Union.

BAE BOO

The G.M.D was in his office perusing over some file when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in – Please!" He retorted rather passively.

"Good morning Sir, I wanted to see you – Sir."

"Oh! Dr. Richard – come on, sit down." he pointed to the opposite chair, while he buried his head again to the pile of files.

"Uhm! Sir – I want to quit from my job." Richard spoke equivocally.

The G.M.D peered at Richard, dropped the file he had on his hands and sat up.

"You said?" while taking his glasses off.

"Sir – I want to quit." this time Richard spoke up with certainty as he darted his eyes away from the G.M.D.

"Dr. Richard – I know of the fact that you have been emotionally drained, but son you are a pro, shake it off," he said with an expectant impulse.

Rather Richard didn't feign any sign of care.

"You know son – I was lost three decades ago when I lost Dianne, my wife," he said with a twitched comforting tone.

"I couldn't stand anything, not even my job. I just wanted to end it all," the G.M.D continued but this time Richard looked with keen interest.

"In a binge at the local pub, I drank to wetness, so I slept in the pub with the morning sun kissing my eyeballs, and soaked in a despicable stench. I knew that the one thing that Dianne would have wanted was for me to move on -" with a glance at Richard.

"And that I did, before fate brought Joyce into my life," he said as he sat aback.

"So Dr. Richard – I would be giving you an 8 months leave and after that time duration, if you fail to report to your job then it will no longer be available," he said with compulsion and authoritative magister.

"Okay sir!" Richard left with no intention to return back to the hospital, as his will to stamp his request was gone with him only nursing the thought of a place away from Missouri.

*****************************

Richard was in his office picking up some stuff to leave when he heard a knock on the door.

"Hey! Buddy – wanted to leave without saying bye?" Dr. Andy stood at the door frame opposite to Richard.

Richard just grinned and continued his picks.

"Man! Take it easy on yourself, it's not the end of the world -" he paused.

"You know, you don't have to leave because i am here for you." this time he stepped into the room and shut the door.

"I know."Richard spoke hesitantly.

"But this city reminds me of her and I need to leave to be free," he said with unleashed impulse.

"Oh! Freedom in Denver again like Kate?" he quizzed.

Richard shot a stare at Dr. Andy and at that instant they burst out laughing.

"It's good to see you laugh again buddy!"Dr. Andy said.

"No, of course, to somewhere I can exhale the feelings, I feel for her." he said as he gazed at Dr. Andy.

"You know Katherine loves you deeply but people need time to decipher themselves and then bask in love – so give her sometime, maybe she would come around," he said while trying to persuade Richard.

"No, Andy, she never wanted my love, she was selfish with her space and Jack, and never thought of how I would feel." he said in pain and deprecations.

"I would miss you Richard, remember to give your buddy a call from time to time," he said while standing up.

"Of course, I would." Richard became emotional, so Dr. Andy shook his hands and hugged him passionately.

*******************************

St. Ambrose Catholic church along 5130 Wilson Avenue, at the right pew of the first architectural arch of the brown edifice was Richard kneeling down.

"Dear God, I know Kate brought me here on several occasions, but I never wanted to know you, today if I could bargain with you – (he paused), if you want me to be a firm believer – let me see Kate again, otherwise, I would never come to you again," he said in firmness. "But she said you heed prayers, so hear me now." he rose up and walked away.

At the side of the church, he saw a marble of the Italian immigrants, he reminisced of companionship and his mind ran through his hoped fate with Katherine as his spouse, he stared for awhile and walked away.

****************************

Katherine was lying on her bed in her new apartment, staring at some pictures; there she saw Alvin and all his co-workers at Smith Publishers at a Halloween night at Mr. Smith's house.

She was perplexed to see the costume of Mr. Smith and herself. She laughed at her choice of Princess Fiona and Mr. Smith's choice of Peter-pan.

At others she just stared for some time and continued her slides. Then as she picked a picture, she perceived the smell of Jack's magenta cough syrup. Then at first glance, she saw a picture of herself and Richard at St. Ambrose on Easter Sunday, with herself and Richard smiling contagiously. The picture was smeared with the syrup tracing Jack paws on their faces. On deep stare, she discovered that the syrup print from Jack's digital pads and claws was faint while a conspicuous red glow was on his metacarpal pad. But the shape of Jack's metacarpal pad was rather funny depicting the shape of love.

Her mind read it as Jack's approval for her love ties with Richard. She was transfixed as she stared at the picture.

*****************************

Richard was at his apartment stalking his belongings to leave Missouri. With him donning a sweater with hood and a blue jean; at the back pocket of his jean, he tucked his tickets.

While he was trying to stuff his last luggage, he heard the door bell rang.

He went to the door and opened it.

"Hi! Rich, can I come in?"

He was bamboozled; he just opened the door while muttering a faint yes.

"Richard, I am so sorry for all I did …"as she was to continue.

Richard quickly pulled her to himself and kissed her voraciously. After a while, Richard and Katherine was smiling with her hand around Richard's neck, knot at his thyroid gland as they stared at each other eyes.

"Whoop! I almost thought I lost a beautiful woman to a romantic dog," he said as himself and Katherine burst out laughing while maintaining their stance in a rhythmic manner.

"You know we both need to leave St. Louis, for some time," Richard spoke with charm and charisma.

They both laughed while kissing each other playfully and then greedily.

*********** THE END ********