square_the_circle_chapter_25_ crOwl dennis browne was an only child raised by parents who were both only children. even before he started private education at one of the country's foremost learning establishments, he was taught by his zealous father that there was always more than one way to do something. a self-fullfilling practice that vigorously encouraged him to get what he wanted by any means possible. dennis had a startlingly high IQ, first evidenced in kindergarden when he "failed" a simple test becuse he answered questions like, "which animal walks: elephant, fish, or bird?" with bird because he knew birds flew and walked. in elementary school, he won top prizes in district science fairs year after year for his elaborate horticulural experiments. in jr. high, he traveled to brazil and lived and studied in the amazon rain forests. in high school, he developed his own species of rhododendron. he lectured internationally on fungii as a college doctoral candidate. at 23, he started the garden room, inc. and started off working by himself, which eventually evolved into seven crews of three men. by 46 he was a billionaire. however, he was also like a spider, but instead of flies, he fashioned his elaborate webs to catch young, unsuspecting women. he pusued who he wanted and did anything it took to cause them to submit... dennis found himself in trouble a few years back. he was having an illicit affair with the girlfriend of the mayor's son. she was barely 19 and was conveniently hired, like kayla, as his personal assistant, accompanying him on weekday trips to palm springs, sacremento, and lake tahoe. what they did behind closed doors was revealed later and served as grounds of a costly out-of-court lawsuit settlement. dennis and his descent into rape crossed a dangerous line and he emphatically swore he would never do it again. however, when he met kayla, all of it was rekindled as a wildfire in his loins. best of all, she was willing. he could hardly wait to see her again, playing over and over in his lust-washed brain the events of the day at the korzens when she smoked with him, got drunk, and then later permitted him to slip his fingers into her warm pussy and bring her to a shuddering orgasm. however, when she called him after coming to her senses and told him she would not be able to work for him, turning down tons of lewd cash, he panicked. i at least need to get her to my office, he reasoned to himself, trying to catch his breath. all of his dreams of touching her again were crumbling to dust. he pressed the core of his mental faculties to devise a way to have her stay, even until she arrived sharply at ten. 060712 ... unhinged kayla felt like she was going to throw up as she opened the door to walk into the garden room. the sales assistant nodded and smiled at her. 'mr. browne is waiting for you in his office kayla. you can go right in.' dennis's office door was in the back corner of the store. kayla absentmindedly looked around as she walked; there really were so many beautiful things here. she knocked on the door. 'come in.' his voice was muffled from the heavy metal door. 'oh kayla. right on time. why don't you sit down and tell me what's going on?' his familiar tone made kayla's stomach turn over again. she grabbed onto the chairback in front of her. 'i'd rather stand thanks.' dennis cast a reproachful glance at her like she was a small child that he needed to tell things five times before she did them. 'please sit. i can pay you $1500 a week if that will convince you to stay. i think we could make a lot of' he paused obscenely, 'business together.' the predatory smile he flashed kayla made her take two steps backwards towards the door. 'no dennis. i don't want any of your money. i think i made a mistake the other day. i should have...' as she began talking, dennis stood up and started moving towards her. unfortunately, kayla had backed herself up against a huge indonesian desk and was too mesmerized to just turn and run. dennis reached up and grabbed her face in his hand. 'i'm sure your boyfriend doesn't make you come the way i did kayla.' he slid his hand back over her ear and grabbed a bunch of her hair. his face inched closer to hers and his voice lowered to a whisper. 'think of what fun work could be.' her knees buckled and she was sitting on the desk. dennis tugged on the bunch of hair in his fist and tried to push her down onto the desk. kayla finally snapped out of it. she punched him in the diaphragm and his breath left him in a hiss, but he grabbed onto her hair even more violently. 'let go of me dennis or i'll scream.' at that moment, thoughts of that young teenage girl entered dennis's head. he slowly relaxed his grip on kayla, but his hips were still pinning her against the desk. 'you make me crazy. i can't stop thinking about the other day.' 'get off me dennis.' he slowly backed off her so she could sit upright again, but stayed close enough that she couldn't get away. kayla was trying to fight off the terror in her brain, trying to think of how she was going to get out of there. 