Chapter Nine

The morning birds were at work, not chirping as much as usual for they sensed the coming rain and therefore searched twice as fast in their hunt for worms and twigs. Josephine and Maria watching this scavenging through a window, seated at a kitchen table of one of the maternity housing units while eating fresh fruit.

Feet away, a pregnant woman whose stomach was bigger than the both of theirs combined stood at the counter serving herself breakfast. A few feet beyond her Rumiko came out of a walk-in pantry with a handful of medication. As she turned to close its door and put the padlock into place the pregnant woman screamed, ‘MY WATER BROKE!’ Holding her stomach, she almost fell to the floor.

Rumiko yelled out in Japanese, ‘Someone! Someone get in here!’ as she rushed over to help her along with Josephine. A maid came running in, took the side of the pregnant woman Josephine was holding and together with Rumiko helped the woman out of the kitchen.

Josephine noticed that the padlock on the pantry was unlocked. ‘Maria,’ she whispered, ‘you got your cell?’

Maria quickly took her cellphone from the pocket of her maternity dress, handed it off to Josephine and headed to the kitchen door to keep a look out.

Josephine hurriedly removed the open padlock from the pantry’s hasp, opened the door and walked inside, where she found hundreds if not thousands of prescription medications. She started taking pictures.

From the kitchen door Maria could see Rumiko coming back, and in a loud whisper called out to her co-conspirator. ‘Josephine! Josephine!’

Josephine rushed out of the pantry, closed the door and fumbled with its padlock.

Rumiko entered the kitchen just as Josephine hurried away from the pantry, slipping and falling on the pregnant woman’s mess in her haste not to get caught.

One dramatic incident after another Rumiko flustered in Japanese, ‘My God!’ She and Maria cautiously ran over to help. As they got her to her feet Josephine dropped the cellphone, Rumiko picking it up to find the last photo taken on it. That of many medicine bottles shelved inside the pantry.

On the other side of the estate Elsa sat alone on Fujimoto’s computer preparing for yet another project the two were working on together.

She looked to the closed office door then inserted a USB into Fujimoto’s CPU. It was starting to rain outside, worrying Elsa that it might hinder her ability to hear any footsteps on the marble outside the door if someone were to approach.

Anxiously staring at the screen, she watched as the hidden file containing Fujimoto’s scheme copied onto her USB. Ten percent… Twenty percent…

With no warning the office door opened, her eyes snapping up to catch sight of Fujimoto.

‘I thought you were going golfing this morning,’ she said with as much calm in her voice as she can manage.

‘I thought so too. But the weather had other plans.’

He walked over to the desk. With the monitor facing Elsa she looked at it.

Fifty percent copied. She looked back up to him.

‘Have a look in that center drawer,’ he told her. She opened it.

‘Do you see that deposit slip?

Elsa took it out.

‘This one?’

‘How much is it for?’

‘Two hundred thousand. U.S.’

‘And what is the name on the account it was deposited into?’

Elsa’s eyes searched for the word Payee. ‘Elsa Velas…’

She looked up to Fujimoto.

‘You earned it,’ he said.

He turned and left the office, shutting the door behind him. Elsa’s eyes went back to the slip in her hand, staring at it until she remembered the file being copied.

It was complete. With a few more quick clicks of the mouse she erased her tracks, snatched up her USB from the CPU and shoved it into her pocket.

Back at maternity housing Dr. Takamatsu had Josephine’s legs wide open atop an examination table. Withdrawing, he removed his gloves and commented to Rumiko in Japanese, ‘She’s lost it.’

Josephine didn’t need to understand to know what had been said. Half of her felt relief, the other half saddened for the death of her first child.

The rain outside was getting worse, the pounding against Vicki’s window, along with the occasional flicker of the lights causing her concern as she looked over at the outlet her laptop was plugged into. She had just been handed off Elsa’s USB minutes earlier, now looking over the sensitive details of Fujimoto’s dark secret.

Vicki feared that if the electricity were to go out it might affect the file Elsa had risked so much to get ahold of, and so she went for a nearby drawer for a battery.

Dead.

Ignoring her instinct to bring her laptop with her Vicki headed for Rhani’s bedroom and found her engrossed in a book.

‘Rhan, can I use your laptop battery? Mine’s dead, and I think the lights might go out.’

‘Sure,’ Rhani said, pointing but not looking up from her book. ‘It’s in the second drawer over there.’

Vicki had no problem finding it. ‘Good book?’ she asked as she left.

‘Uh-huh. I think things are about to get steamy between Gerard and Annabelle!’

Vicki smiled. Rhani and her erotic lit. Maybe she’d ask to borrow the sensual read later.

Back in her room her heart jumped at the sight of Meg reading from her laptop.

‘Meg-’

Meg looked up to her with a look so scornful that Vicki instantly knew things would never be the same again, which is probably why she didn’t hold back in going for the laptop as Meg went for the USB.

The two struggled with the computer, each pulling to free it from the other until youth won out, Meg losing hold and falling to the floor.

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Chapter Eight

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Steam rose all around Fujimoto in the traditional Japanese bath as a young woman massaged his neck and shoulders from behind him. With the arrival of Elsa and her escort the masseuse stood from out of the water and reached for her kimono, her nude body catching the eye of Elsa before it was covered.

The maid who had prepared Elsa guided her over to the traditional bath, and from Elsa’s back reached around to her front and removed the kimono from her body. Now naked, Elsa’s hand was taken so she could be led into the bath to join her boss.

She sat down in the heated water opposite him, head slightly bowed, hair pinned high in the Japanese fashion. Her kimono was folded and placed to the side before the maid left the two alone.

‘There’s nothing more I enjoy than my afternoon baths,’ Fujimoto commented. ‘Ever since I was a little boy bathing in the rivers of my home province. Only then, hot water was a mere fantasy. Now I wonder how I ever did without it. You are from a province also, correct?’

Being respectful yet refusing to engage in conversation Elsa just bowed her head lower with a nod.

‘We are much alike, you and I,’ he continued. ‘We come from nothing but were destined for much more. The others, they are satisfied with wasting the day away. But you, you can’t help but to stay productive. When others prefer to play, you prefer to work. These are the traits of a natural born leader.’

Elsa just sat there, non-responsive to Fujimoto’s compliments.

‘I have a very important business proposal coming up, and if you don’t mind, I would like for you to work with me on it.’

So this was his seduction, his foreplay. To throw her a bone before humiliating her. But all she had to do was think back on the plan, on her loved ones, to keep her resilience.

Yes, place your trust in me. The easier it will be for me to nail your coffin shut.

‘I look forward to it,’ she said to him.

‘I knew you would.’

Fujimoto moved across the bath to be directly in front of her. She didn’t move, her obedient posture unwavering.

He reached up and took the hair piece from her hair, causing her long locks to fall to her shoulders. Next he took hold of a nearby sponge, dipped it into the water and squeezed it above Elsa’s head, slowly making wet her hair and shoulders.

He bathed her neck, her shoulders, her arms, her chest, then let the sponge drop from his hand as he washed her breasts.

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Chapter Seven

Elsa looked as though she was comatose, staring off into nothing, lying alone in her bed with one hand clinched to her pajama top pressed against her breasts, the other fisting her bloody bottoms between her legs.

A knock came from her bedroom door, followed by Meg’s morning greeting as she opened the curtains, the bright light filling the room almost too much for Elsa to bear.

‘Good morning, Elsa, it’s time to get up. We have a lot of things to do today. I’ll be taking the girls out to run a few errands. While we’re gone, Rumiko, one of our senior associates here, will go over your new assignment with you.’

Meg turned around to find Elsa standing before her, disheveled.

‘Elsa, you look awful. Are you not feeling well?’

Elsa rushed into Meg’s arms and broke down.

‘He raped me,’ she said through her heavy sobs. Meg moved Elsa off her shoulder to look into her eyes.

‘What?!’

‘Last night. Mr. Fujimoto raped me.’

WHAM! All of a sudden Meg slapped her across the face.

‘Don’t you ever say that again. Look what you have here. Look what your family now has. This is your life now. Loyalty and dedication. This is your role in the Fujimoto family. Do what is expected of you, and do not ever question again.’

