When Running - Kathryn Malone (little red riding hood ebook .TXT) 📗

I had found out I was dying earlier that day and still got on the plane, landed in New York, bought a Big Apple souvenir from an overpriced duty free shop, made my usual calls while sipping my sugarless coffee and smiled politely at the man who stepped aside to let me pass first through the huge glass doors of the airport; my plans hadn't changed, time went on just the same, people passed me in a hurry as always, calling for cabs, meeting one another, hugging, kissing, walking, yelling and then it paused, my vision became lost on the horizon and my ears started buzzing as the realization of becoming nothingness left me breathless.

Wow! How do people handle death? I searched my mind for instances when I came to encounter such situations but I drew a blank, I must have had relatives which died, must have witnessed funerals but nothing came to mind no matter how hard I tried. What should I do? Cry? Fall apart?Laugh? I've been known to laugh in inappropriate situations. Death is one of things you never think could happen to you, we all know we are heading in the one direction, me included, but to have a deadline suddenly felt so wrong.

Lost in my thoughts I hadn't noticed that the earth started to move again and I started to move too, my feet carried me along the stained pavement, back and forth aimlessly.

I always welcomed a distraction before a big meeting, something to keep me entertained and relaxed but this was too much of a distraction. Am I still going to the meeting? What do I do with the time I have left? Questions, questions..I chanted in my mind. Let's just focus on the meeting. I just needed to get through it and then worry about the rest. This was what I had worked for, I couldn't screw up, not now but there was still that nagging voice at the back of my mind which whispered ''don't bother, in two years' time you'll be history''.

I looked at my watch to realize half an hour had passed since I had left the airport people who think of themselves as important are always late.

A yellow cab came to a stop just in front of me.

''You look like you need a ride'' the driver yelled in my direction and gave me a once over before fixing his eyes on my face.

The answer was on the tip of my tongue but I stopped myself before opening my mouth...my reflection in the cab window, distorted as it was made me choke on my words that face will never have time to grow old, people will always remember these features...uhhhh what people?, I just know a hand full of them. Suddenly not having many people who cared about me was a relief, something less I had to worry about.

''Hey lady!'' he was getting impatient and started scanning the crowd for perspective clients.

''I'm fine!'' I yelled back while keeping my gaze on my reflection, the cab drove by distorting it even more.

Five minutes later my ride had arrived, I put my bag in the back and got in front with the driver.

''Hello Mr. Martin'', my voice was shaky, this whole death thing was getting to me and sounding weak or shy in front of a business man who happened to be your employer was not desirable. I've always been careful to leave a good first impression, sometimes it was the only thing standing between being busy and being unemployed.

''Mike'' he said looking at me a bit taken aback. ''Miss Parker, I was expecting you to be older'' somehow his comment took me by surprise I'm older than I look; I'm old enough; I was a fast learner...all good choices but none were worth encouraging a conversation with the boring looking middle aged man by my side. ''We are going by my office, I need to introduce you to some people'', he smiled.

As his lips parted I found myself looking at his teeth. 10.000 dollars I thought, spent on teeth when I could have taken a trip to somewhere exotic, but where? Hawaii...I could have learned to swim.... or not, I don't like the water.

''I have something for you Miss Parker, it's in the back, you mind getting that white envelope?'' I reached to the back seat, took the envelope and opened it. Inside there were money and papers.

''I thought you were going to transfer the money'' I said wanting to look surprised or at least interested.

''I did, this is for your silence, please have a look at the confidentiality agreement before we get there. I need it signed'' the last sentence came out abrupt and demanding and made me reconsider my previous assessment, maybe he wasn't boring. I was beginning to see some of my old bosses in him, plain on the surface, condescending and rude with his employees, loving husband and father, binge drinker and very generous with the strippers in his life.

''I already signed a confidentiality contract...''

''This one is different'' he hastened to reply cutting me off mid sentence. Definitely rude, just my luck.

I took it out slowly and gave it a look over five pages of.....nothing, I took a pen out of my coat pocket and signed my name in capitals. I didn't even bother to read one sentence, just my name: Kathryn Parker. I heard the echo of it in my mind I love this name, it was a good choice.

