“Ms. Jamie Leone.” A female voice called to Jamie as she stood from her chair.

She smoothed out the invisible wrinkles she supposed were on her pencil skirt and walked looking straight at the receptionist that called her up.  With a smile, she followed behind her and entered the modest sized office, ready to take on any questions that may come her way.

“Mr. Loving will be with you in a moment.” The receptionist replied sweetly as she closed the door. Jamie sat back in the leather chair and waited for the interview to begin.

Nerves couldn’t describe her feelings right now. She was almost sure that if she clicked her feet together in habit that she would end up in the land of Oz with Dorothy and the little dog Toto that she adored as a child. Jamie loved the movie so much; she saw a lot of her own characteristics in Dorothy. They were both very level headed, always doing the right thing but yet lost on a maze to find their way back home.

Home. Jamie didn’t want to think about home. Unlike Dorothy, there was no yellow brick road for her to follow to see the almighty powerful but truly dimwitted wizard. She could only wish that she could say those magic words and everything would become normal again. Jamie wanted everything to become black and white and she could see it was all a dream but nothing was dream. Nothing in the house she stayed in was a dream.

Now as she debated the scenario of her mother, Justin, and her, it all made sense. Yeah. It was clear in the delusions of her mind, she wasn’t Dorothy at all. She was much like the Tin Man, The Lion, and the Scarecrow; heartless, cowardly, and brainless. Jamie was sleeping with a man out of a need that she couldn’t pin point. It wasn’t a competition to see if Vita would give Justin up and send him packing. It wasn’t about making her feel good when she felt alone and needed a man’s touch, at least she didn’t think it was about that. God help her but Jamie could only find nothing plausible enough to excuse her actions.

“Good Morning, Ms…Leone I presume?” Mr. Loving said as he entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Jamie stood to shake his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“Oh, please do have a seat.” Mr. Loving said warmly as he took his seat behind the desk. “I take it that you looking to work for the firm as an intern.”

“Yes sir.” Jamie replied crossing her ankles together while folding her hands. “I’m in my last year of undergraduate studies and could use the experience of on hands work.”

Mr. Loving hummed along in agreement, looking over Jamie’s resume. He was a gray haired man. He reminded Jamie of her grandfather, her mother’s father. He died last fall while she was living in the dormitory at school. It was hard news to hear, listening to Vita cry on the telephone in soft whimpers. Jamie could still remember feeling the cool autumn air wind around her legs, the scene of the cemetery staring back at her as she looked at the mahogany casket. Then she remembered the hand that touched her shoulder as she turned her head,  looking into a pair of deep blue eyes.

“…judging by your resume, I think you’re fit for our office, Ms. Leone.” Mr. Loving said bringing Jamie back from her memories. She looked into Mr. Loving’s smiling face and returned the gesture. “We’ll see you next week so you can start. How does that sound?”

“Great!” Jamie said excitedly as she and Mr. Loving stood from their seats and shook hands.

She excited the office on a new high of having accomplished one hurdle. As she made her way down the steps and to the street towards her car, it finally occurred to her. She looked towards the sky, watching the clouds move slightly and smiled. “Thanks, Gramp.”

Inside of her car, she drove down the familiar streets of her home, watching the scenery whirl by her window. She saw the townspeople she’d grown up with laughing and talking with each other, coming in and out of shops, taking care of errands for they day when she stopped at a red light. She saw him walking across the street towards his truck, manila folders held securely under his arm. His head was low, oblivious to the scenes around him. Jamie was awestricken by his beauty and didn’t realize her staring was getting the best of her until she heard a honking horn behind her.

“Come on, Jamie!” the male driver said in a heavy southern accent, “I’ve got deliveries to make over here.”

“Sorry, Mr. Witlow.” Jamie shouted back as she drove off. She looked in her rearview mirror and watched as the manila folder carrying stranger become smaller and smaller in her vision. She’d lived in this place all of her life and had never once seen him before.

“Where is the wizard when you need him.” Jamie said aloud as she made a turn onto the dirt road that was leading to her house. “He can find everything else for people made of straw, metal, and fur but for us humans, we only have ourselves.”

Jamie laughed at her last statement. The wizard she was looking for was going to be able to fix everything in her life. She was certain that he would make her feel like home was place where there was love, there was kindness and no deception. Home would be a place where lies weren’t told and secrets weren’t kept, not even the little white lies she told as a child. Now as a adult, those little white lies were turning into big ones at the place she called home. I’m going to be a friends house translated to being alone with Justin in his office. We were just talking meant fooling around the house until nothing was left between but their bodies synching to one rhythm. All those once innocent words were catching up with her much sooner than she thought.

