Midas Touch Read Free Page B

run, until she smashed into a tree and fell. The dampness from the wet grass soaked through her thin gown. Unable to manage anything other than short hard gasps, she was incapable of inhaling enough oxygen. She wondered if she was dying of a heart attack and tried to fight off the numbness engulfing her. She was not ready to die. So many new experiences awaited her. Her last conscious thought was that she never accomplished the one thing she most wanted in life. She wanted to know her mother.
    Birds sang overhead as weak rays of light poked their way through the treetops. Sandra’s body ached from lying on the cold, damp ground. Her face burned with shame as the events of the previous night came back to her. How could she have lost control? Never in her life had she let her emotions get so out of hand. As realization of her current situation came to her, fear mobilized her frozen limbs. She was alone in the middle of a park. She needed to leave before someone found her. A thousand scenarios filled her head. None of them appealed to her.
    She pushed herself up and took a tentative step. The ankle she twisted coming down the stairs was tender, but nothing seemed to be broken. Her bare feet were bruised and sore. Dried blood caked her left elbow, which protruded through a rip in her jacket. She limped to a bench and tried to get her bearings. She was positive she was still near Lona’s house.
    How was she going to get home? There was no way she could

    go back and face Lona. Carol would have driven the car home.
    Would anyone be looking for her? She cringed at the thought of her photo appearing on the front page of the newspaper. The headline would scream: prominent architect goes berserk and flees lesbian party. She clutched her head in her hands, thanking God the police required a twenty-four hour waiting period before a person could be declared missing. At least, she would avoid that embarrassment.
    She did a quick perusal of her appearance. Jagged runs in her stockings spread like spider webs about her legs. Her gown, covered with dirt and grass stains, was beyond repair. The original mid-calf side slit now extended all the way to her hip.
    The jacket had a hole in the elbow. A button dangled on a shred of torn fabric. Given the current condition of the jacket, Carol’s concerns of Sandra stretching the material out of shape were now laughable.
    She ran icy hands across her head and encountered a tangled mess of leaves and twigs. Using her fingers, she tried to comb the short brown strands into some semblance of order.
    She winced as her palm brushed over a knot above her left eye. That must have happened when she collided with the tree.
    What possessed her to go tearing out of Lona’s like a crazy woman? When had her life gotten so out of control? A cry of frustrated exhaustion tore from her throat. She tucked her cold hands under her arms and forced herself to calm down. The right planning and determination could put her back on track. The most obvious change needed was to cut back on her hours and stop working so hard. She would schedule a few days off. She and Carol could take a vacation.
    A mental image of her calendar for the next several weeks popped into her head, and she reluctantly pushed the vacation idea away. There were too many things going on. It would be impossible for her to leave. She would simply have to get control over her emotions. I’m probably going through menopause, she rationalized. Thirty-seven was young, but anything was possible.
    Maybe it was nothing more than a hormone imbalance. Maybe,

    maybe, maybe, she mumbled to herself.
    She took a deep breath and tried to reassure herself. I’m just tired and under a lot of stress. It’s time I stopped trying to do everything on my own. I’ll let someone help me. When I get home, we can talk this out, and we will start spending more time together. I’ll start leaving the office earlier, she promised the cold, gray dawn.
    A violent chill ripped