confrontation

Paul sat up, his face had started to swell and it was wet. He absently wiped at the wetness on his cheek. If we had been alone, I would have hit her back, he thought sullenly. His bladder chose at that moment to remind him to be elsewhere. He clambered to his feet and began walking towards the men’s restroom.

“She sure knocked the spit out of you.” cheered a man in blue jeans and black shirt that said something like `Hell Yeah!’ on it. His bald head reflecting the light.

Paul glared at them all and flipped him off- but his gesture was lost in the applause. He walked on into the restroom. He stopped inside the door, new thoughts sprang up in his mind as he replayed the scene and imagined what he would have like to have done to her. Paul walked over to the urinal to relieve the pressure on his bladder.

As he zipped up and flushed, he heard footfalls behind him. Before he could react, a man pushed him hard- crouch first into the urinal. Paul squealed in fright then grunted in pain, as there was sudden pressure in the small of his back. Water flowed over his pants and down his legs pooling on the floor and in his shoes. Steven- Paul thought angrily as he turned his head.

“Look manager-man, “ Paul began “I-“ But he never finished as he realized this man was taller than Steven was. The man was so tall that when Paul looked back, he was staring at the suit jacket of the man.

“Shut up, Shit-head!” The deep gruff voice commanded. “If you don’t lay off the Grover case- yer dead.” The thug size man held Paul in place for one more flush, reaching around Paul’s head with a big arm to pull the handle.

 Terror gripped Paul, he didn’t move. The thug let him go, but Paul remained leaning against the urinal until he heard the man exit. Paul stood there dripping until he felt he had regained his composure. He turned and walked over to the mirrored sink. As he approached, he saw the blood trail on his swollen cheek.

The bitch cut me! He touched the gash, his fear fading fast. She must have been wearing a ring; he grabbed a stretch of paper towel and dabbed it until bleeding stopped. He threw the used towel over his shoulder only to notice the blood on his hand. The hand he had just used to- the thought made him so sick that he dry-retched in the sink. He looked back up at the mirror- a sudden feeling that he had forgotten something.

Peggy! What was he going to tell Peggy! He began thinking ferociously. He soon had worked out a quick and convincing lie. He would tell her that he went to the restroom, water had splashed from the sink and he had slipped, hitting his face on the sink. In the dark she would only notice that he was cut and would give him sympathy. His lie was good and solid.

He smiled as it occurred to him that he could sue the theater. He had the evidence after all and the DA was in his back pocket. The truth might never be known.

Truth, Paul thought as he headed towards the door, truth is a funny thing-so easily twisted, so easily pliant. The door opened as he approached, Steven Lowe appeared. Steven stopped and looked at Paul, instantly noticing the big wet spot in Paul’s crotch. His eyes followed the stain down Paul’s pants legs and along to the puddle behind him. He looked back to Paul, who, caught thinking about his latest lawsuit, looked like a possum caught in someone’s headlights; frozen and stupid. He moved up until he almost stood nose to nose with Paul and said menacingly.

“Don’t come back to this theater again.”

            “Oh.” Paul choked. “Or what?”

            “Or I’ll have you arrested for loitering and public indecency.

            This time Steven’s smile was genuine.

more murder

A year ago, Caitlin had joined the District Attorneys’ office as new lawyers did. She was vigorous and ambitious. She had won several cases in the lower courts and had set her targets on the higher ones. Paul had met her and in a subsequent meeting asked her out. He had placed his hand on her buttocks as a flirtation. Then the next thing he knew, he was being charged with sexual harassment. How did she dare to charge the Assistant DA with such an act? She was just one of those “Militant Feminists” out to destroy men. Out to topple men in high places, like Paul. The case had been thrown out for insufficient evidence and Caitlin summarily dismissed.

Paul smiled at the thought of this woman, having whored her way to the peak only to fall all the way down. Had her disgrace been complete she would have left him alone, but the DA wouldn’t allow him to counter sue.

Caitlin had changed weaponry and came back at him from new directions. She tried to slander his name to the press- that had failed when the Attorney General had backed Paul’s defense. She then began to follow him and harass him over the phone. Paul had a judge put a restraining order against her, but it had only slowed her down. She began to harass his friends and neighbors, and girlfriends. Fortunately she had never learned of Peggy, and Peggy had no knowledge of Caitlin. Still Paul could not help the way he felt about Caitlin and now looking at her like she was a cornered animal; he felt a strange sense of power come over him. Recalling the excitement of gripping her arm, the feel of her goose flesh gave him a sexual excitement that he rarely felt. He wanted so much to reach out and slap her across the face.

“What do you want?” Caitlin began fiercely, wanting to draw notice away from her.

“What do you think, I want?” Paul quipped back. “I have a restraining order against you.”

But I-“ She began, then stopped. “Look, this is just a misunderstanding, I just came to see the movie.”

“Where’s your date?”

“Where’s my what? I came alone.”

“From the West Side?” Paul shot back, the theater being on the northeast side of Railston.

“I was looking for a change of place- I mean pace and this grand old’ theater came to mind.” Caitlin smiled. “How could I have known that you were here?“

“How could you have known? Well, you have been interrogating my neighbors and friends about where I go, what I eat, and who I see.” He said this with an air of authority, feeling power in his words.

