So here goes

 

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Introduction

I don't consider myself a complete wack-a-do, but there are times in my existence that make me question that consideration and feel like I should offer some sort of explanation. So here goes... This is probably going to be a complete disaster, but I really feel like I have to do it. Sabina woke up, dragged herself out of bed, got dressed, made coffee, collected all of her stuff and headed for the door.

It was the last week of official fall and the commute was typical for a Monday on a day that was neither rainy nor snowy, with the exception of crossing the college campus to get to her office. As she nearly ran over her the second student in two blocks, she wondered if these kids or their families had ever seen a busy city street or a pedestrian “walk, don’t walk” sign.

She parked her car in the usual spot and pondered the ongoing drama of who got to park where in the lot. She had seen two people nearly lose their marbles en-masse attempting to please all of the people when there were only spots for some. One might have thought that the process involved negotiating for some kind of world peace for all of the effort, discussions, meetings and proposals, approvals and denials that had been submitted on the subject.

Sabina stopped momentarily at the picnic table outside the employee entrance and sat down for a moment relishing the cool morning air and sun emerging over the buildings of downtown. It was time to be in her office, but she never really was good at keeping a precise time clock, even on days when she wasn’t responsible for getting her kids up and ready for school, but then again no one really ever busted her chops about not getting there precisely at 8 o’clock. She knew all too well after 12 years that if someone needed something they wouldn’t hesitate to call the circa 1980 cell phone the job had provided for such “emergencies”. After taking mental stock of what she had to get that done that day she headed in.

No sooner had she flipped the switch on her computer, set her coffee down and assumed the position in front of her desk, there was a knock at her door. Her boss stood there and asked her to come with him.

He was your stereotypical, mid-forties, twice divorced guy who would never really be great at anything. He had spent most of his career in middle management and was relishing the promotion he had received 3 weeks earlier. He was not good looking in the conventional GQ sense of the phrase, but not bad either, just painfully average. He did have a sense of humor that mirrored her slightly off color and sarcastic theme so they had worked well together from the beginning. Now he was a Director. She wasn’t even really sure if he knew what all that entailed, but he was all fired up and she had let him run around the last three weeks like a chicken with his head cut off trying to figure out where he needed to be and what exactly it was that he was now in charge of, and by that she meant he stayed out of her way fully admitting that he had no idea what or how she did what she did there, just that it got done and she would cover his ass more often than throw it under a bus, so they were kosher. So she thought…

He had some sort of pathetic, wussy, apologetic look on his face that told her something was up and it wasn’t good. There had been some rumblings in the past couple months. The same tired and ridiculous political crap that had carried itself out and been recycled over and over again, more times than she could count in her twelve years with the company. A Director in another department had been making a stink about something she said at an off site event, but she hadn’t been too worried, she had never said anything outside of work that she hadn’t said a thousand times to the disgruntled witch’s face, and she had been assured by Captain Can’t Look You in the Face standing at her door that it was all no big deal and not to worry about it. She was worried now…

He asked her to follow him and jokingly she asked if she should bring her coffee, bags and personal items from her office, but this time he didn’t tell her to shut it, he just nodded. She had watched this happen to so many people she couldn’t even remember all of them, but it had a surreal, can this really be happening to me feel that was foreign to her. She dutifully followed Wuss-Tastic toward the doors of the Human Resource offices. She passed a couple of co-workers, nodded good morning, but everybody including herself knew that would be the last time they shared morning pleasantries as the passed in the hallway.

When they got to the designated office, she was asked to sit and the HR queen didn’t waste any time. She informed Sabina that the decision had been made to terminate her employment with the company, effective immediately. She knew it was coming, but it still felt like a sucker punch to the gut out of nowhere. Physically painful. Did they realize what they were doing? She looked at the guy sitting next to her that had told her everything would be fine with face resembling what must have looked like the short bus cousin of a wide mouth bass. He wouldn’t even meet her gaze. He made some feeble comment about doing the best that he could and it was better this way… What!?! Better this way?!? Was he on crack? How could anything possibly be better this way? She sat there numb, mind racing, stomach churning. Did she like her job? No. Had she been happy there for a long time? Not so much. Was she sick to death of the trite and vindictive way the company conducted business? You bet your ass! But this wasn’t supposed to happen to her! How could they do this? What was she going to tell her husband? What was she going to tell her kids? What in hell was she going to do?

The HR queen droned on about rolling over 401Ks, insurance, keys, ID tags, the 1980 cell phone and if she would sign her pink slip. Would she consider taking an exit interview? Sabina thought, if “go fuck yourself” would be the appropriate answer to any of the questions you might ask…

HR queen and Wuss-Tastic wound up their little presentation and proceeded to walk Sabina to the front door of the office building. Wussy held the door open for her, which was a nice touch after promptly cutting off half her family’s income. Sabina was half surprised not to get a kick in the ass as she passed. She thought about punching him in the head as she passed, and extending her leg in one of those artful Kung-Fu kicks behind her to the HR lady’s throat, but she felt like she had been hit by a truck and right now one foot in front of the other was all she could manage. All of the things she wanted to and deserved to say were running through her mind, but that she knew would make no difference to reality of the situation, however, it might have made her feel a little bit better about herself.

How the hell did this happen? The drive home was kind of a blur. She parked her car in the driveway.  She went inside. The husband was off that day. She threw her bag and keys on the table and bluntly said… “They walked me.”

That’s what it was coined at The Company, because no one got the news that they no longer worked there and was able to collect their box of stuff and walk out with an ounce of dignity. Nope, you were escorted out of the building and sometimes off the premises like a two bit criminal that might clear out the evidence locker on his way out of the building. The Company had never really caught on to the fact that if people wanted to take something or information with them, it had happened a long time ago and was not going to happen on the day they got fired.

The husband worked for The Company too and like Wussy, had assured her that it was more of the same drama and not worry about it. Well now he was worried and so was she. Sabina could not remember the last time she had felt so completely out of her element. She was scared. She was sick to her stomach. She was pissed off. Oddly though, she was also relieved.

For as long as she could remember her life had been plotted out. Get up for practice, go to school, go to work, get good grades so you can get into college, go to college, get a job, get married, have a couple kids, work toward the promotion… There had always been a specific goal at the finish line and series of time consuming tasks that needed to be continuously worked on, on the path to that goal, and when that goal was attained the finish line just moved a little further down the road and there was more stuff to work on. Expectations that she and others had for her that she worked tirelessly to meet. For the first time in her life she had nothing specific on the agenda and goal at the finish line was rudely pulled away and not replaced. It freaked the crap out of her and at the same time the possibilities were overwhelming. If she only could have known then what she knew now.

As she changed her clothes to go for a run, she laughed at the thought that she might as well become a marathoner; she had all kinds of time to train now. Who was she kidding? Sabina had been a lot of things in her life, but elite athlete was never one of them. The only reason she had even contemplated running as an activity she might do on purpose was because her friend from work challenged her to run a 5K with her. Sabina had downloaded an App to iPhone that would supposedly take you from an inactive piece of crap to seasoned runner capable of completing the “daunting” 3.2 mile run in a matter of weeks. It might has well have been a marathon. There were only a couple of reasons she was doing this at this particular moment. First she didn’t really want to throw things and any of the loved ones in her house and secondly she didn’t know what else to do.

One foot in front of the other, not only was it the best way to get a through a run she didn’t really want to be on, but theoretically a good metaphor for life. She had faced trials in tribulations in her life before and had just kept putting one foot in front of the other and she had made it to 38, she would get through this. But how? As she ran she contemplated the options.

In her unforgivable list making mind she started making mental notes about all the “have tos”. She would need to sign up for unemployment. She would need to update her resume and get it posted to all of those job hunting web sites. She would need to start making contact with all of those people she had met at those excruciating networking parties, but she couldn’t seem to remember any of their names. Let’s face it she had been there for the free drinks and some time away from the hum drum world of the mother of two small children, she didn’t really give a crap about those people then and really didn’t now that she hypothetically needed them. She would think about them later. Did she need to roll over her 401K? The HR queen had been saying something about it during the “you’re fired” meeting, but she had not been really paying attention do the entire reality she had comfortably plodded through for the last decade being not so subtly ripped out from under her. She made a mental note to call her bank and finally sit down with one of those financial planner guys.

She thought about all the times her husband had mentioned not spending so much money and wished she had paid more attention. Another note to self about starting to research cost saving tips and home budgeting. She could hear the lectures already and it made her stomach do another round of summersaults. This was not going to be fun. Her mind wandered to the extreme couponing show she had happened across on cable a few days before. Was she going to be forced to turn into one of those people? God help her.

She guessed she could spend some time volunteering, like she had always wanted to and never had time for in the past. She had nothing but time now. Maybe she could become a homeroom helper in her kid’s classes at school? She could, but another little piece of her shriveled to black at thought of it. She had joked a million times with her friends that she was a better mom for not being home with her kids all the time. It was true and she knew it.

She had seen a card or magnet or something that read “Stupid should be Painful”. There was no doubt that it was, just unfortunately not for those afflicted with disease of stupid, but the ones compelled to be anywhere near them. Now she felt like the poster child for that saying. How did this happen? Inevitably her mind wandered back to the last few weeks and the events that had lead up to her current situation. She had been with The Company for going twelve years, most of her adult life. She had gone from single, to engaged, to married, to home owner, to mother during the time that she had been there and had always prided herself on also being a professional. Now what was she? She knew she had never been one of the kids lining up to drink the Kool-Aid when the punch bowls and cups had been brought out there, but was she such a menace that she threatened the very foundation of a business, so much that it was called for her not to be there anymore? Apparently so, at least that what the pink slip had said.

Since Wuss-Tastic had been promoted there was a shift, but nothing unusual that she hadn’t seen a hundred times before. The guy was never around anymore, but that was normal. Anyone who took the leap from middle management to upper suddenly found themselves in a world of meetings and commitments that they never knew existed before, but it was more than that. Something had been off. People started asking all kinds of questions about what they could do to help make her job easier, more productive. THAT, she chuckled, should have been the first and biggest red flag.

The Company spent a lot of time and money on the pretense of making things better and more productive, but in all of her eleven and half years that had never actually translated into anything close to a reality. The Company cared about appearing to care, but she knew better than most, especially now, that it was all for appearances. How could she have been so stupid? Isn’t it corporate handbook, page one, stuff, to only offer positive feedback and suggestions? She knew she had a mouth bigger than most, but when had she contracted the verbal vomiting flu on such an epic scale as to talk herself right out of a job?

If she only had a dollar for every time she had said… “Please don’t ask me questions that you don’t want the answer to, because if you ask me I will tell you and no one wants that.” If only she pretended that people were actually listening to her. Then she realized it hadn’t been her that had changed, but those around her. She had watched The Company spiral into insanity a little more everyday, but had convinced herself that she had allies. She had people looking out for her. How could she have been so wrong? As the electronic voice from iPod indicated that her last run was coming up she tried to tell herself that whatever had happened that morning and the weeks leading up to it, she had been true to herself and this was not a circumstance that would be changing. It was what it was, and she was going to have to reframe her perception of normal and who she was in the world. That scared her more than any horror movie or haunted house ever would.

Sabina returned home, winded and dazed. The phones were ringing off the hook as word quickly spread through The Company about what had happened. Friends and coworkers called with words of encouragement, apology and concern that were appreciated, but at the time just too much. She was too dazed to say anything other than, “I’m fine or I will be fine.” The fact of the matter was she wasn’t sure she would be. The rest of the day flew by and exhausted she headed for bed, wondering if good sleep would ever find her. Her mind was racing and the nagging pit in her stomach only felt like it was getting bigger. As time usually does, it passed, slowly and finally she drifted off.

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Chapter 1

Sabina heard music playing softly and in a fog she opened her eyes. Nothing looked familiar to her. She sat up trying to shake the grogginess that felt like a thick blanket around her shoulders. She blinked hard a few times and rubbed her eyes sleepily. When she looked around the room again, still nothing was right. It wasn’t her small, slightly untidy bedroom with the laundry baskets beckoning to have their contents put away. Instead it was a gigantic lavishly decorated suite. She felt cradled, surrounded by soft down and the sweet scent of freshly fallen rain and cut grass. There were glowing hard wood floors and lush area rugs. Across the room there was a wall of French doors where she could see gauzy white curtains fluttering in the breeze and soft sunlight. There was a small sitting area off to her right that set for breakfast. “Wow”, she thought to herself, “That sleeping pill I took last night has really conjured up some awesomeness!” She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment savoring the delicacy of her dreamland surroundings and waited for the six year old to start yelling any minute for something to eat. She remembered sickly the happenings of yesterday and tried hard not to let the anxiety and fear ruin the peaceful tranquility of she sat in the middle of. “Enjoy it while it lasts.” She told herself.

She swung her legs around and let her feet fall onto the unbelievably soft carpet beneath her feet. To her surprise there were slippers sitting just next to her feet and she slipped them on, moving toward the table and chairs not far away. In front of her was a lovely breakfast of fresh bread, still warm she noted, as she reached for a croissant. There were small bowls of jellies and honey, fresh fruit, yogurt and a steaming pot of coffee that smelled like heaven itself. She sunk down into the high backed chair that seemed to nestle her like a warm embrace contoured to her every curve.

She could still hear the music playing softly, wondered where it came from and quickly dismissed the thought. Who cared? As far as she was concerned at this moment, this dream could go on forever. She savored the food that had been laid out for her. Everything was so real. Each of her senses was flooded by the pure explosion of color, scent, sound, touch and taste.

“Mom! Can you get me something to eat?!”

Ah… there he was right on cue. Sabina rolled over for an up close and personal with the laundry basket to her left. One foot in front of the other, that’s all she needed to do, but unlike the comforting heaviness of the blanket in her dream, this heaviness felt more like a wet sleeping bag that had been left outside in the rain, and instead of smelling like a spring rain and cut grass, her imagination now lilted toward wet dog. She rolled out of bed and started her new life. Stay at home mom. Of all the paths, in the entire world, this was the last she expected to ever be embarking on.

“Mom!” came yet another demanding cry. She noted that her first task as Ms. Mom was going to be to teach the kid how to reach the cereal in cupboard on his own.

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Chapter 2

Kids off to school, check. Dog walked, check. Laundry started, check. Facebook reviewed, check. Unemployment applied for, check. Resumes updated and uploaded to internet, check. Bathrooms cleaned, check. It was 11AM. Frustrated Sabina checked her e-mail and phone again, returned a couple calls from friends and then baked some cookies. She noted that she would never complain about a long work day again, if she ever got a new job.

After three months of cleaning, cooking, baking, field trip going and making her own laundry detergent, Sabina’s phone dinged with a new text message. It was her friend Rose. Rose had worked at The Company for a time with her, but had found another job. More money, better benefits, same hours, who could blame her. However when she got the new job they sort of forgot to mention that it came with a controlling, evil, conniving bizatch of a boss that would give her something to do without explaining it, then be pissed when Rose didn’t read her boss’ mind to do it the way she wanted it done. Rose got her pink slip nearly three months from day Sabina had gotten hers. There was no real justifiable reason given and the story had all too familiar ring to it for Sabina.

The friends texted back an forth over the next couple weeks as Rose settled into Ms. Momhood and got her baring, but for her boredom quickly set in as well and the two decided it was time for a field trip of their own.

Since neither of their husbands was keen on Caribbean vacation, Vegas trip or shopping excursion to New York City for the two of them, they decided on a day trip on the train to Chicago. If they couldn’t buy any the pretty things on Michigan Avenue at least they knew they would be able to find a couple of comfortable bar stools to watch all the employed, independently wealthy and pretty people haul their bags of goodies around. Some hot wings, beer and good friend were almost as good as shopping with an unlimited budget. Well, not exactly, but they were trying to look for the bright side in the situation.

The day of their fieldtrip arrived. Children were appropriately pawned off on their fathers and backpacks were packed with all the necessities compulsory for the day. You know the really important stuff like flasks of vodka, bottles of orange juice and plastic cups for the train ride there, their wallets and a sense reckless abandon at the prospect of a completely selfish and wasted day where they would both end up exhausted with a hangover and hopefully a good story or two.

While every kid who ever watched “Ferris Buehler’s Day Off “wanted to steal a sweet ride, see the Sears Tower, have lunch in a five star restaurant, catch a Cubs game and a parade, their expectations were somewhat more realistic. They would be half in the bag by the time they arrived, would cab it to the heart of Michigan Ave, find an appropriately facing bar with reasonable prices for Chicago, complete their jump all the way into the bag, have a nice lupper (the meal between lunch and supper), cab it back to the train station and catch the last train home. The conversational fair for the day would center around making fun people that walked by the window and telling war stories about the trials and tribulations of having been cast unwillingly into the realms of the stay at home moms. When they were both employed, being a lady who lunched sounded like a pretty sweet gig if you get it, but after a few weeks each of pretending they both knew it was not all it was cracked up to be.

The cab dropped the women somewhere in the middle. They began to stroll and happened upon a quaint pub that they noticed right away had several available seats, WITH BACKS, against a bar with a prime view of the sidewalk and street. They were ecstatic with their luck! It probably had nothing to do with the fact that it was 10 AM and the bar keep had not even finished taking all of the bars stools down from the tables yet. They both seemed to remember a rule or something about not drinking before noon, but they had already broken that rule hard core on the train ride, so screw it… Bloody Mary’s for everyone! Since they were the only two people in the bar it was an offer they could make good on.

The pub was their kind of place. Warm dark wood and the smell of leather and beer surrounded them. A sign on the wall boasted the largest selection of micro brew beers in the city, a claim they would thoroughly investigate as they day went on. It was dark and quiet except for the sun coming through the front window and muffled noise of the street and passers by outside.

Sabina had taken up running to kill time while unemployed, but the truth was she had always favored the 12 oz curl to any other form of exercise and Rose was cut from the same mold. Both were presentably fit, casually and comfortably dressed, for downtown Chicago. Half the battle for both of them to get out the door that morning was to find some real pants that didn’t fall into the categories of sweat or yoga and shirt that couldn’t be purchased at O Target or Old Navy off a table marked “3 for $10” and they were feeling very city chic for the excursion. Of course anything feels city chic compared to sweatpants, a fleece and sweat stained baseball hat, but who cared! This was going to be a great day!

The women scoped out all the possibilities and chose their seats. After a long while a woman appearing to be in her mid sixties, a bee hive they could not have made up, an apron and a note pad approached them. They promptly opened a tab with Midge, as her nametag indicated, and settled in to size up the view while waiting for their bloody mary’s to arrive. Something told both of them that Midge would not be breaking any land speed records in the effort to keep their buzz alive and well. Traffic both vehicular and pedestrian had just started to pick up outside as the stores and restaurants opened for business. There were the usual suspects passing by. A young couple decked out in their North Face jackets and LL Bean boots strolled passed carrying their highly overpriced cups of coffee and ankle biter dog at the end of a fancy leash. A couple twenty something’s, ear buds firmly jammed into their ears, jogged by shooting annoyed looks at the group of tourists clustered in the middle of the sidewalk reviewing their maps and trolley schedules. It was a pleasant fall day, cool but lovely and both Sabina a Rose laughed out loud when they caught sight of the short portly woman stepping from her chauffeured car in an oversized fur coat, fur hat, fur bag and matching fur boots. Apparently she had not gotten the memo that winter would not be arriving for another couple of weeks.

