Chapter 3

It was early one Monday morning around ten when she stopped by. The night before she was hard at work late into the night and too tired after work to go out with her beloved boyfriend. She got out of her car carrying a bag from McDonalds. She knocked four times and called him twice before she put her hand on the doorknob.

"Mort!" she called again for the third time. There was no answer. With her hand on the doorknob she gave it a turn. The door slowly came opened peeking her head though. There stood a empty couch in the middle of the living room. She looked at that first because Mort usually slept on the couch.

She took another breath, cleared her throat then called again. Still there was no answer. So she walked in. The house was quiet; the only sound she heard was of her own shoes as she stepped into the middle of the room.

The living room was clean already it didn't look slept in. The pillows were in their right place oddly that shocked her. The blanket that Mort used to cover himself during the night lay folded on the chair on her right. It was an old rocking chair made of wood that she remembered asking him to get rid of.

Like he ever uses it, she thought as she started her way to across the hall. She turned the corner into the kitchen looking in to see that it was also clean. No food stains on the counter tops. No plates in the sink or on the table. Sometimes Mort did that when he had a idea for a story he'd jump up and leave his lunch to spoil. Same with the shower, she thought then giggled at little at the image.

As she glanced around she noticed his keys were hanging on the golden key hanger. It occurred to her that he was here. She wondered if she had seen his car as she pulled into the driveway. She reached out and touched the blinds with the tips of her fingers removing them out of her eyesight. Just as she thought, Mort's car was in the driveway.

"Christine?" she heard a voice call from behind her. Her hand let go of the blinds as she quickly turned around letting it hit the window. In the same moment she gasped before she realized it was Mort.

He was upstairs leaning over his desk toward where she stood. He was there she was not seeing much, but only the top half of his body. His hair fell over his eyes. He wore his long sleeve dark blue sweater that hung over his body loosely. It had a few white strips down the middle and over his shoulder from his shirt he wore under it.

Mort's hands were pulling down his laptop screen toward him as if he was hiding something, covering it with the front of his body. His hand moved swiftly over his head pulled back his hair only to fall at the side, but yet out of his face. Then his hand immediately came back to his laptop.

"I thought I heard something." he said with a grin. Christine's anger from his scaring her left when a smile appeared on his face. She returned the smile kindly.

"It was only me." she replied.

"Well, come on up." he insisted. He moved his hands away from his laptop down to his side. Mort then sat down at his desk going back to work on his laptop.

Christine sighed. She walked to the stairs putting her free hand on the railing. She took a step up the stairs one by one. When she arrived at the middle step she saw Mort had begun to go back typing again. His glasses had slid down to the tip of his noise. For a moment he didn't look bothered nor did he look up at Christine. He must have been in the middle of a story, she thought.

She took another step up the stairs now picking up her pace. She took another step with both feet on the stair. When she reached the top now on the second floor Mort looked up. He only titled his head towards her only showing half of his face. Christine waited as he closed up his laptop.

There was a white styrofoam box on the desk next beside him. The front was peeked open, but she could only point out the color of red from inside. It smelt of meat maybe hamburger. As soon as he was done he jumped out of his chair to greet her with a hug.

"What's that." he asked referring to the McDonalds bag she held in her hand. Then she glanced down at the brown bag.

"Oh I just thought maybe we could eat some breakfast together."

"Oh, how thoughtful." Mort replied. He took off his glasses that he couldn't really see though anymore, but instead of cleaning them decided to set them down on the desk and turned his attention back to Christine.

"Thank you." As he was attempting for reach for the bag she shifted it away behind her back. She was smiling in a playful manner; a big kind smile of hers that showed all her white as snow front teeth. Mort loved to see her dimples on each side of her cheeks; they almost came up to greet her light blue eyes. The bangs were in her eyes while her blonde hair bangled about an inch below her shoulders.

