The Letters Kept Coming

THE LETTERS WERE AS FREQUENT AS HIS RE-ENTRY to the apartment shared with his lady. Arapet could not fathom the intent behind the seeming urgency of letters originating from Washington, D.C. Shaylene had never mentioned relatives or an old flame there, no prior college and was not a high school graduate of any school in the state. As he reached into the metal box once more, he pulled out a certified envelope. It read Federal Bureau of Investigation. It, too, was addressed to his "Mrs."... a role played by Shaylene for the past two years. The address was his... the mail forwarded, obviously in error. He opened the letter to see that Mrs. Cental was hired. An orientation and final walk through of her duties and their expectations were scheduled as dictated in the letter Arapet held in his hand. For two years Shaylene had been uneployed, playing in and out of local hotels, trying to snag credentials of any loose bystander or room registrant. This could be her biggest opportunity and he would support her following through on the offer.

There had been curious vehicles in the neighborhood parked in front of his apartment, but no serious incident came fromany observants claiming to have "just be passing through." His frustrations and Shaylene's apprehension was about to be rewarded... she would only need toplay it cool. "Be cool" echoed over and over in his mind. "I will just help her to play it cool, and we will be in the money... legit!"

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION was not an entity to be toyed with, but the application and preliminary background screening was done. There would be fingerprints and perhaps a facial recognition detail to be completed in person... but that would be the seal Cental was betting on. Shaylene's own bio features would out rank his wife's ... his prior mate's submitted proof of who she was. His girl would be a legitimate hire for legit money... big money, and all he had to do was ride it through the channels on her back. He could get one more free "screw" on his wife's time, and get this biggest "nut" on Shaylene. She would be home from her shopping and fisching run in the next hour or so. He readied his approach. Cental was hungrier than ever now. He had been out of work for three years. Fisching and scamming in the community... each community he'd moved into temporary housing in... with his attempt at cultivating a new identity; and been relatively unsuccessful at finding paperwork to support a full detail of the new man he wanted to be. He wanted a clean record and a cushioned income in a reputable career focus that he could uphold and not be found out. He was not a man who could withstand the burden of personal attendance to licensing studies and exams . Patience was a virtue never managed in his early life and not developed in these, his latter years. Marriage to his wife had been an ultimate challenge to his bravado. Charlene was a strong natured woman determined to be a woman of stature in a respected career for which she had been educated and primed through internships in the academy where she studied governmental law. Her endeavors for being that noteable personality wasted his creative juices which he had cultivated among friends from his youth and from within the community as he discovered them. He longed for the more adventurous lifestyle of the underground... unrecorded except for the successful resuolve of his capers. She was hired to serve as a Whitehouse page for one year which had extended into two and now a third. The role took her away from home... the home made when first they married, and now she remained there instead of with him and in his profession. Her profession had finally made its moment clear. So many applications and so many unsuccessful, unfinalized results. And now this, addressed to her original home. She was being hired to work not only within the government agency she so admired, but would have it with the salary she had chased for the near five years during and after college. She had confirmed her talent now, after their divorce and so noticed... by the letter here in his hand. Shaylene would be home soon and was sure to welcome the challenge he held for her. Charlene's loss.

prompted by the Unexpected Uncovering challenge by Gina(5/10/2023)