Post by mccain on Jan 2, 2015 12:41:03 GMT -5
I have been working on this project for a few months and decided it was time for some of it to find the light of day and receive comment, feedback or criticism.
Thanks for your time and I hope you enjoy the work.
Chapter I
“Why, a good question and very appropriate under the circumstances.” A ginger haired lady a tiny past her prime said as she shifted her back while rolling her right shoulder over to look across the room. She pursed her lips tightly as she pondered her response.
The condo was comfortable but elegantly unpretentious. Clean white walls, shiny wooden floors and smattering of modern and post modern artworks on the walls. A large screen TV dominated one wall and a large leather couch took center stage in the brightly lit living room. Large floor to ceiling windows overlooked the the ruddy brown waters of the Mississippi River.
“Why is one of a long list of questions I have for this chapter Ma'am. Or may I call you Chloe?” A young blond haired woman wearing a ponytail, pressed a button on a recorder and began to tap quickly on her laptop. Chloe turned to look at her.
Chloe pursed her lips tightly for a second while taking a deep breath. “Is that device necessary? I mean this isn't easy for me to discuss.” She hadn't answered the question but instead stared with her steely gray/blue eyes first widening then peering more tightly at the object like she could cause it to disintegrate.
“Yes, it's necessary. I'll try to keep good notes, but we may need the recording for reference.” The younger woman was trying to sound confident and in control, while she spread out her cell phone, laptop and a yellow legal pad along with the recorder. “This isn't going to be easy,” she thought for herself, suddenly unaware of whether the Justice was offended by the cellphone, recorder or the lap top.
“This conversation or interview, if you will, is reference material, I suppose.”
“Yes Ma'am I mean Chloe. What you have done is quiet extraordinary, and deserves to be correctly documented.”
“Justice Adamson, you may call me Justice Adamson or Madam Justice.” The Justice turned her head sharply from the younger woman back towards CNN and just as quickly she focused her attention towards the younger woman.
“Justice Adamson, if you would rather write this part yourself, I could edit the material and save you from the bother . . .”
“I don't have time to write about this – trivial part – oh never mind, I don't know why I let anyone talk me into this.” Chloe quickly clenched her jaw, “Very well. You were asking me, Why? And I agree that's a good question.” Chloe continued after a considered pause. “And I wish I had a simple answer or a good answer that paints me in a favorable light, but frankly I don't or won't so – I am going to muddle through what I remember, and ramble a bit.” Justice Chloe Adamson sounded annoyed, which was okay because she usually sounded annoyed.
“Okay. Why? Why did you write the advertizement, a sexual ad?”
The phrasing of 'a sexual ad' was like sandpaper across her skin. Chloe again gritted her teeth and concerned her response. Arguing that what she had written was anything other than a course sexual ad would be pointless. Although she didn't like the connotation, the description was accurate. Her jaw muscle twinged slightly. “Curiosity, Fantasy, Memories – I don't know. Maybe I wanted an adventure. I might have wanted to secretly torpedo my career. Perhaps all of those are part of the soup that answers why I – um wrote a personal ad.” Chloe tried to emphasize the word personal.
“How did it start?” Quickly typed a few keystrokes on her lap top, while occasionally glancing across the top of the screen. Justice Adamson wore a comfortable white blouse with a dark pair of slacks, she looked to be wearing panty hose, although they could be knee highs, and her legs were comfortably crossed at the knee. The rest of her body looked taunt as a high tension wire.
“I wrote the ad on my birthday. You know? I didn't even get a birthday card or one well wish from work. It was like any other day. It was my birthday and didn't get a gift or a phone call or even an email to commemorate the occasion. Maybe I felt a twinge of self-pity – or sorry for myself. I dunno why, I did it on a whim.”
“So, just like that? A personal ad for a newspaper? We have the internet, you know?” The young woman tap a pen against her yellow pad, before she resumed the cadence of quick clicks on the keyboard.
“Yeah well, I didn't really think it through, like I said, it was a whim. I came home from work. And I remember looking in the mirror and thinking, 'I'm going to just do it.' I remember feeling tired of being lonely. You know, I wanted something that was just for me.” Chloe's hand circled in the air like it wasn't a big deal.