A group of women emerged from a minivan taxi. One young woman sported a tiara and sash proclaiming her “The Bride to Be”. All the women with the “The Bride to Be” sash were dressed alike. They all sported black leggings, black riding boots, identical pink long sleeved t-shirts and black fleece jackets with a logo embroidered on the back which appeared to be some sort of monogram or crest. Two older women stood closely to the others in similar attire, but toted arms full of bridal magazine with enough Post-it note marked pages in them to choke a small child. Rose and Sabina pinned them for Mother and Grandmother of “The Bride to Be”. Sabina and Rose wondered out loud about the poor schmuck who was paying for this outing. If the bachelorette/ dress shopping outing was this much of a production, imagine what the actual wedding would be like. Both women expressed their concern for the identically dressed brides maids hoping whatever nightmare of a dress they were asked to wear and spend entirely too much money on at least feigned a design that could theoretically be worn again.

As they both laughed heartily, Midge appeared with their drinks and inquired about any food? They both assured her that they would be consuming a liquid diet in the short run, but would eventually take a look at the menu. As the girls sized up their meals in a glass, because every bloody mary should at least give the inclining of a snack as well as a beverage, they were happy to note that one of those living statue guys appeared to be setting up for the day near the bus stop just down from them. Consequently a homeless dude, with scraggly un-kept hair and dutifully dingy jacket deposited himself nearby to take advantage of the people who would stop to marvel at the glorified mime all day. Rose noted that he was wearing $500 dollar boots, but they were scuffed and she and Sabina decided to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was an exceptionally good thrift store shopper.

The conversation continued surrounding the people making their way to and fro outside the window, when a small man, in an obviously expensive suit and shoes carrying a brief case came into view. He was odd, not only because today was Saturday, but because he had a very nervous scanning countenance about him that seemed to envelop him like a bubble. He nodded anxiously at his driver as he circled back around the car getting in and drove away. He stood on the sidewalk for several minutes, checking his watch and nervously scanning the people around him on the street. After a long while he began walking surprisingly toward the pub where Sabina and Rose were cooing over their newly delivered craft beers from Ireland.

They noted the little man as he came in a took a seat at the table just behind them, but were quickly distracted by the morbidly obese woman who walked around the corner in hot pink stretch pants, hair circa 1985, a midriff showing cut off shirt and bright orange high tops. Rose and Sabina guffawed and the obligatory comments regarding the women’s apparent lack of a full length mirror she chose to look in before leaving the house followed.

It was now approaching noon and the women casually glanced around the bar. They both commented on how odd it was that they were the only patrons in the place, aside from the quirky little man, on a busy Saturday. Midge was chatting with the bar tender. Oh well they thought, just means faster beverage service for us, they thought.

The little man had been sitting there at the table behind them nearly as long as they had been there. He had a pint of something in front of him, but didn’t seem to be relishing the brew at all just nervously looking at his watch every couple of minutes. Midge stopped by periodically to check on him, mostly when she was flagged down by either Rose or Sabina for another round, but he just kept saying that he didn’t need anything and would glance at his watch again.

Sabina and Rose were just finishing up a debate on what the dumbest customer service program The Company had launched during their tenure, when Sabina felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see the jumpy little man standing there.

He said, “I am sorry to bother the both of you, but I was wondering if you would be able to help me?”

The women were slightly taken aback, but they were well into their day of drinks and had consequently launched into the happy place of being friends with everyone. “Sure!” said Sabina, “What can we help you with?”

The man twitched uneasily, fumbled with his glasses, and glanced at his watch again. He appeared to be searching for the words he needed to make his request. Both women sat patiently and waited, while he collected himself. He then asked if they would mind watching his brief case. After the several rounds of beers, neither woman was thinking too far into the future about what all that could entail, and assumed that he was going to go to the bathroom and didn’t want to lug the thing with him. “Sure, no problem.” They Rose replied.

He set the case down on the bar, not really in front of them, but where they could see it and headed for the rear of the bar. Sabina and Rose started thinking that getting something to eat might be a good idea and flagged down Midge for some menus. After looking over the options of a delightful selection of traditional bar food, they settled on some sliders and hot wings to share with a side of chili cheese fries. This was a mini vacation for the both of them and to hell with calories and counting them.

Not long after they ordered their food came and it occurred to the friends that the little man had not come back for his case. Sabina asked Midge if maybe the bar tender could stick his head in the bathroom and make sure he was all right? Midge looked strangely at them. “What man?” asked Midge? Sabina and Rose looked at each other as if Midge was trying to play some badly planned joke on them. “The one that has been sitting at that table behind you for the last two hours?” Sabina replied. Midge scoffed and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “What do you mean? You don’t know what we’re talking about.” blurted Rose. “You have been waiting on him nearly the whole time we have been in here!” Again, a blank look from Midge, who was obviously becoming impatient with the two of them.

Sabina took a deep breath, pointed to the case sitting next to her on the bar and then turned to point at the table where he had been sitting. But when she did, there was nothing and no one there. There was no trace that no 15 minutes before there had been another customer patronizing the small restaurant. Sabina said, “He was sitting right there, for the last two hours!” Rose chimed in and confirmed her friend’s observation. They had had a few beers, but neither one of them was close to the point of beginning to see things let alone share delusions. Sabina added that he had asked the two of them to watch the case for him and walked right past Midge and the bar tender on his way to what they assumed was the bathroom. Midge just shook her head. “There’s no bathrooms back there. They are both just inside the front door. I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The women shook their heads too. Rose exclaimed, “But, here’s his brief case! What are we supposed to do with it? Can you take it and put it behind the bar in case he comes back for it?”

“No way!” said Midge. “I am not sure what you two are trying to pull, but there has been no one else in this place today, but the two of you and the case has been next to you the entire time.”

Sabina and Rose just looked at each other utterly confused. Midge impatiently asked if they needed anything else. They both just shook their heads and began to pick at the food in front of them. It seemed neither friend wanted to be the first to suggested that they had both taken a nose dive off the deep end without any type of floatation device in sight.

After about 5 minutes, Rose took a deep breath and said, “If you are trying to make me crazier than I already am? It’s not funny.” “Back at ya!” replied Sabina. Both women knew that the other could not possibly have had the brief case in their backpack and effectively hidden it from the other all morning, yet neither one had an explanation for how it had gotten there if the man hadn’t left it.

They discussed what their course of action should be as they finished their lunch and flagged Midge down for another round. Since they were going with the fact that they were not crazy and Midge was. They made the decision to just let the case be and they would worry about when it came time for the two of them to leave.

The afternoon quickly passed and the approached for Rose and Sabina to head back to the train station. Unfortunately the little man had never turned back up for his brief case and now it was decision time. When Midge brought their bill they asked again if she would consider putting the case behind the bar, since they were not from town and did not know how they would contact the owner of the case if he came back looking for it. Midge, outright mad now, took their bill and card and stomped toward the bar choosing to ignore them. She brought back their slips and huffed off again immediately.

The women stood began putting their coats on and collecting their backpacks when they heard a phone ring. Both clamored for their backpacks to retrieve their cell phone, but as both pulled theirs from the respective pockets neither was ringing and neither had a missed call, and more strange the phone continued to ring. With deep breaths and rolling eyes they turned to the brief case. The phone just kept ringing, obviously now coming from inside the case.

Sabina asked, “Should we try and open the case and answer it? It may be the only chance we have of finding out who this guy was and what we should do with this brief case since Sally Sunshine over there obviously won’t help us out.” Rose shrugged and said, “I guess.”

Sabina turned the case to lie flat on the bar and attempted to open it. The phone was still ringing. She kept thinking to herself that it was strange it didn’t have voicemail that would pick up, but after the days events so far she reconsidered that that might not be all that strange after all. She gripped the latched and squeezed. Not really expecting anything to happen both women stared wide eyed when both the latches released. Sabina slowly lifted the the top of the case to open it. It was empty, except for the ringing phone. Sabina picked it up and answered it, more out of frustration over wanting the thing to stop ringing then actually intending to be of any help to the person on the other end of the line.

“Hello?” she said. “Ah, Ms. Krueger and Ms. Riget, I trust the two of you have had an enjoyable day so far?”

“Who is this? How do you know our names?” shouted Sabina into the phone. “That’s not important right now.” said the man’s voice on the line. Sabina held the phone away from her face and looking questioningly at Rose explained what had just been said. Rose made a frantic motion to hang the phone up, so Sabina did. It immediately began ringing again. Rose grabbed it this time and she hit the answer button and hang up button all in one motion. She looked at friend frightened and said “Let’s get out of here!”

No sooner had the words fallen from her lips then the phone dinged with an incoming text message. It read, “I highly suggest that you don’t run away just yet. That is, if you want to make it home to your families. I am going to be calling again. I suggest you answer.”

“What the fuck?!?” exclaimed Rose and Sabina nearly in complete synchronization. Rose quickly began typing on the miniature key board, but she had not punched in more than a word or two when the phone started ringing again. The number on the caller ID was blocked, but based on the last round of communication from this freak she apprehensively pressed the talk button and speaker as well so that she and her friend could both hear the conversation. “What do you want?” she asked.

While Rose was answering the phone Sabina whirled around frantically looking for Midge. She wanted someone to dial 911 and pronto before this went any further, but both Midge and the bar tender were nowhere to be found. They were completely alone in the bar. Sabina motioned for her friend to talk and walk as they both moved toward the bar. Since the phone was on speaker they didn’t dare call out, but felt frantic in the need to look for someone inside the restaurant, anyone, to help them. They peered behind the bar, and were heading toward the kitchen when the voice on the phone calmly said, “You won’t find anyone else inside, and don’t think about running out into the street. I advise you that would not be in your best interest.” Panicked, Sabina moved behind the bar and reached for the phone, but cringed as the voice said, “You can try Ms. Riget, but you will find the line dead.” Sabina hit the button on the phone, but as the voice said there was no dial tone.

What the hell was going on! Rose half barked, half screamed at the cell phone, “Who are you and what do you want from us?!” Sabina looked on scared hoping that Rose didn’t go straight for fight mode. Whatever was going here Sabina did not want to antagonize this man who appeared to hold all the cards at this point.

The man responded finally, “OK ladies I need you to calm down.” Calm down? Was this guy kidding? Sabina looked at her friend and asked as calmly as she could, “OK Mr. What do you want from us? Why are you doing this?”

The man just laughed. He finally said, “You think this trip was planned by accident? That you two got prime seating in a bar with no one else in it on a Sat in the heart of downtown Chicago? This only now strikes you as odd?”

Honestly the women had not thought about it. They had left that morning intent on drowning their sorrows for the day and not having to think about real life for just a few hours. This strange twist and turn in events was not at all what either of them had in mind when they got on the train that morning. Sabina a Rose told the man as much as they nervously stared at each other.

The man said, “I know you remember me because I spoke with you and asked you to watch my brief case.”

“Yes.” Both women replied. “We thought you were going to the bathroom for cow sake! We didn’t know agreeing to keep a eye meant buying in for all this creepy nonsense!”

The man said, “I mean neither of you any harm. In fact I was taken with your stories that you both were telling over lunch. I found you both quite amusing.”

“Well that’s great and everything.” Said Rose. “But why all this cloak and dagger? You could have just asked to join us if you wanted to participate in the conversation.” Sabina stated.

“Things in life are never that easy, you both know that,” said the man.

“I hate to redundant,” said Rose. “But you still haven’t told us what this all about. What do you want from us?”

“There are too many people and organizations taking others for granted and treating them like disposable commodities. Inside the case the case you will find two credit cards, one in each of your names. There are also two leather bound notebooks. I want you to take these things and bring some happiness into the world. The details of your assignments will be printed in the notebooks and all I ask is that complete them. I am sure you have many questions, but I must go now. Take the cards, books and phone with you and I will be in touch.”

The line went dead. Rose and Sabina stood and stared at each other, Rose still holding the phone out in front of her. They both turned to the open brief case sitting on the bar and noticed that instead of the empty space that had been there before there were now two expensive looking leather bound books, one with each of their names etched on it. There were also two envelopes, one for each. The envelopes each contained a credit card in their names, just as the man had said and a short note that read, “The funds available on these cards in unlimited, but may only be used to accomplish the tasks given to each of you as outlined in your books. Thank you for your help. Frederick.”

“At least we know his name now,” said Sabina.

“I feel SO much better now,” said Rose. “Look, we need to get back to the train station if we are going to catch that train home tonight and frankly the confines of my mommy and me prison are looking pretty reassuring right now. Let’s take the stuff and we can look at it on the train and figure out what we are going to do.”

Sabina nodded in agreement. They collected their coats, backpacks and the brief case with it mysterious contents and headed out the door. They flagged the first cab they saw and rode back to the train station in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Conversation had been minimal as they waited for the boarding call. They stared at their fellow travelers, who normally would have provided another thirty minutes of inappropriate jokes, comments and stories while they waited, but they were both too dazed by the afternoon’s events to even try. They shuffled to the train when the call was made like two senior citizens on their way to the common room for afternoon bingo. They found seats and collapsed into them setting the brief case between them.

The train began its slow movement out of the station and they watched the cityscape dissolve around them. As the sky scrapers were replaced by suburbia, and suburbia by farm land, Sabina softly asked, “What are we going to do?”

Rose looked up and said, “Well let’s see what the books say.” They turned to face each other and opened the case. Each retrieved their books from inside. They were still very must discontented but the memory of the case being empty after the phone was retrieved early in their adventure and neither one wanted to speculate about their own sanity at this point. They didn’t need to say out loud that they were feeling a little bat shit crazy at the moment. Sabina looked at her friend and said, “You go first.”

Rose pulled the book from the brief case. It was heavy and smelled wonderful of old leather and mystery. When she opened the cover, the spine of the book crackled and they both marveled at the lovely color and texture of the paper bound within. It appeared like hand made paper, parchment almost, marbled and silky smooth with the most calming color of buttermilk. The first page read simply. Thank you, embossed in gold letters centered in the middle of the page.

“Now you,” said Rose to Sabina. Sabina retrieved her book as well, identical to Rose’s. As they held the books in their laps, Sabina said, “On the count of three, we’ll turn the page.”

“OK,” said Rose. “Wait! One, two three turn or turn on three?”

“One, two, three turn,” said Sabina. They both gripped the silky paper between their fingers and Rose began to count. “One, two, three.” Immediately following the third word they turned the page. There was elegant hand writing in each of their books. The kind that was reminiscent of a bygone era. Nobody “wrote” anything anymore in this world of gadgets and computer gizmos. Without really reading they both gasped at the shear beauty of words in front of them.

Switching to one book- two is redundant.

“Alright,” said Sabina; “You read first.”

Rose took a deep breath and began to read the carefully crafted words in front of her.

Dearest Rose and Sabina,

I deeply apologize for the espionage-esque nature of my contacting the both of you, but there simply was no other way. Your deciding to embark on your outing today was the perfect opportunity for me to make contact with the both of you together and allowed me to shape the circumstances of our meeting, which to be frank was more appealing than either of your garages where you seen to be spending a great deal of time alone and together of late.

Both women smiled sheepishly at each other and chuckled. It was true.

My name is Frederick Von Kellar. As there is really no other way to say this, I am your biological father, both of you.

“What?!” both women exclaimed at the same time. “I didn’t know that you were adopted,” gasped Sabina. “I didn’t know you were adopted either,” whispered Rose. While the women were close friends their relationship had centered mostly around their shared work history, common friends, love of beer, similar sense of humor and both having been recently fired from their jobs. Conversation had never really ventured into their deep personal pasts and at 38 and 43 neither woman had ever really contemplated a search for their biological parents or ever even considered the fact that they shared this commonality in their history. Not only were they both adopted, which would have been coincidence enough, but as it turned out, they were sisters.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Sabina with tears in her eyes. “Me either,” said Rose. “I guess that this confirms a concrete reason for our shared awesomeness,” Rose offered, lightening the moment and making each woman chuckle. The two women just stared at each other and after several minutes shared a hug, both breaking down into slobbering sobbing messes.

“All right Sis,” said Sabina, “Let’s see what else our long lost daddy has to say.” Rose looked back to the book and continued to read, wiping the smeared makeup from her eyes.

I know that this must come as quite a shock to the both of you.

“Ya think,” muttered Sabina.

The truth of the matter is that I have been watching both of you from the beginning from afar. While you share parentage with me, you both have different biological mothers. Both were extraordinary women, which I will tell you about at a later time, very unique in their own rights. I have been waiting a long time to find the precise moment to make my existence know to the both of you, but I needed to wait until the circumstances of both your lives warranted my intervention. That time is now.

As I stated earlier there are credit cards in both of your names, which I trust you have discovered. You will find documents in the back of this book directing you both to your birth rights, both monetarily and socially.

The women flipped to the back of the book, breaking in the rear spine of the book, to find two folder type compartments bound into to the book, one with each of their names on it. Rose pulled the documents from Sabina’s folder and then retrieved the papers from hers. There were account statements from several banks in Switzerland and the Caribbean, what appeared to be property deeds, and Swiss passports. Both women gaped at the documents, not really sure what to make of them. They were both speechless at the numbers on the statements staring back at them. Sums so large they had no real concept of the gravity of what they were looking at.

I have included contact information for our family attorney. You are both extremely intelligent women, but I have gathered over the years that neither one of your strong suits has ever been the handling of money. Our family has long and storied history that I look forward to sharing with the both of you, but as I told each of you earlier, the purpose of this book is for me to communicate tasks for the both of to complete, the purpose being to handle matters that I am unable to at the moment and also in an effort to continue the work of our family. The instructions for tasks are found in this book and I trust that the directions will be clear, to the point and exhaustive enough for each task to be completed as they are presented.

Out of curiosity the women flipped the pages to see what was in store for them, but the pages were blank. Confused they flipped back and continued to read.

Your first task is simply to tidy up both of your financial affairs. Due to your current employment situations, I understand that the loss of income to your families must be tasking to you both. With the credit cards and documentation provided, I would like each of you to pay off your debts. Your mortgages, credit card bills, student loans and any other monetary obligations you have outstanding. I trust that this will provide both you and your husbands a sense of security that will allow us to move forward in our shared endeavors. Speaking of your husbands, I am very proud of the choices that each of you have made. Your husbands are fine men and good fathers.

This information, I assume is all a bit overwhelming and I wanted to make sure that you are both comfortable with the knowledge and the new direction your lives will be taking you. The first looming question, I would think, would be how to explain this all when you get home.

There are things that happened today that may be, well how shall I say, difficult to explain or put into a perspective of the world that has been fairly constant for both of you for all of your lives, but I assure you will change rapidly. Trust me as I instruct you how to impart this information to your husbands and families, for too much information too soon could be devastating to you all.

