The Day Bleeds

Chapter 1 - Mit

Mitch Daniels hung the phone up hard and took a long draw off his cigarette. He stared
out the window into the hot summer day. Why had she had to call him again after twenty-two
years? If he had known she was going to be at that wedding a month ago down in Biloxi, he
would have never taken the job. Of all the women in his past that he could have run into, it had
to be her. She had just walked up to him at that yacht club ballroom amidst the champagne and
the lamb chops and started talking to him like no time had passed at all, and like all was
forgiven. Well, all is not forgiven, he thought. The whole time she had stood there talking to
him his heart had burned like someone had taken a hot stake and stabbed him. He had told her
he was engaged hoping she would walk away because the pain was overtaking him. He handed
her one of his business cards with his e-mail address, website and phone number trying to end
the conversation. Damn, she had still been beautiful though. Mit couldn’t understand why she
had decided to even use the phone number on the card. He had just figured she would end up
throwing it away like she had done him years ago. But, she HAD called him…. more than a half
dozen times just this week and probably a hundred times the last month. He had managed to tell
her a few half-truths the times they had talked. She knew now that he was an alcoholic, and that
he had settled for this photography job because he couldn’t hold down anything else. She knew
now that he had never been married and that he was not engaged. Right now, Mit was living
with a woman but had not even begun to get into all the problems there on the phone with
Barbara. Fortunately, the number on his business card had been his cell number and not his
house number. He wanted to protect Barbara as best he could from this current woman he was
seeing. He wondered why Barbara kept mentioning the walking trail they had used in college.
He just couldn’t understand what she wanted. It wasn’t money… he had offered to mail her
some once and she almost acted offended on the phone. It wasn’t sex… he had offered to meet
her somewhere and get a hotel room and she had quickly informed him if that was all she wanted
she could have gotten that from any number of people. He had hesitantly agreed to meet her at
the River Top restaurant today for coffee. It was going to mean a four hour drive for her, but she
had been talking about this trip for weeks now and Mit had put her off for as long as he could.
He was going to see her for the second time in twenty-two years today, and it had all come down
on him today. She had just called to say she was on her way and Mit could hardly believe the
words he spoke to her himself. The words “Stay away from me, I am not that person anymore
and don’t EVER call me again!” had just come out of his mouth. Mit looked back down at the
phone… wondering if she’d ever call again.