“So you were feeling, what? Selfish maybe. I'm sorry that sounded very judgmental of me.” Justine Denver, had ghost written several lesser known biographies over the past couple of years, but this was no doubt going to her most important work to date. Justine consciously decided to poke the most formidable she had ever met who was sitting comfortably on the couch, there was no doubt that to get the information she needed, she would need to take certain liberties. She would need to rid her of the judge persona and get Chloe to be just a 'normal person.'
The Chloe's pretty face went red and then white hot albino pale for a few moments while she stared intently at CNN. No sound was made. She just stared at the ticker at the bottom of the screen. After several seconds, Justice Chloe Adamson stood up stretching her back in a regal manner and went into the kitchen, the hard wood floors echoing under her feet. She stirred several items around in a drawer, before she returned with a pack of stale cigarettes and an old extended lighter used for lighting gas grills.
“Justice Adamson, I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend.” Justine made a note that the Justice smokes occasionally to her notes.
“Course you didn't, dear, you just maybe shouldn't say it aloud.” Chloe Adamson, stood as tall as her five foot five inch frame would allow, squared her stance in front of the younger woman. “I suppose a certain amount of judgment is justified. Justine isn't it?”
“Call me Miss Denver, or since we are being very formal, if you please.”
Justice Adamson took a long drag off of her noxious cigarette. Glanced around her living room, retrieved an ashtray that was buried deep in a drawer of one of her end tables and retook her seat on the couch, gathering her feet next to her while she tentatively twirled the cigarette in its own ashes.
“Miss Denver, it was cold for the time of year mid May as I recall. I remember that I wanted to wear something that was more revealing, which in hindsight would have been a mistake. I had picked out a more brightly colored red and yellow dress, shorter than I normally wear and a scoop neck line that would be out of line from my standard my standard business attire.
“But not risque of course,” Justine tried to offer some support.
“My goodness no. If I had been in my twenties no one would have given it a second thought, and frankly no probably would have on the Friday anyway. But it was cool and the wind was blustery that day and it was trying to rain. So instead I put on a sweater and a long skirt and I wore a pair of tights to keep my legs warm.”
“Tell me about the responses you received to your ad.” Miss Denver wasn't interested in the weather.
“The responses were predictable, ranging from the criminally insane to Oh My God, you must – and many just sounded like BS. I'm not sure what I expected when I placed the ad, but I sure got a face full excrement in return. I couldn’t help but laugh at the ones that described their body parts or their sexual techniques. So yeah it was pretty horrifying on a number of levels. To be sure I would never do it again.” Chloe blew a large puff of smoke and then moved her head to the side to look at Miss Denver.
“There was one though – response, I mean.” The Miss Denver adjusted the camera on the lap top so that it centered on the red haired woman.
“One stood out. Yes. I had set the response aside a number of times instead of throwing it was and it kept finding its way back to my hand. I remember reading it over and over again. I went to bed the night before confident that I had lost my nerve. It was stupid to begin with, and here I was considering going through with it. I remember lying in bed thinking over and over about the man well.” Justice Adamson paused, turning her head like she was popping her neck, “I presumed it was a man, who’d written the response.” A nervous laugh followed. “But I kept turning over and over in my mind what he would look like and how he would sound. I'm not sure how much sleep I actually got, but I had to work extra hard to hide the dark circles under my eyes.”
Chloe looked over at the various gadgets and the young woman at the controls. “I don’t know if you remember, but growing up I just went to school and played sports and kept my grades up. The scholarship offer from Stanford was my way out. Political Science wasn’t my major but it seemed to find me – I found the debates fascinating. Law School was the natural follow on and was Honored be accepted at Yale, Harvard and Stanford. I stayed at Stanford because I had an apartment and a pretty cool roommate. I loved the challenge and thrived in law school.” Chloe took another long drag off the cigarette, then smashed it into the ashtray she had placed on a large over stuffed pillow on the couch next to her.
