Five Sentence Fiction: EMPTY for Hap

Today is a good friend of mines birthday. I met him on Twitter and you may have seen his comments on my previous posts. He is a lovely person, always kind, always caring and always there for a friend in need. He has recently started writing too and has a blog which you must chek out here.

So in honour of him I am dedicating this weeks Five Sentence Fiction to him, the word Lillie gave us was EMPTY and I asked Hap for a genre and he chose whodunit. This isnt quite a whodunit and I have been creative with my sentences but I hope you dont mind too much!


Hap was feeling tense as he clenched his jaw, held his breath and ever so slowly reached an arm out from his hiding place under the desk and fumbled around for the envelope he knew to be there.

It was the final piece in the puzzle, he knew the photograph inside would lead him to the birthday suit murderer who had been terrorising the town of Texarkana.

The corner of the envelope tickled his fingertips and he needed a little more reach, biting on his lip as he stretched further, he finally had a hold, clinging tightly he grabbed it to him and tore it open.

Hap was determined to catch the killer and as he opened the envelope he didn’t hear the office door, his full attention focussed on its contents or lack thereof as he was surprised to find the envelope was empty.

‘Looking for something?’ a voice said from above him, Hap looked up and was greeted with the barrel of the gun, it was the killer on the other end who flung back his head in a cackle of venom fuelled laughter, at which point Hap saw his moment to save the town and pulled out the revolver he kept in his sock and shot him dead.

Write 4 Ten: FRAME

Its been a while since I participated in Write 4 Ten, but seeing as I am putting off doing everything else, I figured why not?

Here it is, let me know what you think if you have time :)

Her legs ached. She had been traipsing around the antiques market for several hours and found nothing that made her skin tingle. A couple of times she had glimpsed something from the corner of her eye, dashed over to it with the fervour of a possessed woman, only to discover that it wasn’t what she thought it was.

She was about to give up hope of ever finding anything. Her brother had told her that her flat was shabby chic – meaning he thought it was a dump – and casually thrown into conversation that a few quality antique pieces would improve the ‘feel’ of the place tenfold. For as long as she could remember she had always wanted to impress him, and every time she tried had fallen on her face in the process, he had given her that look of sheer pity and she thought that maybe even a little disappointment. She hated to disappoint anyone and made a decision there and then to find some antiques to spruce the place up. A colleague had told her about the antique fair and assured her that you could get some bargains, and so she had come, and wasn’t prepared to go home without anything.

Having been roaming around for so long she resigned herself to the fact that she would be going home empty handed but consoled herself by saying she would come back. She headed for the exit. It seemed to be a popular time to leave as the crowd bottlenecked at the aisle to the door. The woman in front of her had a baby in a pushchair and she looked at the infant enviously, what she wouldn’t give to sit down for a while, and as if the child could read her mind she threw her stuffed bear onto the floor and began screaming. She bent down to pick up the bear to hand back to the baby and as she did so she saw on the stall next to her the most beautiful frame. She moved closer for a better look and mentally noted that the stall owner was packing up to go home which meant she might be able to get a real bargain.

The frame was large and would be awkward to carry but she couldn’t take her eyes off it, it was gilt edged with a beautiful swirling design, it was sturdy and not only thick but had depth to it, the light in the market danced off of every curve and bump and seemed to be performing a light show just for her, it screamed ‘look at me aren’t I beautiful’ and she hadn’t seen anything like it before. She asked the owner how much and the price seemed low, surely they must be joking with her, this frame was a work of art. The picture inside it not so much. She wasn’t going to bargain in case they changed their minds and realised that they were underselling it, and she had a tight budget too so she paid them, and struggled a little carrying it out to the taxi rank.

That night when she was at home she stood in front of her purchase and admired it on her wall. She had removed the awful painting and left it empty. It had at first seemed silly but hadn’t she been to a gallery opening last year when they had done pretty much the same thing? It was almost the size of the wall in her living room; it dominated every square inch and literally brought the place to life as a warm glow seemed to emanate from it. If she didn’t know any better she would think it was enchanted but as her life wasn’t a Disney film she would settle on it being perfect. As she stepped closer to it she felt her skin tingle.

Tuesday Truths!

Hello!

I hope that was chirpy enough? Why am I asking you ask? You did ask, right? Well...anyhoo!

Tuesdays are THE longest day of the week, people may tell you that it has 24 hours like every other day but in terms of dragging along at the pace of a one legged snail it wins hands down.

So how can we make it whizz by a little quicker? I thought maybe, just maybe we could re-instate Tuesday Truths for one week only! Or at least from me. I would love to have a guest blogger to post their Tuesday Truth here...if thats you then get in touch!

Those of you who have been trapped on my blog for many a good month now will possibly remember that Tuesday Truth is either a true story or a rant. This week I have opted for a truth...so, grab yourself a cuppa, get comfy and I shall begin...

Surely, you're Ju-Ju joking?!

I’ve long threatened to regale you all with this true tale…and today is that day! Apologies for repeating some history bits here but for our new guests, they may not know….so…

When I was a young whipper snapper (if ever I was!) I applied to the VSO. The VSO is the Voluntary Service Overseas and is the British version of the Peace Corps. My application was accepted and I was offered a placement in Ghana, West Africa – back when it was still a third world country, lol – I would be teaching maths and science (my degree is in Physics – for my sins) in a small village in the Upper East Region.  What they forgot to mention is that a village school is the opposite of a village school here and is more like an inner city school and vice versa.

I have many tales I could tell but today I will share with you the tale of the Ju-Ju man. I have actually been to see two Ju-Ju men both specialising in different areas – crazy when you say it out loud - but today’s focus is on the one I went to see about the theft of some money from my bungalow.

Along with my job and a small stipend, I was provided with accommodation by the school. The accommodation was a rather large two bedroom bungalow on campus. I remember the day that I was dropped off at my placement. We had travelled up the country dropping off other volunteers as we went and I was the last one, being the furthest north, the driver was the one who left us. I went into my bungalow, looked around, put my bag down and looked at the driver. He smiled the broadest of grins and then said ‘Ok, I am going now’ and my response was undignified and pathetic, it was something like ‘No, you can’t go, don’t leave me, I can’t stay here on my own. No. Don’t go.’ And I watched as he drove off leaving me in this strange place, in this strange country.

I did eventually adjust (with limits) and settled into my teaching schedule as best I could, having had very minimal training in the UK (where the schools are completely different), and basically being left to it. It was nerve wracking standing in front of 40+ students, of varying academic ability, with minimum English and yet there I was. Left alone to control them and educate them as best I could on two of the hardest subjects that there could have been….why I didn’t turn and run then I do not know…but like I said, they’re stories for another day!

So, I was settled into my routine, and then the holidays came and off I went to spend a week in the countries capital, Accra, picking up a Kitten whilst I was there (I named her Buffy!) and returned home.

