Posted in Posted by Ted DeKker

Well, I guess It's been a while since I posted, huh? I've got some good news! I have finished working on Chapter 3 from TRAPPED!tm that I'm writing with Raina. Some of you might not know who she is, and that's okay. We've been posting most of our work on a blog we've named ThrillerBooks, but just as a warning we've got some pretty intense stuff there, so if you don't like that kind of writing, don't go there. Here's the Piece de la Resistance.

~

Ted

            Britt sat back in his seat and smiled at Gwen. They had just ordered some of the finest cuisine this far out west and they began to catch up on all they missed since Britt had left all those years ago.

“So,” Brit said, smile on his face, “what on earth have you been doing all these years? I haven’t seen you since I left. I have to apologize though, I should have said goodbye before I tore out of that bar.”

“That’s fine!” Gwen said, putting her hand upon his in a reassuring manner, “I probably should be the one to apologize. It was my fault that we had that fight. I’m just glad you aren’t mad at me for what happened.”

            They both smiled at each other and looked into each other’s eyes. Britt sighed and looked for June, hoping their food would come.

“Well, starting off on the right foot, I’ve been working as a small time journalist for the big news company back home, which wasn’t very big anyways. After you left, I kind of decided to leave too, though not before I stuck around seven months trying to keep the job at the news station. It was just so slow, and I realized I missed you more and more each time I saw your picture hanging on my wall. You remember; the one with us at the lake, near the dock? I just couldn’t take it any more and moved to San Francisco and got a job working for a small time paper downtown.”

            Britt listened intently, yet all the while wondering how it could have been different if he hadn’t left; if he hadn’t been so stubborn. If he hadn’t been so willing to throw away what they had together.

Gwen continued on, “Even though I changed scenes I still couldn’t stop thinking about you. It kept eating at me until I was thinking about you every second. I just couldn’t keep that bottled up any more. So, I moved out and went on a trip to find a new job and maybe you. I went from town to town, doing odd writing jobs for papers and news stations, things like I was doing before. But it seemed the farther I got the more it seemed I couldn’t take it any more. Finally I reached a town I thought might be the one for me to settle down in, maybe meet a guy and have a family.

            “That was two years ago,” she said, “I met a guy. We seemed to hit it off great…” Gwen trailed off, heaving an emotional sigh, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to cry,” She said, “but it didn’t end well. He was pretty abusive. I got out just in time, but I knew I couldn’t stay. I tried to get him arrested, but of course because I was in a small town nobody believed me and he got away clean. I finally ended up in Cheyenne, working at a nice local station as a reporter, and that’s how I ended up finding out about you. I heard you passed through and worked at the station for a while for some extra cash. And now here I am! I’ve got an assignment out here to cover, but it’s not for a few hours. It’s sort of a surprise, but what I can tell you is I’ll be here a few days!”

            Britt was happy and a bit flustered at this announcement. He was happy that she was going to be here for a little, but he wasn’t sure how he truly felt about her sudden reappearance into his life. He’d gotten over her, but it took him a long time the first time around. This reappearing act might shatter his new life completely. Even the thought that she came back, and might even stay made his head swim. ‘If she could stay, she could leave,’ he’d said over and over to himself.

            But it never seemed to work. And now that she’d come, it made him feel sick and joyful all at the same time. He literally had to grin and bear it, wearing that plastic smile all the while. June came by with their meals and they began eating. For a while neither of them spoke, leaving and uncomfortable silence dwelling in their midst. It seemed as though time stopped completely, the seconds dragging by monotonously. Suddenly the silence was shattered by the shot of a pistol, coming from the front door. A hooded man stood, pistol raised in the air, shouting at June to fill his bag with money from the register.

“PUT THE MONEY IN THE BAG AND NO ONE GETS HURT!” he yelled at June.

            June was shaking from the fear that seeped through the air, drowning her in it. She grabbed the bag from him and began to get the money from the register into the bag. Of course June, and most of the customers, knew there wasn’t much money in their because today was Monday, and Monday was when June took all the cash out of the register and put it in the bank, and then opened for business. Seeing how little cash their was, the man with the pistol began to scream that he wanted everyone to put all of their money in the bag as he came around when all of the sudden he began to fall and clonked his head on the nearest table.

            The gun went flying into the water pitcher closest to Gwen and sent water all over the food and her new dress. Silently she swore and began to dab her dress when she realized Britt wasn’t at the table. In fact, he was getting up from the floor near the would-be burglar. He dusted himself off and went back to sit down at their now soaked breakfast.