You shall both return home tonight. Rose, as the elder sister, you will be entrusted to keep the book in your possession. Each of you should take your respective documents with you to your homes, and I want both of you to recount the day’s activities in this way…

You took the train to Chicago, found a quaint pub and enjoyed your beverages and lunch and were approached by me, quite out of the blue, at which time I imparted the knowledge that I was your biological father and shared this information and the documents you posses with you both in person. Again I have provided the contact information for our family’s attorney, but suggest that you both acquire independent legal and financial council to verify the authenticity of the documents and the substantial assets they detail. You both have until close of business Friday to both verify that authenticity and to take care of the first task that I have given you.

I will be in touch and look forward very much to getting to know the both of better.

With warmest regards, your Father,

Frederick

“Holy crap,” said Rose. “Yeah,” agreed Sabina. The women glanced around the train car wondering how they must have appeared to their fellow travelers. But as they glanced around at the passengers around them, they all appeared to be quite oblivious to drama that had just unfolded between Rose and Sabina in the close confines of the train car.

As the train neared it’s destination of home. Sabina turned to her sister and asked, “Am I dreaming or crazy?” “Well if you are either, so am I,” replied Rose. “Let’s just get home and we can talk about this tomorrow. Want to bring the Fam over for dinner tomorrow night?” Rose suggested. “Sure,” said Sabina, “Unless my husband has me locked up in a padded cell before dawn.” They both laughed nervously as the train pulled into the station. It was a day they would not soon forget and though they did not know how to express it at the moment, they both knew their lives had changed forever. They gave each other a tentative hug and parted ways for home, promising they would be in contact in the morning, or later that night, should something go horribly wrong.

Sabina walked through the front door of her house. “Mamma!” the chorus arose as she set her back pack down and took off her coat. Her head was swimming and pounding all at the same time. She guessed in part from the many beers she had partaken in that day, but more from the news she had received that afternoon and evening. She hugged her children and kissed her husband whispering softly to him that they needed to talk. He kissed her back and said, “After the game, OK?” “Sure,” she said turning to collect the kids and get them ready and into bed. She was pretty sure that the story she would be shortly sharing with her husband was not something she would be able to put into words her kids would comprehend, hell she hardly understood it.

After baths and PJs, she served up ice cream, read her kids a story and tucked them into bed. She couldn’t help but wonder how different their lives would be tomorrow and forever. Remembering the spoiled brats they were now, she wondered how in the world she would teach them respect for money and people now that at least money was not an object. She kissed them each on the forehead and went to have the sit down she wasn’t so sure about with the man who had put up with her craziness for the last 12 years. The thing was she had never quite laid this level of crazy out in front of him and was just plain unsure of how he was going to react.

She stuck her head into the man cave and reminded him that she needed to talk to him and that it was important. Sabina’s husband Jeff was probably the easiest going man she had ever met. Nothing upset him. She retrieved her back pack from the car and laid it in front of her as she pulled a chair out at the kitchen table. Her husband emerged from his sacred hideaway and looked at her funny. “This must be important if we are sitting at the kitchen table to chat,” he jested.

She smiled at him trying to gage how he would take this news. It actually could be viewed as the best news he’d ever heard, but there were so many unanswered questions about this man claiming to be her biological father, the documents, though appearing kosher, obviously had not been authenticated and who knew what else this mysterious gift bearer wanted from them. She couldn’t help but think of all the fairy tales she read her kids and how in the classics there were genies, fairies and witches that granted wishes, but they almost always came with some sort of unforeseen consequence that nobody ever thought of when they were wishing away. Wasn’t that the lesson in all of those tales? If appeared too good to be true chances are it was. She doubted that she would take advantage of this endowment and she would fall into a wake less hundred year sleep, but after today she wasn’t entirely sure.

Jeff pulled out a chair, sat down and asked, “So what’s up?”

She opened her back pack and pulled out the documents she had received earlier that day and set them in front of her. She looked and her husband and smiled, not knowing where exactly to start. As she fidgeted in her chair she started to speak, “Rose and I had an unusually interesting day.” Jeff replied, “That’s good right? You have said a hundred times you needed a day to bust out of the routine.”

She nodded, agreeing with him, “But, it’s more than that. Rose and I got to Chicago had a great day in a really nice little place with a great view, same old, same old, and then there was this guy.”

“Guy?” replied Jeff.

“Yeah. He asked us if we could watch his brief case for him, so we did. Then all this crazy stuff started happening. There was a cell phone inside the case and started ringing, and then the bartender and waitress were gone, and then there was this book…” She trailed off.

“OK…”

“There’s just so much… Obviously you know that I am adopted.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, turns out that Rose is too.”

“Yeah?”

“This man who asked to watch his brief case is claiming to be both of our biological fathers.”

“What?!”

“I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but there’s more. There was this book, Rose has it now. His name is Frederick Von Kellar and there was this letter inside the book. Before we had left Chicago he told us that there would instructions, and then like magic there was the book and credit cards in both of our names. When we looked at the book in the restaurant there was nothing written in it, but when we took it back out on the train ride home the letter was there inside and other stuff too.

“What?!”

“I would just chalk it up to having my drink spiked with something crazy, except for it wasn’t just me having this ‘delusion’. In this letter this man claims that Rose and I are half sisters and then in the back of the book were all these documents.” She laid them out in front of her, the bank statements, the property deeds, and the passport. Jeff picked them up and began looking through them with a wide eyed glassy stare, mouth agape. “There was a set like this for each of us. The letter said to take this information and take care of all of our outstanding financial obligations before the end of the week. He suggested that we hire independent council to verify the authenticity of all of this, but also gave us the name and contact information our “Our” family attorney.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Random dude shows up in the bar, leaves his case with you and Rose, disappears, sends some magic letter telling you he’s your father, leaves you like a gagillion dollars, property all over the world and dual citizenship in Switzerland no questions asked, no quid pro quo, no strings attached, just completely out of the blue?”

“Ah, yep… That pretty much sums it up so far.” Sabina replied. “The thing is that I think there may be strings attached, but he sort of failed to mention what those might be. He made some cryptic statement about him asking me and Rose to take care of things for him as he requested them and that there was some sort of ominous family legacy we were supposed to carry on. But again, there was no real explanation of what the hell that means exactly, he just ended the letter by saying further instructions would follow. What do we do?”

“Well,” Jeff said, “I guess we call up Rose and Mark, get my cousin the lawyer on the phone and start having her fact check the documents, accounts, all this stuff and we will play it from there.”

“I just can’t believe this! Dude said he has been watching the two of us all of our lives and was waiting for the perfect moment to make himself known to us both. What the fuck?! It’s like he’s some creepy puppet master and my whole life doesn’t feel like it’s been my own anymore. I mean, he basically said that he has steered the two of us together, ensuring that we would meet and ultimately become friends. How creepy is that?!”

“Pretty creepy,” admitted Jeff. “Look, it’s not like the guy came bearing news that the two of you share some life threatening disease that’s going to kill you or our kids or something. If you look at the big picture here, this is pretty freaking awesome!”

“I guess…” agreed Sabina tentatively. It was exactly what she knew he would say, and she loved him all the more for it. Jeff, the eternal optimist. “But,”

“But, nothing… There is absolutely nothing we can do tonight. Let’s just enjoy the concept of this fantasy for tonight and we will deal with reality in the morning. Christ! We just won the flipping lottery here. There are worse things that could happen to us.”

“I guess you’re right. You think I’m I am bat shit crazy, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, but I thought that before you left this morning. If this is what crazy looks like, I’m in.”

She laughed and said, “Alright then. It has been a ridiculously batty day, I’m hung over and I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed. Hey, um, let’s just keep this to ourselves until we know what is real and what isn’t.”

“10-4 pretty Momma, I’ll be right behind you,” called Jeff as he disappeared in to the confines of the man cave. She knew that he would finish watching whatever game had him preoccupied previous to her dropping the bomb, and she was totally fine with that. She hoped there was something suitably mind numbing on The Learning Channel or its equivalent, because she had no idea how she was going to fall asleep. As she crawled into bed, laid down and turned on her side the basket of laundry stared back at her. I guess life hadn’t changed all that much in the last 24 hours. Surprisingly she nodded off right away and she thought to herself as sleep overtook her, this never happens, it was probably all a dream.

New Chapter

“Mooooooom! Can you get me somethin to eat?!?!” Ah the sweet morning call. She sat up looked around her and at her husband lying next her pretending he didn’t just hear that and she smiled. She honestly had never been so happy to see that infernal basket of clothes in her life as she slipped on her Mom uniform, sweats and her Uggs. She wandered into the bathroom and thought about the weird and amazing dream she had had as she brushed her teeth. She went into the kitchen, pulled out the sausage and pancake mix and began the routine. Finished breakfast, laid out clothes, packed lunches, made coffee, walked the dog, and as she was about to usher her children out the door for school, remembered that it was Sunday and nearly lost it in a preteen laughing fit. She apparently needed to drink more, or less, at his particular moment she wasn’t so sure.

After the kids finished complaining about having been woken up and dressed on a day they didn’t have to be they settled in for some Sponge Bob and she settled in front of the computer with a hot cup of coffee. No sooner had the screen popped up and her phone rang. She answered absent mindedly and it was Rose.

“Morning Sis!” At that moment, with two words, the reality that what she had convinced herself, in the light of day, was just a dream was all real.

“Morning. So apparently that wasn’t a dream?”

“Not so much,” replied Rose, unless we are sharing dreams as well as delusional hallucinations.”

“Great…” I don’t really know what to think right now.”

“Me either, but Mark and I talked last night and we think it is probably a good idea we get together today and get the ducks all in a row, so we are on the same page with this whole thing.” Rose suggested.

“Yeah, Jeff and I said the same thing last night. Why don’t you guys come over for lunch? The kids can play and we can plot out our plan of attack and compare notes.”

“Sounds like a plan. Noonish?”

“Noonish would be perf! See you then.”

The Krueger clan arrived promptly at noonish. Bikes were unloaded and the kids were gone, off to make someone else’s parents insane for a while.

The adults exchanged greeting and beverages were passed around. Everyone was thinking the conversation that was coming probably would be a little easy to understand after a beer or six.

The girls laid out the spread while boys talked about sports. They had a good hour and half before the Packer game came on so they decided to eat first, as to not interfere with the really important stuff. Neither women cared either way, but they had both been married long enough to know there are some things you do not interfere with or attempt to interrupt.

“Well, sisters huh?” said Jeff sparingly at Mark. “Yeah, and we always thought their relationship would be no thicker than a good German beer, now we have blood on our hands,” said Mark.

The adults all chuckled as they passed the plates around and loaded up on the goodies in front of them.

Jeff asked, “Did you bring this mysterious book?”

“Yeppers,” said Rose.

“Can I take a look?”

“Have at it.”

Jeff picked up the heavy text admiring the workmanship of the book he held in his hands. He opened the cover and noted, “fancy.”

“Yeah,” said Sabina, “We thought so too.”

Jeff flipped to the first page and read through the letter the women had taken in the previous evening on the train. He looked at Mark and asked, “I am assuming that you got the packet o mother load that came with this story as well?”

“Sure did,” said Mark.

Jeff turned to flip through the rest of the pages and did not make it past the second page. He sat content reading, when Sabina asked, “How many times are you going to read that before you understand it?”

He replied, “You didn’t say anything last night about this guy knowing we were having lunch today.”

“He didn’t,” said Sabina. “What? Did we miss something last night?”

Sabina and Rose quickly swarmed in and confiscated the book from Jeff and sat down next to each other turning to the second page. What had been blank the night before now contained more text. “Are you kidding me with this?” said Rose. “There was nothing written on this page last night.”

“Are you sure?” asked Mark.

“Absolutely,” said Sabina.

“Well, what does it say?!?” exclaimed Jeff.

Rose said, “That’s impossible. I was flipping through the book on the way over here and there was nothing there that wasn’t there last night.”

The women sat down with the book. Sabina’s hands traveled to her mouth as if she were trying to hold in a gasp as Rose began to read.

My Dearest Girls,

I trust that you both slept well last night. It brings me more joy than you know to know that you and your families will be spending the afternoon together.

I am sure all of this must be disconcerting to you both. There is much you must be finding incomprehensible right now, much that I must explain and help you to understand.

Our family has a long and complicated history with aspects that may be difficult to grasp having led a life and possessed a world view that does not encompass all that truly exists in our universe, but bear with me. You are not losing your minds and I assure you that those around you are not losing theirs either.

Your primary focus at the begging of this journey is to concentrate on the tangible, the definitive things that you can touch, feel and quantify. That is why you were presented with the documentation of your legacy that meets those criteria and your first task centers around getting a feel for those things that you are not used to, but that will be easier for you to accept in these first days of receiving this knowledge.

I encourage you make notes for yourselves of questions that occur to you and to place the notes inside the book. I will try to answer your questions as best I can.

I know that these words probably bring you more confusion than clarity, but it is the process we must go through and all of this will become clear to you in time.

I leave you with this warning. I encouraged you seek outside council to verify the assets you hold the documentation for are yours and legitimate, but be wary in enlisting them beyond this simple task. I gave you our family’s long time council’s name for a reason. Alias is familiar with the intricacies and delicate nature of our legacy and will be the most equipped to help you navigate the waters ahead. I trust him implicitly and implore you both to do the same. Alias will not lead you astray, I assure you.

Please enjoy your day together and I wish you well on your tasks and meetings over the next few days. It should be an enjoyable course of action to go through.

Warmest regards,

Frederick

"OK. This is just creeepy," said Rose. "I looked in the book on the way over here and there was nothing more in the book than was there yesterday."

"Like he says in the letter, maybe we should just concentrate on the task at hand and not try to overanalyze this situation," suggested Sabina.

"I think you may be right," said Rose. "First thing tomorrow I will call and make appointments with both your cousin, Jeff and this Alias. hopefully after meeting with them we will have a better understanding of what is happening here. Cow knows I have nothing more to offer on the subject."

The two families finished their lunch and spent a quiet afternoon watching football and enjoying each other's company. None of them really new what the week ahead would bring and normalcy seemed like the best course of action until they obtained more information. Rose and Sabina we still trying to figure out what if anything had changed in their relationship since finding out the day before that they were sisters. After an afternoon of jokes, a few beers and conversation surrounding whether or not they would need to continue filing their unemployment claims, it was obvious that nothing had. The difference was they would now need to worry about in laws around the holidays they would have few more Thanksgivings and Christmases to squeeze into their already busy schedules and lives.

The Rigets headed home and Rose promised to call with the appointment times as soon as she had made them in the morning. Hopefully they would not need to wait until late in the week to find out more about what was going on.

Sabina retired to her bedroom shortly after her sister and here family left. The kids were ready for bed and had finished their homework and she was ready to think and try to relax. Again, sleep found here quickly and she nodded off nearly as soon as her head hit the pillow. It had been an exhausting weekend and more than all that she had learned the uncertainty of the unknown ahead of them weighed heavy on her.

The next morning after the normal routine had been completed, the kids we're off to school and the husbands and gone to work, Rose pulled out the two business cards. Deciding to call Jeff's cousin first, because who knew what or where the conversation would go with the mysterious Alias.

Jeff's cousin's name was Abbey and according to her card she practiced family law in a suburb of the city they lived in. She dialed the number and waited for an answer. After three rings Abbey answered and Rose did her best to explain the documents that had been obtained and that was wondering if she would have an appointment available in the next day or two to go through the documents and basically do some fact checking on authenticity and such. Rose apologized for not being able to share more details at this time, but Abbey was very helpful and wondered if she and Sabina would be able to stop by that afternoon. Rose did not think that it would be problem. They agreed upon a one o'clock meeting time and exchanged thanks and hung up. Rose shot Sabina a text letting her know that they had a meeting with Abbey at one and she would pick her up at twelve fifteen and that she was now going to call Alias.

She pulled the second business card out and dialed. She did not recognize the area code and was wondering where exactly this Alias set up shop. It rang a couple of times and a woman answered, "Offices of Alias Finias Esquire, this is Emily, how may I help you?" Rose introduced herself and inquired about an available appointment as soon as possible. "Ah yes, Ms Krueger, Mr. Finias has been expecting your call. He asked that I clear his schedule at your and Ms. Riget's convenience." Rose told the kind woman that she and Rose had an appointment that afternoon, but were available anytime after that. Though she felt a little silly having to ask, she inquired where Mr. Finias' offices were located, as ere was no address on the business card and she did not recognize the area code of the phone number. Emily replied that Mr. Finias had offices downtown and would meet them there at their convenience. Rose made and appointment for ten AM the next morning. Emily shared the address of the office, wished her a pleasant day and hung up.

Rose hung the phone up and dialed Sabina's number. "Today at one with Abbey and tomorrow morning at ten with Alias, downtown." "10-4, said Sabina. See you at twelve fifteen."

Sabina hung up the phone and putzed around the house pretending to clean and straighten the house. After a half hour she gave up and decided on a run. She changed quickly, put the leash on the dog and headed out. The cool air hit her in the face and she set a pace in line with the music on her iPod. She was running a bit slower than normal since the dog was with here, but the entire point of this was to clear her head, not set any records and the dog stopped every two minutes to sniff something didn't help. She breathed deeply. It was a beautiful fall day and she just took in her surroundings as the pavement pounded between her feet. The leaves were beginning to change color and rhythmic beat of her shoes on the pavement and her breathing brought a sense of calm to her. She had no clue what direction her life was headed in, but for these few minutes she didn't really need to think about it, just one foot in front of the other.

She turned down her street noting the time and that she would have to hurry to be showered and ready by the time Rose was coming to get her. She quickly put food and water out for the dog and hit the shower. No sooner had she dressed and gotten her hair dry then the door bell rang. She called out to come in and she and Rose chatted while she put her makeup on.

The women left and arrived at Abbey's office right on time. It was a small personal office in the downstairs of what appeared to be a residence. The furnishings were welcoming and comfortable and the women felt at ease as they took seats across the desk from Abbey and laid out the documents in each of their names in front of them. Again they explained that they needed the authenticity of the documents and the assets they described verified and authenticated. Abbey walked the women through how she would accomplish this task, and made copies of the documents so that the women would have the originals for their meeting the next morning. They agreed on a retainer and thanked the woman for making time so quickly for the both of them. Abbey assured them both that she would be in touch as soon as she had completed the objective. It should not take more than a couple of hours to make the necessary phone calls and verifications. After a little more than an hour Sabina and Rose headed out of the office.

The women decided on a spot for some coffee and lunch. There was a quaint little coffee shop just down the street from Abbey’s office and both women were starving. Funny thing about starving, Sabina must have said to her kids a million times, you wouldn’t know starving if it hit you up side the head. You’re hungry. No one here is starving, but she really did feel like her insides were eating themselves and she needed something in her stomach pronto. The women ordered a sandwich and some soup and settled into the quiet booth. Sabina asked Rose if she had brought the book with her. She had.

