Blinded by the Bling!

   The long week-end loomed ahead of me and I needed a friend.  Maybe I'd call Mitzi Grover. A few years had gone by since we'd talked, and she lived right here in Texas, in Flower Mound, the same suburb. We'd met in college and had known each other for twenty some years, but after the phone rang eight times I gave up.  I should have called her before, but I just hadn't wanted to involve her in my troubles.
   As I sat there in my room, I thought about Dade again and began to feel like a fool for falling for his lifestyle and charm.  I wondered too, had I led him on?
   I remembered taking his car last night when I ran out of his house, and when I peeked through the blinds the big maroon Lexus still stood outside at the door, parked sideways just as I'd left it.
   Would he show up soon for it?
   As I sat there lonely and depressed, I suddenly remembered the ring he had given me.  I looked down at my hand and good Lord, it was gone! Had I tossed it somewhere, out the car window last night when I'd driven back to town?  I could hardly remember the long ride back to the city.  Or had I lost it in the shower when I stood in there fior hours washing and scrubbing to rid myself of his taste and touch.
   I got down on my hands and knees and checked the floor, then crawled over to the bed and looked under it as my heart raced.  I ran into the bathroom and flung back the curtain in the shower and there it lay winking at me, caught in the drain cover. I picked it up and looked at it in the light, then slipped it on my finger.  I watched it sparkle, then laid it on the table. It would have looked good on my hand, big and expensive.
   It was nine o'clock on a Saturday morning and I was feeling wretched from loss of sleep and faint from hunger and stress. I pulled on a pair of jeans and slipped on a long sleeved shirt, repaired my face as well as I could and went across the street to a coffee shop. I had met Betty, the waitress previously and liked her, so I asked her to join me on her break.
   Betty was a few years older and was raising two boys on her own.  She worked days here at Shoney's and then nights at Tony's Steakhouse.  She was like a mother to everyone and had been especially nice to me when I first started there. 
   Betty lit a cigarette and sipped her coffee, then said to me, "honey, you look like hell.  Are you all right?"
   "No--," I murmured, "I didn't sleep last night."
   She studied me for a minute, then said, "I saw you leave after work last night with Dade Lampart, I take it things didn't go so well?"
   My hand shook as I lifted the cup of coffee to my lips and winched as the hot liquid touched my  lips. Feeling her eyes on me. I set it down carefully with both hands.
   "Betty," I asked, "what do you know about Dade?"
   She laughed harshly, "What do you want to know?  I 've known him for years and I noticed he's been romancing you lately."
   I swallowed. "I've got to talk to someone.  Betty, you know then, I've been seeing him for several months and he invited me out to his ranch to spend this week-end."
   Betty eyed me expectantly.  "Okay, go on."
   I took a shaking breath and whispered, "first, he purposed and then he raped me!"
   "He raped you, that ass-hole! I'm so sorry Lindy, I wondered when he would show his true colors!"

  
  
  


  
 

The diamond was huge!

   Tears cursed down my face and the spicy, moldy smell of drying sagebrush seeped in through the air-vents as I frantically drove through the Texas prairie, as I fled back to the city. The silence was eerie as the wind whistled. I had grabbed Dade's car keys to his big Lexus when I had  stumbled out of his house. The diamond flashed on my hand in the dash light as I fumbled for the ignition. I had gotten the car going, finally, but I hadn't dared to turn on the headlights until I got safely down the road.
   Just when had his passion turned to abuse?
   He had invited me out to his luxurious ranch for the week-end and I knew we would spend time in his bed. I had been caught up in our love-making, but, when he'd pinned my arms above my head with one of his, I'd hesitated. Then, I knew I was in trouble when he started hurting me. I had strugged and begged him to stop but that only seemed to excite him. 
   But I couldn't think about it now, I had to get away. Far away from this man!
   I drove his big luxurious car holding back my sobs, I couldn't fall apart now, I needed to find my way back to Dallas and to the safety of my room. I was lost out there in the vast country wasteland, but I drove on frantically, and soon the city lights appeared and then I was safely home. 
   Leaving the keys in the car, I ran into my motel room, bolted the door, dropped my clothes on the floor. I turned on the water in my shower. And there I stood. I washed and scrubbed, then washed and scrubbed again. I needed to get rid of his smell, his touch and the hurt. 
   Realizing, I was shivering and the water had run ice cold, I got out and found a towel and wrapped up.  Then I looked at myself in the mirror. Good Lord! My hair hung in wets clumps and remnants of mascara smeared my white face. I stared at this person. All my confidence was gone, all my hopes and dreams forgotten. I was twelve again, lost and alone. I started to cry, uncontrolled and frightened. 
   It was five in the morning and the moonlight shining through the motel window suddenlly dimmed and a deafening clap of thunder shook the room. I huddled in the bed covers then as a storm began to rage outside. As dampness crept in around the loosely fit window and door. Hours later, as the storm finally played itself out, I jumped up and threw the covers off.  Now, I was angry, I'd been raped, again!


  

They drank, they danced and they kissed!

