May 29, 2018

Handmade:



       Cindy Graham stood in her bridal gown before the mirror, smiling at her reflection. Her gown was pure white silk, with a sinfully low-cut neckline and filigree silk sleeves right to her fingertips. Cindy’s father had over two hundred, one carat diamonds sewn into the bust line, replacing the traditional sequins.
       She turned to look over her shoulder, and smiled at her teacher, Betty. Betty had been her best friend for the last seven years of her life. After the accident, at age twelve, Cindy had little hope of living a normal life. Suffering a large loss of her motor skills and twenty percent of her speech, she couldn’t have imagined that this would ever happen to her.
       Betty asked. “Have you seen Rick today?”
       Still smiling at Betty, Cindy said, “I nevah thought I’d get mawwied, Beddy. Look at me. I’m standing in my wedding dwess and will be Mrs. Wick Dobbs in just two maw days and you’ll be at my side, as my handmade of honaw.”
       Betty smiled and hugged Cindy. “That’s maid of honor, sweetheart, but have you seen Rick today?”
       Cindy replied, “What do you think of me now, Beddy? See how predee I look?”
       Betty couldn’t believe her eyes. “Oh, Cindy. You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen. Rick is a very lucky man.” It was true. There stood a grown woman with the body of a goddess; Cindy wore the most gorgeous handmade gown that her father’s money could buy.
       “Cindy, listen to me,”   Betty said again. “Have you seen Rick today?”
       “No, I have nod seen him sense yesdewday. Why?” Cindy wanted to know.
       "Cindy, remember when we first met?" Betty asked
       Cindy giggled.  "Yes, you know I do. How could I forged Beddy? We have been best fwiends ever senses. If nod for you I would nod bee here doday. You know I wuv you and anything I have is youws."
       Betty stepped up behind Cindy and kissed the back of her friend’s head. “Sweet heart, your friendship and safety are the only two things you know I want. I just want to be sure this Rick Dobbs is the right man for you. This has been such a whirlwind romance.” 
       “He wov’s me, Beddy. He dells me so when he kisses me.” Cindy grinned.
       Betty took Cindy by the hand and led her to the sofa. “Oh, sweet, innocent child. I have never told you the story of why I first came here. Why I first took the job to care for you and be your companion.  I never dreamed you would have to go out into that world I ran away from. I never wanted you to face the things you are about to face. Yet, when I see you standing there, I knew I had to let you go to let you grow up.”
       “Could you help me with my dwess? We have do gew weady for dinnaw. Wick is coming ovew.”
       “Sure,” Betty said, as she helped Cindy put her wedding gown back into Cindy’s private walk-in safe.
       “Cindy, I tried to tell you why I came here,” Betty said, and then she went on with her story. “Nine years ago, I, too, fell in love with a man named Scott Mosley. He looked something like Rick. He was tall and slim, with a smile that could melt your heart from across the room. All my girl friends thought I was the luckiest woman in the world. Scott had us all fooled. The day I turned my term paper in on ‘Rehabilitation of Lost Motor Skills,’ I found Scott had stolen it and turned it in a week early. I was told I would be given an F for the semester, be expelled from school and would never receive a license to work as a therapist because they would charge me with plagiarism. The worst part was I found out Scott was married the whole time. The day of the disciplinary review board Scott brought his wife and two kids along. The kids were only three and five. His wife knew about us and she allowed it so she could be married to a doctor someday. I interviewed for this job the next day and your father hired me on the spot. What I have tried to tell you is, I hope Rick Dobbs is not just another Scott Mosley.
       “Wick would never do thad do me,” Cindy said as she hugged Betty.
       The butler was heard in the hallway saying, “Dinner is served.”
       When the two ladies reached the bottom of the stairway, there stood Rick.
       “Hi, love,” Rick cooed. “What has my girl been up to all day?”
       “I dried on my wedding dwess to make sure was nod do big,” Cindy giggled.