Meg then did the one-eighty in attitude she was so good at, boarding psychotic as she pleasantly stated, ‘Breakfast will be in five minutes,’ then turned to leave the room.

Elsa could do nothing but stand there, speechless.

The estate was huge, like a small private town, Elsa seated in the back seat of a van beside Rumiko as she was given the grand tour.

She didn’t seem like the same confident young lady that up until last night she had been, Now nothing but silent and obedient. A lost soul.

‘You have never been beyond the mansion?’ Rumiko asked.

Elsa shook her head no.

‘Ah, there’s so much to see. A park. A school for the children. Even a theater. And many living quarters.’

The van pulled up to some kind of center.

Inside, the same half dozen pregnant women Elsa had encountered the previous day in the garden were all there, including Maria. All being instructed with life-like baby dolls.

Rumiko and Elsa watched from a distance as Rumiko continued the orientation.

‘This is where we instruct all our soon-to-be mothers on parenthood. When you come here, you will take part in all sorts of classes. From prenatal yoga to prenatal water aerobics. And learning everything from how to properly hold an infant to knowing when it’s feeding time.’

Elsa watched in sickened amazement as the pregnant women practiced burping techniques on their dolls.

‘Dr. Takamatsu oversees all prenatal care. You have seen him, correct?’

Elsa nodded. Her and Maria’s eyes made contact.

Rumiko now toured Elsa around the outskirts of a large school, the two coming upon a gated playground where young children were painting on easel-propped canvases, supervised by a few adults.

‘The school is divided into three sections. Pre-school, elementary and high school. Our philosophy is education starts in the womb. And this is why we hold a variety of classes in the maternity center. By the time the children reach this age they are accustomed to learning.’

Inside, Rumiko and Elsa watched from a window as a teacher instructed her small group of students.

‘The students are no more than nine to a class. This ensures individual attention by our highly accredited instructors.’

They continued on down the hall, passing a row of individual soundproof rooms where children practiced their music lessons in solitude.

‘By high school, the children are well-versed in at least one musical instrument, along with fluency in the languages of Japanese, English and the language of the country their mother originates from.’

Rumiko and Elsa watched from the sidelines of an open field as both male and female teenagers participated in a variety of physical education.

Soccer. Archery. Baseball. Track and field.

A male teenager smiled as he jogged past the two.

‘What about interaction with other people? Do they ever leave the estate?’ Elsa asked.

‘Oh, yes. They have supervised outings once a week. And they visit a new country every summer. They’re all quite worldly.’

‘They’re all brothers and sisters…’ Elsa whispered to herself more than to Rumiko.

‘Of course,’ Rumiko replied.

Elsa sat in her room trying to write a letter as she held back the tears.

I’m so lonely, Tatay. Your little girl needs you now more than ever.

She tore up the letter and started to cry.

A light knock came from the bedroom door. Vicki peered in and slowly entered, followed by Josephine and Rhani.

Elsa, are you ok?’ Vicki asked with a softness to her voice.

The three gathered around her, all placing a comforting hand atop her shoulder.

She looked up at Vicki.

‘You knew, didn’t you?!’

Then to the other two.

‘You all knew!’

Seeing the tears in Elsa’s eyes made Vicki’s well up too.

‘We were going to talk to you last night, but-’

Elsa pushed Vicki’s hand off her shoulder, Rhani and Josephine lifting theirs in shame.

‘Last night I was raped!’

They all started to cry.

‘How can you all be ok with what’s going on around here?’ Elsa said while once again finding it hard to breathe between sobs. ‘He finds young, educated women who come from poverty and turns them into child-bearing slaves. All so that he can train those children into becoming perfect employees for his corporation. Children that come from his victims of rape!’

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It had only been a few days, but he already missed the softness of her voice, the innocent beauty of her face, the sweetness of her laugh. And when she had leaned over to kiss his cheek it had taken all his composure not to take her into his arms and kiss her with a passion he had never known before.

Countless beautiful young women had come and gone over the years but Elsa was different. Elsa was special.

And so Ken made up his mind as he jogged along the wet sand of the beach resort he had been sent to. When he got back to the mansion he would pour his heart out to her. Tell her everything, and offer to take her away and take care of her. He had enough savings put away to where they could open a decent business, and envisioned sending for her family once they were established. He would have her, she would be able to provide for them, and all would be wonderful.

He just had to get back to her before it was too late.

About an hour up the coastline Elsa and the girls were having the time of their lives at another resort while always under the watchful eye of Meg and security. Vicki’s younger sister Coco had joined them for this weekend getaway, initial paperwork of her transition to permanently join them after college having already been processed.

From beach volleyball to scuba diving, banana boating to attempts at wind surfing, the two days of fun had created an even stronger sisterly bond between these young women. And when Coco had learned that Elsa was a graduate of the same course of study she was now taking the two had spent their evenings in front of Elsa’s laptop,

‘When they ask you what’s the most important aspect of business,’ Elsa had shared with Coco, ‘tell them customer service. Because customers are the lifeblood of any business. Without them profit can’t be made. And that’s the whole point.’

When they had returned back to the mansion and it was time for Coco to leave for the airport the two had embraced, promising to keep in touch and looking forward to working together when the time came.

Having enjoyed the weekend out in the fresh air Elsa decided to take her laptop out to her favorite garden, taking what she now saw as her special seat by the fountain as she used the wi-fi to study up on the latest business news while waiting to be assigned her new task.

An hour had passed, maybe two when she heard a rustling of leaves and looked up to discover a half dozen expectant women, all at various stages of their pregnancies walking into the garden from a trail beyond the trees.

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Unlike dinner time the first meal of the day usually had the young women eating amongst themselves and chatting it up, but on this particular morning not a single word was uttered between them as they sat around the table eating their breakfast in stunned silence, silverware lightly touching plates being the only sound in the solemn dining room. That is until Mr. Fujimoto entered, followed by Meg and another Japanese woman.

‘Mimi-chan suffered from an unfortunate accident last night,’ he said addressing the four of them. ‘We have just learned from her former orphanage that she sometimes experienced cases of sleepwalking.’ He gestured to the woman at his side. ‘We have acquired the services of a grief counselor, so please feel free to speak to her during this difficult time.’

‘Will there be a funeral for Mimi?’ Rhani asked.

‘We have discovered that she has a living relative. An aunt who prefers to keep the matter private.’ And with that Mr. Fujimoto simply turned and left.

‘Dr. Takamatsu will be arriving in twenty minutes for your weekly examinations,’ Meg added before leaving the room as well.

So that’s how they were choosing to deal with this awful happening. Very matter-of-factly, as if it were something to get over by the end of breakfast.

Unified in their silent protest on the handling of such the young women took one look at the grief counselor before them, then went back to eating, ignoring her for the rest of the meal.

Despite the efforts of all Fujimoto’s staff, the maids, butlers, gardeners and so on could not lift the mournful atmosphere, the morning hours ticking by in stillness compared to the running around and giggling that was normally done around this time. Rhani, Josephine and Vicki had all retreated back to their rooms, while Elsa, seated in the study room with her new assignment, found it hard to concentrate.

By lunch time she conceded that the day was not going to be as productive as she would have liked, deciding to join the others in the dining room for another quiet meal. But before it came to an end they would be left stunned yet again, Meg entering the room with a young Japanese girl around Mimi’s age.

‘Ladies, I want you to meet the newest member of our Fujimoto family, Noboo. Noboo, this is Elsa, Rhani, Vicki and Josephine.‘

They were all caught off guard but managed to politely greet the new recruit as Meg continued the introduction. ‘Noboo comes from an orphanage in Noda City. After high school she wishes to become involved in International Relations.’

Going from unsure to uncomfortable, the girls didn’t know how to react. ‘Come now, Noboo. I’ll show you to your room,’ Meg said as she guided the bright-eyed girl away, turning back to the group long enough to inform them of their day’s schedule.

‘We will be hosting a dinner party tonight. A lot of important people are expected to attend. So ladies, when we take Noboo out for her initiation this afternoon be prepared to shop.’

Nobody said anything, but didn’t have to to know they were all collectively thinking the same thing.

How could they replace Mimi so soon? And with someone so similar?

From the department store to the beauty salon the routine to make the new girl feel special went on as usual, wrapping the day of planned fun up with a walk through the park.

