I have been working more on the Biddinger Chronicles since school let out for the winter break. I haven’t exactly written anything yet that I can add to the site, but the planning is going well so far (thanks in large part to my new LiveScribe Pulse pen!)
I should have something ready to go by the time the next semester stars on January 19th. Hopefully I will have Episode 2 written and ready to post! We’ll see!
Several of my posts today did not make it to the Twitter feed for the site, and I believe it to be a combination of the DOS attack they suffered earlier today, as well as my own website giving me hassles with Live Writer.
So, this post is just to (hopefully) get the Twitter feed to update showing that Episode 1 is online now. You can read/download/print the pdf on The Episodes page!
Hello everyone!!
I decided to change my tactics a bit and post the full Episode 1 now, rather than stretch it out over several days.
This change allows me to focus more on the writing, rather than worrying about whether or not I got the next scene posted to the site.
I have also posted the full episode as an Adobe Acrobat pdf file, so you can read it all at once, or by scene, depending upon your preferred method.
You can see the scenes and the full file on The Episodes page. Just click what you want and it will open in a new window/tab (depending upon your browser settings).
I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!
THE PRESIDENTIAL HOTEL, NEW YORK CITY
Lorraine walked around the dining room table and made sure that the place settings were perfect, as waiters and waitresses placed food warmers onto the buffet table in preparation of the dinner that was about to take place.
As she finished her inspection, she heard the doorbell of the suite ring and stepped out into the living room, noticing that Troy had already opened the door and ushered in her guests.
"Ms. Keeling," she said, walking up to the woman who stepped into the room. "I’m Lorraine Biddinger. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. May i call you Jennifer?"
"That would be fine," Jennifer replied with a smile.
The two women shook hands, then Lorraine turned to the older gentleman that stepped into the room. "And you must be Howard Durant. And this is my assistant, Troy Banner. May I take your coats?"
Once the coats were hung in the closet, Troy took drink orders and started to make them as the others sat down in the living room.
CAPITAL BEAT GRILL, DOWNTOWN DENVER
"It was the worst shoot of my life," Elizabeth said to her father and sister, Andelia. "The storm destroyed most of the sets, the sewers, if you can call them that, backed up from all of the rain water and there was sewage floating in the streets. You didn’t dare step outside for fear of catching some disease from all of the muck floating in the streets. The hotel was considered the best in town. Problem was, it was the only hotel in town, and it was a complete dump!
"So, the storm finally passes, but two days later there is still water in the streets, and the smell was sickening! Finally, the producers call a meeting. They have decided to take their losses and get the hell out of Mexico. We ended up using what footage we could, but most of the Mexico scenes were rewritten and filmed on a sound stage in Burbank."
"Wow," Andelia said. "I’ll stick with the restaurant, thank you. You can keep Mexico!"
MOUNTAIN VIEW ESTATES CONSTRUCTION PROJECT, NORTHWEST OF DENVER
Richard Stone was looking out the window of the small construction trailer that was his office while he was on site and saw the black Cadillac Escalade pull up outside. As he watched, he saw three people get out of it. The first person he saw was a strikingly beautiful African American woman step out of the back of the vehicle. He almost gasped as he took in the beauty of her face.
He then looked at the other two people, both men. One was older then himself, and the other looked as young, if not younger, than his own son. But neither of them was Harold Canel.
As the three of them started to walked toward the door of the office, Richard walked over to it and opened it.
"Good afternoon," he said as the three walked into the building. "I am Richard Stone."
"Nice to meet you, Mister Stone," said the older man as he shook his hand. "I am Paul Stratton, this is Marcia Elliot and this is Bryon Lange, from Stone Valley Properties." Paul gestured toward the others as Richard shook their hand.
EXECUTIVE CONFERENCE ROOM, BIDDINGER OIL, DENVER, COLORADO
“Yes, sir,” Anthony Biddinger said into his cell phone. “I will be there in the morning. Good day Mister President.”
As his children heard him say this, they all looked at him, shocked by who he was talking to. After he put his cell phone down on the conference table, he sat back in his chair, looking into the distance. He didn’t say anything, in too much shock about the call he had just received.
“What was that all about?” Doug asked.
Anthony didn’t reply. Instead, he picked his cell phone up and dialed a number. “Maria, I need you to clear my schedule for the next couple of days. I need to fly to Washington tonight. I should be back either tomorrow night or the next day. Either way, I want you to clear tomorrow and the next day for me. Also, get me a suite at the Watergate for tonight and tomorrow night.”
After that call, he called the airport and made sure that the plane owned by Biddinger Oil was prepared for a flight to Washington later that day. Once he had finished making arrangements for the trip, he finally turned to his children.
CAPITAL BEAT GRILL, DOWNTOWN DENVER
“Come on, people! Let’s get our asses in gear! Senator Marchione’s table has been waiting for their entrée’s!” Andelia Biddinger called out as she walked through the kitchen of the restaurant. “I don’t want to piss him off!”
She watched the hustle and bustle of the restaurant trying to fulfill the orders of a restaurant full of afternoon diners. Once she was sure that everything was going to be okay, she slowly walked out into the dining area of the restaurant, slowly walking through and looking at all of the customers, looking for any indication that a table might be having an issue.
Seeing nothing that would clue her in to a problem, Andelia continued to the bar area of the restaurant. Walking up to the bar, she again looked at each customer, looking for signs of trouble or intoxication. She noticed one man who looked like he may have one too many, and called over the bartender.
CASA DEL MAR, SOUTHEAST OF DENVER
Susan Biddinger sat in the dining room of the house she and her husband, Doug, owned on the Kincaide Ranch. Sitting across from her was Jim Harrison, a private investigator.
“I followed Mister Biddinger for three weeks,” the detective said. “During that time, I found that he was regularly meeting with the same woman. They would meet at least three times a week, in a small motel on Colfax Avenue.”
“On Colfax,” Susan said quietly. “So she’s a hooker?”
“No, she’s not. I followed her after one of their meetings, and she lives in Highlands Ranch. I checked around and found that the woman is Marilyn Stone, wife of Richard Stone,” Jim said.
MOUNTAIN VIEW ESTATES CONSTRUCTION PROJECT, NORTHWEST OF DENVER
Richard Stone sat behind the wheel of his GMC Yukon and stared out the windshield at the unfinished houses that were supposed to have been the crowning achievement of his construction company, a dream he desperately wanted to become a reality.
But the housing crisis and a failing economy were destroying that dream.
500 luxury houses with beautiful landscaping, a gated community for the upper-middle class residents of the Denver metropolitan area.
When he had announced the plan two years earlier, he had had people lining up to buy the houses, most putting down large deposits for their plots and waiting for the houses to be finished so that they could move in.
It had taken over a year to get the land set up with the proper substructures like sewage, electricity, cable television and such. Another 3 months were taken to lay out the road beds, meaning construction of the houses had begun right at the time in which home sales had started to fall.