Sex, Drama and Romance. Murder, Mystery and Madness: 25 Sensational Short Stories

By Mary Ann Mori

25 exciting short stories. Sexual content, infidelity, secrecy, sorrow, lust, shock, misery, passion and violence. Stories take place in Paris, France 1875, the Impressionist era and murder in Manhattan; (the present day). In the 1920s Prohibition era and in a New Orleans Brothel and a small boy's dilemma in London 1877, the industrial revolution. A neurosurgeon's bitter divorce in Newport, Rhode Island. The winter saga of a photojournalist in Nebraska and a little Cafe' in Marathon Key, Florida that holds a deep, dark secret. The adventures of a would-be starlet in 1941 Manhattan and an African Safari in search of an unusual pet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543990232

Mary Ann Mori

About the Author: Mary Ann Mori was born in upstate New York where she lived and worked as a legal secretary in criminal defense and matrimonial law until relocating to Miami, Florida. In Florida, she was Director of Marketing for an industrial acquisitions firm until 2011. Ms. Mori's hobbies include extensive foreign and domestic travel, visiting art galleries and museums, watching classic movies, attending classes at a local university and enjoying the beautiful lake she lives on. This is Ms. Mori's sixth book. The previous books are: "Memories Expressed as Poetry and Short Stories" (2016) "Starting Over," a romance novel, set amidst the advertising industry in Manhattan. (2017) "Finding Love In San Francisco," a drama/romance. (2018) "Sex, Drama and Romance. Murder, Mystery & Madness." Twenty-five exciting and shocking short stories; many taken from the author's own life. (2019) "Love Changes Lives" Fifteen short heart-warming stories. (2021) All of the above books, except for the first, are available on most major internet websites or in local libraries, in large print version or E-Book digital form. Ms. Mori gives author talks occasionally and is currently hard at work on her next book. She welcomes your comments at: [e-mail]

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SEX, DRAMA AND ROMANCE

MURDER, MYSTERY AND MADNESS

Copyright © 2019 by Mary Ann Mori

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or a database, transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written, express prior permission of the author.

Print ISBN: 978-1-54399-022-5

eBook ISBN: 978-1-54399-023-2

Printed in the United States of America by Book Baby

www.bookbaby.com

OTHER BOOKS BY MARY ANN MORI

Starting Over (2017)

Finding Love In San Francisco (2018)

DEDICATION

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ALL MY LOYAL READERS.

DISCLAIMER

These stories are a figment of the author’s imagination and although certain actual locations may have been used, the stories, dialogue and characters are totally fictitious and any resemblance to any person, living or dead is purely coincidental.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Much gratitude is extended to the Miami Dade Police Department for taking the time to answer all my technical questions. If I didn’t get it right in this book for some reason, it is purely my own fault.

Thank you, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Tallahassee, Florida for the technical information they provided to me.

I would like to sincerely thank my publisher, Book Baby, for formatting my books and always creating a spectacular book cover and for answering all my questions, no matter how many I had.

…Everything that happens to you in life, good or bad, are all part of your material as a writer…

Dear Reader,

In this book you will see stories that are quite unlike my past books. All have surprise endings and the content may be shocking and devastating to some.

However, as I have always loved writing romance stories, I have included two from 2002 and 2003 in this book, the themes of which are universal and eternal because as in all romantic fiction, there are moments of passion, anguish and tenderness.

I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I had writing it.

Mary Ann Mori

Table of Contents

KNOBS COUNTY, TENNESSEE. THE STARLET

MURDER IN MANHATTAN

PARIS, FRANCE 1875

DESTINY

THE BABY

A MANHATTAN CHRISTMAS

THE ATTITUDE ADJUSTER

MURDER ON HER MIND

THE DECISION

THE LAST LAUGH

FOR THE LOVE OF CATS

THE SUNSET CAFÉ

THE LAST TRIP

THE NIGHT VISITOR

THE DARK SECRET

LONDON – CIRCA 1877

THE CRYSTAL PALACE

NEW ORLEANS 1979

CLAUDIA

THE LOVE ADS. 1990

THE THREESOME

GLORIA’S EXTRA PAY

THE OFFICE PARTY

THE FLAMENCO GUITARIST

THE REUNION

KNOBS COUNTY, TENNESSEE

THE STARLET

The year was 1941. Olivia Hamilton, Age 19, was in a terrible rage.

