Nothing to Lose - Fictional Story - Essay Example

Nothing to Lose Decades Ago A pregnant woman scurried across the Chicago subway tracks, dodging behind the cargo containers while fighting off her labor pains. She was in her 9th month of pregnancy and due to welcome a new life into her dark world anytime now. Now that she thought about it, it might not have been a good idea to rob that convenience store. But she needed the money. Even the community hospital was going to charge her some sort of fee for using the labor room. She did not have any insurance, no husband, and no family to speak of. She was on her own and right now, she needed to get herself to a hospital. She was starting to fade out of consciousness when the men in blue finally caught up with her. She passed out in the patrol car en route to being booked. Her son, whose future was uncertain from the day he was conceived, was born in jail and taken away from her within hours of his birth by social services. She never would find out what happened to the boy after she brought him into this world. Union Station - 8 Years Ago The sound of the loudspeaker announcements were the first thing that Michael Pearson heard when he entered Union Station. The words announcing the next Amtrak train departure for Seattle were music to his ears. Today was the beginning of the rest of his life. He was looking forward to starting anew in Seattle after all of the difficulties that life had thrown his way in Chicago. Life had never been fair to him since he was a little boy learning to hustle for a dollar on the streets of New York because his parents never bothered to take care of him. Without ever knowing how he came to be and why he had never lived a moment of his life with any parents to speak of, he had learned that the world would never be fair to him. He had never had anything or anyone to call his own and it made him a bitter, devious man. This was the hand that fate had dealt to him the day he was born. This was the fate that he did not know how to change. As boy he remembers being taken in by the foster system from which he escaped when he was 10 years old. His life had always been a part of the foster system for some reason. Such was his life cycle that he always moved from family to family and never really had a name. For a long period of time he thought his name was Boy. Until one day a foster mother asked him what his name was. He answered “They call me Boy.” The woman laughed and told him that was not a name. That was his sex. Nobody ever went through life being called by their sex. He proudly told her he would be the first. Shaking her head at him, she told him that she would call him “Henry” and she expected him to answer. He had taken on a lot of identities since then as he tried to escape the system. He was known as Danny, Todd, Harry, Jimmy, and any other name that he hoped would help him give the social welfare officers the slip when they got too close for comfort. After he aged out of the system, he chose a single name to become his own. From the moment he turned 18 he became Michael Pearson. Michael had no education to speak of. He lived a life of petty thievery and crimes in order to survive. He made rent by filching other people's wallets and put food in his stomach by shoplifting whatever he could from grocery and convenience stores. He always lived alone and he preferred it that way. Made it easier to run from the cops. But then something happened that made him rethink being alone. He met a woman. Nancy was a woman of the world. She had money, charm, and some of the richest men in the city on her arm. But underneath all of her glamor she was the same as Michael, a con woman. Nancy used her body to get ahead in life the way that Michael learned to use his when he went through his gigolo phase. They crossed paths one night during an opera event where Michael was working the crowd as a pick pocket. She was there as an escort to a wealthy older man. They noticed each other immediately and had a connection. A connection that made her want to help him get away when he was caught with her escort's gold cigarette case in his satchel. She posted his bail and waited for him to get out of jail. They were inseparable from that moment on. They both had a dream in life. That of finally breaking away from all the tough times they were forced to deal with living in Los Angeles. Seattle, it has a nice ring to it. They would move to Seattle one day and start over. They would make a new, crime free life together. That was how Michael came to find himself sitting at Union station waiting for Nancy. They had finally saved up enough money to make a new start in Seattle and they were to leave that afternoon for a new life. Nancy still had not shown up by the time the 6:00 P.M. train had left. He was worried now. She had give her word that she would make it to the 2 P.M. train and when she did not show up he thought something had delayed her. She as going to come. She gave him her word. But it was nearing midnight now and the last train had just left the station. Michael was now fearing the worst as he ran out of the station. His feet carried him as fast as they could towards the small shanty that they shared. Kicking the door in he saw that she had taken her clothes and the money they had saved for the trip. Nancy was gone. Where was she? Why did she not leave a note for him? “Nancy!” he screamed into the night air as all his hopes for a new future disappeared along with the woman he loved. Slowly, bitterly, his disappointment and fear for Nancy and her well-being turned into hatred as the conman realized the he had just been conned as well. “The bitch took everything I had! What will I do now? Where will I go? I don't want to live this life anymore!” his emotions came out through his fist that smashed into the shanty wall, producing a gaping hole. Los Angeles - Four Years Later Michael used all of the sadness and anger that the experience with Nancy had left him with for more positive things in his life. He found a way to complete his GED and worked at a car wash during the day. If there was one thing