chapter 87

word count: 1454

officer beverly simone entered her apartment and headed toward the kitchen table.. she had successfully navigated the three flights of stairs,, and somehow or another managed to get the proper key in the door but was anxious to set down the three bags of groceries she had picked up on the way back to weston from new albany,, as they were digging deeply into the soft flesh of her arm..

“thank god i don’t do this  all the time!” she huffed,, as she set the grocery bags down on the table and  started to unload the precious ingredients to her mom’s famous chicken paprikash recipe.. in addition to all the paprikash fixings,, there were fresh cut flowers,, some absolutely delicious smelling apple pie candles and a freshly baked apple pie she planned on serving for desert,, that is,, if she and gil could keep their hands off each other long enough to make it through desert.. 

she had no sooner placed the pie under the glass lid of its serving tray,, when the phone began to ring.. she checked the caller id, it was gil. he had been calling her cell repeatedly since she left the grocery store,, but in her haste to get home and get the events leading up to her first home cooked meal for him underway,, she had forgotten all about placing her hands free device in her ear,, and having seen the devastation of people talking on their cell while driving first hand,, more times than she would like to remember,, she had resisted the urge to answer.. 

“hey, baby!” she answered her land line excitedly,, still a bit out of breath from carrying the two full armloads of groceries up the stairs to her third floor walkup apartment.. 

“i know,, i couldn’t answer though,, i was driving.. i stopped to pick up a few things,, and i was so excited about tonight,, i forgot all about putting my earpiece in..”

she propped the handset of the phone between her ear and shoulder and filled a vase with water.. as she carefully arranged the flowers in the vase,,  gil whispered sweet nothings in her ear,,  his tone, hushed,, and breathy as he was still at the station house,, but clearly as excited at the prospect of getting to spend their first whole night alone together,, since they had met a few short weeks ago as she was.. 

“you sweet talker, you!!”  simone swooned into the phone as she placed the newly arranged flowers in the center of the kitchen table.. “you better save some of those pretty words for when you get over here tonight!!”

“ok,, well you finish up there,, and then take your time getting cleaned up..  i’ve got a ton of stuff to get ready over here before you arrive,, the least of which is not putting together my mama’s special recipe for chicken paprikash.. i can’t believe you have never had it before.. you’re gonna love it..” 

gil went on to whisper to her how there was no way he was gonna love it more than he loved her,, and if it were up to him,, they could skip dinner all together,, and get right to the dessert.. 

“now,, now,,” she admonished him, “i’ve got the dessert part covered as well,, you just get yourself together and get on over here!!”

“ok, i’ll see you  then.. about seven.. perfect.."

“you know i love you too baby!!” she sang into the phone as they ended the call,, and she went about lighting the candles,, and strategically placing them in the living room and the bedroom.. by the time gil arrived,, the house would smell like she had been baking all day,, and nothing quite said home,, like the spicy sweet aroma of a fresh baked apple pie.. ok.. so she hadn’t actually baked it herself, but the ambiance would be there none the less.. 

she wasted no time getting the chicken chopped and simmering in the broth.. with that underway it was time to get her apartment in order.. one of the perks of living alone, was not having to worry about the little details,, like toothpaste smudges on the bathroom mirror,, making the bed every day before she left for work,, or folding and actually putting away the clean laundry.. 

simone took a look around and realized,, there was a lot more to be done than she had originally expected.. she decided to start in the bedroom,, since it was evident they were going to be spending quite some time in there.. as she pulled off the sheets,, and crossed the room to take them in to be laundered,, her heart skipped a beat, as her eyes fell on a picture of herself and detective brenda simmons,, arms around each other,, the unmistakable glow of young love emanating from both of their faces.. 

a sharp pain cut through her heart,, and settled in her stomach.. she dropped the sheets to the floor and picked up the picture of her and brenda.. oh my god,, how she missed her.. she held the picture tight to her breast,, and was instantly transported to the first time she and brenda had made love.. 

it had been simone’s first experience with a woman. brenda had been so gentle with her..  so thoughtful,, making her feel so at ease.. no one had ever treated her like that before.. brenda had caressed her so carefully,, so gingerly,, like she might break under the weight of her passion.. she had always made her feel like she was a little china doll.. 

she had never felt more like a woman than she did that first night under brenda’s careful tutorage.. the very thought of it gave rise to an all-encompassing ache she knew could never be satisfied again.. 

now,, with brenda gone,, lost in the devastation of the miller house explosion,, she knew she would never feel that way about another human being again.. she would forever remain under the spell of brenda’s sweet kisses,, forever ache to be back in her arms.. 

as she carefully tucked the picture away in the bottom drawer of her dresser,, she found consolation only in the fact that she was here to witness the total devastation of buzz miller.. the very thing that her brenda had worked so long and hard at achieving ever since he had passed her over for the promotion she had so well deserved.. 

she had given it her all.. her expertise in the field,, her years of devoted service to the new albany police department,, and in the end,, even she had even given him her body.. it sickened simone to think of her tender brenda being ravaged by that womanizing pig.. submitting to his every need,, becoming a vessel for his disgusting manflesh all in an effort to secure what should have rightfully been hers to begin with.. 

if only brenda could be here today,, to see that buzz had indeed lost everything.. his home,, his wife,, his son,, and more importantly,, his iron fisted rule over the 45^th st. precinct homicide division.. he had been reduces to a blithering idiot on all fronts.. and taking up with that disgustingly drunk trudy woman,, who’s flamboyant sexuality was an insult to every female of the species,, was truly the icing on the cake.. 

if only….

as simone picked up the pile of dirty sheets and headed off toward the laundry room,, she took a moment to assure brenda,, where ever she was,, that she had taken up where her beloved had left off.. she had her claws in gil bettencourt now,, the very detective that had received the promotion brenda had so coveted.. the promotion she was passed over for,, and eventually gave her life in retaliation for not having received.. 

yes,, brenda had played a key part in the downfall of buzz miller.. but the fight was not over.. bettencourt would pay,, and pay dearly for having usurped the position brenda had so greatly deserved.. and all because he was a man.. 

a wicked little smile passed over simone's lips,, as she loaded the sheets into the washer,, and thought about how she was going to use that very same manhood that had gotten gil the promotion against him.. how she was going to see to it that not only did he lose the accolades that came with that promotion,, the one that brenda so richly deserved,, but if everything when according to her plan,, he would lose his position on the police force altogether.. 

oh yes,, he would pay dearly,, and if it was the last thing simone ever did,, she would see to it that he would do so at her hand..