Good morning Story Orgy Readers! Sorry to be absent so long, but I am back, and I've brought a new story with me. Are you ready to meet someone new? Here's Lester Bergman...
URBEX: City Secrets
Copyright Dec 2015 @ Lee Brazil
Chapter One
Dec 1st - He kept very still
while he waited.
He should have been working, that’s why he’d brought this pile of
folders home from the office in the first place. There were plea bargains to be
drafted, motions to be organized, a belligerent boss to be mollified with reams
of paper to prove that Lester was doing his job, earning his paycheck from the
city. Such as it was.
That was the story of his life, wasn’t it? Not quite good enough,
no matter how hard he tried, moving up the career ladder too slow, not earning
the big bucks like his brother in law who had his own practice, not achieving
the early success that had marked his father’s career in the prosecutor’s
office.
He should have followed his first inclination and ignored the
route his father had laid out for him. A career as a chef sounded so good right
now. He could have been a fabulous cook, creating dishes that melted in your
mouth, succulent and flavorful.
Instead, he was here with a full message box and the beginnings of
indigestion. All because he’d been too cowardly to say what he wanted, pursue
his own dreams. Now here he was at thirty-six, following someone else’s dreams,
drowning in paperwork and tedious, nauseating wickedness. He didn’t even get
the really interesting cases. No robbery, homicide or rape cases for Lester.
No. He got speeding tickets, jaywalking, shoplifting and all sorts of bull shit
to remind him just how petty the justice system...and people in general were.
Tipping his chair back, Les closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
Clearing his mind wasn’t easy, not when he had messages from his family on his
voicemail. One from Lionel, six from Lisa, one from Aunt Izzy and one from
cousin Del.
He had to drag out the heavy guns...the moon, bright and clear
like a newly minted shiny silver dime in a field of dark obsidian, the air
crisp and cold, a pristine blanket of snow, and the dark shadows of a battered
old building…
Ideal.
Beautiful.
Abandoned.
Holding within its shaky walls the secrets of the past, the hopes,
dreams, and lives of people who’d long since left the earthly plane. The image
calmed him, reminded him that at its core humanity was worth so much more than
he saw in his everyday life. More than moral corruption, petty villainy and
directionless anger.
Deliberately, he added himself into the picture, a small figure
standing on the front porch of the old farmhouse. Pictured himself
walking inside, looking up the staircase, through a caved in roof, at a
twinkling star.
Lester opened his eyes and picked up the phone. He’d call Lionel
first, see if he knew what had Lisa’s panties in a bunch. Del and Aunt Izzy he’d
save for after Lisa… sandwiching his call to his annoying sister in between
calls to people he loved might just make it easy to take her condescending bull
shit.
Rising from his favorite recliner, Les crossed to the sliding
glass doors of his balcony and stepped out. It wasn’t fresh, clean air, and the
night outside was filled with the noise of city life...car horns and voices
raised in anger, an irrepressible, ever-present annoying hum of life that
he couldn’t escape, even here on the third floor.
Staring down at the brilliant neon lights, he thumbed his phone
and waited for his brother to pick up. Fumes reached his nose, and he wrinkled
it in disgust.
Lionel picked up on the fourth ring, slightly out of breath, voice
ragged and husky. “”Yeah?”
“Is this a bad time?” A faint smile chased Les’s gloom away. It
sounded like Lionel had had a very good night… “You got company?”
A short laugh, good humored, a just the slightest bit self-mocking
came back at him. “Yeah, no. I wish. I haven’t had that kind of company since…
I don’t even want to think about it.”
A sympathetic sigh lifted Les’s chest. “Tell me about it. Rather,
don’t because I am living it right there with you. Except… It’s not just not
having time to hit up the bars and find someone for a night.”
“There’s nothing satisfying in a hook up anymore.” Lionel
continued for him. “I know. I don’t know when it happened, but somehow…”
“Sex just isn’t enough anymore.” Les finished. They were silent for
a minute. “So I end up working too much and you… You’re what? Working out?”
“Bite your tongue. I just carried in the groceries and the
elevator is out, again.”
“I’d think that was a complaint, but I know how much you love that
old building.” Unlike Les, who lived in a modern, soulless complex, Lionel had
scored a terrific apartment in a century old building with fabulous original
architectural findings, intricate hand carved wood work, built in cabinetry,
and a not so reliable old elevator.
“No, no complaints. What can I do for you?”
“Returning your call, actually, but do you happen to know why Lisa
called six times today?”
Muffled noises, doors slamming and a faint humming came over the
wire. “My gut instinct is parking tickets. You know how she thinks that BMW
gives her a license to park where she wants. But...Can’t say for sure, because
I haven’t heard from her. But…”
Lionel drew the last word out teasingly, and Les felt a stirring
of interest. He recognized that tone… the excitement in his brother’s voice.
“Yes?” He kept very still while he waited.
“I’ve got the perfect place for Friday night.”
“Tell me.” The disappointment of the bar scene, the stress of a
job he hated, the annoyance of a sibling who refused to deal with her own shit
all vanished.
“It’s too small for a whole crew…”
“We don’t need them.” Les muttered.
“Only about thirty miles
from here. Closer to you…”
To Be Continued
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