"Not so fast, where's my kiss?" she asked playfully. This was her usual thing: she does something for you, you do something for her. In Mort's case he always had to give her a kiss. Sometimes he'd play around and give her a peek on the cheek only to make her ask for another. You could say she had a childish charm to her. That's the way Mort thought of her. A charming young woman who wants kisses out of life. If kisses could cure cancer then Christine would have her PHD in kissing.

Mort leaned forward toward her face close enough to give her a kiss. As he did another thought ran through his mind. It had been earlier today when he went to talk to Nina. When he walked in the other morning she greeted him with her normal smile that she usually does. She of course already knew what he wanted to order. He remembered how eager he was to talk to her.

He needed someone to talk to so badly it almost killed him. There wasn't a time before this that he wanted to talk to her so badly. It was also the first I've ever cheated, he thought. He walked into Starbucks the earlier that morning with his coat buttoned up because it was freezing cold outside. After they greeted Mort started some small talk. Nina seemed to be unreasonably busy at the moment.

"Nina please . . . its important." he pleaded. Nina was still working her double shifts over the weekend and she had just told Mort she was getting off at eight p.m. He couldn't wait that long.

"Come on, Nina. How busy do Monday's get anyway?" he asked persuasively.

"They get a lot more busy then you think." she replied as she turned to make him some coffee. Just as Mort was being to lose all hope she turned around and gave into him.

"I tell you what . . ." she leaned in closer then lowered her voice to a whisper and said, "come by on my lunch hour and we'll talk." Mort felt like reaching across the counter to give her a big hug. He shared another smile instead. She handed him his coffee and he left quietly.

The cold air chilled his body when he stepped outside once again. Once He found himself shivering a little. The tip of his nose felt frozen solid. The wind brushed his over his ears making them feel as ice. Even his legs felt a bit cold and up though his back was also chilly. He stood in front ofStarbucks for a few minutes. Mort was cold, but he didn't have anything to do until twelve. It was only nine in the morning, but it seemed illogical to go home then by the time he got there he'd to turned around and come back.

He had almost three hours to himself with nothing to do. Mort stood in front of Starbucks with his coffee in his hand staring into space. A crowd of people passed him coming in and out of Starbucks. Apparently Nina was right in Starbucks was more busy on Mondays then he thought.

For the next half hour he walked around town aimlessly stopping to look in though store windows though time to time. The first store was a craft store called ACMoore. There were green pieces of paper on the window for beading lessons which started the upcoming Wednesday for ten dollars a lesson.

Over at the left of the display window were small pumpkins in bright orange with plastic leaves underneath them. Tiny plastic crystals sparkled over them like fresh rain drops. Small men made of straw circled around the display making it look like small village. The village was made of small gingerbread houses surrounded by candy corns. Behind the plastic leaves and ridiculous decorations was the inside the store itself.

A woman in a blue and red vest sat on the stool at the check out counter reading a magazine. A light above her glowed with a number two shaped into it for the isle number. Slowly another women with a small yellow cart filled pulled into the isle. The cart was filled up with do-it-yourself craft kits and pink, yellow, and red fake plastic flowers.

One by one she lay them down the on the check out counter. The other women continued to read her magazine until she finished the article she was reading. She took the items one by one and put them though a red light and transferred them into a plastic bag.

Their process was slow as they made small talk and trying to buy her arts and crafts supplies. The women with the cart raised up her hand toward her face flipping her hair out of her eyes. For a moment her head was raised in the air as if she were waving to someone.

She ran though her hair once more then set it back on the handle to her cart. The women behind the counter continued to talk as she began to hand her one of the green sheets of paper for the beading lessons. Mort laughed to himself then took a sip of his coffee. He glanced down at his feet for a moment to hide his smile.

When he looked back he saw the lady with the cart leaving the store. Her supplies were all in the plastic bags and was waving goodbye to the store clerk with the green paper in her hand. She pushed her cart out of Mort's sight as she heading for the automatic doors.

He felt another cold chill though his body as he took another sip of his coffee. He didn't realize he took a sip of his coffee every five minutes or so from the time he took another sip five minutes ago. Mort looked back up toward the check out counter to see the store clerk lady looking back at him. She smiled a kind smile. Mort took it as his exit and walked on.

