Don't Shoot the Messenger

epilogue

2257 words

* edited

Macello POV

So much has changed over the past year.  She is back in school, taking business classes, statistics, psychology... I made sure she took an array of aptitude tests and thought that while she had a gift for working with people she also had a sense of how to create multiple sided wins... In other words, she could design business proposals that would benefit everyone involved. – The kind everyone eagerly paid to take part in.

It would be many years before she was ready for a Chief Executive Officer position (if she even wanted it). There would be a position in the legal side of my businesses for her to take charge of some things. I was already laying groundwork and lining up likely mentors for her to learn from.

There will be follow up scans for the next few years. Her fears of cancer eating away her mind have nearly disappeared. All the specialists agree that a recurrence is remote. She has regained almost all the use of her hands, and her vision is back to normal.

The dates for Carnival are different this year. I had arranged our trip over the weekend so that she did not miss classes...or not much. Jet lag would be an issue, I knew. I had bought tickets for my family, my extended family, and the Rocci's to the Dodge's Ball tonight. I had tried to buy out the entire ball for people we knew, but a few tickets had already been sold. I had bribed and entreated to get my way on everything I could...

I knew that she would be surprised. I adjusted the cufflinks of venetian glass and silver. She bought them for me last year. Tonight, I wore sapphire blue... We would each wear our masques. Their true meaning is known only to us and the artisan who helped create them.

  .........................   flashback  

Mr. Belloni contacted me while she was still in the Hospital. He told me that she had asked him privately to create a masque for me and explain it to me when it was complete. I was stunned as he explained the different elements and what they represented:

There was the façade of a gentleman, cool and expressionless... The top of the masque was a masque pushed back. It was blank and smooth, the materials chosen to reflect wealth and sophistication. A golden face stripped of all expression. Behind the façade of emotionless control was me: One side loyal and protective, the other -a beast. She saw me as canine, half dog and half wolf.

A face divided...

A dog that was loyal and protective, controlling rather than leashed. A wolf that was fierce and violent, untameable. The wolf was not free to ravage the earth; it was under the dog's mastery and control. The heart that gave the dog strength and energy was shared with the demonic wolf.

 The dogs face resembled one of the K9 breeds used by police forces. He was a force of law and order that restrained the wolf. The wolf side wore a collar half hidden under fur, and it had bloody teeth.  The wolf wept tears of fire because he knew that his ferocious nature could drive away the love he needed. There were deep cracks extending and branching from one eye, like tears. Concealed LED lights glowed shifting colors of fire through the scars. The artist was too traditional to have included the last part without her urging.