Chapter 1
“Vivienne, you have a call on line 3,” my assistant says in the doorway.
I answer the phone with a pleasant hello. “Hello, how can I help you?”
On the other end of the line is my mother. “Vivienne, are you coming over this weekend to talk about the memorial for Brad?” my mother asks.
I had completely forgot, three years ago my husband Brad was killed in a car accident and ever since I had been alone.
“Yes of course, we can talk about it,” I said. “Mom, I have to run I have a meeting in a few minutes.” I said before hanging up the phone.
My mother was a saint but also the biggest nosy busy body I knew. I sighed and continued working on the billboard layout that we were planning for a new companies rebranding campaign.
I thought about the night I had almost broken six months after Brad’s death.
I screamed out and beat my fists against the wall. Why oh why did he have to be gone? I cried into the night. I ran my fingers through my mess of dark brown hair. I hadn’t combed my hair in days. When was the last time I showered, I thought to myself as I cried on the floor of our bedroom? It had been six months since I lost the love of my life.
We had met on a beautiful summery day. Sitting in a lawn chair by the lake enjoying the afternoon sun, reading a trashy romance novel, when this man came running by, asking,
“Can you help me with something really quick?” I nodded looking up at him.
Before I could get out of the lawn chair, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. He all but ran dragging me to the edge of the dock. We both peered over the edge of the dock, and I saw a large bundle of fur wrapped up in what looked like rope. I took a closer look and gasped; it was a dog, a big brown furry dog.
“I saw him float out from underneath the dock all tied up like that, but he won’t let me get near him to untie the rope! Would you mind keeping him occupied while I jump in the water and untie him?” he asked me, finally releasing my hand.
I felt a strange sense of longing and wanted to hold his hand again. I pushed aside my thoughts and focused on calling to the dog to get its attention. He jumped into the water further away from the dog, as the dog was focused upon me, he waded slowly through the water to the dog. He got to the dog and slowly started to unwrap the rope; the dog whimpered but did not try to get away this time.
He spoke calmly, telling the dog that everything would be ok, as I distracted the dog by telling him what a good swimmer he was and generally talking in a soothing voice, to a dog no less! He got the dog unwrapped from the rope and then the dog was licking his face and swimming all around him, wagging his tail. The man waded out of the water as I walked down the dock to meet him at the water’s edge.
“Hi, I’m Brad thanks for helping me with that. I felt so bad for that dog,” he stated, gazing up at me as he bent down to pet the dog on the head.
“No problem, glad to help, I’m Vivienne.” I smiled at him, extending my hand.
He stood up and took my hand in his, our fingertips touched, and I felt a jolt of energy, an electrical magnetism drawing me closer to him. I felt a rush of emotions, an attraction, lust, and desire for this man. I do not know if it was his soft touch on my hand or the fact that I had just assisted him in rescuing a dog; I could sense he had a warm, giving heart.
Our fingertips lingered, as we held hands briefly, continuing to gaze into one another’s eyes. That was the beginning of our beautiful friendship, built upon a love that could last ages, or so I had imagined. We spent many days and nights together after that first meeting at the lake. About six months after our courtship began, he proposed to me at the same lake, upon the dock where we originally met and saved the dog.
Six months later my dad walked me down the aisle to spend the rest of my life with the man of my dreams! It was such a happy day, and we were married for just over a year when he was killed in the accident. We had worked hard to build a home over that year, and he worked on succeeding in his career as a corporate accountant, spending long hours at the office, but he always spent his weekends with me working on the house together or spending time at the lake.
Jen walked into my office and asked me what I would like to have for lunch. We decided to order Thai food from the local restaurant. Jen left to go pick it up and I decided to run down to my car to grab my cell phone charger.
As I prepare to leave my office, I grab the bag from the garbage can to throw out on my way out of the building. In the parking garage it is dimly lit as the sun has already started to go down. I walk towards my car and hear someone behind me. I turn to see a man following me, his feet sound heavy in boots. I squint trying to make out who it is, as he gets closer I realize he is coming at me. He stretches out his arms in an attempt to grab me, I run towards my car. My heart is pounding in my chest as I reach my car door. I fumble to unlock it with the key fob. The man slams into the back of my car with his fits, hitting the trunk hard making a loud bang noise. I jump and scream at the same time. One of the security guards from the building comes running. Glancing over I see him out of the corner of my eye as I finally unlock the door, jump inside and slam the door shut locking it. The man begins to bang on my driver’s side window, screaming that I am a bitch and I took his stuff. The security guard gets closer and slowly approaches the man trying to calm him down.
My hands shake as I watch the man jump towards the security guard. They roll onto the ground and the man starts to slam the security guards head into the concrete of the parking garage floor. I scream and fumble for my phone to call 911.
“911 how may I help you?” a woman’s voice is on my phone.
I watch helplessly as the man continues to slam the security guards head into the concrete now a pool of blood is forming around him. I scream into the phone, “please help he is killing him.”
“Ma’am where are you?” the woman asks.
“I am in the parking garage at the Layley Associates building, 3312 Crescent Avenue. Please hurry I think he is going to kill him,” I say as I watch in horror. The security guards body goes limp and the man stops hitting his head. He turns and looks at my car, before jumping up and running off.
I am still holding the phone in my hand, “Ma’am, ma’am,” I can hear the dispatcher saying as sirens blaze towards the parking garage.
I was still in shock when the ambulance came and the police, sirens, blared inside the parking garage. I sat in my car shaking, trying not to look at the pool of blood that was forming around the security guard's head. Crying, I finally opened the door and staggered out of the car, throwing up at the front of my car. My heart was pounding and I could barely stand.
I felt a hand rest upon my lower back as I was bent over trying to feel okay. "Miss," he said in a deep voice. I stood up and looked through my teary eyes at a handsome police officer.
"Yes, he just killed him," I whispered before falling against his chest sobbing.
"It will be okay, he's not dead but close to it," the police officer said. "Let's get you home," he said settling me into the back of his squad car. On the ride to the house, I was in shock. I wasn’t even sure what was going on, the police officer kept looking at me in the rearview mirror. I’m sure my eyes were puffy and I could still taste a foul taste in my mouth.
He drove me home and made sure I was okay before leaving me resting on the couch. I thanked him before he left. He handed me his card and I looked at it, Officer Aaron Jansen.