A Flash of Green

I stumbled out onto the veranda watching the sun finally set on the horizon. I felt Lisa next to me, holding my arm as the last vestige of that fireball disappeared. Then I saw it. I heard Lisa gasp. Just as the last shred of that golden globe vanished, a brilliant flash of green exploded. I had heard of that extraordinary vision before but never believed in it.

"Mom was right..." whispered Lisa, holding me. "I love you."

I stayed in Miami for another week before calling Bront and telling him I was returning the following day.

"Jas...the shit has really hit the fan over here. Your wife has gone postal over your disappearance. She believes you're with your lover. Evidently, someone at your company told her you left in the company jet with an attractive young woman. My own PI's advise she hired a private investigator to track you down."

"That's alright; she can investigate my goings on all she wants, she won't find anything. Has she been served?"

"Yes, Ellen was served at work. From what I understand, she fell into hysterics. They had to take her into the back office. I guess she wasn't expecting that kind of reaction from you."

"Have your PI's found out anything?" I questioned and he immediately answered, "Ah...yes, they have. Evidently, the word is, Ellen and a highly place executive...uh...let's see now, here it is...James A. Reed! Yep, a VP at Dalton Communications. The Mercedes you found in your driveway came back to a Marilyn Reed, his wife. Anyway, the word is he and Ellen have been having an ongoing affair for the past several months...maybe longer. Supposedly, she's been telling certain people you two have an open marriage. That ring true at all?"

"Come on, Matthew! What do you think?"

"Nah, didn't think so. Get this; she's countered on grounds of infidelity. Seems you have a harem going."

"What? Where the hell did she come up with that?"

"Well...in the counter suit, she's named at least two women, an Angela Hartman and Karen Riley. Those two names should ring a bell. I told you to tell Ellen about them."

Fuck me, I thought, she found out about them. How did she...? Well, that partly explains why she went off the deep end, I mused. Time to set the record straight.

"Okay...you told me so. But, that doesn't excuse what she's done. She should have come to me first, that could have been easily explained. Look, you've got all the necessary paperwork that accounts for Angela and Karen. And, Angela just passed away."

"Jesus, I'm sorry Jason. I know how much she meant to you. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing better now. But, I want you to maintain the monthly checks. Create a trust for her children, Lisa, Bobby and Dean Hartman. I made a promise they would be taken care of. They don't need it but their future children may."

"I understand Jas. I'll take care of it. What do you want me to do about the charges in the counter suit?"

"Matt, I've got nothing to hide. Send her attorney full disclosure on the supposed affairs I've been having. That should cool their heels a bit. I'll see you tomorrow. By the way, was Mr. Reed listed in the divorce?"

"Ah...no. With that 'little accident' he incurred at your home, we best thought to leave that alone."

"Shit, well...maybe your right. I guess I did kind of get even, didn't I?"

"You might say that. He's still undergoing treatment."

Lisa saw me off at the airport. Before I boarded, she embraced me and murmured, "No matter what you decide, Jason...I will always be here for you. Remember that."

"Lisa, I'll remember and I promise you, no matter what happens, you've already captured my heart and soul. But, I have an obligation to Ellen. Somehow, she has come under the misconception I've been having an affair with your mother."

Lisa gasped and said, "Oh no!"

"Yes, and I need to tell her she is mistaken. I don't believe it will make much of a difference, she's already shattered my heart and trust into irreparable fragments."

"I understand," she softly said. "Please take care of yourself."

I nodded and kissed her deeply on the lips before I stepped to the boarding ramp. I turned to look at her, once more, before I vanished.

***********

"Ellen, even with what you believed I was doing, how do you honestly justify what you tried to do to me with that asshole, James Reed?"

El sat across the table from me, her attorney next to her, Matthew next to me. Once her legal pariah received the notarized documentation about Angela and Karen, the counter suit collapsed. Even the rumor of my leaving with an attractive woman fell apart when they learned I had merely flown back, to be with my unofficially adopted mother in her last days, with her daughter...Lisa.

The legal mêlée had taken nearly two months before we finally sat facing the other at this final meeting. Ellen had demanded she have a chance to talk to me before we finalized the divorce.

"Jason, I am so, so very sorry. I honestly thought you were having a long time ongoing affair with those two women. My source had approached me and presented me with evidence that you had been providing financial assistance to two different women. What was I supposed to think?"

"You were supposed to love and trust me enough to come to me and ask about it, that's what you were supposed to do. Not fly into the arms of another man and, for god's sake, not flaunt it in my presence. Did you really think I would let that piece of shit turn me into a willing cuckold? By the way, how is the dick head...or should I say dickless?"

El winced when I said that. "He's still undergoing cosmetic surgery. He was lucky his...his thing wasn't cut but he did lose a testicle and they had to remove several glass fragments from around his...his crotch. He wanted to charge you with assault with a deadly weapon until I made him understand everything would come out into the open. His wife holds the money and power over him. She owns the company."

