Revengeful Deceptions (4 page)

Chapter Six

The South end of Boston was buzzing
with people and noises, both were something Dominique was not used to. Directly
across the street from her new home, was a beautiful green surrounded by a
wrought iron fence. Several benches lined the area which seemed to stretch the
entire block. The full trees where just beginning to turn into vibrant colors
of yellow, red and orange. Fall was still her favorite time of year, even
though it meant the anniversary of her boy’s death would soon be upon her, she
couldn’t help but marvel at the way mother nature seemed to shove beauty in her
face no matter how much she tried to ignore it.

As she strolled down Columbus
ave.  Dominique could not help but follow the wonderful scents that seemed
to be flowing from every direction. Scents that made her feel as if she were in
a far more exotic place than Boston. A foreign country maybe, but not Boston.
I
think I am going to enjoy living here,
she thought to herself as she took
in the sites.

Hunger over took her as she got a
wonderful whiff of something delicious, she wasn’t sure if it was pizza or
Chinese food but she wanted either as she realized she hadn’t eaten since
yesterday.  Following the smell, she found herself at an outdoor bistro
and grabbed a seat. She was not disappointed when the waiter informed her that
they neither served pizza or Chinese food.

Instead she ordered a bistro burger
and sweet potato fries. While she waited for her food, Dominique sipped her
glass of wine and took in the views of the city. From where she was sitting she
had a wonderful view of the many shops and homes that surrounded her. It seemed
that everything she needed was well within walking distance and if the traffic
proved to be too much, she might very well leave her car in a parking garage
and take the bus to work.

Dominique was no stranger to eating
alone but for some reason she felt as if she weren’t alone, it was as if she
was surrounded by people. Of course she was, but this was a different kind of
feeling, a feeling like she belonged and she liked it. 
Yes, this all
seems to be just what I needed,
she thought to herself as she drank wine
and ate her meal.

“Now that I’ve got you alone
Brandon, I was wondering if we could have a little talk?”

Adam said, as he casually led them
to privacy out onto the balcony.

“What’s up?” Brandon asked, while
lighting a cigarette.

Brandon, something has been
bothering me for a long time now and I was hoping that maybe you could help
clear it up.”

“I’ll try my best little brother,”
said Brandon taking a long drag of his cigarette.

Moving closer to his brother, Adam
came out with his question.

“Brandon just what exactly did you
do to make dad send you to Italy for almost two years?”

Chuckling nervously, Brandon tried
to think of a reasonable excuse, an excuse that would satisfy his brother and
make him stop asking questions, questions that he knew would get them both into
trouble.

“Well goddamn Adam, you jealous
that dad finally paid some attention to me? Don’t worry, dad loves you more, he
always has. Sounds like you’re bored Adam, maybe you need to get back together
with your girlfriend huh? What was her name again? Oh Renee, that's right.
Renee needs to keep you occupied!”

 
“It has nothing to do with that Brandon and
you know it! I want to know why dad choose to send you away, far away and for
not one, but two years. I mean you don’t even like Italy so why in god’s name
did he send you there huh? What is it Brandon, did you kill somebody or did you
witness some kind of horrific crime?” He asked staring intently at him.

“Adam, that’s enough! His father
interrupted and stood between his two sons.

“Now I sent Brandon to Italy simply
because I was worried about your grandparents, we don’t get out there much to
see them and you and I are too busy with work so sending Brandon seemed to be
the likely alternative.  Now I don’t want you pestering your brother about
it any longer, do you hear me? Now come into the family room, your mother’s had
dessert brought in from Mistral’s.”  Adam was no more satisfied with that
answer as he was with the explanation that his brother had so obviously fished
around for.
I’m going to find out what my brother did,
Adam thought to
himself as he headed inside.

