Fae Second Chance

Chapter 7 - Finding the Truth

Chapter 7

The days pass in a simple routine.  John goes to work, and I pull out my laptop and work till 5.  Then I put everything away and start dinner.  Sometimes he calls me around lunch time and tells me we are having dinner with this person or that and I spend the time getting ready.  There are a few events but basically, I sit in the apartment and work all day.

John is annoyed and complaining that his meetings are not going well.  I can also see that his speeches are not as powerful anymore since I started blocking my power.  He is always on the phone with Mike and yelling that the speech writers he is hiring are crap.  Mike is just as dumbfounded as John as why everything is going downhill.

We are at some fund raiser for the zoo, and we are strolling around meeting people, and I see Clark walking our way.  John tightens his grip on me and says, “Mr. Clark, it is wonderful to see you out tonight.  I did not know you would be here.”

Clark just grunts at him and turns to me, “How are you doing tonight dear?”

“I am great, sir.  This is a lovely event for a great cause too.”

He waves his hand. “I am not really interested in animals, but my wife loves the pandas so here we are.” He turns and waves at his wife who is sitting at a table.  “I am heading to get her a drink.  Would you like anything dear?”

“No sir, I am fine.” 

He smiles at me and turns to John and just nods his head, “John.” Clark then walks away to the refreshment table.

John is visible annoyed and drags me off to meet with another couple.  On the ride back to the apartment his muttering.  I pick up a word or two and it appears he upset Clark ignored him and he did not understand why.  I turn to John and ask, “Did we go to this thing tonight to just meet with Clark?”

“Of course, we did, I need him to see me as a serious member of Congress and not just his lackey.”

He is gripping the steering wheel really tight and staring straight ahead.

“Why do you think he see you as just his lackey.”

“Really Amelia, you can be so dense.  Why else would he send me of all people to Border City if he respected me?  No, he just sees me as his errand boy.  I need to find a way to get rid of the guy.”

I laugh at him, “you can’t be serious?”

He glares back at me, and I know he is really serious.

“Okay what can I do?’  I ask him.

John turns for a second and looks at me before he replies, “Nothing just keep smiling and sooner or later he will leave.”

I stop talking to him and stare straight ahead.  John cannot be thinking of offing the old man.  He is a jerk, but I do not know of anything terrible he has done.  From everything I have heard he is one of the most reasonable people in Congress.  But truthfully, they are all crooks, varying levels of crooks but they all can be bought.

One afternoon, John calls me and asks that I meet him at his office.  I arrived in my perfect suit.  We are going to be meeting with some people for lunch, but he has back-to-back meeting and decided it would be easier to meet them here.  No, I can’t go to the restaurant on my own I have to be escorted by my loving husband, because that looks better.  One of Congressional assistants shows me into the tiny office.  It’s located in the basement.  There are no windows and pipes running along the roof.  His huge desk takes up most of the space.  Truthfully a smaller desk would be better.  Something modern and sleek but John needs a desk that shows his importance, even if he is in the basement. 

I sit on the guest chair to wait on him.  Thinking of this lunch is giving me a headache so I get up and start to look for some aspirin.  I know he has some, he always does.  I start to go through the drawers of his desk to no avail.  I am starting to look through the bottom drawer when I brush something with my shoulder, and I hear a click.  I look up and see a shelf has lowered from under the main top drawer.  I see folders in the secret cubby.  I try to push the cubby close when the folders fall out.  I am grabbing the paperwork and shoving it back into the folders when an article catches my eye.  It is about fae and an explanation about what they can and cannot do.  It was written before the treaty.  I read through the articles, and I am surprised at how much they got wrong.   I open the folder to put it back and I find one picture, a picture of Jordan with a description on who she is and what she can do.  There are multiple photos of people from Border City with their personal information listed.  There is also a copy of the report John wrote as well as maps with areas circled.  I look at the circles areas and realized they are government buildings.  One of the circle spots is an elementary school.  There are notes listing what the number of magic people estimated in each location.  

