Page 1 of Axel

Chapter 1

“Here’s to getting that plum assignment.” The two women lifted their glasses in a toast and Ellie followed suit, albeit a little reluctantly.

“Honey, you don’t look like you are over the moon.” Jackie made the observation as she sipped the frothy champagne.

“I should be grateful…”

“You should be.” Marcia murmured curiously. “But I think I have an idea why your response is less than enthusiastic.”

Ignoring the noise eddying around them from the other clientele, she leaned forward and placed her elbows on the scarred table as if making a particularly important and life changing edict. “River Glades is barely on the map.”

“I have seen photos of the place and frankly if I wasn’t married and settled down, I would go for it.”

Jackie was the most romantic of the trio and even though she was well and truly married, she still had not given up hope that some knight would come and sweep her off her feet. She had told her friends that was what kept her from going quietly insane.

“The town has a population of five thousand people and derived its name from the rivers running through every hill and valleys.

There are quaint store front shops that looks like gingerbread cottages and even the Walmart and Target adopted similar designs so that they could blend in with the entire theme of the town.”

The other two looked at her in surprise.

“It seems as if you should be the one going in my place.” Ellie remarked dryly. “You know how I feel about small towns.”

“We do., Marcia acknowledged with a grin. She was also married, but unlike Jackie, was happy with her life. She was a remarkably successful attorney, and her husband owned and operated his own computer software business.

Jackie on the other hand was an administrator for a well-known company and her husband was a stay-at-home dad to their two-year-old twins. They were able to get by on the salary she earned as well as financial aid given to them by her husband’s wealthy family.

“You like to be in close contact with shopping malls, restaurants, and museums. I understand that Axel Lakeside is taking the town into the twentieth century.”

“No matter what happens, it will still remain a small town.”

“Bright lights are not all that they are cut out to be,” Jackie retorted, picking up her drink and taking another sip of the expensive champagne. “Naturally, you prefer the dazzle of a big town because you were a model…” She could not help but cast a slightly envious look at her friend, who was the looker of all three of them.

She could not help envying the other girl’s freedom, something she was longing for, but would never have, not anymore. She was trapped in a job and in a marriage that was slowly eroding.

Shaking her head, she forced a bright smile. Her friends knew her well and would recognize the discontent on her face. They were here to cheer Ellie on and that is what she was going to do, even if it killed her. Time enough to get bogged down in her misery when she was in the bathroom at home.

“I am sure you are going to love it., she ended with a lift of her glass.

“I will no doubt try and adjust.” Ellie gave her a curious look, wondering if the bitterness she had heard had just been her imagination. She was about to say something but decided to let it go.

“And that hunk you will be interviewing…,“ Marcia sighed languidly. “Honey, I am head over heels in love with my husband, but I certainly can appreciate good looks and a buffed body. The man is gorgeous in that roughly hewn way. It is said he made his own fortune through sheer determination and grit. That’s admirable as hell.”

Ellie nodded in agreement. “I have done some research on him, and it’s rumored that his father took off when he and his sister were little, leaving their mother to take care of them on her own.”

“Something you can relate to,” Jackie murmured.

“My situation is vastly different. Mama was not married to my dad, and she was the one who drove him away. Besides that, we never had to suffer. I was never lacking.”

“Your dad saw to it that you were provided for, and your mother had money of her own.”

Picking up her glass, Ellie pointed it at Jackie who had made the comment. She did not like talking about her parents. Eleanor Bailey had been married three times already and was now looking for a fourth husband.

The sad part of it was that Ellie’s dad was still in love with a woman who was as selfish as they come and had remained singlein the hopes that the woman would grow up, but that had not happened, and Ellie was certain it never would.

It was heartbreaking seeing her dad suffer and nothing she said to him made a difference. He was in love with Eleanor and that would never change.

“When you fall in love you will realize that it is not a switch you can just turn on and off at will,” he had told her sadly. But Ellie had no intention of allowing that to happen to her. She was happy being the way she was.

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