Read Online Joy Argento - Carrie and Hope by Joy Argento - Free Book Online Page A

fingers tapped out a rhythm on the desk as she waited for the welcome screen. When at last it appeared, she signed onto the Internet and opened up Google. She needed to find a nice restaurant to take Carrie to on Friday. When she was done she opened the desk drawer and found and old notebook and pen. For some reason she was in the mood to write. The poem she wrote was one of happiness and joy.
        

     

     

Chapter 8

     
    Hope didn’t know why she was having such a hard time deciding what to wear. She stood in only her bra and underwear and peered into her closet. The pile of clothes on the bed was growing larger as she tried on another shirt and then tossed it on top of the mountain.   She pulled a light blue silk blouse from her closet. She held it up in front of her and took a look in the full-length mirror. This shirt might work, she thought. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and watched herself in the mirror the whole time she buttoned the shirt. She left the top button undone. She examined herself in the mirror again and undid one more button. It showed more of her throat, but didn’t come anywhere near showing her cleavage. She undid another button and looked again. She added a pendant on a thin silver chain around her neck and nodded her approval.
      I guess I should pick out a nice pair of slacks to go with the shirt. I am not sure that showing up in just my undies would be a good idea. She looked through her closet again and selected a dark gray pair of polyester pants with pleats down the front. She slipped them on and pulled up the zipper in the back. She turned sideways and looked into the mirror, this time checking out her hips and butt. She turned again so her back was to the mirror. She twisted to look back over her shoulder and once again checked out her rear end. Satisfied that she looked good she picked up the clothes from the bed to hang back in the closet.
    Her attention was drawn to the cardboard box on the shelf above her head. She reached up and pulled the box down and put it on the now cleared off bed. She lifted the lid, avoiding the layer of dust on it and set it on the floor. She sat down on the bed next to the box and pulled out a spiral notebook. She flipped through the pages, stopping here and there to read the words there in her own handwriting.   A poem she wrote during the time she was preparing to leave Tom caught her eye.

     
    Now I don’t believe in good fortune
    And I don’t believe in accidents
    And I’ve gone against all of my instincts
    In complete disregard of good sense
     
    And I’ve put myself in this position
    All at good judgment’s expense
    Since I’ve accepted this mission
    I cannot claim innocence
    I should run
     
    Now I stand here before you on guard
    Yet we’re willing to play this game
    These walls that surround me are hard to get through
    But I know that you’ll try just the same
    I should run
     
    You should go your way and I’ll go my way
    Say it’s been nice and move along without delay
    I struggle in my head and it argues with my heart every day
    I know better that’s why I can’t stay
     
    I can’t help but trust my suspicion
    You want more than I’m able to give
    But you shouldn’t mistake my submission
    As love, because it’s all relative
     
    Because this broken heart that I carry
    Will cause you nothing but grief
    I was willing to give you my body
    But our moments of joy with be brief
    You should run

     
    She pushed away the memories that the poem brought to the front of her mind, pulled out a couple more notebooks, and thumbed through them. Hope set aside one of the notebooks and covered the box again. She left the box on the bed and took the notebook with her when she left the room.
    Hope slipped her cell phone into her purse and took her car keys off the hook where they hung by the door. She primped her hair in the hallway mirror applied a thin layer of lipstick and headed out the door.
    The traffic on the express was light