Connection __Part 12__~SpaceCase

Not long after the introductions, Gregory North disappeared behind a heavy black door, obviously the dark room, which read: STAY OUT in a blaring red caps. Glenda went back to her desk to answer the ringing phone, leaving Nadine and Corina to the business at hand.

Nadine was more than pleased with Corina's extensive portfolio, sparkling resumee, but was most impressed by Corina's charismatic personality. She let Corina know right away that she was going to be a wonderful addition to their creative staff and she couldn't wait for her fellow reporters to meet the new siren. She gave Corina her first assignment, covering a local auction and fashion show. A cake-walk for the enthusiastic journalist!

Nothing got Corina's blood pumping like reporting the news. She could live in a car and travel the country with only the clothes on her back and her toothbrush, if it was the right story. Before she met Roger, she was on the fast-track to becoming a reporter for a successful magazine in the heart of Hollywood, but she stayed in Texas to be close to the man she was once so crazy in love with. She settled for advice columns, and traveled less and less the more involved she became with Roger.

After his first drunken attack left her with a broken arm and several bruises, she was afraid to leave him. He didn't want her doing anymore stories that required staying out of town over-night, so she conceeded and stepped down from her position as Head Writer on the small town paper and cut back her work schedule so that she would be home more.

When she became pregnant, Roger insisted on marrying her. Most people could never understand the fear that lead her to marry him, and the night they should've been enjoying the honeymoon, she ended up motionless, in a tiny ball on the bathroom floor, like a scared bunny, hiding from it's preditor. And that was only the first of several blows he delivered during the most excrutiating period in her life.

Carrying his own child didn't stop Roger from giving into his demons, and Corina delivered their only child, Nicolette, too early, and the poor darling didn't have a fighting chance. When Corina found the strength to blame Roger for their baby's unnecessary death, he laid her down for the final time. Flash foward two and a half months and she is living under her own witness protection plan.

Her plan was falling into place rather nicely, and she offered to take Glenda and Nadine out for a bite to eat. Opting not to go to the Magnolia Cafe, as originally planned, she asked her new co-workers if they liked Mexican food, and if there was even such an eatery in the Levington area. Lucky for Corina, who was craving a plate of enchiladas and a margarita, El Guapos was Nadine's favorite restaraunt and was in walking distance.

Corina enjoyed the crisp, fresh mountain air, and the friendly banter taking place between Glenda and Nadine. Again, Corina just listened, taking mental notes, while walking West on 4th Street, away from her new job. Feeling a sundden chill, she quickly looked across the square and could see the Magnolia Cafe. She swore she could feel Mrs. Ramsey staring at her, piercing Corina with the little old lady's disappointment.

'That will have to wait,' she told herself as she followed the two younger ladies through a festive pair of doors that led into a darkened cavernous environment. Infrequent sconces, or rather lit-up pockets of clay spotted the rustic walls, offering the only light in the little dive. The lighting complimented her two dinner companions, as well as the young waitress who was taking their order. Corina thought about the obnoxious teen who waited on her in the Cafe. She decided she would go their for dinner, if she had any energy left. She sat back and enjoyed her Mexican meal as well as the chipper sweethearts who had quickly won over Corina's affections.

>SpaceCase<

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