he learned from Nancy, it was that he could not trust anybody to help him in life. If he wanted to get ahead and create a better future, then he had to do it himself. His heart was the most badly damaged by the experience. He became more cautious of women. Not really loving them as much as just using them for carnal desire. Always afraid that any woman he met would one day leave him too. So he never truly invested himself in these relationships that he had. But, just like everything else in life, the time came when he realized his heart was once again beating for the love of a woman. A woman who entered his life when he needed someone the most. When he was just about to return to a life of crime in order to pay for his college tuition fee. Diana was his classmate in commercial arts class. She worked as a secretary during the day in order to support her college education. She did well enough for herself and commanded the respect of the males in their class because of her remarkable intelligence and artistic abilities. She had an ethereal beauty that most of the men in their class coveted but was won over only by Michael and his Ocean Blue eyes. He hid nothing about his past from this woman. Or at least he thought he did. She had some suspicions about his shady past but the love she felt for him overtook her doubts and questions at every turn. She chose to believe instead that she knew him better than he knew himself sometimes. That's why when she had a suspicion that he was going to rob a jewelry store in order to meet his financial obligations, she immediately stepped in to help him. “I won't let you go to jail you idiot! I love you too much!” she chastised him when he refused to take the check that she was offering him to help cover his bills. They were sitting in her apartment that day. She was trying to convince him to move in with her since he spent most of his time at her place anyway. It shook her to the core when he finally confessed to her that he used to lead a life of petty crime and thievery. It helped her understand why he felt so uncomfortable when he saw a patrol car, jumped at the sound of a siren, and why he ran every time he saw a cop the first few years that she knew him. He took the check from her and stared at it. “This is just a loan alright?” He told her. “Could she really love me?” he thought to himself. “I feel something for her. But what is she is another Nancy? I can't let anybody hurt me like that ever again. No Diana, I am not going to fall for you.” He shook his head as all these crazy thoughts ran across them. Present Day Michael and Diana managed to graduate from commercial school and, taking a small bank loan, started their own comic book company. He was the illustrator of The Eye, a highly successful comic book that Diana wrote the story and he inked the drawings for. As a team, they were unbeatable. As lovers, they were Aphrodite and her Cupid Boy. Crazy about each other and ready to take the next step in their relationship. He never did move out of her apartment. But they did find a bigger and better loft to eventually move into once their business took off. Today they had a meeting with a potential investor. J. Lewis was one of the richest men in the city and he was known publicly as a big fan of The Eye comic. The meeting was being held in his Century Towers office and the couple were an hour early for their appointment. They sat hand in hand, both nervous about the meeting and what it might mean for their future. If they played their cards right, this meeting would place them in a totally new tax bracket. If they played it wrong... neither of them wanted to even entertain that thought. Michael tried to remove his tension by flipping through a business magazine that he found on the coffee table. “Don't fidget so much Diana. Everything will be fine.” He tried to assure the woman who had been his life partner for 4 years now. “You're not the one whose dreams are on the line Micheal. This expansion, you know how much of my time, effort and..” She could barely go on. He kissed her on the forehead and hugged her.”Everything will be fine.” That was when he saw her walk into the reception area. She had been the older woman in his life at the time that they met. They had an 11 year age difference at the time that did not matter to Michael. She still looked as lovely as he remembered her to be the last time he saw her. Now, there she was, standing at the secretary's desk and smiling. The woman whom he thought was dead. The woman who had left him at Union station, Nancy! He sat there, mesmerized by the woman who he had long erased from his memory, from his feelings, from his heart. Diana looked over in the direction of his sight. “Do you know her?” He did not even hear her speak. There were various thoughts running through his head. He wanted to rush over and speak to the woman. “Michael?” Diana nudged him. “What's going on?” “You may go in now.” The secretary suddenly motioned towards them. Diana stood up and straightened herself for the meeting. Michael remained glued to his seat for some reason. “Come on!” she pulled him by the arms and led him into the office. The woman blocked their way as they approached the door. “I'll just be a minute.” she smiled at Michael directly. The twinkle in her eyes told him that she remembered who he was. He felt an overwhelming sense of betrayal. He was gutted to the core. It must be Nancy! They entered the office with her and waited for her to finish her business with J. Lewis whom they came to learn was the woman's husband, Emily. Michael still could not believe his eyes. This was the woman who had taken his heart all those years ago, crushed it, and threw it to the winds. He thought he had gotten over her but, as he knew from the reaction he had to her at the moment, he was very mistaken. Nancy was still a part of his being. There she stood, flirting with a man old enough to be her father. He was definitely not the kind of man that Michael thought she would end up with if she had not been with him. No, she obviously married this man for his pocketbook, just like all the other men she