“I am sure we didn't talk about his before, I socialized some in law school, you know, much more than in undergrad, I know that sounds backwards, but I was always worried I would loose my scholarship and by the time law school rolled around, I wasn't as worried. I had a couple of boys show some interest in me and I went out on a few dates but nothing too serious. Boys seemed far more smitten with me than I was with them. I had done the one night stand thing a couple of times, well only twice and there was Joel, he was a philosophy doctoral candidate. He was smart, cute and funny but far too sensitive and introspective. We drifted apart after a couple of months. He was my longest relationship. There were a couple of others who I dated a few times and may have slept with, but I can't really recall their names. Anyway, in high school or maybe when I was a freshman in college, I realized that I didn't want love or a relationship. I felt like there would always be time for that later.
“I or we didn't dare have an affair while I worked for the Justice Kennedy as a Supreme Court clerk. We were all like monks, we slept ate and drank the law. I loved my time at the Supreme Court. We were all friends, even when we didn't agree, but more like ideal brothers and sisters, you know. We hung out and argued, but we didn't exactly date or at least I didn't date, and no one really asked me either.”
But I was on the fast track then my future well in front of me. When I went into private practice I was with the most intense litigation firm in the country, we worked on the tobacco cases back several years ago. The grind was tremendous and work would bury any normal human beings. We worked twenty hour days six days a week for a solid three months before we went to trial in Mississippi. Then I was appointed to the federal bench because my apartment was actually in Shelby County. As a judge I found myself very isolated. It became almost impossible to meet someone, I refused to date lawyers and with my schedule I didn’t have time for that matter. So I guess in the end on my fortieth birthday I decided to pursue a practical no non-sense sexual affair.” Chloe fished another cigarette lit it and took a long pull. While she waited for the young woman to finish her notes and ask a follow-up.
“What about a romance?”
“Romance was something that I read about in novels so I was familiar with it I guess. But I had gone so long without a real romantic, you know, encounter or relationship, and that wasn't on my mind. I'd read quite a few romance novels in my spare time. It didn't matter if they were happy endings or tragic conclusions I would only remain interested until the first encounter. I would get a hollow drop in my stomach and yes my belly would ache but in a good way when they finally did it. But it didn’t seem to matter about the rest. You know? The rest of book would be ho hum, I love him blah blah you know. Plot resolves. It just...”
“Once they did it. You would lose interest. What do you remember about this response you received? The one that caught your eye.” Miss Denver started to write in a blank spot on her note pad.
“Everything!” Justice Adamson's face suddenly lit up like a teenager. “I kept it. I might still have it stuck away on page 942 of Battlefield Earth, because that’s where I kept it. You know, that book got so worn, but not because I loved the book, just when I wanted to remember or forget I could go and all those feelings would come back. I think it’s in a box of books under my bed.”
“So tell me about it – we can dig it out later if it’s important.” Miss Denver already had a copy of the ad Justice Adamson had written, in scanned on her laptop. She made a note to get the response rather than break up the momentum that the Justice seemed to be gathering.
“It was handwritten.” Justice Adamson's face still beamed as she looked out over the Mississippi River like she was trying to picture the paper and feel it in her hands. It was on pure white heavy linen stationary and looked like it had been written with a fountain pen. The penmanship was clean and clear, not hastily scribbled nor type written. It was like the writer had taken time to plan each and every word. It was clean and crisp, sharp and to the point.”
“What did it say?” Agent Denver poised her pen to quickly take notes.
Dear Discreet:
I am writing in response to an ad placed in the Flyer on or about May 20. I will gladly meet you to discuss your ad further. I propose that you meet me on June 3rd at about 1:00 pm in the café on the corner of Union and 3rd Street. I will wear a red bow tie. (Even though I hate red and bow ties). If after seeing me in person, you want to discuss stringing me along, please feel free to approach me.
I am hopeful this letter finds you well and attracts your interest. With warm personal regards
Very Truly Yours,
Venn (Not my real name)
“Sounds like you memorized it!”
“It stuck with me.” Chloe had resumed looking at the River.