Rose pulled it out of her bag and opened it. It appeared the same as yesterday, nothing new was there. They read through he two letters again and Sabina asked Rose about the call to Alias’ office. Rose recounted her conversation with the kindly woman on the other end named Emily and expressed that she was still really feeling weird about the whole thing. She told Sabina that she had not recognized the area code of the phone number on the business card as she pulled out of the back of the book and handed it to Sabina. Sabina took the card and looked at the number. She did not recognize the area code either. Rose then commented that she just thought it was odd that this Alias Finias Esquire just happened to have office in a smallish size city in the middle of the United States mid-west, but unfortunately there were so many other stranger things that the women quickly let this point pass and spent the next couple of hours over their lunch and coffee running different scenarios of how their lives had been connected long before either of them every knew. Had they had inklings before that they were being watched, or there was something strange about their lives? Not really. Both agreed that until this last weekend that had felt for the most part normal. There was nothing that stood out in their memories of childhood as strange or different from any other kids they had known growing up.

Both being adopted they talked about their feelings on the subject. Had they ever wanted to look for their biological parents? Sabina offered that she had thought about it for a short time in college, but only to obtain her medical history, she really had never had any interest in having a relationship with her biological parents. She had wondered about siblings, but this came mostly after her little sister had passed away suddenly several years back, but again the desire was not strong enough to seriously make an effort in locating any specific person. Rose basically felt the same way. She had never really had the desire to track down and build relationships with the people who had been her genetic donors. There just didn’t seem to be a point in it.

Now it was different, at least half of that donor group had found them. As difficult as the information was for the two of them to wrap their heads around, they contemplated how the news would affect the parents they had known all their lives, which had raised and loved them every day. It was information they agreed that they would need to share with them, because how else were they going to explain the sudden financial windfall that come into their lives. Eventually both agreed that it was what it was and after all of this time they both knew that their adoptive parents would take the news in stride and be supportive of them, just as they always had.

They finished up their coffee, paid their bill and left the nice waitress girl a hefty tip. They rode home in silence and shared a brief goodbye as Rose dropped Sabina off. Sabina promised to pick Rose up the next morning after she dropped the kids at school, and they would head downtown to meet Mr. Alias Finias Esquire.

Sabina walked into her house, changed back into her Mom uniform and began cleaning for real now. She couldn’t sit still, her mind was too pre-occupied asking questions that she did not yet have answers for. She finished her list of chores, kitchen, bathroom, living room and the laundry was started. She down heavily on the couch and grabbed the remote. There had to be something she DVRed that would take her mind off of everything. She flipped through the recordings and settled on CSI. Nothing like a little murder and science to relieve the stress in your life. She curled up on the couch with a blanket and began to watch. She quickly discovered that her eye lids were heavy and thought to herself as she drifted off that DVRs are awesome. She could just rewind to the last point in the show she remembered and pick up from there, this nap was just feeling too delicious at the moment.

As Sabina drifted into sleep she fell into a wonderful dream. Everything seemed very very familiar to her. She felt so much as if she had been there before and her eyes opened she recognized the room instantly. It was the plush bedroom she had seen in her dreams a few days before. This time however she was casually dressed in what felt like a light a cashmere sweater and she was awakening on a couch looking this time at the room from a different angle. As she stretched she felt a cool breeze coming from her right and could more clearly see that there was a balcony past the flowing curtains to her right. She walked over and pulled the soft gauzy fabric aside. The smell of salt water and the gently sound of waves caressed her senses as she stepped out into the bright sunlight. Sitting on the small table in front of her was a plate of fresh fruit and sweating pitcher of what appeared to be iced tea, a bucket of ice, a selection of glasses and her favorite pair of sun glasses. There were several magazines spread next to the snack on the table and she leafed through the selection as she slipped on the sunglasses and stepped to the edge of the balcony in front of her.

The view took her breath away. There was a gorgeous pool with cabanas surrounding it lavishly manicured with immaculate gardens and trees strategically placed for shade. Beyond a sweeping stair case was a white sand beach with the bluest water she had ever seen. Both the pool and the beach seemed to be deserted. There were lovely snow capped mountains to her right and what seemed like and endless and beautiful jungle scape to her left. As far as she could see there was no other evidence of other residences or hotels that were immediately apparent to her.

She turned around and made her way to the comfortable looking high backed wicker chair and settled herself in. She poured a glass of tea and picked up a news paper. “Child Abuse Scandal Rocks Penn State, Joe Paterno Fired.” Sabina felt a wave of nausea sweep over her. This story had been dominating the news over the weekend, but she hadn’t paid much attention with everything else going on her in her immediate circle of life. Apparently some defensive coach had been abusing young boys for God knows how long in the locker rooms of the athletic facility and at some point a grad student or something had witnessed the abuse, and instead of calling the police brought it to the attention of the head coach, Joe Paterno. The guy was like nine hundred years old and had been the head coach of the Penn State football team for something like a hundred years. He too, instead of alerting the authorities notified the athletic director of the university who promptly with extremely minor disciplinary action, also did not notify the police, but neatly swept the whole thing under the rug and went on with the business of generating bagillions of dollars for the university in there sheltered and delusion little football program, old boys club kingdom to peril of God knows how many young boys safety and sanity.

She put the news paper aside and picked up something a little lighter on the brain. Some celebutant had gotten married five minutes ago and was now getting divorced. “Was it all a Publicity Stunt?”... Seriously?!? Thought Sabina... The question even needs to be asked? She leafed through the magazine and sipped her tea, when she heard a quiet clearing of a throat behind her and turned. There was an older gentleman, slightly balding with glasses dressed in light cotton pants and short sleeved button down shirt in a very pretty color blue that reminded her of the color of the ocean.

“Excuse Ms. Riget,” said the cute little man. “Your father is here is to see you. Shall I show him in?”

Ah Hell, Sabina thought... Why not? “Yes thank you, she replied.”

A few minutes later the man from the restaurant in Chicago walked out onto the terrace. “Good afternoon dear,” he said. “I trust you are well today?”

“I’m good,” said Sabina. “How couldn’t I be?! I’m just enjoying my dreamy lil digs here while I catch up on some zzzs.”

The man who was her father chuckled, “Yes, I can see how this might all seem a little unrealistic to you right now.”

“So, Dad, What’s up?” asked Sabina.

“I understand that you and your sister will be meeting with Mr. Alias Finias Esquire tomorrow morning?”

“Yeppers, that’s the plan.” She felt kind of bad about falling into her extremely casual speech pattern in front of Frederick, him being so proper and all, but it was her dream and she would speak how ever she wanted to. “Tomorrow at ten.”

”Might I suggest that you arrange for your husbands to be there as well. I wanted to make sure that you would all be there as I plan to join you tomorrow to hopefully clarify anything that any of you might have questions about. Alias is most capable, but I thought it might be comforting to see you both together again and to meet your husbands in person.”

“Sure, why not? Just for fun, where are we right now?” Sabina asked.

“We are on our family’s private island estate near Fiji.”

“Sweet action! I could definitely get used to hanging out here!”

“It is rather pleasant and relaxing isn’t it?” relied Frederick. “It has always been one of my favorites. Well, my dear, I apologize for the quick in and out, but I must be going.” I shall see you in the morning.” With that he stood up took anther slow savored swallow of tea, moved casually around the table, kissed her lightly on the cheek and exited from the porch.

Sabina sat there for what seemed like quite a long time. The entire scene felt so natural, as if this hanging out on her family’s private island sipping tea and have visits from her father announced by some sort of servant was the most natural unfolding of her day ever. She continued to sip her tea and leaf through the fodder in front of her. She finished the magazine she was on and enjoyed the breeze when the little balding man with the glasses came back.

“Ms. Riget, I have updated your schedule for this week and left it on the bureau of your changing room. Is there anything else that you require?”

“Nope, I’m good. Oh! Wait!”

“Yes Mam?”

“What’s your name?”

He looked a little oddly at her, but replied, “Andrew Mam.”

“Thank you Andrew!”

And with that he left. She finished her tea and stood to go back into the bedroom. Dressing room? This sounded promising... She walked back into the bed room and looked around. Just past the small breakfast nook, was a door with a faint light glowing inside. She moved tentative toward it. She pushed open the door and her breath completely escaped her again. There was a beautiful room with a large marble topped island containing many many drawers that in her head would have been more aptly placed in the middle of a kitchen, but whatever. Surrounding her on all sides were back lit shelves with more pairs of shoes than she could ever remember seeing in her life, in every shape style and color she could imagine. As she walked closer she started to notice the labels, Jimmy Choo, Loubitain, Minolo Blanic... There was a door in the middle of the shelving to both her left and her right. As she turned in some cheesy Cinderella spin she moved to the door on her left. This just got better and better! There was a bathroom, not just a bathroom, but a spa! It was the culmination of every fantasy bathroom she had ever pinned on Pinterest. By the looks of it she had some sort of best friend that worked for Kohler, and she was ok with that. There was a giant shower with a sunken tub behind it and what appeared to be steam jets. This was AWESOME! She turned on her heel and nearly sprinted across the shoe room, almost taking herself out on the bureau in the process, and flung that door open. Another room and its treasures stared back at her. There were clothes and swimsuits and hats. A little piece of every ridiculous shopping spree dream she had ever had was surrounding her. She simply could not believe it. She then heard a phone ringing... NO! She thought, but the ringing brought her back, plummeting into reality as she opened her eyes and stared at the blue screen of the DVR that was in front of her. She sat up on her couch and sleepily rubbed her eyes trying to remind herself what was real and what wasn’t.

She reached for her cell phone and was down right mad when she tabbed between screens to get to the voicemail and it was another cold call from a “recruiter” who had seen her resume on Monster and wondered if she would be interested in selling insurance. For the love of God! She hated not having a job, but felt instantly sorry for the poor schmuck who’s gig it was to cold call people all day trying to get them to show up for a group interview. She laughed as she thought there must be a special little corner, for evil, not truly sick, just a purgatory kind of place that house the poor people and their penance to God was perform this job day after day, until He felt like had atoned for all of their sins in the previous life.

She erased the message and checked her watch. Three o’clock. Good just enough time to vacuum before going to collect the small ones. She smiled with utter joy at the dream she had had. It had seemed so real, hell it might as well as been because she felt relaxed and refreshed and found herself looking forward to the meeting the next morning. She finished vacuuming, threw on her coat and headed out the door to pick up the kids... Hmm... Supper... She made the decision in her head to try the buffalo chicken recipe she had found on Interest yesterday for dinner and backed out of the drive way.

She ran an errand or two on her way to school, not really wanting to spoil the happy mood she was in after her dream with the whining that she knew awaited her. Don’t get me wrong, she loved her kids, but sometimes they were enough to make her want to pull her hair out. She pulled up in front of school and went inside to collect them. As suspected they were both already over tired and had begun fighting about something she didn’t have the energy to pay attention to before they had even gotten outside. They got home and the kids went to play with their friends. She made dinner and thought about what tomorrow would bring. She did not know why but she was losing the apprehension that had plagued her all weekend. She did not understand why, but she just had the calm sense that everything was going to be fine.

That lasted for like five minutes. The kids were absolutely unreasonable the entire night. “Please do your homework.” “No.” “I am not kidding”, “No”... It was enough to make a person insane. She started saying things that used to come out of her Mom’s mouth like, “Just wait until your Father gets home.” And “Do you ever want to see your friends outside of school again?!” Yeah, nothing was helping. When Jeff walked through the door, she had honestly never felt more happy. All she wanted was to relish the relief she had been feeling and get a good night sleep. He thankfully accommodating as she showered, got her PJs on and climbed into bed with a good book, not the “the” book, but a good read none the less. It was a trashing tween novel that everyone had been raving about. She hated to admit it, but it was pretty entertaining. There were vampires and true love and secret powers. She tried not to think about that some of the stuff she was reading was eerily close to her own life in the last couple of days and also tried not to think about how much of what was in the book she was reading was true again considering the alterations to her reality over the past weekend. She read until she could no longer keep her eyes open and switched off the lamp and drifted into sleep. She hoped maybe she was having another amazing dream, but when she woke in the morning she just felt unbelievably rested.

She wrangled the family that morning to get them through the routine as quickly as possible and hustled them into the car and shuttled the kids to school. She stopped by McDonalds on the way and picked up some coffee for her and Rose. She never knew what it was about McDonald’s coffee, but there were few things in the world that tasted better in the morning or in her opinion that a dollar could be spent on. Her stomach was feeling a little jumpy, so she opted out of the greasy breakfast food and rushed to get to Rose’s so that they would not be late for their appointment. Rose never looked so happy to see a cup of coffee in her life as she grabbed her coat and they headed for the door.

They had little difficulty in finding the building downtown, as The Company was located near their destination and they were familiar with the traffic and best places to park. They collected their parking ticket and headed to the elevator that should take them to the office indicated in the address that Emily had given Rose the previous day when the appointment was made.

They entered the elevator and pressed seven. When the doors opened they stepped out into a hallway that was lushly carpeted and had a fancy seating area in front of them. They looked at the directory on the wall but there was no listing for an Alias Finias, Esquire. The decided to head to their right and see if any of the office doors had the number of the suite they were looking for. They had chosen correctly. There was a heavy door made of dark wood that displayed the number four above it. They tried the door; it was unlocked so they let themselves in. There was a middle aged woman slightly plump in the Easter eggiest lavender suit either one of them had ever seen. She sported some matching readers and beamed brightly as they walked through the door.

“Ah! You must be Ms. Riget and Ms. Krueger. Can I get either on of you anything to drink? Coffee? Tea? Soda?”

“No thanks,” both women replied.

“Please, have a seat. I’ll let Mr. Finias know that you are here.”

The women sat down on the plush sofa and glanced nervously at the selection of coffee table books that was on the coffee table in front of them. There were two lovely photography books, one about the Grand Canyon and the other cities in Europe. Before they had a chance to open the cover of either the nice woman returned.

“You’ll forgive my rudeness, my name is Emily. If you need anything, anything at all please let me know.”

“Thank you.” Both women replied.

“Please follow me.”

The women collected their bags and coats and follow Emily through another heavy dark wooded door. This door opened onto an expansive two story library/ office that had a massive mahogany desk at the far end ala Professor Higgins’ in My Fair Lady. Rose had the sudden urge to bust out “EW ‘Enry ‘Iggins... but she restrained herself and smiled. Sabina looked at her as if there was a huge conspiracy; she was thinking exactly the same thing.

There was a ginormous conference table to their left and a lavish seating area to their right which was comprised of two sofas a love seat and two high backed arm chairs. All the upholstery, carpet and drapes were lush and everything in the room had a warm and comfortable feeling about it.

As they women eyed their surroundings two men approached from the far end of the room. It was the quirky little man from the trip to Chicago, Frederick, their father, and a giant of a specimen next to him. Both were finely dressed.

“Girls!” exclaimed Frederick and before either one of them knew what was happening they were wrapped up in an awkward hug none of them really knew how to get out of. Frederick stepped back still holding one of each of their hands, and said, “Alias, it my pleasure to introduce you to my daughters, Sabina Riget and Rose Krueger. Will your husbands be joining us today?”

“Yes, they should be here any moment, they both had a few things to check on at work before the appointment.” At the moment Emily ushered their husbands into the room with them.

“Alias, this is Jeff Riget and Mark Krueger.”

Pleasantries were exchanged and they moved to the large sitting area. Emily soon brought coffee and tea in and served while Frederick began speaking.

“I trust that you found it ok?”

“Yeah” replied Sabina, “Rose and I both used to work very near here. I had no idea there were such beautiful offices in this building.”

“They are lovely, aren’t they? A dear friend lets me and or Mr. Finias use them whenever we might have business in the area.” Small talk was exchanged while everyone got settled and then a silence that was just a bit too long overtook the room.

“I am not sure I know exactly where to start. Are there any specific questions that any of you have? “Everyone sort of shook their heads obviously not knowing where to start themselves. “In that case, Alias, will begin walking each of the couples through the documents in their possession?”

“Why certainly,” relied Alias. He had the deepest voice Sabina had ever heard and smirked internally wondering if James Earl Jones knew he had a voice clone somewhere in the world, but it fit him perfectly. He was an extremely large man but every movement he made carried an uncanny grace and his words and voice were calming and comforting.

“Let’s have a look at the bank account statements first shall we?”

Alias informed the two couples that there were 3 Swiss bank accounts each at different financial institutions. Two were based in Zurich and one in Geneva. In conjunction with the accounts there were also safe deposit boxes at each bank. The next two statements chronicled two accounts in the Cayman Islands. In addition to the liquid funds in each of the five accounts, in each of their names, there were investment portfolios. Gold and various types of bonds were contained in the safe deposit boxes.

The couples just stared at each other not sure what to do or ask. The amount of money detailed on these statements was staggering and to say that it would change their life forever was simply not a strong enough statement. Sabina looked at the papers and looked at her husband, then at her sister and her husband with her mouth agape.

Alias then suggested they move on to the details of their properties. Emily appeared inside the massive room to refresh the coffee and tea and brought in some pastries.

“Wait,” Sabina said quietly.

“Yes, my dear,” replied Alias, “Did you have a question?”

“No, this is... This is all... This is all just too much!” Sabina choked out tears flowing from somewhere she did not know existed. “We don’t even know you! Either of you!”

“My dear child,” said Frederick. “I know that this must be extremely overwhelming for you. If we could finish going through the documents I will then share some history of our family and I am certain that you will feel much more comfortable with situation that you find yourself in. No one is asking you to take a leaping swan dive into a life that you are not comfortable living. This is a process and adjustment that will take considerable time for you to become familiar and comfortable with and Alias, Emily, the rest of our staff around the world and I will be with you every step of the way to ensure that as time passes you, and your sister fully understand and are capable of undertaking the responsibilities of not only this wealth, but the duties that come with it.”

He smiled kindly at her and she looked around the room embarrassed by her emotional outburst. This was SO not her, and the anxiety was more unsettling to her than any of the information that they were discussing. She nodded in indication that Alias should continue with a week offering of her apologies for interrupting. Rose stood and moved to sit next to her sister, grabbing her hand in reassurance and nodded also.

Alias Finias Esquire then began going through the various property deeds, as Emily silently distributed more refreshments and left the room.

The list was astonishing. All properties were listed in both of their names as co-owners. In Switzerland, there was a chalet in Saint Moritz, a chateau outside of Geneva with an operating vineyard, and a town home in Zurich. Sabina having lived in Switzerland for a short time in her younger years was familiar with all of the areas and was flabbergasted.

They then moved on to Paris and London, both held flats in their name in the heart of cities. As Alias went through the properties in these cities he produced maps to give the families and idea of location based on well known landmarks.

There was a home in the Cayman Islands on a private island just off the coast. Sabina looked at Frederick and he just smiled and nodded, silently confirming that the amazing house she had been dreaming of was one and the same as the property being described at the moment. She felt like a cod fish because she was completely unable to keep her mouth from gaping open. She felt like Michael in Mary Poppins and expected someone to chide her into closing it at any moment, but Alias just continued.

In the United States, they would of course shortly own each of their family homes outright. There was a brown stone on Fifth Avenue in New York City, a small beach house in Malibu, a penthouse in Chicago overlooking the lake, what Alias called a vacation house in the Florida Keys, a lodge just outside Aspen in Colorado and a home in the heart of New Orleans.