While waiting for the others outside a restroom Noboo saw an ice cream stand across the street and opened her purse with the intention to go buy a scoop. ‘Oh, they have the best ice cream,’ she said to Elsa. ‘Would you like one?’

What a déjà vu moment for Elsa, who was quick to want to save the new girl from the side of Meg she was hoping never to see again.

‘Maybe we should wait for the others.’

And so they did, giving Elsa a few moments to not only reflect on the tragedy of last night but also the sense that Meg’s sometimes cold ways was a hint to something even more awful than a harsh scolding.

With the fall of evening came the showmanship Mr. Fujimoto was known for, the extravagant mansion lit up to awe as a live orchestra played to the delight of the aristocratic guests he mingled with, with Meg ever the perfect assistant standing by his side.

And like prized showpieces his five younger assistants were spread throughout the party as ideal representations of his admired empire. From Vicki, elegantly dressed and hobnobbing with a lady of influence…

‘Yes, I’ve been with The Fujimoto Corporation for nine months now. It’s been a pleasure.’

…To Josephine, looking as though she came from Russian royalty, conversing with a power couple.

Beautiful Rhani and Noboo were stationed by a buffet table, taking their few moments between approaching guests to sneak a piece of shrimp or two.

By a large fireplace, Elsa, ever so ravishing, was alone no longer than a minute before a handsome Japanese gentleman approached her with two glasses of champagne, handing her over one. ‘May I offer you some champagne?’

Before she could take the glass from his hand a server approached with a glass of juice on a serving tray. Suddenly reminded of the rules she took the non-alcoholic beverage instead.

‘I’m sorry,’ the gentlemen said. ‘You don’t drink?’

‘No,’ Elsa somewhat awkwardly replied, feeling a little embarrassed for having been treated like a child by the server.

‘My apologies. Are you with The Fujimoto Corporation?’

‘Yes, I assist Mr. Fujimoto in business matters.’

The gentleman was obviously smitten and put out his hand so that he might take hers. ‘Masaaki Matsumoto. Nice to meet you.’

As expected, she offered her hand in response, blushing a bit when he took it, lifted it to his lips and placed a gentle fairytale kiss atop it.

‘Elsa Velasquez.’

‘Filipina?’

‘Yes. Are you with The Fujimoto Corporation as well?’

‘No, but my family has been doing business with Mr. Fujimoto for over twenty years.’

Before their conversation could go any further Meg approached,

‘Please excuse me, Mr. Matsumoto.

“Elsa, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.’

She started to guide Elsa away.

‘It was nice to meet you, Mr. Matsumoto.’

‘The pleasure was all mine, Ms. Velasquez,’ he said as he bowed to her.

She tried to give a little bow of the head back, but Meg already had her going off in another direction.

She was being taken over to the other four girls, who were all gathered around an elderly Japanese woman.

‘And this is our girl from the Philippines,’ Meg shared with the woman. ‘Elsa, this is Mrs. Fujimoto, Mr. Fujimoto’s mother.’

Elsa bowed.

‘It’s wonderful to meet you. Your son’s a very gracious man.’ Elsa bowed, but the old woman took her hand into hers, looking at it, caressing its softness before looking back up to Elsa’s face.

‘Ah, so beautiful. Will make beautiful babies.’

Elsa, not knowing where that came from, could only politely smile at the old woman’s compliment.

Meg had one more event scheduled for the girls before they were to call it a day, which is why she had them leave the party early. In an attempt to help Rhani, Vicki, Josespine and Elsa bond with their new associate she had arranged a movie night, and by the looks of it it was working, all five girls cuddled up on Rhani’s bed eating popcorn in their silk pajamas while watching a romantic comedy.

The rating couldn’t have been more than PG-13, and with the story coming to a climax, with the two main characters having found one another and about to embrace in a passionate kiss Rhani joked, ‘Looks like Elsa and the gentleman from earlier this evening.’

‘Wooo…’ they all chimed in before giggling up a storm. Elsa’s mouth fell agape in surprise.

‘You didn’t think we missed that, did you?’ Vicki added.

‘Yeah,’ Josephine went on. ‘We saw how he was looking at you.’

Noboo was the next to get one in.

‘You should have asked for his number.’

Once again the girls rang out in unison.

‘Wooo…!’

‘It wasn’t like that,’ Elsa playfully protested. ‘He was just being nice.’

‘You didn’t see what we saw,’ Rhani countered.

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Chapter Four

Elsa couldn’t help but feel anxious as the rain poured down so heavy outside. The maids had assured her that there was nothing to worry about, for this mansion was built as strong as a castle, but when one grows up in a shack which teeters on the edge of destruction with nearly every typhoon to hit the Philippines, a fear that had built up over time simply wouldn’t dissipate with a few reassurances.

Elsa got out of her bed, left her room and headed down the hall in her silk nightgown, Maybe a little conversation with one of the other girls would get her mind off the thunderstorm.

Mimi’s door was open, her light on as Elsa picked up on the voices coming from the bedroom. She and Ken had arrived late from the airport, so she hadn’t had a chance to see her colleagues yet, whom she had started to look towards as sisters now that they were getting close and she had never had any.

She walked into Mimi’s doorway in time to see a maid giving Mimi a pill and a cup of water, Meg nearby watching over. ‘Ah, Elsa, glad to see you made it home despite the bad weather. Did you get the plate of dinner we saved for you?’

‘Yes, thank you. I was just going to say goodnight to Mimi.’

Mimi ran over and hugged Elsa. ‘Goodnight. It’s nice to have you back.’

‘Are you feeling ok? I saw you take a pill,’ Elsa asked.

‘Oh, yes. Meg says it’s just to help me rest-’

‘Alright ladies,’ Meg interrupted. ‘Why don’t we get to bed. We have an early day tomorrow.’

The two girls hugged again, then Elsa, Meg and the maid left Mimi to sleep, Meg turning to Elsa as she closed the door behind them.

‘So your father is doing better?’

‘Yes. The doctor says he’s strong, but needs to take it easy now that he’s nearing retirement age.’

‘That’s great news. Mr. Fujimoto was very impressed with your work last week. He has more for you in the morning if you think you’re ready.’

‘Yes, that would be great. I’m eager to get back to work.’

They had now reached Elsa’s bedroom. ‘Very well. Have a good night.’ Meg then walked off. Odd how she could be so pleasant one moment yet so cold the next.

Elsa settled into bed once more, nerves a little less on edge now that she had distracted herself with some company. Over the sheets of rain pelting the windows she thought with some excitement on what her next work assignment would be.

But these thoughts weren’t the ones she finally fell asleep to. The images in mind when those light tingling sensations of sleep began to sooth her into the unconscious were actually of Ken. Of the time they had spent together over the past few days. On the way from the airport he had told her, had joked with her that she would have a break from him until next week, as he was now to take a few days off.

To her surprise Elsa had felt a little sadness towards the news, only realizing at that moment that she now felt some sort of bond with him. It could have been due to the fact that he had spent time with her and her family but it seemed the feeling went beyond this. A longing in the heart, not wanting their time together to end.

Maybe she was just being too sentimental, the fresh sorrow of once again leaving her family causing her to feel closeness to the one who had been there with her. But then again she had never really experienced a connection when it came to attraction, her lovers from the age of having thoughts of one merely existing in the fictional literature she would sometimes read from her world of academics.

Is this what it felt like to like a boy in the flesh? What would he have said if she would have asked him if she could

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Chapter Three

The sights, smells and sounds that had been with her since before she could remember. The way the sidecar vibrated with the motorcycle it was attached to as the main mode of transportation of her hometown drove her from the bus station to the simple dwelling known as home. This humble carefree environment might as well have been a universe away from the luxuries of the Fujimoto estate, leaving Elsa with the perplexed feeling that no matter how much she might achieve after fighting so hard to escape such harsh conditions she may find no greater peace than when amongst her origins.

Ken was right behind her, being driven in a sidecar of his own due to his size, and when the two motorcycles pulled up to the home of the Velasquez family all came out to greet their beloved Elsa and her foreign companion. Soon thereafter, dinner was served.

‘Is this your first time to eat Filipino food?’ Mark, Elsa’s older brother asked of their guest.

‘Yes. It’s very good.’

The brief exchange gave Elsa’s young niece the courage to ask a question of her own. ‘You eat raw fish?’