       Rick leaned very close to Cindy’s ear and whispered something no one else heard and Cindy started laughing out loud.
       “Naughdy boy.” Cindy was still laughing when she got to the table.
       Throughout dinner Cindy’s father had a very stern look on his face. Betty and Cindy both knew that he was very upset about something. They also knew it was best to just wait and let him stew on it. He would get around to letting you know in his own sweet time.
       “Rick,” Cindy’s father said sternly. “I want to see you in my study right after dinner.”
       “Yes Mr. Graham. Right after dinner I’ll meet you in your study. Right after I tell Cindy goodnight.” Rick knew his future father-in-law did not like or trust him. Still, he was not going to cause a scene that would upset Cindy.
       When Rick entered the old man’s study, Cindy’s father was already sitting behind his desk.
        Rick walked over and sat down in one of the two chairs in front of the desk. Hell, he felt more like he was on a job interview rather than he just having a chit-chat with his soon- to be father-in-law. “You wanted to see me, I take it.”
       “Rick, I will get to the point. You know Cindy will someday inherit every bit of what I have. You also know I would do anything in the world for her. I have a check here for a half a million dollars. I did a background check on you last month and found you seemed to have left a long trail of broken hearts behind. .  If you thought you would break my daughter’s heart just to get her money, you don’t know me very well. So, here is what we’ll do tonight. You take that money, walk out the door and nothing will ever be said. You don’t take it, I’ll see to it you’ll never get a hand on one cent of her or my money.”
       Rick reached over and took the check. After he looked it over he, smiled at his would be father-in-law, then folded the check and placed it in his pocket. “I thank you, sir.  I wondered when you would get to this. I’ll have the check cashed by noon.” Then Rick got up and walked out the study door.
       “Damn,” Mr Graham said. “I never thought he would have taken the check. How wrong could I have been?” He knew he would have to tell Cindy the next day.
       Mr. Graham asked the butler in the hallway the next morning. “Have you seen my daughter and Betty today?”
       “Yes, sir. They went out to that new mall, sir,” the butler answered.
       “Well, when you see them, please have Cindy come see me.”
       “Yes, sir. The very first thing,” he replied.
       Betty and Cindy s had just left a shop in the mall when they saw Rick walk up to a young woman sitting on a bench in the food court. She got up and they threw their arms around each other and hugged like they definitely knew each other.
       “Who is dhad giwl Wick hugged, Beddy?”
       “I don’t know, but I’m ready to go home now,” Betty replied.
       When the girls got home the butler told Mr. Graham, “Sir, Miss Cindy is home. Would you care to see her before or after dinner?”
       “After dinner, thank you. Oh, it’s ok. I’ll tell her myself.”
       “Very good, sir,” the butler muttered, as he turned and left.
       That night, as the butler said, “Dinner is served.” the front doorbell rang.
       In walked Rick with the woman that Betty and Cindy had seen him with at the mall.
       “Hi, everyone. I would like you to meet my younger sister, Tammie Dobbs. Her ship was dried docked in England, so she took some time off to come to our wedding. She’ll be house-sitting while we are on our honeymoon.”
       Rick walked over to Mr. Graham and slipped him an envelope. Then he walked back and put one arm around Tammie and one around Cindy. “Sis, you should see the food in this dump.” 
       After they were out of sight, Mr. Graham looked at the envelope and saw it was from the same law firm he used. Inside he found a prenuptial agreement along with a bankbook. He flipped it open to see a half-million dollar deposit in his daughters name Cindy Cynthia Graham. The prenuptial stated that anything in Cindy’s name prior to or after their marriage Rick couldn’t touch. It was signed and dated the day before.
       Mr. Graham smiled and said, “Hell, Cindy is right! It looks like he was handmade for my little girl.”


