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[Like a Bad Penny] Prologue: Darlene Lampwick


Gabe OOC

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It was a frustrating evening yet again. At work, Charles Beauregard had chosen to lay his attentions on Darlene again, as he had for the past several weeks. The other secretaries had seemed relieved it was not them, and not inclined to get involved.

The man was a senior partner in Snordstrom, Beauregard & Harvey, and yes a bereaved widower and father (his wife and teenage son had died in a car crash), but none of that gave him the right or power to treat her as sex meat.

Nor Mr. Harvey and Snordstrom to mock it as 'harmless flirting.' So Darlene decided to make him. Doing some digging had taken time, but it was worth what she imagined the look on his face would be with the email she sent.

Maybe Mr. Beauregard would learn not to harass secretaries. Or severely violate legal ethics and law to win cases.

But now, cheerier to think about, her dear sister was getting married!

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Up until the moment when her Mini jumped the railing, the night had been a complete and total blast.

- - -

Darlene's big sister Louise was having the time of her life, happy to spend a night out with all her girlfriends and her 'baby sister'; the fact that Darlene was only two years younger did not stop this title from being used all the time. Not having to worry about little two-year old Tony, safe at home at her parent's house, allowed the elder Lampwick girl plenty of opportunity to let her hair down and just let loose. She'd been wrong about Ray in so many ways; the father of her son he might have been, but he was not the sort of man she wanted in her life anymore. Darlene had warned her; she'd seen his kind before (and had frequently slept with them, truth be told), but Louise was sure Ray was 'the one'. Maybe all the men in New York were heels; now she was a single mother living a strange city, a Southern girl in the Big Apple with a decent job at a law firm and no one to helped with little Tony.

But then she met Enrique, and everything started working out.

- - -

The crowd was finally starting to thin out at the Clermont Lounge; Darlene drained the last of her diet Coke as she watched Louise swap hugs and kisses on the cheek with her old crew, Caroline, Gwen and Felicia. There were little pink rubber bands everywhere, and disposable cameras forgotten on the small circular tables. Darlene began clearing off the tables, years of hostess instincts kicking in as she swept the rubber bands and confetti into an ashtray with the edge of her hand. One of the bartenders, a big beefy man in a black t-shirt, chuckled and shook his head.

"Hey, that's our job, darlin'!"

Darlene waved her hand as continued making her rounds, her three-inch heels clicking on the beer-slick floor. "Oh, it's alright, hon; I won't touch any of your tips!"

Finally 'Lou' was done with her goodbyes, and turned to gaze lovingly upon her sister; adjusting the pink plastic tiara on her head, she stumbled over to her blonde sibling. "Oh, Darla, Darla, Darla!" She drapped her arms over Darlene's shoulders and nearly knocked her over. "Ah am the happiest girl in the whole worl'!" Up north, she tried to downplay her accent, but down here, three sheets to the wind and week before her wedding, her drawl was very pronounced.

Darlene laughed and blew her sister's dark brown hair out of her mouth. "Pfft! Well at the very least, you may be the drunkest; you already call a cab?"

Lou nodded, her eyes closed as she gently rocked them both from side to side. "Mmm-hmm, alllll taken care of! Ah'll be back in our hotel room and asleep in Ricky's arms in no time!" Then she took a step back and beheld her little sis at arm's length. "How 'bout you, Darla? You sure you're good to drive?"

The younger Lampwick nodded firmly. "Yes ma'am, I am good to go; sober as a churchmouse!" She held her arms out and touched her nose with both index fingers, first one, then the next. "See that? That is unimpaired hand/eye coordination! Now c'mon, let's get you outside; your carriage awaits!"

Once out on the street, the warm and sweet air of a clear Georgia night invigorated them, and the two sisters, one prim and practical, the other wild and impulsive, danced a little tango in the parking lot as they waited for the Lou's cab to show up, like the two little girls they would always be to each other. When at last the cab arrived, Darlene tucked her big sister inside and planted a warm kiss on her forehead. "Sleep tight, the future Mrs Enrique Sanchez!" They waved goodbye, and then Darlene, her mind clear but her heart still aglow, climbed into her red-and-white Mini Cooper and turned on to Ponce De Leon Avenue and began the drive home.

- - -

Thirty seconds later, the lights of another car in the parking lot suddenly switched on.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Darlene was focused on the road, and didn't notice the Chevy Tahoe behind her - or at least for the first part of the trip there was no reason to wonder about the truck. Eventually, as she began to near a curve and railing over a bridged river, she realized the same red truck had been following her all this time - and then it sped up suddenly.

The driver was accelerating rapidly, and he was heading right at her! Darlene tried to turn, but the Mini's wheels screeched in protest, and the Cooper went up and over the railing!

The Tahoe pulled up grinding to the side of the road past the bridge, and the man looking out the window went pale, knowing he'd screwed up. Mr. Beauregard had wanted her, scared, not dead!

Fortunately, no one else was on the road, so the man took a chance, looking down into the fading lights of Darlene's car, sounds of the river rushing over broken metal, and then drove off, giving a brief message to 911. Hopefully he could dress this up enough to his employer and no one could trace them back.

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There was a brief period when Darlene was awake and aware; she realized she was upside down and still strapped in her seat. Her head felt like it was wrapped in cotton, but there were also multiple points of warm throbbing. There was broken glass everywhere (including inside her face) and warm sticky blood matted into her hair; her shoulder was probably dislocated as well. Why hadn't the airbag gone off? Every breath stung sharply in her chest.

Then she heard a gurgling sound; lifting her eyes towards the roof of her car, she noticed the water starting to trickle in. She was in the river...

At this point, she thankfully blacked out.

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Strangely, the awakening that Darlene felt was not in a bed, or anything describable in mundane analogies. For that matter, could you describe it except in metaphor? Not to the secretary. It seemed like a grotto, except she couldn't really see or hear anything, but just intuitively know it was there.

And the presence in the mind-cave with her too had no physical form, but felt warm and soothing and sweet. "Hello, Darlene. We didn't expect you to arrive here, but since you are.. time for your first lesson."

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"Hello, Darlene. We didn't expect you to arrive here, but since you are.. time for your first lesson."

"Uh...okay." Logically if you wake up in a strange place after an accident (Accident? That was no accident!), the first instinct should be to panic, but oddly enough Darlene was completely at peace. She was not aware of wearing any clothing, but did not feel naked or in any way exposed; in fact, she'd never felt more safe in her life. Suddenly a frightening thought hit her; it wasn't terrifying or even really scary, more just...unnerving.

"Excuse me, sir...or ma'am? Sir-ma'am? Am I...am I dead? I mean, is this Heaven?"

She tried to make out a face to go with the voice, but failed to do so; however, it seemed the more she concentrated, the more 'real' her surroundings became. She could make out rock walls, and hear the gentle roar of a waterfall, even feel a slight spray on her face. She was reclining on a bed of moss, barefoot and wearing a simple sort of gown, which looked vaguely Greek or Roman. She reached up to touch her face and felt no cuts, no stitches or scarring. She was completely intact.

Looking around at the tranquil grotto, she slowly shook her head."I mean, I must be dead..."

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