Her left hand clung to a crutch. In her free hand, she carried two covered Tupperware bowls full of pasta, meatballs and gravy, and a loaf of garlic bread wrapped in foil.
Everything smelled delicious.
“Let me take that for you.” Mulrooney glanced at her leg. “How’s it holding up?”
“The pain’s still there, but I’ll be fine.”
Eye bags or not, his dinner guest was strikingly beautiful. At 29, which Brian was mindful was the same age as Renate, what stood out most were Jacquelyn’s penetrating deep blue eyes and jet-black hair. At 5'6'' in height, she had a petite round face, small nose and a captivating smile. Her shoulder-length hair helped proportion her face nicely.
Brian looked away after realizing he was staring a little too hard. “Shall we?”
Jacquelyn nodded yes. The crutch under her armpit absorbed much of her body weight as she slowly limped up the steps leading to Brian’s apartment.
Brian placed the food on a small countertop next to the stove. “Welcome to my humble abode.”
“Thanks. Hope you’re hungry. I’ll have you know macaroni and cheese and cereal do not make up a complete balanced diet!” Her comment elicited a smile from Brian, weary as it was. “I made plenty. Whatever’s left over you can keep here.”
“Very thoughtful of you, Jacquelyn.”
“My pleasure,” Jacquelyn said, briefly looking down at the floor, “Can I help with anything?”
“No. Just make yourself comfortable. I’ll have everything ready in a jiffy.”
Brian went to the kitchen and retrieved two plates and drinking glasses from the cabinet above the sink, then grabbed the Parmesan cheese from the refrigerator. He never ate pasta without it.
With the table set, he invited Jacquelyn to sit down to eat. Conversation was fairly-light as they ate dinner. It was a “good manners” thing. Most were taught never to speak with food in their mouth, but only applied that rule in front of strangers.
After getting to know each other and growing more comfortable, you could always count on seeing some sort of chewed food in their mouths, as they blurted out whatever was on their mind.
Jacquelyn finally broke the silence, “Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“What did you mean when you said you were soul searching? Does it have anything to do with the Bible you received from your friend?”
“Yes.”
It was time for the big question. “Was Justin a born-again Christian?”
Brian nearly choked on his food. “As a matter of fact, he was. Why do you ask?”
“What I didn’t tell you earlier was that my brother, Dennis, also was a born-again Christian. When you told me Justin left you a Bible then vanished, it really spooked me.”
Brian was fully intrigued. “Are you saying all born-again Christians disappeared yesterday?”
“I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m just as clueless as the next person. My brother always spoke of a time when the true Christians—not those who merely proclaimed to be believers—would be snatched away in the twinkling of an eye.”
Jacquelyn shook her head. “I never paid him much-mind. I’m starting to think maybe he was right. Perhaps what happened yesterday really was the start of what God had warned about in the book of Revelation.”
“What’s it say?” Brian asked.
“Not sure. But my brother used to say after the Church was removed from the Earth, via the Rapture, all hell would break loose for everyone left behind. Sure hope he was wrong.”
“Do you think he was referring to yesterday? I mean, how could it possibly get any worse, right?”
“I don’t know, Brian. But for both our sake, I hope you’re right.”
Brian dipped his garlic bread into his bowl and absorbed as much of the gravy as he could, as he considered her comment.
Taking three big bites of the drenched bread and swallowing, it was time to come clean. “I have to level with you, Jacquelyn, I’ve been reading the Bible all afternoon. The little I’ve read so far makes so much sense. Too much sense to ignore. It really has me thinking. In all my years of religious studies in Catholic schools, I can’t understand why I was never taught this stuff.”
Mulrooney’s cell phone rang. Without even looking at the screen, he knew it was Renate. A lump formed in his throat.
“Be right back.” Brian excused himself from the table. How will I explain this to her? He was so absorbed in his reading all day that he forgot to call her. “Hello?”
“Hello, sweetie.”
“Hi, honey,” Brian said in a remorseful tone.
“How ya holding up?”
“So-so. You?”
“I’m fine. On my way over. Are you hungry?”
Brian grimaced. This didn’t look good. “Actually, I’m eating dinner now. Do you remember the woman I told you I met at the football game?”
“Yeah.”
Brian grimaced again. “Well, she’s here. She arrived twenty minutes ago. She brought dinner.”
“What?!” Renate said it so loud that Brian pulled the phone from his ear. “What’s going on, Brian?” She was not happy.
“What do you mean what’s going on? Come on, Renate, nothing’s going on!” Brian spoke in a loud whisper, already fearing what would come out of her mouth next.
“You haven’t called me all day, Brian Mulrooney, yet you found time to call her! And now she’s at your apartment having dinner with you?”
Renate did have a point. Brian tried to reason with his girlfriend. “I’m sorry, honey. But it’s not what it looks like...”
“I’m on my way now to meet this woman you’re having dinner with,” Renate snapped.
“Great! There’s plenty of food here.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes!”
The call ended.
Brian had the blankest look on his face. He glanced at Jacquelyn.
