Stripped(3)

“Hey,” Justin said as she wandered into the kitchen. “Was that you I heard in here at five this morning?”

“Yeah, it was a late night,” Abby said, yawning as she sat down at the small kitchen table. “Is Sara well enough to go to this party?”

“She seems okay to me,” Justin said, shrugging.

“I’ll go get groceries today,” Abby said, noticing that Justin was eating cereal.

“I’m working 12 to 7. I’ll be home in time for you to get to work later,” Justin said.

“You’ve been working a lot lately. Do you have enough time to study?”

“Yeah.”

“Justin, you don’t need to work. I make enough for all of us,” she said, exasperated. Though he was 20, it was hard for her not to still think of him as a child sometimes.

“I need to make my own money. I’ve been working since I was 15.”

“I know, but this pre-med program is tough, and I want you to focus on your school work.”

“I’m fine, Abby. I want to help you,” he said.

Sara bounded into the room wearing jeans that covered everything, and Abby nodded her approval.

“Audrey, let’s go, we’re taking Sara to the party,” Abby called.

“Just let me stay here,” Audrey said from her bedroom.

“No, come with us.”

“I’m 12, Abby, I can stay home by myself! Mom’s here, anyway,”

“Come on, we’ll go out for lunch after we drop Sara off,” Abby said. Audrey glared at her, silently walking out the door.

“Have fun,” Justin said with a small smile.



As she rolled her car to a stop in a parking place near the front door of Case Publications, Abby decided it must be her lucky day. She was never able to park so close, and it had happened on a day she was running late. A Monday, no less.

She grabbed her bag and hustled toward the door of the three-story office building. When she walked into her small second floor office, her boss Marla was there.

“Good morning,” Marla said, flipping through folders in a filing cabinet.

“Do you need me to find something?” Abby asked.

“No, I’ve got it. How was your weekend?”

“Good. How about you?”

“It was nice. Jack took me out to dinner Saturday night and I read all day yesterday.”

Abby admired Marla’s charcoal designer suit. Her boss was in her 50’s, but she dressed well and looked much younger. Though Abby thought Marla would look even better if she’d stop bleaching her hair blond, she’d never mention it.

“Did you hear about Andy and Erica?” Marla asked in a whisper.

“I don’t hear anything around here,” Abby said. Andy and Erica worked in the accounting department with Marla and Abby, but their offices were on another part of the floor.

“Marlin caught them screwing in the copy room,” Marla said in a low tone.

“No! Seriously?”

“Yes. And it wasn’t just ordinary sex. He was in her back door, if you know what I mean.”

Abby stifled a laugh, pressing a hand to her mouth.

“How embarrassing,” she said.

“Yeah, but they didn’t even get reprimanded. Marlin just told them both to get back to work. It happened at the end of the day Friday. I heard Erica had a wet spot on the back of her skirt when she left that night.”

“No,” Abby said, her eyes wide.

“Ask Pam, she saw it…Hey, I could use your help with some stuff for my meeting with Walton at 10 if you have time.”

“Of course I have time, I’m your assistant.”

“I got lucky when you came in here looking for a job, Abby,” Marla said, still rifling through the files.

“I’m the lucky one, Marla. My other boss makes me get a bikini wax every week.”



A shrill ringing sound jolted Abby awake. She clapped her hand against her alarm, but the noise continued. When she realized what it was, a sinking feeling seized her chest as she jumped from the bed.

“Mom, I’m coming!” she called as she rushed into the hallway. They had only been in the new house a few weeks, and Abby wasn’t used to moving around in the darkness yet. Fear raced through her as she felt her way along the wall to the doorway of her mother’s room.

Her mother Kathy sat on the edge of the bed, gasping for air as she struggled to breathe. Justin was just a few steps behind Abby, responding to the alarm they had given their mother to sound for a medical emergency.

“She’s bad,” Abby said quickly. “I’m taking her to the Emergency Room.”

“I’ll get her into the car while you get dressed,” Justin said, sitting down next to Kathy on the bed.