5

When he looked at the file he had picked up, he didn’t recognize the name on it. He then opened it and saw the first report. A name he knew from the past was there. He shook his head and tried to clear it. He must be projecting this somehow. He had thought of her earlier in the night. That had been a first in a long time. Though he ignored the thoughts most of the time. He could find something to distract himself easily. This was the one person he never wanted to think of again. This was the one person he hated on the planet. This was the woman who had taken his life away from him.

This woman was dead.

The pictures were her. She hadn’t changed that much. It was easy to see her again still in his mind. He looked at the name again. She must have gotten married because the name was different on this one file. His department was often slow running. Though they had a few people to work with, but they didn’t handle the major cases. There was no one else that could take it. This was not what he wanted to walk into tonight, but he knew if it was on his desk, he had to try to see it objectively. It was a small area. He couldn't kick the case to someone else though he really wanted to. This was just the beginning. He could maybe put it to rest. All of it. He knew he had issues to deal with because of her. That was the one he hoped that he could get out of this. He is his own redemption in a way.

He let his mind wander for a minute. He could remember the day he was told he was going to take her on a date. He was sitting in his father’s office when it was first brought up. Though he had been there to help his father, he often would get distracted by something else like talking to people. He watched them all.

When they got home, it was just the two of them again in the main living area of the house. That was when his father had started talking to him again. It was odd because his parents often did not go out of their way to talk to him. They were too busy fawning over Michael.

“Maximillian Anderson, you do have to try to have fun.” His father said as he looked at his younger son. Michael, of course, had to show up now. He would always wait until they began with Max, then he would be there to help steal whatever attention Max was going to get. That was one of the things that annoyed Max to no end.

“Who cares if he gets a date?” Michael had asked as his father glared at him. “I mean, who wants Max?”

“Well, I have a friend from work. You know him, Mr. Thompson. His daughter is looking to go to prom, and she can’t seem to find a date for it. I have seen the girl. She is attractive enough. I told him I would talk to you about taking her.” His father said as he ignored his oldest son and looked at his younger one.

“Dad, I don’t want to take out your friend's daughter.” Max had said as he thought it would be over, but his father sighed.

“You will be taking her out.” His father said. “I already told him you would be.”

“Did you think I don’t want to date this chick, dad?” Max asked as he looked at his dad as his brother laughed. Max didn’t really want to be bothered with girls right now. He was trying to keep his grades up and work so he could go to college. Knowing that his parents were not going to help him like they did Michael. Max had plans. He knew he wanted to do things and see places that he never had. He didn’t want the distraction of a small-town girl who wanted to stay here next to her parents for the rest of his life. He wanted to see the world.

“Maxy doesn’t want to go out with her. I guess I will do it for you, dad.” Michael said as he looked at his father.

“I told him Max would.” His father said. “Look, this guy has brought in a lot of people to the business. I need you to do this. I am not really going to ask you; I am telling you to do this.”

“Dad,” Max said as he looked at his father and sighed. “Fine, but it is just this one time.”

Max shook his head at the conversations that he remembered. That was the last day his parents talked to him for weeks. He didn’t want to go out with this girl. He didn’t know her. Looks to him were not important. He was tall and gawky himself. He wasn’t like his brother, who never seemed to go through this. He hated the idea. He didn’t want to do this at all. The idea was repulsive to him.

He thought that he didn’t step off to the side like he wanted to do. Michael would have done better. Even though Michael was the one his parents favored, he didn’t understand why he had to be the chosen one. Max had never thought of the reasons why he had been. It never made sense to him when he thought about it.

He remembered the thought he was going to ditch her somewhere, but he knew that his dad was going to kill him if he had done that. He had just done what his father wanted of him. That was his mistake. Max knew if he had stood up for himself, none of this would have happened. He wouldn’t have to deal with any of it. He would be in a completely different place with his life by now. Hindsight was twenty-twenty.

This woman was the bane of his life. He had pushed it all away. He knew that he couldn’t ever allow himself to think about her. Not her as a person. He had never thought of her as one before. All of the issues that he had with women were all from her. He shook his head again as he reached down and pulled out a pair of reading glasses, and then he started reading the basic report.

As he set the file down, he knew that he would take the case. It was something that would distract him for a little while. He would have to ignore the victim's relationship with him. He thought it wouldn’t be all that hard, really. This could be the thing he needed to do though it was not something he wanted to have anything to do with.

This meant he would have to go back to the place it all started. He would have to see everyone that had been a part of this in the past. He would have to face it head-on. That meant he would have to try and work through it as well. He didn’t know if he could that much. Though as he thought a change would be good. This was not the real change he wanted to have to deal with.

A fleeting image popped in his head. A young woman that he had become secretly obsessed with. She had been there tonight. Every time he saw her in the past two years since her last day in class, it had brought something big in his life. This was going to be the same. He would have to face his past to move on to his future.

A future that he could be proud of. He smiled to himself. Maybe this wouldn’t be all that bad.