Relax Awhile

Chapter 1: Rachel O’Niel stood looking out of the windows that stretched across the whole front of her Chicago eighth-floor loft. She loved that view and had custom designed the windows so that she could enjoy looking down at the pulsing energy of the city. But tonight exhaustion had overtaken her to the point of difficulty in focusing her eyes. The lights and traffic seemed like a blurry painting. They blended together, resembling a night during heavy rain. Even though stillness accompanied the clear sky on that night in the first week of May, a storm raged through the overworked woman’s head. As tired as she felt, her thoughts could not be calmed. Rachel moved up close to the window. With outstretched arms she pressed her palms and her forehead against the cool glass. Closing her eyes she let out a sigh, then took two big deep breaths, trying to relax her mind and body. That always made her feel better before, but lately the method hadn’t been working. For the last nine years she had worked long and hard as an interior designer. Lately, she had blocked out most of life going on around her, and had plunged even further into her work, driving herself to meet her career goals. Her efforts were being rewarded. Her career had reached its highest point of success so far, and she had begun to make plans to take the last step: to start her own business. Soon she would start looking for an office building to house that business. Being tired had been one of the results of her hard work, and that was okay, but Rachel thought that she should be feeling happier by now. After all, being a successful designer had been a goal of hers ever since her younger years. Many hours were spent moving her parents furniture around. Any position that could be possible, Rachel found it. Her drawings hung throughout the house, especially in her bedroom. Working late had become a normal occurrence in her life, and that night had been no different. An hour ago, at ten o’clock, her work day had ended on a job that ran behind schedule. Now, precious time had to be spent on figuring out what to do to try to meet the targeted finish date. She hated when that happened. In the process the client often got cheated a little. The tea pot whistled in the kitchen. Rachel poured a cup of hot chocolate, the only thing that sounded good to her churning stomach at the moment. With the mug in hand, she curled up in her favorite round, black chair that sat in front of the huge windows. She welcomed the comforting softness of the deep cushions, as she let her mind drift back through the years, thinking about how she had reached this point in her life. Her childhood had been exceptional, growing up as an only child on a horse farm out in the country near DeKalb, Illinois. Her parents and both sets of grandparents were good Christian people. Good moral ethics had been instilled in her that she still held on to and tried to live her life by. They had created fond memories for her to look back on. She could admit that they had spoiled her, because of growing up as the only child and grandchild. Many children would have taken advantage of that, but she never did. That would not be part of her nature. She had great respect for them all and remembered that a whole lot of love had been showered upon her. High school had been a very active four years, with involvement in art, music, and sports. Her parents made sure that Rachel received the best lessons in piano and singing, and Rachel could do both very well. But the art classes were what the young girl loved the most. She knew they would help more than the other activities, in her quest toward being an interior designer. Her high school years were full of many art awards. But, at the end of her senior year, even though a college had been chosen and the plans were all made, Rachel pushed those plans aside. She chose the direction that her romantic, eighteen year old heart had led her. She wanted to marry her boyfriend, Jack Benson, right after graduation. Jack had moved to DeKalb in the summer before their junior year, and had fallen for Rachel as soon as he met her on the first day of school. He looked handsome, with dark hair and eyes, and had a great sense of humor. An attraction to the new guy blossomed right away, and they began an inseparable relationship their junior and senior years. They had so much fun, and grew so close, that Rachel thought she loved him, and that they would be happy building a life and family together. Rachel’s parents liked Jack, but they were disappointed that their daughter wanted to marry so young, and argued with her a lot to try to change her mind. Rachel assured them that she would still go to design school, that her plans wouldn’t change. That’s what she thought. Jack’s parents were equally disappointed, and did all they could think of to persuade their son against the marriage. The wedding took place in spite of the parents’ wishes and efforts to keep the young couple from jumping into marriage. Rachel’s parents decided that the ceremony would be small, and that had been alright with her. She only asked them for one big thing. The wedding dress of her dreams. She chose one with a full cathedral train, a lot of lace, sequins, and netting. She looked like a beautiful princess in the expensive hoop-skirted gown. Life has a way of butting in on plans, no matter how well laid out they are. Jack talked Rachel into waiting to go to college until they had some money saved, so she wouldn’t have to work and go to school at the same time. Rachel thought the plan sounded reasonable. She didn’t think that it would take long to save enough money. Jack had been involved in athletics all through high school, especially loving the outdoor sports. Being the shortest guy on the team hadn’t allowed him to become a star athlete, but he had been happy because his wiry quickness made him a valuable team player. He told Rachel that it made him feel completely satisfied that he didn’t have the pressure of being a front runner. He just wanted to have fun in his high school sports career. Because of Jack’s love for the outside activities Rachel felt shocked when he decided what he would do for a living. He chose to work in his father’s insurance business, which he didn’t like at all, but felt obligated to join. The little cubicle designated as his office soon began to feel like a prison cell to him. He also hated working with his father, which made his job even worse. He quickly became very unhappy. The complete opposite happened to Rachel. She got a job at a large furniture and interior decorating store and loved it. She soon became the top sales person, and the assistant to the in-store designer, who gave her a lot of freedom to work with clients on her own. They paid her fairly well, and she was almost doing what she wanted. Helping people decorate their homes. She thought of it as good experience, until she could do the real thing. It would be a good addition to her resume. Each and every day the young couple dealt with the force of David Benson, Jack’s father. Rachel’s strong will and ability to stand up to him were all that kept the opinionated and pushy man from running their lives. They disagreed often, especially about one certain subject. He believed they should purchase a home as soon as possible, and kept after them about it until they agreed to start looking. At first they looked just to please him, and as long as it appeared like they were trying to find a place, Mr. Benson stayed somewhat happy. For about a year they toured a house at least once a month, and told Jack’s father that there just wasn’t anything out there for sale that they liked. Then the inevitable happened. They came upon a house that they both fell in love with. The asking price exceeded what they wanted to spend, and on top of that, the rooms needed some updating. Deep down Rachel worr