The next store was a beauty salon slash spa. With everything you need to feel beautiful as the sign hanging from the door claimed. The people who went to the salon get their hair cut, washed, and even dyed. Some women were getting manicures and pedicures. Others were sitting around reading magazines as their hair dried.

Mort passed about three more stores each of them all in a row; Three Brothers, Office Depot, and Petco. None of them he needed to go into although he always seemed to be running out of paper these days. He walked on taking a sip of his coffee every five minutes and deciding whether he should walk into Office Depot or not.

He hadn't gone to get blank paper in almost a week and he was already on his second packet of paper. Ever sense then Mort had been hard at work working on a new story. He was only on the fifth chapter, but he felt it was really going somewhere.

He started the story when he arrived home late last Friday night. He wrote an hour before turning in to sleep. The following day he wrote for hours. From there he wrote in the late night each night of the weekend after coming home or after a short break. It was always important for Mort not to take his mind too much off of the story he wrote.

He found if he did that he would just lost interest in the story and not have the same motivation as he did before. When a writer loses their motivation they often don't finish the story and find themselves uninterested in the characters. It also can result in having half finished manuscript pilled up in your desk drawer waiting to be completed.

Right away Mort connected with the characters in the story. His favorite character must have been Andy. Andy was the heart of the story--the main character. It was his favorite part of being a writer; you get to be someone else for awhile. Andy was a teacher. A teacher of right from wrong you could say. He didn't have to get his hands dirty with chalk from writing on a chalkboard everyday.

What he had to do was walk into a court room and argue. He believes he can argue is way out of anything until chapter three when he commits a homicide. He then tries to cover it up by being the defendant's lawyer of the person who had been wrongly accused of the murder for the crime he committed. The trail is going well, but then he starts to have these dreams about the victim he murdered. Other then Andy being selfish and totally guilty Mort had found a likeness in him.

Mort took another sip of his coffee. He decided to go inside Office Depot to buy some paper after all. He needed some more blank paper and the store was right in front of him. He also had some time to kill. He picked up two packets of blank paper and made his way to the check out counter. He paid two eighty-nine for each of the two packets of paper. Then he walked out putting his change into his pocket for the ten dollar bill he gave the cashier. He headed for the exit pushing open the first pair of doors before walking outside again.

From the outside a women about thirty with a long purse and trench coat came walking in. She opened the doors that stood in front of Mort. With his free hand Mort held the door he walked though open for her to walk though. As they passed she did the same for him.

"Thank you." she said in a soft almost whispering voice.

"Anytime." Mort replied. He shared with her a kind smile and then turned back heading for the door. The door was quickly closing in front of him but he managed to catch it before it closed shut all the way. He pulled it back open enough to get his body out then stepped outside. He stood on the sidewalk for a moment taking another sip of his coffee. Before he knew it the coffee cup was already half empty. The warm liquid felt good in his throat as he stood out in the cold. He began walking again. He kept a slow walk taking his time drinking his coffee and looking though store windows.

The store he found himself looking though was the PETCO. Inside the store some people walked around with their dogs on leashes putting every dog toy on sale in their carts. Most popular of the toys that people picked up the long colored rope to play tug-a-war with. The store was filled with everything you'll need for you pet. They had your dog, cat, bird, ferret, fish, iguana, snakes, hamsters, guinea pigs, and even spider supplies.

People gathered around the presentation being held there for adopting a pet. Today they showed puppies of the golden retrievers and labrador retrievers. There was a crowd of people in line to pet the dogs. They were all put in one cage that made a large circle with no top like the kind of cages you see in petting zoos. That's what it was; a giant petting zoo. Only at this petting zoo you're allowed to take the animals' home with you.

Just then something else had caught Mort's attention. In the display window they showed the new released books Hostage by W.E.B. Griffin, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, and Mary Mary by James Patterson. It was no other then Barns and Nobles book store next door. Finally he thought something that I can go inside and look around in. So he went inside.