Dominique spent Sunday unpacking
and getting ready for the first day at her new job. The more she unpacked, the
more she warmed up to the brownstone with its cozy fireplace, hardwood floors,
and large private deck that she was sure would turn out to be her favorite
spot.
I should go and buy some plants to decorate it
she told herself,
but not tonight, it’s getting late and I want to take a nice hot bath before
bed.

As she lay in the hot tub soaking,
a Yankee candle filled the room with the scent of warm vanilla. Its shadows
danced upon the ceramic walls while Andréa Bocelli played softly in the back
ground.  Dominique let her thoughts take her to the last time that Stephen
had made love to her, it was a few days before he was killed, and it had been
so spontaneous and wild, it made her head spin.  “Two years and I still
miss your kisses,” she said to the dancing shadows as she caressed her skin.
“The way you used to touch me,” she said.  “Like I was the most precious
thing in the world to you.” Dominique’s body went into spasms as she let the
tears fall from her eyes. Even though the steam was still rising from the tub,
it did nothing to soothe her body. She sat in the tub soaking and sobbing until
it turned cold.

“Great, just great Dominique, your
first day of work at a new job and you decide to have a nervous breakdown in
the bathtub all night and now wake up looking like something from dawn of the
dead,” she said to herself as she looked into the mirror. “Oh well nothing I
can do but squirt some visine into my eyes and hope for the best.” She murmured
to herself. 

Dominique wanted to look her very
best for her first day at the law firm. She was lucky that Rob had landed her
the job.  She had to admit, she was excited to be working among lawyers
and the like, plus she would get her own office. “All those lawyers running
around dressed in their suits looking sexy, you’ll have them all chasing you
around Dominique, of this I am sure,” Pam had told her. Pam thought it was time
for Dominique to find a love interest, “At least have some hot sex!” She’d told
her one night when they had too much wine.

“For goodness sake Dominique your
only 31 years old. I know how much you love Stephen and Teddy sweetie but don’t
you think that they would want you to be happy and live the rest of your life
to the fullest and find love again?”

“Oh that sounds all well and good
Pam but I am not sure I want to do that, I’m not even sure that I can.”

“Well Dom, if it does happen, then
please do me a favor and let it. You have been through so very much and you
need to start to feel again. Now I’ll get off my soap box and let you ponder on
what I’ve said.”

Dominique was going to miss their
late night conversations while drinking wine.
I guess we’ll have to do it
over the phone,
she told herself as she finished putting on her makeup.

Taking one last glance in the
mirror, Dominique was pleased with the final result.  She had chosen to
wear a pair of wide leg black pinstriped slacks and a white scoop neck form
fitting blouse. She wore her long black curls in a subtle hair clip, and her
makeup was minimal. They had told her that the attire was casual but
professional. Slipping on her high heel Mary Jane shoes and armed with
directions just in case she forgot how to get to her new job, she was ready to
go.

Adam wanted to hit the snooze
button on his alarm, but thought better of it as he had to get to work. He had
a couple cases to work on and would have to spend most of the day going over
some old files. “Great,” he said out loud, “there’s no file clerk either.” This
meant he was going to have to suck it up and search for the files himself. He
also did not want to miss Brandon’s so-called first day on the job. Their
father had convinced the partners to hire him as a temporary
investigator. 

He was to report only to his father
and investigate anyone whom the firm thought suspicious, whether it be a
worker’s comp case or a spouse who was about to come into a large sum of money
due to a divorce. One thing Brandon was good at was being able to blend in and
that’s just what the firm was looking for, someone no one would notice
following them. 
I wonder how long this will last.
 

Adam thought, as he finished
shaving, leaving his skin soft and smooth. Since he didn’t have to appear in
court this morning, he chose to wear a pair of khaki pants and white button
down shirt.
Today would have been the perfect day to work from home, if it
weren’t for needing those damn files I would have,
he thought to himself as
he headed out the door.

The lobby of the building that
housed the Caruso, Lawson and Dorr Law firm stood on Seaport Blvd. and
Dominique found it with no problems; she had even managed to find the parking
garage where the employees could park for free. A short walk took her right to
the building.

