His name was Langston. Langston Dean and he worked in Ms. Deville’s law office a block down from Mr. Loving’s office where Jamie just started. Fate would have it that the very apartment building she’d been calling home for the past few weeks was also the home of the stranger she saw not so long ago. He was…suave. Jamie never thought she would hear herself use that word to describe someone but that is what Langston exuded whenever he came near. He was a good listener, always cracking a joke to make her laugh and his accent was out of this world. Jamie thought the minute she spoke his name that he was going to sound much like everyone else in town; a country twang to their speech but not him. When Langston spoke, Jamie felt as though she’d fallen right into those English pubs where they spoke very regal and their voices never croaked when putting extra annunciation on the letter “O”.
Those were only a few of the things Jamie thought about whenever she listened to Langston speak, much like today. The summer heat wasn’t much relief to Jamie as she sat inside of the office, typing away at a report on the experiments Mr. Loving needed to be filed. She was hoping to be inside of the laboratory but today, it was another coworkers assignment to be there while Jamie was stuck with the clerical duties. She was so into her work that she didn’t hear Langston approaching her from behind.
He pressed his hands upon the sides of Jamie’s neck as she shrieked from the cool touch. Langston laughed very heartedly as the scowl that was beginning to form turned to a cooked smile. “Not funny.” Jamie said wiping the sides of her neck.
“Ice water does good for a day like this.” Langston replied as he leaned on her desk. Jamie noticed he never liked to sit down. No matter if they were in each other’s apartments or in their offices, Langston never took a seat.
“Yes. To drink, not to scare the good senses out of me.”
“We wouldn’t want that,” Langston said as he leaned closer to her ear to whisper, “then we wouldn’t be able to talk about your godly and very not so subtly slutty coworker.”
Jamie looked slightly towards the other desks that sat across the room and watched her coworker, Gillian, switch her hips and fling her hair in an effort to get Langston’s attention. She only laughed at Gillian’s attempts at subtle seduction with the not to subtle clothes she wore. In the back of her mind, Jamie figured she was either a relative of Mr. Loving or loving Mr. Loving in order to maintain her position here. It had to be between those two options.
“Are you going to be awhile?” Langston asked rubbing his stomach. “The baby is hungry.”
“You are not pregnant.” Jamie said with laugh as she continued to type. “Just give me about ten minutes and we can get our corn dogs with mustard and cokes to go.”
“But mummsy, I don’t want another fried contraption that will make my thighs feel like Wilber the pig.” Langston pouted with his arms folded over his chest.
“And how many times did you read Charolette’s Web, Langston?”
“About as many times as you have read those romance novels of yours.” He retorted as he grabbed the plastic ring Jamie had hanging on her desk. He got down on one knee and took Jamie’s left hand into his. With the most sincere look, he said, “Oh, Jamie, love of my life, the air beneath my wings, the duchess to my prince, the Rudolph to my Santa, the Princess Peach to my Mario-”
Jamie laughed hysterically as she withdrew her hand and took the ring from Langston. “Come on, Heathcliff. Lunch awaits us.”
“My darling Katherine,” Langston said as the two walked into the summer heat, “let us dine.”
Jamie laughed as they walked down the street. They took refuge into a diner some blocks down, a local hangout for the teenagers that were working at the beach or in the offices for deliveries. They took a table that sat a few tables away from the large window, where it was slightly secluded for the two of them. Langston pulled out Jamie’s chair and awaited for her to take her seat when she stopped. Everything around her slowed in motion as she watched the black Yukon truck park across the street at the grocery store, the driver’s side door opening and revealing the one person she hadn’t seen in weeks. He stood tall in his jeans, a navy blue shirt adorning his chest as he closed his door and walked over to the other side. Jamie didn’t realize she was holding her breath until Langston shook her.
“Are you alright?” He asked Jamie with concern as she took her seat. He looked out of the window and saw only the Yukon truck that she was staring at. “What’s the matter?”
Jamie shook her head. She put on a smile and said, “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Langston returned the smile with one of his own. “For a second there, I thought you were going to jump and run towards the car. You aren’t one of those crazed car lovers are you?”
“Oh no!” Jamie exclaimed with a light laugh. “I only know how to drive one. Nothing more.”
“Good.” Langston replied as a busboy came to take their orders. “For a second, I thought I was going to have to invest in monster truck tickets or something.”
Jamie laughed at Langston but looked through the corner of her eye and saw Justin staring in her direction. His arms were folded over his chest as cars passed by him and if she weren’t mistaken, she’d thought he had a look of hurt and jealousy on his face. She averted her attention back to enjoying her lunch and enjoying Langston’s company for their break.
The work day had finally wined down as Jamie shut the computer off and prepared to lock her desk when Mr. Loving called her into his office. She walked inside nervously and took a seat as Mr. Loving whirled around in his chair to face her.
“Jamie, I wanted to ask you for a huge favor.” Mr. Loving said folding his hands together as he looked at Jamie, “It’s a very serious case we have here.”
“Yes, sir?” Jamie said nervously as her mind twirled. She was hoping it would be laboratory work, a field study, something that would take her away from the desk for awhile.
“We have a new shipment of aromatics coming in, and we need someone to run a trial of subjects. Do you think you could do it?” Mr. Loving said while reaching behind him to get a file.
Jamie’s face lit up in excitement. “Yes, sir. I’d be more than happy to do it.”
“Great.” Mr. Loving said as he opened the file. He handed her papers as Jamie read over them. “Now, you and Gillian will be working together on this so…”
Mr. Loving’s voice became humdrum as Jamie ran over the details on paper. She was finally getting in some laboratory work. Something concrete and experience in the field was no in her grasp. As she walked out of the office and into the street, she was excited to get into her car and drive…home. Home. She was actually going home.
