Special thanks to my editor, Etaski, who continues to patiently help me raise the standard of my work. Chapter 2 picks up a few hours after the events of chapter 1. ----- I have a long standing rule of not messing in my own backyard, which is why I've flown to this city in the first place. Since I will be using my credit card and ID at the hotel, I view t...
Author's Note: I said in the comments to Ch. 06 that there would only be one more chapter until Jeremy left for the Navy. Turns out, I lied. There are just too many story threads that I want to tie up before we make the jump into the next phase of his life, and this chapter started getting a little more complicated than I anticipated. But I will make you a...
Stave I December 19th, 2017 The halls were decked and the banister was wrapped in a tinsel-holly aberration created by Tom. In fact, if you looked around the whole house, it was all Tom's doing. The lights around the windows, an obsession of his from two Christmases ago. The fiber-optic tree, no doubt found in a sky-mall catalog from their last trip to the...
Unlike the old movie, it wasn't the Summer of 42', but it might as well have been. I had just turned eighteen, looking forward to Graduation, which was just a few month's away. I wasn't looking forward to the draft however, Vietnam still very much apart of the American way of life at that time. It was a period of self-discovery, decisions, and a very uncert...
The instructor, scribbling a couple of terms and creating a diagram, was talking rapidly, his students trying to make notes as quickly as possible. Robyn was one of those not taking notes, but had furrowed her brow trying to understand the concepts being taught. "Did you understand what he just said?" she asked of the woman sitting next to her. "Yeah, I d...
Susan is Josh's best friend. She has been for a long time and I guess its fair to say that the friendship is mutual. Or was. I'm not sure where they're at now as I haven't spoken to or seen either of them for nearly four years. The complication with the friendship was my arrival, though none of us realised it until after the event. Until then the three...
Mei picked herself off the ground again, but it was no use. She was no match for Lien. There was a certain way her opponent moved; so confident, so graceful. And there was a mystery there too, an understanding that was beyond Mei, in her swagger, her flushed cheeks, and impish smirk. Something that said "I know, and you do not." Mei felt like a blundering...
Copyright 2007 by Otto26 * My problem, as I see it, is that I'm the wrong sort of asshole. I don't enjoy beating women, I just annoy them. If you beat them, then you're passionate, misunderstood, even masterful. If you annoy them... you're just a jerk. I dwell on this, but you could probably care less. If you're like most Americans you're simply going to l...
Brooklyn I listened to the purring of the phone. Tara wasn't known for being an early riser. It was five p.m. in Chicago, three p.m. in Los Angeles, so she should be up by now. "May I help you?" a female voice asked, but not Tara's. I rolled my eyes. Tara either wasn't up or one of her entourage was still screening her calls for her. "Brooklyn Lancaster t...
Walking home from the subway, Liz realized just how tired she was. It was sometime after 9:00 on a Thursday night. If she'd met any of her friends, they would already be toasted, and all she really wanted was a quiet, but strong drink. Cruising by a newsstand she picked up a Daily News, not something she usually read, but she felt in the mood for it tonight....