Alias produced a set of keys and a portfolio for each property, labeled thankfully, for each of the sisters. The provided portfolios of each property with the keys contained pictures, access codes for alarm systems and a listing of the staff and their duties at each home. Sabina noted Andrew’s name in the Cayman Island portfolio, and smiled.

Sabina and Rose had left their houses that morning unemployed, but quickly realized they were now responsible for a rather extensive staff all over the world, and each took a deep breath at the realization. Jeff and Mark were excitedly looking over the property photos and high fiving each other like teenagers.

The couples flipped through the catalogs of their various homes around the world, ooing and ahing at the photographs and listings of amenities at each one. After about ten minutes, Frederick thanked Alias for his dutiful listing of all that had been presented and then asked if it would be alright if he introduced the last property. Alias nodded thoughtfully and turned the floor over Frederick.

“The last property I will be explaining to you is our family estate. It has been in our family for more than one thousand years.” Frederick handed each of the couples two more portfolios that looked more like fancy story books than the sleek business like folios of the other properties. They were over sized coffee table sized books in leather similar to the special book they had been given the day they met. The books were extremely heavy and when opened required both Sabina and Rose, and Jeff and Mark to hold the volume across both of their laps.

Unlike the book that they had received earlier both of these were well worn and their spines neither creaked nor cracked as the covers were opened. Frederick noted as they each open the large volumes that the inside cover displayed a detailed family tree. This was no ordinary printed page. There were beautiful illustrations, obviously done by hand and each pair looked at the fine calligraphy noting each of their names and their children’s. The intricate hand drawn branches of the trees extended upward toward the top of the pages with names and connections almost too many to count. Sabina and Rose lightly traced their branches with their fingers and both stopped gently caressing the names of their biological mothers. Tears welled in each of their eyes as they stared in disbelief at the names and dates in front of them.

Frederick continued, “Let us walk the contents of the book in its entirety and then I will recount for you an obviously shortened version of the history behind the names and dates that you see on the parchment before you.”

They all turned to the next page, which read simply... The Castle Von Kellar.

Castle? Seriously? “This is getting more and more like a fairy tale,” Rose whispered to Sabina as they turned to the next page. Across the expanse of the next two pages was a breath taking drawing of a beautiful castle nestled amongst woods and mountains.

Frederick said plainly, “This is Castle Von Kellar. The original structure was built sometime near the first Roman occupations of this area. There have been extensive additions and remodeling done throughout its history to both accommodate the growing size of our family as well as to maintain the livability and comfort of the castle itself.”

“Where is it located?” blurted Rose.

“Yes! Where is this place?” added Sabina.

Frederick looked off into the distance and seemed to collect his thoughts for a moment. “Before I go any further, you must understand that there are parts of the history of both this castle and our family that may be difficult for you. Our history is, how shall I say, unconventional.”

“K...What does that mean exactly?” asked Rose.

“To help you understand I must take you back to the beginning of our family. The legend begins as I said shortly after the first occupation of the Romans of this part where the Castle Von Kellar is located. Our first documented ancestor was a Roman general who while on campaign fell deeply in love with the eldest daughter of the tribe that inhabited these forests. The general and his troops happened upon the area quite by accident. There was a terrific and terrible storm that fell upon them in the mountains and they took shelter in a cave that they had found. Neither general nor his men were prepared for the unforgiving weather that the Alps bring.

When they entered that cave, they found it huge and cavernous. It appeared as if they were not the first people to happen upon this opening in the mountain as a mean to provide shelter. It appeared in fact to have been designed for just that purpose. The men found an operating well, food stores, clothing and the makings of what can only be described as a barracks or living quarters. There was wood and a giant hearth carved into a wall near the entrance to the cave. There were torches placed about the gigantic room which when lit, the men noticed several strategically placed mirrors that illuminated the entirety of the space they occupied.

The general set his men about the task of building a fire in the hearth and preparing a meal with the food they had discovered. There were several huge tables and benches which appeared to have been crafted from trees harvested from a virgin forest. Their size was enormous. The men prepared a feast and sat down to eat and drink. By the end of the meal, most of the men began to collect the various skins and other clothing and made their way to the sleeping quarters.

The general collected two of his most faithful men and began to examine more closely this shelter that they had made their temporary home. They began their exploration to the side of the entrance, beginning by following the wall of the cave around to the right. As they approached the back of the massive room the men noticed a crevice that had before been invisible when looking at the wall head on. There appeared to be a well maintained path that began at the opening to this crevice and the men ventured forward.

Several minutes in the walk way widened to a well maintained moss path. There was a small shed constructed to their left hand side and upon inspection yielded walking sticks and lanterns. The men each collected one. Lit their lanterns and continued. Further along the path they began to hear running water and the trail opened to yet another colossal room. To their left, down a steep embankment was sizable river. There was an obviously human constructed dock and a boat moored there. The trail seemed to continue on following the right side of the river. The men decided that they would continue on foot. There did not appear to be a visible exit from the cave yet and not knowing the river next to them and were not ready to chance attempting a boat voyage just yet. It was also getting late in the day and the exhaustion of their travels was catching up to them.

They ventured on following the well maintained path the wound about and through many more caverns in the cave. About an hour had passed and they were about to turn around when they say the hint of day light shining faintly up a bend to their left. They wandered around that corner and through a large opening to the cave. They stepped out onto a cliff that resembled a balcony approximately 5 feet wide. There was a three foot wall constructed across from them. All of the men stepped slowly toward it but were not really watching where they were walking because of the indescribable view that they were trying to take in. Above majestic mountains in the distance was the most beautiful sunset the men had ever seen in all of their travels and exploits. Below the mountains and softly rolling hills were covered in the biggest trees they had ever laid eyes on. Every type of tree imaginable seemed to coat the surface of the mountains hills and valleys in a tapestry of loveliness they did not know how they would describe to the rest of their battalion.

They stepped to the edge of the balcony and pressed their bodies against the stone wall to view what the immediate valley held in store. Below them to their right nestled in amongst the trees was a stone dwelling. Lavish for such a secluded location. As the men peered around them the trail seemed to continue off to their left across a well constructed bridge. Beneath it the river cascaded out and into the valley in a glorious waterfall. They spoke briefly amongst themselves deciding to turn back, get a good night sleep, collect the rest of the men and proceed as a group, in the morning after all were well rested.

However tired the men were on their trip there, what they had discovered gave them enough energy to quickly make it back to where the rest of the men waited. When they returned there had been another hearty meal cooked and spread on the giant tables and as they ate the men described what they had seen and devised their plans for the next day.

All of the men woke early that next day. They ate heartily, packed provisions and began their journey as a group. When they approached the end of the trail at the opening to the valley, the general noticed that there was another well constructed dock in what appeared to be a small bay. It had not occurred to him yesterday that the boat they had seen would not fair well over the waterfall. The general and the two men that had accompanied him the day before were the first to exit the mountain. They paused for a moment to take in the spectacular view once again in the light of morning. He could not imagine a more beautiful place.

As the rest of the men began to emerge he turned to his left to continue across the bridge and to his amazement there were three men standing there and the bridge was raised. There was another small group of men on the opposite side of the bridge. In surprise the general and his men drew their swords, but with hands raised the man who appeared to be the leader of the small contingent raised his hands in a non threatening manner and began to speak.

“Hello. My name is Peter Von Kellar. We mean you no harm, but you and your men are not welcome in our valley and we must ask you to leave. We saw your torches last evening and assumed that you would be returning in the morning. You are welcome to stay as long as you like in the mountain shelter or replenish your supplies and move on, but you may not enter our valley.”

The general and his men replaced their swords, and he moved forward to shake hands with the man called Peter. “We mean you no harm either. If we could just speak to the master of the manor?”

“That is quite impossible. As I said before this valley is not open to strangers.”

“OK, if all of my men and I may not explore the lands before us, please let me come alone to express my thanks to the man of the estate and we will be on our way.” The general’s second and third in command immediately protested the suggestion as did the men standing on the other side of the bridge.

“I am not sure that you understand what that means, but if you insist, my men and I will escort you and you can pay your respects. If I am to accompany you on this adventure, may I know your name, please?”

“Julius.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you Julius. Please follow me.”

The general, Julius, placed his second in command in charge of the legion in his absence. He commanded that the men return to barracks area and begin to replenish their supplies and make ready for travel. They would depart, as Peter had requested, in the morning if the weather was good. Again his men protested, but they knew their leader well and were confident that he could take care of himself whatever situation may arise. They tentatively turned back and began the hike back to the main room of the cave as their commander had told them to.

After the men had left, Peter said to Julius, “This is a journey unlike anything you have undertaken before. This valley is like no other and your life will never be the same after you cross this bridge. Is that a undertaking you are willing to make?”

Julius half scoffed at the man, “Of course,” he replied. Julius had traveled all over the known world and much of the unknown. He was quite certain this valley could not possibly contain anything he had not encountered before and would encounter again.

“I must make sure that you understand there will be consequences for your actins today.”

“I understand,” said Julius. The men on the other side of the bridge began to lower the massive structure. Julius thought again to himself that this was all a bit dramatic as the bridge was secured and the two men began to walk across.

As he stepped off the other side of the bridge he became suddenly aware that the air was different, warmer. He had taken on one of the heavy fur coats they had found in the cave when they arrived, but soon found that he sweating and did not require such extensive dress. He removed the coat and strapped it to his pack as they continued to follow the trail. It was a long walk. As they approached the Castle it was nearing lunch time and Julius was grateful he had packed some food in his pack before leaving that morning.

The building was much larger up close than it had appeared when they first exited the cave the evening before. There was dense forest surrounding the entire structure, which he realized now hid most of the bulk of the building. He had to admit he had never seen such a structure outside of Rome though the style of architecture was quite different from anything he had ever seen as well. The trail or rather road that they followed from the pass was well maintained and as they approached closer to the dwelling through the main gate of the wall surrounding it, he was amazed and delighted by the beautiful manicured garden that appeared before him. He had not expected this at all.

Though well fortified, this was not a settlement overtly constructed as a defensive hold, but as he observed his surroundings realized that it was in fact quite heavily guarded. The wall surrounding the castle was well built and thick, he guessed nearly 5 feet. They approached a sweeping staircase which reminded him of the forums in Rome. It was very wide and the entire thing seemed to be carved from a single piece of the most unusually colored granite he had ever seen. The railings were intricately carved and each spindle and banister had its own unique design. It was absolutely beautiful.

As the reached the top of the stair case they were faced with two massive wooden doors. Each door held brightly polished brass handles and intimidating knockers which appeared to be held in the mouths of some sort of monsters. Julius had never seen anything like it. The workmanship was remarkable and so detailed. All of his life he had lived believing that the Romans were the most advanced society he had come in contact with, but again he had never seen artwork so realistic. It appeared as if it might come to life at any moment.

As Peter pushed against the massive front door he turned to Julius and said, “Welcome to my home.”

“What? I don’t understand. If this is your home, then why did you not tell me that back at the entrance to the cave? Why bring me here?”

“Because it is what you requested,” stated Peter simply.

“Yes, but I requested a meeting with the master of the house to thank him for his hospitality and if you were standing right there, why did you not say anything?”

“Again, because it is what you requested. Please come in. You must be hungry and I am I am sure that it is nearly time to eat.”

They entered the immense entry way of the castle; Julius could do nothing but stare, his mouth agape. It was indescribable, at least not in any words that he knew. The floor was a mosaic of a geometric pattern but the surface completely smooth. There were stones of all different colors and brightness and there were outlines of inlaid gold that caught the light from the open door and sparkled intently.

In front of them was an extensive double stair case curving from its separate entrances to meet at an upper level. The steps were made of the same strange granite, or so Julius thought, as the staircase outside, but the steps were polished to a glistening shine. The banisters of staircase were again intricately carved, but indoors of wood the deepest and richest colored he had ever seen. There were tapestries adorning the walls on each side of them, again so life like the scenes and people depicted seemed about to jump right from the portrayal to stand just in front of them. His gazed moved upward and he beheld a chandelier so large it nearly filled the entirety of the space above their heads and the candles seem to magically glow casting the entrance in a soft and comfortable light.

One of the men in Peter’s party introduced himself as Francois and asked if he could take Julius’ coat and pack. These people had shown him no disrespect and had not threatened him in any way, but he was reluctant to hand over most of his belongings to a stranger. Francois grinned and assured him that he would just be placing them out of the way near the door; easily within his reach should he need anything out of it. Julius agreed and Peter asked that he follow him.

To the left of the large staircase there were several different doors as there were to the right. Peter headed to the far end of the entrance hall and opened a door which had not been visible when they had entered the castle. As soon as the door opened the most wonderful smells assaulted Julius. He had not realized until this moment how famished he was. Peter showed him into a large kitchen. There was a hearth covering nearly the entire wall on their left hand side, two giant islands occupied most of the free space in the middle of the room and there was also a large table, big enough for twelve men to sit at comfortably. There were three women appearing to finish up with plating what he assumed would be their meal. Peter greeted each of them and introduced Julius. The women all seemed taken aback to have a stranger in the house and more oddly the kitchen. Julius greeted each of them. Gertrude and Fay both extended their greetings and Batista, whom appeared to be the eldest of the three and in charge, nodded politely and suggested that the men wash up.

Wash up? Julius thought, wash what? He continues to follow Peter to a large basin on the far wall of the room. There was an oddly shaped statue next to the large tub with a handle on it. Peter began to pump the handle and to Julius’ amazement water flowed from a spout into the basin. He watched, confused, as Peter rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, wet himself and began to wash his hands and face with some sort of what appeared to Julius, like a rock. Peter gestured that Julius should do the same. Though nervous he followed his host’s lead and discovered that the rock seemed to have the affect of dissolving the dirt from his hands. The water was warm to the touch and the rock had the most alluring scent. When they had finished the women handed each of them a towel and Peter asked Julius to follow him again.

They exited out of the kitchen the way they had come in and crossed the entry way in front of the stair case and entered another room. It was a great hall that had polished wooden floors and a table even larger than those that had been with the great hall in the cave. The table was set for their meal and slowly the men that had traveled with Peter and Julius that morning and others started filing into the hall and taking their places at the table. In all there were probably twenty five to thirty people. The feast before them was impressive. There were various kinds of meats, potatoes prepared in different styles, vegetables, fresh breads, cheeses and soups. There were various kinds of wines and other beverages spread across the table as well. Peter invited Julius to sit next to him. Julius was more than happy about the request when he turned to the vision sitting next to him on the other side.

She was a beautiful woman, tall and well built. Strength emanated from her as much in contradiction as compliment to her effortless grace of movement. She had flowing locks of auburn red hair that fell to the middle of her back and to Julius’ surprise she wore pants and riding boots. She appeared dressed more as a man than he in his traditional Roman legionnaire’s garb, but it suited her. Peter introduced them.

“Julius, may I introduce my eldest daughter, Mary Margaret.”

“My pleasure,” replied Julius as the woman extended her hand to shake his. Her grip was purposeful, strong yet it did not appear to be an attempt to over compensate for her womanhood, it was completely natural, confidence pure and simple. She smiled sweetly at Julius and simply said, “Midge, everyone but Pa calls me Midge.”

Rose abruptly interrupted the story to exclaim what both she and Sabina were thinking, “Midge? Why does that name sound so familiar? Wait! Wasn’t that the name of our waitress when we went to Chicago and met you? What are the odds?”

“Yes, it is curious,” replied Frederick with a wry smile.

“Sorry,” said Rose. “It’s just an unusual name. Please go on.”

From that first meeting at lunch Mary Margaret and Julius seemed taken with each other. When the meal had finished Midge asked Julius if he would care to go for a ride around the property with her. He thought momentarily and then thinking better of it, made a comment about having to get back to his men and that he had a long hike ahead of him. Midge scoffed and jeered him with a comment about the day being young, and the more Julius thought about it the more he had to admit that he did not want to go, not just yet.

Julius and Peter exchanged hand shakes and Midge and Julius excused themselves from the table heading back into the kitchen and out yet another door that lead to a covered pathway toward the stables. The stables were constructed of the same stone in the same style as the main house and as they entered, Julius thought to himself that these animals lived better than he did on most days.

He had been traveling on campaign for the Emperor going on the better part of five years and though he relished the sights, power and glory that came with being a general of a Roman legion, he did not have much of a taste left for the blood and loss of battle. He was not an old man by any stretch of the imagination; it just seemed that the more and more different people and beliefs that he was confronted with on his travels the more he appreciated the diversity of the world they lived in. It occurred to him that to see all people think, act dress and speak as a typical Roman would be boring. His allegiance was to his Emperor, but his heart was not in it, at least not as much as it used to be.

Midge directed him to a large steed. They saddled the animals and headed out the back side of the stables on a well worn path, Midge leading the way. The view was awe inspiring. He had made note the evening before that these trees were larger than any he had ever seen, but up close they were colossal and magnificent. They wound back and forth, Midge pointing out various things as they went and soon had broken the tree line on the other side of the valley. It was no less of a sight from this angle and the waterfall now facing them seemed but a trickle spouting from the side of the majestic peak across from them.

Midge offered that it wasn’t really as far away as it looked, almost reading Julius’ mind. He suggested that they head back so that he could make his journey back to his men. Midge agreed sullenly. “You know,” she said, “You are the first outsider that has ever been aloud into our valley that I can ever remember who did not come here for a very specific purpose.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I am not sure how you found the entrance to the cave leading here, but few have ever seen the inside of it and it is the only way in or out of our valley.”

“Hmmm…” acknowledged Julius, but he was thinking that it was an unbelievable stroke of luck that his scout had seen the opening to the cavern and the only reason it had caught their attention at all was because of the raging and bitter storm that had been battering his men and he was desperate to find them shelter. They had been traveling for weeks to bring troop replenishments to the governor of the region, but had met nothing but inclement weather and hostile terrain ever since departing from their last base camp. He had to admit that it was a miserable journey thus far and they were extremely behind schedule. His mind then wandered to the naivety of the woman thinking that the way he had traveled to this valley was the only way in or out. He had traversed more mountain ranges than he could name off the top of head and was certain that there were other passes located throughout the area. “Are you sure,” asked Julius?

“Quite,” said Midge. “I have been traveling and exploring this valley since I was old enough to ride. I know every inch as if it was the back of my hand and I assure you, one way in, one way out.”

“That sounds very lonely,” said Julius.

They rode on in silence and soon returned to the stables. They took the saddles off the horses, watered and fed them and then headed back toward the castle. The sun was just beginning its decent in the west and Julius was anxious to get back.

“Before you go, please let me give you a tour of our home,” said Midge.

Again the foreign gnawing at his chest was overriding the logical dialog in his head and he agreed. If Julius had thought that what he had seen of the manor was exquisite before, he simply did not have words for the rest of the dwelling. It was spacious, luxuriant beyond his wildest imagination yet the entirety of each space had a warm and welcoming feeling and familiarity to it. It was the strangest feeling he had ever had. It was the feeling of home and this place was many things, but like his home, was not one of them.

