"Hanging On"
Chapter 1
Brenda Barrett sat at the red light, waiting for it
to change. The days' earlier snowstorm had made the roads slick and icy and she
had to be extremely careful driving her Porsche that didn't yet have its snow
tires. It had been a long day and she just wanted to get home. She had been
tied up on the phone all day long, trying to set up concert dates for L&B
Records, the company she owned with Lois Cerullo-Ashton. It had not been easy
coordinating a twelve-day schedule that covered ten states. But now, the day
was done and she was on her way home, finally.
She relaxed her grip on the steering wheel and
looked again at the ring on her finger. It was a pink sapphire and it sparkled
like a thousand diamonds put together. He'd only given it to her three days ago,
but no one could ever take it off her finger, unless they took the finger, too.
Just looking at it made her troubles and stresses of the day disappear. She
couldn't wait to get home to her fiancé, Jasper Jacks. Her mind drifted to what
they'd be having for dinner that night when she saw a Mercedes cross the
intersection. It looked like Jax's car and fortunately for her, the light
changed just then and she was able to follow it. That was due in part to the
fact that she was going the same way. The car in front of her braked and she
caught up to it. The license plate was the same. It was Jax. She honked and
waved to him. Seeing her in the rearview mirror, he waved back. She picked up
the car phone and dialed his number.
"Hello, Sweetheart." Jax smiled as he thought
about his beautiful fiancée in the car behind him. "How was your
day?"
"Long, but productive. We got that concert
scheduled finally. What did you do today?" Talking to him was distracting
her from the icy conditions of the road and making it easier for her to relax.
They continued to talk about their activities of
the day. Jax noticed it looked like it was going to start to snow soon. The
clouds were getting darker and the light was disappearing from the early
evening hour. "Brenda, I hope you're not planning on stopping off
anywhere. It looks like the storm is going to start up again. I think we should
get home as soon as we can."
"Fine by me. I was hoping we were going to go
home and relax and have a quiet evening together. Doing some of my favorite
things to unwind. If you know what I mean…"
Jax caught the suggestive way in which she was
raising her eyebrows in his rearview mirror. He laughed at the image.
Distracted from the road, he didn't notice it was getting more slippery the
further they were getting from town towards the cottage. Keeping only one hand
on the wheel, as he held the phone with the other, Jax braked slightly to slow
down and be more cautious now.
He didn't see the patch of black ice come out of
nowhere. The car skidded across it and began to swerve. Jax dropped the phone
to put both hands on the wheel, but by then, it was too late. He was losing
control of the car quickly. Trying everything he could think of to regain
control, the car kept sliding towards the woods on the right. Unable to stop
it, the car plummeted down the hill off the side of the road.
Brenda had watched the whole thing as it transpired
before her. There was nothing she could do. She was terrified to the bone. She
began a silent prayer as she came to a stop in her car. She still held the
phone to her ear and heard every word as Jax tried everything he could to save
himself. Then, as she saw the car go over the side of the road, the last thing
she heard was Jax's shout, "BRENDA!!!!!!!"