Chapter 19
This is a horrible photo of me. While my fingers were still numb and I couldn'lt look down, I undertook sewing curtains--thin sheers--for my bedroom windows. I was completely crazy. I did it because I felt helpless--disabled. I couldn't and wouldn't accept that my right hand and arm were mostly numb. But I had discovered that my brain worked and I could "think" myself into using them from habit. I stood at the pub-height table, balancing my behind on a tall chair because I was on pain killers and tippy. I was terrified I'd sew my fingers. And then I made something beautiful during a time of intense lose and pain.
There is a reason why I'm sharing this: Many things in life, many losses, disappointments, sorrows, etc., can be faced, dealt with and overcome. Maybe not perfectly, but in some way that is positive. I was big into "what I CAN do" during that time, and pushing the envelope to see what it included. I'm so glad I can still write!
Hidden Secrets
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 19
Nick's cell phone voice mail picked up. "Nick,
I'm at the airport! My flight leaves in about an hour! I'm almost home!"
Jenn said, not holding back her excitement. She checked her luggage and started
for the security gate. She felt like a new woman—so different than she'd been
five days earlier. So scared and insecure then, but now she was confident!
Secure!
Suddenly a little trickle of fear raced down her
spine. Like a trained pro she shoved it aside and casually put her training to
work as she looked around, causing no suspicion. Every individual and their
activity registered in her brain. She saw nothing out of place.
It was a relief to pass through security and walk to
her gate. She sat down and almost instantly her cell phone rang. It was Angela.
"You'll never believe what just happened," Angela breathlessly said
from somewhere else in the huge airport.
A chill rushed over Jenn. She swallowed hard, then
laughed and said, "What, you disarmed a terrorist with your boot?"
Angela laughed as she expected. "Not quite. I
spotted a guy reading a newspaper and he looked so undercover obvious it wasn't
funny! He needs to go back to training so he can do real security the right
way!"
Jenn laughed and relaxed into her seat. The stupid
chill inside her disappeared. "Okay, when I get home I'll pull out a
sketch pad and draw your description. I'll send it to you and you can call to
tell me how close I came. What’s his height, weight, etcetera."
"Okay. He was tall, dark, handsome and
shifty-eyed."
"How do I draw that? It's too vague. Are his eyes
round, deep-set, blue, bulgy, blood-shot, slanted or drooping? What about his
hair, Mrs. Hair-styling Queen? Was it shaved, short-cropped or long? Does he
have a mullet? I'd think you'd at least notice that. Was he stout, husky,
lanky, hunched or bow-legged? Did he swagger, shuffle, hesitate or…"
Angela stopped the torrent of words. "Okay,
artist girl, he had a businessman haircut with graying temples and a five
o'clock shadow at one-thirty. He wears size twelve shoes and his waist is
thirty-six and so is his inseam. He has a square jaw and his ears are flat at
the bottom against his chin end, but they protrude at the top like bat
wings…"
Jenn broke in laughing. "Bat wings? Oh, I'm a
great artist, but now he's going to look deformed. Maybe freakish. I can't draw
bat wings on the side of some guy’s head and not laugh! It makes my pencil
wiggle."
Angela laughed too. "Jenn, this is way too funny.
Draw him according to what I told you and send the sketch. I'll see what I
think."
"Are you sure you want a picture of Bat-Wing
Man?"
"Absolutely. Keep in touch. It's been fun getting
to know you. Let's do this again next year. We'll make spy-training our annual
retreat. Kind of like a day spa, only it will be spy-spa."
Jenn giggled. "It's a deal, except I'm not sure
they'll let us back in the program. You nearly drowned Bob and ruined his cell
phone, and everyone thought I'd set off the sprinkler system when I followed
instructions and built a fire in the conference room and it filled with smoke."
"That shows we're incompetents that need more
training," Angela giggled.
They chatted until Angela boarded. Jenn tried to reach
Nick again and left another message. As her plane took off, Jenn was amazed at
how fun her week had been. She had more than survived something she had dreaded.
She had thrived on the challenges and made a good friend.
Jenn looked down on the thick clouds below where huge
snowstorms were threatening to move in and halt all airline traffic. She was
glad hers had made it out before that happened, and she was headed to Texas
where at least it wasn't so bitter in the winter. And to Nick and Katie. A warm
chill ran up her arms and she shivered with excitement. They’d have the weekend
together before he left again.
End Chapter 19
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