= The Surprise
by Corey LaBranche

9:38 am

A sharp knock on the front door causes me to jump a foot high off of the couch. When I open the door, a shiver of excitement rushes through me. I've been waiting for his arrival for over a month!

After signing his electronic clipboard, I snatch the package from his hand and half-sprint to the kitchen without bothering to close the door. I slide the steak knife through the box's tape seal, then root through the endless sea of foam peanuts, and my fingertips find what I have been waiting for.

I remove the CD-ROM case from the box. Wrapping both hands tightly around the case, I pull it close to my chest and close my eyes. Feelings of hopefulness and fear push the excitement aside. Finally, my chance to disprove (or God forbid, prove) my suspicions has arrived.

Sitting in front of my computer, I load the CD into the disk drive and wait for the install screen to appear. Is this what my life has come to? Basing my whole future on a software package? If anyone knew I was trying this, they'd think I was insane.

The software install screen appears on the monitor. 'Reliance: Your Personal Polygraph Version 1.0'. I first heard about this new software package on a radio talk show. The software measures inflections in the voice to determine if a person is telling the truth or lying, similar to the way a polygraph monitors heart rate and electric impulses. After struggling with the idea for weeks, I had decided to order it.

Once the installation is complete, I begin reading the software manual. The first thing I need to do is to get a voice sample from 'the subject to be tested', as the manual kindly states it. Calling my husband 'the subject' is a very sterile term, but maybe I'll feel better using it.

The manual reads: 'Ensure that in the voice sample, the subject is stating a true fact. Personal statements provide the software with an excellent basis for comparison. For best results, collect the voice samples via the telephone.'

OK, I need to call him at work.

The diagram of the telephone wire hookup appears easy to follow. After studying it, I connect the phone to the computer as instructed.

I click the computer mouse on the 'Capture Sample' button. A blank screen appears; the computer`s ready to capture his voice.

I reach over to pick up the phone receiver. When my hand touches it, a full body shiver courses through me. Every hair is standing at attention. I close my eyes for a moment, take a deep breath, then dial Ben's work number.

First ring....

It's not too late to hang up.

Second ring....

Hurry, put the receiver down!

Third ring....

I hear a faint click through the receiver. "Premier Consulting ... Ben speaking." His voice creates a seismic-like scribble on the computer screen.

Damn! I wish he hadn't answered the phone ... but it's now or never. I pause slightly to compose myself. "Hi, honey. It's me." My voice doesn't graph on the screen. The software samples only the incoming voice and ignores the outgoing voice.

"Hi! I didn't expect to hear from you this morning. You said you might drive up to your mom's. What's up?"

I need to think quickly. "I'm not feeling quite right this morning. I didn't want to make the trip without a clear head. Hopefully it's not a relapse of the flu."

"I hope not either. You looked pitiful lying there in bed for four days!"

For a second, I want to smile as I remember how he took care of me while I was sick. The feeling passes quickly. I'm ready to get to the point of the call.

"I know you're busy, so I won't keep you. I can't find my pocket calendar to look it up, but I know your sister's birthday is coming up soon. I just saw something she might like on the shopping channel on TV, and wanted to make sure there would be enough time to mail it before her birthday."

"January 20. I can't believe you forgot that! You remember most of your high school friends' telephone numbers from fifteen years ago."

"I guess my memory isn't what it used to be. Of course I remember now. There should be plenty of time to send it."

"Go ahead and order it. That's one less thing we have to worry about."

He's buying my story.

"Good enough. I'll let you go back to work. See you tonight. Will you be late?"

"Yeah, Greg and I have a late conference call with a potential client in California. If they like my proposal, I may have to fly out Monday to finish the deal. Why don't you call Nancy and go out with her? I'll see you late tonight. Love you."

I pause for a second. "Me, too. Good luck."

"Thanks. Bye!"

"Bye." I click the 'End Capture' button, hang up the phone, and dial Nancy's number.

"Hello."

"Hi, Nance, it's Janet. Ben told me that he and Greg are working late tonight, so I was calling to see if you wanted to have dinner."

"Sure. How about we meet at Chun Lee's at around seven o'clock, and maybe catch a movie afterwards?"

I half-expect her to say Greg isn't working late, but Ben wouldn't be that careless. "That's fine. See you then. Bye."

I can sense that Nancy is taken aback by my abruptness. She'll get over it. "Bye," she answers, and hangs up.

I click on the 'Analyze Sample' button. A box appears, showing the percent of voice analysis completed. Within a few seconds, the bar graph reaches 100%, and the message 'Analysis Complete' appears.

All done. If I call him back now, he might suspect something. Maybe I'll read the Reliance manual and rest awhile, so I'll be ready and alert when I get the testing sample. I'll wait until later to call....

12:15 pm

The wait is agonizing....

3:09 pm

"Premier Consulting ... Ben speaking." The seismic reading appears on the screen as Reliance records his voice.

"Hi. Are you still going to be late tonight?"

"I'm afraid so. Are you going out with Nancy tonight?"

"Yes. We'll be at Chun Lee's, then we may to go a movie."

"I hate to cut you short, but I have a meeting at 3:30. Do you need to talk to me about something?"