At the conclusion of his tour, he thanked his hostess for a pleasant day collected his pack and coat from near the door and headed back out the way he had come. He followed the road and perhaps it was because he was by himself this time rather than traveling with others or that it was up hill, but the walk seemed to be taking far longer than it had on the way there.

The last of day light was falling behind the mountains when he rounded a bend bringing the bridge into sight. The closer he got the more unsettled he felt. This did not look right. Where there had been a strong, well engineered and constructed bridge that morning there was now only a small rope bridge that looked as if bearing his weight might be more than it could handle. Had he taken a wrong turn somewhere? No he was absolutely certain that there was only one road. There had never been an option of choosing a different direction or alternate path. He had no explanation for what could have happened to the bridge during his one day absence but his he knew that his legs and back were tired and he wanted nothing more right now than a warm place near the hearth, a goblet of wine a report on the status of his men and their readiness for travel the next morning. He secured his pack to his back and tested the rope as best he could before exposing it to his full weight. It seemed sturdy enough. He stepped onto it and slowly and carefully made his way across. This was not a view of the waterfall he had wished to experience. He much preferred the view he had had that afternoon with Midge during their ride. She was a lovely woman and he wished already that he would be able to see her again and really get to know her. His young wife and son had died during childbirth nearly six years ago and this had been the first time that he had even given another a woman a second thought. However, now was not the time for musing about the past and things he could not change. This bridge required his full attention if he intended to make it to the other side in one piece. He took his time and slowly but surely with several breathless moments during the traversing of the gorge below him he set foot safely on the other side. He approached the entrance to the cave and looked for a torch. He found one just inside the entrance and was terrified by what it illuminated. Where there had been the well constructed dock had been that morning was a battered and broken remnant. The trail he had walked with his men earlier that morning still seemed passable, but there were rocks and other debris cluttering the walk way now. He hurried as best he could to get back to the main cavern he had an ever sickening and unsettling feeling that he could not shake. He had no explanation for the state of what he had seen just hours before, but if he did not know better it appeared as if years had passed without a single sole tending to what had been immaculate only that morning.

He continued on and as he broke through the entrance into the main barracks cavern, he could not believe his eyes. It was deserted. Not just deserted but barren. There was nothing there. There was no hearth. There were no tables and benches. There was no trace of the stores of supplies and provisions and more frighteningly his men. He called out, but he wasn’t certain why. It was obvious to any logical thinking person that there was no one there and he deeply questioned his sanity at that moment. He crossed the large cavern to the entrance and peered out. It was like looking into a dream. Nothing was as he remembered it. There was simply no trace of anything he had known to be true that morning. It was impossible that his men had completely deconstructed what had been built there and left, leaving no trace of their existence in only the passing of one day. He looked outside again and it was now fully dark.

He stepped back into the cave and took stock of what was in the cavern. He found some wood strewn about and was never more thankful for his pack at that moment. He reasoned with himself that there was nothing he could do right then. He would set up camp for the night and review his options when day broke. He built a small fire and wrapped himself in the warmth of the fur coat and quickly fell off to sleep exhaustion overtaking him.

When he woke in the morning he was stiff and disoriented. The small fire he had built the night before had long gone out and he was chill lying only on his mat with the fur to keep him warm and soften the cold hard floor of the cave. In the light of day his circumstances had not improved. The cave appeared as it had when he went to sleep that night before, empty, barren and deserted by his faithful men. How could this happen? He had lead these same men for six years, lived and fought with them. Laughed and ate and drank with them. Where had they gone? What had happened here? He pulled some rations from his pack quickly eating them and decided that a group of men that large could not travel even a short distance without leaving evidence of their path of travel. He would mark the entrance to the cave and do his best to discover what direction they had taken.

He pulled a red scarf from his pack; firmly secured it to large fallen limb he dragged from the underbrush and leant it against the entrance to the cave. Within the hour he should have a good feel for which direction his men had gone and traveling alone he would be able to make good time and hopefully catch up with them by nightfall.

He surveyed the land around the entrance to the cave, but there was nothing but untouched undergrowth. Nothing was matted; there were no broken sticks, tracks or trodden soil. He walked in a spiral away from the entrance of the cave for the next hour, but there was nothing. It was as if his Legion was a figment of his imagination and had never existed. He slowly made his way back to the cave entrance and took shelter inside to have something to eat. He reasoned that his only course of action now was to return to Peter’s house and see if they could help him locate his men and make his way back to them.

He finished the snack he had pulled from his pack and began making his way back through the cave. When he emerged, he nearly fainted. The bridge was back. He had to be losing his mind. Perhaps he had caught a fever and was hallucinating or this was some awful nightmare. He pinched his arm and then laughed out loud at himself. He was not crazy and if he was dreaming he was not waking at the moment so best to go along with it. He made his way across the bridge, as well constructed sturdy and permanent as it had been the previous day and quickly followed the road back to the castle Von Kellar.

He passed through the gate in the wall and made his way up the stairs at the front of the manor. As he grasped one of the large knockers to announce his return, he lightly set it back down without a sound. What would he say to these people? They would think him a raving lunatic. But then he reminded himself that he had to be in the grips of some fever driven dream r delusion, so why did he care what these people thought of him or his tale and lifted the knocker again and gave it several hearty clanks on the door. It was not but a moment before Peter was standing before him.

“Julius!” He said embracing him as if he were the prodigal son having just returned home. “Are you Ok? Did you find somewhere to shelter for the night? We fully expected you to return before nightfall, but when there was no sign of you and we could not make out your location from the tower we assured ourselves that youa re a seasoned soldier and would have no trouble fairing for the night. You must be starving! Come, come to the kitchen and we will see what Batista can scrounge up for you. It is baking day, so chances are good there may be bread still warm from the oven.”

Completely disoriented and really having no idea at all what to say, Julius simply followed Peter into the kitchen. Batista it seemed had heard the ruckus in the entry way and had already put a plate together for Julius and cracked a fresh warm loaf which she placed on the table for him. He set his pack aside and sat heavily at the table.

“You don’t seem quite yourself, Julius. Are you sure that you are alright,” asked Peter?

“To be honest Peter, I am not. It has been the strangest day of my life and I would recount the time passed since I left you yesterday afternoon, if I thought there were any chance in hell of you believing a word I said.”

“Try me,” said Peter. Batista and the two other girls chuckled and went about their baking.

Peter started apprehensively, reminding him self this was only a dream and he would soon awake to have a long laugh with his men. “I left yesterday afternoon after my ride with Midge, um, Mary Margaret and traveled back the way we came yesterday morning. Unless I am mistaken there are no alternate routes?”

“No, there are not,” said Peter.

“Well, as I said, I traveled back the way we had come in the morning, but when I arrived at the place of the waterfall the bridge we crossed earlier that day was gone and only a shaky rope bridge was in its place. Your boat dock was in ruins and when I returned to main cavern of the cave there was no sign of either my men or that there had ever been anything constructed to accommodate the housing of anyone. It was a barren and deserted space. I ventured out this morning to find no sign of any travelers, let alone a large group of men having passed anywhere near the entrance to the cavern. It was at that time that I made the decision to return here and beg for your assistance.”

“Julius. You will recall before we began our journey into the mountain that I asked you if you were certain that you wanted to go. That there would be consequences for the choice that you made?”

“Yes, of course, but I don’t understand?”

“I also believe both my daughter and I told you that this valley is like no other and that we do not see visitors, only those who come here for a specific purpose?”

“Yes, I believe you both did, but what does this have to do with me? I was simply coming here for the day to pay my respects to the lord of the manor, whom you are. We had a lovely lunch and I enjoyed a brilliant afternoon ride with your charming daughter. I never indicated that I was here for any other purpose.”

“This is true, you did not. However that is not exactly how this works.”

Julius took an exasperated breath and lowered his head into his hands. It had begun pounding moments ago and at the moment he felt as if it might explode. He thought to himself, now would be a really good time to wake up. This is the strangest dream I have ever had.

“What do you mean,” asked Julius?

“You came to this valley with a specific purpose that you defined, but that does not necessarily mean that your reason was the specific reason you came here. You see, the valley defines the reason that people are brought here, not the other way around.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I am sure that you don’t. It was difficult for each of us when we first came here. Some have been here longer than others and some like Mary Margaret were born here. But however difficult it may be to understand the truth of the matter remains that you chose to enter the valley and your life as you knew it is gone. I am sorry, but these are the consequences of the choice you made.”

“I just don’t understand, I just don’t understand. How can this be? What is going on?”

“The life you knew before coming to this place no longer exists. You will maintain your memories so long as you choose, but those you knew before will have no recollection of you. There are many ways that you can think about this turn of events in your life, but I recommend you think of it as a new beginning and enjoy all that this valley offers and accept the role that you have been chosen for.”

“Role? What role?”

“It seems that we have all yet to discover what your purpose for being here is. In the mean time I will show you to your rooms and you can have a rest as you digest all of this.”

Julius sat at the table and just shook his head as he massaged his temples. Rest; yes rest seemed like a very good idea. The sooner that he went to sleep the sooner he could wake up from this nightmare. He followed Peter up the staircase and down a corridor to their right at the top. Peter stopped at the last door on the right hand side and entered. Julius followed him through the door. It was a large sitting room with a fire place, table and chairs, a setae and the right wall of the room was a wall of shelve full of more books than he had ever seen. To their left was another door that entered into the sleeping chamber. There was a large canopied bed with lavish drapes that were drawn back, a wardrobe and chest of drawers and another fire place. Peter asked Julius if he needed anything and Julius, just shook his head. Peter left him then.

Julius placed his pack inside the wardrobe and collapsed on the bed almost instantly falling asleep. When he awoke the light in the room was soft and there was a small fire in the fire place, taking the chill out of the air. As Julius became more aware there was a knock at the door. When he opened it, Midge was standing there with a huge smile on her face.

“It’s time for dinner, will you join us?

“Yes of course.”

“You remember the way, or would you like me to wait for you? There are fresh clothes in the wardrobe.”

“Thank you. Yes, I remember the way. There is no need for you to wait on me. I will be right behind you.”

“All right then,” said Midge and she left the room.

Julius turned to the wardrobe and opened it. He had not noticed its contents when he had placed his pack inside earlier. There were many different selections of attire contained inside and he chose a fresh set of clothing and changed. When he entered the sitting room he noticed a basin with a pitcher of water, one of the magical stones and a fresh towel. He washed his face and hands as he had with Peter yesterday and headed downstairs and into the dining hall. When he entered everyone had already sat down and began their meal. He took his chair and while all of those gathered smiled and nodded. He exchanged silent pleasantries with those at the table and began to fill his plate. When he was done Midge lightly set her hand on his and Peter who was seated on his other side did the same.

She simply said, “It will be OK.” Peter nodded in agreement. Julius forced a smile and began to eat. When the meal was finished the people who had gathered began to disperse. Peter announced as they left the room that there would be music and refreshments later in the in the salon if they cared to join and to get to know Julius better. Thanks were shouted back into the room and Julius was left in them room with Peter, Midge, Batista and the girls as they cleared the remains of the meal from the table and quietly exited room.

Peter took his place back at the table and Midge joined him. Peter collected glasses and a bottle of liquid from a small table against the wall and sat them in front of the three of them pouring from the bottle as he sat.

“Thank you,” said Julius.

“For what,” asked Peter?

“For taking me in and being so kind to me.”

“It is our honor and our pleasure.”

“Did you get settled OK in your rooms,” asked Midge?

“Yes thank you. Julius paused then asked, “Am I to understand that I now live here and this is my home?”

“Yes,” said Peter plainly.

“Am I free to leave?”

“Yes of course, whenever you like. Might I suggest that the first few times you venture outside of the valley you request an escort to facilitate you easily finding your way back,” suggested Peter. “I don not mean to burden you, but I must remind you that if you should leave and return to land you knew before coming here, there will be no memory of you though you will remember the people and places you return to.”

“Yes, I remember,” said Julius.

They spent the early evening sipping their brandy while Peter and Midge explained the history of their family and the valley to Julius. He was still in a styate of shock, but listened intently and after some time began to think that this path his life had taken may be a great blessing in disguise. He really did not leave that much of consequence behind in his old life and this opportunity gave him a way of escaping the life he had led before that did not bring him the satisfaction that it once had. After they had finished their drinks, Peter suggested that they go join the others in the salon for some entertainment.

They all agreed that that sounded like a great idea. The remainder of the night was whiled away with song and drink as Julius began to know the kind people who had taken him in and were to be his family. He learned that the Von Kellar name came from making the spirit that they had enjoyed after their dinner. Kellar was a Germanic name meaning cellar and this family was known far beyond the valley for their spirits, wines and ales that they created. They sampled many of the different beverages during the course of the night and was told that he would be welcome to learn the trade if he so desired. Peter told him that they would tour the brewing, distilling and cellars the following day. Julius asked many questions and more the he learned about these people the more he liked them. The people he began to know were without exception kind hearted, intelligent and funny. He discovered that he shared much in common with Midge and the more that they talked the more that he liked her every moment. She was incredibly strong willed, opinionated, well read and well spoken, as well a beautiful. He had never met a woman anything like her and he had to admit that he was smitten. He did not know for sure what was happening between the two of them, but he was sure that he wanted to learn more about her. He wanted to learn everything about her.

They talked and sang and drank late into the night and finally he excused himself, his head swimming and his eyes heavy. As he headed to his rooms at the end of their time together, to go to bed, he thought to himself that he could be happy here, very happy indeed.

Julius spent the next days and months getting to know the valley and the people who lived there. He took great interest in the process of learning the family trade. Peter was a Brew Master. Peter’s one brother Paul was a Master Distiller and his other brother Clayton was whatever they call Master Wine Maker Guys. Julius took great interest in learning their business and secrets of the trade they had made their own and brought to the elite of the world.

Julius learned that Peter’s father George was the first to inhabit this valley and came here with his wife Bernetta when his eldest brother Clayton was just a baby. (Elaborate here on how and why they came here and from where.) Everything they saw around them had been built by his family and the others who made the choice to live here as a member of their community. Paul and Peter had been born there. Peter met his wife, Batista in what is now Italy when attending university and they made the valley their home after they were married. The more Julius learned the more he understood that time seemed to stand still in the valley. The passage of time was different here then other places.

Julius and Mary Margaret became closer by the day and after several months they announced that they would be married. A lavish celebration was planned both in the valley with their closest family and friends as well as at the family’s chateau outside of Geneva. The Swiss ceremony overlooking the mountains of France and Lake Geneva was a lavish affair attended by business partners, heads of state and even royalty. Julius and Midge soon began a family and were content and happy in their lives.

Julius had become well known the world over for his talents in the family business and he was not long into his learning of that business when he discovered the reason for their vast and extensive success. The spirits, wines and beers crafted in the valley carried a little of the place that they were made with them when they were taken into the greater market place out in the world.

Those who drank from the bottles of the Von Kellar masters were soon cured of what ailed them and though the Von Kellar’s would never admit it, those who were their most loyal patrons seemed to live unusually long, healthy and prosperous lives. This secret was guarded as the valuable treasure that it was and their products were afforded by only the most wealthy due to their rare and scarce supply. Over the generations the Von Kellars had amassed wealth beyond description both through their business enterprises as well as their connections to those in positions of power and wealth outside the valley.

Many had asked to tour the production facilities of the Von Kellar’s, but as with the secret of their export, where it was made and the very special place that it came from was not a place found on any map. If it had been, their valley would have been tucked into the alps of Switzerland and Austria, but because the only entrance to the valley was through the cave that Julius had stumbled upon once upon a time and which he later learned was only visible to those meant to find it, the Von Kellars had lived a peaceful, successful and bountiful life and legacy.

With the riches the family amassed and as the family grew, some chose to live in the valley others to live outside of it. All those with the blood of a Von Kellar could come and go from valley, but as it was with Julius those brought into the family from the outside were all required to make the choice that Julius had; to leave behind all that they knew before if they wished to enter the valley and learn the secrets of the family Von Kellar.

Frederick paused nearing the end of his historical tale and said to his daughters.”Though the castle and the valley are open at any time to you and your children, Jeff and Mark, should you ever chose to travel there, I must make certain that you understand fully the consequences of the action and choice that you make.”

“I told you that there was a legacy and tradition that you would be called upon to perpetuate. That legacy is the business of the Von Kellars and to learn intimately the business and mastery that has been passed from generation to generation and the secrets that have been protected through all of this time. Though it sounds like a benign undertaking I assure it is not. I don’t think that it will come as a surprise to you that the powers possessed by our family and their products exported from the valley are powers that men of this world would kill for, and have. I offer you all of the things that have been described to you today, but I need for you girls to understand as well the cost and burden that comes with the name Von Kellar. Should you choose not embark on this journey with me to learn the secrets of your biological past, everything outside of the valley will remain at your disposal for the remainder of your lives. The only requirement being that you do good in the world and leave it a better place than when you came into it. I do not begrudge you travel, luxury or fine things that may be purchased with the money at your disposal, however frivolous waste will not be tolerated.”

The women sat stunned. They really had no idea how to reply to this.

Frederick offered that they would have until the end of the day to decide if they would choose to learn the secrets of the bottles of the Von Kellars. Should they decide not to embark on this journey they would go to sleep that night remembering the details of the meeting as delivered by Alias, but would remember nothing of what Frederick had told them. He handed them a card with a phone number on it. Before they could ask questions Frederick acknowledged that they must have many, but they had very important matters to discuss as the end of the day would come more quickly than they realized.

They were free to take the books they had received that day and to utilize their contents as a reference in their decision making process. Frederick abruptly apologized and quickly bid all in the room farewell. He had to leave at once.

Rose and Sabina awkwardly hugged the man and reassured him that they would contact him by the end of the day with their decisions. Frederick and Alias exited the room and the couples sat down heavily on the furniture.

“This is all just unbelievable,” blurted Rose.

“No shit,” replied Sabina, Jeff and Mark in unison. They all laughed.

Alias returned to the room and asked if they had any other questions.

They all agreed that they were good for the time being, but would certainly call if anything came up. They thanked him for his hospitality, gathered their things and headed for the door. They all exchanged pleasantries with Emily as they left. The guys headed back to work and the women headed for their car to head back home.

They carried their arm loads of stuff, found the car, deposited everything and headed back to Rose’s house. When they got there Rose asked if Sabina would like some coffee as they discussed options. They collected all of the things from the car and set up camp at the kitchen table.

“Why do I feel like there is a catch in this somewhere,” asked Rose?

“I know me too. When something appears to be too good to be true it usually is. I don’t know about you, but luck was never my lady and while the opportunity that has been offered us is something of dream come true, that never so much happens for me, at least not this wrapped up with a bow and crap,” said Sabina.

Rose poured the coffee and took a seat at the table. “Hungry?”

“Nah, I ate enough at the meeting to kill a small child. I’m so full you’ll probably have to roll me out of here.”

They laughed.

“I know what you mean about this feeling like trick,” said Rose. “It’s the same with me. Nothing has ever come easy and I just can not place me finger on what I’m missing, but there is something.”

“Let’s look at the books. Maybe there is something there that Frederick didn’t mention his little fairy tale during the meeting.”