escorted when he first met her. “Take a seat Ms. Gilbert. Mr. Pearson, I've been a huge fan of the comic since it launched. Now if I can just get my wife out of the office...” Mr. Lewis started. “J, you beast. You know how to get rid of me.” the woman responded by pinching the man on his cheeks. The man reached inside his coat pocket and took out a checkbook. “Will ten thousand be fine?” he asked Emily. “For now.” she took the check, kissed the man on the lips and walked away. “I'll sign for everything else alright?” Her husband merely waived her off. He needed to get down to business. “Now, about the comic book, I understand you want to release it in a comic novel format. Can you tell me more about that? I'm not familiar with the comic book business but I'm looking for something to invest in...” he began. “Well, we already have the story concept in mind and we brought a few drafts for you to see.” Diana lay her portfolio on the table and unzipped it. “Michael?” she addressed her partner who was staring at the door that was just about to close. “What?” he answered in surprise. “A little help here.” “Oh, yes. “ But instead of helping her he got up from his chair and left the room. Diana just followed him with her eyes. She was seething inside but needed to control her temper in front of the investor. She let out the sweetest smile she could muster instead. “He forgot something in the car. “ she lied. oooooo “Excuse me...” he caught up with her before she exited the building. “Yes?” the woman turned to him and smiled a knowing smile. “Nancy?” “Michael.” she stated. “Not here.” she took his hand and led him out the building. oooooo “There is a word for women like you Nancy. But it is not used in polite society.”. he told her over a hot cup of coffee at a nearby coffee shop. “I don't regret anything between the two of us Michael.” she explained as she dipped her tea bag in hot water. “Did you ever give a thought as to how I would feel? What would happen to me, when you took everything I worked so hard to save up? You did not even leave a note explaining...” “I did love you. But not enough to leave the good things in life for something unsure. Michael, you could not afford me then, you still can't afford me now. I just used you. You were my toy. Mine to mold and do with as I pleased until I tired of you.” she laughed in his face. “You used me Nancy! I truly loved you and you treated me like a man for hire!” “I did not even give you a second thought when J. Lewis came to pick me up that night.” “How could you play with me that way?” “Making you believe I was going to Seattle with you was the only way I could get you to leave me alone long enough for me to get away.” She did not show any emotion in her voice nor expression on her face. “I don't regret doing it. I did not love you then. I never did and never will. It was all just about lust Michael. That woman you are with now, you can see the love she has for you in her eyes. Stay with her.” Diana. What had he done? How could he have left her at the meeting the way he did? Nancy was right. Diana was there for him when he needed someone. She was his mother, co-worker, lover, and more. Leaving her at the start of a business negotiation was how he repaid everything she had done for him? He stuck Nancy with the bill and ran as fast as he could, back to the woman he had taken for granted for so long. oooooo He returned to the office to a broken man but raring to begin life anew with Diana. This comic novel would change their lives. Now that he knew where he really belonged, he was not going to leave her. He would take a risk, he would open his heart to Diana and truly love her for the first time in all the years they had been living together. With no reservations or second thoughts. Knocking on the door, he saw Mr. Lewis back at his table. Diana was nowhere in sight. “Where's Ms. Gilbert?” “She had to leave. She said she had another meeting to go to. Not to worry, we closed the deal. The contract will be signed Wednesday next week.” Lewis happily told him. “Did she say with whom?” “A Ms. Veneza.” “Ms. Veneza?” he wondered who the woman was for a moment before he realized what Diana meant. “Thank you.” he closed the door and took the fire escape out the building. oooooo He almost jumped out of the moving taxi as it pulled up to Veneza Lofts, the place where he and Diana shared a studio apartment. He bound up the steps to their rent controlled studio loft and pounded on the door when he discovered she had locked him out. Diana was pouring herself some wine on the other side of the door. Trying to drown out the hurt that she was feeling. She saw the way Michael looked at the woman at the office. She did not know who she was but something told her that he knew him from her past. The part of his past that he never want to share with her no matter how hard she questioned him. Hearing his voice on the other side, she calmly walked over to the door from the kitchen counter unlatched the lock and slid the door open. “Lost your key?” she asked as she turned away from him. He slunk into the room. How was he even going to begin to apologize? “ I'm sorry about the meeting. I did not mean to leave and i did not mean to make you leave.” “What did you expect me to do? You made me look like a fool Michael. We're partners remember? But you left me high and dry when I needed you.” she tried to control her rising temper. “The woman at the office, she was an ex-girlfriend of mine. I almost eloped with her once.” he thought it best to cut to the chase as he lowered himself onto the couch. “But you didn't?” she asked. “She left me Diana. I just needed to know why.” tears were starting to well up in his eyes “Why didn't you tell me?” she softened her tone. “I just found out myself Diana. I also found out something else today.” He needed to tell her everything that he felt about her and held back all those years. She looked him in the eyes, willing him to just open up to her. “I love you and I need you Diana. Like I've never needed a woman before.” he pulled her down to him and kissed her like he had never kissed her before. Read More