A small bell that hung from the door rang. The pile of books stacked on the display table was the first thing he noticed when he walked inside. Just then all of the store employees looked up at Mort. Mort could tell by the look in their eyes they immediately knew who he was. He made his way to the horror section. It filled up four isles of horror books as Mort looked though carefully. His intentions were just to browse around the store for awhile.

He entered down the long isle of books looking at the ones to his right. He perused from the books top to bottom. The shelves which held the books were about a foot shorter then him. When he would glance up at the books on the top shelves he could see out the side of his eye one female employee staring at him. She seemed to be watching him very closely. It gave Mort a feeling that was a bit awkward. Still he continued to scan his way though the books. He took another sip of his coffee and sighed.

Meanwhile the women that had been just staring at him started his way. She was a heavy women looking about two hundred pounds or more. There was a big hunk of fat that filled her shirt and juggled as she moved out from behind the counter. Her hair was long down to her waist and swung back and forth when she walking looking slovenly. She came a yard closer then soon she was coming up beside him. Mort continued to look at the books acting as if he didn't see her.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a kind voice. He finally looked up at her face. On the left side of her chest she wore a name tag that read Tabatha. She wore little make up around her eyes, but her lips had too much pink lipstick.

"No that's ok I'm just snooping." Mort replied.

"Oh . . . well let me know if you need anything." she said. Now her voice lowered to a softer voice. It sounded more like the way you would talk to a dog or a baby.

"Sure will." Mort said kindly. She turned away and starting walking back to the counter. Before she reached all the way back Mort turned his attention back to the books.

What am I looking for, he asked himself. Wasn't I supposed to get a book? Just then he remembered. It was the book that Marta wrote called The Tower. The Devils Tower. He told Marta he would read before he had gotten out of her car. He didn't forget that wonderful detail of when they kissed. It wasn't that kind of a kiss that you give a close friend or family member, but the kind you would give a lover. He licked his lips at the thought. Soon he had her up against his car kissing her down her neck. His thoughts ran over him like a truck on the highway.

Every detail of that evening ran though his mind quickly. It was like every feeling from the night came back to him. The feeling of being pulled into something he had no control over. In that moment he didn't have any control. He let his mind to rest while his body took over. Mort faced the floor to look at his feet as he tried to make the thought go away. From a distance Mort might have looked like he was either crying or frustrated. He hoped no one would notice or come over. But maybe the woman was still watching him.

Soon he felt that he could look up again. The thoughts had left his mind a rest for now. The woman, like he thought, was thankfully not watching him at that moment. She was away helping another customer find a book in the history section.

He began looking for The Devil's Tower. The books were in rows lined up in alphabetical order. First he began looking for it in the D section of the horror isle. He put his finger on the first book that started with the letter D. As he went down the row he moved his finger across every book to make sure he wouldn't miss it. He moved his finger along the row of the books that started with DA. Then came DE. Just then before he thought he might have gone though the whole alphabet a million times he spotted the book.

He moved the tips of his index and middle finger on the top of the book. He gently slid the book out of its place leaving an empty space in the row. He held the paper back book with both hands in front of him. The cover was black and the title was in red. The letters of the title were in a smoky looking font. There was a small picture of a black and red tower in the middle of the book. Under the title in a smaller and different font was Marta Vasquez. Mort smiled as he opened the book up to the back. On the back cover was a small black and white picture of Marta.

She was standing in what looked like a porch with her hand on the railing and the other on the porch. Her body faced the camera as she looked to her left showing her white teeth while she smiled. A grin appeared on Mort's face as he looked at her joyous face. Her hair disheveled from the wind that had been blowing when the picture was taken.

Her hair reached down over her breasts much like it was now covering some of the front part of her shirt. The shirt she wore had the right side cut off showing her bare shoulder. A long piece of fabric from her around her neck hung just above her knee where the page ended. The pants she wore fitted loosely around her legs with a belt in between putting together her sensual look.