'i don't want you dennis. i love my fiance, my fiance not my boyfriend. like i said,' kayla lowered her gaze from dennis's intent unfocused stare and grabbed her left forearm, caressing the band-aid. 'the other day was a mistake. i wasn't myself, i should have said no. but i'm saying no now. i'm not going to work for you.' dennis tried to grab her face again and she stood up and kneed him in the crotch. 'you bitch' he grabbed her arm as she tried to run past him. 'let go of me or i'll call the police.' he finally let go of kayla and she ran for the door of his office and out the front door of the store. when kayla got home, she curled up in the bed with the cat and began to sob. the incident with dennis reminded her of other horrible things, things she hadn't thought of in so long. her skin began to itch again. it was only 11:30. scott wasn't supposed to be home til some time after 5. kayla futilely wished for a collanapin or a darvaset. she began to mumble out loud without even realizing it 'please scott. come home. i need you.' 061016 ... crOwl scott thought about kayla more than he thought about himself, always wondering how she was feeling. he was interested in the condition of her soul at all times. he knew she was tender, like a plant that needed covered when the threat of frost was imminent. she had slipped under the influence and blatantly cheated on him, yet he had also done it, even before she did. they were both guilty. criminals of lust, entering prohibited lands, yet coming back home, tails between their legs, mercifully forgiven. he was worried about her return to work, hoping she could resist browne's charms and see through his sexual perversity. now that she's sober, she'll be fine, he told himself. he knew they were destined to be together, married as soon as they could convince each other it could be a reality, and this meeting with their present devil was one more obstacle to overcome along the rollercoaster-ish path to the rest of their lives becoming one. he often mused over their future, even as far as what they would name their children, how many they would have, where they would raise them. maybe even homeschool them. there's no way they're watching tv until jr. high at least, he reasoned. he laughed at himself. still, he accepted, beyond the his own propensity to seek a life of family, that kayla, first and foremost must be loved until she knows who she is. he wanted to call her several times, but didn't. instead he stopped at mon ami, a chocolaterie along thompson blvd. he bought her a pound of truffles. she was waiting for him on the sidewalk of their little rental house when he arrived. she rushed into his arms with an intensity he immediately questioned out of fear and understandable anxiety. "what's wrong, kayla?" he said, as they separated. he looked into the pools of her eyes swimming in worry. "dennis browne is here." 061020 ... unhinged max had become used to kayla's crying fits in the months that her and scott had tried their homemade therapy. since scott had gone back to work, max took up his place next to her. after hours of crying, she was finally exhausted. max sat next to her on the bed like a little sphinx slowly blinking his eyes as her hand ran from his head to the base of his tail over and over. suddenly the doorbell rang and kayla's heart leapt up in her throat. she decided to ignore it. about thirty seconds later it rang again about five times in a row and she could hear an insistent tapping even from upstairs. she looked at the clock; 4:47pm. maybe scott had got off work a little early and forgot his key. she jumped out of bed at the thought. max followed her downstairs. when she pulled open the front door, all that was separating her and dennis was the flimsy screen door. kayla could taste the bile in the back of her throat. she turned to slam the door in his face. 'kayla, please. just wait a second. i just want to talk to you. i promise.' kayla felt the snarl form on her face before she could do anything about it. 'i don't think that's a good idea. my fiance will be home soon and if he sees you he might hurt you.' 'i feel very bad about what happened today in my office,' dennis pulled a check out of his suitcoat pocket. 'i wanted to talk to both of you about my behavior. i really would like you to legitimately work for me kayla. you have a talent for assisting deals. i can promise you that i will behave strictly professionally from now on.' dennis handed her the check. 'even if you still don't want to work for me, i'd like you to keep the check.' kayla's mind started to reel at the sight of that many zeros. the poverty of her old life overwhelmed her followed by the thought of what she could do with all that money. what was it since she moved with people writing her large checks? but this one, this check was a bribe. kayla's snarl widened. 'so you think if you pay me off, i won't go to the police. my fiance told me you've done this before.' dennis winced. 