I had locked my house up before I left and had thought nothing of leaving some money in a book in a bag in my wardrobe.  A few days after returning, I went to check the money as my mother and family had been fundraising in the UK to help buy us new tyres for the school pickup truck, and it was time to go and buy them. The truck was used to transport the students to football matches around the area and as the school Sports Madam (another story) I wanted to help and my family being the supportive bunch they are wanted to help too. But when I checked the funds I saw that I was short by about £30. Three £10 notes were missing. I was shocked. I thought I must have misplaced it. I have never had the best memory and lose things easily but something niggled in the back of my mind that I hadn’t on this occasion. Which meant someone had been in my house whilst I was away and stolen it! Which creeped me out.Obviously.

I have been, on many occasion, accused of being too trusting but I didn’t think there was anyone who I needed to not trust. It’s only on such occasions that you discover things about your students that never even entered your mind, like the student who you had let clean your bungalow for you so he could earn some money, yet was known in the village by everyone to be a thief (I did later pass this knowledge on to my replacement who didn’t believe me and well that’s another story)!

I may be trusting but I am not shy in being forward and in a non-challenging way I asked if he had taken it. He said no and I believed him. Mainly because he had never given me cause not to in the 6 months that he had been working for me. Later on, he did steal from me (but that’s another story!), but at this time he denied it.

Some of my students suggested that I go to see the Ju-Ju man to find out who the thief was. I scoffed at this idea. Seriously, I said, I don’t believe in that stuff!  However, I admit I was curious and didn’t expect anything to come of it. So, a friend in the village said he would take me on his moto (motorbike) with another student (whose idea it had been) to see the Ju-Ju man.

I am sure at this point many of you are wondering what?!  Am I crazy? But I was young and curious and wanted to resolve the issue and I had no idea what was in store.

So, early the next day we went to the edge of the bush (African for forest) where the ju-ju man lived. He lived here to be close to the bush of course and his supplies. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the harmattan season, when the days are extremely hot and dry (about 37celsius and then some) and the drop in temperature makes you feel icy cold (when the nights & mornings were about 18-20celsius). I was sat on the back of a motorbike (no helmet, no protective clothing) of my friend (he was the son of the Village chief – practically royalty – but that’s a story) and he had not been to see the Ju-Ju man either. I didn’t wear a coat or jumper and regretted it. When we arrived we were welcomed into the compound and pointed to a bench to sit on as we waited for the man to come.  I remember laughing at my friend who was shivering with cold and shaking with fear. My naivety meant I was giggling in anticipation of the antics about to occur.

First there was the conversation (in gurune – translated for me at that time) and the usual greetings and then the question of why we were there. He then asked who we suspected. I didn’t have anyone in mind but the student gave two names. One was the student who worked for me and the other was the headmaster’s son! So there I was sat at the Ju-Ju man’s house waiting to see some trick that would tell me who the thief was only to discover that a suspect in all this was the son of the headmaster of the school that I was teaching at….it was getting political…and then I was told that he was also a known thief and had access to the spare set of keys that the headmaster kept in his house.

What happened next was that the student volunteered to be the person who would have to undergo this thing that would tell us the truth.

The ju-ju man put some items into a bowl, lit them and then placed the ignited bowl onto the abdomen of the student who was kneeling beside him , if it caused a vacuum and stayed attached to the student then it was a positive answer and if not then it was negative. So I was not sold.

Anyway, first a question that we all knew to be true, it stuck. Then a lie. It would not stick. Then the question, did so and so steal my money? It fell off. Did the headmasters son steal my money? It stuck.

The only way for the headmasters son to prove his innocence (according to them) was to go to the Ju-Ju man and submit himself to the test.

So I had to go to the headmaster and tell him what had happened, where I had been (the man was a pastor of his own church so wasn’t impressed) and the possible solution. In all honesty at that point he was very supportive, and he agreed to bring his son to the Ju-Ju man.

The next day, he never turned up and so I went to see him, he told me that he had asked his son and his son had said that it wasn’t him and he believed him. But he (the headmaster) would give me the money that was stolen and when they found the thief they would get the money back from them. I was not happy, not because I didn’t believe that his son was innocent but because it made no sense to me that they should pay! I told him that I thought he shouldn’t, that I would wait until the thief was found. I may even have mentioned my confusion at why if it wasn’t their son then why would they? I can see you’re shocked. I had less of a filter on my thoughts then than I do now. What else could I do? So I accepted that decision. Life carried on.

About a week later, the brother of the student who had taken me to the Ju-Ju man and who went to the same school as the headmaster’s son, told him how he knew him and the son had been boasting that he had taken it. Again, what do you do in those situations? Would I do things differently now? Definitely! But at the time I mentioned it to the headmaster and how I thought it weird that he would say that and the headmaster flew into one, and told me that it wasn’t true, then he insisted that I go with him into town to his sons school and he would search his room. I didn’t want to go. He insisted.

Whilst he was in the room searching or whatever he did, I was left in the truck thinking about the whole situation and how stupid I was to be in it, and seriously for £30 was it that big a deal, yes the money  was for the students, yes the people had worked hard fundraising for it and yes it was a breach of my trust and burglary but was it that big a deal?, and what if he came back and could not find anything?! Was it really 3 £10 notes or was it a £20 and a £10? How clear was my memory?

The headmaster returned to the truck and sat down, I sat and waited patiently and then he handed me a £10 note…I froze, I couldn’t look at him, I could only imagine his disappointment in his son…who having had a chance to confess all had carried on with the lie…I didn’t know what to say. The headmaster spoke…’as soon as I saw the £10 I knew it was him’ …and that was all he said as we drove away. That wasn’t the end…we stopped on the way back at one of the teachers houses who was surprised to see us there. The headmasters son was with us and they both went into the house with the student from before and then they came out. Apparently the son had hidden money in the teachers house without his knowledge.

I won’t deny that the relationship with the headmaster wasn’t stilted from that point on but it had never been that smooth to start with (another story) and life carried on.

In other news, I have been nominated for a Pay It Forward award, if you fancy voting for me or checking out the other nominees and voting for them then please do so here!

Monday Mixer

I was persuaded at some point last week to participate in the Monday Mixer Flash Fiction that is hosted by Klingorengi.
There are three categories, and in each there are three words, you can use all of them or select at least one from each category, and they must then appear in that order in your flash fiction. Oh, and also you have to do it in 150 words...no more...no less!

Here is my entry using the minimum requirements (baby steps) and my choice of words:

PLAYHOUSE
MANATEE
SANCTIMONIOUS

...and here it is!

It was cold in the playhouse. A draft blew through the cracks sending a shiver up her spine. She stretched her sleeves over her knuckles and hugged her knees tight to her chest. From her position she could just make him out, a shadow in the window, occasionally disappearing but returning every half an hour to check if she had moved.

She was comforted by the fact that she didn’t have to sit on the floor with the spiders but was instead precariously perched on a stuffed manatee. Even with that to sit on she knew that she would have to leave soon as her fingers had turned to ice and her teeth were chattering.

She would try and wait him out and then sneak in later. She couldn’t understand why he got so sanctimonious about it, it wasn’t even a moral issue, everyone knew that Goofy was a cow.

Cover Art Revealed! Tour Dates for your Diary!

The Suddenly Kate Show: Cover Art Revealed!: Hello All... Are you ready for the Blog Tour next month? Are you ready for next month? How is it almost March!? I thought last year whizz...

Cover Art Revealed! **update**

Hello All...

