Chapter 1
Wednesday, June 1, 2:45 PM
Proverb: Those who ca'an dance blame it
on the music.
Meaning: It is easier to blame other people than to take responsibility for our
actions.
Xavier has a damn nerve. He bloody well knows
I don’t belong here.
Annette
studied her nails before she continued scanning the room.
The
cobalt-blue blinds hid the afternoon sun from her eyes and sealed her in a cozy
space dominated by a mahogany desk, plush furniture and a floor-to-ceiling
bookshelf crammed with reference books.
She
studied the rings on her left hand. So many memories were contained in those
pieces of platinum and baguette diamonds. How Xavier expected her to just move
on after seventeen years of marriage, she didn’t know. He’d taken twenty years
of her life and left her to start over with that bitch and the bastard they had
spawned between them.
Movement
from the other side of the desk reminded Annette she wasn’t in the room alone.
Marjorie Dacres watched her. Having to see a therapist was laughable, not to
mention humiliating. She was a social worker herself and not just any social
worker. The human psyche was her area of specialization; the path she’d chosen
for her career. She almost had a Master's, for heaven’s sake.
Pity you didn’t do such a great job with your
family.
She
banished that thought. Studying had eaten up most of her adult life, but the
results were worth the sacrifices she’d made. She was one of Jamaica’s eminent
consultants in the Social Services, her specialty being children and family
life. The irony of being inside the office of a family life minister as a
patient didn’t escape her.
Annette’s
skin crawled again, and a tide of heat crept from her chest to scald her face.
The only reason she was here was because Xavier insisted he’d press charges if
she didn’t see a therapist. Never mind the fact that she’d explained why she
cut him and that she hadn’t meant to do it.
The
only good thing that came out of that disaster was that her daughter Kelleigh
was now coming around. The nervous looks she sometimes threw at Annette
disturbed her, but they’d been at odds for so long it was no wonder her fifteen
year old couldn’t appreciate the mother-daughter bond that was a natural part
of life.
The
therapist shifted and folded her hands on the desk. "Mrs. McKellop, why
are you here?"
Annette
made the dumpy woman wait while she thought about what to say. Her blue-white
hair was at odds with her unlined face and plump body. She looked more like
forty than the sixty-odd-year-old grandmother Annette knew her to be.
Miss
Dacres cleared her throat and then prompted Annette. "Mrs. McKellop?"
Glancing
at her watch, Annette sat erect in the seat that was more sofa than patient’s
chair. She smoothed the skirt of her business suit and looked to the woman’s
left, latching on to the pearl earring that clung to her earlobe.
"My
husband insisted that I come." She studied the toes of her leather pumps. "There
was an incident."
"So
you came under duress."
Gritting
her teeth, Annette answered, "Yes."
A
smile entered the woman’s voice. "As you know, there shouldn’t be any
embarrassment about seeing a therapist, but as professionals, we know there’s a
stigma attached."
Her
chair squeaked and she moved something on the desk. "It’s clear you’re
feeling some resistance, but if you’re going to be seeing me, it makes sense for
us not to waste each other’s time. Can we start with the incident that brought
you here?"
Annette
stared at the woman. Who the hell did she think she was to believe that a pep
talk was what she needed and that she was so weak-minded, she’d spill her guts
at the first invitation? She probably knew more about the human mind and
therapy than the old dinosaur across the desk.
Her
anger stirred again. She didn’t understand what Xavier thought would come out
of his ridiculous stipulation that she go into therapy, but she knew one thing.
Divorced from her or not, he wouldn’t have a moment’s happiness with that bitch
and the bastard child he’d gotten during their marriage.
Damn cheat!
While
Annette twisted the rings on her finger, her gaze fell on a globe depicting a
scene outside a country house. A strong desire to hurl it across the room
overcame her. Wrecking the glass figurine would satisfy the anger twisting and
tumbling in her belly. If only for the moment.
She
skimmed the office with her eyes, working out what to say to satisfy the woman
in front of her and occupy the half hour that stretched before them. She traced
the stitches on the leather case in her lap, while her thoughts wrapped around
Xavier. If he believed he could leave
her and their daughter behind like old newspaper, he could just think again.
You've
heard it said ...
Heaven
has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.
- William Congreve, English playwright
Dumped
by her spouse of seventeen years, Annette McKellop has no choice but to adjust
to life on her own. An accomplished social worker, she can't help but see the
irony of treating clients who live parallel lives, disrupted by cheating men
who leave broken families behind. Not that she intends to suck up her
ex-husband's betrayal.
Her
plans for revenge start out brilliantly, but instead of striking a blow for all
wronged females, Annette's quest to get even with Xavier is all-consuming and leads
down avenues where even the most reckless souls won't go.
Until
she meets Roderick Minto—a man who is off limits. Her role as counselor to his
daughter prohibits anything more than a platonic relationship, but Roderick has
other ideas. As their relationship deepens and she does what is taboo, Annette
questions the direction of her moral compass. Should she follow her heart and
Roderick's leading? Is losing a second chance at love worth the relentless
pursuit of a man who has moved on and isn't coming back?
Follow
Annette's journey in Absolution. Coming November 1, 2014.
Great excerpt! Annette seems like a really cool character.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard that proverb before but it made me laugh. It's totally the music's fault that I can't dance. :D
Hi, Julie, Thanks for dropping in. We have a host of proverbs in Jamaica. I hear you on the music. ;)
DeleteGreat tension Joy. Made me want to throw something too. I could feel her anger. Apt proverb. Hell hath no fury indeed.
ReplyDeletedenise :)
Thanks, Denise. I appreciate you stopping in. and sharing your thoughts.
DeleteLet's hear it for a good dose of anger and hurling stuff. I loved your proverb. I think I'll repeat it.
ReplyDeleteAnnette believes she has a right to be angry, so I guess she's entitled. ;)
DeleteSounds like Annette has quite a bit she's dealing with. I'm excited to check this out when it is released.
ReplyDeleteThat she does and boy does she make her anger felt.
ReplyDeleteLoved it, cuz you "nailed it". :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from Shout with Emaginette
Great excerpt, awesome tension!
ReplyDeleteWow, Joy. It's enticing. I love it (the excerpt).
ReplyDeleteYou are really working the keyboard. Congrats. I read Distraction and Don't Get Mad, Get Even, and I still have to read Christine and Sam, as both are sitting on my Kindle. And I still have to post that review I started. But I'll complete all once I get this beast (PhD) I'm fighting out of the way.
Peaches, I could hug you! Good to know you are doing okay. Speaking of reviews, I know I posted one for your short, but now that I think about it, I can't remember doing one for the memoir. I do have a fair number of them to post. Take care of yourself.
DeleteYou've got a winner here, Joy! Congrats :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carol!
DeleteIf I was Xavier, I'd certainly watch my step. I don't think Annette is someone to mess with. So... in the next excerpt does she see Roderick?
ReplyDeleteHey, Joylene, thanks for dropping in. You hit the nail on the head, Joylene isn't someone to mess with. Cuing up Roderick. ;)
DeleteAnnette is CONFUSED & CRAZY!
ReplyDeleteYou don't wanna mess with this woman...*shudders*