Friday, March 9, 2012

Epilogue



New York City
8:49 AM
The Fund for Down Syndrome

Meredith walked into her small office and set her bag down. Her morning commute had been tough and she desperately needed coffee.  She was at her desk switching from commuting shoes to nice navy blue sling-backs when her boss’ assistant ran in.  Breathlessly, the woman demanded, “Meredith, where have you been?!”
She started to respond when the assistant cut her off. “No time!  We need to get to the big office -- NOW!”
Meredith got up, longing to stop at the break room for coffee, but the assistant gave her an "eye" over the shoulder.  They hurried into her boss’ office, where two lawyers stood glaring at her.  One attorney was a handsome woman Meredith knew had been a tennis champion in a former life, the other a man who was a senior partner in his firm and a serous benefactor of The Fund.
Her boss, another formidable woman, spoke first.  “Meredith, you know our lawyers.  They're kind enough to do pro bono work for us, and suddenly we're faced with a huge problem for them.  Meredith, they want to …” she removed her glasses, cleaned them as she paused in thought, and then resumed speaking.  Before she could start the senior partner interrupted her.
“Meredith, we want to know why, over the weekend, a wire for $2.17 billion -- billion, with a B -- came into our accounts addressed to YOU.”
Meredith collapsed into a chair in front of her boss' desk.  Her head spun as she tried to grasp the vastness of the sum.  $2.17 Billion dollars – Holy crap!   
“Who is it from?” she asked in her daze.
“That’s just it.”  The woman lawyer responded.  “It doesn’t say.  It just says …” she pulled a paper from a folder.  “It only says: ‘Thanks for helping kids like Moira.’”
Her boss peered over the desk and asked “Do you know who sent this to us, Meredith?”
Meredith sat still for a long while, then looked up and smiled. “No, but I sure as hell wish I did!”

12 comments:

  1. Thank you all. Of course, nothing says I love you like buying this on Kindle when it debuts :) (or the print version, or Nook, or ...)

    I know ... shameless.

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  2. Thank you, Jake. Every little snippet of a chapter was awaited with anticipation. It was a good day when I saw the next one posted.

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  3. Thank you. Thoroughly enjoyed the story.

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  4. Again, thanks all. It is nice to know that this story matters to you all. Book Two is in the works & starts soon.

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  5. Thanks, Jake. I heard about the book from Claire Wolfe, and read almost all of it in one sitting. Excellent. Looking forward to Book 2, and I will buy both when they come out on Kindle.

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  6. Bravo, Jake! Bravo. A book a writer can be proud of. I look forward to having this on my shelf.

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  7. your kind words warm my heart b'woods engineer & randall ... thank you. and many many thanks to Claire. She 'kept her dog pants on!' ;)

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  8. I couldn't put it down and read the whole thing in 2 sittings! Excellent! Claire sure has good taste in her recommendations! Karen

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  9. thanks Karen ... apparently I am big in the 'Hermit' market :)

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