Once she signed in at the main
desk, she got onto the elevator and joined several others on their way to work
at the various offices that were in the same building. Her job was on the fifth
floor, she was thankful for that because if the elevator was ever out of order,
handling five floors would be a task but not too difficult of one she’d hoped.

Stepping off the elevator she
walked towards a very large front desk, it seemed to go from one end of the
room to another.  Behind it sat three receptionists. She remembered the
desk from her interview but it seemed much bigger this time. Several of the
female employees glanced her way giving her the once over as Molly, one of the
receptionists showed her to her office.

Dominique made it a point to smile
and nod to as many people as she could. She had hoped to make friends with some
of her new co-workers, but if it wasn’t in the cards then she would keep things
strictly professional, come to work every day, do her job, and do it damn good
and then go home.
  I’m not here to make friends anyway,
she thought
to herself as the stares grew more intense.

Jonathan knew that he was going to
have to meet Dominique this morning, as his firm had made it policy to
introduce any and all employees to the rest of the office and the new file
clerk Dominique would be no exception. He also knew that he was going to have
to introduce his son Brandon as well.
But that shouldn’t pose a problem,
thought Jonathan,
as Brandon has no idea of who Dominique is and it will be
my job to make sure that neither of them ever finds out.
Adam, always the
inquisitive one had begun to ask too many questions.
But hopefully after
last night, I set him straight,
thought Jonathan as he pulled his Mercedes
into the parking space reserved for the head of the firm.

Molly was the name of the
receptionist whose job it was to show Dominique to her office and give her the
rest of her paperwork to fill out. So far she seemed to be the only one in the
office who welcomed her.

“Don’t let them intimidate you,”
said Molly. “They are just checking you out, it’s what they do. But don’t take
it personally, not all of us are stuck up,” she said laughing as she turned on
the lights in the dark, dismal filing area.

Dominique’s office was located at
the very end of the floor, in the farthest corner, past the offices, bathrooms
and conference rooms. The entire filing area was closed off with partitions and
in front of each one stood a gray metal filing cabinet. Dominique counted
fifteen in all. There were long conference tables with lamps set up in the
middle, much like that of a library.

“Well here’s your office, you’ll
get your name on the door once your 30 days are up and if you decide to stay,”
she said with a hopeful grin.

“Now, the filing system is a bit
old fashioned, but all the files are in alphabetical order and any files that
are taken out should be put back right away. They don’t like it if we leave
client files out, even though no clients are allowed back here,” she said
shrugging her shoulders.

So that’s about the jest of it,
there’s your computer, I’ll set you up with a password a little later and give
you some more tips but for now I’m to take you to our daily morning 
meeting, now this is where you get to meet everyone who works in the firm,” she
said rolling her eyes. “I hope you’re not shy,” Molly said as she handed
Dominique a pen and pad, then lead her into the large conference room.

Dominique had to think for a
minute, was she shy? She certainly hasn’t been in this kind of situation in
quite a long time, when she lived in New Hampshire she worked for a small real
estate company as receptionist and never had to work around a large amount of
people, this was all so new to her and as she glanced around the room, she was
glad that Molly had taken a seat next to her. Once the room was practically
filled and the chatter had died down, the firm’s main partner Jonathan Caruso
started the meeting. Dominique watched as the older distinguished man spoke of
upcoming cases and clients, she soon became enthralled with everything that was
going on around her, the lawyers using law jargon, some agreeing, some
disagreeing, it was quite a sight. Dominique could not imagine anyone falling
asleep during these morning meetings she thought to herself.

They all look so professional she
sighed to herself as she rethought her outfit.
Oh well, nothing I can do
about it now,
she thought as she glanced around the room surveying the
expensive pantsuits and dresses being worn by her colleagues. “And last but not
least,” she heard Mr. Caruso saying.