Free Domino by Chris Barnhart

for over an hour, eyes closed, in deep
meditation, her dark hair pulled back away from her face with a red
scarf.
    Intensive physical exercise had recently
become her one release from the tensions of her life. She had
turned the spare bedroom into a gym only a couple of years ago.
Morgan had taken her to the emerald mines in Venezuela and she
could barely make the climb into the rough hills. Wolfe had
belittled her about it so often that she vowed to be in better
shape than Morgan by the next such trip. With her lifestyle and job
it was not practical to join a gym so she created one.
    She went about getting in top physical shape
with an intensity that surprised her. Her arms and legs were well
muscled from the weight and stair machines. She cared nothing for
the body building aspects of her training, she wanted to be strong.
Physical strength was a quality in people that Morgan much admired.
Any kind of weakness he detested.
    Virginia turned off the machine and took a
long drink from the spring water in the plastic sport bottle. She
grabbed a towel and went out onto the patio to dry off. The
traffic, seven stories below on Wilshire Boulevard, was light for a
Friday night. The air was heavy and still, a prelude to a storm.
They were not unknown in Los Angeles in mid-autumn and Virginia
loved the violent display of nature. Morgan was like a
thunderstorm. Wild and powerful, full of lightning quickness, with
a billowing charm hiding the dark underside of the real deluge of
the storm itself.
    Two more months at the most. By then Clarissa
Hayden would be history and Virginia would have Morgan to herself
for that brief span of time between his loves. She gripped the
balcony railing with both hands and waited until the anger mixed
with passion subsided. She hated Morgan Wolfe because he was the
only man she had ever loved. Ever could love. He held her by that
one chain, feeding her scraps of passion like throwing a crust of
bread to a starving man. He gave her just enough to survive, while
he made her watch him eat a full meal. Then the torture of another
crust of bread until the next feast.
    She could not break away and he knew it. She
did not have the strength to break the feelings within her. Her
hate welled up again and filled her eyes with tears. Two more
months. They would be together but he would use her as he always
had. He never looked at her the way he looked at Clarissa or the
others, or caressed her with the tenderness for which she so
longed. The diamonds would never be hers to wear, Morgan would
never be in love with her. The pain of it convulsed her body as the
Cajun music inside came to an abrupt end.
    In the sudden stillness she screamed curses
and damned Morgan Wolfe. Her cries echoed down the canyon walls of
the high-rise condominiums lining the street.
    Virginia gave in to the exhaustion from her
workout and the despair in her heart. Her leg muscles felt thick
and weak and she held onto the balcony railing inhaling deeply
until the prickling madness of the anxiety attack subsided. She
slammed the towel into a hamper in the corner of the gym and peeled
off the leotard, adding it to the hamper. In the bathroom, she ran
the shower as hot as she could stand it. The stinging spray pulsed
against her flesh and she steeled herself against the almost
unbearable sensation for a moment longer than she could tolerate.
Strength. She had mastered the physical and the mental, but the
emotional strength to walk away from Morgan Wolfe was still
illusive. She hated more than Morgan, that weakness in
herself.
    Virginia had just tied the jade green silk
robe around her when the intercom buzzer startled her. It was
nearly eleven o'clock. She did not like to admit anyone in the
evenings. There had been those rare occasions when Morgan would
show up unexpectedly and she wanted to be alone if he should want
her. He never buzzed or knocked.
    "Yes?" she said hesitantly into the wall
speaker.
    "Virginia, it's Clarissa," the voice