Unlikely Other Angels
Note from the author: Excerpts from the story, “The Angel Twin” are not installments given in particular order of the story. They are just little tastes here and there that allow me share something about what is my first pass at the novel format. I’m happy to report that I have crossed the half-way point to 50K words in 30 days and though I have no idea as to the quality of the work I am churning out, there is something to be said for just plowing through on a daily deadline and word-count! It certainly develops new writing muscle Thanks for the support and good will. NaNoWriMo is a pain. It’s a ridiculous endeavour, and it’s still fun! Here’s a little tidbit, introducing a new characterfrom The Angel Twin. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it:
Richard Rosen sat at his desk with a glass of water and lemon. He had stopped drinking six years ago because it made him meaner than he already was. He had also stopped doing the premium Columbian coke that he used to brag about to the clients and colleagues with whom he shared the white powder. And after his second divorce, he had sworn off of any relationship longer than a two-day stint with hot looking twenty-two year olds. In short, Richard was an ill-tempered, minimally misogynistic ass hole that was riding through life dressed in power suits and intimidation skills. Handsome beyond what any 50-year-old should be, it wasn’t enough to sugar coat his dark personality.
Late at night, alone in his office pouring over big-money divorce cases from the rich and famous who treated marriage like an accessory that was exchanged and tossed around– wives and husbands that became undesirable– last year’s fashion. Richard hooked them up with public relations experts who spun the unsavory tales of profligate laisons into media spin about “remaining friends” and “still caring deeply for one another…” this was Richard’s world and it had colored him cranky at best, and evil at worst.
Richard Rosen was your guy if you wanted to save your assets from the young trophy wife that you had impulsively married on a weekend binge of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. Richard Rosen knew all of the PR people who could paint the story in your favor and make you look like less of a dick. Richard was ruthless and mean and didn’t buy sad stories, but remained focused on the financial bottom line and for that, there were many who loved him. Not that they would ever show up for him in any real way, but they did keep the referrals coming.
Alone in his office, Richard could not stop thinking about Sami King. He had taken Martin Fedderman’s case as a favor to an old friend. There was some, but not a lot of money involved and Martin had wanted to fairly split the assets accumulated in the year he was married. He had wanted to add a bit more to help Sami get on her feet and have a chance. Richard had tried to tell him that people don’t change and that Sami would be back to her wild and crazy ways sooner than later. Martin was just throwing away his money he had told him.
Still, there was something about the Sami King story that had touched him, though he could not name it. And he found himself going against his better judgment to concoct a plot and a conspiracy that would get the young woman into rehab. He had eventually stopped giving Martin his opinion and just listened to what Martin wanted. He had gone through the perfunctory paperwork to move the divorce forward, along with paperwork that assured Sami’s health insurance and car insurance would pay from some of the fiasco, thus lessening Martin’s financial burden. It was all awkward and distasteful to him, but he kept going. And today he had finally met her—Sami King.
Sami did not see herself the way that other people did. Richard saw her accurately. Sami was a tall, lean woman with a ballerina body. She glided into a room with legs that seemed to go up to her neck. He had noticed her hands. They were soft and delicate, with long fingers that could have been an artist’s inspiration. She had an angel face. In spite of the hard living, her face was sweet, slightly round and framed by flowing dark brown hair. Sami’s green piercing eyes were a combination of sexy and soulful and compelled the viewer to look hard and fall in. That’s how Richard had felt when he met her, like he was going to fall in.
The thoughts and feelings that he had about Sami King were a surprise to him. He had some odd sense of wanting to protect her; wanting to hold her. He took a swig of the lemon water on his desk and realized that he wished it were scotch. Scotch to help him through the uncomfortable feelings, the unfamiliar feelings of a man who was smitten. “I would never ask her out,” he muttered aloud. “She is nothing but bad news. It would be unethical of me to date her.” Yet he could not get Ms. Bad News Sami out of his head and in an unexplained small way, she had already burrowed into his heart. “Fuck this,” he said and he stood up, placed a stack files and papers into his brief case and decided to go home.
Richard Rosen was the kind of bad choice that Sami had made a dozen times. The difference was that Richard had been clean and sober for six years. He was a focused and ruthless attorney who had been wildly successful. There was enough money in his accounts to retire at any time and he sometimes dreamed about a life that was quiet, something away from the negative pall of walking entitled and demanding clients through divorce for the sake of profit.
Sometimes Richard Rosen would sit on the patio of his beautiful home in Coldwater Canyon and watch the squirrels scurrying around the branches of the big eucalyptus trees. The furry little creatures brought him an unbeckoned joy. Mr. Rosen was a paradox of a man who had long ago lost himself to the trappings of power and success, but was captured and entertained by the small furry creatures dancing in his trees.