Chapter 16

(MOLLY'S STORY - BELFAST 1995)

That fateful day in the front lobby of the courthouse was etched in Molly's mind like it was just yesterday. The wind was blowing in terrible gusts outside and people were fearful of losing their hats into the gutter. As usual, the building was not heated good and proper and she had to wear her ugly brown pullover sweater just to keep the chill from her bones. She had the thought that perhaps it was better to put "meat on her bones" like her older sister Maureen with her devil-may-care attitude when it came to a little extra weight here and there now that she was happily married and had a husband that loved her no matter how heavy she might be.

Well, she certainly had no intention of getting that rotund happily married look that most of the females around her sported if they were over the age of thirty. Not that she wouldn't mind a man of her own that she could use to fill a pram with some little ones that might look like her one day. Besides, they were useful to do things around the house and a hopefully obedient spouse would give her cover at parties and family get togethers to keep the married ones off her back about her single status and her risk of being an "old maid".

She was feeling a bit out of step with everything around her and did her best to forget the disaster of a date the night before when a perfectly normal looking young lad had tried his best to get her into a horizontal position with her knickers down without her permission. The problem was she was laughing so hard it was difficult to avoid the slapping of the boy's member against her startled skin. For the life of her she could not even remember the lad's name but she knew he came from a "good family" meaning Catholic and he was reputed to have had a leaning to become a priest before started to work for the government office.

Fortunately, he was so desperate in his need for solace that he spurted prematurely and covered her pretty legs and ankles with forensic evidence of his unwanted attentions.

Her job was undeniably mundane and she had to admit it was a bit boring but she enjoyed preparing the briefs for the certified legal staff in their overworked burden of prosecuting criminals and malcontents in violation of established codes of law. Sometimes, she could not help but identify with some of the "bad" people because their crimes were less sinful than just an expression of human nature or ignorance of the law.

When she went into the lobby and saw the tall, dark handsome strange man looking at the "wall of shame" with all of the IRA wanted killers displayed like sale items with amounts of cash to be paid for information, she immediately thought he might be a good choice for the spouse she needed to make life easier with her marriage-oriented relations.

She could tell right away he might be trouble because he looked a little too intelligent to be very obedient and might be difficult to control. Still, his rugged good looks pushed away her doubts and she approached him with an innocent exterior and hoped he might find her well-tended shape to his liking.

Molly started a conversation with a smile to encourage him and prattled on about this and that with no set plan to gain information or put her on offer too obviously for a careful single male. It seemed to work quite well because he was inside her comfort zone before she appreciated his magnetism. She suddenly was committed to meeting him after work and she didn't know a single thing about him other than the fact she could tell he was older that she first suspected and she might be leaving herself open to criticism for seeking a "father figure" instead of a spouse. She had to admit that although most of her boyfriends were lads her own age, she had a certain attraction to more mature men and liked the way they seemed to know exactly what to do when things got a little awkward.

All she knew when she was sitting down at her desk a little breathless from the stairs was that her knickers were a little damp and it was more from her terrible sinful dirty thoughts about how her new "friend" Danny would look naked above her in comfortable bed.

A couple of her female co-workers giggled and nudged each other recognizing the "look" of a female caught up in a fantasy world of imaginary sex of most desired kind. They all had shared that search for lust rather than love in a world of boring banality. Molly totally ignored them because she was quite comfortable in her daydream and the stacks of paper around her seemed unimportant despite the constant reminders from her supervisor that they all had to be finished before "close of business".

She opened the envelope marked "Personal and Confidential" wondering what could be so important in such a plain brown wrapping.

It was the response from MI5 to her application for a low-level position in the Belfast office. Apparently, her CV had passed their vetting process and she was to start the first working day of the following month allowing her time to close her association with her current employer.

It was great news for Molly because now she would be able to put her hard-won degree to use in Criminal Justice and begin her career of actually deducing the answers to some difficult problems facing the elected authorities in keeping order in a troubled land.

She went immediately to her supervisor Mister Jennings who seemed annoyed that she had interrupted his perusal of a risqué ladies magazine.

"Just fill out Form 1033B for notice of termination and schedule an exit debrief next week down on the second floor. Good luck with your new employer whoever they might be."