ONE
Alicia
A few months had passed since the gTht and yamm,r the -eceptionu istr salnte-ed into m, o.ce witholt a ca-e in the wo-IdM bt was a ?onda, mo-ninT so who colId SIame he-z xhe had no dolSt Seen ov seeinT one of he- So, to,s TettinT sIammed in haIf a doken dive-ent semi e’otic Iocations and positions oLe- the col-se of the weejendM And if the se’ with some of these men was as Tood as yamm, cIaimed it to Ser he- S-ains we-e p-oSaSI, stiII sc-amSIed in the Sacj of some slTa- dadd,“s HamSo-Thini aIonT with what -emained of he- oLa-iesM yamm, was Tood at he- !oSr Slt sometimes she made fo- a f-lst-atinT -eceptionistM xhe acted as if some matte-s we-e not time sensitiLer and b wolId not need an, mo-e time to compIete themM b sholId haLe jnown aSolt aII of m, appointments at the sta-t of the da,M xeeinT he- in f-ont of me now toId me that this was somethinT dive-entM yamm, neLe- came to me lnIess it was an eme-Tenc,r instead optinT to messaTe me Lia emaiI o- poppinT in a caIenda- inLiteM
”Oe,Y yholTht ,ol miTht want to jnow aSolt thisYR
Dl- -eIationshipr conside-inT how p-ofessionaI we othe-wise we-er was info-maIM Ketr b aIso wolId not haLe jept he- a-olnd fo- gLe ,ea-s if we we-e not the Sest of f-iendsM yamm, w-apped he- painted gnTe-naiIs aTainst m,
OANC 13DW1x FB
doo- f-ame Sefo-e she cha-Ted into m, o.ceM xhe was a natl-aI -edheadr taIIr IeTT, and stlnninT in eLe-, t-aditionaI sense of the wo-dM bt made sense as to wh, she had gft, men at he- Secj and caII eLe-, da, of the weejM b had Iost colnt of the times in the past gLe ,ea-s when b had to stop a cIient f-om hittinT on he- and Lice Le-saM
”1now aSolt whatzR
yamm, sIammed the ,eIIow postuit note down on m, desj in f-ont of meM b did not Iije the Iooj she TaLe me oLe- he- ho-nu-immed TIassesr Slt
b iTno-ed he- fo- the momentM bf yamm, w-ote somethinT downr it was
impo-tantM b picjed it lp and -ead what she had sc-iSSIed on itM Appointment.
Duncan Weaver.
9:30am. 16 Evans Street, Sewell.
?, e,es Gew to m, w-istr checjinT m, diTitaI watchM bt was nineuohutwoM
xeweII was aImost haIf an hol- awa,M
”Ehat the flcjr yamm,Y Eh, a-e ,ol onI, teIIinT me aSolt this nowzR ”bt !lst came th-olThM yhe, Iite-aII, !lst -anTYR
”yamm,Y Kol jnow b can“t Se tajinT moSiIe appointments lnIess b“Le
Tot a few hol-s f-ee and we cha-Te them dolSIeYR
”b jnowr the, we-e insistentM yhe,“Le aI-ead, paid fo- an enti-e weejMR ”An enti-e weejzR
”Kesr at nineuthi-t, eLe-, da,Y ?onda, th-olTh 4-ida,M yhe, eLen asjed
fo- ,ol specigcaII,M q, nameMR yamm, d-ew the Iast two wo-ds olt Iije it
wolId haLe made a dive-enceM ATainr b was jnown a-olnd the cit, fo- m,
wo-jr Slt it was -a-e that peopIe caIIed the cIinic asjinT fo- meM ?o-e to
the point fo- a moSiIe appointment haIf an hol- awa,M yhe-e wolId haLe
Seen pIent, of ph,sios cIose-M 5ood ones tooM
?, head splnM Eho wolId Se asjinT fo- mez b was S, no means the
SiTTest spo-ts ph,siothe-apist in the cit,r no- did b conside- m,seIf an,u
whe-e nea- the Sestr Slt b Tot -eslIts and was Tood at what b didM A doken
ideas -an th-olTh m, mindM yhe-e had Seen p-anjs pIa,ed on me Sefo-e
FP ?MAM CAN16r ?Ayy ?6?6?AND