“And? What did you do in response to the letter?”
“Union and 3rd was a few blocks from my office, and it’s not hard to be in Huey’s Cafe at 1:00 after the lunch crowd had thinned. I would take a corner booth and see who showed up in a red bow tie.” Justice Adamson didn't hide the excitement in her voice.
“So that’s it?” Investigator Denver sounded annoyed. “No investigation or you know something else?”
“No, No investigation. I wrote out a list of ground rules and had them in my purse, you know, just in case. But yeah, if you mean that is, the response is, what convinced me to meet a total stranger. Then yes I took a small chance that someone might show up and I might have an affair.”
“So what were the rules?” Miss Denver readied her pen.
1. No names or real names anyway. I would be Patty.
2. Obviously he would be called Venn.
3. Evenings only at the Crown Plaza. I would check in the night before, and keep the room through the following night.
4. Always pay in cash and leave no room charges on a credit card bill.
5. He wouldn't have my number or have any idea what I did for a living. We would have no contact except at the café and the hotel.
6. I was always free to say no.
7. I wouldn’t fall in love
8. I would never do anything like this ever again.
“Rooms at the Crown Plaza.” Miss Denver made a point of writing that point down making the Justice pause. “You know how monumentally stupid this was right? I mean stupid on the most basic girl survival instinct level.” The Justine Denver didn't take her eyes off the page as she made the incendiary comment. The full wrath of the Justice might be following and she didn't want to her to see the fear in her eyes.
“I've never claimed it was smart or well thought out. I didn’t plan for this be you know, long term, maybe just a couple of times. It wasn’t something – it would be my little secret. Not a long term commitment.” Defiant. Justice Adamson was being defiant. Entitled to her little secrets. Justine was glad she hadn't looked up.
“But now you are an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, who has written the most important opinion on abortion in the since Roe v. Wade.”
“I really hope that I never come across as pretentious as that sounds. And for the life of me I don't understand why you'all think doing this book is important. So please don't you throw me under the bus.” Justice Adamson gave the electronic gadgets another once over and waited for the next question.
“Ma'am I have no intention of throwing you anywhere let alone under any buses.”
Thanks for your time and I hope you enjoy the work.
Chapter I
“Why, a good question and very appropriate under the circumstances.” A ginger haired lady a tiny past her prime said as she shifted her back while rolling her right shoulder over to look across the room. She pursed her lips tightly as she pondered her response.
The condo was comfortable but elegantly unpretentious. Clean white walls, shiny wooden floors and smattering of modern and post modern artworks on the walls. A large screen TV dominated one wall and a large leather couch took center stage in the brightly lit living room. Large floor to ceiling windows overlooked the the ruddy brown waters of the Mississippi River.
“Why is one of a long list of questions I have for this chapter Ma'am. Or may I call you Chloe?” A young blond haired woman wearing a ponytail, pressed a button on a recorder and began to tap quickly on her laptop. Chloe turned to look at her.
Chloe pursed her lips tightly for a second while taking a deep breath. “Is that device necessary? I mean this isn't easy for me to discuss.” She hadn't answered the question but instead stared with her steely gray/blue eyes first widening then peering more tightly at the object like she could cause it to disintegrate.
“Yes, it's necessary. I'll try to keep good notes, but we may need the recording for reference.” The younger woman was trying to sound confident and in control, while she spread out her cell phone, laptop and a yellow legal pad along with the recorder. “This isn't going to be easy,” she thought for herself, suddenly unaware of whether the Justice was offended by the cellphone, recorder or the lap top.
“This conversation or interview, if you will, is reference material, I suppose.”
“Yes Ma'am I mean Chloe. What you have done is quiet extraordinary, and deserves to be correctly documented.”
“Justice Adamson, you may call me Justice Adamson or Madam Justice.” The Justice turned her head sharply from the younger woman back towards CNN and just as quickly she focused her attention towards the younger woman.
“Justice Adamson, if you would rather write this part yourself, I could edit the material and save you from the bother . . .”