Are you ready for the Blog Tour next month? Are you ready for next month? How is it almost March!? I thought last year whizzed by but this year seems to have the lead. So, I am going to attempt the Monday Mixer flash fiction challenge later today, so keep an eye out for that as I attempt to do the impossible.

I am just stopping by to let you know about the upcoming tour dates. I am sure you all want to pencil them into your diaries and dont worry about forgetting as I shall be reminding you too!

You are in for a real treat because not only have they kindly agreed to host me during my tour but they also happen to have great blogs!

But first up..**drum roll please** here is the Cover Art! What do you think?

If that hasnt got you excited then check out the blogs I shall be visiting on the tour in March!

5th    The Grumbling Gargoyle

7th    Gig Blog UK

11th    Muppets for Justice

13th    Prenatal Care At Home

15th    Keebles World

19th    Wake up, eat, write, sleep

21st    Office Mango

25th    Bla. Bla? Bla!

27th    My Stitchy Ramblings

29th    The Suddenly Kate Show

Yes you have read that correctly! At the end of the month we shall be back here for a tour finale! Its a chance for you to give feedback on the blogs that we visit and what you thought of the whole thing. I shall share my experience too as a newbie having read the guidelines to a blog tour AFTER I went ahead and arranged one!

If you still want to get involved you have 92hrs left to tell me :) Not sure what to do? Me neither! My plan is to have fun with it as well as introduce people to new blogs and my eBook.

Even if you don't feel up to it you can enter the giveaway!

I'm back! with an update...every tour needs a name...this shall be 'The Pasty Tour' :) Check out blog posts and interviews to find out why!

 

Girls Best Friend : Part 8

Millie was sweating again but without running, she tried to shake the feeling that it was her bag, surely it couldn't be, other people must wrap their items in cling film too, and she slid down into her chair and rested her head in her hand. Millie tried not to think about what kind of trouble she would be in if it was hers? She took the earphones out and tried to sleep. Soon she would be in Paris and it would be OK
.…
The sergeant looked around the briefing room; slowly taking in the officers he had available for the task. He figured that Miss Banloach would be more likely to trust someone closer to her age and the youngest officer who was the most able was Officer Justin Anwalt.
‘Anwalt’ he said. ‘I want you on the next train to Paris.’

As the train pulled into Gare du Nord in Paris Millie was already standing in a queue with her remaining bags waiting to get off the train. She had put all thoughts of her missing bag to the back of her mind and spent the two or so hours sleeping. In all honesty she wasn’t quite awake as she stood there leaning precariously on her bag willing her eyelids to stay open.

The train stopped and the other passengers began to alight and Millie watched in a daze as people alternated coaches, first one from her queue then one from the other queue. She yawned and felt her jaw crack and she winced. As she got closer to the door she checked to make sure she had all her bags, repositioned her shoulder bag and bent over to check the zips were all closed on her main luggage. It was then that she heard it, the distinctive shrill of Denise from Marketing rang out, bouncing along the seats of the coach. Millie froze too afraid to look and hoping that she was wrong and it was just someone that sounded like Denise from Marketing. She peeked up through her fringe to see her marching along the coach towards the door, shoving people out the way as she did so, one hand positioned as though she was a waitress carrying an imaginary tray whilst her bag was swinging from the crook of her arm. Millie didn’t want to move but the man behind her in the queue was shoving his bag into her bum as he grew impatient with waiting.

Still bent over Millie tried reversing into some empty seats at the end of the coach much to the bemusement of the man, who pushed past mumbling something in French and managing to slam the corner of his bag into Millie’s face as he did so. Who knows what he had in there but the weight of it nearly pushed her backwards as the zip scratched along her forehead and the base whacked her nose. The man didn’t even stop and not wanting to draw attention to herself she stayed put, hands clasped over her mouth and nose as her eyes dribbled damn-that-hurt tears.

As Denise reached the door so too did the French man who wasn’t going to let her barge through before him and so she had to wait.

‘Come on Mark, how long does it take? I have a car booked to take us to the Hyatt!’ whined Denise from Marketing.

Millie peered around the chair, hands still covering her face, and saw Mark from Accounting red faced and panting as he followed up behind her with the bags. Just one look and she could see that he was not in the best of spirits.

‘For crying out loud Denise, what the hell have you got in these bags? We’re only here for the weekend. Why do you need all this stuff?’ grumbled Mark from Accounting and Millie felt a little bad for him.

‘Oh grow up Mark! Don’t you know a woman has needs?!’ and then she was gone from the train and marching along the station.

Millie could hear her clip-clopping down the platform and was relieved as she watched Mark leave laden with bags and looking furious. She had always thought he looked quite cute when angry and wondered what he saw in Denise, they say love is blind she thought and in this case deaf and dumb. Laughing at her own joke she pushed her bag back into the aisle with her legs. Temporarily distracted by a shrill voice from outside the window she spun around to look through the glass in case Denise from Marketing was back and instantly grabbed her face again just in case. It turned out not to be Denise but a woman who looked to be doing her very best impression of Cruella De Ville from 101 Dalmatian’s and she stood there watching as the woman shrieked instructions to her husband/brother/butler. As she watched her the woman looked up and saw Millie looking through the window, she pursed her lips and pointed at her and then in a flourish, turned and walked to the exit with her Chihuahua neatly tucked under her arm.

Welcome to Paris thought Millie, would it all be this flamboyant and dramatic she wondered and turned to leave the train.

It took her a few seconds of staring blankly at the aisle to realise her bag was gone! She couldn’t believe it, how could it be gone, it was just there, why?, why would anyone take her bag?, oh not again!

Millie got off the train after frantically searching the coach and was stressing as her money had been in that bag. Here she was in Paris with no directions, no details, no money except the 50 euros she had in her purse but at least she had a bank card. She told herself that it was all part of the adventure and that she shouldn’t panic after all she was in Paris.

The station was busy and she looked for the lost property sign after deciding she should report that first. Her stomach grumbled and she went to grab a kit kat from one of the newsagents. She never made it that far as she was distracted by the pastries that were on sale in the bar. It was odd but they looked delicious and if anyone needed comfort food and a Baileys it was Millie Banlaoch.

She found a corner to snuggle into and devoured her pastry in less than a minute, then felt quite gluttonous and sick and started sipping her Baileys. It always amused Millie that they showed sport in pubs and it rarely mattered where in the world you were that seemed to be the norm. She glanced up at the screen as her face appeared on the telly, it was a photo that had been taken about 5 years ago just after the hair disaster of 2008 which she had been lucky to escape from without being bald. She swallowed. The news was in French but she distinctly heard them mention her name. She looked around the bar to see if anyone had noticed it was her but they all seemed far more interested in their pastries. Looking back at the screen she saw St Pancras and her bag that she left behind, and realised that it was her they were talking about on the radio, and then she saw her scrawled handwriting of her list of lottery numbers and balked. She was going to need another pastry…STAT!

Five Sentence Fiction: Abandoned

Its been a long time since I took part in Lillie McFerrins Five Sentence Fiction but after someone tweeted about it I thought, I'll just check the prompt and see if anything comes to mind, if so then I will take part.