Mike smiled slyly, took the papers out of my hands with a jerk, folded them over the steering wheel and shoved them into his coat pocket.

We had arrived.

We went up to the sixtieth floor second door on the left. As I walked in a young man got up and shook my hand vigorously. His general appearance made me think of a twenty something Scrooge, although his station was well above what the character's would have been. Neatly combed black sleek hair, small brown eyes with a reddish tint probably due to fatigue which shone with intelligence and maybe recognition? And an outfit that looked like he came from old money in a Victorian sort of style.

''I'm Adrian, nice to meet you Miss Parker'' he definitely sounded as professional as he looked, I nodded.

''Kathryn'' was all I replied a bit too forceful which made his gaze turn from Mike to me and back to Mike as he met my emotionless stare.

He stood back down behind a monitor and Mike lifted his hand to his eyebrow slightly scratching at it.

''Well Adrian I have to go so call Paul and Aaron down here, they should give Miss Parker a heads up''. Adrian stood up without saying a word and left the room.

''Well Miss Parker''...he paused, ''I am going to get some breakfast, tell Adrian to order something for yourself and my doctors, the meeting is at 4 so I'll be back before then, I have to pick up my lawyer.'' he raised his hand to gesture that he was leaving and I nodded in understanding as he closed the door behind him.

I sat down on one of the three white chairs in the room. I put my bag on the floor next to me and my purse on the glass table. Faced with the silence in the room I suddenly felt uncomfortable and began fidgeting in the chair. Please don't live me alone with my thoughts...

The door opened and two middle aged men came in. They both presented themselves and stood before me, files in hand. Adrian placed three menus on the table.

''I'll have a black coffee, a coke and two plain doughnuts please'' the others mumbled their choices and Adrian left the room. ''So lets get started'' Paul said while opening a file.

…........................................................................

It was 2 o'clock when Mike returned. I sat up and picking up my purse and bag I left for the door.

''Thank you very much for your time Miss Parker'' Paul said, I turned on my heals.

''I wish you the best of luck doctors, have a good day!''

We left the building and the city was now miles away. None of us spoke, Mike looked very concentrated on driving and the lawyer in the back looked like he was daydreaming of porn, his mouth stood crooked in a weird smile and his eyes stared aimlessly out the window, smiling in delirium. We came up to a small building leaning on the face of a hill. Mike parked the car close to the entrance, the parking lot was huge but there were only five cars there. It figures, since it's Saturday. We walked in past the man sitting in the reception area who took his face out of the paper just to watch us walk by. A very tall well lighted room was in front of us, white marble floor, crimson ceiling, we took the third door which let into a hallway, another second and another hallway.

''Nice trick'' I mumbled.

Mike smiled widely ''the whole hill is artificial, there are 100 offices just in this wing'' he sounded so proud. The building was cold and uninviting, chills began to go up my spine as we went by offices, some doors were open, some were closed but everything seemed deserted, quiet, dead. Where are you? echoed in my head and I looked to the office door closest to myself 15 B and I kept counting 16B, 17B....20B, we stopped in front of a meeting room. Meeting room B I read to myself and the echo softly repeated Meeting room B.

''Miss Parker'' Mark said and woke me as if from a dream. He had open the door for me. I shivered as I entered the room, a large black table stood in front of me with 4 white chairs on either side, he must have decorated all of his buildings the same, white flowers in a black vase, left forgotten on a filing cabinet and no windows.

I took the forth chair on the right, Mike stood beside me and then his lawyer. I took out the mountain of papers that I had from the doctors and put them on the table in front of Mike. We were all waiting. The air conditioning wasn't working, there was a tightness in the air, a silence that numbed all of my senses, I felt uncomfortable and out of place.

Two men walked in, both over sixty and with a very serious looks on their faces which turned soft when seeing Mike. He stood up and greeted them, hands were shook vigorously, they sat across from Mike and me and told us that the third man would be late. Great I thought prolong my agony. 5 minutes past but it seemed like twenty, I couldn't stop thinking about what to tell Lindsey when I got back, how to break the news, would I cry? Would she?. Should I tell her everything? Maybe I should pretend that I received good news, how would I tell her that with a smile when I was so confused and scared?.

''I forgot my draft in the