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THE PERFECT SOLUTION-A SUSPENSE IN CHOICES
CHAPTER ONE-CONVERSATIONS
Catrine Teddi rolled onto her stomach and pulled the pillows
until the mound under her head was a little higher. She didn’t bother to open
her eyes because she was so tired and angry with herself for wasting her sleep
dreaming of Austin. Time had changed nothing. The man was still her every
thought after nearly four years. He was the last thought she had at night and
the first thought to wake her.Sometimes the regret was so over whelming she would find herself reaching for her phone to call him.
Lifting her congested pounding head from the half dozen
pillows encased in their flowered patterned cases, she pulled a Kleenex from
the matching tissue box hidden in the pillows. Rubbing the scented piece of
paper under her dripping nostrils, she yawned, ruffled her hair and focused her
sleepy eyes on the square face of the clock sitting next to the telephone. Six
o'clock? Six o'clock. I can't believe it. Where is Phalene? She questioned the validity of her eyesight
and the location of her sister within the same thought.
"Jeez." She exclaimed out loud. "Have I been
asleep all evening?" Continuing to talk aloud as was a habit when she was
upset Catrine checked the time on the clock again. "I wonder why Phae
hasn't brought Brhin home. She could have at least called to let me know that
she would be keeping him at her house. Maybe she had called and I didn't hear
the phone."
Searching the table next to the bed, she saw the light
flashing on the identification box sitting next to the phone. It showed that a
call had come from The P.S. Center, but no message was on the answering
machine. Phae, who could be an extremely impatient person, had probably started
to call and didn't have time to leave a message.
Pressing the buttons that would activate the intercom system
on the telephone and the preprogrammed number that would dial her sister,
Catrine pulled the blankets up to her neck and pressed her back into the
pillows. Swiping at her nose and closing her eyes against the pain in her head,
she waited for the answer.
"Yes?" asked the cheerful voice on the other end
of the phone line.
"Hey," Catrine croaked. "Whatcha doin'?"
She coughed to clear the phlegm from her throat. "I thought that you would
have been here by now. You could have called."
"Me, call?"
Phae bellowed angrily. "I have been waiting for you to call and
apologize."
Brushing her nose with a fresh Kleenex and clearing her
throat again, Catrine pushed herself into a semi-sitting position and adjusted
the straps to her gown.
"What do you mean 'apologize'? What do I have to apologize
for? Brhin didn't tell that silly little thing I told him about Road kill this
morning did he? I was only kidding it was a joke."
"Brhin didn't tell me anything. I want you to apologize
for having me drive twenty minutes across town to get your kid from that
stupid, death trap of a...."
"I hate it when you call The P. S. Center by that
name." Catrine broke into the
tirade. "Brhin loves it there. The center is very pretty and well
equipped.”
"That's all it is. You know how I feel about it, and
you know how Frank feels. It is not a good place. You can't just go by the
name, The Perfect Solution, ha." Phae's words sped out of her mouth in a
tirade of irritation. Once she started on listing the faults of the center she
was hard to stop. "None of the teachers have a clue as to why they’re
there. The place is run in total chaos. You of all people, the owner of your
own security firm should be worried about the way that center handles its
business. They are so darn careless. What I want to know is how could you have
me drive all the way across town to the center and then have Brhin not be
there? I had to rush all the way back to
this end of town so that I could get my girls from school. I was barely on time
for the Girl Scout meeting and now dinner will be late. You know…"
"What." Catrine screeched and sat ramrod straight
in the bed. The roughness in her throat caused her voice to rasp."What are
you saying? What do you mean he wasn't there? Where is Brhin, then?"
"Isn't he there with you?"
"No, oh my God, what are you saying?" Fear knotted
Catrine's stomach and made her nauseas. "I wouldn't have asked you to get
him if he wasn’t going to be there. Are you playing a joke on me? I am not well
Phae. My head is killing me and I don't find this in the least bit funny. Put
Brhin on the phone."
"Are you serious, Cat?" The anxiety in Phalene's
voice was clearly heard through the phone line. “I thought that you had gotten
someone else to get Brhin. He's not here.”
Catrine looked at the small double heart picture frame that
held a picture of Brhin in one heart and a picture of herself and Brhin in the
other and her own heart skipped a beat. Dragging nerveless fingers through her
already mused hair, Catrine swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood
up slowly. Her head felt as if it was about to burst and the pain behind her
eyes made her want to lie back down.
"Who else would I send? Phae, you are kidding aren't
you? This is a joke, right? This can't be real. My baby is sitting in your den
playing with your crazy little dog, right?"
"No, he isn't. Come on, Cat, think. You’ve been really
sick, running a high fever, taking medication. Maybe you asked a friend to get
Brhin for you and just forgot. The little thing that was supposed to be
substituting in his class told me that a friend of yours had come and gotten
him. I just assumed you had called Linda."
