Chapter 1

Through the window of his apartment he could see the city buildings, limiting his view in the misty gray in the morning sun. Down in the streets below him, the frantic flight of the city dwellers and their cars, were running the gauntlet of getting to work, or wherever they need to go.

Sirens screaming warnings to motorists in the way, echoed around the high walls of the concrete towers lining the streets. The scene in every city, the world over. Morning rush hour. Everyone, always on the run.

Mike McMahon was a successful programmer in his Late 30s. He’d never met a girl he wanted to be married to although, a few had created some interest before doing something that just broke the spell. If, that’s what you can call it.

He had spent some of his early life in the city before his father was able to move out to the country, which soon became the suburbs. Mike felt a little lost outside the city; the city was where anything and everything was just a few blocks away.

In his twenties he had been a bit freer with his money and had a big apartment and even bought a Corvette! He had to balance his expenses carefully with his income and didn’t like the feeling.

The Corvette had quickly proved to be a huge mistake, for the big city and a 400+ hp sports car were bad matches. He felt the large sum he had paid for it had been a rip off, but before he got around to selling it and taking his lumps, a fellow offered him a very nice deal on the car. Almost $6,000 more than he had paid for it three months before. It seems Chevy had quit making them like his and were now making something else less exciting.

Mike managed to restrain his excitement and acted like it was a loss, but his life had changed, and he had to be realistic and let it go. It was a cash deal, and he went down and bought a nice Honda Accord and banked the other $17,000. He bought a new one every few years, but never again looked at any fancy cars.

Likewise, when a realtor made him a good offer on his big fancy apartment in late 2006, he sold it and moved to a significantly smaller and plainer apartment closer to his office. The furnishings were good quality but simple, and he just didn’t buy any of the trappings of the wealthy. He could certainly afford them now, but had lost interest. That was the cause of at least two women moving on to “Greener Pastures” when he didn’t seem to have the money they expected him to have. Of course, they weren’t privy to his stock, bond and property holdings either or they might well have hung around.

The crash of 2008 hurt, but he had plenty of capital and easily rode it out. In fact, he had enough free funds to make a few lucrative purchases that paid him back many times over.

In short, Mike was a simple unassuming fellow who had accumulated a great deal of wealth, some of which he quietly and anonymously provided to various charities and institutions. He was perfectly happy with his life and saw no reason to change a thing. But of course, change isn’t always something you choose.

He saw the virus spring up in China, affecting his business almost immediately. He also foresaw the possibility of it spreading and took steps to protect himself, his company and his employees.

As the threat grew, he took steps well before the rush to ensure his company’s continued operations, except that he hadn’t expected the huge lock down with no one allowed outside of their homes. Fortunately, almost everyone in his office could work remotely, except ting the janitorial team and a couple of low-level secretaries. These he just told to stay home and paid them normally.

His business actually grew during all this, because computer security became more critical. The many systems he had, and the new ones they had developed, were in great demand.

Eventually the lock down was relaxed a little at a time to make sure the horror that the virus had inflicted didn’t blossom again. He really enjoyed being able to walk in the park again in the crisp fall air, allowing him to think and clear his head.

Thus, in mid-October he was walking through the park when he saw a couple of toughs bothering an old woman. He moved to intervene, but a mounted cop’s police whistle was far more effective, and the two toughs bolted. The officer looked at the woman, asked her if she was alright, then turned his horse and rode off.

Mike approached her and found out that she wasn’t that old but was so unattractive that she seemed a caricature of story tale witches. Her nose was hooked, with a wart on it. Her chin was a bit bulbous, and her cheeks were sallow and concave. Her hair was messy, and with a mix of red, blondish yellow and gray strands. She had heavy eyebrows and beady gray eyes. It was really hard to look at her.

She seemed to pay him no attention as she went through the trash can beside her bench, digging up the remnants of a half-eaten, discarded and dirty hamburger, looking at it with a glint in her gray eyes. She had found a treasure.

Mike moved quickly to seize her wrist before she could put the filthy thing in her mouth. “Leave it, I’ll buy you a meal; what would you like?”

