Cold dish - chapter 2

It wouldn't be too far off the mark to say that this all began because of one very simple fact. I just can't say no to my wife. She says jump, and i'm off the ground before she has time to finish the sentence. It's a sad but true fact. It is something that has earned me constant ridicule from those who know me. To say that she's got me wrapped around her little finger would be to underestimate the power she held over me.

I often wondered why I was so willing to be at the end of her leash. Maybe it was out of gratitude for all she had done for me. Maybe it was simply in my nature to have Rose wear the trousers in our relationship. Or maybe I was just so head over heels in love that the thought of not doing something when she was asking me to just never occur to me. She wanted me to do something and I did it. That's all their was to it.

So needless to say when she asked me if I could spend the weekend helping her boss work on the script for his latest short film, I didn't even hesitate to agree. I wasn't too happy about staying away for the night as I found it difficult not to worry about my family. In the two years since Isabelle had been born I hadn't spent a single night away from home.

So after many reassurances from Rose and due fanfare at my departure from my daughter I left for my first weekend away from my family.

When she'd first asked me to help her boss out it had seemed strange to me. What input could a simple computer programmer have on a script for a film. Well it turned out that this short was following the exploits of a hacker and when she'd mentioned my job to her boss, he felt as if I could help add some realism to the script to make the whole thing more believable.

My first impression of her boss, Ross, was that of the friendly uncle. When he first opened the door the first thing he did was offer me a beer and after that we just seemed to hit it off.

We started off going over the basic setup of what would be the best equipment to use for the look of the thing. This was all relatively safe ground, in that it was things most people who work with a computer could tell you.

A few drinks later, having moved on to the finer details of the actual hacking in the script I let slip of the, shall we say, indiscretions, of my youth. It is not something I had told to anyone so I wasn't sure of how he'd react. I certainly wasn't expecting the full on belly laugh that ensued.

I remember him saying after nearly 5 minutes of uncontrolled laughter how he had hit the metaphorical jack pot. He had only expected to make a few adjustments to the script to make it seem believable, but after a few hours of me regaling some of the more intrepid of my youthful experiences we ended up nearly rewriting the entire script.

During this progress he said that he was going to have to dedicate the film to me. He said that with all my input he had been able to improve the script ten fold. Naturally I was flattered but I had to respectfully decline. I didn't exactly want the attention that I'd receive if people realised that I was the one that had provided the film with the exact methods of hacking. It's the kind of thing that could draw the wrong kind of attention, but more than that I dreaded to think what my wife would do if she ever found out.

When we decided to finish up around eleven I was suddenly struck with a powerful wave of panic.

I became convinced that I needed to go home write there and then. I was halfway out the door with the keys in my hand before Ross managed to stop me and calm me down. He seemed to understand my concerns and managed to placate me enough to go back inside and head home in the morning.

It turned out that Rose had warned him this might happen. It wasn't the first time this had happened. After what had happened with my parents I had become prone to bouts of panic. I used to panic if Rose was even 5 minutes later than she said she would be. It had got so bad that at one point I even had to be medicated to keep me calm. I had managed to overcome this for the most part in the pst year, but I still kept  the medication on me

I took a few of these before I headed to bed for the night. I managed to come to my senses enough to thank Ross for his help. We had only known each other for one day but we had become good friends whilst working on the script and I knew instinctively that this was someone who I could always rely on for a helping hand.

Maybe if I had stuck to my guns and gone home none of this would have happened. It is something I will never know but will continue to haunt me.

By morning I had calmed down quite considerably and even managed to eat the entirety of the fry up Ross had prepared. A feat I could never have accomplished the night before. I always had difficulty eating when I was nervous, a habit I've never been able to get rid of.

We parted ways on good terms with a promise to meet up for drinks again. However as I walked out the door I couldn't shake off a feeling of uneasiness that some thing was terribly wrong.

Halfway down the motorway my radio suddenly burst into life and started blaring 'Highway to hell' by ACDC. I don't' know if it was the surprise at the radio suddenly coming on the choice in tracks, but I was gripped in the worst panic attack I've ever had, and believe me that's saying something.

It should have taken me nearly an hour to get home from where I was. I made it in thirty minutes. Honestly it's a miracle I didn't get pulled over or end up killing someone.

When I got home I burst out of the car and nearly fell over in my franticness to get to the door, not even bothering to shut the car door behind me.

I fumbled in my attempts to get my key out of my pocket and into the door. When the key dropped from my hands due to my shaking, I nearly had a heart attack.

I eventually managed to steady my self long enough to unlock the door and turn the handle.

Finally the door swung open and with that simple act my life as I knew it was shattered into an oblivion never to return.