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Sitting on the passenger seat next to her was a stack of the daily mail. Picking each
one up and glancing at the return address, and then tossing them back into the pile. They
were all opened by her assistant. Jane had checked them all for her, only giving her the
important mail. There was one envelope that was sealed. It had 'personal and confidential'
written in large letters. Jane never opened this type of mail. As she drove down the
highway, occassionally she glanced at the envelope. This made her very curious. With
her exit in sight she signalled and tried pulling into the right lane. 'Come on, let me in!' She was quite agitated. Finally a break, she was able to get in. Taking the exit she let out a
sigh signalling her ordeal was almost over.
Driving into the driveway, she noticed her neighbour working on her garden. The
woman was on her knees wearing cut off shorts that were frayed at the ends. Her oversized
t-shirt was obviously her husband's. 'Oh great, we're braless again.' She scowled looking
away from the woman's oversized breasts, you can't help but notice them. Getting out of
her car she waved at her neighbour, ignoring her questions about her day. Carrying her
briefcase and her mail, she opened the door to her house. She was greeted by her calico
cat, Katrina. Bending down and stroking her little friend's body. Katrina purred and arched her back.
Placing her briefcase on the floor by the stairs, and laying the mail on her kitchen
table. Walking over to her cupboards she took out a tin of cat food. Katrina purred as she
rubbed her body against her legs. As she struggled with the can opener, she glanced at the
mail on the table. Once the food was plopped into Katrina's bowl, she walked over and
picked up the envelope. As she slid her finger trying to break the seal she winced from a
papercut. Sticking her finger in her mouth, she could taste the blood that had started to
come from the cut. Annoyed, she opened the envelope and pulled out a folded sheet of
paper. Gasping, she dropped the paper. It couldn't be! She picked up the letter and the
envelope, and picking up her phone she made a call. The voice of her assistant was at the
other end. "Jane, you handed me a letter today marked personal and confidential, what can
you tell me about it?" Jane thought for a moment. "Well Libby, it arrived in today's mail,
and when I saw how it was addressed personal and confidential I gave it to you. Thats all I
know. Why, is there something wrong?" Libby chewed on her lower lip. "No Jane,
everything is alright. Thank you." Hanging up the phone, she looked at the paper again.
How could this be? Who could have sent this to her? Her life had been very good.
She only had this one incident that she was guaranteed would be swept under the rug, as if
it never happened. All she needed now was this incident to surface now with the merger
happening. Holding the paper in trembling fingers, a photocopy of arrest papers. Her arrest papers. She was only eighteen at the time. All of her friends had been drinking that night,so had she. No one else wanted to drive, it was up to her. The fatal accident that followed had left two of her friends dead, and her best friend had been crippled. 'Daddy said it would all be taken care of.' She called her father. He was away from his office and they didn't know when to expect him. 'Now what?' She asked herself.
The ringing of the phone made her jump. Nervously she picked it up. The voice at
the other end was hard and cruel. "All I want from you is to resign from the company. You
have till five o'clock tomorrow, or else I will let the newspapers know of your arrest and
how your father covered it up." Then the line went dead. Libby sat down at her kitchen
table. Tears filled her eyes. How could this have happened. She got up and walked over to
her desk. Pulling out a notepad she wrote her letter of resignation. What else could she do?
February 1999