The Escape – #jswchallenge – June 10, 2024

“Isn’t this the way you wanted it,” Emil asked Portia as she lamented her small social circle.

“I wanted to escape my previous life. Not my present life,” Portia responded to Emil.

“Portia,” Emil responded, “I’m not sure that you can be certain you have yet escaped your previous life. How can you possibly take the chance of putting yourself out there socially?”

As Portia contemplated Emil’s question, Emil thought about how he met Portia soon after she arrived in the small Portuguese town and they became fast friends.

Portia was a fun-loving, social person who had sought a way to rid herself of baggage in her life in the U.S. A drastic way, yes. Probably not a reasonable way. Portia had been desperate and had simply walked off and left her old life behind.

Emil said, “Portia, it isn’t easy to vanish in today’s world. Even though you have a fake passport and you don’t use your credit cards, he will probably find a way to trace you if he wants to.”

Portia would never go back to him or work for him again.

Ten days passed and Portia stayed in seclusion other than having Emil with her. One night, there was a knock at the door. She opened the door to find several law enforcement officers standing there. They announced that she was under arrest and would be extradited back to the U.S.

She went with the officers, crying and screaming, with Emil following. When they got to the jail, there he stood.

“Portia,” he said, “You can stay in Portugal. I don’t want you back. I do want the million dollars you embezzled from my company back. You almost bankrupted us.”

“I don’t have it now,” she said as she cried and begged for his mercy.

Thanks to A Writer’s Life for hosting the #jswchallenge.