32 comments:

Snaggle Tooth said...

Hmmm or a memory spell?

Snaggle Tooth said...

You are welcome Ellis. Thanks for the fun story. I wasn't expecting that ending!

Yolanda Renée said...

A lovely story with a sweet ending, and one I doubt anyone saw coming! Great post!
Happy October, and Happy Halloween! Loved it!

Toi Thomas said...

Wow, that was fun and cute! I did not see that coming. A refreshing twist to a common theme. Great job.

Elephant's Child said...

DEFINITELY an unexpected ending. Love your versatility.

Jemi Fraser said...

Fun story - and I love the ending! :)

Michelle Wallace said...

I have to be honest, I was on tenterhooks, waiting for the "moment of doom" but it didn't materialize.
An unusual twist... but quite refreshing!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Nice to see a happy ending. Either Cindy or Betty put a spell on him or Rick was a good guy from the beginning.

Olga Godim said...

I love the happy ending. Didn't expect Rick to be such a good guy.

Denise Covey said...

Hey Ellis, I love this. I love the way you've written her accent. It was good to hear about this condition. Like everyone, I didn't see that ending coming. Was that woman really his sister or an accomplice? Was that pre-nup legal? I still don't know if Rick was a goodie or a baddie. You've written an intriguing story which is wide open to interpretation.

dolorah said...

That was inspirational, and a bit of fun. Well done with the voodoo and deja vu themes Ellis.

Joey Lynn Resciniti said...

I'm so happy for Cindy! I did not see that coming!

Adura Ojo said...

An interesting twist and take on the prompt. Didn't see that coming.
Is there room for another twist to the tale? Seems Rick could be made an 'intelligent' rogue if you really wanted to. Hahahaha.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

I'm a sucker for a happy ending, so I choose to believe Rick isn't the scalawag Cindy's father believes him to be. Even so, Rick's favorite song may contain the line, "Do do that voodoo that you do so well..." Great job!

L.G. Keltner said...

I'm glad this tale had a happy ending. I definitely wasn't expecting that, and it was a lovely surprise!

Edix said...

Fun story. Nice twisty ending.
Dixie Jarchow
writingwithdixie.wordpress.com

Nick Wilford said...

Nice little twist! Good story.

Unknown said...

A surprising twist to this cautious love story. Well done.

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

Nice twist at the end. Not what I was expecting, and I hope Rick proves to be as good as it looks like.

On the critique end, beware of sentence fragments. There are several in the first few lines of the story, and they definitely distract. Fragments can be effective, but only if used sparingly and deliberately.

Nilanjana Bose said...

Cute story and an unexpected ending. Glad Rick did not turn out to be like Scott.

Sally said...

Glad it had a happy ending. I was expecting her best friend to snag Rick.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Ellis - definitely loved the way you wrote the post ... the character really stood out ... while your twist to bring goodness to the story ... and to know Cindy was right in her judgement ... I do hope all that ends well, does end well. Clever - cheers Hilary

Michael Di Gesu said...

Great build up and an unexpected twist for an ending... WELL DONE!

Tanya Miranda said...

Leave it to a guy to claim voodoo when he's proven wrong! LOL. Nice ending.

Kalpana said...

Nice twist for the good. Here were we all thinking bad, suspicious thoughts about Rick and he turned the tables on us - thank goodness. Lovely story.

Deborah Drucker said...

Nice it turned out so well for Cindy at the end but she still had her father looking out for her if it didn't.

Jemima Pett said...

That was sweet - and most unexpected! But then I'm a cynic :)

Well done.

Jemima Pett

J Lenni Dorner said...

Interesting twist at the end.
Could use a bit of punctuation fixes. But a fine story.
I'm glad he really loved her.

D.G. Hudson said...

Ah, he's not a scoundrel after all, and so what if a voodoo spell was put on them? If it brings happiness and the father is satisfied, then it may be for the best. Sorry I'm late coming by, but I wanted to see what you'd come up with this time. Two hundred diamonds, eh? That explains why she puts her dress in a safe. . .enjoyed this.

Jamie said...