Then he closed up the book and walked out of the isle. Tabatha was still helping the same customer, but now they moved over to the romance novels. They laughed together in middle of the isle. They hung onto each others arms to keep them from falling and possibly rolling on the floor from their laughter. Their eyes squinted closed.

Slowly they began to calm down. The customer let go of Tabatha's arm, but remained holding her wrist. Tabatha put her hand up to her mouth trying her hardest not to begin laughing again. Tabatha nodded as the customer pulled away after whispering something into her ear. Tabatha replied in another whisper to what she said then put her hand back over her mouth.

"Oh, Tabatha . . . I believe we have an audience." the customer said referring to Mort who had been standing at end of the isle watching them. Tabatha slowly removed her hand from her face down to her side.

"Mr. Rainey . . . can . . . um, can I help you?" Tabatha replied with a little giggle in her voice. He looked down at the book in his hand then back up at the two ladies.

"Yes . . . I would like to purchase a book."

"I'll be with you in a moment." she said. They went back to looking at the books in the isle they were in. Mort walked away again toward the check out counter. He stopped at the sign in front of the counter that read: Please wait to be called next. He obeyed what the sign said and waited for Tabatha to come.

She came over within a few minutes later. She carried with her a stack of books that came from the isle along with the customer she had been helping. When she caught sight of Mort she smiled. Before getting behind the counter she handed the women her books. One giant step at a time she came wottling over.

Her fat moved from side to side with her breasts bouncing over her body like they were walking all by themselves. She came closer moving from side to side like she had something stuck up her ass that forced her to walk that way. She entered behind the counter thought a small door that flopped open like a door you see at a bar in a old western movie.

She stood leaning over the counter with her huge arms as Mort handed her the book. She wrapped her husky hands around the book pulling it toward her. She checked it with the red light and placed it in a plastic bag.

"That will be seven ninety-nine." she said in her baby voice.

Mort reached into his wallet and pulled out a ten dollar bill then placed it in the palm of her hands. She closed up her hand bring in the ten dollar into the crash register then handed Mort his change.

"Are you Mort Rainey?" the customer standing in line behind him asked holding her books up against her breasts tightly, her short blonde hair hanging over her face like she had been running all day. Mort glanced at her with genus eyes.

"Yes." he replied softly.

"I thought you looked familiar." she said.

Just then Tabatha turned toward him handing him the plastic bag with his book inside. "Here you go Mr. Rainey." she said.

"Thank you." he replied taking the bag from her grip.

"Thank you for shopping at Barns and Nobles." she said with a smile. He placed his wallet back into his pocket with one hand and holding his coffee and bag with the other.

He took a glance at his watch and saw it was almost twelve. It was finally time to head back to Starbucks. Just as he was heading for the door the customer then called, "Wait! Mr. Rainey!"

He politely turned around seeing the women with the short blonde hair walking up to him with a pen and notepad. Right away he knew what she wanted, an autograph. It was something he wasn't used to, but when he got asked for one he wasn't the kind to delay--he did what they asked. Of course he didn't like it as much as he always appeared to. But he didn't mind. Signing autographs was just something that came with the job of being famous although he didn't consider himself famous just someone who managed to reach a few people with his words.

"Can I have you're autograph?" she asked.

"Sure thing darlin'." Mort replied. She handing him the notepad and pen. "What's you're name sweets?"

"Sarah." she replied. Mort signed the notepad and quickly handed it back to her. Before she got the chance to look at it he was out the door. The cold air once again filled his body with chills. He balanced the coffee cup and two bags in his hand and zipped up his coat with his free hand. He felt just a bit warmer, but not by much. The cold wind still made the air colder then it really was.

He took a deep breath to let out a small puff of white air from his mouth. The coldness made his body quiver. Mort took one last gulp of coffee then tossed it into the trash bin beside him. Simultaneously the women inside Barns and Nobles looked down at her note pad she had given Mr. Rainey to sign it read:

To Sarah,

It's always a pleasure to meet a reader

Mort Rainey.