The prompt was: Abandoned

And here is what my brain told me to write!

Please don't leave me

I have to

You don't have to...please...

I have to

Please don't leave me



Did I thank you?



Artwork is ALL my own! Copy at your own risk of ridicule

Hello…I know it’s not Friday and here I am again…I just have things on my mind, that I need to share, and if you don’t want to read on about my eBook situation then look away now but be sure to come back on Friday for part 8 of Girls Best Friend. I hope you have been enjoying the series so far and are going to be following along until the end…but anyway…

As you know, I am releasing an eBook of two short stories at the beginning of March and will be on tour on various blogs which are all hosted by some wonderful and talented people, I am so lucky that they agreed to have me it’s not too late if you want me to stop by, a review isn’t necessary, we could just have a chat? Ok, enough of that for now. I am grateful for those I have.

I recently made what I call a mistake and that has led to this post – I know many others who would tell you that it wasn’t – and I shall elaborate. You see, I saw a site that was talking about indie publishing and everything that you needed to do before you published anything. I can tell you hand on heart that I am glad that I never read that before I had started the ball rolling because it would have me screaming and running into the hills, never to be seen again without the promise of flumps and mashed potato.

Even as I write this I am panicking, I feel quite nervous, in over my head, out of my depth, digging my own grave etcetera etcetera…I am just quaking at the thought. I even had tingling finger tips when I thought about it which for me is a sure sign that I am shall we say bricking it. But I have crossed the line of no return, I have a tour planned, I have submitted an interview & devised a playlist, I have convinced my talented sister to bake me a cake for the launch and I am in the final stages of securing my cover art. There is no going back for me. I have crossed that line. I am filled with utter panic in general but now I have all this advice and the panic has been magnified tenfold. I think this is the opposite of what is supposed to happen.

I dream about Cover Art, I am still editing and doubting every word that I have written, I am still lying awake early in the morning asking what possessed me. Is it too late to change all the names to protect the innocent? Am I going to be heartbroken if I don’t even sell one copy? Should I just offer it for free? Will anyone like it? Will anyone hate it? Oh dear me, so many questions and so much confusion and so much still left to do and yet….

I am excited.

I am filled with joy at having taken a step in the right direction regardless of what the outcome may be. I am looking forward to reconnecting with my novel and thinking about the A to Z in April.

I am looking forward to the tour to the questions which I may not know the answers to. I am keen to see if I get any feedback about the playlist for the horror story. I hope the romantic comedy is still as funny and heart-warming. I am just a happier me even with all the stress because I enjoy it so much. I enjoy writing, I enjoy feedback, I enjoy the stress, I enjoy the deadlines, I’ve enjoyed the steep learning curve and these are all aspects of working life that I like.

I will be relieved when it is done of course because I will have more time for other writing I have in the pipeline. Don’t they say the first time is the hardest?

I just want to thank you all too!

I am surrounded by such a great support system and have been able to call on colleagues for editing duty, friends for feedback, and family for encouragement. I am lucky and I am happy and I am grateful for you too!

Yes you! The readers of my blog, whether you stop by and leave a comment or you never do, I am just happy that your virtual presence has helped me to do something I have often hoped to and it is for that reason that I will always have a series available on this blog, that is written week by week, with only you in mind!

Thank you for being here for The Suddenly Kate Show! And see you on Friday :D



 

Update Time :)

Hello everyone,

It seems a long time since I last posted anything that wasnt a story of some sort, no more rants for this little lady, and I have kind of missed it.

I do have a post to come with my missing christmas exchange, which is truly stunning, and also coming up we have announcement of my blogland book tour dates throughout March as well as Cover Art grand reveal! There will also be a launch party so come along for that.

In relation to the tour, I have 7 dates so far, some comedy on a hilariously funny blog, a playlist for the horror story for all you music lovers on a music blog, an interview on a poets blog that quite possibly could all be done in rhyming couplets and a few reviews too! I have also been invited to a stitchy blog which shall be great fun. But there is always room for more...even if its just one more of you? Can I tempt anyone? Details here.

Maybe you dont like horror then we can focus on the rom-com and if you dont like rom-com we can focus on the horror and if you dont like either we can talk about what makes a good read.

The Cover Art is moving a long swimmingly at the moment and I am looking forward to sharing that with you all.

The launch party so far will have a cake - that is all I know...and need :D

In other news...
My life in general at the moment is shaky to say the least, its steaming along at 90 miles an hour, without a care for speed bumps that threaten to force me forty miles in the air and totally off track, and so I am currently permanently white knuckled.

I do however have a music review that is gathering dust at the moment, its all but done, the delay being all down to me. But that shall be out by the weekend just in time for you to sit back and relax and listen to some tunes.
Stitching is on hold temporarily but I will be back with gay abandon for the IHSW in March - I shall get the weekend right this time!

I am also planning to have some fun for the 25th anniversary of Comic Releif and shall be rocking the 80's look :D Photos will spontaneously combust so there is unlikely to be evidence of that. Are you doing anything? (March 15th 2013)

So, less of this procrastination, and back to the grindstone! I hope some more of you will join in by emailing me here: dekeboo@hotmail.com

Till the next time

Kate x

Girls Best Friend: Part 7.5

Millie was sweating again but without running, she tried to shake the feeling that it was her bag, surely it couldn't be, other people must wrap their items in cling film too, and she slid down into her chair and rested her head in her hand. Millie tried not to think about what kind of trouble she would be in if it was hers? She took the earphones out and tried to sleep. Soon she would be in Paris and it would be OK.
'Okay everyone, come on in. That’s it, right, I think we are all here. Mike can you close the door please? Thanks'

'I have asked you all here for this debriefing after the events of this morning. As you know a suspected bomb was left on St Pancras station, it turns out it was not a bomb, but a few T-shirts, a bikini & some documents.'
'So why are we here then Sarge if it was just someone's actual luggage?'

'The documents that were in the bag are currently being examined by our forensic team. Some of you may be aware that a prominent business man Mr Rob from Rob, Roberts and Robertson Ltd was abducted & his head of security brutally attacked. The documents in the bag lead us to believe that this may have belonged to our kidnappers.

‘You sure it wasn’t just a forgetful holiday maker?’

‘If you would let me finish Officer’

‘Yes, Sarge..’

‘The documents contained in the bag included building blueprints, maps, a list of numbers which we believe may be code. Also scrawled on some of them were the words: Diamonds, Elvis and Suits’

A few of the Officers sniggered.

‘Sure she wasn’t planning a 70s night?’

‘If you would let me finish, some of the hotel reservations were printed on headed paper from Rob, Roberts & Robertson Ltd. A few years back, some of you may remember, there was a lot of speculation about the company’s involvement with a known jewel thief who they represented, and who had been caught after a diamond heist. The diamonds were never found. We believe that there is some connection with this person…’

The sergeant picked up the paperwork in front of him...’Miss Millie Banloach. Now we have what appear to be reservations in hostels and hotels across France, Spain and Morocco but I believe that it might be a decoy, something to throw us off, a bluff. Interpol have been called…yes, what is it?’

‘What if this Millie Banloach actually did forget her bag and the reservations are all real?’

