Charlene had arrived in a long black town car. It was sparkling clean and ran as silently as any vehicle she had ever ridden in. The driver was in uniform with a low profile hat. He was dressed in all black, matching the car. He said nothing to her on the drive after she told him, “Take me to La Guardia Airport, please.” He was hard to read from the backseat of the car.

Charlene could only see his eyes in the rear view mirror. They seemed to be kind eyes, or so she thought. She had seen harsh faces in her day in many places. Hospitals, psychiatrists offices and mental wards, to name a few. She knew a kind face when she saw one, or so she thought.

The car was soon on the express way to the airport. It traveled faster than she had expected. “The traffic is light tonight.” She would arrive quite early for the international flight. That pleased her. “Better early than late,” she thought. She checked her phone and found the gate information on it. “I’m on Emirates, flight 231 to Kigali, Rwanda. It’s at the International Terminal, of course,” she said to the driver as they approached the busy airport. “Fine Miss, we will arrive shortly.” The driver seemed genuinely pleasant and helpful. She was relieved by that. “Some drivers can be so rude,” she thought.

Charlene always took a limousine to the airport. Her father had asked her to do that for her safety and his piece of mind. His wealth had helped to remove many obstacles and problems from Charlene’s path in life. This was one of the many things her farther had done to make her life easier.

He had been absent for many years in her early life and so their attachment was somewhat precarious. She knew he was trying to build their relationship but it was still hard for to be open and close to him. They were really strangers when he came back into her life. She always had felt closer to her mother, even though she knew her father had interceded often to make sure that she was always safe.

Charlene was trying to work at being closer to her father. She wasn’t a daddy’s girl by any means at the moment but she hoped to become one some day.

Charlene’s car arrived at the front curb of the International terminal and parked. They were allowed little time to disembark. She waited for the driver to open the door next to her on the passenger side of the car. The large man pushed the trunk release button and climbed out of the car.

He quickly walked around the front of the car and opened Charlene’s door. He moved quicker and was more agile than Charlene had expected for being such a large man. He was very fit. He then pulled out Charlene’s luggage with a quick movement and placed them on the curb. Charlene handed the man his tip with a smile and walked off, a porter following close behind with her luggage.

A black Bentley pulled up behind her car but she was too excited to notice. Chad and Suzan sat in the rear seat. It was one of many cars that his father’s company often used when traveling.

Chad didn’t know Charlene and wouldn’t have recognized her if he had seen her. He had stopped by to pick up Suzan on the way to the airport the morning after the wedding. They had spent the evening together after the wedding but decided that Suzan should go home to make sure she was all packed and ready to leave in the morning for the trip to Rwanda. Geography had helped make that decision as well. They had slept together many times and leaving on this honeymoon the following morning made it too difficult to spend the night together. They would make up for it when they arrived in Kigali.

Suzan had met Charlene only twice. She had come to the office two times for some reason to see Joe. Charlene would most certainly remember Suzan when she saw her. She watched her competitor for Joe saunter onto the office as if she owned it and Joe. It made Charlene sick after hearing all that Suzan was doing to Joe at the time. Suzan had no reason to remember Charlene.

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All of the characters are nearly in place for this drama to unfold.

More tomorrow.