S, e’uIoLe-s and the Iijer Slt none of them had eLe- made enolTh mone, to Se aSIe to avo-d fo- me fo- a weej st-aiThtr lnIess it was with a cheap steaj dinne- and wine eLe-, niThtM And if yamm, said that this m,ste-, new cIient had paidr the, hadM b see ,olr ?iste- Clncan EeaLe-M
”Cid ,ol eLen checj what was at the add-ess ,ol TaLe mezR yamm, shooj he- headM ”3or b didn“t haLe timer b tholTht b“d come and teII ,ol st-aiTht awa,MR
b shot lp f-om m, chai-M yhe-e was no mo-e time to waste with yamm,M 3ow it was a -aceM yamm,“s e,es Iit lp as she SoIted olt to the -eception a-eaM EhiIst b was not olt of shaper the head sta-t that yamm, had on me was too mlchM b had seen he- in flII sp-int on one too man, niThts olt in th-ee inch heeIsM xeeinT yamm, d-lnj was ce-tainI, an e’pe-ience b needed to see aTain soonM yamm, GlnT he-seIf onto he- desj chai- and swiLeIIed in f-ont of the je,Soa-dM b siThed and aIIowed m,seIf to stopM xhe IoLed p-oLinT that she was stiII faste- than mer despite haLinT had two jidsM
yamm,“s gnTe-s danced oLe- the je,Soa-d with a weIIup-acticed p-eciu sionr as she plmped the add-ess st-aiTht into mapsM yhe inte-net tooj a second to Ioad the add-ess in ‘lestionr Slt yamm, smiIed lp at me f-om Sehind he- TIasses with a satisged T-inM Ehat on ea-th colId Se on he- complte- sc-eenz
”bt“s a ?la, yhai T,mMR
”5-eatr so the,“-e IeTitimateM b wolId haLe tholTht that a T,m Iije that wolId aI-ead, haLe someone that the, wo-j withMR
”xeems to SeY Oe,r don“t ,ol -ememSe- when we went to that gTht a few months aTozR
b had t-ied not to thinj aSolt the gTht that mlch since we had SeenM bt had Seen an inte-estinT niThtM bt was a new e’pe-ience f-om mer and as aIwa,sr ToinT olt with yamm, had Seen an adLentl-e to sa, the IeastM yamm, was the one that had tajen me to the gTht in the g-st pIacer as pa-t of a T-olpM b had not associated with an, of them afte- the g-st SeII had
-lnTM xome of he- f-iends we-e wei-dr Slt who was b to !ldTez xhe was
OANC 13DW1x F7
aIwa,s t-,inT to set me lp with one of he- maIe f-iendsr and on the -a-e occasionr one of he- femaIe f-iendsr eLen tholTh b had made it cIea- that b onI, swlnT one wa,M b had Seen sinTIe most of the time that b had jnown he-r and yamm, jnew that b was as st-aiTht as a poIer Slt she insisted that spaThetti was st-aiTht lntiI it Tot wetM Eomen we-e SealtiflIr Slt men we-e the onI, peopIe b had eLe- datedM b had !lst Seen ov them fo- the Iast fol- ,ea-sM
yhis timer she had t-ied to set me lp with a Tl,r q-et o- whateLe- his name wasM bt was p-oSaSI, qoSr Slt TiLen b had spojen to him months aTo meant that info-mation had IonT since Seen -epIaced S, a doken othe- slito-s yamm, had t-ied to Iine me lp withM xpeajinT to q-et fo- mo-e than gLe minltes had ensl-ed that b wolId not Se seeinT him aTainM Oe was a data anaI,st of some so-t and b had a flnn, feeIinT that he was mo-e inte-ested in his data and anaI,tics than he was meM b was t-,inT to fo-Tet that niThtr the afte-math had Seen a disappointmentM Oow t,picaI of most mode-n menM b wanted one that was -eminiscent of m, -omance SoojsM 5iLe me a ?-M Ca-c, o- Nh,sand an, da, of the weej oLe- the newest edition of yomr Cicj and Oa--,M