   That night after I finished another back-breaking shift, I limped over and sat down at the bar and had a brandy Manhatten. Dade walked in just then and flashed a smile.
   "I thought you had gotten lost out there in the priarie," I remarked nonchalantly. 
   "I had to go out of town for a few days," he said and sat down on the next bar stool. He wore a black Western hat and a black leather jacket and the white turtle neck sweater matched the gleaming white of his perfect teeth.
   "Lindy," he said, "I'd like to invite you to come out to the ranch this week-end. I remember you have the time off."
   "Really Dade, that sounds interesting. I'd love to." I said.
   "Great, I'll pick you up tomorrow after work then. And bring some jeans for riding." He stood up then and kissed me on the cheek. "I've got to run, but I'll see you then."  And he was gone.
    I sat there after he had gone. If I was going to spend the weekend that meant we'd sleep together. We had known each other for almost two months now, and it hadn't happened so far. Really!  
   I couldn't help thinking, what would marriage to a wealthy man be like? No more working and worrying over money. God, it was so hard to be doing this kind of work again after I'd given it up years ago.
   Dade was there to pick me up Friday night as we'd planned, and it was past midnight when we got to the ranch. Lights blazed from the house as they walked in. 
   "I'll show you to your bedroom," he offered, "Maybe you'll want to freshen up." And I followed him through the house and into another wing of the mansion where he opened a set of double doors leading into a spacious room that looked like something out of a magazine.
   "My room is just through there," he said pointing to a connecting door. "I'll be in the library, come in when you're ready. I'll chill some wine!"
   After Dade left, I slipped my shoes off and buried my sore feet in the lush carpet. Then I ran a tub of water and helped myself to one of the jars of bubble bath.  I sank down then into the carassing warmth of the tub and relaxed my overworked body. Music spiraled into the room and I finally stepped out onto the heated floor, and dried off.  I repaired my make-up and put on my special outfit and retraced my steps and found Dade had a crystal flute of champagne waiting for me. The music had switched to a classical tango and we danced, close!
   Later, he surprised me and said, "Lindy, marry me!"  And I looked down and saw a diamond as big as a marble and watched mesmerized as he slipped it on my finger. "This is to help you think about it," he said then and took me in his arms.  I stood on tip-toes and gave him my lips and he pressed me to him, his maleness hard against me. The champagne whirled in my head and abruptly he grabbed our glasses and my hand and led the way to my bedroom door.  He stopped then and kicked it open. And we danced again, we drank and we kissed.
                                                                        ***
   Some time later, I eased myself out of bed and put a shaking hand over my mouth to quiet my rasping breath. My lips were bleeding and my body bruised. I groped around frantically in the dark for my clothes, found my purse and then ran like hell through the dark house looking for a way out! 



  




   
  

"Is that it, $10.000 dollars?" She asked.

   Lindy awoke from the nightmare to the phone ringing. She sat up and looked around in confusion.  Her head hurt and her throat was parched as she reached over to still the offending noice.
   "Miss Lewis, Pug Harris here, can you stop in today?"
   Her breath caught, "Have you found my car?"
   "We'll talk when you come in," he said in his gruff tone. 
   She tossed the blankets off and stood up and for a moment the room spun. Last nights make-up was caked on her face and her hair stood up in unruly tufts. Not waiting for the water to warm she stepped into a cold shower to clear her head. Forty minutes later, she ran into his office. 
   Pug Harris's ruddy face was even brighter next to the red jacket he wore, and his office was messier than usual. Lindy sat expectantly waiting for him to tell her something important. She thrown on the first thing she'd come across to wear and now pulled the short skirt down to cover her knees.
   "Have you found my car," she asked again. Her eyes searched his face as he sat, elbows on the desk,.
   "Here's what I found, Miss Lewis, according to my connections, cars like yours are in big demand. They're stripped down and the parts are sent over the border. Or the numbers are changed, and they're repainted and bingo, there's no way they can be traced.
   "Are you talking about chop shops? Are your saying its gone for good?"
   "It looks that way, I'm sorry."
   Lindy left his office and walked until she found a coffee shop.  But her stomach rebelled at the sandwich she ordered and leaving her food untouched she caught a taxi and went back home. With her car gone for good and the money she'd hidden in it, what could she do now?
   The week went by as she worked and fell into bed exhausted each night. She was depressed. But one comment Pug Harris had made stuck in her head, and one idea began swirling around in her head. Then she knew just what she would do.
   "Yes, read that back to me please," Lindy asked the lady over the telephone at the Dallas Newspaper later that week.
   "$10.000 dollars cash reward for the return of a black 2006 BMW taken from 54th and Magnolia on Setember 6th. No questions asked. Contact Box 62A35. Dallas Texas."
   "Is that it?" she asked.
   "Yes," Lindy answered, "but underline, no questions asked!"
   "And how long do you want this to run?"
   "I'm not sure, I guess two weeks." And that night after she finished her shift, she relaxed at the bar with a Manhatton, and Dade walked in.  He flashed her a big smile!