No quick thinking needed here. I worked this out hours ago. "I was thinking maybe we could take a trip down to New Orleans, to the hotel you stayed at back in September. What was the name of it?"

"The Sheraton. It was really nice."

"Which client were you working with that week? Was it O'Reilly, the one who kept you working all day and night? I hardly talked to you at all while you were gone."

"Sure was. I may have slept five hours the whole week. I practically lived in his office, so I don't know why O'Reilly bothered to pay for my hotel room. Why?"

"I missed you so much that week, I thought we could visit the place that took you away from me for so long. Do you want to go?"

"Well ... I guess we can. It'll have to wait for a few weeks, though. My schedule is full. We'll talk about it more later. Gotta go. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

"Bye."

I click the 'End Capture' button. Done.

I've had my suspicions for awhile, but that damn trip to New Orleans nearly drove me over the edge. Ben hardly called me the whole week, because he was 'working' day and night. When he returned home, I found receipts for expensive lunches and dinners. He bought wine and champagne for two at almost every meal.

The breakfasts for two towards the end of the week did push me over the edge. And the receipt for flowers on his last day in New Orleans? It crushed me. My heart felt like it withered and died.

What else could it be but an affair? I've never told him or even hinted about my suspicions. I didn't want to place any pressure on our relationship if I turned out to be wrong. I decided to do my best to find out quietly about what happened in New Orleans.

After weeks of phone calls and e-mails, I was no closer to finding the truth. That's when I heard about Reliance. I went so far as to contact people who had used Reliance, and all had testified to its accuracy.

This is my answer. In one fell swoop, I can determine if Ben lied about New Orleans.

3:31 pm

My mouse pointer is over the 'Analyze Sample' button. I want to press it, but my hand is paralyzed. I wonder.... Will it be better to know if he lied to me? Our lives are going very well these days, except for the nagging questions in the back of my mind.

NO! I've decided to do this, so now I've got to follow through. Here goes everything.

I click the button, and the program begins the comparison of the voice samples. Time slows to a crawl as the 'Completed' bar graph grows ... 10% ... 30% ... 50% ... 75% ... 100%. All that's left is to click the 'View Results' button. I position the mouse pointer over the button, close my eyes, and click the mouse.

The disk drive spins for a few agonizing seconds.

My hands are trembling. My lungs inhale the deepest breath they've ever breathed. My eyes open and focus on the monitor.

Scanning down the report, I find what I'm looking for.

ANALYSIS RESULT: UNTRUTH
PERCENT OF ACCURACY: 99.98%

I stare at the words. Emotions ranging from anger to heartache flash through me. At the same time, I feel a sense of relief, as if the burdens of the world have been lifted from my back. At least now, I know for sure. It's finally over.

Well, not quite.

6:20 pm

The front door opens. "Janet, are you here?"

It's him. What is he doing home this early? I'm not ready yet!

Oh well, there's no time like the present.

He walks toward the kitchen. "It's me, honey, are you home?"

I'm standing motionless against the kitchen cabinet.

"There you are. Didn't you hear me come in?" He walks toward me with his arms open to give me a hug. I lift the revolver and point it at him. My hand is surprisingly steady; I'm relatively calm.

My index finger squeezes the trigger. A direct hit in the center of the chest. Ben falls to the ground in a heap, and a spreading pool of blood surrounds him.

6:40 pm

Suddenly I realize how hungry I am. I still have time to meet Nancy at Chun Lee's.

6:58 pm

As I open the restaurant door and step inside, I hear an overwhelming "SURPRISE!" My eyes look up and scan the room. Most of my and Ben's friends are here, as well as his employees from the consulting firm.

Nancy trots up to me. "Where's Ben? He went home to pick you up."

What's this all about? Why are all these people here? "I didn't see him. He must`ve been running late. What's going on here?"

"Ben has been dying to tell you about it for the last few months, but wanted to wait until everything was finalized. Shouldn't we wait for Ben?"

The pit of my stomach turns to mush. The mush wells up into my throat.

"Please tell me! I need to know what's going on!" I snap.

Nancy appears offended, but she continues. "Ben has been working long hours and taking business trips to entertain buyers for Premier. Ben has built up Premier's client base so solidly, that he started receiving offers from buyers around the country. A company named O'Reilly and O'Reilly in New Orleans offered him a buyout, enough for the two of you to retire now and do all the traveling you've dreamed about. He was so excited about it, he asked Greg and me to swear to secrecy, and planned this party to celebrate. Are you surprised?"

My mind is fighting to process and understand what's happening. It all makes sense now ... the expensive restaurants ... the flowers to O'Reilly's office ... the vague descriptions of his trips ... Ben was enticing O'Reilly to buy Premier Consulting. For us. So we could have the life we've dreamed about for all these years. It was all for us. Every drop of water in my body rushes up to my eyes and pours down my face.

"I'm more surprised than you'll ever know."

COREY LABRANCHE lives in Grand Point, Louisiana, the only three-mile stretch of land in the world where perique tobacco thrives. He has a Computer Science degree from Nicholls State University, and currently works as a Software Engineer. In his spare time, he is a columnist for Dark Moon Rising Magazine (www.darkmoonrising.com), writes short stories, and is working on a young adult horror novel. 'The Surprise' is his first published fiction.

Copyright (c) 2002 Corey LaBranche

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