take the car. It was very windy and cold for September and she pulled her coat closer as they walked in.
Kristen was very impressed with the place. It looked like it was filled with New York’s elite. The waiters started serving dinner and half-way through it, the lights dimmed and the show started. The actors did a decent job looking like the Rat Pack. With the exception of a really bad wig on the Dean Martin impersonator, they were pretty convincing. But it wasn’t her thing.
She began feeling bored and started looking at the very handsome men around her and thinking about how she would rather be with them. She could feel her cheeks getting hot. Doug interrupted her thoughts “Are you enjoying the show?” Kristen lied “Sure, it’s great. Thanks for bringing me.” Doug thought he knew what she was thinking “Don’t worry. It will be over in a minute." Kristen said “I’m kind of tired, I wouldn’t mind going home.”
The show finished up ten minutes later. As the audience clapped, Kristen gathered up her things and was ready to leave. Doug left to get her coat and she looked around the room at the patrons ending their evening. On the other side of the room she saw a familiar figure that was standing behind his date’s chair and helping her up.
It was Michael Hansen! Kristen felt her heart go into her throat and she started to tremble. At the same moment Michael noticed her too and quickly made his way over, leaving his girlfriend at the table with an astonished look on her face. It was clear she was floored by such a blatant abandonment.
Michael practically pulled Kristen from her chair and gave her a bear hug and a big kiss on the cheek. “Kristen, I am so glad to see you. What are you doing here in New York?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer and then hugged her even harder as she managed a little squeak “Michael, it is so great to see you too.”
The attraction was still there. They both looked at each other and it was apparent that they would have started into each other madly if Kristen hadn’t regained her composure. Kristen said “Michael, I am on a date with a cop and he might shoot you if he sees me talking to you.” Michael laughed “Aww, come on you’re kidding…” Then he suddenly became quiet.
Doug had returned and the expression on his face soured when he saw Kristen talking to another man. Michael looked at him and said “Wow, I better get out of here! Where do you find these loons? You know there are nice guys out there. I don’t want to be judgmental, but maybe you should be looking in another direction. What are you doing to yourself? I really need to talk to you Kristen. Can’t you give me your number? Just say it quickly. I’ll remember it. Please, I seriously need to speak to you!”
But there was no time. Doug walked back to her as Michael scooted away. All the niceness that Doug had displayed earlier was long gone. He growled “Who the hell was that pretty boy?” He pulled Kristen roughly from her chair. Kristen answered coldly “I know him from Illinois. He’s a neighborhood friend. Don’t worry about it. What’s the problem?”
Doug just stared and was ready to confront him, but then snapped back and decided against it. He smiled at Kristen, taking her hand gently and said “Please don’t react like that Kristen. I was hoping we might get tighter than we have been. I want to spend the night with you. Are you ready to go?”
Doug turned and walked in front of her. Kristen looked behind her and noticed Michael was now reasoning with his date. It looked like he was having a very difficult moment. Kristen laughed to herself.
During the ride home to her house, Doug chattered away about sports and Kristen sat quietly. She was now thinking fondly about Michael. That empty space in her heart for him was growing wider. They pulled in front of her building and Doug took her hand. He smiled “Are you sure you don’t want to stay out? Don’t you want to go dancing?” It was very creepy that he was acting so nice to her and she really didn’t trust this new personality on him. It was how movie murderers acted before they were going to hack someone. Kristen thanked him and said “No, I am still calling it a night.” Doug said “I’ll call you.” Kristen answered half-heartedly “That will be nice. Good bye.”
Kristen kept herself busy the next day completely mystified that Doug had been so nice to her the night before. She continued to see him at a lukewarm pace and
only saw him a handful of times that month. She would meet him after work at the cop bar, but was always finding new excuses not to finish off with him at his place.
One night he called her late sounding very drunk, and said she needed to come over right away. She was very apprehensive about going there. He was waiting for her at the door looking very red-eyed. Kristen cautiously said “Hello Doug. What’s up?”