‘It’s been considered, but we don’t think it is some kind of double bluff, but don’t forget that criminals like these are extremely calculating. The French police will check out her first reservation and if she shows up they will arrest her and we will find out once and for all what’s going on.’

‘So why the meeting, if it’s all sorted sir?’

‘Good question…it’s not that we don’t trust them to do their job but…we don’t trust them to do their job, so I have called you all here to ask for a volunteer to go and find Millie Banloach and bring her back here for questioning without Interpol knowing.’

Silence filled the room.

‘All expenses paid’ said the sergeant and several hands shot up.

The sergeant looked around the briefing room, slowly taking in the officers he had available for the task. The youngest officer who was the most able was Officer Justin Anwalt. He figured that Miss Banloach would be more likely to trust someone closer to her age.

‘Anwalt’ he said. ‘I want you on the next train to Paris.’

Girls Best Friend: Part 7

As Justin walked away from her towards the boarding gate he needed Millie was grinning. No-one had ever given her their card before. It was all rather exciting and for a moment she felt like she was in a movie. She felt smug as she thought about their brief meeting. Then she felt a bit embarrassed and within seconds she felt like an idiot. Justin must be crazy she thought, there must be something wrong with him, why would he want to go for a drink with me? She looked down at his business card.

Justin Held

Private Investigator

Specialising in retrieval of stolen goods (e.g. diamonds, people, dogs)

Also available for carpet fitting, plumbing emergencies & removals.

Millie looked at her boarding pass and saw that she had to board 30 minutes before departure, she checked her watch and saw that she still had half an hour. She found it strange to be getting on a train and knowing she would have to go through much the same process that she would if she was getting on a plane. She picked up her broken bag and carrying it in one arm like a baby, she grabbed the others and dragged them haphazardly towards the ladies bathroom.

She followed the signs and thought that if the toilets were any further away she would have walked to Paris before she found them, then she thought what if she needed 20p to use them, and began wondering if she thought she had one. Millie was pleasantly surprised to find the toilets were free and there was no queue.
She went in to a cubicle and sat down and looked at her luggage. Great! what a lovely stain and how brilliant that she would now smell like a brewery for the duration, she checked inside to see if anything had been damaged,  but Millie had wrapped everything in clingfilm, and it was all ok. It had been a combination of ideas that she had come across when researching packing tips and techniques for the adventurous traveller. Some people had said that she should roll all of her items so they would take up less space and she could get more in and that had worked, but lots of people said take a carrier for dirty clothes and one even said to go as far as to vacuum pack it all. Well, she wasn't crazy…so she had rolled all her clothes and then wrapped them in clingfilm to keep them dry, her luggage did slightly resemble a drug barons stash but she was very pleased that she had done it after what had happened with the Baileys, and she mentally gave herself a little pat on the back.

She tried to pack some things from the broken carrier into her hand luggage bag but she was still left with quite a few items. There would be only one thing for it, she would have to get another bag. She came out of the cubicle and checked herself in the mirror and was surprised to find that she actually didn't look too bad. This new adventurous Millie had a healthy glow.

She went to one of the shops in the station and saw the exact bag she needed, it would be perfect, the price tag wasn't so perfect but she decided she would pay as she had to board soon. She sat outside on a bench and moved things around and tucked things in until she had just three bags, her main luggage, her new bag, and her hand luggage, she checked she had her boarding pass out and looked at her seat number, coach 11 seat 72, she was about to look away when she saw the notice again:

BOARDING CLOSES 30 MINUTES BEFORE DEPARTURE

WHAT?! WHAT?! Millie had thought it said she had to board 30 minutes before departure and checking her watch again she saw that it was 32 minutes till departure and she had exactly 2 minutes to get to the gate. She slung her hand luggage over her head and shoulder, placed the new bag on the top of the main luggage to lean against the handle and legged it. Luckily for Millie she wasn't far from the boarding gate and she made it just in time.

Hot and sweaty and panting, with hair stuck to her head and her coat buttoned incorrectly she passed as quickly as she could through passport control and security. Next she went through the departure lounge, checked the boarding gate, ran up the escalator, found the platform and then all she needed to do was to find her coach. As she walked, still panting, along the platform she looked up to see a huge clock indicating that departure was in two minutes. She was going to have to run again and she did, she wasn't a great runner at the best of times but with luggage too she really struggled, as she loped along the platform with her bag on wheels swinging and threatening to topple over, she wasn't sure she was going to make it and it was then that it occurred to her to get on the train and walk through the coaches. Millie grabbed the handle of the first door she came across and threw her stuff in like an Olympic bowler and jumped in after it, she literally closed the door, gave a sigh of relief and the train was off.

Millie stayed where she was for a few minutes whilst she composed herself for the walk to her coach, by her calculations she had three to go through before hers, and she lifted up her bag and began the walk. It was mainly 5 minutes of Millie saying ‘Oops, sorry, excuse me, oops, excuse me, sorry, can i just, thanks, thanks’ until she reached her coach. At the end was the luggage rack, and as if by chance there was a space the exact size and shape of her bag just waiting for her, and she pushed her bag in, found her seat and put the bag that was hanging across her body into the overhead shelving. The seat beside her was free and she was pleased about that as she wasn't in the mood for small talk. Millie sat down and took her coat off, pulled out the onboard magazine from the back of the seat in front of her and thought about getting some snacks from the bar or maybe even a drink. She saw from the corner of her eye that there was a power point between the seats in front of her and thought it would be a great opportunity to make sure her phone was fully charged and she got her bag down to get it out. Typically, it wasn't in that one, and she went to the luggage rack to get the other bag.

Millie stood staring at the luggage rack for a good 10 minutes, and playing back in her mind the run along the station and the throwing of bags onto the train, and she realised that somewhere between the boarding gate and the train she had lost her new luggage, her new luggage that had her mobile phone and her instructions, booking details and maps that she needed and she came over all queasy. She was lucky it didn't have her money or passport as she had carried the passport and moved her money into her main luggage. Apart from the paperwork all she had in the bag were a few t-shirts, a swimming costume and her pyjamas all rapped in clingfilm. She wondered forlornly back to her seat and couldn't believe her luck, oh well at least she could check the details on her email via her phone, she slapped her forehead hard like some melodramatic mime artist as she remembered she didn't have her phone.The first thing she would do when she got to Paris would be to find an internet cafe.

Millie was tired and opted to have a nap for the duration of the journey and she listened to the radio that was available, much the same as on a plane, through the arm of the seats. She was just dozing off when the show she was listening to had a newsflash..

"Well listeners, we have a newsflash for you today…beep de beep beeeeeep…Only moments ago St Pancras station was evacuated by police after a bag was left alone on the Eurostar platform. There is no more information at the moment but one of our correspondents is on the scene with the man that found the bag.
‘What can you tell us?’
‘Well, I work for Eurostar and the train had just left for Paris and there was this bag still on the station. I thought someone had just forgotten it and I went to check inside for ID and all I saw was shiny cling filmed packages – it was just like on TV when they find bombs – so I left it there and informed my manager.’
‘And were you scared?’
‘I was, I thought I wouldn't see my pet parrot again, it was just awful’
‘Ok, thank you’
So there you have it, a suspected bomb has been found on the platform to the Eurostar, St Pancras has been evacuated and the bomb squad are on their way, back to you in the studio.’

