Electric, The Consummation, Book II

By Carly Compass

When Gina Parrot, a Catholic, married, mother of four meets Mikhail Vladimir, master of deception, it's Electric! Gina takes on a new job as his Office Manager and has no idea, how in one short year her life will be irreversibly changed. Vladimir's obsession and deception soon have him stalking her without limits. Holding on to her dream of a wholesome traditional life she fights against the current, while forces beyond her control, in the guise of a devastating diagnosis and memories from her past rear their ugly heads to leave Gina to question if she has made the right decision. The electric current between Gina and Mikhail soon cause a violent short circuit that change both or their lives, revealing that things aren't often what they seem when we dig to find the truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carly Compass
• Release date: Oct 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311865175

Carly Compass

Carly Compass has a Bachelors Degree in Writing and English from Elmhurst College. She is an avid reader, reviewer as well as a member in good standing of both Phi Theta Kappa and Sigma Tau Delta International Honors Societies. She has a number of short stories under her belt published in: the Prairie Light Review, Black Widows, Web of Poetry, and the Middle Western Voice. Her first series, Electric was published in the fall of 2014 with critical acclaim and five star reviews across the board for all four books. She became a best selling author on Amazon when Book 4 came out to the waiting arms of her readers in April of 2015. Electric, The Beginning Book 1 is available for a free download. Books 1, 2, 3 are also available in a discounted combination set. All books read well as stand alone, but you'll want to read every word and leave no page unturned. Pick up your copy today and let the world know what you think by leaving a review! Carly loves hearing from her readers, feel free to connect across the board on all social media.

Book preview

Pictorial Review, by artist Shadrach Del'Monte

delmonte1.wixsite.com/shadrachdelmonte

Shadrach Del'Monte paid me the highest compliment:

After reading Electric, The Consummation, Book 2, completely unsolicited by me, he created this movie poster of how he saw the book. I cannot tell you what a thrill it is as an author to receive such high praise. I was so impressed that I had to include it here in my second edition of this book where I changed the chapter headings from Roman numerals into regular numbers throughout the series.

The image that Shadrach chose of Mads Mikkelsen as Mikhail Vladimir shows that he is spurned, determined and angry. You can feel the electricity and cut the tension with a knife. It is definitely high voltage! The image of Anne Hathaway as Gina Parrot shows the scars of a rough life. The entire image encapsulates the storm that is brewing between the two characters; it is a perfect portrayal of Electric, The Consummation, Book 2. Thank you so much, Shadrach Del'Monte, for making these and showing me that my books mean something to you. It means the world to me.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Pictorial Review

Reviews

Prologue

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2-2

Chapter 2-3

Chapter 2-4

Chapter 2-5

Chapter 2-6

Chapter 2-7

Chapter 2-8

Chapter 2-9

Chapter 2-10

Chapter 2-11

Chapter 2-12

Chapter 2-13

Chapter 2-14

Chapter 2-15

Chapter 2-16

Chapter 2-17

Chapter 2-18

Chapter 2-19

Chapter 2-20

Chapter 2-21

Chapter 2-22

Chapter 2-23

Chapter 2-24

Chapter 2-25

Chapter 2-26

Chapter 2-27

Chapter 2-28

Chapter 2-29

Chapter 2-30

Chapter 2-31

Chapter 2-32

Chapter 2-33

Chapter 2-34

Chapter 2-35

Chapter 2-36

Chapter 2-37

Chapter 2-38

Chapter 2-39

Chapter 2-40

Book III

Bonus Chapter 3-1

Questions for Discussion

About the Author

Contact

Acknowledgements

Thank you Jodi Bernicky for being the first person to traverse through the rough draft of my manuscript. Your insight has been invaluable and I hope you are proud of the finished product. I sincerely hope to one-day return the favor.

Thank you James Bernicky, Esq. for all your legal advice and help with the copyright and trademark. Thank you too for loaning out your wife’s time to me. I really appreciate it and hope you enjoy the novel.

Thank you Linda and Tom O’Connell, your insights and friendships are such a strong support to me, without which I wouldn’t have been able to compete this work.

A special thank you to all of my online friends.

Many thanks to Devika Fernando, author, your love and support have been immensely helpful. Thank you too for the final edits. You are a linguistic genius!

