by Thomas Clagg
Chapter Eleven
Julie had always wanted to be a designer, whether working for a company or on her own; her dream was to make people’s lives a little better by making her subtle touches relevant in their homes or offices. She studied in Europe and learned from the very best of what Western Europe had to offer. She had always wanted to move to America and about ten years ago, she left her tiny, studio apartment in England and headed to America with only her thoughts and skills she learned in design to accompany her.
Upon arriving in the states, she immediately received an entry level job at a high rise hotel in the luxurious, upscale development of Miami. She quickly received promotions on her hard work and her creative mind. She re-designed the entire hotel in a matter of months. Julie was rising rapidly up the ranks of high executives and making quite a name for her. She surrounded herself with many friends, whom she felt as family. One day at work, a package was sitting on her desk that read urgent. She sat there staring at it for a while and then finally opened it. It was a dream job offer. Apparently, one of her secret supporters was going to give her the design freedom she had always wanted, an unlimited amount of funds to travel the east coast for a start-up designer company. This meant she was going to be traveling back and forth from south Florida to New York and everywhere in the middle. She was especially ecstatic because most of her close friends had moved north for promotions or just something different. This was truly special news because, with this new job offer, it would allow her to visit them on a regular basis. In addition to this great news, she would be able to visit the town she knew very well. She had developed dear friendships during her stay in her “hometown”.
As she was going over the details of her new assignment, she looked on her computer to see what showings were for the coming weeks. She had made previous commitments, and she was very loyal to these commitments. Her weekly planner told her she had just two more showings for the new line of designs that were financed by the hotel, one more in Miami and another one in Pittsburg. After making the travel arrangements for the Pittsburg showing, she focused on the upcoming event in Miami.
After speaking with her trusted assistant, Leslie, she was really looking forward to the event. Everything had already been planned and the logistics were more organized than a Presidential visit. The Miami event was scheduled for this Saturday with the start of the event around 7:ooPM. This event was very important because she was actually selling many of the pieces of her own. She thought this could be an economic boom not only for her career, but to this new endeavor with the start- up company.
As Julie was checking the inventory on her laptop, Leslie popped her head in for a second.
“Hey Julie, the event is all planned. You need to be there early afternoon on Saturday,”
“That’s why you’re the best, Les!” Julie excitedly responded. She closed the door of her office and gazed out the window onto the busy city street. In the midst of all of the commotion regarding her new job opportunity, she realized she hadn’t even called her best friend, Dawn, to share the great news.
She had met Dawn some years ago at an art function that Julie was pleased to try and forget. The show was a disaster from the get go. None of the designs arrived on time. None of the refreshments had shown up. It was a complete art designer’s nightmare. About the time she was about to abort ship, she had noticed a woman at the end of the bar, with swollen eyes. It indicated to Julie this woman had been crying, and crying a lot. As her parents taught her to never leave a fellow woman behind, she sat on the stool next to the crying girl. As Julie sat in her office, she remembered exactly how that conversation went. From that time, Dawn and Julie were attached at the hip. Julie would often fly up to spend time with her friend. They became close very quickly and shared every little secret. This new opportunity for Julie couldn’t have come at a better time because the asshole husband was getting worse by the minute. She was very afraid for her best friend. She knew what he was capable of, and there was no happy ending in sight.
Julie couldn’t think about that right now, she had very good news for her friend. As she fished her cell out of her pocket book, a tall, slender man was looking around with a note in his hand. He seemed to be confused, like a Trekkie at a medical conference.
Julie got up and asked, “Can I help you with something? You look kind of lost”.
“Uh, yeah, I’m looking for directions to the art demo this Saturday. This is my first time to Miami and, well, you could say I’m a little out of my element. You see, I’m from up north and my boss is an avid art collector and he told me to come down here to buy some, what do you call it, art?”, replied the man.
“I’m sure I can help you with that. My company is the one in charge of putting on the display this Saturday. My name is Julie and I are the art, what do you call it, person in command”, she giggled.
“I believe I have come to the right place. I’m so lost. Do you think you could give me directions to the event?”
Julie responded with an enthusiastic smile, “You bet. When you’re leaving the complex, walk down a block and look to your right. You’ll see the banners and all of that stuff.”
“Thank you so much. You’re very kind. Hope to see you there at the art thing. You’ve probably guessed I’m not really educated on this sort of thing. If I do see you there, maybe you could give me a crash course on what and what not to look for.”
“It would be my pleasure!”
He did as he was instructed and left the building. As he was making his way up the block, he stopped and looked back at what he started and smiled that evil smile. She had no idea what she was getting into.
Mr. Beautiful checked into his room with a spectacular view and called room service for the hotel’s finest bottle of champagne. When it arrived, he grabbed the bottle and poured his cold beverage into a glass. As he sipped his cocktail, he walked to the patio and closed his eyes and breathed in the ocean air. What a perfect man he had become. He relished the brief moment of normality. However, the constant racing of his deep thoughts was too much to overcome. He started shaking and sweating. He needed a fix of murder right now. He raced out of the room and sprinted to the closest elevator. He hit any button, hopefully a button to lead him to his next satisfying moment. As he heard the ding of the elevator, the door opened and it was a woman. He thought, put on the smile and ask her for her help in “finding” his room. She agreed and he walked steadily behind her, noticing every possible way of getting spotted. As soon as he was in the clear, he cleverly guided the woman to the cargo shoot. The panicked look on her face was now well worth it. As the door of the cargo elevator shut, he grabbed the blade out of his waistband and slit her throat. He didn’t let her fall to the floor. He immediately pulled the chute of the elevator and stuffed her inside. It would be days before they found her in the bottom of the trash chute. At least for now, he was able to smile. This overwhelming feeling would only last for a short while, but it was something, at least for tonight.