Millie was sweating again but without running, she tried to shake the feeling that it was her bag, surely it couldn't be, other people must wrap their items in cling film too, and she slid down into her chair and rested her head in her hand. Millie tried not to think about what kind of trouble she would be in if it was hers? She took the earphones out and tried to sleep. Soon she would be in Paris and it would be OK.

Girls Best Friend: Part 6

‘There you are Millie, for a moment there I thought you had got lost!’ said Anne. 
‘Sorry Anne, the box is pretty heavy, and I didn't want to end up like you when I’m old…with a bad back and all.’ Millie didn't intend to be mean but considering she was doing Anne a favour the woman could at least give her some slack. She sat at her desk and started to go through her emails, it was then that she saw one from Mr.Rob and her heart almost stopped beating, she felt tiny palpitations in her chest and all at once felt like everyone in the office was looking at her. She clicked on it to open…

Dear Millie,
I hate to drag you into this but from the map on your desk and the instructions I found in your drawer, you already seem to be getting involved, and the thing is…I need your help…..

Millie’s last day at work hadn’t gone as planned. Firstly, she had got stuck in the stationery cupboard again and discovered things she would rather have not known. Then the email from Mr Rob was a total surprise and had the combined effect of reassuring her of her abilities and filling her with utter terror at what might happen if she didn’t succeed. Her visions of sashaying out of the office with nothing more than a backward wave to Denise from marketing never came to fruition. She had been total encompassed in what she was doing that she hadn’t seen everyone leave. Being alone in the office gave her flashbacks to earlier in the week; she scooped up all her stuff, deleted the files on her computer, and left as soon as she could with no backwards glances.

Stepping into her flat with her head full of everything she still needed to do before she caught the Eurostar, the emptiness of her flat without Elvis hit her slap bang in the face; tears filled her eyes and tumbled gently down her cheeks. Millie felt so guilty. If she had just accepted that there was nothing wrong with the quiet life, if she had just accepted that she had a better life than some, if she had just accepted that…if she had just let someone else go to the stationery cupboard…she flung herself onto the sofa and cried into the throw cushion. 

A few minutes passed with Millie gently sobbing and then she sat herself up, wiped her face and told herself, ‘Millie Ann Banloach, you can do this…Elvis needs you…you need him…Mr Rob has given you an idiots guide to international diamond retrieval and rescue…it couldn’t be any simpler…let’s get organised.’

It was 11am on Saturday when Millie arrived at St Pancras station in London to catch the Eurostar to Paris, France.  She hadn’t been to St Pancras since before the refurbishment and from the outside it was a building of awe-inspiring proportions. She stood outside looking up at the building, occasionally shuffling out of the way of passers-by, her head craned to see the top as she wondered what people thought when this building was first built in the 1860’s and if any of them were about to step into the unknown. Maybe someone stood in this very spot and looked up at the building before they embarked on a journey from which their lives would be changed irrevocably. The urge to run home, to leave her bags standing abandoned outside the station, was overwhelming.

Millie decided to wait a little longer whilst her insides finished battling it out. Which choice would win? She let her mind drift and was brought back to reality by a voice, a deep, velvety voice that vibrated in her ears and gave her chills, it was enough to wake the sleeping butterflies in her stomach and she turned to see the most beautiful man she had ever seen. As she stood there in awe, it occurred to Millie that he had asked her a question, but she couldn’t focus on anything other than trying not to stare.

‘Erm….hello…Miss? Are you sure you don’t need a hand with your bags?’ he asked.

Wow, thought Millie, how well-mannered…then she remembered that she was a feminist and not supposed to be impressed by being treated like a weak girl however heavy they might be. She also suspected that this man was very used to girls swooning in his vicinity. It made her feel like a teenager again. She tried to shrug it off, lent down to pick up her bags, looked at him straight in the eye and said…

‘I’m a strong independent woman not a weak dependent housewife…I can manage and it would do you well to respect women in future!’ and she yanked her case, her handbag, her last minute bits, and the baileys that she had to have just in case and attempted to storm off up the slope to enter the station. The beautiful man raised one eyebrow quixotically and Millie noticed a bemused smirk forming on those soft pillowy lips and raised an eyebrow back at him. It took all of one step up the slope for the handle on the carrier bag, containing Millie’s Baileys, to break and for the bottle to smash dramatically on the floor whilst simultaneously covering her luggage with a creamy stain. Millie thought she heard a snigger from the man but was too busy turning a beetroot red to look.

‘Are you sure I can’t help you?’ he said and was met with Millie’s glare. She wasn’t annoyed with him but rather by the fact that she had been looking forward to drinking that and now she would have nothing to drown her sorrows in.

‘I mean, can you help me? I am but a disrespectful although strong man in need of some way to advertise my overwhelming manliness, such as carrying luggage. Would you be able to let me carry yours? Please?’ the man said, this time not even attempting to hide the smile.

Millie wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of thinking that he was funny and just shrugged and mumbled ‘’spose’ which was met with twinkly eyes and a ‘you’re too kind m’lady!’

As she entered into the station and looked up at the buildings architecture she let out a ‘wow’ which broke up the awkward silence between them.

‘It really is something, hey?’ he said.

‘It really is. I haven’t been here for a long while.’

‘I’m Justin by the way…’ he said holding out a hand.

‘Oh! Like Bieber?’ she said, and instantly regretted being snarky, she was giving feminists a bad name.

‘I prefer to think I’m more of a Timberlake’ and he smiled at her.

Millie’s knees gave way a little and she tried to turn it into an I’m-stomping-a-bit-to-keep-warm kind of thing and hoped that she had pulled it off. He stood there looking at her, and she started to feel a little self-conscious, she looked back at him and took in his features all at once.

As Millie looked at him she thought he seemed less jaw-droppingly beautiful than he did a few minutes ago and she wondered if his voice had some kind of pied piper effect on her, his eyes were still twinkly but no more than anyone else’s, his lips pillowy but his mouth was quite small, his nose was just a nose and rather nondescript, yet the combination fit well together. He smiled at her again and in that one second his face changed and the butterflies were back. The smile really lit up his face, every line and crinkle appearing together, and most importantly one of Millie’s known weaknesses…dimples! She smiled back at him and he let out a single Ha!

‘I’ll try again shall I? I’m Justin, more Timberlake than Bieber and you are?’ Millie realised that he must have been staring at her waiting for a response and she felt the teenage petulance raising its head again but forced it back down.

‘I’m Millie’ she said, ‘thank you for your help….I should be ok now’ she smiled at him.

‘It’s nice to meet you Millie’ he smiled back, ‘I actually have to go now as my train to Paris is boarding…maybe…here, I should be back in London in a few weeks. Maybe we could go for a drink sometime?’ and he handed her his business card.

‘Oh, sure…yes…thanks…I mean…sure…yes, I’m going to Paris on the next train…erm…have a safe trip’ and she looked at him and smiled.