“No. It’s not like that.” Caitlin interrupted. “I didn’t interrogate anyone.” She felt a desperation that had clung to her teeth for the last few days.

            “Shut up! Look- what we did is over.” Paul said raising his voice, knowing he could be heard. “You can’t have it back. Get on with your life and leave me alone!”

“What do you mean what we did?” Caitlin replied, her face going pale.

“If I ever see you again-“ Paul said commanding with his tone. “No- if I ever hear of you again, I will sue for every dime you have to your name. No- every dime you will ever have to your name. If that isn’t enough, I will have you charged with solicitation and prostitution!” Paul realized he was shouting, but the glee of his manner kept him going.

“And I mean every word of it you- you clinging, conniving bitch!”

            He glanced back to the concession counter to confirm that he had been heard. He looked back to Caitlin, who sat stiffly with a shocked expression on her face. She looked as if Paul had just slapped her and Paul decided that this was better than hitting her. Almost all the color had drained from her face, her mouth was moving but no sound escaped from her lips. She blinked and then blinked again. Paul looked back to the concession stand to find everyone, three employees, an assistant manager and a customer staring back. Steven, the manager was in his office with a phone call, but had stopped midway and stood with the phone dangling in one hand as if deciding what to do. Paul then turned back to Caitlin.

Caitlin’s mind raced, when Paul had first alluded to a fictitious affair. Then he had completely gone off the hook and accused her of immoral actions, calling her a whore. His words rang in her ears. Solicitations- she had heard this from the judge who had restrained her. Her thoughts were jumbled and she choked as a new understanding struck her like a bolt from the blue. Was that how he had won the lawsuit?

What had Paul Murray told the DA and the judge behind closed doors? Her fingers on her right hand worked the diamond ring around on her index finger as she struggled to come to grips with what Paul had said. Turning the edges of the ring brought new clarity to Paul’s words. He had called her a whore!

“Are you listening to me!” Paul said as he turned back to face her. He heard the door to the office close behind him.

Caitlin did not answer; the thought of Paul’s name-calling had brought a new revelation. Paul had convinced a judge that her allegations of sexual harassment and assault, had been nothing more than Caitlin trying to hide that she had solicited him for sex. The judge had dismissed her case with a warning- she was to maintain professional conduct at all times in the work place and to stop making false or imagined allegations against her superiors. In one stroke, Paul had sullied her reputation and destroyed her career. She had been surprised when the DA had dismissed her, but now the surprise was gone. She looked at Paul with newfound hatred.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have more important matters to attend to.” Paul said as he glanced once more at the concession stand. The manager stood there now. Paul noted that he wasn’t coming over and relaxed.

He looked back at Caitlin. To his surprise, she made a quick movement and her right arm blurred. Paul barely had time to blink before Caitlin’s right fist connected with his jaw and a searing pain stabbed his face. She knocked the words out of his mouth so hard that saliva hit the wall. Paul toppled off the bench and hit the floor with a thud.  He lay there in shock as Caitlin rose to her feet. She looked at him, then at her hand. She felt her anger drip away as the reality of what he had done flooded back in.

            Cheers erupted as the employees and a customer broke the silence. Caitlin looked back at Paul, somehow knowing what he would do now. She looked over to the concession stand to find Steven grinning and his assistant on the phone. Cops, she thought, not what I need. Despair overcame her; she turned away from Paul and fled the theater out into the night and the rain. Steven followed.

more concessions for murder

Paul waited until Steve-the manager- or- whatever he was- was out of earshot and then looked back at Caitlin. Caitlin was staring off in the direction that the manager had taken. Paul gave a grunt of disgust at her distraction and said.

“Excuse me, Miss Marshal?”

Caitlin came back to reality. “Yes?” she answered nervously.

She looked at Paul as if she had just noticed him as he signaled with his right hand to a baroque style bench, one of eight that ringed the lobby. She turned and walked over to it still massaging the pain in her arm.

Paul followed her, his frustration and anger cooling as he observed the gentle tilting of Caitlin’s hips as she walked. Her buttocks were tight and muscular and moved smoothly as she walked. That guttural feeling returned, and Paul found a new heat building in him as she sat down, adjusting her black velvet skirt over her knee. Caitlin’s legs were long and well toned. She was taller than Peggy was, as almost as tall as Paul himself. She had blonde hair that fell in deep curls about her narrow shoulders, her skin was smooth and her breasts- her breasts were perfect. Paul felt his heat rise as he looked at Caitlin’s breasts held away in her velvet v-cut dress. She was showing cleavage. Paul thought about cupping each of her breasts in his hands. His daydreaming ended when she made a throaty sound and his eyes met her icy blue. Paul’s fever fell like ice in a windstorm.

Caitlin sighed, her eyes still flashing as she remembered Paul had a real obsession with her breasts. The thought made her sick to her stomach. She glared up at him as he went to sit down beside her. She slid further down the bench in order to leave a space between them.

From his position under this cold new glare, Paul began to remember why he had come to hate this woman so much. What had started out as an innocent flirtation had become a nightmare of harassment and subsequent lawsuits. He stared back at Caitlin feeling a new deep sense of rage creeping up inside of him.