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Post by Crystal on Sept 17, 2008 16:48:23 GMT -5
Reid Lamton pulled his black Lexus into the driveway and sighed when he spotted the pile of newspapers accumulating on the front lawn. As he got out of the car, he glanced around to be sure of his surroundings out of habit. It wasn’t necessary, as he was more familiar with the street than most. He locked the car and gathered the newspapers before letting himself into the house with his key.
“Dad,” he called out as he set the newspapers on the small table that awaited him in the foyer. “Dad?”
He smelled the aroma of coffee and headed to the kitchen to find his father hunched over maps and travel books at the kitchen table.
“Dad, you can’t let the papers pile up outside. It’s not safe. People will assume you’re out of town. You’re making the house an easy target for burglars.”
“The house is fine. You worry too much because you’re in that job of yours. You think the worst of everyone.”
Reid sighed at the mention of his current job with the Paris division of the National Security Administration. It was a known fact in the Lamton family that Benjamin Lamton thought his son was an aspiring workaholic and would one day regret it. “Life isn’t about working until you die, it’s about living and enjoying that life while you have it.” It was something Ben reminded his son.
“I’m just letting you know the risks. Sometimes you can’t trust everyone.”
“This is a safe neighborhood and it always has been.”
Reid let the subject drop and checked the refrigerator to see if his sister had dropped off food for their father. She had. They had been sharing the role of seeing that he was taken care of for the past eight months since their mother had passed away in a tragic car accident. She had been heading home in the rain and lost control. The medical staff had said she died on impact, but no one was quite sure if they could believe that.
“Nice or Lyon?”
He looked over at his father and pulled a bottle of water from the side door and closed the fridge. “Excuse me?”
“I need to get out of Paris. I’ve never realized how stuffy it was before. I’m trying to decide between Nice or Lyon.”
Looking over his father’s shoulder, he examined the map of France and then the map of Europe beside it. “Nice is beside the Mediterranean. That might be nice for you. Relaxing. I’m sure it’s not stuffy there.”
“Or I could leave France completely. I’ve been thinking of Madrid or even going back to England. Dorset or Sussex. I’ve always loved traveling, you know.”
Reid smiled at the memories of planned trips to the Alps and to England. “I know. Any of those places would suit you.”
“Your mother wasn’t a traveler. She never understood why I wanted to leave Paris so much. It was a battle to convince her to leave Marseille. She looked her feet firmly placed on the ground.”
Reid kept his eyes on the maps, examining the names, the creases on the edges, the different colors—anything to keep from thinking about his mother and the fact that she was no longer with them. But Ben was right, and he allowed himself a small smile at the thought. His mother would have been here telling his father that there was no sense in leaving when everything was right here in Paris. If he wanted to see the world so much, buy a globe and watch the Travel Channel. And she had purchased him a globe one Christmas. “Now you can see the world. It’s right in front of you,” she had told him. Reid smiled more and patted his father’s shoulder. “Well, you can go anywhere you want to—Lyon, Nice, Madrid, Switzerland, Monaco. Even the States, if you want.”
“I think I’ll start with Lyon and see if I like it there. If not, I’ll keep moving south to Nice. There’s no reason I can’t try out new cities until I find one that suits me just right.” He looked over as he saw Reid consult his watch. “Rushing off? Back to the salt mines?”
“I’m just on my lunch break. I wanted to check in and make sure everything’s fine.”
“I’m surprised you even took a lunch break. You need to take a day off, Reid. You’ve been working hard since we’ve put you in kindergarten. All the way through grade school and college, and you haven’t stopped since.”
Reid smiled and grabbed an apple and a banana from a fruit basket on the kitchen counter. “If I hadn’t worked hard, you’d still be paying for me to go to college. You should be happy.”
“I am happy. Go back to work. You and your sister don’t need to check on me. I’m a grown man, ready to retire. I’m capable of living on my own.”
Reid nodded and headed out of the kitchen. “Then pick up your newspapers,” he called out. “I’ll see you later, Dad.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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Post by Crystal on Sept 17, 2008 16:51:05 GMT -5
((part one is above this!)) “Reid, he’s serious about this. He’s serious about moving. I went over there today and he’s planning to put his furniture in storage.”
Reid sighed and looked at the paperwork next to his computer, knowing that he needed to get that done by the end of the day. “Abby, so he wants to move. You know how he’s always wanted to travel. Let him. It’ll be good for him.”
“You’re supposed to be on my side, Reid.”
“I’m not on anyone’s side. If he wants to go traveling, let him. He’ll enjoy it.”
He heard his sigh over the phone. “I’m worried about him. I think he’s doing this just to try to find the happiness he had with mom.”
“It’s therapeutic, Abby. Maybe he is, but if it’s possible for him to be happy again, I think that’s the important thing we should remember. We’ll still be in contact with him to make sure he’s doing okay. It’ll be fine. And maybe he’ll get it out of his system and return home.”
