The Duet by Jennifer D'Angelo Read Free Book Online

unyielding, I could barely feel it.
    I saw a burst of fiery red and orange before my eyeballs. I even managed one good deep breath before I reacted, so you can’t say I didn’t think it through first.
    My left foot came deliberately off the rung of the ladder and I lifted it as far up as my position would allow. He never even saw it coming. That steel-toed boot came down so hard on his forehead, I felt the vibration in my leg. Fortunately for Wayne, my trajectory was off, or he might have ended up in the morgue instead of just on short-term disability. And I guess that was fortunate for me as well. Despite the fact that I had not been able to rid the world of such a worthless piece of shit as Wayne, I was not going to jail. In fact, the entire matter was quietly swept under the rug with the understanding that I would not sue the shit out of the conglomerate warehouse company for sexual battery.
    What a strange world.
    Anyway, I watched as Wayne floated down off the ladder – he was only three rungs up, so relax – and landed with a satisfying thud on the cold concrete floor. His forehead instantly knotted up and grew a softball sized lump.
    I hopped off the ladder, stripped off my uniform and hat, tossing them on the floor as I went. I may have even been humming a little as I sauntered – truly sauntered this time – right through that warehouse and out to my car. I was wearing nothing but a sports bra, boxer shorts and those ultra-comfort steel toed boots.

7
     
    Dear Izzy,
     
    I remember one night listening to my father begging my mother to forgive him. I don’t just mean a simple, ‘Please forgive me’, I mean downright groveling, on his knees outside her locked bedroom door, whimpering. I can’t explain the shame I felt listening to a grown man that I had once looked up to, behaving like such a pussy.
    For a long while, even though I knew that the way they treated each other wasn’t healthy, I kept on telling myself that it was because they loved each other so much. Then I would swear on my life that I would never ever let anyone penetrate my heart that way. If love was like that, than I wanted no part of it. But now I realize that what my parents had wasn’t love at all. It was something ugly, maybe fear or even hate, but love does not ruin people like it did my parents. If it does, then we are all in big trouble.
     
    Jay
     
     
    I showed up at my new job feeling both superior for landing a job in a law firm, and wary of being hired by a law firm.
    I had spoken to the female half of the husband and wife legal team quite extensively over the last few days. The interviews were thorough, to say the least, but when she’d hired me sight unseen, I began to question the legal genius behind this particular outfit. As much as I needed to start working, I had asked her several times if she wanted to meet me in person. Not that I couldn’t do the work, but yuppie types like these tended to be uptight, and my aqua hair (I’d added a bit of green – too much free time on my hands between gigs) and my fashion choices could be a speed bump.
    Sure enough, Fancy Pants Intellectual Properties Lawyer did a spit take (literally – she sprayed coffee all over her desk) when I walked in. To her credit, she recovered quickly. To her husband’s credit, he barely noticed me at all.
    I had toned things down a bit. My hair was braided in two pigtails. My skirt was longer than usual, just a couple inches above the knee, and I’d gone with the solid dark green tights to match the plaid instead of the textured brighter one’s I had first put on. I didn’t have any shirts without slogans, so I went with an old CBGB t-shirt that wasn’t torn. I’d turned it inside out to hide the skull image, and topped it with a blazer I’d stolen from Cooper’s closet that morning. I didn’t have time or money to shop for shoes, so there wasn’t anything to be done about the boots, but I figured my feet would be tucked under a desk most