As Justin walked away from her towards the boarding gate he needed Millie was grinning. No-one had ever given her their card before. It was all rather exciting and for a moment she felt like she was in a movie. She felt smug as she thought about their brief meeting. Then she felt a bit embarrassed and within seconds she felt like an idiot. Justin must be crazy she thought, there must be something wrong with him, why would he want to go for a drink with me? She looked down at his business card.

Justin Held

Private Investigator

Specialising in retrieval of stolen goods (e.g. diamonds, people, dogs)

Also available for carpet fitting, plumbing emergencies & removals.

Marjie Myers Blog Tour 2013

How are you all? Good I hope.

I have some more news! I know as if the A to Z challenge news wasn’t enough – I like to spoil you all :D

Well…there is a whole month called March before April begins and I shall be going on a Blog Tour! Or at the very least I hope I will be.

To be honest, hey…come a little closer…let’s keep this between us, I am not 100% sure what they are! Shhhhh…our secret okay?

I think what happens is I take the wares that I am trying to offload from blog to blog in the hope that I can be free of them…I like to keep things simple and I have visions of reading about existing blog tours and getting all paranoid, worked up and confused by it all, so I am hoping for some kindly bloggers who are willing to host me on their blog for just one post on one day in March. Could that be you?

So…keeping it simple…

YOU GET

·         A copy of my ebook for FREE <<< it says free but I guess hosting me is the catch?

·         I’d also like to offer you a badge for your website (providing I can get one sorted) but you don’t have to have it.  

·         Increased visitors to your blog as I will promote it during the tour.

·         A friend for life and

·         Prestige of being involved in Marjie Myers first ever Blog Tour!  Oh the prestige :D

I GET

·         Increased awareness of my ebook

·         Some feedback

·         New fans

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

·         Let me know, you can email me at dekeboo@hotmail.co.uk, that you are interested in taking part.

·         Read the ebook.

·         Write a blog post about the ebook, you can do this in any way you like, maybe a mini-review, or an interview with yours truly, or anything really.

WHAT I NEED TO DO

·         Send you a copy of my ebook.

·         Publicise on my own blog about your participation.

·         Promote your post via social media.

Or at least this is how I think it’s done…you know what…this is how I am doing it!

I can’t expect you to just offer or agree without first telling you a little bit about the stories in the ebook.

Yes, I said stories :D

This is going to be the Cornish pasty of ebooks. A savoury story and a sweet story.

SAVOURY

Anna is an independent confident career woman. It’s Halloween night when her usual walk home and to the loving arms of her boyfriend Andy doesn’t go to plan. Dressed as the bride of Frankenstein, she ends up having to fight for every breath that she takes, in a twisted game of spot the difference.  

But if that is too creepy for you and you need to cleanse your mind with delicious sweetness then the second story in the ebook is the new and improved version of the Christmas tale ‘Twelve Days’.

SWEET

Ryan is a hopeless romantic. He is hopeless at romance. Sarah has never complained but Ryan wants to prove that he can learn and decides to propose to her by giving her twelve days that she won’t forget. As each day passes Ryans attempts at romance go from bad to worse to he just might pull this off. Can he win your heart too?

So…if I haven’t scared you all off…who’s in? Anyone?

Leave a comment, send me an email, do a little dance, whatever makes you happy :D Don’t worry if you can’t host me during my tour – you can still stop by during the tour and see what people are saying about it – and you can still download the ebook after the tour is over!

Phew! Did any of that make sense? Explain it to me! All I know is…its all quite exciting!

Stitchy Update!

Hello!

I have returned from my mini-adventure and am already thinking about the next one :D Suggestions anyone?

I took my sampler away with me and didn't get that much done. I added green stems to the letter A and at first I wasn't sure but it has grown on me and I think it looks very arts & crafty. What do you think? The smaller alphabets I stitched in other colours trying to choose a shade from the variegated thread. I like the green, the yellow and am unsure about the orange (top-right), what do you think?

So as a reminder, here is the A the last time we saw it...

and here it is now...

Apologies for the poor image...here is it with the other colours...

I would have done more but did not have the variegated thread with me...so this week I shall finish this page and move to page 2.

I hope you have all had a great week too! I see that you have as I have over a thousand blogs to read :D

NEWS update

Morning!

I have some good news and some bad news....What would you like first?

The bad news is we have lost a follower. They didn't even say goodbye. It's not really that bad in all fairness but it surely is good manners to say cheerio.

 We mustn't dwell, the show will go on!

Leading me onto the good news...in my head its good news! Hehe.

I have decided on a theme for the A to Z challenge 2013. Inspired by my last ramble and my current escapade I shall be writing:

The A to Z guide for the Paranoid Solo Traveller.

So on April 1st it shall begin and continue daily until we reach Z. I can hear some of you mumbling ...why is she telling us now? and unlike usual this time I have a reason.

Wanna hear it? The reason is i want this guide to not only be entertaining but also useful. And so I put the question to you...what questions do you want to know the answer to about solo travel? Be random, be specific & don't feel that any question is silly or obvious. In the past when I have planned trips I have visited every and I mean EVERY website there is about travel and not found an answer.

SO...you have two months to ponder on this, or ask now for guaranteed inclusion or if you want you can ask during the challenge.

Now ... go do something out of the ordinary!

Kate x

p.s it hasnt gone unnoticed that the acronym is going to be pst! ;)

Girls Best Friend; Part 5

Hello dear readers...I wondered if anyone was waiting for Part 5 of Girls Best Friend? Oh, Ok. Well...here it is then...

Millie had been unable to sleep and woke up in a cold sweat after horrific nightmares about what would happen to Elvis. She new that she would have to go to Marrakech to get him back, there was no way she would be able to live with herself if she didn't, but she was confused as to why Mr. Rob would take him. He had always seemed so nice. It was surprising how wrong you could be about people.

Millie had booked all of her transport tickets and reserved rooms at hotels but with the intention of travelling with Elvis, now all she could think was that she needed to get to him as soon as possible, and she started looking up direct flights to Marrakech. She looked a sight sat at her kitchen table. Her hair was stuck up at every angle and yesterdays make-up was smudged all about, her pyjamas were an old T-shirt and some leggings that she used to laze around the flat in and there were crumbs on her chin from buttered toast. The more she searched for flights the more distressed she became, either she should have been at the airport already or she would have to wait until tomorrow, she glanced up at the clock as she was about to select buy and saw the time.

She was supposed to be at work, she was supposed to be sashaying out of the office with an I-am-outta-here-and-see-you-losers attitude, she was supposed to be smugly telling Denise about an interesting long walk she should take off of a surprisingly short pier. Millie couldn't make the flight any sooner so she decided to go to work and buy the ticket whilst she was there. They were naive if they thought that she would actually be dong any work today!

It wasn’t until she was in the car park that she remembered that it had been less than 48 hours since Mr Robs kidnapping and it was then that it occurred to her that the office might not even be open. When she reached the foyer she saw that work was in fact open and it was business as usual. How was it that a partner of the company could be kidnapped from his place of work and the head of security brutally attacked and yet it was back to work as if it had never happened the second the police teams had cleared out, and they claimed that people weren't just numbers.