“You’re always on his side. You’re just like him, Reid.”
“And you’re just like mom. Just let him do what he needs to do. We’re not the ones who know what he needs.” He looked over at the department’s secretary and nodded his thanks to her as she handed him a message. Reading it over, he furrowed his eyebrows. The word ‘urgent’ was written in capital letters and underlined a number of times to emphasize its important. He read the number and tried to locate it by memory.
“I just want him to be happy, Reid.”
“I know you do. And he will be. It hasn’t been that long.” He held the phone in place with his shoulder and typed the phone number into the department’s reverse lookup system. He frowned when nothing came up. Even business cell phone numbers were listed in the system. “Hold on, Abby,” he said as he covered the mouthpiece. Turning around towards the secretary’s desk, he held the slip of paper up. “Ellen, who’s the number?”
“They wouldn’t say, Reid. Just that you’re supposed to call him back immediately.”
He nodded and tried the number again in the computer system.
“Reid?”
“I’m here, Abby.”
“Are you coming over for dinner tonight?”
Once again, he looked at the pile of papers. “I’ll try. I have a lot of work to finish, but I’ll be there. I might be a little late.”
“That’s fine. I’ll see you there, all right?”
“Yeah, see you then.” He hung up the phone and rubbed the back of his neck. An unknown number, not even listed in the national security computer system. It could be a long evening. Reid took another sip of his coffee before picking up the phone and dialing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Benjamin twisted the top of the salad dressing off and drizzled it on top of his salad. “Reid’s late.”
“He had to finish up a few things at work. He was busy.”
“He’s been busy since he took that job. He’s going to work his life away, Abigail, I know it.”
Abby pulled the chicken from the oven and set it on the stove to cool. “He enjoys his work and he’s obviously very good at it.”
“If I had worked my life away like he is, I wouldn’t have been able to meet your mother. I met her on my day off. I’ve told you that story, right?”
She smiled and put the side dishes on the table. “I know. You took the day off and went to have breakfast with an old friend and she was tagging along.”
“And if I hadn’t taken the day off, I never would have been able to meet her.”
Abby grinned and placed the chicken breasts on a separate plate and set them in the middle of the table. “Didn’t you have plans to have dinner with the two of them and some other friends the following night? You could have met her then.”
“I could have, but something might have happened. She might have talked to someone else at dinner and we wouldn’t have had a chance to get to know each other. Everything happens for a reason, Abby.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped and looked towards the front of the house when she heard a car door close. “He’s here. Go ahead and grab the rest of your food, Dad,” she told him as she went to the front door to greet her brother.
“Sorry I’m late,” Reid apologized as he stepped into the house.
“No, don’t worry about it. We just started. Did you get everything done that you needed to?”
“Just about, yeah. I have some good news, actually.”
“Great! Come sit down.” She led him back to the kitchen and sat at the table.
Reid went over and patted his father’s back before taking a seat next to him. “Hey, Dad. I saw you didn’t have any papers outside.”
“I didn’t need either you nagging on me about anything,” he smiled and helped himself to the chicken.
“Well, at least they’re inside now.”
“Reid has some good news, Dad.”
Ben looked over at his son and smiled. “Promotion?”
Reid laughed a little and shook his head as he got spooned some rice onto his plate. “No, no promotion. But I’m flying out tomorrow.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have an interview. I might be getting a new job.”
With a smile on his face, Ben reached over and patted his shoulder. “Excellent!” The thought of Reid getting a new job, possibly one that was less demanding, was something to celebrate in his eyes.
Abby smiled. “Where is it located? Is it far away since you have to fly?”
“It’s in Auvernha.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ |
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Post by Crystal on Oct 16, 2008 19:27:02 GMT -5
How long had this day been? He could not remember what time he had awoken that morning, or if he had even slept the night before. The week had been a blur, mixed with people he had never met before in his life, food dishes brought over from neighbors that sat in the refrigerator uneaten, and phone calls with funeral directors and lawyers. Now that the day was here, it was going by more slowly than he had imagined.
Reid checked his watch before running a hand through his hair. It seemed as if people wanted to make this day last as long as possible. He looked over at his sister, dressed in her black dress, a tissue squeezed in her fist. He turned his head to the other side and watched his father, lost in his own thoughts, unable to comprehend what was actually happening. There were people standing around them, people who claimed to have known him when he was a small child, his mother’s coworkers, old family friends, and neighbors he remembered seeing as he was growing up.
The priest looked up from the worn Bible he held in his hands, finished with the sermon about God’s will and the time of death. Reid had blocked the entire thing from his mind. He watched the priest bring his hands together and bow his head. “Let us pray.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Shh. We must be very quiet, Reid.”
An eight-year-old Reid looked up at his mother and nodded. Today she had told him that they would be going to a history museum.