“Look Brian, I can’t deal with this right now. I think it’s best that I go.”
Brian felt panicked. “Please don’t leave, Jacquelyn. We’re not doing anything wrong. We’re just having dinner. As friends, right?”
Swindell nodded agreement, but still wanted to leave.
“I understand why Renate’s upset. This doesn’t look good. But if you leave, she may think I’m hiding something. Please stay. Besides, I want you to meet her.”
There was an awkward silence as they both picked at their food. Finally, Jacquelyn said, “Okay, I’ll stay.”
“Thanks. But just know that whatever it is we’re both hungering for, I can assure you Renate will want nothing to do with it. At least not now.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“After reading Justin’s letter earlier, she thinks he lost his mind long before he lost his body.”
“What makes you think I don’t feel the same way?”
“I can just sense it.”
Jacquelyn finally threw in the towel. “Truth be told, last night as I tossed and turned in bed, I decided that I can’t sit back and remain apathetic. I believe my husband and unborn child are still alive somewhere. I need to know where. So, yes, count me in.”
Brian silently rejoiced. That is, until he heard the key unlocking the front door. “She’s here. Sometimes she says things she really doesn’t mean. Please try not to take her personally.”
Jacquelyn braced herself.
The door opened. Renate stormed in already on the offensive. Brian and Jacquelyn both gulped at the same time.
Brian said, “That was fast, honey!”
“You bet it was!” Renate stared directly at Jacquelyn. I’m better looking than her! Even at her age, Renate McCallister had all the makings of a runway model: long legs, shapely body, beautiful blonde hair, nice eyes and near-perfect teeth.
Jacquelyn nervously extended her right hand. “Hi, Renate. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Yeah, heard so much about you, too!” Renate ignored her hand like it wasn’t ev
en there. She was too busy burning holes in her boyfriend’s head.
If looks could kill…
Jacquelyn tried to reason, “Listen Renate, let me assure you it’s not what you think. I’m a married woman. Brian was there when my husband was killed. I also lost my ba…” Jacquelyn burst out in tears. She rose from her chair as if to leave.
It was enough to break the ice. “I’m sorry,” Renate pleaded, “I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I’m not normally like this. I guess with everything that’s happened…Please don’t go.”
Jacquelyn reluctantly sat back down in her seat, wishing she never came to this place. “I know this doesn’t look good. Believe me, I’m not here to hit on your man. That’s the very last thing on my mind. I’m just trying to make sense of what happened yesterday. Brian and I went through a traumatic experience together. He offered his friendship and I accepted. I can assure you that’s where it ends.”
“I believe you, Jacquelyn.” And she did.
Wow! thought Brian, Jacquelyn handled it better than I ever could have. And I went to school to learn people skills!
The room was eerily silent for what seemed an eternity, until Renate finally said, “Mind if I have some pasta? I’m starving.”
“Help yourself,” Jacquelyn said.
“I feel like an idiot. You seem like a nice woman. I should’ve given you both the benefit of the doubt.”
“Why don’t we just forget the whole thing, okay?”
“Good idea, Jacquelyn,” Brian said, and left it at that.
With Renate present, God’s Word was never once brought up.
They finished eating dinner at five minutes before nine. Jacquelyn helped Renate in the kitchen with the dishes.
Brian turned on the television in the living room. “The President’s about to address the nation.”
The women joined him in the living room. Renate sat on the couch next to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around him.
Jacquelyn sat all alone on the love seat. Watching the two of them snuggled together made her feel even more lonely.
She needed someone to hold her and tell her everything would eventually be okay. Her someone was now dead. She fought hard to hold back tears. Her future was never more uncertain.
Brian glanced over at Jacquelyn and nearly lost it. Poor Jacquelyn.
35
FLAGS WERE ORDERED AT half-mast. Security was airtight. Military jets flew overhead patrolling the entire metro D.C. area, as armed military reservists guarded the grounds below.
Everyone in D.C. representing the House and Senate were gathered inside the Capitol Building waiting for the President to arrive. Many who were away from Washington at the time of the disappearances drove all night to be there. Others were picked up by U.S. military pilots.
In order to show solidarity among all party lines, President Danforth decided to address the nation from the Capitol Building instead of the White House. Aside from addressing Congress on occasion and giving the annual State of the Union address, the President never addressed the nation from this place.
Now wasn’t the time for party line bickering. If America’s leaders couldn’t come together now and unite as one, how could they expect common citizens to? Perhaps the overall non-partisanship would help boost the morale of a nation in deep mourning.
At least that was the plan.
Everyone, including all nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices, members of the President’s Cabinet, top military officials, and a handful of foreign diplomats, were ordered there two hours in advance.
Journalists, lobbyists and lawmakers, who’d worked in Washington for many years creating legislation after legislation and/or reporting it to the American people, had to be cleared through three times as many security checkpoints as usual, before stepping foot inside the Capitol Building.
Seasoned veteran or not, the nation was on the highest state of alert. No one was free to move around unchecked. No exceptions!
Now assembled, those empowered to lead and those empowered to report stood side-by-side anxiously awaiting President Danforth’s next unprecedented speech.