Millie went to her desk and switched her computer on and slumped into her chair. It had been a mere two minutes when she looked at the clock, only seven hours and 28 minutes to go she thought.

‘Morning Millie’ said Anne the secretary with a pained look on her face, 
‘erm..morning Anne…are you ok?’ Millie asked. 
‘Yes and no really, I'm just worried about Mr Rob and a bit sad that you are leaving us today...i'll miss you...and my back is breaking too but other than that…i'm ok.’ she sighed as she finished her sentence giving Millie the impression that there was more to this and Anne seemed to be waiting for her to ask. She gave in. 
‘Oh, well…I shall miss you too Anne, is there anything I can help you with today, before I go?’ she asked reluctantly. In less than a second Anne was on her, 
‘Oh would you? really? that would be so great Millie, you are an angel.’ 
Millie mentally shook her head as she had walked straight into that one, 
‘its no bother Anne, what is it?’ she lied.
‘You couldn't go to the stationery cupboard and get me some paper for the copier could you? Its just too heavy for me…what with my back’ as Anne said it she place a hand on her lower back and lent backwards as if miming someone with back pain. 
‘Ok, do you need it now? or can I go in a few minutes…’ asked Millie. 
‘I need it now but…I guess I can wait, how many minutes is a few?’ Anne said. Millie could see that if she didn't go now Anne had every intention of standing over her waiting until she did and so she stood up, smiled at Anne and said 
‘I am going to get the key to the key to the key’ and she laughed as she went to get the key to the key to the key. Anne didn't laugh, no-one in this place thought the whole key charade was ridiculous, she just went back to her desk and sat herself down to drink her coffee.


Millie went in to the stationery cupboard and realised that this was the place she was just a few days ago when this whole diamond debacle had begun and she wanted to be in and out as quick as possible. She flicked on the light switch and heard a crack as it blew. Great! she thought, now she would have to fumble around in the dark with a heavy box of paper, but she went in anyway as she knew where the paper was kept. She crouched down to lift the box of paper up, remembering the whole mantra about lifting with your knees that her mother had always nagged her about, and as she did so she heard a click of the door, she was about to call out ‘Hello, whose there? there is someone in here & the light has blown’ when she heard voices.

‘Look…its all gone wrong! How did those mobsters find out about the diamonds Roberts, the only people who knew about them are me and you and Rob, Rob has been kidnapped and I know he won't tell so that just leaves you.’ Mr Robertson said in an accusatory manner to his partner Mr Roberts.

‘What?! You think its me? YOU think I would put someones life in such a situation? I'm not a fool Robertson, and well you know it, are you sure someone hasn't been whispering sweet diamond nothings between the sheets?’ retaliated Mr Roberts to Mr Robertson.

‘Hell no! Anyway…she wouldn't say anything to anyone…I trust her…she isn't that manipulative…’ he trailed off.

‘Damn you Robertson! You told her? I knew you couldn't keep it in your pants man, but I thought you had more sense than to tell her!’ said Roberts through gritted teeth.

‘Look, she has too much to lose if she goes public, she has a husband!’ said Robertson.

‘What? Denise isn't married, who are you talking about?’ asked Roberts ‘you seriously cannot keep it in your pants…’

‘Wait…why did you think it was Denise? I would never…’ asked Robertson narrowing his eyes at his partner.

‘I thought it was Denise because she almost said as much to me the last time she was in my office, I just didn't think someone would say that if they weren't.’

‘Why would she want you to think she was though? I've never trusted her or that sidekick of hers…what’s his name…Mark from Accounting?’

‘Look…we are getting distracted, we need to find out who has been spilling their guts, and we need to find out pronto. If its not you and its not me then who else can it be? I don’t know about you, but I'm worried, are you sure its not your lady friend?’ he said with a derisive snort.

‘Hey, I've told you already Roberts, Anne wouldn't tell a soul. So do you think they have taken Rob to Marrakech?’

‘I don't know, he rang me the other night, told me he thought someone else at Rob, Roberts and Robertson knew about the diamonds but he was sure they would help us, he said he found a map and some notes in their desk, but he never said who it was…’

Millie was shocked…Mr Rob knew she had the map and instructions, so he must have taken the thugs to her house, but why?

‘He said that if anything happened to him then they would know what to do’

This last statement threw Millie, how would she know what to do?

‘That he had left them some sort of message with instructions and that we should just stick to our original plan, which was…if anything happened to any of us then we were to deny all knowledge. So, I say lets just do that, what do you think?’

‘I think I want to know who this person is who Rob is leaving the fate of the company and our lives to…look, its almost 9.30am and we have that conglomerate meeting. We can talk after that.’

‘Ok, deal.’

Millie heard the door click closed and managed to breathe out. Had she heard correctly, had Mr Rob left her some instructions? or was there someone else in the company who was going to save the world or whatever? He surely couldn't have left his fate in the hands of her…afterall…she was just a temp. Millie vowed to stay out of this stationery cupboard and crouched down to get the box of paper…and wow, what a revelation about Anne, that was a surprise she wasn't expecting. 

Millie wasn't convinced that the bending your knees thing actually did help, the box was still heavy and she was still going to struggle. She began shimmying around some of the stuff when she heard someone fumbling at the handle to the stationery cupboard. Oh dear god! she thought, please…not again! and she crouched down behind the boxes and assumed the position.

‘Quick…get in here…’ said Denise from Marketing and at the sound of her voice Millies mouth turned into a sneer.

‘What is it Denise? I’m busy.’ said Mark from Accounting.

‘Shut up Mark, this is more important than getting everyone to sign some silly leaving card for a scatty brained temp! And anyway, I think that with everything that has gone on with Mr Rob that one of us should go to Marrakech as soon as possible and see what they can find out. I think it should be you. I am far too important here to just up sticks and leave. You on the other hand...won't be missed.’

‘Gee Denise, you're all heart! Millie is not scatty brained and you are a fool to think she is. She might just surprise you one day.’

‘Awww…does likkle marky poos have a cwushy wush on Millie?’

‘Stop it Denise, jealousy doesn't suit you, you sort the tickets and accommodation and I’ll go but its the last thing I am doing for you.’

‘Fine, that suits me too, I’ll email you all the details. Once this deal is done Mark we will be very rich indeed…so very rich.’


This time when the door click closed Millie was grinning, Mark from Accounting actually liked her, how did that happen? It was foolish of her to think that he wasn't mainly superficial but she couldn't help feeling a little bit smug that he was the one sorting out her leaving card. Third time lucky, she bent at the knees, lifted the box of paper and went back to her desk.

‘There you are Millie, for a moment there I thought you had got lost!’ said Anne. 
‘Sorry Anne, the box is pretty heavy, and I didn't want to end up like you when i'm old…with a bad back and all.’ Millie didn't intend to be mean but considering she was doing Anne a favour the woman could at least give her some slack. She sat at her desk and started to go through her emails, it was then that she saw one from Mr.Rob and her heart almost stopped beating, she felt tiny palpitations in her chest and all at once felt like everyone in the office was looking at her. She clicked on it to open…

Dear Millie,
I hate to drag you into this but from the map on your desk and the instructions I found in your drawer, you already seem to be getting involved, and the thing is…I need your help…..