The Gatekeeper

Part III Love Child Chapter 24

24

DURING LAUREN’S STAY at a motel while seeing to Wolfe's needs at the hospital, one of Lauren's alters met and became involved briefly with a man named Marco.

It was Janelle, the former international supermodel, who found this ruggedly handsome, yet distinguished young businessman, appealing. The agony of her dog's death struggle had driven her search for peace inward. Processing her emotions through writing, Janelle was sitting in the motel lounge penning pensive poems of the highest literary quality, when the handsome well-dressed man walked in, sat down near her, and opened his briefcase.

A financial advisor, Marco was in Madison on business. While preparing for an upcoming meeting, he couldn't help but notice the ravishing, yet obviously troubled Janelle.

"Multabelle!" he mumbled to himself in his native Sicilian tongue when he saw the gorgeous young woman sitting by herself.

"Hello. You seem engrossed in your writing. Is it business-related, personal, or just for pleasure?" he questioned hoping his opening line would lead to further conversation.

Caught off guard, her defenses down, and feeling so alone, she comfortably responded to the obvious advance.

"Actually it's personal, but not about a person," Janelle responded, polite but because of what was going on, with no real desire to be hit on.

"Well, I have to ask you what that means."

Janelle sighed, pulled her eyebrows down and together, then decided it might be good to talk to someone about Wolfe.  

"I'm writing about my dog. He's being treated at the university veterinary hospital," Janelle responded, looking at Marco through eyes swollen and red from days of tearful anguish.

Merely sharing her story began to lighten the emotional burden she was carrying. Marco was polite and listened with understanding and sensitivity. Janelle learned that Marco was from a well-established wealthy Sicilian family dripping with old-world conservative values. His family was also a prominent force in the Mafia operating in the Midwest. That was his heritage. Marco, the man, was much different.

He was a professional athlete in the sport of soccer, an accomplished skier and ski instructor, a successful stockbroker, a professional model, and a millionaire. Janelle's conservative, dedicated professional values and successes were reflected in Marco's captivating Sicilian eyes. 

Since her core personality was preoccupied with her beloved Wolfe's medical problems, Janelle had an opportunity to nurture a brief relationship with Marco.

Feeling lonely and in need of some physical affection, Janelle invited Marco up to her suite for a private dinner. They talked into the night and became closer with each clever metaphor and rhyme exchanged. The emotional and intellectual intimacy they were sharing led inevitably to the bedroom. Their affair lasted during the two weeks that Janelle was in Madison. Marco cleared his busy schedule to be with her during that period. 

WHEN WOLFE FINALLY recovered, Janelle, with much regret, returned control of the body to Lauren. Marco went back to Milwaukee and his former life, but would not soon forget the time spent with Janelle. Lauren went back to Canada instead of heading back to her life with Brad. 

After several months, her beloved Wolfe was once again near death's door. Like Lazarus, the power of Lauren's prayers and her unrelenting will could have once again pushed death aside and like Mr. Jingles, the mouse resurrected in The Green Mile, lived on and on despite advancing age.