I Didn't Do It!
As I fumbled for my phone with a fuzzy mind and blurry eyes, I struggled to make out the name on the screen. My heart started beating fast, hard, out of my chest with the letters that appeared. It couldn’t be! I never really expected Sterling St John to call. Not after all the horrible emails I read of him degrading Samantha. WTF…
A few days earlier found me frantically flying to Arizona for two unexpected funerals. I knew Sterling was in Scottsdale, which made my blood boil. Samantha had asked Sterling St John of Corner Brook, NL to find another golf destination. This was her home. In all his disrespect for her, he denied the request. How could I cleverly find a way to wash him out? I needed to chat with him without knowing my true intentions, journalism. I wanted the juicy details straight from his lips for the book. Adding his side of the story would be priceless.
A simple text message couldn’t hurt. I had all her old numbers in my Blackberry. I found Forgotten (the name she had given him) after he sketchily tossed her aside trying to ruin her life through vengeance. “I just lost a special friend. I don’t want to leave things with you the way they ended. I don’t want to leave them bad”. He had cowardly shut my sister out. I didn’t expect a reply but it was worth a shot for the goods.
Two days later my phone is buzzing in the early morning hours with “Forgotten”. I tried to answer without a shaking voice, “Hello”.
“Janell…You have my attention.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I received an email this morning from a friend with a link to your blog.”
Samantha had made Sterling believe we were the same person. I was the business woman. She was the writer and courtesan. She did this to protect her identity from the cruel eyes of the World. He wasn’t calling because of my text. The bastard was calling because he wanted to save a “hero’s” reputation. This had nothing to do with my sister. There wasn’t a care about fixing the situation…he wanted to protect a reputation. He doesn’t want a country to know the armor is tainted.
“And?”
“Why are you doing this? Why would you write the intimate details of our relationship for everyone to read? What about the Scottsdale blog. What are you trying to accomplish?”
After a long series of threats from Sterling as well as a few nasty tricks to ruin her, she promised no other woman would fall victim to his scam. I was here to complete her work by fulfilling her promises.
“I always do what I say- words are my life. I told you I wouldn’t let another woman fall victim. I’m keeping my word.”
“Please take the blog down, Janell.”
“Why, so you can continue to be a hero. Doesn’t the world have a right to know how many lives you have ruined?”
“I don’t want my son to read about this on the internet.”
“OK!”
He got me with this one…I have kids of my own. I hadn’t thought to change the names like Samantha in her books. I wasn’t as seasoned a writer. This was a careless mistake on my part. I never imagined the blog would span all the way to Newfoundland. I immediately felt a tremendous amount of guilt. Samantha kept copies of all their correspondence along with her diary. I knew this man extremely well, so we began chatting about mending fences.
I started working at the computer keyboard removing all references to the blogs. I took them down until I could change the names chatting all the while with Sterling. Samantha was right. He was dreamy. Hazy clouds hung over my thoughts from the sound of his hypnotic voice solidifying genuine regret. Maybe Samantha was wrong. It sounded like he really loved her. What if he was simply hurt? He wanted to talk again. Soon! This was good. I would get more details. Little did I know…I’d just been dooped!!!
Continued on May 8, 2009
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