What I see next stops me cold in my tracks.  Under the Border City folder is a very old and dusty folder with my maiden’s name on it.  It looks like something the FBI would have.  There is a picture of me from college with a full ancestry diagram.  I start reading the report and it appears someone figured out my family was magic.  The report was signed by a PI I have never heard of.  It was addressed to John’s father.  As I read it the PI believes there is a possibility that I am some type of magic creature. I pull out my phone and start taking pictures of all the information in the files.  I am numb and scared.  I place the article back into my files and put both files back into the secret cubby.  I get up and return to my seat and wait. 

John arrives a little while later.  He is complaining about the meetings and why they can’t see things his way.  He looks at me and asks have I been waiting long.  I tell him No and we leave for lunch.  My mind is reeling, and I forget to block my power.  Needless to say, I do not say a word, but John meeting goes wonderful.  He is so happy when we are finished, he takes the rest of the day off to go do something special with me.  We play tourist and walk around the city ending with a nice dinner. 

We return home and I complain about a headache to escape talking to him anymore.  The afternoon was long and hard trying to keep up a pleasant face while I feel like I am dying on the inside.  Once I know John is asleep, I get up and go into the living room.  I pull out my work laptop and download the pictures making sure I delete them from my phone.  John and I share a phone plan, I cannot be certain he does not have access to my pictures.  Once everything is download I shut off the computer and head to bed.

The next day when John is at the office, and I get a thumb drive.  I put the pictures on it and mail it to my parents with a note to hold on to this for me.    I call Jordan and tell her I have to meet with her as soon as I am back in town.  She asks what it is about, and I tell her I cannot talk about it on the phone.  She then announces, “you are leaving John?” 

“Yes and no.”  I tell her and she agrees to meet with me.

I am lucky that the next few days John is busy with meetings with Clark and other members of Congress, and he is out early and back late.  I spend the time finishing up work and packing the apartment.  I rent a small storage container nearby and start putting some of the items I want to keep after I divorce John. I know he will not miss them in the apartment so I am secure that it will be fine.  On the day we leave for Border City I have the bags packed and by the front door.  John gets up and see we are packed, and he seems pleased.  I have appeared to turn over a new leaf and serving him is my priority. 

We leave the apartment and I make sure my hands are on the work laptop all the time.

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We landed in Border City, and it is still afternoon thanks to the time change.  John yawns and says he needs a nap.  I nod and tell him I am going for a walk in the park.  He noticed me leaving with the laptop and asks why I am I bring that with me.  I laugh and tell him I still have some work to finish up before I go back on Monday, and I don’t want it to distract me this weekend.  It is also such a lovely day I figured I can work in the park.  He smiles and tells me he knew it would be too much for me to telework and help him out.  I tell him he was right and walk out the door.

I find a nice bench in the shade that is close to the playground area.  I open my laptop and grab another thumb drive from the case.  I download the pictures and pull the thumb drive out and put it into my pocket.  I feel very cloak and dagger right now.  I do not know if anyone is watching me, and I feel self-conscious and scared.

I call Jordan and ask if there is any way she can meet me in the park.  About half an hour later Jordan shows up with her kids in tow.  The kids dart towards the swing set and she jogs over to me and gives me a big hug and asks how DC was.

“Interesting,” I tell her.

She gives me a confused look and I hand her the thumb drive from my pocket. She laughs and asks what this is.  I tell her about everything I found including my folder.  She is visibly shocked, and I can tell very scared.  She keeps looking over at her children. 

“You can’t stay there,” she announces.  “You can come home with me, and we will figure this out.”

I shake my head.  “Peter needs to see the information they have on Border City first.  John doesn’t know I know and if I leave then that may cause him to tell Clark about what I am and that you may know.  I need to figure out what I am doing first before I can leave.”

Jordan is not happy with my answer, but she reluctantly nods.  She grasps my hand and looks me in the eye. “You call me every day and if anything, I mean anything, happens you get out immediately.  Peter and I can help you with whatever fall out happens.”

I start tearing up and I hug Jordan.  She starts rubbing circles on my back telling me it is okay, and she is there to help me.  We break apart a few seconds later when her youngest child comes darting up.  He sees me crying and ask if I want his candy to help cheer me up.  I tell him no but thank you.  He smiles at me and pops the candy in his mouth before he runs off. Jordan just shakes her head and tells me she has no idea where he got that candy from.  We laugh and stand.  I pack up my computer and she gather her kids.  I walk them back to her van and hug her one more time.  I promise to call her every day and make my way back to the apartment.