------
“I can’t believe that I got the job, Momma.” Jamie exasperated over the phone to Vita. She’d kept in contact with her mother by phone for the most part. She’d had no desire to venture back towards the house and see her in person. Seeing her in person meant seeing Justin and that equated to trouble. It was too much trouble for her to handle.
“That’s great, Jamie.” Vita said happily. “You know…I miss you here at the house.”
Jamie bit her lip as she folded her legs beneath her. She was sitting on her bed, holding the phone to her ear as she bit down on her bottom lip. “I know, Momma.”
“It’s been really quiet since you left. Justin is hardly home and-”
“He’s hardly home?” Jamie asked alarmed. “What do you mean? You two didn’t break up did you?”
“No, Jamie!” Vita replied quickly. “It’s just that Justin has been busy with work so he’s been in and out mostly. I’ve been working too so that doesn’t help the situation.”
“But, Mom, you just got engaged.” Jamie said hearing a knock coming from her door. “Momma, can you hold on a second?”
Vita hummed in response as Jamie put down her phone. She pushed her hair atop of her head in a messy bun and sighed as she opened her door. Langston smiled towards her with a puzzle and bottle of sparkling grape juice in hand. Jamie smiled as she let him inside.
“I thought we should celebrate your new found success.” Langston said as Jamie closed the door. “It’s only fair to drink responsibly here. We wouldn’t want to stagger into work snogging the bosses now.”
Jamie crinkled her nose in response. “So nasty. Give me a second okay, Langston?”
She walked back towards her room and picked up the phone. Before saying hello, she listened into the back ground as she heard her mother yelling loudly in the background. She pressed her ear closer to the receiver and heard Vita cursing followed by a loud crash. She hung up the phone quickly and scrambled to find clothes. She rushed putting them on, stumbling as she put on her shoes. When she walked back into the living room, she saw Langston placing the glasses down on the coffee table. She looked at him with alarm as she grabbed her car keys that sat in a bowl by the door.
“I have to go to my mom’s house.” Jamie said quickly as Langston followed behind her.
“I’ll come with you just in case.” Langston said as he closed the door behind them. Jamie locked it and decided to take the stairs to get to her car faster. Langston wasn’t too far behind her as they made it to the street and into her car. As the climbed inside, Jamie could only think of the worse.
The drive to the house was a quiet and tense one. Jamie began to think that it was a bad idea for her to have moved out. She felt responsible for whatever she was about to come about in her old home. If it weren’t for her being so weak, she wouldn’t have done anything with Justin. She wouldn’t have continued on with an affair that was unfair to both her mother as well as herself. Jamie felt selfish for her actions now.
As she pulled onto the dirt road that led to the house, she saw the red and blue lights in the distance. Panic set in. She prayed to herself, gripping the wheel tighter that she would see her mother crying on the doorstep as they led Justin off to jail. She would see her mother alive, breathing, and healthy. There wouldn’t be a homicide scene to witness. There wouldn’t be blood shed or a stretcher as she approached. Everything would be settled and she would be there to comfort her mother.
Langston looked on in anguish as they approached the house. Two squad cars sat outside. The sheriff walked out of the house and down the steps in a flurry as Jamie nearly jumped out of the car before turning it off. Langston grabbed the keys and put the car into park before turning it off. He followed quickly behind Jamie who had stormed into the house and saw the broken glass. He saw the knocked over lamps as police officers snapped shots of the scene. As he followed Jamie further into the house, he saw an older woman that favored Jamie standing in the rear of the house, a cigarette to her lips as Jamie ran to her.
“Momma, are you ok?” Jamie said alarmed.
Vita turned towards her daughter, her tear stained face speaking before she could. Vita broke down into Jamie’s arms as Langston looked on. Jamie tried to comfort her mother, leading her towards the kitchen table at least to sit down.
“Momma, it’s going to be okay.” Jamie said as she motioned for Langston to her some water. She took the cigarette out of her hand and crushed it into the ash tray on the table. “Just take your time.”
“He-he-he…” Vita trembled over her words as Langston handed her water. She drank nearly half of it and set the glass on the table. She looked over into the living room and saw it all. “I can’t believe he took it.”
“Who, Momma?” Jamie asked concerned. “Who did this?”
Vita swallowed her breath before she spoke. “I was on the phone with you and when you put me on hold, a guy dressed in black came inside and just started throwing things. He broke Gramps crystal vase, and some other little things before he hit me. He—took my ring, Jamie. He stole my engagement ring.”
Jamie looked up towards Langston and sighed angrily. He nodded in understanding before she turned her gaze back towards her mother. “Did you see who did this?”
“No.” Vita said taking another drink of her water. “He had on a mask. Justin came as soon as he left and called the cops for me.”
Jamie saw through all of it. It was a ploy. An extravagant ploy to get her back into the house. She stayed with her mother a bit longer, watching her mother answer questions about the crime. She begged her mother to come with her back to her apartment but Vita couldn’t bear it. She didn’t want to leave the house out of fear they might return again. Jamie relented and decided to stay long enough to help her mother clean. After making sure Vita had fallen asleep. Jamie made sure all the doors and windows were locked as she ventured out towards her car.
When she arrived back to her apartment, she told Langston goodnight. He offered to stay with her but she needed to be alone. He stood by her door, as she unlocked it to get inside. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”
Jamie nodded solemnly. “I’m sure. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She closed and locked the door behind before trudging towards her bedroom. When she flopped down on her bed, she began to lie down just a knock sounded on her door. She didn’t want visitors at the moment. All she wanted were her thoughts but the knocking persisted.
“No fucking peace!” Jamie seethed angrily as she went towards her door. She unlocked and swung the door angrily, looking into Justin’s face on the other side.