Mark began to scold his daughter for asking such a thing, but Ken was happy to answer. ‘No, that’s ok,’ and turned to the curious little girl.

‘Yes, I do. It’s called sushi. The people of Japan eat sushi because it is the closest form to the purity of the providing sea.’

His insightful answer produced a giggle from the young one, followed by a mispronunciation that had them all joining in the laughter. ‘Shushi?’

Later that evening, once Elsa had familiarized Ken with the three basics of Filipino-style bathing, (bucket/scoop/water) she joined her father by his bedside and fascinated him with stories of Japan and a few pictures of some bridges.

That night Tatay had fallen asleep with a smile on his face.

As mother and daughter prepared breakfast Ken walked into the kitchen, handing Elsa a bottle of water and a single pill wrapped in plastic. Once she took the vitamin Ken headed for the makeshift bathroom, concerned mother asking her youngest about what she had just taken.

‘It’s nothing,’ Elsa replied in Tagalog. ‘Mr. Fujimoto just likes to keep us healthy.’

Maternal instinct was telling the seasoned parent otherwise, but before she could press her daughter on the matter Elsa removed the pot their meal was in from the open flame and sat it to the side.

‘I’ll let them know breakfast is ready.’

Elsa had felt it. The unspoken worry emanating from her mother, but how could she respond? By cluing her in on some of the oddities she had experienced while gone? And run the risk of afflicting the family with another heart attack?

Absolutely not. This opportunity of a lifetime was just that, with Elsa about to prove such as she approached Mark with her hands to her back.

‘Hey brother, breakfast is ready.’

Mark looked up from his woodwork and over to his sister, the memory of their childhood bringing a smile to his face. ‘It’s nice to have you home.’

‘Remember that time you tried to make that electric chisel?’ she asked him.

His reminiscent smile turned into an embarrassing grin.

‘Yeah.’

‘You kept saying how you were going to be able to do twice the work in half the time. But every time you would try to get it to work, either the chisel would break or the engine would burn out.’

Mark nodded, blew the shavings off his carving and went in for a few more strikes with chisel and hammer.

Elsa brought her hands from around her back, revealing

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‘Dr. Takamatsu comes to check us out once a week,’ Rhani told Elsa, the two seated alongside Vicki, Josephine and Mimi while waiting their turn to be seen. ‘They just want to make sure we’re staying in good health.’

The nearby door opened and out came Maria with Meg at her back. Elsa was next.

She couldn’t have felt more awkward, lying flat on her back as this stranger used his fingers to feel around her most private of parts.

‘I’m going to need to know your sexual history,’ Dr. Takamatsu stated.

‘I-’ Elsa whispered with only breath, no vocals. Her throat was empty, and she had to dig deep for the words to reply. ‘I have none.’

‘And you don’t drink or smoke, correct?’

‘Correct.’

Dr. Takamatsu sat up from between her legs in a routinely manner, sliding off his gloves and gliding over to her chart in the office chair he sat in.

‘Great. Just make sure you continue to take those vitamins and I’ll see you next week.’

Following their examinations the girls were led back to the front of the house where they came upon Maria being escorted to the front door, Ken and a butler at her back with her luggage.

‘Maria’s leaving?’ Elsa asked.

‘She’s been promoted,’ Meg replied. ‘She’ll be staying at a different unit on the estate.’

Changing the subject Meg then turned to her. ‘There’s something I didn’t tell you about this job. We like to give our girls a little initiation.’

The afternoon was spent in beauty salons, boutiques and department stores, the girls giving Elsa her official makeover while picking up a few new items for themselves as well. All paid for by company plastic.

Taking a break from their day of shopping the young women casually strolled through a park while eating a few traditional Japanese snacks from nearby vendors.

The girls stopped to admire an array of flowers, Meg receiving a call on her cellphone soon thereafter and stepping a few feet away to take it in private.

‘These are pretty,’ Vicki said as she stroked a tulip. ‘How about you, Mimi? Which ones are your favorite?’

‘I’ve always liked camellias’ she softly answered, gently running her hand over a few. ‘They were my mother’s favorite too.’

Elsa and Josephine rounded the corner of the flowerbed to take in more, leaving the sight of the others as they were now on the opposite side of the fountain that stood in the center.

Elsa noticed a small post office across the street. ‘Oh, a post office.

“Josephine, can you tell Meg I’ll be right back. I have a letter I want to mail to my family.’

‘But-’

Before Josephine could say anything else Elsa had already started across the street.

Inside, Elsa looked over the foreign stamps before applying them to her letter, and before leaving braved to try out some Japanese on the clerk. ‘Domo arigato.’

As soon as she exited the post office she was startled by a sudden grab around her forearm and looked up to find Meg staring back at her with fierce eyes.

‘Was I not clear to you earlier?! We are never to leave the group when we are out. Ever!’

Shocked, Elsa could hardly find the words to reply. ‘I’m sorry. I was just-’

‘Don’t let it happen again!’

The company vehicle pulled up, Ken in the driver’s seat and Uijo, another member of the security team, jumping out and opening the back door for Meg and Elsa to join the others.

Alone and upset Elsa sat at a fountain in one of Fujimoto’s many gardens, watching petals from a cherry blossom stream along the surface of constantly flowing water.

She had never been in any danger she thought to herself, as Ken and his colleague had been monitoring everyone from their SUV. So why had Meg overreacted? She couldn’t find a reason, and felt hurt that the woman she had thought of as a mentor could so easily display such an ugly side.

Ken quietly approached.

‘A few of your associates are going swimming. Care to join them?’ She didn’t feel like talking, and only shook her head to say No.

Keeping a respectable distance Ken put his hands in his pockets and tilted his head down a bit, giving her a more compassionate version of himself as he shared some personal philosophy.

‘You know, in the ancient times of Japan they used to have this saying. Shikin haramitsu daikomyo, which has two meanings.

‘One, that no matter what you come across in life, no matter how small or mundane, it could be the one thing that opens your eyes to universal truth. To enlightenment.

“And second, it’s up to us whether we choose to perceive things in a negative light. For example, if someone were shot dead, one might perceive this as negative. But what if, instead of their life being taken from them in a matter of seconds, that same person had brain cancer, and died a slow and painful death?

The first death doesn’t seem that bad now, does it?’

What might have been seen as a morbid example to some, Elsa could appreciate the truth in what Ken had explained, her expression showing such as their eyes met, with him leaving her with a smile as he turned to walk away.

Elsa’s four associates had put on their best, as had she, in anticipation for Mr. Fujimoto’s arrival. And not that long after taking their seats around the dinner table he graced them with his presence, Meg entering the dining hall with him as maids and servers bowed.

Sharply dressed and manicured he wore the age of sixty well. He was heading straight for Elsa, but before she could stand…

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Chapter Two

Ken scanned the passenger pickup area of the Tokyo International Airport from a passenger’s seat of a tinted SUV. It was part of his job that had become so second nature that he couldn’t remember a time of entering an area without visually assessing it.

Every man, woman and child, Every vehicle. Every suitcase. Paying attention to every detail…

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Dedicated to all

who choose to persevere

while facing adversity.

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Donna had to wipe away a few tears from her eyes as Aaron recounted the events of the last five days. They were parked facing the hospital’s entrance, having eaten dinner and talking the hours away during their all-night stakeout. Dennis would arrive with back-up by zero six hundred hours, and if all remained quiet a plan of action would take place the following night. But if a Plan B proved necessary before his arrival, if that “man-in-black” Aaron had spoken of were to show up and take Gloria, they would have to follow them. Inconspicuously of course.

They hoped all would indeed be quiet for the rest of the night, with Dennis being able to swing in and save the day come morning, but such wishful thoughts dissipated at 2:42 a.m. when an unmarked black tinted SUV pulled up to the hospital’s entrance, followed by a Cadillac blacked out in the same fashion of secrecy.

The man Moran had been talking with up in his office exited the Cadillac, with whoever was behind the wheel of the SUV staying put as both vehicles hazard lights continuously blinked in standby.

Two minutes later and Donna’s cellphone received a message.

Gloria strapped in gurney.

Being taken away by MIB.