“I don't have time to write about this – trivial part – oh never mind, I don't know why I let anyone talk me into this.” Chloe quickly clenched her jaw, “Very well. You were asking me, Why? And I agree that's a good question.” Chloe continued after a considered pause. “And I wish I had a simple answer or a good answer that paints me in a favorable light, but frankly I don't or won't so – I am going to muddle through what I remember, and ramble a bit.” Justice Chloe Adamson sounded annoyed, which was okay because she usually sounded annoyed.
“Okay. Why? Why did you write the advertizement, a sexual ad?”
The phrasing of 'a sexual ad' was like sandpaper across her skin. Chloe again gritted her teeth and concerned her response. Arguing that what she had written was anything other than a course sexual ad would be pointless. Although she didn't like the connotation, the description was accurate. Her jaw muscle twinged slightly. “Curiosity, Fantasy, Memories – I don't know. Maybe I wanted an adventure. I might have wanted to secretly torpedo my career. Perhaps all of those are part of the soup that answers why I – um wrote a personal ad.” Chloe tried to emphasize the word personal.
“How did it start?” Quickly typed a few keystrokes on her lap top, while occasionally glancing across the top of the screen. Justice Adamson wore a comfortable white blouse with a dark pair of slacks, she looked to be wearing panty hose, although they could be knee highs, and her legs were comfortably crossed at the knee. The rest of her body looked taunt as a high tension wire.
“I wrote the ad on my birthday. You know? I didn't even get a birthday card or one well wish from work. It was like any other day. It was my birthday and didn't get a gift or a phone call or even an email to commemorate the occasion. Maybe I felt a twinge of self-pity – or sorry for myself. I dunno why, I did it on a whim.”
“So, just like that? A personal ad for a newspaper? We have the internet, you know?” The young woman tap a pen against her yellow pad, before she resumed the cadence of quick clicks on the keyboard.
“Yeah well, I didn't really think it through, like I said, it was a whim. I came home from work. And I remember looking in the mirror and thinking, 'I'm going to just do it.' I remember feeling tired of being lonely. You know, I wanted something that was just for me.” Chloe's hand circled in the air like it wasn't a big deal.
“So you were feeling, what? Selfish maybe. I'm sorry that sounded very judgmental of me.” Justine Denver, had ghost written several lesser known biographies over the past couple of years, but this was no doubt going to her most important work to date. Justine consciously decided to poke the most formidable she had ever met who was sitting comfortably on the couch, there was no doubt that to get the information she needed, she would need to take certain liberties. She would need to rid her of the judge persona and get Chloe to be just a 'normal person.'
The Chloe's pretty face went red and then white hot albino pale for a few moments while she stared intently at CNN. No sound was made. She just stared at the ticker at the bottom of the screen. After several seconds, Justice Chloe Adamson stood up stretching her back in a regal manner and went into the kitchen, the hard wood floors echoing under her feet. She stirred several items around in a drawer, before she returned with a pack of stale cigarettes and an old extended lighter used for lighting gas grills.
“Justice Adamson, I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend.” Justine made a note that the Justice smokes occasionally to her notes.
“Course you didn't, dear, you just maybe shouldn't say it aloud.” Chloe Adamson, stood as tall as her five foot five inch frame would allow, squared her stance in front of the younger woman. “I suppose a certain amount of judgment is justified. Justine isn't it?”
“Call me Miss Denver, or since we are being very formal, if you please.”
Justice Adamson took a long drag off of her noxious cigarette. Glanced around her living room, retrieved an ashtray that was buried deep in a drawer of one of her end tables and retook her seat on the couch, gathering her feet next to her while she tentatively twirled the cigarette in its own ashes.
“Miss Denver, it was cold for the time of year mid May as I recall. I remember that I wanted to wear something that was more revealing, which in hindsight would have been a mistake. I had picked out a more brightly colored red and yellow dress, shorter than I normally wear and a scoop neck line that would be out of line from my standard my standard business attire.
“But not risque of course,” Justine tried to offer some support.
