Wildflower

A story of one woman’s love for another.

by

Prudence MacLeod

Smashwords edition

Copyright, Prudence MacLeod, August 7 /
2002

This is a work of fiction.

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Please enjoy the story.

Bad Day in Bay City

Abigail MacKai climbed slowly, painfully out
of the cab and started toward her apartment block. “Hey lady,”
shouted the cabbie, “what about the fare?”

“Sorry,” mumbled Abby as she turned back and
passed him a twenty.

“Thanks,” he shouted as he sped away.

“My change,” called Abby, but he was already
around the corner. “Bastard,” she spat vehemently, “you’re all
alike, and you’re all a bunch of right bastards.” She sighed again
and carefully climbed the stairs then entered the building. “Goddam
cheapjack son of a bitch didn’t even pay for the cab.”

Still in shock at how her world had suddenly
come apart, Abby entered her small apartment and dropped her coat
and purse on the floor. Gingerly she made her way to the living
room where she sat in her chair and started blankly at the TV
screen without even turning it on. Six weeks ago she had been on
top of the world and now....? Abby sighed as she felt another bout
of depression taking over; she just sat in her chair and let it
happen. With a tear slowly forming at the corner of her eye, Abby
ran over in her mind just how she had come to be in this far away
city in such a sorry state.

At five foot eight, one hundred twenty pounds
with long naturally blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, Abby was a
striking beauty. A smile from Abigail MacKai could melt polar ice
and she usually shared that smile with everyone she met. That is,
until recently.

Abby had finished high school and was too
impatient to see the world, she opted to take a few computer
courses and start work immediately rather than go on to university.
She began applying for jobs on the internet and was actually hired
on by a small firm in the United States. They helped arrange for
her green card and with her travel expenses as well as to get set
up in her own apartment. The boss was a wonderful man who
immediately adopted Abby as his pet. He sent her to night school to
take upgrade courses in business management as well as advanced
computer courses and he paid for the works. How many times had she
blessed Harry James’ generous nature?

Abby had been both intrigued by the world of
business and by the excitement of earning her own way. She applied
herself diligently, and, within a few years, she was heading up a
new office on the west coast. For the first number of months Abby
had worked non stop until all was running smoothly then she decided
it was time to resume her social life.

Since moving to the United States to work,
Abby had gone through a number of boyfriends, but nothing too
serious. That became her pattern once again in San Francisco until
she met Randy Zane. Randy was a law student with big dreams and
ambitions to match. He was also completely charming and Abby was
smitten. Blinded by the stars in her eyes, she missed all the
little warning signs that should have caught her attention.

Completely convinced that he was planning to
marry her, Abby began to make long term plans. Somehow, in her
blissful state, Abby had missed taking her birth control pill for a
couple of days. The sudden realization of what that might mean
brought her crashing back to earth. Two weeks later she missed her
period and began to seriously worry.

Abby had gotten a bit paranoid then and the
warning flags were suddenly right in her face. Randy had been
stalling about introducing her to his parents and she noticed that
every time she mentioned marriage he changed the subject. Filled
with foreboding, Abby waited for her next cycle to complete. She
missed again. A trip to the doctor soon confirmed her worst fears;
Abigail MacKai was pregnant.

Abby had gone into shock at Randy’s reaction
to the news. “No fucking way,” he’d snarled as he backed out her
door and fled down the stairs. She hadn’t seen him for nearly two
weeks even though she had tried to call him several times each
day.

On this morning Abby had awakened with
violent cramps in her abdomen. Gasping for breath she managed to
make it to the bathroom where her body painfully aborted the
unwanted pregnancy. As soon as she could, Abby cleaned herself up
and made her way to her doctor’s office. It was much later when she
arrived home to find Randy waiting for her by the door. “Dad wants
to see you,” was all he’d said as he ushered her from her cab into
his car and drove to a sidewalk café several blocks away.

The small man did not rise as he was
introduced, nor did he acknowledge her outstretched hand. “Young
woman, I’ll get right to the point,” he stated harshly. “If you
think this little pregnancy of yours will tie you into the family
fortunes, I can assure you it will not. You are not the first silly
little blonde to try to capture my son this way, and I doubt you
will be the last.

“Having said that however, I will not see you
completely in distress; I have prepared these forms for you to
sign. This one states that you are unsure of the father of your
child as there were several lovers. This one releases Randy and his
entire family of any and all responsibility for your pregnancy and
the resulting child. This one is a cheque to compensate you for
your trouble. I suggest you accept it for there will be no more,
and if you refuse, I will bring all my power and influence to bear
against you.”

Abby looked at the cheque he had passed to
her. Fifty thousand dollars, the cheap bastard, he could easily
have afforded ten times that much. Still in shock, Abby accepted
the cheque and signed the required papers. Randy took her by the
arm and escorted her from the café and put her in a cab. Abby still
had not spoken a single word; she had not told them she had lost
the baby.

With a deep sigh of resignation Abby tried to
shake off some of the dark mood that was taking over her. “Grandma
always said things happen in threes,” she muttered to herself.
“Numbers one and two have been brutal; I wonder what number three
will be, a piano falling on my head?” She was closer than she would
liked to have been. A knock came on the door and painfully she rose
to answer it.

“Yes?” Abby asked the dour looking man in the
plain suit who had knocked.