This scene had happened before. She was anxious to leave the household. She hated Knobs County and wanted to get away as soon as possible.

Her father had suffered an accident at the steel plant near their home six months ago, where he was a Supervisor and was unfortunately now in a wheel chair for an indefinite period of time.

Her mother tried to keep things together by taking in washing and sewing for people. She made enough to put food on the table, but little else. Both parents had never gotten to a higher grade than grammar school, the 8th grade, but they truly loved and cherished their only daughter, Olivia, and they wanted the best for her. It wasn’t their fault that they had been so underprivileged and sometimes destitute that they couldn’t give their daughter the finer things in life she deserved. Why it gnawed at them night and day.

Mama! You cannot stop me this time! I’m leaving Knobs County and I never want to come back, do you hear me?!

Olivia, please! Can’t you see we’re doing whatever we can. It’s not Papa’s fault he had that accident. The plant had no disability insurance for their workers at that time and there was very little savings in our bank. It’s tough Honey.

"I know all that Mama. We’ve gone through all this before; but at least I graduated High School. Look at me, Mama. I’m attractive and have a good figure. Even the kids in school all told me that. I want to go to New York City and become an actress on the stage. I’ve always dreamed of this; even as a little girl, Mama. You know that."

"Oh, please Olivia. Your Papa and I would be absolutely heartbroken if you leave us. You are what keeps us alive. Our only child. Don’t go honey," Her mother pleaded desperately.

Olivia turned her back on them and headed for her bedroom to pack her things; as she did so, her Mother got down on her knees and grabbed the hem of Olivia’s skirt and tugged at it in a last-ditch effort to get her to stay.

Olivia slapped at her mother’s hand for her to let go!

Do you think I want to keep working at the Knobs County Grocery Store for the rest of my life, Mama? I won’t! I’m leaving here and you cannot change my mind this time!

It was 9:00 A.M. on a Friday morning. This all seemed itself like a scene from a play; it was not however. It was real.

Her mother broke down in tears. She knew she couldn’t change her daughter’s mind. Her father said nothing; just kept shaking his head; turned his wheel chair around and went into his own bedroom, lost in depressing, painful thoughts.

It was a traumatic, agonizing scene.

Their modest little home in Knobs County had five small rooms. It had belonged to Olivia’s grandfather, Mitchell, now deceased.

Her mother, Patricia, kept the house neat and clean at all times. Sometimes the sewing and washing she took in was too much for her and she was starting to lose some customers. Everyone in the neighborhood knew of the Hamilton’s plight, but they still remained friendly to them when they saw them at church on Sundays. They were just down on their luck but they were good people.

Olivia packed whatever few clothes she had into her suitcase. She put on her wool coat and hat and grabbed her purse. She had saved enough money from working at the grocery store stocking shelves to purchase a bus ticket to New York City; she would have just enough money left over to rent a modest room until she could get hired somewhere. That was her plan; that was her dream. She was determined.

When she came out of her room dressed to leave, carrying the suitcase…she had tears in her eyes and hugged her mother tight. Her father wasn’t in the room then.

"I’ll keep in touch with you Mama; I love you both, but you must understand. I will die if I stay here! There are no opportunities."

Clinging to each other for a very long time, Olivia finally pulled away from her mother and left the house; not looking back, but walking straight ahead.

A Trailways Central bus would be leaving the station at 12:00 Noon for New York City. She walked the six blocks to the bus station and bought her ticket.

She sat on a bench awaiting the bus. A man came and sat down next to her and tried to start a conversation, but she turned away and moved to another spot.

She knew how attractive and shapely she was, but men didn’t fit into her plans right now. Not until she had reached her goal.

Olivia was 5’7" tall, had naturally blonde hair; it was curly and reached her shoulders. Her dark brown eyes were big with wonder and she had thick dark lashes. Her dress size was a perfect 10. The several blocks she walked back and forth to work each day had kept her in terrific shape. Her parents couldn’t afford to buy much meat for the dinner table, so they often had stews or soups made from fresh vegetables and always had fresh fruits in the house. Her mother baked bread. Before her father’s accident he used to fish in the lake in back of their home; coming home with some good-sized fish, which Olivia’s mother fried with potatoes.