Minutes later, and to the surprise of both Aaron and Donna, the agent reappeared with not only one gurney, but two, a pair of orderlies pushing along each, with Gloria being taken to the SUV and John to the Caddy. Both had been released from their straitjackets, neither one coherent enough to know what was going on due to the amount of drugs in their system.

As the two government vehicles drove off Aaron turned the ignition to his own car and began to follow, making sure to keep his distance of two to three car lengths as instructed by Dennis. He was now glad that Donna had suggested that last coffee run some thirty minutes ago, as the caffeine helped a little in keeping his nerves in check as they followed these powerful men to who knows where?

They were entering the abandoned industrial part of town. The outskirts that were like a wasteland of ghost factories and warehouses. Once bustling with productivity and now rotting away, while the rest of New Orleans, most of it ironically older, thrived in its revered historical dressings.

Traffic was dwindling down to just a few cars, and by the time the agents turned off the main road there wasn’t enough cover to keep following them, and so Aaron pulled over to the side of the road, he and Donna straining to make out their tail lights for as long as they could until the little red eyes were no more.

With the sunrise came the text Aaron and Donna had eagerly been waiting for. Dennis had landed, had been picked up by “his guys”, and needed to know their twenty.

Twenty?

Locale.

Dennis’ guys were local and knew the area as the HC District. Including Dennis there would be four of them, all of about retirement age but the manner in which they carried themselves indicative of the license plate frame attached to their van.

ONCE A MARINE

ALWAYS A MARINE

And boy did they have the firepower to back it up.

After a short briefing on what little Aaron and Donna knew of the agents, including the vital intel that it appeared there were only two of them, Dennis and one of his guys got in with Aaron and Donna, Aaron following the van into the area known as the Hoodlum Cemetery District.

It didn’t take long to spot the two government vehicles, and after surveying the perimeter of the warehouse they were parked at, the two veteran marines gave the ok for Aaron to close the fifty yard distance and pull up beside them.

Both the SUV and the Cadillac were empty, but as the squad of four locked and loaded Aaron couldn’t help but be drawn to that Caddy. With the same type of feeling he had had amongst the chaos of last night, instinct was telling him they needed to check that trunk.

With two barrels aimed at it, (the third pointed to the warehouse serving as lookout) Dennis popped the lock and lifted the hood…

Revealing a groggy John, hands and feet secured with duct tape.

They cut him loose, rehydrated him, and then Donna stepped forward with a prepared syringe. Anxiety suddenly appeared across John’s face.

‘No, it’s alright,’ Aaron reassured. ‘It’s just to counter that crap they filled you up with.’

‘That’s right, buddy,’ Dennis added. ‘we’re gonna need you clearheaded, just in case you guys have to skedaddle if something goes awry in there.’

The effects were almost instantaneous, the shot of adrenaline bringing such a surge of energy no coffee had ever done for John, no amount of caffeine pills providing this level of awareness Jimmy now felt.

Once the plan had been mapped out and went over again, with the recon marines all suited up and all seven linked up by small state-of-the-art gadgets of communication, Dennis and his guys turned to head out.

‘Wait,’ John said, stopping them all in their tracks. They turned back around. ‘I need a gun. Just in case “something goes awry”. If something happens to her, if she departs, I need to be right there behind her. And you’ve got to promise me you’ll let me know. Immediately.’

Dennis stepped forward, unstrapped the backup M1911 pistol from his thigh, and placed it in Jimmy’s awaiting hand. ‘Now, this here’s a M1911. First issued to our boys-’

‘In 1911,’ John said, already knowing the history of it. ‘And a standard sidearm during World War I.’ John handled the weapon with smooth familiarity, not needing to say he bad come very close to shipping out to France, going so far as to complete his basic training following that draft notice he had received not one year after returning home with his beloved. But thankfully, World War I had come to an end right in time, allowing him and Glory to raise their newborn together.

These veterans that were now in front of him weren’t even born when he had went through his training. They had been clued in on what this mission supposedly involved, but actual confirmation for them had come now, in the form of this young man, who couldn’t have worked that weapon the way he did without some up-close and in-your-face training with it.

‘You know, Sarah’s like a daughter to me,’ Dennis said, ‘and for the past few years I’ve watched her mature and perfect her craft. But it always seemed there was a missing piece. A part of her, that despite doing what she loved for a living, felt empty.

‘I’m glad she found her completion.’

‘Thank you. I’ll need to know if something happens. Immediately,’ John reiterated.

‘I promise. I’ll let you know.’

And with that the four-man reconnaissance team headed in to carry out their mission.

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Chapter Eight

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Chapter Seven

On the flight over to San Francisco Aaron couldn’t help but think of Jimmy, and how he had spent a third of his young life on planes searching for a soul mate he didn’t even know truly existed. Or maybe he did. Maybe his soul was John, subconsciously reassuring him that he was on the right path. Aaron wondered if this was really what our souls were. Were we like snowballs rolling down the hill of existence? The accumulation of all we had ever been, and continue to be, forever within us? Was this the ‘spirit’, the ‘energy’ that humankind had sought to understand for thousands of years?

He had been very tempted to take Jimmy, or the part of Jimmy that had been dormant for so long, up to the fifth floor to see Gloria, but he knew he needed a couple of more pieces of the puzzle in place before he could do such a thing, for they would probably only have one shot at reuniting. Even John had understood this, and encouraged Aaron to do what he had to in order to make since of it all. The thing is, all would have to be complete before Monday, as there was little to no chance that they’d be able to get past the obstacle that was Moran.

Sitting there looking out at the passing clouds, thinking of the whole situation, Aaron had an impulse to go for his wallet, to take a look at the card that gentleman back at the hospital had given him.

Dennis Brinks

CityScape Magazine

Editor-in-Chief

Aaron turned the card over and looked at the name: Sarah Moore

He took out his phone. No internet access. Took the pamphlet from his seat and contemplated spending the ridiculous price for wi-fi. He knew he wouldn’t be able to wait out the urge to know, and so he pushed the flight attendant call button.

Sarah Moore. Instantly, a number of photos came up with the name search, most associated with CityScape. He clicked Images for more, and froze when he saw the image of the person he knew to be Gloria staring back at him.

The cemetery was divided by century, with grave stones going all the way back to the days of the California gold rush. Generals, celebrities, politicians. According to the old groundskeeper leading Aaron, this was the final resting place to a variety of souls. Final resting place. A statement he would have believed less than a week ago.

Approaching the middle of the estate, the twentieth century section, Aaron patiently followed the old man down rows of grave markings that must have been twenty yards long. The further back they went the closer they got to the middle of the second to the last decade, until they had reached the mid 1980’s.

The headstone they were looking for was among the ninth row, and when Aaron caught sight of it he couldn’t help but get a little teary-eyed.

Here lies John and Gloria Borelli.

Loving parents to Jeannie,

loving souls to one another.

1894-1984

The grass was nicely trimmed, the stone cleaned to a shine, but this could have been the work of the old man. What really grabbed Aaron’s attention were the fresh stargazers that had recently been laid down, for they couldn’t have been more than a few days old.

‘Have their relatives recently stopped by?’ he asked as he looked over at the next grave site, wondering if Jeannie might be buried nearby.

‘Only got one living one far as I know. Daughter. Jeannie.’

Aaron almost fell over from his squatted position, and stood up so fast he got a little light-headed. ‘She’s still alive?! But she must be-’

‘Ninety-six. Says her secret is the Italian food she was raised on.’

Remembering the name Borelli’s Bistro, Aaron got a lump in his throat. He was so excited he began to shake a little. ‘Please. I believe I’ve found a long-lost relative of hers. That’s why I’m here. Can you please give me Jeannie’s address?’

Atop a hill overlooking The City by the Bay and its long golden gateway sat a quaint cozy house surrounded by a picture-perfect landscape, a gazebo in the back and a well-manicured shrubbery serving as a perimeter to the soft green lawn that beckoned to be rolled around in.

But what really made the property burst in beauty were the hundreds of Stargazers cushioning the base of the home. From one shade to the next, exquisitely displayed like a natural color scheme.

This is where Jeannie was when she spotted the young fellow coming up the driveway, tending to her prized lilies like she so often did.

‘Excuse me, ma’am? Mrs. Jeannie Borelli?’