When she pulled up to the house, she didn’t expect to see any change. Vita’s Yukon truck sat in the driveway next to the blue pickup truck that belonged to Justin; the side door couldn’t give it’s ownership up for anything as it read ‘Timberlake Construction Corp’ in bold red letters on the side. Jamie closed the door to her car and proceeded to the porch where she heard the sounds of Frank Sinatra playing inside. She groaned as she began to open the door. Sinatra tunes meant it was a romantic evening for Vita and Justin, a night that Jamie wanted to avoid.

Jamie walked inside and looked to the kitchen to see Justin standing by the stove, an apron tied around his waist as he swayed back and forth to the music. Vita was sitting in a chair, a glass in her left hand when the shining jewel caught Jamie’s eye. It felt as though her heart had stopped and time was spinning. He couldn’t have, she thought to herself as she inched closer and closer to the kitchen. Maybe it was the momentum of curiosity or the bitter taste of hurt building in her chest but she had to question Vita about this ring she was wearing. She had to know. 

“Evening, Mama.” Jamie said as her mother turned towards her.

“Jamie!” Vita said as she took a sip of her drink, placing it on the table. Vita stood from her chair and greeted her only child with a warm hug. Justin turned from the stove and saw the look Jamie was giving him. Jamie’s eyes read into Justin’s with a dark and fiery glare that made him wish he could go to hell much earlier than God intended for sinners. As Vita pulled back from the hug, she flashed her hand in her daughter’s face.

“We’re getting married, Jamie!” Vita squealed in delight. She walked over to the Justin and grabbed his hand, holding it tight as she looked at him lovingly. “Isn’t that great?”

Jamie looked between her mother and Justin at a lost for words. Her heart thumped much louder in her ears, drowning out the sounds of Sinatra who was singing about a tramp or something; Jamie couldn’t even concentrate on the sound long enough to know. All she saw was the ring that shined in her eyes, the look of pure happiness on her mother’s face, and the look of apology on Justin’s once again. She looked at her mother and smiled lovingly, an act that she’d done many times before.

“Congratulations.” She said happily, walking to give her mother a hug. She looked over to Justin, who stood fumbling with his hands as she said, “I guess that makes you my stepfather. How does it feel to have a child that is only six years younger than you?”

“Jamie!” Vita said sternly. “This is a happy occasion. Apologize to Justin.”

Justin waved off Jamie’s remark with a shrug. “It’s okay, Vita. She’ll be fine with it after awhile.”

Jamie watched Justin as he turned back to the stove and went back to making his meal. She could feel the anger generating from his stance and at the moment, she wanted to claw him. Vita looked between the two, shaking her head as she retook her seat at the kitchen table. Vita said, “I don’t understand why you two don’t just get along.”

“Excuse me?” Jamie said to her mother angrily, watching her take out a cigarette. “How do you expect me to get along with a little boy that is old enough to be my brother, Mom!?”

“But I’m not your brother.” Justin said smugly as Jamie looked towards him, watching him wipe his hands on his apron as he smiled snidely. “That is what makes it all the more beautiful to be with Vita.”

Jamie watched as Justin walked over to Vita and kiss her lips gently, Vita holding his face a little longer than Jamie could stomach. Justin turned towards Jamie and said, “I’d suggest that you and I learn how to get along now, at least cordially for Vita’s sake.”

Vita smiled happily as Jamie looked between the two of them, the sounds of Frank Sinatra still playing in the kitchen. She stormed up to her room and locked her door, making sure Justin got the message that he was up shit’s creek with her. As she undressed and entered her bathroom, she wondered how Justin could do this to her; playing games between her and her mother in the way he did. They couldn’t be any more different than a mother and daughter could be.

Vita was very boastful, somewhat abrasive, but nurturing all at once. Jamie was the complete opposite. She cared about others, very quiet but not shy, and thoughtful of others. The only feature that Jamie and her mother shared were their looks. Both women had dark, shoulder length brown hair and green eyes that could tell the world their story in their gaze. If Jamie could categorize her mother and she, they were like a solar eclipse; Jamie was the sun covered by Vita, the moon. Yet Justin found an equilibrium amongst these two women aside from their relation to one another. It made Jamie so angry at times.

Jamie was coming out of the shower she heard her doorknob jab back and forth. She sighed and went about getting ready to retire for the evening. The knocking continued following Justin’s voice. “Jamie, I want to talk to you.”

Jamie continued to ignore his calling as she placed the cotton gown over her head and rolled down the sheets over her bed. She sat in bed and began braiding her hair when she heard the car roar off outside her window. She walked over to the window and looked down to see her mother’s Yukon was still in the yard; Justin’s truck was gone.  She smiled as she stepped away from the window and relaxed in her bed, alone, for the evening.