August 5, 1989

This was odd. A detective story. I felt like I was caught up in a true crime drama. I felt like Sherlock Holmes.

The story went something like this…

I finally found a job after losing the one I moved here for. It’s a door-to-door kinda thing selling coupon books for local stores. Easy money and fun to talk to so many people. Who doesn’t like deal and for $20 they get a lot of great deals. It was a win-win. I get the money, they get the deal.

So I’m walking along, hard day, not selling many. I spy a little Tarot card reading shop. I’m curious as usual. I’ve always been interested in the occult; witchcraft, astrology, ESP, all of that holds a major draw for me. So I go in. I talk to the lady about what I’m doing. She agrees to trade services with me, a coupon book for a card reading. Sounds good to me.

What she tells me freaks me out a little bit.

Let me back up a few weeks.

I started this new job. It was out of an office that was very small, sparse, just a few posters on the walls that had obviously hung in another office at some point. That was evident from the pinholes in the corners. I needed a job as I was running low on money so I took it. It seemed easy and fun. Strange things started happening. People were saying that they already had someone stop by their houses with the same thing. Hmm…were we crossing paths with each other?

We didn’t know but it seemed strange.

After many such occurrences we started to talk about things.

Our boss had a former partner. They split over who knows what. We started wondering if his partner was still running the same business, too.

So I’m sitting there in the mediums office. She’s reading my cards. She warns me of a man in a business situation. Beware! At this point the suspicion of our boss was in it’s infancy. We really didn’t think anything was wrong. She goes on to tell me that I’ll meet a Leo man. It will be an important, romantic relationship. Whatever. I never knew any Leos. I didn’t pay much attention to that part of the reading till much later.

Back to work. We talked to a few of the stores we were supposed to be representing. They didn’t know anything about it. Uh oh! We were caught up in some illegal scam. One of my co-workers decided to call the police and report it.

We ended up having a meeting with US Immigration.

I went with a co-worker. We were both a bit scared.

They told us nothing on the phone, just come in. So we did.

The building was downtown. We took the elevator up and got off on a floor with narrow hallways and lots of doors. The hall wound around several corners till we found the right door. When we entered and told the receptionist who we were she asked us to sit down and wait. We weren’t the only ones there. No one was talking.

They called our names and we were led to an office, typical government-looking gray-beige, lots of files, metal cabinets. It was cold, not in temperature but ambiance. The Immigration Agent came in. He was holding a rather large file, overstuffed with paperwork. We thought that must be another case he’s working on.

We were wrong. It was ours.

What we found out was this. Our boss was an illegal immigrant working in the US. He had had several businesses always with an American partner. He never signed any checks so they had a hard time connecting him with the businesses. He always paid us in cash. One time he had written me a check for some bonus money he owed me. That was what they needed. That was the piece of the puzzle they had been looking for. My check was the keystone to a long time investigation, the ultimate capture and deportation of an illegal foreigner who was scamming Americans for years. I solved the mystery. I was the heroine of the story, putting myself in harms way and saving our country!

Wow!

Alright, I went a little over the top with the fantasy. But the story is true. Afterwards, I felt so powerful and exhilarated! I went back to my co-workers house to celebrate. We were both on a cloud thinking about our investigation and our part in the capture of a criminal. He made us some drinks, Bloody Marys. I’d never had one before but it was good. We had talked over the last few weeks about our relationships. He had a long time girlfriend that he kept breaking up and getting back together with. They were on the outs right now.

We were both on such a high! We were partners and just like David and Maddie in Moonlighting, we had an attraction for one another. There was a palpable, sexual tension between us. We acted on it. Spontaneous, primal, energetic. We didn’t know each other well. We didn’t need to. We were in the moment. This wasn’t a relationship and it wasn’t going to be. It was sex. Sex simply because we both had so much adrenaline coursing through our veins from the excitement of our mutual adventure. Sex for celebration. Sex because we needed the physical release. It was good. It was satisfying. It was awkward afterwards.

“I think I should be going. Um…thanks.”

“Anytime.”

He didn’t mean it. This was going to be our one and only time together. I don’t expect him to call. I know he won’t. That’s the thing about high adventure…

The thrill lasts only a moment.

Just me…Marissa

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