Something Special, Chapter FOUR

As Bruce’s jealousy and disappointment grow over Angie’s dalliances with another young man at the hotel in Yosemite, dark plots begin to form in his mind in chapter four of Something Special.

I go immediately to our room in the expectation that a contrite Angie, finally reconciled to her ungratefulness, will be awaiting my arrival—hat in hand, as it were.  I have every intention of extracting whatever price she’s willing to pay, penitence being as much at the pleasure of the aggrieved as it is at the pain of the transgressor.  I have no idea who this young man might be; still less, any concern about his welfare; least of all, a thought about his retribution or damnation.  The only compensation I wish to gain for this whole sordid business is Angie’s complete submission—that she should beg me to deliver her from her misguided need to look anywhere but to me for guidance, inspiration, and yes—transcendence.  I and I alone will be her redeemer, I’m thinking as I open the door—.

There’s no one in the room.  “Angie,” I call, half-expecting to hear a tearful “Yes, Bruce?” from somewhere within, but I hear only the sound of my own voice.

The thing now is to remain calm, think clearly, act decisively, I think to myself as I get undressed and pull back the bed sheets—but not before setting up my alarm clock with its luminous numbers and hands facing my pillow.

I’m solidly asleep long before both hands on my alarm clock reach twelve, and I have no idea how much time has passed when I first hear sounds outside our room, catch a glimmer of light from the hallway as she slips in through the door, then listen to her labored breathing as she waits for her eyes to adjust to the darkness.  I half-open one of my own and note the hour:  3:00 a.m.

Click here to read more.  To catch up, read chapters one, two, and three.