The woman looked at him and opened her mouth showing crooked, broken and rotten teeth. “What ya tryin’ ta git frum me mister?”

Mike was at a loss for words. He looked at her for several seconds before managing to say “Nothing, just offering you a clean, warm burger. And you can have whatever to go with it too.”

Her eyes squinted “Ain’t no wun does sumpin fer nuttin’.”

Mike chuckled, “Well there’s always a first time; how about you take a chance, and we can stay out in public.” He said as he let go of her hand.

Still squinting she looked at him, then the remnants of the cold hamburger, then back at Mike. She nodded and dropped the hamburger remnants back into the trash can, “OK, I kin risk a chance.”

Mike motioned her toward the McDonald’s across the street and then walked beside her.

At the counter the Clerk serving took a step back as the woman stepped up to order, she looked a bit sideways at Mike, and he nodded to the Clerk “Whatever she wants.”

She immediately spoke up “I wants two dub-el cheese burgers, a sliced apple, sum yogurt and a big cuppa cappa-chino.”

The clerk stepped back and began to get the order together, Mike pulled a small mess of bills from his pocket and took a twenty out, which he handed to the clerk when the clerk he came back with the order. When the clerk started to make change, Mike he said: “Keep it and go to college.”

The woman all but snatched the bag from the clerk and moved to a table where she started to eat a hamburger voraciously.

Mike followed her over to the table and sat down opposite her, “It’s OK, no one will take it away from you and I can buy you more tomorrow, no reason to be hungry.”

She looked up at him, and her eyes squinted again.

Mike just put up his hands, “just an offer, no strings attached.”

She ripped open the little plastic bag and wolfed down the apple slices, then held the coffee in her hands, as if to warm them and took sips frequently. “How kin ye afford ta do dis?”

Mike shrugged, “It’s really nothing, believe me, I can afford to buy you a lunch every day if you want.”

The squint was back: “Yoo rich er sumpin’?”

Mike just looked at her “If you need to be rich to spend 20 bucks on lunch, I guess I am rich.”

“Uoh” was her only response. She shoved the second hamburger in her pocket, crumpled the bag up and took her coffee in hand, “Danks ... danks a lot,” she said, then walked out discarding the crumpled bag into a trash can, and walked off.

Mike sat for a moment, watching her head back across the street to the park. He was slightly amused: she was obviously dirt poor and uneducated but still had the manners to say thanks ... something he just didn’t often hear these days. He wished all HIS problems could be solved so cheaply. Although he hadn’t solved her problem, just paused it for a half hour or so ... he was still contemplating it when he got up and walked out and back to work.

This woman preyed on his mind, making it hard to sleep. Where did she have to sleep? Was it safe? Did the food banks provide her with food? He eventually drifted off, waking later than normal and feeling a bit groggy. A shower and a breakfast of sausage and eggs helped. He went to work, remotely given the virus, but he was able to accomplish a good bit of the work he set for himself to do.

His late morning chat with a couple of programmers was cut short when one of them had to go get food while he could. The poor woman came back to him: unattractive, put down and abused because of her looks. He decided they would eat a better lunch today. He locked his screen, grabbed his coat and headed off to the park.

She was at the same bench, watching a couple of birds squabble over crumbs. He stopped about 5 or 6 feet away and spoke:

“So where would you like to eat lunch today?”

She jumped with a start and looked at him, but her eyes didn’t squint this time. “I et that burger.” Referring to the leftover hamburger of yesterday.

He nodded, “so let’s get a good hot meal, what do you say?”

“Dey ain’ gonna le’me ga in.”

Mike smiled, “Oh I think I can get us in, how about it?”

She looked at him and shook her head “I ain’ purty ‘nuff ta get in.”

Mike nodded, “how about you let me try ... and do you have a name? Mine is Mike.”

She looked at him again. “You reelly gonna try huh? OK, sum lern hard. Millicent’s my name.”

Mike guided her past McDonald’s and down the block to The Sizzlin Skillet, a steak place he had frequented for years.

He held the door for Millicent and heard the maitre’d Command “Get out” to which he replied loudly “NO!”