They opened the huge volumes in front of them and began flipping through. They had not made it past the first page or two in the office because they had both gotten wrapped up in the story being told to them. After the beautiful illustration of the castle Von Kellar there were detail maps of the grounds as well as floor plans and what seemed almost like blue prints for the castle itself. Each floor and wing was detailed, so much so, that the they could have spent weeks reviewing all of the illustrations there and still not taken everything in.

Sabina had flipped to the floor plans of the production facilities and what appeared to be offices. It appeared as if an extremely modern complex had been constructed, but that most of the aging of the wines and liquors still took place in the original cellars of the castle.

Following the layouts, maps and blue prints were org charts for the business. The women began to flip back and forth between the org chart and the family tree at the beginning of the books. Each person was accounted for. Their names did not appear on the org chart and they discussed where they might fall into it should they choose to join the family business. Frederick had said that they would be taught the secrets of all the different product production eventually become masters in their chosen area or all three if they so wanted. Currently only Frederick’s name appeared as master brew-ha-ha in all three areas.

After the org chart there began what appeared to be some sort of hand book, or perhaps the better word was rule book. The women began reading and both stopped short and looked to each other when they got to the Security Protocol section. The first portion of this section began by speaking about security escorts and body guards.

“Ah, so here it is,” said Rose. “Body guards, really?”

“Look,” said Sabina “We have to look at all of this from a perspective we did not have before this week. There is something ‘supernatural’ for lack of a better word tied to this. Frederick insinuated that by drinking the products that are produced in the valley by our family, that people are miraculous cured of ills, live long and prosper. I am assuming that they don’t utilize this property of their product in any sort of mass ad campaign, but if people over the years have begun to figure this out I can see how there could be a security risk surrounding those who have this knowledge and an even larger security risk for those who know where the production takes place and the process of production itself.”

“You’re probably right,” agreed Rose.

“I am not concerned about the security protocol for myself, but I am concerned about turning my children’s life into a circus where they have a shadow ala a Presidents kid or something from here to eternity. This is going to be a huge adjustment for them anyway. I have never had a problem with the school they attend now, but let’s be honest, if either of could afford it we would be sending them to some sort of private school. I am not looking to ship my kids off to some hoity toity boarding school, but if I have the means there are a lot of good options around here that would allow them to keep their circle of friends and better their education.”

“Agreed.” Said Rose.

“So to protect the kids, say we take this gig, we could agree to tell people that we both found jobs working for a liquor distributor. Nothing says we have to go into details about where it is and what exactly we actually do there. Hell, we could make up a name for the company and say we are in sales. Not exactly lying, but not telling the whole truth either. As far as we know, there is a very limited circle of people who know about this company and with a little discretion we could distance the kids and keep our involvement with this business pretty low key.”

“Agreed. I feel like such a secret agent!”

“Shut up Rose, this is serious!”

“I know, I know, cut a sister some slack! I agree completely with you. So, does this mean we are going to do this?”

“Let’s keep looking at the book. I don’t want miss anything that I am going to regret later,” said Sabina.

“Good call,” said Rose.

They continued to flip through the pages. In the mean time the kids had come home from school and thanks to a call to the school office and a friend, all the kids were dropped off at Rose’s house and the decision was made to stay there for dinner. Phone calls were made to Jeff, so he didn’t bother going home after work.

There was nothing more that was blatantly obvious to them to raise any red flags, so the women began preparing dinner and chatting with the kids about their days. There was nothing more that they could do on their own about deciding what to do. This decision was theirs, but not solely. They could not decide for their husbands what was right for their families.

The women uncorked a bottle of wine and joked that they always knew there was alcohol in their blood and that they could get used to the whole drinking on the job thing.

The hubbies were soon home and they all sat down for a nice meal together. How the kids got smarter, what they had for lunch and who got in fight with whom about what dominated the conversation at that point. The kids finished up, the table was cleared, another bottle of wine opened and big people sat down to make some major life decisions.

The women recounted what they had learned from the book and talked about that afternoon before they had gotten home and the guys were for the most part on board.

“Wait a minute,” said Jeff. “Did Frederick say anything about how people got to the valley?”

“Just that only those who were supposed to could find it, dun dun dun,” Sabina jested.

“He did say something about, if it were on a map it would be in the alps somewhere between Switzerland and Austria, didn’t he” offered Mark?

“He did,” said Rose. “Not exactly a commutable distance to and from work in the morning and afternoon.”

“Oh yeah, there is that. OK, Frederick had to realize that we were not going to uproot our families completely and head off to live in some castle in a valley that doesn’t really exist or leave our husbands and kids to live half way around the world. There has to be something in the book about how we get there. Maybe there is a simple explanation that we overlooked because we were thinking in terms of conventionalism. The process for getting there probably is not a set of GPS coordinates or a map.” Said Sabina.

“You’re right,” said Rose.

Each couple grabbed a book and began skimming pages. Tucked between two larger chapters, almost as a foot note, there was a heading entitled, Accessing the Valley. The women must have missed it earlier as it was only a couple of pages long. Mark began to read…

“Access to the valley is obtained through a portal provided to family members who chose not to live there. This allows for our family to exist in a world outside of the valley and the special circumstances living there impose.”

“A portal? What is this, some sort of Sci Fi extravaganza,” asked Jeff.

“Well, did you really expect something different, asked Sabina? “After all the crazy shit that has happened this week? The passage is pretty vague, but gives us the answer we needed. It appears that Rose and I would be able to get up in the morning, go into work by magic carpet or whatever and come home again at the end of the day. Now we need to talk about you two and the valley. Are you both OK with not going there? Ever? I am sort of assuming that you aren’t keen on cutting ties with everyone you have ever known including your entire families. I would not have that problem, never seeing your mother again, Sabina joked. But I could never seriously expect you to give up your family, your jobs or friends.”

“Oh, let’s not be mistaken here,” said Jeff. “I will be giving up my job. There was enough laid out in front of me to keep me busy and unconcerned with the valley for the foreseeable future, am I right Mark?”

“Works for me,” agreed Mark.

“Are you sure,” asked Rose?

“I am not dealing with some curiousity killed the cat bullshit 6 months down the road when you can’t see where Mommy goes to work every day,” warned Sabina.

“Yeah, me neither,” said Rose.

“Ladies, ladies ladies! Did you miss the meeting this morning?, Jeff said, there are water sports to be enjoyed, pools to sit by, slopes to be skied, mountains to be hiked, amusement parks to explore, and on a more responsible note there was the matter of undertaking some sort of charity work with access to all of this. I think I can speak for my amigo here that we would not only be willing, but certainly capable of undertaking the responsibility of handling that aspect of the deal, which I believe does not require us to have to go to the valley and become sad loners lost to our loved ones and world forever…”

“Ok! Point made!” Said Sabina. She and Rose both laughing heartily and taking a big gulp of their wine.

“Shall we make the call,” asked Rose?

“Let’s do this,” exclaimed Sabina and as Rose dialed the number they made a toast to their futures.

Rose delivered the news Frederick who was overjoyed and ecstatic with the set up that had described for who would be going to the valley and who would not; what they would be telling people and so on and so forth. He asked that Rose put him on speaker, which she did.

“I am so excited and pleased with the choices that you have all made. Girls, I will leave instructions in the book you received when we first met and will expect you at 9:30 AM your time on Monday morning to begin. Please, take the rest of the week and go somewhere fun! Take advantage of what is now yours and bring my grand children up to speed, would you! I would very much like to meet them.”

“All right, all right!” The girls both said at once.

“You will give Emily a call to make any travel arrangements you might need?”

“We will and thank you. We will see you Monday.”

“Very good,” exclaimed Frederick. “Good night to you all and good bye for now.”

With that he hung up. The parents yelled for the kids and sat them all down at the kitchen table. They gave the giant crayon overview and asked where they wanted to go. Suggestions erupted, everyone screaming out at once. They decided to put all the possible destinations in a hat and pick one. A short rock, paper, scissors tournament determined who would draw, and the destination was selected.

“Pack your bags folks, we are off to the Caymans!” Sabina called Emily as the kids danced around like crazy people high fiving each other and making exclamations of awesomeness.

“OK! Looks like we will be seeing all of you tomorrow, 10 AM at the airport. Emily said that we will only need to bring personal items as the house is fully outfitted with whatever else we might need and she will e-mail us directions to the private hanger with parking instructions. So there!”

“Well there ya go,” said Rose, “See you in the morning.”

The morning could not come fast enough. Everyone was so excited. They all arrived really early to the hanger, making sure they were in the right place, parking the cars, not even the pilots were there yet, but Emily was anticipating their arrival. She had hot coffee made and a lovely selection of baked goods for them to munch on while they waited for the pilots to arrive. She joked with them that they didn’t need to be to the airport two hours ahead of time when they were not flying commercial. Rose and Sabina joked back, asking her to cut them slack, this was the first time they were trying this out.

The pilots arrived and flight went smoothly. As they walked into the front door Sabina audibly inhaled. Standing there was Andrew, the same Andrew that had been in her dreams. This was too weird. He welcomed everyone warmly and directed them to their rooms. Again Sabina nearly passed out when she walked into their suite of rooms. It was exactly the same, down to every detail. She practically ran her husband over on her way to the closet, room, heaven… She wasn’t sure what to call it. Jeff followed her in and asked her what the big deal was.

She looked at him and said, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Really?!” he answered back.

I had a dream, well actually two dreams, and I was here, in this room, and all of this stuff was here, I just can’t believe this.

They all enjoyed an amazing trip. It was better than any dream Sabina had ever had. The weather was perfect, the staff was amazing and kind and the food… Oh Mamma the food! Sunday couldn’t come soon enough for their waistlines, but it went far too quickly. They flew home Sunday morning and exchanged good byes at the airport.

“Ah, hey Sis… You wanna call me with portal instructions when you get home? First day of work tomorrow and all, I wouldn’t want to be stranded in the wrong dimension or anything,” joked Sabina.

“Will do, see you in the morning.” Replied Rose.

Must pack up computer and move to Starbucks. Cute red hair boy and creepy sweat pant dude are distracting me. Turns out the ridiculously overweight, unfit, and pretentious fucks at Starbucks are just as bad.

When they got home the phone rang, it was Rose. “There’s nothing in here.”

What do you mean there’s nothing in there?! There has to be something in there. What are we supposed to do tomorrow get up, get ready and walk into our closets in the morning?

“How the hell am I supposed to know!?!”

“I know! I’m sorry! I’m just nervous and you have met me before, I do not do well with uncertainty and if I am going to be space time warped to my new job, in some imaginary place, for some guy I just met I would just like to understand how that is going to happen before I try to go to sleep tonight!

“Preaching to the choir! Look, nothing that has happened since we went to Chicago has made any sense or had a logical explanation, and so far we are not hurt, maimed or dead, so for once in our lives let’s just roll with it. Set the ole alarm, get up, get ready, get the kids ready, take them to school and be ready at nine thirty and I will call you as soon as I know which closet or toilet you are supposed to dive into and what the magic words are.

“You’re right, I know you’re right. I’m just tired and this is all so surreal. I still can’t wrap my head around everything that has happened.”

“Again… Choir… Try and get a good night sleep. It’s going to be OK, my gut tells me it’s going to be OK.”

“10-4. Good night. Over and out. With that, she hung up the phone moved the suitcase out of her way and fell into bed.

Seriously? This douche bag pretentious fuck is actually requesting a specific temperature for his latte as not to hinder the flavor melding. I thought I was bored. You order a cup of coffee that comes with fruffy crap in it like peppermint and mocha and non fat something something. Man up. Order a cup of black regular and sit down.

I would like for you to explain to me how you know the difference between a 150 degree latte and 140 degree latte. Are you really trying to tell me that after hot when you get to must slirp fucking hot and then scarring the roof of your mouth hot there is some discernable check point there between drinkable and bodily injury that is some sort of coffee nirvana? Details. I need specific and blatantly painful details, and if you can’t give them to me and or provide the fifteen dollars worth of samples at the various temperatures for me to taste test, then shut up. Shut the fuck up. Can you describe that for me please? No one knows the difference between 140 and 150 degrees and if they do they should be kicked… hard… somewhere that’s going to leave a mark… and there will be no crying. Pretty soon we will have fugging cheer leaders for pretentious coffee fucks at Starbucks. They have already taken over baseball; it can’t be too much of a seventh inning stretch.

News flash. Slippers are not shoes, or should I be more specific… House shoes, otherwise known as slippers with a slightly harder sole meant for taking dogs out and fetching newspapers from the front stoop, NOT GOING SHOPPING IN! It is bad enough that I keave my house in UGGS or Crocs, but someone please shoot me immediately and put me out of my misery if I show up to anything other than an impromptu fireside chat in my backyard in slippers, house shoes, whatever the fuck you call them they are not intended for outdoor use, so stop, just stop. Jut because your feet don’t get wet when you step where it has rained does not make it OK.

The alarm went off in the morning, she got up, she got ready, she got the kids ready, she took the kids to school, she walked the dog, and she poured a cup of coffee and sat down at her kitchen table. It was nine fifteen and she had not yet heard from Rose. She was behaving as if she had something better to do or somewhere else to be. Crazy at her kitchen table with fresh hot coffee suddenly didn’t seem so bad.

She was just getting wrapped up in the latest celebrity train wreck being broadcast over the headlines of Facebook, when her phone rang. Nine thirty one.

“Well? What do we do?” She didn’t even get hello out of her mouth.

“Shut your eyes, count to three then open your eyes.”

“Shut the fuck up, this is not a joke… Really, what do I do?”

“I know this is all a little Dorothy goes back to Kansas slash Mary Poppins jumps into a chalk painting for your ass, but that’s it. Close your eyes, count to three and then open them. To come back, close your eyes count backwards from three open your eyes.

So after trading a few more wise cracks, Sabina and Rose hung up their phones, closed their eyes and counted to three and when they opened them, they were standing before the wide front outdoor stair case of the Castle in the valley. No sooner had their eyes opened than Frederick was coming out the gigantic front doors to meet them.

“I’m so glad you’re here! Your trip was pleasant?”

“Like we never left our kitchen tables,” said Rose. Sabina gave her a sharp elbow to the ribs.

“Good! Good! Well let’s get started. First I will give you the grand tour of the house and then we will head back to the offices. The castle was just as Frederick had described it during his story the day before, only to actually be standing there and to be able to touch and see the things he had been talk about brought it so much closer to home for both of the women. Everyone they met was gracious and kind. Some of the names they recognized others were not familiar. They both felt a little like kindergarteners on their first day of school. It took the entirety of the first day to tour the grounds and buildings of the valley. Thankfully they had upgraded to some sweet tricked out Cushman’s. The women had been silently hoping they wouldn’t be expected to saddle up a horse and pretend they had the first clue about riding anything more than the wave of their womanly cycles.

Standing back in front of the castle at the end of their first day, they bid Frederick good night and that they would see him in the morning. They closed their eyes and counted… Three… Two… One… Both women opened their eyes and they were sitting at their own respective kitchen tables. Mary Poppins ain’t shit thought Rose…

The next few months were spent doing research, reading books, learning and watching. There was so much to take in and neither one of them had really even started to learn anything about the business outside of the valley.

Rose took a preference for the beer. She spent hours reading about hops, yeasts and different brew methods and barrel types. She discovered quickly that she had a nose for it and easily became able to tell the difference between different brews by smell and taste alone. Sabina showed great talent for the brandies and whiskies. For each hour that Rose spent on the hops, Sabina spent learning the various malts and distillation techniques. Frederick was proud of both them and the work that they were putting into learning everything there was to know.

Both women had always been fond of the wine and quickly became certified as sommeliers. They were intrigued by the vast and different tastes that wines carried based on where the grapes were grown and the type of wood used to age the different vintages.

Just when Sabina and Rose had gotten into a groove, so to speak, Frederick announced one Friday that they would begin training on Monday in sales and distribution. Both girls had begun to know some of the names that were on their client lists as they had special vintages of wine, blends of whiskey and brews specific to only that client. Some names might have been recognized by anyone in the world, some they had never heard before embarking on learning these trades.

Frederick asked the women to meet him at the jet’s hanger at the airport Monday morning. The sisters headed home, three, two, one… Friday night with a nervousness and giddy anticipation for Monday morning to come. Emily had provided their itineraries’ for the trip next week. They would be gone through Thursday and it was the first business trip that the women would be on away from husbands and kids.

The weekend swarmed them as weekends often do. Too many places to be too many things to do. Sabina was running around the house trying to clean up messes, but between her husband, kids and the dog she was having no luck. When she literally turned her back for a moment and turned around there was another pile of crap for to deal with and without thinking she closed her eyes and counted to three. When she opened her eyes and was standing in front of the castle she was even more frustrated. This was not the first time this had happened, but she was sick of making the mental note to develop another method of relaxation and self control. She was about to close her eyes again when she caught movement off to the left in the garden. She had no explanation why this caught her attention because it was absolutely not unusual, but for whatever reason she turned and walked toward the noise.

She was approaching a large Grecian statue of a lovely woman draped in robes in the garden when she ducked behind it on instinct. Not only was there a scuffle, but hushed voices and her gut told her to stay where she was and to keep her ears open and her mouth shut.

She felt like a little kid and thought to herself it would be funny if Rose were there so they could activate wonder twin powers or something. The movement was coming closer and she shrunk as best she could in her hiding place. She was pretty sure she did not recognize the voices and as they got closer she began to be able to make out what they were saying.

It was a man and a woman. They were speaking in hushed tones and Sabina had to strain to hear what their conversation was about.

“Is everything in place,” the man’s voice asked?

“Yes, everything has been arranged as you requested. Are you sure that this is going to work?” asked the woman.

“We have been planning for years, and we will never get the opportunity to catch the old man off guard like this again. Cripes he’s like a giddy little school boy going on field trip with his “daughters”. The sarcasm oozed as he spoke and it took most of Sabina’s self control to not burst out into the open and tell this jerk off. There was that little voice inside her though that compelled her to keep quiet, that somehow this was important, more than just disgruntled break room talk. “They are leaving Monday morning, Chicago first then LA, then back to New York before heading back here. He’s going to be training them for sales. Can you believe these women? We have worked and studied and learned our entire lives and then these two broads show up… I can’t wait until they are out of the way.”

“Yes, it will be nice to have things back to normal.”

What the hell?!? Who the hell were these two and what the hell do they mean by “out of the way?!” This made no sense, whatever they had been planning they said they had been working on it for years and it had not even been a year yet since she and Rose learned of their biological father and the business and everything else. They had to be relatives or extremely close and trusted friends of the family to be in the valley, but Sabina could still not recognize their voices. There had been a great deal of talk about the security detail that would accompany them on their trip next week and the protocol that must be followed on these types of trips. She had to admit it had all sounded a little 007 to her as they were reviewing for the nine billionth time Friday afternoon, but none of what she had learned would be of any use or protection to her, Rose or her father if there was some sort of sinister plot being hatched from the inside of the organization.

The man said, “Their flight is scheduled to leave the hanger at eight AM sharp. You make sure that you take care of the guards the night before and I will make sure that we get assigned to the detail for the next day.”