'maybe we shouldn't discuss this in your front yard.' kayla reluctantly opened the door for him. 'my fiance should be home from work soon.' she led him back to the kitchen and pointed at the table. 'you can sit there and i am going to wait outside for him.' 'but...' 'i am not going to be alone with you ever again dennis.' max walked into the kitchen and sat down three feet in front of dennis, staring, his tail twitching in short agitated motions. the twenty minutes kayla sat outside for scott to get home seemed like an eternity. she knew scott was going to flip. when she finally spotted him, she flung herself into his arms. 'dennis browne is here.' 061020 ... crOwl scott's hatred for dennis browne went far back into the cavernous, secret holes of his childhood where all his monsters lived. where they pulled him down steps and hid in closets behind old man coats, shoes, and fedoras. he once owned a rather large teddy bear the size of himself and he would pound it, (as well as peform other unmentionables) with his fists until his rage had been adequately satisfied. though his knuckles were cut and bruised from the toy bear's rubber mouth, he felt like his fury accomplished something. and now, when kayla's fateful pronouncement of doom, the heady precursor to the tragic event, albeit, was assumed, scott stepped into the catacylsm like being swept away by a raging river of jealousy. this man had violated his fiance and she was carried away by his devious charm, yielding to his touch. still, she relented and admitted her folly. she broke whatever little that was between them like a dead stick. she knew his intentions were for sex alone. she would not be his whore. for this is the drama of our own lives, lived so naturally. his name from her lips were poison arrows flying for their bull's eye target-mark. they struck him in the eye until he was retchedly blind. they zinged and bit like mosquitoes at the back of his neck. they moved stealthily and secretly like a spider up the pant leg, unfelt, until it finds the tender flesh of the thigh. two bites not felt until morning for in her venom is an immediate anesthetic. his name was ink that needed removed from this world. he knew dennis browne would be dead, soon. somehow. such evil did not deserve to exist any longer* he tore out of her embrace like skin ripping under the sharp hook of a rose thorn. one drop of blood, thick and viscuous. he tastes its iron goodness, knows he will shed dennis browne's blood this very day. up the creaking, few wooden steps to where he flung the screen door open and shouldered the great wooden door, until it popped open. he expected to see browne in the living room as in a nightmare, perhaps sitting on the chair covered by a sheepskin, waiting. but, he wasn't there. "mr. browne!" scott shouted. his voice broke with determined aghast. he pushed along the plank floors that kayla swept with a broom. through into the kitchen with its stained glass windows and mosaic tile backwall that scott and kayla worked on together for three weeks. he wasn't in there either. suddenly he heard a noise coming from their upstairs bedroom. like a drawer being opened. scott flew up the stairs like a masai warrior photographed by peter beard. he found dennis browne exactly where he knew he would be, caught red-handed with a pair of kayla's panties in his dirty hands. 061022 ... unhinged when scott ripped her arms off of him, kayla knew she wasn't going to be able to stop him from hurting dennis. 'scott! scott....WAIT!' she ran after him into the house. as she opened the door, he was headed back towards the staircase. 'scott!' her voice raised in hysteria. he couldn't hear a word she said. she ran back into the kitchen and dialed 911. 'hello....i need an officer at 821 madison avenue. no, my boyfriend is fighting with my boss and i'm afraid he's going to kill him. please send them now. i can hear them upstairs.' kayla hung up the phone and sprinted up the stairs. while she was on the phone, she could hear thumping and crashing upstairs. she ran to their bedroom and saw scott beating dennis' face into the floor. 'SCOTT....STOP' he still couldn't hear her, so kayla tackled him off of dennis. he was still swinging. his fist connected with kayla's face and her jaw made a sickening pop. the sound brought recognition back into scott's eyes. 'oh my god...,' scott looked at dennis on the floor in a small puddle of blood moaning and kayla holding her jaw where a bruise was already forming. 'kayla...i...oh my god.' scott fell back into a sitting position. kayla tried to talk and all scott could hear was sputtering mumbles. she spit a mouthful of blood and a tooth out onto the wooden floor. dennis chuckled and scott lurched towards him. kayla threw herself in between them. 'stop. scott.' words came out as sentences as the pain finally caught up with kayla and made it hard to breathe. suddenly, there was a loud official knocking on the door. 'police. i called. the police.' 061023 ... . square_the_circle_chapter_26_ 061028 what's it to you? who go blather from