‘Miss,’ she said as she stood from her gardening chair and removed her sun hat. ‘Never married. But call me Jeannie. Never been one for formalities either.’ She had aged well for a woman of her years, and moved with the agility of someone three decades younger.

‘That’s quite the walk from the main road, ain’t it?’ she asked as she removed her gardening gloves.

‘Sure is,’ Aaron wiped the bead of sweat trickling off his eyebrow and down his cheek, the bridge at his back being illuminated by the rays of the sinking sun.

‘Care for some lemonade?’ Jeannie asked as she gestured toward the steps of her home.

‘Would love some, thank you.’

As soon as Aaron entered the house he felt as though he had stepped back in time a hundred years. From the furniture to the décor, everything must have been from the first half of the last century. But like Jeannie, the items from a more innocent time had stood the test of time. Wasn’t it his grandmother who had said, “they don’t make things like they used to”?

There were about a dozen paintings hanging throughout the living room, including one which read Borelli’s Bistro, no doubt made for advertising. And when he spotted the one above the fireplace he felt for sure he would have fainted if it weren’t for his youth.

Steadying himself, he took off his glasses, clinched his eyes shut to refocus, wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his sleeve, took a breath, and put his glasses back on, once again looking up at the picture.

It was Memory. It was the same exact painting as the one he had watched Gloria working on. It even had the three horizontal lines drawn in the snow, connected by a vertical one going straight down the middle.

Thought, word, and deed. When in alignment with truth, anything is possible.

That’s what she had said.

‘That was one of her favorites,’ Jeannie commented as she re-entered the living room with their lemonade. ‘Her and daddy’s time in The Himlayas.’

Odd how she had just started talking about her parents as if they had been conversing about them all afternoon.

‘Ma’am- I mean Jeannie, do you happen to have any living relatives? Perhaps a great granddaughter in her early to mid-twenties?’

‘Nope. I’m the last of the Borelli clan. You’re trying to make sense of it, aren’t you?’ She handed him his glass of lemonade.

‘Thank you. Were you expecting me?’

‘I may have had an inkling. This is why you’re here, is it not? To learn more about my parents?

‘Have a seat.’

And so it began. The old paintings on the wall, the black and white photos, a few items actually owned by Gloria and John Borelli. Reminiscent of the look back Aaron had taken Jimmy on, Jeannie was now taking him on a journey of their past.

1911

Fresh-faced and with a pep in his step, the delivery boy for Antonio’s Italian Eatery made his way down the lively streets of his neighborhood with a bag of calzones and a box of something special, every now and then a pal calling out to him, “Hey, Johnny, what you doin’ workin’ on a Sunday?”

“Johnny-boy, we’re a man short. Come play some stick ball!”

But this seventeen-year-old was focused, having eagerly waited all week for a delivery he just couldn’t stop thinking about.

Through the sawdust, the hammering, the chiseling, the teenager made his way to the back of a furniture shop where he found the owner, Louie Granatelli, varnishing a chair.

‘Got your calzones here, Mr. Granatelli,’ he said as he handed over the bag he had been so careful with.

‘Ah, still warm. That’s why you’re the best, Johnny! What’s in the box?’

‘Just a little something I baked for Glory, if you don’t mind, Mr. Granatelli. May I?’ He gestured toward the backyard.

‘Go on,’ he said, with a smirk of knowing all about being smitten over a girl. He didn’t seem to mind this innocent courtship that was going on between this young man and his daughter. After all, Gloria and Johnny had practically grown up together, with the boy having shown nothing but respect since their friendship had turned to attraction.

‘Oh, Mr. Granatelli?’

‘Yes?’

‘One more thing.’ His throat was as dry as sandpaper. ‘Next week is Valentine’s Day and all, and I’ve been working awful hard to save-’

‘Have her home by seven.’

‘Oh, Mr. Granatelli, thank you. I’ll be sure to have her home by seven. Seven o’clock sharp. Thank you, Mr. Granatelli!’

The nervous delivery boy headed for the backyard, where he found the girl he was in love with as he did every weekend; her back to him, painting a picture. She had a remarkable talent for being able to bring to life whatever she envisioned in her mind’s eye, and today it was the coastline to the port city they called home.

Sharing the same age, they had known each other since they could remember, but it wasn’t until about a year ago that they started to see one another in a new light. Both had kept such intimate feelings to themselves, but Johnny had dreaded the thought of spending Valentine’s Day, a day for those in love to cherish one another, alone in his bedroom cursing himself for not having enough courage. And so he had gathered all he could muster up for this moment now. 

He wiped his sweaty palms, took a breath, and took that first step towards destiny.

1912

It was a rather bare hilltop, but the view of San Francisco was amazing. It was the place where Glory and Johnny, along with many of their friends, had spent many of summers playing tag, stickball, kick-the-can, and anything else that came to mind.

It was also the place where the delivery boy had asked the carpenter’s daughter for her hand in marriage not even a month after their first date. Upon her acceptance, he had proclaimed, with such conviction, how they were going to spend forever together. With such a declaration had also come the promise that he would one day buy the land they were standing atop and make it their home. The special place where they had forged their friendship, fallen in love, and had their first kiss.

And there they stood, in the very spot where they had committed to one another, in a beautiful gazebo Louie Granatelli had built for this ceremony of matrimony, friends and family surrounding the intimate dwelling as they bear witness to the vowels this young couple swore to uphold, with the last line stated by each having been written by their own hand.

‘May this ring represent the infinity of our love.’

That night they consummated such powerful love not in the suite of The New Palace Hotel Johnny’s parents had arranged for them to stay in, but instead had snuck away back to their special hilltop, their gift of innocence given to one another within the coziness of that small hand-crafted gazebo.

For the rest of the night they remained in their intimate embrace, staring out through the sides of the structure at the starry sky that encompassed them and their special little spot.

‘It just has to be, Glory. I just know it does! Europe, Africa, The Far East. There must be something out there that can help us. You’ve seen those exotic people that come through the port. They’re from all over the world. There must be secrets out there we’ve never even imagined!

‘And what better time than now? The new ships nowadays are making it possible for anyone to travel. In fact, I just heard about one they say is unsinkable! They call it Titanic, and they say it’s like the grandest hotel you’ve ever seen. We can get a job on one of these luxury liners and use it to explore the world. To find the answers to forever!’

1912-1917

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It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and although he hadn’t gotten that much sleep Aaron had been eager to get back to the hospital. It wasn’t that he had discovered a treasure trove of information. In fact, the only solid answers he had found was an old obituary from a San Francisco newspaper, with the issue being dated back to 1984. That, and the conformation of the burial site on the cemetery’s website.

Right away Aaron’s heart had begun to race, his eyes widening as he read the names of Gloria and John, and the same dates Gloria had mentioned during her initial assessment. And then came the sentence that had switched his heartbeat from racing to thudding.

“Survived by their loving daughter, Jeannie Borelli.”

Jeannie Borelli. He searched it. Nothing. But then again, how many seniors had a digital footprint? His own grandmother still only used a rotary phone and snail mail to communicate.

The cemetery was bound to have some answers, but he’d have to wait until Monday morning to get through to their business line.

For the next several hours Aaron tried to look at the whole situation from the objective, problem-solving mindset he had been trained in. Could it be possible that Gloria had come across the Borelli’s information and had convinced herself that she was this woman?

Maybe Gloria wasn’t her real name. But how about her knowledge of their past? Or did she make that up to go along with the few available facts found? Anything was possible, but considering the medication she was on, to hold onto such a delusion would be highly improbable.

And what about the timeline? The Borelli’s had passed in ’84. If rebirth had occurred, wouldn’t that put Gloria and Jimmy in their thirties? But then again, time was relative, Einstein having proven such decades ago. 

And now here he was, seated near Jimmy, whom he had laid out on a couch and guided with a soft and even tone past the layers of awareness and into the depths of subconsciousness.

‘Now Jimmy, now that you are fully relaxed and safe.

‘Now that you are no longer under the control of those whom you believe would bring harm to you.

‘Now that you have someone on your side whom you can fully trust.

‘It’s time to bring all barriers down. Time to share your most inner truth with me. Your confidant, your friend, your ally.

‘Are you ready, Jimmy? Are you ready to tell me your story?’

‘Yes.’