Bold choice to write "as she sounds." I know that is something writers always debate heavily. Authentic sound versus translation. Never easy to pick.

I liked the story. Good ending.

Operation Awesome said...

I like that it had a happy ending twist at the end. Not many of those in the horror genre. Nice work.

desk49 said...

Snaggle Tooth:
S.T. it has been a bit since I checked in
but a big THANKS for dropping by. 09/17/18
Yet as we both know not all my endings
ring true. 10/01/18

Yolanda Renée:
Thanks. Yet we both know,
even on Halloween kindness can kill. 10/01/18

Toi Thomas:
I thought for a change
I'd not kill everyone off.
Then again would true love through voodoo
still be true love? 10/2/18

Elephant's Child:
Thanks for dropping yes
versatile I like to be. 10/9/18

Jemi Fraser:
Thanks for reading and thanks
for liking it. 10/176/2018

Michelle Wallace:
I’ve not been known for
Following my own story line.
Thanks 10/16/2018

Alex J. Cavanaugh:
Yes not all of us guys are bad.
LOL Thanks 10/16/2018

Olga Godim:
I don’t like death and gloom in all
my story’s. Thanks 10/16/2018

Denise Covey:
True I never said Rick and his sis
Had more money than Candy and her father. 10/16/2018
But they did. He did not need hers. 10/16/2018

dolorah:
They did live in New Orleans hard not to throw in a bit of Voodoo.
Thanks 10/16/2018

Joey Resciniti:
I did not think her father did either.
Thanks for dropping by. 10/16/2018

Adura Ojo:
It seems you
may not trust us men
but Rick loved only
the Cindy in his hand 10/17/2018

Susan Flett Swiderski:
If it was Voodoo
who know
your right too
as the hearts flew
And thank you 10/17/2018

L.G. Keltner:
So I kept you
on your toes
as one of my
ending goes 10/17/2018

Edix:
Short and sweet Thanks.10/18/2018

Nick Wilford:
Again short and sweet Thanks.10/18/2018

Christopher Scott:
Love is a better thing then someone
sticking fangs in your veins 10/18/2018

Rebecca Douglass:
Thanks for dropping by and reading my story.
The story was 1,601 words but I had to cut
a lot out of it to get to 1,011 words. I
lost count of the number of words when I
was writing it.

Cindy Graham stood in her bridal gown before the mirror, smiling at her reflection. Her gown was pure white silk, with a sinfully low-cut neckline and filigree silk sleeves down to her fingertips. Cindy’s father had over two hundred, one carat diamonds sewn into the bust line, replacing the traditional sequins. [Uncut] 10/18/2018

Nilanjana Bose:
Thanks but for me was the ending unexpected. 10/20/2018

Sally:
No Betty would not have done her how she was done. Thanks. 10/20/2018

Hilary Melton-Butcher:
Yes that was the story in full.
It was how it was meant to be
A friend told me
"You can't help who you fall in love with.
It' what you do about it that counts." 10/20/2018

Michael Di Gesu:
Thanks Just not so sure
why everyone doesn't expect
a happy ending. 10/20/2018

Tanya Miranda:
It may be the Deja vu from his wife
Putting him under her spell of love. 10/20/2018

Kalpanaa M:
Yes nice is nice even this time of year.10/21/2018

Deborah Drucker:
Even fathers have to now and then let us get our fingers burned. 10/21/2018

Jemima Pett:
Glad I proved you wrong this time. 10/21/2018

J Lenni Domer:
Punctuation not one of my better suits.
Cutting it from 1601 to 1011 words I’m sure I missed a bunch.
One should not get carried away on a thousand words story.
Still thanks for dropping by. 10/23/2018

D.G. Hudson:
Thanks, yes love is love even through voodoo. 10/23/2018

Jamie Dorner:
On this story I felt the one would be
More outstanding then the other. 10/26/2018

Operation Awesome:
Thanks I like to be different. 10/26/2018