The bus arrived exactly on time…12:00 Noon. It took 13 hours by bus to get to Manhattan. They wouldn’t arrive until 1:00 A.M. the following day.

Olivia placed her suitcase in the compartment below the bus and boarded. She chose a front row seat opposite the driver. She had a full, unobstructed view of everything from there.

She felt mentally exhausted from arguing with her parents though and so she closed her eyes and slept.

Olivia awoke suddenly at 2:00 P.M. when the driver announced they would stop at a Café’ and rest stop ahead for 30 minutes only.

She got off the bus with all the others and after making a quick stop at the restroom she went into the Café’ and purchased a black coffee and a tuna fish sandwich. It was only a self-service type place. The cashier was the only one in attendance it appeared. The sandwiches were under glass, obviously prepared previously. She was dubious as to how fresh they were; but…having no choice…she opted to buy one anyway. She poured her coffee from the glass coffee pot on the hot plate into a paper cup, put the lid on it, paid for both items (40 cents total) and left to sit at a small outdoor table there. She ate quickly and took her coffee with her to the bus. By that time, it was almost time to leave, but the driver was still in the restroom so she had a few extra minutes to finish the coffee before boarding again.

They made one more rest stop at 7:00 P.M. at a restaurant and bar located off the highway called Jenny’s Place. Everyone got off the bus and was anxious by that time to order a decent meal. The driver gave them one hour.

Olivia didn’t have much money to spare, so she wasn’t sure if she should order anything.

She sat at a table in the corner and sadly looked at the menu. They featured soups and salads and full dinners. She guessed she could order something.

When the waitress arrived, she noticed how worried her customer looked. Olivia then explained her situation to her. The waitress was kind and said she had been in a similar situation years ago and knew what it was like. She took pity on Olivia and told her "anything she ordered was on the house."

Oh, I couldn’t let you do that, she told the waitress.

"It’s MY treat. After all, big Jim the cook won’t know the difference. I’ll see to that!"

Olivia ordered chicken soup, a tossed salad and a western egg sandwich and coffee. The bill came to 85 cents. (Remember, it was 1941).

She ate heartily. After all those hours on the bus she was famished. She thanked the waitress a dozen times.

Good Luck in Manhattan Honey, the waitress Tilly said to Olivia. They hugged and Olivia left to board the bus once again. She waved goodbye to Tilly as she boarded.

Five more hours to go. She slept the rest of the way to New York.

She awoke when she heard the bus stop and everyone preparing to get off. They had arrived at the Manhattan Bus Station in New York City. Finally!

It was late September and there was already a slight chill in the air. She wasn’t sure what to do next.

It was 1:00 A.M. She couldn’t go around looking for a room at that hour!

There was an all-night attendant at the bus station. He was a middle-aged man, who looked older due to a slight limp and greying hair.

Olivia asked him wearily if she could possibly spend the rest of the night there until morning when she could look for a room. The man was hesitant at first…thinking.

Well, it’s not really our policy, Miss, but I’ll let you stay at least until 6:00 A.M. That is the time our morning buses will start out. You will need to leave at 6:00 A.M.

That’s fine, Mister. I really appreciate it. She went to sit in a corner bench, and after only a few moments fell asleep. When she awoke her suitcase and purse were both gone!

Oh No! she thought. What do I do now? How could this have happened? She started crying, but just then she saw the night attendant approaching her.

"I put your belongings in one of the lockers for safe keeping while you were asleep. You never know what can happen around here. You are a young, good looking gal with no experience in the big city. You need to be careful," he cautioned her just like her Papa would have done.

She was totally relieved.

Where you from anyway? he asked.

Knobs County, Tennessee. It took 13 hours for me to get here. I’m hoping to be an actress someday. I thought New York would be a good place to start.

Well, I don’t want to discourage you Miss, but many young people come here all the time to try to find work in the theater, but it’s a tough road to follow.

"Oh, I know Sir, but I am determined though. I know I will make it. Say…do you know of any economy rooming houses where I might rent a room? I don’t have much money, as