((and this section will be finished when i think of what happens haha))
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“Amen.” Reid moistened his lips at the end of the prayer and took another deep breath. Was it ending soon? He looked over at his sister who was on her last tissue it seemed. He put a hand to her back; a gesture to simply let her know that he was there. It seemed to open another crack though, allowing more tears to fall down his sister’s cheeks. He sighed a little and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to hand to her. He glanced over and watched his father pick up a handful of dirt as directed. Reid felt his stomach tighten as he watched the dirt dust across the lid of the wooden coffin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“See, Reid? You have to make sure the dirt is packed in. Not too tight, but not too loose.”
The four-year-old boy sat in his mother’s garden, a yellow plastic shovel in his hand and a blue bucket that had a green alligator painted on the side between his legs. He poked the point of the shovel into the pile of dirt his mother had accumulated. “Why does it have to be packed in like that?”
“Well, it’s so the flowers won’t be cold. Just like me and Daddy tuck you in at night so you won’t be cold,” she answered and reached over to tap his nose.
Reid grinned and turned his face away. “But it’s not bedtime. The sun is still out,” he told her matter-of-factly.
“Well, under the surface it’s a little colder.” She leaned back on her feels and motioned towards the hole she had made for the next plant. “See?”
Reid leaned forward onto his knees and stuck his hand in to feel the wall of dirt surrounding the hole. He smiled up at his mother in amazement. “It is!”
She smiled and took the plant from its pot and loosened the roots and soil before placing it in the hole. “So we have to make sure the flowers are warm under the ground. And do you know what else they need?”
“Water?”
She laughed lightly at her son’s logical answer. He was always choosing the most logical answer to any question. “Love,” she told him. “Because as long as you love and are loved, you always know everything will be okay. And then you can grow without a care in the world.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Since the age of seven, when Reid’s reading comprehension skills had increased to the point where he could understand and learn from something he had read, his mother sat down with him each night to talk about an article they had read in the paper. It was an activity she highly encouraged. She wanted her children to be knowledgeable about the world they lived in, not just in their city, but also in cities around the world. It was a nightly ritual that Reid looked forward to, hence the reason for the length of time it took him to choose a particular article.
He knelt on the floor, leaning his elbows on the coffee table, trying to pick the one that seemed the most interesting. There was the Falklands War that was going on, but they had already discussed that recently. There was a new king in Saudi Arabia and a prince was born in England. Neither of these interested Reid. He continued reading the global news until he found one that interested him. He smiled and cut the article out and headed to the kitchen.
“I’m ready, Mom. I found one.”
Alison turned from the counter where she was preparing a pie for the next day. “Already? Did you pick a good one out tonight?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Did you finish all of your school work?”
Reid nodded and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. “And the stuff for the next day too.”
She smiled and wiped her hands on a dishrag that was lying on the counter. She joined her son at the table. “Well, what’s this article about?”
“It’s about the apartheid. It’s in South Africa.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Reid sat on the couch of the living room, a government textbook in his lap, a pad of paper next to him, and the television turned to CNN International. He frowned as he listened to reporter describe the crimes a foreign leader had committed. “I don’t understand how he could do that for so long without repercussion.”
Alison looked over at her 17-year-old son and smiled sadly. “It’s unfortunate, yes. It’s unbelievable how some countries operate these days.”
“Why doesn’t someone fix it? Why don’t they go over there and make sure it doesn’t happen?”
“Sometimes it’s all about politics, Reid. They don’t think it’s good politics to get involved with another country’s governance policies.”
“I think that’s just an excuse they use. It’s possible to go over there, help the people, and charge the leader with his crimes. If it lasts long enough, it could even cause problems for our country and our national security.”
Alison smiled and finished potting her new plant she had purchased. “It could, yes. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to global issues.”
“I just don’t understand why no one did anything to begin with. Shouldn’t they have made negotiations with him and helped those people sooner? Don’t they have people who do that?”
“I’m sure they do. It seems to be something you’re very passionate about. Are you talking about international relations in your class?”
“Yeah, a little. I just think it’s interesting. I like learning about foreign policy and stuff like that.”
Alison set the plant on the small stand that stood next to the window facing the backyard. She adjusted a stem and opened the sheer window drape to allow more sun in. “Perhaps that’s something you should look into as a career. Have you thought about what you want to do after high school?”
Reid glanced over at her, considering her question. “I’m not really sure yet. I enjoy it, so I guess I could look into it. I like criminal justice though too.”
She laughed and walked over to join him on the couch. “You have many interests that you’re passionate about, Reid. It’s not a bad thing though.”
“Which do you think I should choose? I’ll be graduating soon and going to the university. I need to declare a major.”
“That’s something you have to decide for yourself. You can’t let me or your father make that decision for you. But if you’re interested in both of those, I think you should do both. Why limit yourself?”
He nodded and set the textbook aside. “I guess it was all of those newspaper articles we talked about when I was younger,” he laughed.
Alison winked and patted the back of his hand. “All part of my plan,” she smiled. “Come, your dad will be home soon from work. Help me set the table.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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