“My goodness no. If I had been in my twenties no one would have given it a second thought, and frankly no probably would have on the Friday anyway. But it was cool and the wind was blustery that day and it was trying to rain. So instead I put on a sweater and a long skirt and I wore a pair of tights to keep my legs warm.”
“Tell me about the responses you received to your ad.” Miss Denver wasn't interested in the weather.
“The responses were predictable, ranging from the criminally insane to Oh My God, you must – and many just sounded like BS. I'm not sure what I expected when I placed the ad, but I sure got a face full excrement in return. I couldn’t help but laugh at the ones that described their body parts or their sexual techniques. So yeah it was pretty horrifying on a number of levels. To be sure I would never do it again.” Chloe blew a large puff of smoke and then moved her head to the side to look at Miss Denver.
“There was one though – response, I mean.” The Miss Denver adjusted the camera on the lap top so that it centered on the red haired woman.
“One stood out. Yes. I had set the response aside a number of times instead of throwing it was and it kept finding its way back to my hand. I remember reading it over and over again. I went to bed the night before confident that I had lost my nerve. It was stupid to begin with, and here I was considering going through with it. I remember lying in bed thinking over and over about the man well.” Justice Adamson paused, turning her head like she was popping her neck, “I presumed it was a man, who’d written the response.” A nervous laugh followed. “But I kept turning over and over in my mind what he would look like and how he would sound. I'm not sure how much sleep I actually got, but I had to work extra hard to hide the dark circles under my eyes.”
Chloe looked over at the various gadgets and the young woman at the controls. “I don’t know if you remember, but growing up I just went to school and played sports and kept my grades up. The scholarship offer from Stanford was my way out. Political Science wasn’t my major but it seemed to find me – I found the debates fascinating. Law School was the natural follow on and was Honored be accepted at Yale, Harvard and Stanford. I stayed at Stanford because I had an apartment and a pretty cool roommate. I loved the challenge and thrived in law school.” Chloe took another long drag off the cigarette, then smashed it into the ashtray she had placed on a large over stuffed pillow on the couch next to her.
“I am sure we didn't talk about his before, I socialized some in law school, you know, much more than in undergrad, I know that sounds backwards, but I was always worried I would loose my scholarship and by the time law school rolled around, I wasn't as worried. I had a couple of boys show some interest in me and I went out on a few dates but nothing too serious. Boys seemed far more smitten with me than I was with them. I had done the one night stand thing a couple of times, well only twice and there was Joel, he was a philosophy doctoral candidate. He was smart, cute and funny but far too sensitive and introspective. We drifted apart after a couple of months. He was my longest relationship. There were a couple of others who I dated a few times and may have slept with, but I can't really recall their names. Anyway, in high school or maybe when I was a freshman in college, I realized that I didn't want love or a relationship. I felt like there would always be time for that later.
“I or we didn't dare have an affair while I worked for the Justice Kennedy as a Supreme Court clerk. We were all like monks, we slept ate and drank the law. I loved my time at the Supreme Court. We were all friends, even when we didn't agree, but more like ideal brothers and sisters, you know. We hung out and argued, but we didn't exactly date or at least I didn't date, and no one really asked me either.”
But I was on the fast track then my future well in front of me. When I went into private practice I was with the most intense litigation firm in the country, we worked on the tobacco cases back several years ago. The grind was tremendous and work would bury any normal human beings. We worked twenty hour days six days a week for a solid three months before we went to trial in Mississippi. Then I was appointed to the federal bench because my apartment was actually in Shelby County. As a judge I found myself very isolated. It became almost impossible to meet someone, I refused to date lawyers and with my schedule I didn’t have time for that matter. So I guess in the end on my fortieth birthday I decided to pursue a practical no non-sense sexual affair.” Chloe fished another cigarette lit it and took a long pull. While she waited for the young woman to finish her notes and ask a follow-up.
“What about a romance?”
“Romance was something that I read about in novels so I was familiar with it I guess. But I had gone so long without a real romantic, you know, encounter or relationship, and that wasn't on my mind. I'd read quite a few romance novels in my spare time. It didn't matter if they were happy endings or tragic conclusions I would only remain interested until the first encounter. I would get a hollow drop in my stomach and yes my belly would ache but in a good way when they finally did it. But it didn’t seem to matter about the rest. You know? The rest of book would be ho hum, I love him blah blah you know. Plot resolves. It just...”