Mike Wells thank you for always being there with a quick concise answer. It always amazes me, that you are such a prolific author and still make time to lend a hand. You have been a great influence on me and I have learned so much from you. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge and experience.

Nicholas C. Rossis, thank you for helping me with the correct Greek, terms of endearment.

A special thank you to Shadrach Del'Monte for showing me what my books might look like if they were made into a movie. I cannot tell you how much that has meant to me other than to say, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you, Janet Noto Lamb for your help with the funeral home scene.

A Big Thank you to Casey Harvell from Fancy Pants Book Formatting, for interviewing me and giving me support throughout the entire process of self- publishing.

Thanks also to the members of my Street Team, Carly’s Comets and Triple A, book spot for supporting me on my cover release party through to the book release. And to all of my online friends, your love, support and kindness are meaningful, valued and appreciated.

Prologue

Gina sat despondent, disheveled and disillusioned wondering what she could have done differently? How did this happen and over such a short period of time?

Was she to blame? Did she ignore the signs? Now, two people whom she loved very much were gone, lost forever. Dead.

She poured over the letters. One line stood out to her: In my mind and heart you will always be with me, and I will carry this into the next life.

Did he hope to have some sort of relationship in the afterlife? Is that why all of this happened? She should have known from that first day she met him. She had a vision. Why didn’t she take it as an omen and just walk away?

Now, all the signs were clear. Hindsight is 20/20. Gina’s mind drifted back to that first day…

Chapter 1-2

The New Year

Gina started working daytime hours in the New Year. She had turned this 20-hour a week job into 10 hours. She was very efficient and felt that is why her boss gave her the raise.

There were five magazine subscriptions delivered to the office that Gina made into piles for the past three months, she finally asked, Why do you have subscriptions to Vogue, Mademoiselle, In Style, Cosmopolitan and People?

Mr. Vladimir shook his head and told Gina that is what his previous employee had done, read magazines all day. She even charged the subscriptions to his business. He was glad to be rid of her, he said, as he left to go to a job.

Gina called Agnes from the office, Hello Agnes.

What do you want?

What do you mean, ‘what do I want? Gina asked.

I mean, what do you want? I told you, I don’t want to talk to you anymore and I mean it. I can’t be put in the middle of you and your sister anymore. Now stop bothering me! Agnes said as she slammed the phone down.

What the f*#k? Gina thought as she replaced the phone on its receiver. What did I do? What could I have possibly done to get this type of response or more importantly what does she think I’ve done.

Gina called Appy, Hello Appy.

Is this going to be long, Appy snarled.

No. Gina stammered but continued, I was just wondering what was going on with Agnes. I mean you were there at their house on Christmas. What is going on?

I don’t know. I guess Agnes is just sick of your s#*t. Maybe she tired of you constantly calling her with your problems.

What? What problems? I don’t constantly call her.

Well I don’t know what it is. Why don’t you just leave her alone? Look, I don’t have time for this crap, Appy said as she hung up the phone.

Gina was devastated. Agnes was like the mother she never had and she loved her. No matter how Gina looked at it, she could find no reason for this behavior. She felt that someone must have been lying to Agnes, because Gina could find nothing that she did or said to illicit this type of response. Gina just told herself, God knows. God knows everything and he knows that I didn’t do anything wrong. So I must leave it in God’s hands.

In the following week Gina took all of her Christmas decorations down after the Epiphany and proceeded to decorate the house for Valentine’s Day. She had a beautiful and bountiful collection of antique Victorian cards that she collected over the years. She used these with a collection of red heart-shaped boxes, ceramic cupids, red lace doily hearts and red and white roses and votive candles to add charm and warmth to their little cape cod.

The baseball season was just around the corner and Rob had to sell The World’s Finest chocolate bars and take pre-orders for chocolate bunnies. Gina sold some chocolate to Mr. Vladimir.

The girls came home with a packet from the ballet studio asking for donations by selling ad space in the brochure of their upcoming spring performance. Gina brought the brochure to the January Junior’s meeting and they bought a half page ad, Gina also sold a half page ad to Mr. Vladimir and a full-page ad to Bob Baker Insurance agency.