With his player having already been pressed to record, with nerves increasing the rate of his heartbeat, Aaron began to probe Jimmy’s inner self.

‘We’re going to go back to the celebration of Mardi Gras. This was on a Tuesday, March fourth. This was the day you have stated you arrived in New Orleans. What brought you to this city? What was your purpose for being here?’

‘Work.’

‘And what is it you do for a living?’

‘Flight attendant. I’m a flight attendant for American Airlines.’

‘Why have you chosen this career?’

‘To find her.’

‘Who? Who is her?’

‘My beloved. My destiny.’

‘And what is her name?’

‘Gloria.’

Aaron could now feel his heart in his chest.

‘How do you know this is her name?’

‘The dream.’

‘You came here to New Orleans to find her?’

’No. Patti found out. She won’t let me search anymore.’

‘Who is Patti?’

‘My boss.’

‘How long have you been searching for her?’

‘Since the training program.’

‘And how do you know where to search?’

‘The dreams. The locations are in the dreams.’

‘How long have you had these dreams?’

‘Always. Since I can remember.’

‘Ok, Jimmy. We’re going to go back to that very first dream you can remember. You’re watching it as if it were a movie. I need you to help me by describing it to me. How old are you?’

‘Twee.’

‘And what are you doing?’

‘Playing.’

‘You’re three and you’re playing. Where are you playing?’

‘In a pak.’

‘In a park?’

‘Yeah.’

‘And who are you playing with?’

‘A gul.’

‘A girl?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Who is this girl?’

‘Jimmy takes a moment to respond, then, with an eerie combination of the child-like voice and his adult self, says, ‘her’.

Aaron instantly felt goose bumps on the surface of his arms. He sat in stillness, the possible consequences he was about to create for himself not enough to stop him from doing what he knew must be done.

‘We’re going further back now, Jimmy. Before that first dream. Even before your first memory. Beyond all the firsts you’ve ever experienced in this life. Beyond your mother’s first embrace of you. Before that first bright light of your birth. Where are you, Jimmy? Please describe it to me.’

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@rikerbooks.comA book about soulmates in episodic form. Latest episode up now. rikerbooks.com #foreverlove #reincarnation #soulmatestory #1920s #romancebooks

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Chapter Six

Snow-capped mountains glowing against the night’s sky. So amazingly bright and surreal that nothing else on earth looked so animated. A natural phenomenon Aaron once had the pleasure of viewing firsthand. And now, looking at this painting, watching her hand bring to life such a mesmerizing sight with every new stroke of the brush, he swore he could feel the icy coolness radiating off of the mountains as he stood beside Gloria, who seemed to display the hand of God with her talent.

He had meant to start a conversation with the woman who called herself Gloria, but as soon as his eyes had caught sight of the picture it was as if he had been caught in a trance, and so Sarah was the first to speak.

‘Breathtaking, isn’t it? My John and I felt the same way when we first set foot on these Himalayan mountains. It’s no wonder they are the gateway to such wise men.’

‘Wise men?’

‘The Tibetans, of course.’

Aaron’s heart began to race, his full attention on Sarah as she continued.

‘We had been tracking Omit for nearly a year, and it took us another six months to reach him. We were so worried his stay with the monks would come to an end before we got there, but our efforts had finally paid off, as we caught up with him not that long before his departure.’

‘Was John your husband?’

‘Is,’ Sarah corrected. ‘John is my husband.’

‘And where is he now?’

‘Searching for me, of course. In a life as vast as this one, it does take time.’

Aaron now understood why Donna and many of the other staff members on the female ward referred to Gloria as having an old soul, for even though they were near the same age, Gloria had a tone, a personality, an aura about her that reminded him of his own grandmother.

He spent the next thirty minutes or so listening to her old stories while she put the finishing touches on the painting she called Memory. A brief history of a couple who had fallen in love nearly a hundred years ago, had searched every continent for ancient knowledge that would keep them together forever, then returned home to open a small restaurant and have a child.

‘Our little Jeannie brought a whole new purpose to our lives. Before she was born it was all about us, and our pursuit to plant the seeds to our destiny. Thankfully we had that foundation in place by the time our angel came along, and from that point on our focus had shifted to providing her the best life we could.’

‘You say you and your husband planted the seeds to be together forever. How? What did you find on your world travels?’

‘Universal truth, my dear boy. Did I not tell you we finally tracked down Omit, the keeper of The Book of Truths? One thing that has not changed over time is the need to know.

‘Your generation, mine, those who have come before me. It’s all about finding our own personal truth. Discovering the bread crumbs is a gift from the universe. Following them towards enlightenment is a gift from you to your future self.’

Aaron had heard every story, every claim, every delusion he thought possible from all the patients he helped treat, but nothing as profound as this. It was as if she were speaking of this current situation. This puzzle that had been presented to him, a piece here, a piece there, by both her and Jimmy. And yet being confined to this female ward, there was no way she could have known what was going on two floors below. These mysterious clues, bread crumbs, were precisely what kept Aaron’s disbelief suspended.

As if she could hear the perplexity in his silence, Sarah shared one more piece of wisdom for him to contemplate.

‘Thought, word, and deed,’ she said as she drew a horizontal line in the snow for each word. She then connected the three with a line straight down their middle. ‘When in alignment, anything is possible.’

‘What’s going on here?!’ a familiar egotistical voice demanded to know. Aaron turned to Dr. Moran, who held his briefcase and was ready to head out for his weekend conference.

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The coast was not clear back up on the male ward, with both the nurse Jimmy had fled from and Dr. Moran talking to Aaron in front of the nurse’s station. Jimmy had discarded the orderly uniform, the patient garb he had kept on underneath now placing him back amongst his fellow crazies as he peered around the corner. The atmosphere was relatively calm, no doubt the incident having resulted with the sedation of many. A controlled state he was most likely to meet as well.

Thinking about where he was in relation to the nurse’s station, and the second office Moran kept down here, he realized that the floor plan was exactly the same as up on the female ward. And felt sickened in now knowing that the drama between him and the nurse could have been avoided. But hindsight was 20/20, with the only thing mattering now being how was he going to get Aaron alone without first being zombified with those damn chemicals they used to control everyone.

Although it was the long way around, if he could make it to Moran’s office without being detected there would be a pretty good chance of Aaron returning there by himself since he spent more time in said office than the doctor. Jimmy went for it.

The space below the desk was tighter than the maintenance closet, but Jimmy was just glad he had made it. While waiting he recited the information he had found in his beloved’s file, along with connecting a little bit more of its content with his theory.

What he couldn’t crack was how she had come to be drugged up in the first place. He couldn’t imagine her being a drug addict, as it would have impaired her ability to send him messages. Messages he believed she was not even aware of sending out. And what was Sodium Pentothal, anyway? Maybe she had come across some bad people while visiting the city. Jimmy had glanced over quite a few shady characters out there.

The door to the office suddenly opened.

‘Start writing up the report, and let me know when they find him,’ Dr. Moran instructed. ‘I’ll go upstairs to check and see if he got into anything else, and in a couple of hours I’m off to catch my flight.’

‘Ok, doctor, will do,’ Aaron replied. ‘If I don’t see you before you leave, have a nice weekend.’

The door shut and Aaron’s footsteps could be heard approaching the desk. Jimmy shot out from underneath it and immediately placed his hand over the phone to prevent Aaron from calling for help.

They were on opposite ends of the desk, the distance between each and the door being equal. He hoped he wouldn’t have to race Aaron to the other side of the room, and began to speak fast just in case the thought was crossing Aaron’s mind.

‘Please, just give me a chance to explain. I’ll do whatever you want, just please hear me out first.’

Aaron’s eyes quickly looked over Jimmy, then around their general vicinity. Believing himself to be in no immediate danger, he sat in the chair normally reserved for patients. Jimmy took the seat behind the desk.

‘Last week when we first met you said you were here to help me. Did you really mean it?’

‘Absolutely,’ Aaron assured. The sincerity in his voice instantly made Jimmy feel a little bit better, and so he began to open up. ‘Have you ever heard of dream telepathy?’

‘I’ve read a little on it, yes.’

‘Then you’re aware of the studies they did back in the 60’s and 70’s, right?’

‘Doctors Ullman and Krippner, yes.’

