Moore to Lose (35 page)

Mia quickly threw things into a small overnight bag. “Guess I should’ve had this packed,” she thought. Slipping on a comfy maternity dress and flats, she grabbed a big colorful sweater and her cell and left the apartment.

The night doorman was surprised to see her when she reached the lobby.

“It’s time,” she announced.

“You’re having the baby?”

“I am.”

“Where is Mr. Schooner?”

“He’s still in California.” Mia’s heart broke as she verbalized it.

“Well, I hope he gets home in time to see his boy born. It’s all he’s been talking about for months. Let me get you a cab, Miss Mia.” The elderly gentleman went out to the curb.

Mia watched him standing at the curb with his hand raised in the dark night. She pulled out her cell and started to text.

Mia: Water broke. Heading to hospital. Gary’s meeting me there.

She sent the message to Seth Shapiro, Charles Sloan and Kami Townes.

The cab pulled up in front of the building’s awning and Mia went out. Thanking the doorman, she slid into the back seat and gave the cab driver the hospital’s address.

As he pulled away from the curb, she lovingly stroked her belly. “I will always be there for you, Nathaniel. Always. You can count on me. I won’t let you down. You will always have me,” she promised him, as the cab sped through Manhattan’s empty pre-dawn streets and brought Mia Silver closer to meeting her son.

What is it with those two and cabs? Next book, let’s hope they finally get into one together.

On a more serious note, in Moore to Lose, you witnessed Mia’s self-destructive behavior before she finally sought the help she desperately needed to deal with the PTSD that resulted from the sexual abuse she suffered during her freshman year in college. While Mia Silver is only a fictional character, rape and sexual abuse and the trauma and post traumatic stress disorders that victims suffer are very real. If you, or anyone you know, is in need of help or want someone to talk to, please seek out that assistance. Following are a couple of resources:

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)
www.rainn.org
1-800-656-HOPE

The Rape Crisis Center —
www.rapecrisis.com
1-210-349-7273

Both organizations also provide online hotlines.

I’ll see you soon for the rest of Schooner and Mia’s journey.

Till we meet again,

— Julie

i
David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust,” The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972, RCA Victor P8S-1932

ii
Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land, (New York, NY, Putnam Publishing Group 1961)

iii
Woody Allen, Without Feathers,(New York, NY, Ballantine Books (1972)

iv
Woody Allen, “Match Wits With Inspector Ford”, Without Feathers, (New York, NY, Ballantine Books 1972) Pg. 115

v
Stephen King, The Stand, (New York, Doubleday 1978)

vi
Ellieism, Ellie LoveNBooks, 2013.

vii
The Moody Blues, “The Story in Your Eyes,” Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, 1971, Threshold Records 42284 4772-2

viii
Marc Anthony, “I Need to Know,” Marc Anthony, 1999, Sony 79251

ix
Supertramp, “Hide in Your Shell,” Crime of the Century, 1974, A&M SP-3647

x
Nelson DeMille, Plum Island, (New York, NY, Grand Central Publishing, (1997)

xi
Bruce Springsteen, “The Brokenhearted,” The Promise, 2010, Columbia Records

Author Julie A. Richman is a native New Yorker living deep in the heart of Texas. A creative writing major in college, reading and writing fiction has always been a passion. Julie began her corporate career in publishing in NYC and writing played a major role throughout her career as she created and wrote marketing, advertising, direct mail and fundraising materials for Fortune 500 corporations, advertising agencies and non-profit organizations. She is an award winning nature photographer plagued with insatiable wanderlust. Julie and her husband have one son and a white German Shepherd named Juneau.

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