Missed Connections

The waiter comes around to check on me again. I avert my eyes in embarrassment and try to discreetly check the time on my phone. Going on two hours now. I should really give up.

“Sitting inside! Text me when you get here x”

Sent.

Delivered.

Read.

Ignored.

I sigh and crumple. I call the waiter over. I order a drink. “Of course, madam,” he says as he scurries away. Was that a look of pity in his eyes? I decide I’d rather be drunk than dwell on that any longer.

Man. Remind me to never use this app again.

From Guest Contributor Rachel Martz

Jack’s Undoing

HUBRIS CONTEST

Jack had it all: six luxurious homes, expensive cars, a private plane, and a trophy wife. Like many trust-fund babies, he had grown up with few responsibilities and many advantages, including a degree from Yale. Unfortunately, for Jack, he did not grow up with a sense of ethics or basic moral values.

The FBI stormed through the front door of his New York apartment at six in the morning.“We have a warrant for your arrest. The charge is transporting wealthy, inadmissible aliens into the USA.”

Jack rolled his eyes. Don’t these people realize my connections? He called his lawyer.

From Guest Contributor Janice Siderius

The Consortium

After five years on the job, the speculative nature of their work weighed on Debra. Bobby said it was a waste of time to worry over whether any of it mattered, that she just needed to concentrate on the task at hand. Little by little, the evidence would pile up, and they'd uncover the truth. The whole truth.

Debra stared at their conspiracy wall and she could not quell her doubts any longer. The tenuous connections among various suspects required a gargantuan leap of faith.

She thought back to Sunday School. There was a time she'd believed in God too.