‘And how they were able to prove that telepathic images could be sent to the receivers who were dreaming? That the connections succeeded more times than not, proving that it had to be more than just chance. That dream telepathy really was real?’

‘Correct.’

‘And how about reincarnation? Have you ever heard of how the Tibetans find their long-lost teachers after they die? How they test a kid who they believe to be their reincarnated leader with things once owned by the deceased? How the results have proven to be stronger than just chance guessing?’

‘Yes.’

‘I know you’re a guy of reason, Aaron, and I’m sorry about the whole chicken bullshit. I am of sound mind, and I put myself’here on purpose. It was the only way I could get to her-‘

Surprising the both of them, the office door suddenly opened. Seeing the two at his desk, Dr. Moran stopped in his tracks.

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Chapter Five

          ‘A is for apple, J is for Jack, Kellogg’s apple, Apple Jacks!’

          This was the one week mark of Jimmy being institutionalized, and his fifth morning of listening to Jeffrey’s cereal jingles. The chemicals they had injected Jimmy with had scared him straight, taking days to wear off enough to regain focus. And so he had no other choice but to be patient and wait for opportunity to present a plan of action, which finally came in the form of this middle-aged cereal fiend recalling word for word an old Lucky Charms commercial while savoring the ‘magically delicious’ breakfasta few days ago. This most unusual of muses unknowingly planting a seed to a scheme that Jimmy was about to now set off. Any time now Aaron would join them, choosing to take his meals in the same cafeteria as the patients he cared for.

Jimmy had to admit, he was impressed with how the young resident went out of his way to connect with them, and wished the two had met under different circumstances.But the path had been laid out, with nothing more important than following it to his beloved.

Just an hour ago he had woke after a dream, a message from her, and although he didn’t receive a room number, he was able to pick up some of the images of the female ward, including the office she had sessions in. 

It was enough to have this morning be the time in which to invoke the plan of action, and he hoped he had enough time to entice Jeffrey before Aaron showed up.

“Hey, Jeffrey,” he said, pulling out a small box of Cocoa Puffs from the pocket of his robe, Jeffrey’s mouth freezing in mid-chew, his eyes as wide as cereal bowls waiting to be filled. ‘Got room for more?’

The whole psychiatric staff in the men’s ward, as well as those who worked in the kitchen, knew that part of Jeffrey’s treatment was his restriction to only one fun-sized box of cereal per day. A limitation Jimmy had picked up on, and was now planning to use to his advantage.

‘You jump up on this table and show me how cuckoo you can be for these Cocoa Puffs and they’re yours. But you need to do it now, before Aaron comes.’

‘Aaron with two A’s?’

‘That’s right. Now I want you to show me-’

‘I showed Aaron when I spelled Aaron with two A’s in my Alpha-Bit cereal.’

‘Jeffrey, I need you to concentrate. You show me how cuckoo you can be for these Cocoa Puffs.Up on the table, now.’

Inhaling his last bite of Apple Jacks, Jeffrey then did as Jimmy asked, jumping up on the table and envisioning himself as the crazy bird as he acted out a commercial that had long ago been stored in his troubled mind.

Orderlies were now rushing into the cafeteria, Jimmy tossing the box up to Jeffrey and stepping away for the melee to play out.

The hysteria was beginning to spread, with the other patients slipping off their edges of sanity as well. Over the past few days Jimmy had observed the colorful characters he was amongst, and was right in guessing there would be a domino effect if an outburst were to occur.

‘Get down from there right now!’ one of the orderlies demanded. But Jeffrey was too hyped up on those little balls of chocolate to care.

‘I’m serious, Jeffrey. Now!’

‘Serious. I’m serious as cereal! Make it happ’n, Cap’n! They’re grrreat!’

Jeffrey’s jingles and cereal slogans faded behind Jimmy, as did the rest of the mayhem that had erupted in the cafeteria. He was now headed to a maintenance closet, where he had hid an orderly uniform the day before, more staff members rushing past him to help bring order to the chaos he had created.

Upstairs in Dr. Moran’s second office, Agent Stevens stood to his feet and shook the hand of the doctor. It had been a week and a half since he and his colleagues unloaded Sarah Moore, with him intentionally withholding such a fact from the doctor and instead attributing his visit to a federal investigation.

He kept answers vague to the questions he was asked, and once he learned the status of the patient, that “Ms. Borelli” had remained in a delusional state after being found outside, was eager to be on his way.

Just as the agent turned to leave, just as Dr. Moran was about to place the card he had been given into his desk, Aaron entered the room with a sense of urgency, catching Stevens’ parting sentence as he walked in.

‘Please be sure to let us know if there’s any change with Ms. Borelli.’

‘Oh, excuse me for the disturbance, doctor,’ Aaron apologized. ‘But we have a code three down on the male ward,’ Aaron’s eyes shifting from the man in black to the card Moran was placing in his drawer.

Hurriedly fastening into place the last buttons of his stolen orderly uniform, Jimmy then cracked the door open to the maintenance closet he was hiding in. The halls were quiet, the coast, clear. He headed for the elevator.

It seemed like it was taking forever as Jimmy repeatedly checked his back out of fear of getting caught. He toyed with the idea of going for the stairs, but at last the door opened and once inside he hit the button for the fifth floor. It was then that he realized he still had his patient hospital band on around his wrist and quickly ripped it off.

As the doors closed, the doors to the elevator on the left opened, Dr. Moran and Aaron rushing out with a few orderlies and down the hall toward the cafeteria.

The nurse’s station of the female ward was almost as quiet as the males. Apparently the disturbance had grown, requiring most on duty to respond and assist. What had started off as an advantage was now threatening to be a risk of exposing Jimmy, the few nurses left behind looking at him with questioning glances.

Not knowing where he was going anyway, he made the decision to try and defuse the suspicion head on.

‘Excuse me, ladies. I’ve only been here a couple of days. Dr. Moran sent me down here to get a file.Can you tell me where his office is?’

The kindest-looking among them wore a nametag with the name Donna, and to Jimmy’s relief she was the first to speak. ‘Sure, honey’, I can take you. Whose file do you need?’

‘Uh, Gloria?’

‘Such a darlin’, that Gloria. Beautiful young thing, with a pair of eyes that look wise beyond her years. An ol’ soul if you ask me.’

The meanest-looking of them, with a nametag reading Angie, spoke up. ‘Don’t they need you down there for the code three?’

The drugs they had Jimmy on made him feel like he needed to concentrate twice as hard just to think normally, so he put on a little coughing spell to buy enough time to fish out a believable excuse.

‘That’s why he sent me down here. Turns out the patient who started everything is the boyfriend to your patient. He’s held up on a table with a knife to his throat. Seems the only thing that’ll calm him down is seeing this Gloria.’

‘Oh my God!’ Donna said. But before she could start guiding Jimmy down the hall, Angie stepped forward.

‘Something this serious, I’d better escort him back down.

’Yeah, serious as cereal, was Jimmy’sfirst foggy thought.

But then clarity came, along with the new worry of having this ogre accompanying him, for she seemed like trouble.

The other nurses huddled in concerned excitement, Jimmy being led off down the hall by the heavy-set woman at his side.

Make it happ’n, Cap’n.

He had to focus to block Jeffrey out of his mind.

As Jimmy and the nurse rounded the corner the lights above their heads began to buzz and flicker, and the disoriented feeling he had experienced on Bourbon Street showed a sign of returning.

Dr. Moran’s office was the first door they came to, and when they stopped the static in the fluorescent bulbs hovered above them, the electrical problem being isolated to the two opposite ends of the hallway.

‘That’s strange,’ Angie said as she went for the door.

Jimmy looked down toward the other end. He knew it was anything but. His beloved was down there, waiting for him, and there was nothing more he wanted than to run after her.

But then what would he do? There would be hundreds of people stopping them from leaving the hospital. An impossible task. As much as it pained his heart he knew now was not the time. He would get the file, learn what he could about his beloved, and go from there.

Jimmy waited by the door while the nurse retrieved the file, When she returned she closed the door behind her and handed the folder out for him to take, but something caused her to freeze in mid motion.

She was looking down at Jimmy’s feet, then to his face and back to his feet.

He tried to take the file, but she now had quite the grip on it.

He followed her gaze down to his feet…

He had forgotten to change out of his hospital slippers.

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