“Abigail Aislin MacKai?”

“Yes,” she replied, a feeling of foreboding
falling over her heart “What can I do for you?”

“I represent the department of immigration,”
he replied formally as he presented his ID. “May I see your green
card please?”

“Of course,” she replied. “Come in.” She
stepped back to find her card in her purse and he took one step
across her threshold leaving the door open behind him. “Here it
is.”

“Thank you,” he said as he put her card in
his briefcase. “I am here to inform you that your card has been
revoked and you are to cease all employment activities in this
country immediately. Your employer has been informed and a
replacement is on the way to take over your job. Your right to
travel freely in this country has also been revoked and a plane
ticket for your safe return to your own country of origin has been
provided. Your flight leaves in three days. I highly suggest that
you be on it or a warrant will be issued for your arrest and all
your assets will be seized.

“These are your official orders to leave the
country Miss MacKai,” he said as he presented her with an official
looking document. “Please sign here to acknowledge that you have
been duly served. I will return in three days time to see you
safely to the airport. Good day to you Miss.” With that he stepped
back through the door and vanished.

“Well, there goes number three,” she
whispered softly, tears streaming down her face as she gently
closed the door behind the departing official. The phone began to
ring insistently and with a sigh of resignation she turned to
answer it. “Abigail MacKai.”

“Abby, thank god I’ve managed to reach you.”
It was Harry James, her boss from the east coast. “Abby, what is
going on out there? I have had the most distressing visit from the
immigration people and they said they have revoked your green card
and are deporting you.”

“That seems to jive with what has just
happened here,” sighed Abby as she leaned against the wall for
support. “I guess Uncle Sam no longer loves me Harry.”

“Abby, what happened?” he asked gently.
Suddenly Abby broke down and tearfully told him the whole
story.

“That goddamned son-of-a-bitch,” exclaimed
Harry. “I’m getting you a lawyer Abby. We’ll fight the bastard on
this. Whatever you do, don’t cash that cheque; we’ll need it for
evidence. We’ll...”

“Harry, Harry, please listen to me,”
interjected Abby as she pushed herself away from the wall. “This
man is too big, too powerful, and he obviously has friends in high
places. You can’t take him on Harry; he’ll break you.”

“I don’t care,” responded Harry hotly, “I’m
not letting him get away with...”

“Harry, listen to me now,” said Abby gently
as she tried to break into his rant. “I love you like a father, and
I will not let this happen to you. I’m not the first young blonde
that California has chewed up and spit out. I’m going to take the
bastard’s money and start over at home somewhere. After all, Canada
isn’t a third world country or anything. Can you give me a good
reference?”

“I’ll give you a reference to die for Abby,
you know that,” sighed Harry as he too accepted the inevitable.
“Are you sure about this?”

“It’s like you always say Harry, you can’t
beat the system. No, I need to go home and lick my wounds. I’ll be
alright and I promise I will stay in touch. Can I use you as a
forwarding address for now until I land somewhere?”

“Of course you can honey.”

“Thanks Harry, you’re a love. I’ll let you
know as soon as I get settled in somewhere, Ok?”

“Hold your head up high Abby and always
remember, we believe in you and know you are going to rise above
this. You’re bigger than these folk Abby.”

“Got it boss,” she replied warmly. “Never let
the enemy see you sweat. Take care and hug Alice for me.” She
gently hung up the phone and returned to her chair and her
depression.

It was some time later that Abby arose from
the chair, made her way to her small bathroom and opened the
medicine cabinet. She took two bottles from the shelf and held one
in each hand. Two very different kinds of medication and Abby truly
hated taking either of them. Right now she had to decide which one
to use. Give in to the suicidal depression that was gripping her
heart and take the bottle of sleeping pills in her left hand, or
use the antidepressants in her right, the happy pills as she called
them. With a tear at the corner of her eye, Abby set down the happy
pills and opened the bottle of sleeping medication.

As she poured a number of the pills into her
hand she heard Harry’s voice in the back of her mind, “Take those
and Randy’s old man wins Abby. He won’t even lose a moment’s sleep
over it and he will even keep his fifty grand. Spit in his eye
girl, you’re bigger than either of those two slime balls.” Setting
her jaw grimly, Abby poured the sleeping pills down the sink and
tossed the bottle in the garbage. With a deep sigh she opened the
other bottle and dropped two happy pills in her hand.

“Well Sherlock MacKai, what are we going to
do now?” she asked her image in the mirror softly.

“Unknown Miss Abigail,” replied her
reflection, “but this is definitely a two happy pill problem.” She
tossed them down with a swallow of water then returned to the chair
to wait for the inevitable restlessness to set in. Her doctor had
told her to get two full weeks of complete rest. That was not going
to happen for Abigail MacKai, she could only hope her strength
would hold up.

It wasn’t very long before she felt the
restlessness start to come, and with it, a smile of anticipation.
Abby shuddered at how close she had been to taking the other
medication. Gods, there was so much that she had to do and only two
days to get it all done. Even worse, her body desperately needed to
rest, but now her mind was on overdrive. “All right Miss Abigail,”
she thought as she began to fidget in her chair, “you need to make
a plan and you need to do it quick. First you eat so your poor
brain has something to work with, and then you lay your plans for
revenge.”