He took her hand and mysteriously led her upstairs to his attic and switched on the light. A little siren went off. She looked ahead and saw a collection of police awards and memorabilia adorning the place. There was also a black bulletin board which featured a few pictures of dead men lying on morgue carts with their eyes staring open. Kristen felt sick seeing them and turned away. Doug announced proudly “This is my Wall of Honor!” He reached into his top shirt pocket and slowly pulled out another photo, “Umm, fresh kill.” He then pushed it on the board with a thumbtack.
Kristen didn’t want to know who the picture was of, or who was responsible, she could only guess. Doug’s pupils were very black. It seemed he was heavily medicated and looked like he was existing in a far-off place. He also seemed nervous and probably now regretted letting her into the room.
Kristen looked closer and noticed there were three more thumbtacks. He knew what she was thinking and laughed, “I figure by the time I retire, I will have the complete set.” Kristen thought she was going to become ill. Doug kept on with his morbid story. “You really need to come by the precinct during Christmas. The homicide guys always have a great tree with the pictures of this year’s murder victims on the ornaments.”
Kristen could not figure out why he would bother her with all of this and she sensed he was going to get nasty with her. She didn’t want to end up on the board or even up against it. Doug laughed at her reaction and kept swigging on a bottle of scotch as he walked over to grab his cigarettes. He then went down to his bedroom. “Are you coming?”
Kristen followed him to the second floor, sat in a hallway chair, and tried not to cry. She was trying to determine the consequences if she left. She saw his gun belt on the table next to her. Kristen thought to herself “If he comes back out here, I’m going to use it on him”. She sat there for at least five minutes and heard no noise from the bedroom. She peeked in and saw him passed out on his bed. He was still holding the bottle, with the scotch leaking onto his sheet. His cigarette was burning down to the filter in the ashtray. Kristen knew it was time to escape and tip-toed downstairs and through his kitchen to the back door. As she turned the knob, she could hear the floorboards creaking above her and she knew he was now awake. Running to her car, like the Devil was chasing her, she looked back and could see his outline in the front door watching her. The whole way home she was terrified that he would come after her.
That was it. This was too much and Kristen just wanted to get out of there. She gathered her purse and ran down the attic steps. She could hear him coming out of the bathroom as she reached the first floor. Running to her car, like the Devil was chasing her, she looked back and could see his silhouette in the front door watching her.
Kristen thought over the next few days how weirded out Doug was becoming. She wondered if she should tell someone what she saw in his attic. Her girlfriends back home would have thought she was “certifiable” to be dating a guy like this. She now devoted herself to hitting the town and enjoying it as much as she could. One late night, as she entered her apartment, she could see the red light on her answering machine blinking against the shadows. She was afraid to push the button to listen to it. She walked past it a few times and then pressed it.
“Kristen, Kristen…” It sounded like a nursery rhyme. “Wher
e are you? It’s 3 AM! Why aren’t you home whore? Death to your kitties…” Then it clicked off. Kristen shook her head like she was exorcising a bad demon. “What the heck is he saying? I don’t even have cats!” And that was the last time she ever heard from Doug.
Kristen decided that Doug, Karl, and Dino could go screw themselves. Why couldn’t she find someone like Michael?
She wanted to go back home, she was now definitely done with this place. A friend had told her that Dino had never mentioned her, and also everyone else that knew about him thought it was safe for Kristen to return. He was still cheating on his wife and was last seen downtown dancing with two teen-age girls. The mobster seemed very happy and was keeping plenty busy. What Kristen most desperately desired was to go back to Palm Beach and pursue classier men, but she still could not afford to live there yet. Dangerous men, rich men, they all had a common underlying thread and always wanted to be in control. After some quick arrangements, Kristen left for Illinois...
A few months later Kristen was sitting at her desk at a boutique advertising firm in the suburbs where she was the Operations Manager. She was proud that she had kept the job this long. The