“Once they did it. You would lose interest. What do you remember about this response you received? The one that caught your eye.” Miss Denver started to write in a blank spot on her note pad.
“Everything!” Justice Adamson's face suddenly lit up like a teenager. “I kept it. I might still have it stuck away on page 942 of Battlefield Earth, because that’s where I kept it. You know, that book got so worn, but not because I loved the book, just when I wanted to remember or forget I could go and all those feelings would come back. I think it’s in a box of books under my bed.”
“So tell me about it – we can dig it out later if it’s important.” Miss Denver already had a copy of the ad Justice Adamson had written, in scanned on her laptop. She made a note to get the response rather than break up the momentum that the Justice seemed to be gathering.
“It was handwritten.” Justice Adamson's face still beamed as she looked out over the Mississippi River like she was trying to picture the paper and feel it in her hands. It was on pure white heavy linen stationary and looked like it had been written with a fountain pen. The penmanship was clean and clear, not hastily scribbled nor type written. It was like the writer had taken time to plan each and every word. It was clean and crisp, sharp and to the point.”
“What did it say?” Agent Denver poised her pen to quickly take notes.
Dear Discreet:
I am writing in response to an ad placed in the Flyer on or about May 20. I will gladly meet you to discuss your ad further. I propose that you meet me on June 3rd at about 1:00 pm in the café on the corner of Union and 3rd Street. I will wear a red bow tie. (Even though I hate red and bow ties). If after seeing me in person, you want to discuss stringing me along, please feel free to approach me.
I am hopeful this letter finds you well and attracts your interest. With warm personal regards
Very Truly Yours,
Venn (Not my real name)
“Sounds like you memorized it!”
“It stuck with me.” Chloe had resumed looking at the River.
“And? What did you do in response to the letter?”
“Union and 3rd was a few blocks from my office, and it’s not hard to be in Huey’s Cafe at 1:00 after the lunch crowd had thinned. I would take a corner booth and see who showed up in a red bow tie.” Justice Adamson didn't hide the excitement in her voice.
“So that’s it?” Investigator Denver sounded annoyed. “No investigation or you know something else?”
“No, No investigation. I wrote out a list of ground rules and had them in my purse, you know, just in case. But yeah, if you mean that is, the response is, what convinced me to meet a total stranger. Then yes I took a small chance that someone might show up and I might have an affair.”
“So what were the rules?” Miss Denver readied her pen.
1. No names or real names anyway. I would be Patty.
2. Obviously he would be called Venn.
3. Evenings only at the Crown Plaza. I would check in the night before, and keep the room through the following night.
4. Always pay in cash and leave no room charges on a credit card bill.
5. He wouldn't have my number or have any idea what I did for a living. We would have no contact except at the café and the hotel.
6. I was always free to say no.
7. I wouldn’t fall in love
8. I would never do anything like this ever again.
“Rooms at the Crown Plaza.” Miss Denver made a point of writing that point down making the Justice pause. “You know how monumentally stupid this was right? I mean stupid on the most basic girl survival instinct level.” The Justine Denver didn't take her eyes off the page as she made the incendiary comment. The full wrath of the Justice might be following and she didn't want to her to see the fear in her eyes.
“I've never claimed it was smart or well thought out. I didn’t plan for this be you know, long term, maybe just a couple of times. It wasn’t something – it would be my little secret. Not a long term commitment.” Defiant. Justice Adamson was being defiant. Entitled to her little secrets. Justine was glad she hadn't looked up.
“But now you are an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, who has written the most important opinion on abortion in the since Roe v. Wade.”
“I really hope that I never come across as pretentious as that sounds. And for the life of me I don't understand why you'all think doing this book is important. So please don't you throw me under the bus.” Justice Adamson gave the electronic gadgets another once over and waited for the next question.
“Ma'am I have no intention of throwing you anywhere let alone under any buses.”