A dozen or so foreign correspondents were scattered among the American press. Stranded indefinitely against their will, they just wanted to go home to their families. It was difficult looking into their eyes; distant eyes stared back.
Early estimations were that approximately 100,000,000 of Earth’s inhabitants were on foreign soil at the time of the disappearances, and were now stranded. Some were a few hundred miles from home, while others were stuck halfway around the world. Regardless, when a person was denied passage home, 200 miles suddenly felt like a million, causing displaced travelers to feel the same level of agony as those stranded halfway around the world.
To be at home and barely survive what happened was already horrific enough to cope with. Being stranded far away from home made it all the more terrifying. As a result, hospital lobbies worldwide were full of anxious people whose main ailment was that they had no sense of belonging.
Only they weren’t being admitted as patients. Hospital rooms were reserved only for those with serious physical injuries.
Hotels, motels and lodges worldwide were suddenly overbooked, forcing many stranded travelers to sleep in airports, train stations, bus terminals, convention centers and school gymnasiums. Those who had political connections were housed in their country’s embassies and consulates.
But there was only so much space...
Being strangers in a strange land and looking different from the rest, with law enforcement agencies suddenly stretched way too thin, many suffered physical assaults from locals in those countries. Many were robbed at gunpoint. Others were robbed, then raped. Some were even killed.
“How long will we be stuck here?” was the constant outcry.
Many travelers stranded in their own countries, who couldn’t find lodging, took it upon themselves to walk or hitchhike through streets of chaos in order to get home.
Some made it. Others didn’t.
Life on Planet Earth was growing more unpredictable with each passing minute. The whole world had gone off the deep end, as if some unforeseen evil force had just invaded the planet, taking total control of all facets of life.
It was pure chaos...
Word quickly spread that only a handful of upper echelon news makers were among the missing. But some did perish. Phillip Wexler, lead anchorman of NBC World News Tonight, was one of them. The Gulfstream V corporate jet Wexler was traveling on suddenly became pilot-less and went down.
Wexler was talking to his wife on an air-phone when the pilot and co-pilot both vanished, causing the plane to nosedive. He lost grip of the phone and it fell to the floor.
But the connection wasn’t lost. Desperate screams full of sheer terror were captured as the plane inched closer and closer to the ground. The moans and shrieks grew even louder and more pronounced with each passing second.
The call remained connected right up to the explosion.
Then the line went dead...
All five souls on board perished. The sound bite was constantly played on live television, radio and on the internet for all to hear. It was nothing short of horrific!
Phillip Wexler was survived by his wife, Cassandra, and their three sons, Josh, Daniel and Devin. All three were married with families of their own. Like everyone else left on the planet, they lost all their young children. Needless to say, their surviving teenage children were at their wit’s end.
A vigil was planned to celebrate Wexler’s life once the dust finally settled. But no date was set as of yet.
Normally before any speech or press conference—especially one of this magnitude—journalists would be engaged in various conversations right up to speech time, taking turns trying to outdo each other, to see who had the best scoop on a leading story.
But not now. Everyone was too shaken, too panic-stricken. Save for a few faint whispers, everyone waited quietly for President Danforth, like a r
oom full of vulnerable college students waiting for their professor to appear.
It was quite a sight to see, a minor miracle, to be sure.
36
AT NINE P.M. SHARP, President Danforth stood at the lectern inside the Capitol Building, looking a little more confident than he did 24 hours ago. He also looked more Presidential, wearing a blue pinstriped suit, starched white shirt and a bright red tie.
Usually the Speaker of the House introduced the President from this location. That tradition would be broken tonight. Protocol was unimportant at a time like this.
He began, “Mister Speaker, members of Congress and my fellow Americans, good evening. Before I begin, I would like to take this time to have a moment of silence for the untold millions who are no longer with us. Regardless of whether someone vanished or perished matters not at this time. They were all citizens of mankind and, therefore, deserving of our respect. Please bow your heads with me to honor the many who are now gone.”
A few seconds later the President looked up and went on, “As of right now, more than a billion people have presumably vanished from the face of the Earth without a trace. I’m sad to report that some of America’s most prominent citizens are among them. Five of our outstanding governors are no longer with us. All five vanished. They are Arizona Governor Rodriguez, Florida Governor Santos, North Dakota Governor Hastings, Ohio Governor Jackson and Wyoming Governor Wible.
“We also lost eight senators and thirty congressmen and women from the House of Representatives. Party lines had nothing to do with it. Democrats, Republicans and Independents were equally affected by yesterday’s mysterious tragedy. With regard to my administration, three were lost: Secretary of Commerce, Gwendolyn Hairston, Secretary of Agriculture, Lawrence Van Zandt, and Surgeon General, Doctor Ethan Summers.”
President Danforth shifted his weight and continued, “Initial calculations are that hundreds of thousands of government employees, law enforcement officials, firefighters and first responders vanished yesterday. Thousands more were killed. All were great civil servants and great Americans and will be dearly missed.
The Aftermath Page 13