The man’s head jerked to look at Mike “She isn’t coming in here no matter how hard up you are” to which Mike replied, “Get Seth!”

He sensed Millicent starting to back away and took her hand. “I’m not bothering him over this; you get her out”

And Mike’s voice thundered: “SHUT UP AND GET SETH NOW, MISTER!”

The whole restaurant was silent and watching the maitre’d who took a step back, having never been challenged like this before. But it didn’t matter, as Seth came bolting out of his office.

“What the ... Mike? What’s going on?” He asked in bewilderment.

Mike’s face was flushed, and his Irish was in full bloom ... thunderclouds rolled. “Your maître ‘d says I cannot bring this hungry woman in and feed her a decent meal because she doesn’t meet some standard of his!”

“But she is filthy and smells like a dirty gym,” the maitre’d blurted out.

Seth put his hand up. “Shut up Tim, and go to my office.” Seth then waved his hand, sweeping it in the air over the interior of the restaurant, “Any particular place you’d like to sit, Mike?”

“Thanks, Seth. A quiet corner will be fine, so we can talk.”

Seth nodded and directed them to a corner booth, then waved a waitress over “Make sure this lady and Mike get a generous serving of our best, any questions, come see me,” he nodded to Mike and winked, “It won’t happen again.”

Millicent had watched all this back and forth quietly, she sat across from Mike and softly asked “Who you dat de owner do dis?”

Mike chuckled. “When Seth decided he could do better than the last owner, he needed someone to give him a loan to get started, I did some digging and gave him the loan. We went to elementary school together and later we met again in high school. I figured it was a pretty safe bet and sure enough, it was. He has paid me back, and we are good friends.”

Millicent nodded, and the faintest smile touched her lips “so yoo gots connekshuns.”

Mike smiled, “sort of ... so what do you think you’d like to eat?” He handed her the menu, then wondered if she could read it, her finger traced across the entries, “I ain’ seen dis much food in a long time.”

Mike Nodded, “I imagine it can be a bit overwhelming, but you can get a to-go container if it is too much to eat in one sitting.”

Millicent just nodded “How much kin I git?”

“Well try not to go too much over a hundred dollars if you can.” Mike replied with a smile, knowing she’d have to order two or three meals to run up that sort of tab.

Her eyes just got big “I ca’nod ead dat much.”

“Well, we are good then, anything you want.”

Ultimately Millicent ordered prime rib and asked them to hold the potato and give her green beans and broccoli. She just asked for water to drink. Mike got a small steak and figured he’d forgo dinner. The meal was very good, Millicent all but licked her plate.

There wasn’t a lot of conversation, but as the plates were cleared she put a hand on his “I dunno how ta say danks enuff, I ain’ eat dat good in ... I dunno.” he noticed tears in her eyes.

“Well Millicent, I am very glad to have been able to provide you a good lunch. I think maybe we should make this a regular thing when I can get away from work.” He made sure she left with a wrapped-up steak sandwich and tipped the waitress generously. He didn’t see the maitre’d.

Millicent walked back as far as the McDonalds before stopping “I iz sduffed; dad wuz really good. Danks again a whole bunch.”

“I am glad to have been able to do it Millicent.”

It was two days later when he got free from the demands of running his company. Millicent had been on his mind several times, but he just couldn’t get free. It was around 3:30 in the afternoon when the music on the TV inserted a quick note to make sure your pipes were wrapped, plants covered and animals inside, as it would freeze overnight.

Mike’s heart stopped ... freezing? How would Millicent stay warm? did she have a place to get warm ... somehow the thought of her huddled over a vent that put out some lukewarm air seemed wrong ... and the guys out there could be rough.

Mike grabbed his coat and headed out to the park, but she wasn’t there. He looked around in other spots; nothing. He went to the Salvation Army shelter and asked after her, they said they were full, and she wasn’t there. He walked down to the Catholic food bank and shelter where they gave him a lot of flak until one of the directors recognized him and established that she wasn’t there either. The director said perhaps the small Episcopal shelter two blocks north might be worth a look.