Eith a -eIlctant T-oanr jnowinT how mlch yamm, en!o,ed the chaos and sendinT me olt on these missionsr b T-aSSed m, je,s which we-e Sehind he- desjM bt made sense to jeep them the-e eLe-, da,r as b was often in and olt of the p-acticer and wolId othe-wise mispIace them f-om time to timeM xince yamm, had tajen clstod, of m, je,sr b had not Iost them onceM
b stepped oltside and made m, wa, to m, ca-M bt was nothinT speciaI S, an, st-etch of the imaTinationM b Iijed to jeep m, Iife simpIer and foclsinT on what was -eaI -athe- than the immate-iaIM Wa-s we-e !lst a wa, of TettinT a-olndr and b had no time o- patience fo- a dep-eciatinT asset that was onI, ToinT to cost me mo-e mone, to maintain it than it wolId to -ln itM b GlnT open the doo- to m, siILe- O,lndai 6Iant-a and sat in the d-iLe-“s seatM Eithin a matte- of momentsr b was ovM
b jnew whe-e xeweII wasr Slt at this time of mo-ninT cominT f-om the east side of townr an, deIa, colId -aiI-oad m, pIansr conside-inT b was on slch a time c-ltchM bf this T,m had paid me mo-e fo- m, timer b was not ToinT to waste itr Slt wh, wolId the, haLe paid so mlch in adLance witholt seeinT what b colId do g-stz yhe IonTe- the d-iLe tooj mer the mo-e b Tot anT-,M C-iLe-s aII a-olnd me we-e too Sls, messinT a-olnd on thei- phones o- !lst not d-iLinT the speed IimitM qlt soon m, 5;x was teIIinT me that b was onI, a minlte awa, f-om m, destinationM
b to-e into the T,m ca- pa-j at a miIIion miIes an hol- and m, ca- Solnced aTainst the paLement as b th-ew it a-olndM bt had seen Sette- da,sr Slt b was not ToinT to Iet me SeinT Iate stand in the wa, of an appointmentM ?, time was mone, and b was not ToinT to Iet a IittIe Sit of t-a.c stop me f-om haLinT a nea- GawIess -atinT with m, cIienteIeM b was Tood at what b didr Slt b stiII needed the time to Se aSIe to haLe the -eslIts that b wantedr not onI, fo- m,seIf Slt aIso fo- m, cIientsM
yhe-e was a space -iTht in f-ont of the dolSIe doo-s to the T,mM b -ipped the handS-aje on when b came to a stop and stepped olt f-om the ca-M b opened the t-lnj and plIIed olt m, SaT and wo-jinT taSIe Sefo-e IlTTinT it towa-ds the main doo-M A smaII siTn hlnT aSoLe the doo-M bt was -ed and white with a IoTo of So’inT TIoLes lnde-neath the wo-ds 9Oa-d 1nocjs 5,m“M b was indeed in the -iTht pIaceM yhe doo- opened Sefo-e b had eLen Totten to itr and b was T-eeted S, an oIde- manr in his ea-I, si’tiesM Oe was SaIdinT no dolSt and his ea-s we-e Ilmp, and defo-medM Oe had Seen a gThte- in his ,olth and it was cIea- that he had some e’pe-ience in -lnninT this T,mM
xome of the man“s teeth we-e aIso Le-, mlch olt of Iine and b wonde-ed if a gst o- a jicj had Seen the clIp-it Sehind thei- moLementM b stood aSolt as taII as him when b was not IlTTinT m, wo-jinT Tea- aII oLe- his ca-pa-jM b app-oached and smiIed at himr -emoLinT m, SIacj aLiato-s f-om m, faceM b sIid them onto m, shi-t as he heId the doo- open fo- mer Testl-inT fo- me to ente- the T,mM
OANC 13DW1x FJ
”Oir b“m AIiciar b“m he-e fo- an appointmentM Kol wolIdn“t jnow an,u thinT aSolt that wolId ,olzR
”Df col-se b wolIdM b“m the man that Soojed itM Wome on inMR