jessie said.

"I saw your diploma and wondered how on earth you got it. So I did some checking. You see Thompson is my married name. You used to know me as Cassandra Dunlap. I was ahead of you in Harvard Business and you just couldn't handle someone being ahead of you. You sure made no secret of the fact that you had to get better than me at any cost. Then I found my laptop's memory erased with all my work gone. Luckily I had a backup. Then, my car tires were flattened, my books mysteriously disappeared and somehow I got really sick just at exam time. I'd not really been the type to get sick before then."

"I vaguely remember a Cassandra from class. Why should this interest me? If memory serves, you transferred schools, and it doesn't seem to have hurt you any," Jessie said tersely.

Cassandra snorted. "Is that what you recall now? I recall my brakes going out on my car after I had just had my car inspected and it passing with flying colors. I recall waking up in a ravine with glass all in my face and a ruptured spleen. The mechanic told me someone had done a very good job of tampering with my brakes; left no evidence as to who it might have been."

Jessie stared at her with a blank expression. "Go on, this is getting interesting. You see, I still don't know what this has to do with me."

"I wondered how you got that diploma, especially since I kept tabs on you after I changed schools. I had a cousin also attending Harvard so it wasn't hard. She told me you poisoned someone else who got ahead of you and you got caught. You did three years through a plea agreement and got tossed out of school. They weren't likely to let you back in, much less graduate. Did it cost you a lot to forge that diploma? I checked with Mr. Kramer and he assured me you top of your class and he had the transcript to prove it. You even supplied it to them yourself."

Jessie sat back in her chair, her face going from red with anger to pale as a sheet. A tear slid down her face. "I did it because if I wasn't top of the class, my father was going to take away my trust fund."

Cassandra shook her head. "And you lost it anyway," she said with a laugh and a sigh. "You should know a copy of your true transcript and your arrest record has been mailed to Mr. Kramer. You are washed up. Clean out your desk. I don't think there is a statute of limitations on attempted murder. I'll have to check on that." With that, Cassandra turned and walked out, leaving Jessie with her head down on her desk.

Love at First Sight

The first time I saw her she was standing there, shielding her sparkling sapphire eyes from the sun in spite of the large yellow hat pinned slightly askew on her straw colored hair which was piled loosely on her head. Her blue and white gingham checkered sun dress drifted softly in the breeze around her tanned legs accentuating her shapely figure. My breath caught in my chest and I had to force myself to breathe.

She shouted, "Go! Go! Go!" as the horses ran around the track and she squealed with delight when the one she had cheered for won the race. Smiling, she grabbed the hand of her younger female companion and urged her to follow her to the winner's circle. They disappeared into the crowd and that was the last time I saw her that day. I never even got the chance to ask her name or where she was from, but the memory of the scent of her jasmine perfume lingered long after she was gone.

I have held that memory of the horse race at the Wilton County Fair for three years, and I could not tell you which horse won to this day. Even though I have been home for visits often, my mother, who usually can tell you everything about everybody, has no idea who she was, but she still asks around. If she hasn't found out in three years; she isn't going to. I've dated a few times, but no one has captured my heart and soul at first sight, or even the third, like the beautiful blonde in the gingham dress did that day.

My mother is hounding me to find someone since the chances of ever seeing her again are slim. It doesn't help that here I am standing up as best man for my cousin John in his wedding. We were like brothers growing up, so of course I agreed to do it, and he, like me, put off the whole marriage thing until he was absolutely sure. Divorces are rare in our family. I never knew his bride, but damn, she sure looks familiar. I can't put my finger on it. I don't think I had ever even seen her until he introduced us the other day, but maybe she is related to someone I have seen.

My cousin is sweating and I am trying desperately not to laugh at him. I handed him my handkerchief to blot his forehead as we wait at the altar.  The guests are coming in and being seated by the ushers on one side for the bride and the other for the groom. I gave a cursory glance at the audience for something to do more than anything. And then I saw her, the girl the bride reminds me of; the younger girl, now a young woman, from the fair. She will know who my mystery woman is. Oh, God, I hope she isn't involved with someone already, or worse – married.

The ceremony commenced. The bride glided down the aisle on her father's arm and was given in marriage to John. As lovely as she was, looking at him in that special way, I could only think that I couldn't wait for this to be over so I could ask whoever that was she looked so much like who was at the fair that day. She'll probably laugh hysterically at me, but I don't care. The toasts were made and the cake was cut and then the dancing commenced. At last I had a chance to ask Brenda, the bride, who the younger woman was.

"That's my kid sister," she said, with a laugh. "She's really pretty, don't you think? Interested?"

"Actually, I saw her at the fair a few years ago with someone. I was wondering if she could tell me who that was." I felt like an idiot as her laughter ceased momentarily. I gave her the description just in case.

"That had to Jessie – Jessica," she corrected. "She's our cousin from North Dakota. She loves horses and she also loves to wear hats. We always made fun of her for the hats."

Brenda introduced me to her sister Cindy and confirmed that it was their cousin Jessica. Jessica was not able to make the wedding, but was arriving for the reception, and in fact was due any time.

I sensed her arrival before anyone had to tell me she was there. I turned toward the door just as she walked into the reception hall. She wore a form-hugging black cocktail dress and a red netted hat.

Brenda said something about Jessie thinking she was in New York City rather than lower Iowa, and did she think she was at a wedding reception or a funeral? I ignored her as I could only stare. Brenda turned to John and told him she'd be right back.

And then, I saw Brenda, my new cousin, take the hand of Jessica and drag her over to our table.

"I believe this gentleman would very much like to dance with you," she told her, referring to me.

I almost knocked over my chair trying to stand up. I gave a little nod with a slight bow (where did that come from?) and offered my hand to the stunned Jessica, who hadn't even had time to be properly introduced to anyone, especially me. Brenda and Cindy giggled like little girls and then Brenda raised a knowing eyebrow to John, who only smirked.

Jessica shrugged and placed her small evening bag on the table. "Okay. I'm game," she said, sweetly. "Congratulations, you two," she added as I ushered out to the dance floor, hoping I wasn't being too forward with my hand on the small of her back.

"Hello, I'm Jessica," she told me. "Have we met before?"

"I'm Jackson, John's cousin, and we have never met, but I saw you once at the horse race during the county fair. I've waited three years to meet you."