Author: Jerry J. K. Rogers
Category: Thriller
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/jerry-j-k-rogers/page,17,23159-the-fallen-and-the-elect.html
* * * *
Maria was irritated. It was almost midnight and Alder was just walking in the front door. It had been 16 hours since he left for work. Smelling alcohol on him just upset her even more. At first, she was angry for him not calling to tell her that he would be late getting home and missing dinner. Now she was furious that he was out drinking again. “Where the hell have you been?” she shrieked.
Alder grabbed Maria’s hand, put his other hand on the small of her back, and attempted to dance with her on the polished solid wood of the foyer.
She rebuffed his attempts. “Will you stop?” Maria saw a smile on Alder’s face and found it hard to stay civil enough not wake up the children. “Why are you smiling like that? You should have been home hours ago.”
“I just got done having dinner and drinks with Gary Applethorpe, Branson, and a couple of other guys from work.”
“So? You should have at least called and let me know where you were. Not only that, weren’t you going to go see Stephen today after work?”
The smile drained from Alder’s face. “Why’ve you been so worried about him?”
“I don’t know. Am I? He’s your friend.”
Alder, now upset with Maria, stood for several seconds attempting to determine how to process his wife’s reaction to him being late, now shifted to him not visiting Stephen. Maybe he subconsciously didn’t want to visit him and found excuses to keep from doing so.
Although Alder’s thought processes were somewhat diminished from the evening of drinking, he recalled his original cause for elation. It didn’t fully express itself in the jovial manner he anticipated when he mentioned it to Maria. “Well, then I suppose you wouldn’t be happy that I got promoted today?” his comment coming off sounding infantile and derisive. “I was made an accounting director for one of the largest sections in the Everest R & D Group,” he grumbled.
“I didn’t know you could be like this!” Maria responded turning away and heading into the living room.
Alder was extremely confused. “Like what?”
“Not even a week passed by, and you’re already working your way up the corporate ladder by crapping on your friends.”
“Where the hell is this coming from?”
“Were you just waiting for an opportunity to pop up?” Maria angrily commented sitting on the couch.
“Wait a minute missy. I didn’t ask for Jeffrey or the others to die or for Stephen to go blind.”
“What about Stephen, the way you’ve been avoiding going to visit him?”
“I’m not trying to avoid going to see him. I just don’t think now’s the right time. Being in the hospital, going through therapy, trying to get situated, what can I do? I’d probably be more in the way than anything else.”
“Oh I see, you have time for work but not your friends?” Maria snapped.
“Look, this could be a big opportunity for us.”
“Like you coming home late? Yeah that’s real opportunity all right.”
“Where the hell is this coming from?” Alder queried again, somewhat bewildered.
“And I suppose if … oh never mind, if you can’t figure it out,” Maria complained as she got off the couch and made way for the stairway. Alder intercepted her at the landing.
“Figure out what?” he asked, still confused.
Maria knew she should answer. She promised herself she wouldn’t leave in the middle of an argument or serious discussion, at least not attempting to work out a resolution, or at a bare minimum, a compromise. She had broken that promise to herself many times before but this time she didn’t want to leave the situation at hand unresolved. She’d fought with her first husband the evening prior to the mass disappearance. An argument unsettled, Maria going off to bed upset and angry then waking up the next morning and he was gone, one of the countless faces never to be seen again. She was overwhelmed with a terrible feeling of remorse. It was a sense of abandonment not overcome until a couple of years later when she met Alder in a survivors support group. Then, he was funny, compassionate, and levelheaded. Now he seemed aloof and distant most every day.
“What if something were to happen to me or the kids? Would you just forget about us and move on as if we weren’t important in your life?”
Alder could hear the distress in her voice. Maybe it would be best to comfort her. He reached his arms out and embraced his wife. “Of course I wouldn’t forget about you or the kids. The three of you are everything to me.”
“Really?” Maria rested her head on Alder’s shoulder.
“Yes, really,” he answered. “Look, you know what? I’ll make sure to go and visit Stephen tomorrow. OK?”
Maria gazed up into Alder’s coffee-colored eyes with her large deep dark brown eyes glistening from the tears she held back. “OK,” she responded, squeezing tighter. Alder genuinely reciprocated.
Alder recognized this was the first time in a long while that he had sincerely embraced her, the first time in a long time she felt secure in his arms. She had lost so much: Although she considered her previous husband, friends, and family members extreme religious churchgoing nuts, she still loved and cared for them. Her life was now with Alder, the only foundation of their history was the bond of supporting one another during meetings for disappearance survivors. Alder had empathy for Maria’s feelings; he had been attracted to her vulnerability. However, shortly after they got married, he discovered the support group was the only thing they had in common. He enjoyed drinking, she didn’t. He enjoyed going out from time to time; she was more of an introvert and homebody. None of that mattered now; he only knew he needed to provide comfort to her during this period of her insecurity.