"No, I called you last night why would I call anyone
else? Anyway, Linda goes to college now. She hasn't even been here in over two
weeks. I called you. I even sent a note to the school to make sure the workers
knew you would be coming. I should have called those idiot people this morning
like I started to, but my head was killing me. I didn't even get out of the car
when I dropped him off this morning. I just kissed him good-bye, watched him go
into the building, came home and crawled into bed. I haven't even had the
strength to get out of the bed to go to the bathroom. That Julioux woman from
the office opened the door for him. I saw him take the note out of his pocket to
give to her as I had instructed him and she waved it away. I should have gotten
out of the car and gone in, but all I could think about was getting in the bed.
Oh, God. I think I am going to throw
up."
"Honey, breathe slowly. Try to calm down and think."
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Catrine
calmly questioned Phalene about the little 'thing' that had been in the
classroom.
"I’d never seen the little woman there before. She
seemed pretty young and upset about something. I only saw her for a couple of
minutes. I think she was getting off because she left the building right after
I spoke to her. All of the children were in the television room. There was a
lot of crying and talking and the television was blaring and the teachers were
yelling...I couldn't tell what was going on. They said something about an
accident. It was totally chaotic and after I was told that a friend of yours
had gotten Brhin, I just left the place feeling really pissed off. And that's
how I’ve been all evening; walking around here pissed off and waiting for you
to call. Are you sure that you didn’t send anyone? Cat, what did you say? You sound so far away."
Catrine, who had been rushing around the room, tearing off
her gown, haphazardly yanking clothes from the dresser drawers and closet and
putting them on without a thought or care of how she might look, moved closer
to the telephone base, she leaned forward and talked loudly into the system.
“I said who in God's name would I send? There is only you
and I and your husband. I have no other family."
"There is the baby's father. Do you think he might have
gone to get him?"
"No." Catrine almost screamed in frustration. She
threw a crumpled used Kleenex at the mirror on the dresser. "I haven't
seen Austin in years. Anyway, he knows nothing about Brhin."
"And why is that?"
"I don't want to get into that again. Especially not
right now. You're making me crazy. I know you and probably God think it's wrong
of me not to have told him and in time I'll get the courage or the nerves or
whatever it will take to tell Austin, but it won't be today." Catrine
blinked her eyes rapidly in order to hold back the tears that were burning her
eyes. "I can't worry about what Austin is feeling or thinking. All I know
is that my baby is missing and I may never see him again."
"I just can't understand why you never told him. That's
the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Why in the world would you have a man's
child and not let him know? Did he beat you? Was it an abusive relationship or
just some sort of casual fling you had?"
"Why are we having this conversation? I can't
understand this." Catrine threw her hands in the air exasperation.
"Is that what this is all about? You're so worried about Austin's feelings
that you would plan something this devastating in the belief you can get me to
call Austin. You’re constantly getting on me about Brhin's father and within
the past few months you’ve been doing it more than ever. Why is that? Are you
keeping Brhin there as way to try and get Austin into Brhin's life? If that's
the game plan you are wasting your time and this would be a great way to tear
our family apart."
"I'm not doing anything of the sort. I'm telling you
Brhin is not here. I just asked the question because I feel that if I was a
father and found out I had a child for almost four years and knew nothing about
him, I would snatch him. I would probably take him away so that you could feel
what a lack of knowledge could do to you. I’ve just been wondering of late
whether Austin would think the same way. I would just hate it. I believe that
if Austin knew and was able to spend time with Brhin, he wouldn't have the
inclination to take him."
"I don't believe he would do such a thing. If I know
Austin correctly, he would confront me and argue about it. He wouldn't do
anything behind my back. I don't want to talk about this any longer. I need to
call the police. It has been about three hours since you went to the center. No
telling where this person could be with Brhin. I just pray they are still in the
city. Listen, I'm going to call the director of The P. S. Center and see if she
knows anything. Will you come over here?"
"Yes, of course. I'll leave the girls with Frank and
I'll be right there."
"You are serious, aren't you Phae? My baby is not
standing by your side and laughing at me?" Catrine sat on the edge of the
bed, closed her eyes and nervously chewed on her fingernail. "Your sense
of humor tends to go to the extreme sometimes. Don't fu….."
"Cat, watch your language."
"How in God's name can you correct my language at a
time like this? Phae I want to scream. I can't believe this is happening. I
just want to stomp my feet and rant, rage and pull my hair out while screaming
like a maniac."
"I can understand that Cat, but cursing will not bring
him back and acting like a maniac will destroy your focus. You need to
concentrate on what you can do that will help. Think about absolutely anyone
that you may have spoken with since last night. Maybe they mistakenly thought
you were asking them to get Brhin and they have him. Maybe a co-worker or one
of the ladies from the church called you. Everyone has been worried about you
since you became ill. I wouldn't play with you over something like this. I know
how you feel about that baby. Jesus, I know how I feel about him. Go ahead and
call that director. I'll be at your house as soon as possible."
"Hurry up. I feel nervous. My head is about to burst
and my hands won’t stop shaking."
"I'll be right there. In the meantime, take an aspirin,
maybe two."
"Yeah, right; like that will help." 
Further Interviews: - The Author Explains Premise of Novel
- Catrine Teddi
- Austin Sanchez
- Brhin-Kristoffer
- Mona Boots
- Book Page on Smashwords
- Love and other Stories
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