“Got it.” Said the woman.

This is just great thought Sabina. Was she over hearing some actual threat to her safety or just completely misinterpreting a conversation that she had literally fallen into from another dimension. She did not want to over react. Security was so tight already she expected to feel like a fugitive once the trip began already. She could not imagine what it would be like if she ran to daddy and started telling stories about plans to get rid of her and her sister. She tentatively looked out from behind the statue to see the couple. She did not recall seeing them before, but there had been so many people and she had only met a few of the family that lived outside of the valley. She crouched back down and made a decision. She closed her eyes and counted backward, three, two, one.

When she opened her eyes she was standing back in her house staring at the mess that unfortunately had not disappeared as she did. She grabbed her phone and called Rose.

“Hey, do you have dinner plans?”

“Not really, what’s up?”

“Something weird happened this afternoon and I was just thinking it might be a good time to pop in, literally, on Frederick for dinner tonight. Meet me in front of the castle at five?”

“OK, you gonna tell me what’s going on?”

“I’ll fill you in when we get there.”

“10-4 synchronize bat watches, t minus 3 hours and counting, Rose jested, see you then.”

They both hung up, Sabina got back to cleaning up after everyone and everything and tried to think of a plan. If these people were in the valley, it would be unusual for them to not have dinner with everyone else in the dining hall, especially if they were visiting from outside the valley. Sabina figured that the best place to start would be learning who they were and what their deal was, and there were not a lot of better settings than evening meal at the Castle. Sabina phoned Emily to let her know that they would be coming and screamed at her husband in his man cave as she went to get ready. She was pretty sure he heard her. She would leave a note before she left, just in case he wasn’t really paying attention to her.

Both women arrived at the same time. They say women who spend a lot of time together eventually synch up in their womanly cycles and hormonal levels. Sabina didn’t know about all of that, but it was uncanny how the two of them almost always arrived at exactly the same time. They headed in the house to say hi to Batina and girls in the kitchen and to see if they needed any help.

Dinner was nearly ready when they walked in and Batina quickly shooed them out into the dining hall. They waited for everyone else to sit before claiming two seats near their father. Sabina had given Rose the big picture overview about what had happened that afternoon when they got there and they scanned the room for unfamiliar faces. There were only two that they did recall.

A tall lanky man with a pointy nose and an almost equally tall woman with the same build and nose both had nearly white hair. They seemed to be around the same age as Rose and Sabina and they politely asked the kind people sitting next to them who they were.

They discovered during normal dinner time small talk that the couple were in fact brother and sister, great niece and nephew to Frederick. They had been born in the valley, but had not lived there in years except to come and pretend to work during holiday breaks and when they had time to fit it into their social schedules. Their names were Gregory and Katherine. They did not seem at all ill at ease during the meal and Sabina and Rose began to think that maybe they were over reacting and reading something into nothing.

When dinner was finished they received a proper introduction from their father. The brother and sister were polite, but cold in their mannerisms and personalities. Rose attempted a couple jokes and got nothing but annoyed looks from the both of them. The girls grabbed a drink and headed to the kitchen. They knew if they wanted the skinny that the kitchen was the place and Batina was the person who could fill them in.

They offered again to help only to be corralled to the table and another piece of the delicious pie Batina had baked earlier that afternoon shoved in front of them. There were soon hot cups of coffee and Batina settled in next to then as they finished their second helping of desert without complaint, they knew better.

Batina ventured, “SO, this was unexpected. First time you two have shown up here, just to hang out for no particular reason?”

Sabina and Rose looked at each other and then around the room. It was deserted except for the three of them and in a sort of slumber party clandestine manner, Sabina asked, “Gregory and Katherine, What’s their deal?”

“Wow, I knew you girls were sharp, but that was fast. It usually takes people at least a couple days before they say those two’s names in that tone of voice.”

“My first clue we weren’t going to besties was after Dad introduced us and addressed them as Greg and Kathy and I thought that actual glass daggers might fly out of their eyes as they both simultaneously corrected me with their full “preferred” names. Seriously Batina, what gives?”

Batina actually physically winced as Rose was telling her this. “Ah yes, the little prince and princess. They are the grand kids of your Uncle Paul. Both were born here, but have lived most of their life on the outside, spoiled rotten from day one. Not that your uncle, your Dad or the rest of didn’t try, but from the moment they were born they had an air about them that the world owed them something for nothing. They were given the same opportunity to learn the business that you girls were, but they never gave it much more than a half assed effort. Lots more fun to jet around the world going to parties. They like to think they are working, but our products are not served in bars and clubs anywhere, as you know. Their being a club opening in Vegas doesn’t do much for the betterment of the product or the bottom line of the business.”

“So do they hold actual positions within the company, I don’t remember from the org chart” asked Sabina?

“I think they are officially vice presidents of something, but like I said before, it was a gesture by an over indulgent father to his lazy and undeserving children who did not earn it. Have I mentioned what a breath of fresh air the two of you are in my kitchen?” said Batina and she smiled widely, winked and grabbed the coffee pot to refill their cups. “Why the sudden interest in the prodigal cousins?”

Sabina gave Batina the run down of what happened that afternoon, second guessing her account again because of the “been in the works for years” thing.

Batina listened intently and then after thinking for a moment replied in a more serious voice than either woman wanted to hear. “These two have had everything handed to them on a silver platter their entire lives and until the two of you arrived on the scene and actually took a heartfelt interest in learning about the family and the business, no one really paid much attention to them, but now there is a bar to be measured against and they are not measuring up. You two have to remember that your existence was not unknown to us before you arrived. Frederick has been watching you your whole lives waiting for the time that was right to bring you into this craziness. It was probably about five years ago when he started making serious plans for the two of you and the role you would take on here and Gregory and Katherine have been sulking around ever since. They complained a lot about it wasn’t fair after all the “work” they had put in their whole lives, but that didn’t change their work ethic, or personalities,” Batina winked again. “I always figured those two were up to no good, but I honestly have to gage to know how far they would go to preserve what they perceive to be theirs and theirs alone.”

“Well, What should we do now,” asked Rose?

“Well the two of them may have been scheming for a long time, but from the sound of it they are going to try to spike the security detail’s food or drink Sunday night then plead their case to your father to replace the members of the detail. Your Dad is a wonderful man, but he sometime errors on the side naïve when it comes to this family. I will make sure that the Security team eats separately Sunday and you two watch your backs. These two are nothing if they are not snakey and like I said before, I don’t know how far they will go.”

“Thanks Batina” said Rose and Sabina as they exchanged hugs and headed outside to head home. “See you Monday they yelled to their Father and they closed the door behind them.”

Well if these two want a battle royal, bring it on… I’ll kick that skinny bitch’s ass into next week and you can take the bean pole brother out at the knees.

Something tells me it isn’t going to be just that simple, but we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Good night Sis.

Good night.

Rose called Sabina first thing in the morning. “What are we going to do about this?”

“We have been through the security training and protocols about a gagillion times in the last couple weeks. What can they realistically hope to accomplish? Every precaution is taken and with Batina keeping the security detail and the two of them apart today they are not going to be able to do anything to get them selves replaced on the security assignment.”

“They just strike me as unusually weasely and I will just feel more comfortable once we have left and they are not around to try anything crazy.”

BY the next morning, both Jeff and Mark were frankly ready for the women to leave by the time the cars arrived on that morning. Jeff said to Sabina, “Ya know this is not my first day as Dad. Go, schmooze and have fun. We’ll Skype you tomorrow.”

“Thank you. Love you more every day.” The driver loaded her luggage and they arrived shortly at the airport hanger. Emily was there and so were the pilots when they arrived. To both of their surprise Gregory and Katherine were there too.

Frederick greeted the women warmly and made a comment about how nice it was that Gregory and Katherine were able to join them and that he was so proud of the initiative they were showing.

“Yeah, that’s great,” said Rose.

“Good for them,” offered Sabina.

Rose pulled Sabina aside and told her, “Look the security detail we have trained with is still here. We just need to keep an eye on them and be alert. Not like they are going to crash the plane when they are on it themselves. They are not the sharpest knifes in the drawer, but they’re not complete morons either. We just need to stay on our toes.”

Sabina wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince more, Sabina or herself. These two had something up their sleeve and since their original plan as Sabina thought she had overheard it was foiled by Batina helping them out, so they had to be on plan B and Cow only knew what that entailed.

Breakfast was set out on the plane this time and they all settled into their seats and fastened their seat belts. The first stop on their tour would be Chicago. Sabina felt guilty making a flight to a place they could have driven to in a couple of hours, but it was more about getting the plane there for the next leg of their trip than necessity this time.

They arrived in less than an hour and headed to their first meeting. Frederick briefed them as they drove. This client and their family was one of the oldest in the family’s portfolio. One of the wealthiest families in the world, neither Rose nor Sabina had ever heard of them. According to Frederick they did not really have their own business any more; they simply held interests in other companies whose names that were more familiar to them.

They would be meeting with the patriarch of the family and his oldest son, who like Sabina and Rose was being groomed to take over the business when his father decided it was time to retire. They were immediately shown into a lovely conference room when they arrived. To both Rose and Sabina’s shock, Emily was there setting up service for a sampling.

“How the hell? Oh wait, never mind,” said Rose.

Emily turned to her and gave a huge sweet smile. It was not long before the clients joined them. The elder man was handsome and appeared to be in his mid sixties. If the father was good looking, both Sabina and Rose were struck speechless when they saw the son. They both considered themselves pretty self assured women who were not easily rattled, especially by a pretty face, but this guy! Holy Moses… It was like a GQ/ Calvin Klein underwear ad in an Armani suit came walking into the room.

Sabina pinched her sister’s arm, and Rose muttered quietly, “I can see…”

Introductions were made. The father’s name was Henry and the son went by Hank. Sabina couldn’t help feeling like a giddy little school girl. She felt like she was thirteen. What the hell was going on? She was never like this. Of course their hosts were both charming and polite, but as they meeting went on it became obvious to both women that this young buck adored himself probably more than anyone else he had ever met and as each minute passed he became less and less interesting and Rose and Sabina settled into the presentation and sharing the vast knowledge they had been working hard to learn. Gregory and Katherine seemed to be BFFs with ole Hank and spent more time reliving past parties they had been to together than paying any attention to what was going on in the meeting.

After the tasting the elder gentleman Henry suggested dinner, someone mentioned steak and Rose and Sabina were heading for the car. They made a big production about hanging all over Katherine, Gregory and Hank’s every word. They had decided their plan would be to keep their security detail close and their frenemies closer. The fact that the two brats were this close with Hank only presented about a million more ways that these two could try something to hurt their long lost and apparently not so much loved cousins.

They enjoyed a lovely dinner at one of the many great steak houses in downtown Chicago. Rose and Sabina both latched onto their Security guards like they were their boy friends and insisted that they sit next to each other, a guard on each side, with a view of the kitchen and front entrance.

They were putting on a pretty good act at being a little on the tipsy side, they were playing up every angle they could, trying to feign that they had no idea that they were danger and hoping that the cocktails that the 3 yahoos were downing like water would cause them to slip up and let something slide. So far there was nothing but annoying banter between the three of them. Rose swore if she had to hear about another “sik” club opening she might be re-sharing the creamed spinach and rib-eye she had had inhaled at dinner. The women fake stumbled into the room to find the fab three huddled around the bar near the fire place in the private sitting room in the restaurant they had retired to for an after dinner drink.

Sabina and Rose practically fell into a couple of arm chairs near the fire place so they could hear what the three were talking about. After all the wine and food their tongues were loose and the women had a gut feeling that more than just their own safety was at stake. Frederick and Henry had taken up two chairs on the opposite side of the room and seemed to be swapping old war stories or college stories or something. At any rate they were completely oblivious to what ever else was going on in the room. The security detail hovered near the door.

Rose and Sabina leaned into to each other so they would not be overheard. “I have a bad feeling about this whole thing,” said Rose.

“I know, me too,” said Sabina.

“Emily packed up everything from the meeting, right? She’s going to meet us at the plane?

“Yes.”

“Frederick brought one bottle of the requested whiskey blend with us to dinner and it is still sitting between him and Henry on the table. We just need to make sure that the three of them stay away from it.”

“Agreed, but we also need to determine what these knuckle heads are up to.”

“Let’s see what we can hear, but keep an eye ball peeled on them.”

“10-4”

Rose leaned back and laughed heartily like she had just told the funniest joke ever known to man. Sabina followed suit. A waiter brought around a glass of the whiskey for all of those in the room and the women looked at each other. They needed to make sure that those glasses stayed in their sights. As Hank, Gregory and Katherine took their glasses the women watched closely. The three began to sip, seemingly oblivious to the sisters watching them, thanked the waiter, waiting for him to walk away, and picked up their conversation.

“Well, I did not expect to see the two of you on this trip, at least not in a sales capacity,” said Hank.

Katherine shot the sisters a look, to which they lazily raised their glasses in a toast, she turned back to her brother and friend and said, “These two are onto us at some level. They showed up Saturday night for dinner out of the blue and all the sudden that witch Batina was all mother hen to the security detail. She made them a special dinner and served it in the kitchen, so there was no chance of either of us getting anywhere nears their food or drink. Thankfully the old man is so enamored with his lovely daughters that he didn’t bat an eye when we offered to come along on the trip to “learn” about the business.”

“So what’s our move now,” asked Hank? “The old man has no vision. We have got to find a way to get glasses like this into a club. It’s a freaking gold mine and he just doesn’t seem to care.”

“Welcome to our world,” said Gregory. “If these two end up taking control of the business that is never going to happen. We have to get rid of them. We have to find a way to make them want to go back to their meaningless suburban lives and keep their noses out of this business. The next leg of the trip is to LA, we leave tonight when we are done here. Do you still have that contact out there?”

“Yes and if he can’t put the fear of God into them no one can.” Said Hank.

“Good,” said Katherine. “When we leave you make the call. We are staying at the Ritz Carlton and I will be in touch with room numbers after we check in. The plan will move forward. We have waited too long to for all of this to fall apart now.”

The women had no idea what was awaiting them in LA, but at least they had a heads up now and would be on their guard.

After finishing their drinks, or in the case of the sisters, watering the plant between their chairs they exchanged farewells and headed back to the airport. Their next meeting was not until tomorrow afternoon, but they could sleep on the plane, get settled when they arrived in LA and take the morning to relax rather than traveling. That was the plan on Emily’s itinerary anyway, for now the sisters were confident that had until they checked into the hotel, so they rested as best they could after making sure that Gregory and Katherine had passed out in their seats on the plane.

The flight went smoothly and they arrived earlier than expected. As they got off the plane there were three town cars waiting. Frederick and Emily took the first car, Gregory and Katherine the second and Rose and Sabina climbed into the third. Each car was then occupied by one of the three members of the security detail.

Rose and Sabina felt secure in the car bringing up the rear. Their luggage was loaded and they were on their way. They were pulling up to valet as Frederick and Emily were getting out of their car. As they pulled up behind Gregory and Katherine’s car they heard her yell out the window, “Frederick, we were just invited to a party… Gregory the girls and I are going to check it out, we’ll see you in the morning!”

“What the hell is she yelling about?” asked Rose as she turned to grab her bag, and that was the last thing she could remember.

When she and Sabina opened their eyes they were in some sort of warehouse tied to two folding chairs with duct tape on their mouth facing each other. Sabina came to first and bug eyed attempted to scream. Rose blinked quickly and returned her stare. They looked around trying to determine what the hell had happened. There was a radio or TV or something playing in the back ground and they could see not only their security escort, but Katherine and Gregory’s sitting at a small table playing cards with two men in uniform. It occurred to Rose that they must be the drivers of the cars. How the fuck had this happened, they were supposed to be kosher at least until they checked into the hotel, but they had never gotten that far.

The men at the table looked up from the game and shouted to no one in particular that they were awake.

Soon they heard two car doors slam and the click of heels on a cement floor. There was no light in the room except for a single hanging light bulb over the card table. They couldn’t see much of anything, but it didn’t matter when the woman began to speak.

“Well, well, well ladies. I hope you are enjoying the club opening,” Katherine laughed. It is really too bad that trustworthy people are so hard to come by. Well that it not entirely true. You two think you’re so clever. You really had no idea that the whole “plan” you over heard was just for show. It was actually very entertaining to watch the two of attempt to play super spy through dinner. The fact of the matter is once confined to the cars the security guards were fairly easy to gain control over and replace with our men. Two small injections of some super sweet sleeping potion later and here we are.” She laughed again as she ripped the duct tape off of Rose’s mouth and Gregory ripped the tape from Sabina.

“I was due for a lip wax for two more weeks,” croaked Sabina “So thanks, fourteen dollars more in my pocket.”

“You think you’re witty, do you?” said Gregory. “Joke all you want, but right now but no one here is laughing.”

“What do you want from us,” asked Rose?

“We want you to go away. We want you to tell Frederick that after much thought and consideration this just isn’t the business for you. You would rather go back to your PTA meetings and soccer practices leave the business to those who grew up in it,” said Katherine.

“Frederick is never going to buy that,” said Rose, “And you know it.”

“That may be true,” said Katherine, “So do you think you can sell it or are we going to have to go back to the hotel and tell Frederick that there was a terrible incident at the club and we did everything we could, but there were so many people and the gun fire…”

“Look, I appreciate how you think this is all going to play out and you and brother boy here will ride off into the sunset with all your dreams and wishes will come true, but you need to think this through,” said Rose.

“Yea,” said Sabina, “Look, why don’t we all just take a deep breath and we will figure this out. You and Gregory obviously want something, and you seem to think that Rose and I can make that happen, but if we all of the sudden become uninterested in the business, hurt, or dead after one night on the town with the two of you, do you really think that Frederick and everybody else are just going to buy that from the two of you? No questions asked? Think this through you two. Why don’t you untie us and we will sit down like rational adults. You tell us what you want and we come up with a way to make that happen that will make sense for everyone. We forget this night ever happened, Rose and I become professional beach bums and you two do… well whatever it is that you do and we go on about our lives.”

“I’m afraid that simply isn’t going to be possible,” said Katherine. “My brother and I have waited our whole lives to claim what is ours and then you two swoop in out of nowhere. You have to go away… permanently.”

Rose had had enough and knew her sister was feeling exactly the same way, but as usual Sabina was taking a slightly more diplomatic tone to her vocalization of that frustration.

“For the love of Cow you two! Haven’t you ever seen an episode of CSI… Law and Order? There is no such thing as a perfect crime! You can not simply make two people disappear because they don’t want to play in the sandbox with you and your selfish little five year old rules. Open your eyes! The world doesn’t work like that sister! This can only go badly for all of us!”

Sabina listened to her sister glad in some ways that she was making a stand, but terrified of what these spoiled and self indulgent cousins of theirs would do in reaction, when sheer brilliance flowed from her sister’s mouth.

“You can not just stomp your feet and have everything that you want in the world, you self indulgent pompous little bitches! Christ! Talking to my six year old is more rational! What the Hell Katherine… Gregory? For fuck sake, do not make me count!”

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