Ellen looked away. "Needless to say, I haven't seen him since that time." With barely a whisper, she continued, "I thought...I thought that having Reed come over that day to...you know...ah...kind of flaunt it in your face, it would make you see what you forced me to do...with James." She stared at me, as if seeing me for the first time. "I didn't expect your reaction."

I laughed when I heard that. "Cramped your style, did I? Sorry about that El. I know how important he was to you. At least, that's what Matthew and his private investigation people told me. Wasn't much of a clandestine affair you had. Seems everyone at your company...other than Jimmy boy's wife, knew what was going on."

Matthew grunted and stared out the window when I said that.

Sighing, I said, "Look El, you chose to believe this so-called source of yours instead of asking me. And, I know Jimmy boy was the source. You didn't realize he purposely tried to find some dirt on me so he could woo you. He just didn't bother to look deeper...and...neither did you. You jumped right into his arms and onto his cock, didn't you?"

"See here, Mr. Cooley...you've no right to speak to my client in that..."

"Fuck you, you simpleton. I've every right to speak however I want to this slut!"

Ellen gasped and cried, "Please, Jason..."

"No...fuck you but no!" I shouted. "You never gave me a fucking chance, El. You wanted this to happen. I think you needed this to happen. You fell for that asshole and didn't want to take the chance that he was wrong about me!"

I stood and went to the window staring out onto a park-like courtyard. After a minute, I turned and asked her, "El...be honest with me. What did I do to drive you away? It couldn't have been what Jimmy boy told you. Was I such a terrible husband? Did I fail to give you the attention you needed? Was I lacking in bed...what?"

She stared at me, tears running down her cheeks. "I...I don't know, Jas."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT! ONLY THOSE I LOVE AND MEAN SOMETHING TO ME CAN CALL ME JAS! YOU NO LONGER MEAN ANYTHING TO ME!"

Taking a breath, I continued, "You lost that right the moment you let another man jam his dick into you!"

Ellen's eyes opened wide, her mouth gaping as she stared at me, shocked. "I...I...." She suddenly stood and fled the room. Her attorney glared at me and followed her.

"Well, I guess this meeting is done," said Matt. "I'll take care of the necessary paperwork and filing. Anything else, Jas?"

My chest was still heaving from my outburst. "No, I'm going to the condo. Call me if you need anything from me."

Matt nodded and started shuffling the documents into his briefcase. I turned and walked out.

I didn't know where the hell that eruption of unbridled emotion came from. I thought I was done with all that. I guess, maybe...El still meant a bit more to me than I thought and her betrayal was still deeply painful.

I made it back to my condo, grabbed a beer and sat on the patio watching the jets constantly taking off or landing at the San Jose Airport. The airport wasn't so close to be annoying but I could watch all the action.

My mind wandered between Ellen, Angela and Lisa. While I still had some feeling for the wretch of a wife, she pretty much killed the love I once had for her. There just was nothing she could say to justify her actions. I saw Lisa standing on the beach watching that flash of green erupting from the sunset. She was Angela's daughter, almost a sister to me. Lisa was only about five years younger than me, older than her brothers but, damn it, how would her father have felt. Would Deputy Hartman approve? For some reason, I doubted it. After all, he only knew me as a street punk.

Sweet Jesus! Maybe I wasn't cut out to be happy. I saw Angela's face suddenly appear, her eyes angry.

"Jason Michael Cooley! Don't you dare think like that! You know very well how Lisa's father, my William, would feel about the two of you. Lisa needs you! You promised me you'd be there for her!"

Her image shimmered and slowly vanished. Angela," I cried reaching out for her.

My eyes snapped open and I looked around anxiously. I was still in the lounge chair out on the patio. Had I fallen asleep? Was Angela really here? The high pitched whine of a 727 taking off brought me back to reality. I knew what I had to do.

************

Lisa sat beneath the mangrove, staring out onto the ocean. She hadn't heard from Jason since he left to return to San Jose. She thought for sure she would have heard something by now. Maybe he decided to work on his marriage, she thought, her eyes moist.

The sun was going down, the waves lapping softly onto the beach. She sat the, her arms tight around her chest. She thought of his wife and became angry...at him. How could he try and go back with her? His wife didn't love him; she betrayed him, cheated on him and then tried to rub his nose in her betrayal. How could he go back to her?

She started to sob and was about to wipe her cheek when a voice quietly asked, "Here, use this."

She turned and saw a hand holding a white handkerchief.

"On second thought, allow me." She looked up as he tenderly traced her cheeks with the soft material, wiping away her tears.

Lisa could barely speak as she looked into the eyes of the only man she ever loved. Jason knelt beside her, his arm around her shoulders as they gazed into each other's eyes.

"Lisa, I'm sorry I didn't..."

"Stop it...you're here. That's all that counts...you are here...with me."

Jason smiled and softly pressed his lips against hers. "And, I will always be with you."

As they turned to watch the sunset, that now familiar brilliant flash of green from the sinking sun occurred again. It seemed to be announcing their love to those that mattered.

Lisa looked up to the sky imagining her mother and father embracing, smiling down on the two of them.

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