In the second week in January Gina attended a meeting at the school for her second grade daughter. Lisa was a very mature child and went through adolescent problems in preschool. Gina had to meet with a social worker that told her that Lisa seemed depressed and asked if there was anything going on at home. Gina explained how they were busy with work, her husband’s business and the kids. They ended up having an in-depth discussion about Gina’s childhood, how her mother died when she was five and doing a comparison and contrast to her daughter’s life.

Gina didn’t understand what this lady was gunning for; this counselor was all of twenty-two years old, fresh out of school. What did she know about raising children? No one knows until they start doing it. Everyone has an opinion of how it should be done, but life doesn’t work out nice and neat like a television show. People get by on a lick and a promise, a hope and a prayer. You’re just lucky to survive sometimes. She felt like she was defending herself and for what?

Of course the meeting had to end. The counselor had other people to see, she had to have something to do to warrant a salary. What was the point of bringing up all this old rubbish, exposing all these old wounds, only to be shoved back out into her life? Forty minutes of intense interrogation and then, Gina was left to switch gears and go back to the present as if this session never happened.

Gina left the school shaken and upset. She felt very vulnerable. She wondered what the counselor had written down and if there would be any further ramifications from this counseling session.

As soon as she got to her car she started crying. Her life seemed out of control. She didn’t have a rulebook. She just did what she could every day to survive. She got the kids off to school with breakfast and good clean clothes. She was home for them in the afternoon. She made them dinner and made sure their homework was done. She worked on school projects with them. She was a room mother. She volunteered at the school. The kids were in Indian Guides, Indian Princesses and sports. She took them on nature walks, to local parks, family vacations and Church on Sunday. They brushed their teeth, took a bath every night and she read them stories. They had clean beds and a family that loved them. What more could she do?

When she arrived at work she was surprise to see Mr. Vladimir there. He was the last person she wanted to see in this condition. She had to go to work. There was no choice. She walked in and started working when he asked, So, how did it go at school? Is your daughter alright?

Chapter 2-2

The Tears

That’s all it took, tears started streaming down her face. She was so confused. Maybe it had been so long since she stopped to think about how she felt; that she now realized deep down inside she was miserable. Like a dam burst, the flood of emotions brought with it a complete shut down of her defenses. She wasn't thinking about appropriate behavior between her and her boss. She just started talking about what happened during the meeting.

Then Mr. Vladimir started talking about his childhood, how his mother was terrible and never told him to use deodorant when he was a teenager, and how the other kids teased him. How his father never went to his scouting events. How he had to walk to and from these events alone. He hated his father. He told how his father was so ashamed of being Greek that he changed his name from Trulis to Stone, so that people would not know he was Greek. His father divorced his mother when Mr. Vladimir was a teenager, for another woman, he said.

Then Mr. Vladimir told Gina how he changed his name. My real name is William Stone or at least that’s the name I was born with, he said.

That’s so Hollywood, Gina replied with a giggle.

My father is still living. He is a very rich man. He owns jewelry stores across the country, of course I haven’t spoken to him in years, he said as he continued his story. When Mr. Vladimir was a teenager there was a man from Russia named, Mikhail Vladimir. He lived next door to Mr. Vladimir and taught him about electrical circuits and spent time with him. Bill as he was known when he turned 18, legally changed his name to Mikhail Vladimir to honor this man who was more like a father to him than his biological father ever was; and for the fact that the original Mikhail Vladimir had no children or heir apparent.

He talked about the counseling that he had been in with his wife and children and how when the counselor one day asked him to close his eyes and tell her what color he saw. He said, Brown. His counselor then told him that’s how full of shit he was, that the only color he sees is brown.

I don’t believe in counseling, because the counselor is only getting one side of the story. The counselor would have to essentially live with you in order to truly understand your problems, Gina said, and continued, But, if she is seeing your whole family...maybe she can help.

Well, I have a lot of problems and I really like counseling, he added

How long have you been going?

Fourteen years, he replied.

Fourteen years and you haven’t found a solution?

He stopped and thought about it. Then while walking across the room toward her desk, feigning to get something from the file cabinet, he said, Well, Gina, it’s like with you. You have to make a decision, like with me. You have to decide whether you want to have a business relationship, a personal relationship or an intimate relationship with me?

Gina was shocked and asked, What!?

He quickly changed the subject. His whole demeanor changed as he reached for the filing cabinet and said, "It’s like with Christmas cards. I send Christmas cards