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By the way, all material on this site is copyrighted James Ciano over the years |
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The Gate House File #13567 Chapter One
It’s late at night, 10:00 PM and I’m arriving to start my work shift at the gate house at Preserve Estates. It’s a hot night and everyone’s air conditioning is shedding condensation like a rain storm and running non stop holding the heat at bay. It’s ironic when I lived up north I would be huddled inside during the winter to keep warm, now in Florida I’m huddled inside to keep cool. The guard I’m relieving is doing a little house keeping before she leaves, sweeping the floor and smoking her cigarette. Every time I arrive here the guard I'm relieving is doing something outside, I think it's her way of coping with a crushingly boring eight hour shift.
When people work a gate house, they work an eight hour shift and they work alone. Jane, the officer I relieved has worked the 1400 to 2200 hours shift on a Sunday when no one is around. The loneliest shift is the 2200 to 0600 shift, which I’m on tonight. On this shift I see no one at all. The only time there is anyone around is if there is a major disaster. Then I see plenty of people, all emergency workers and flashing lights and sirens and rushing around, but, luckily not very often and hopefully not tonight.
This gated community is one of the nicest in Florida. It is considered Presidential and priced like it. Beside the Olympic swimming pool and the six clay tennis courts and six asphalt courts, we have an 18 hole championship golf course weaving in and out of the scattered estates homes. There are over 200, million dollar homes, on more than 2000 acres of lush vegetation laid out for privacy and good looks. Nestled behind the Oleanders and Palm stands are some beautiful estates. This is all laid out in a way that no building is visible anywhere on the property; all are hidden behind a wall of beautiful natural settings. Still it is impossible to miss that a lot of homes are here with all the comings and goings of support personal all day long. It sometimes is mystifying that all these people coming and going simply disappear up those manicured driveways, sometimes never to be seen again. I know, I’m the one that has to check them in and be absolutely sure the owners of the homes they are going to, want to see them.
At this facility there is 34 armed guards working full time. With 8 guards at each of the two guard houses, one at the northern end of the property and one at the southern there are two guards on duty at each guard house 24 hours a day seven days a week. The Club House has a central guard unit with 8 full time guards and over 100 hundred cameras spying on the entire property, this is another 24 hour location. Where the property is very sprawling there are two more guard locations strategically placed around the property with 5 guards at each. With 34 full time personnel and occasionally some part time guards this is a very busy facility. The locations for guards are designed so that one guard is always in the office to call for help if necessary. In the central location and the two outposts the one of the guards is tasked to walk a beat that is to cover a specific route checking the paths themselves, the serviceability of the guest equipment, safety equipment, including availability to the quests and lastly the overall condition of the property. At this facility it is hoped that any malfunction is caught by the security people before guests and homeowners are forced to report the problem. As a very expensive and secure property to live in this development ranks among the top five in the entire United States. Any self respecting citizen would be proud to claim as their annual salary what these people pay in fees for upkeep and maintenance.
When it was said earlier that this is a Presidential facility, it was a literal comment. There are two ex US Presidents living on the property, at least part time and Several Presidents of foreign countries several very important Generals and highly placed statesmen, and more than a few dictators thrown in for good measure. Being all human, some very human things happen. This story is about a very human happening that changed many things at its end. A very successful, powerful and happy gentleman of the South American persuasion moved in with his very beautiful and very much younger wife, Esmeralda. The Generale’s name is three pages long so I’ll call him Generale if you don’t mind. Our Generale works out every day and has his cook prepare only the most healthful food for his table. At first his young wife was happy with the Generale’s efforts to please her, but as these stories go, that didn’t last long. Over the years the Generale had sown all the wild oats he could handle and now is ready to settle down and be a good husband. Smoking and drinking ended with his first heart attack, and of course his first sight of his current wife triggered a prescription for Viagra and a second prescription for a good heart medicine. He knew it would be a task to care and feed her to her satisfaction. Now, the Generale has trouble understanding that as a young woman his wife may have a few wild oats of her own to sow yet.
The Generale’s wife drinks copious amounts of wine and smokes like a chimney. Unfortunately her husband sometimes has trouble doing more than walking to their pool in an afternoon. These circumstances are leading to a melt down if the Generale lives much longer. Sometimes the wife is ready to explode with boredom or inactivity.
The real problem is they have nothing in common except their Spanish heritage. The Generale came up from crushing poverty and clawed his way to great power by being strong and willful. The Generale's wife started out rich and pampered and got richer, never learning how to handle who she is. When she married the Generale the pampering increased and she discovered that there was not a single mirror in the entire world she didn't love.
Her major concerns are her make-up, clothes and her perceived lack of sexual satisfaction. The Generale and his powerful position, only interests her because she can manipulate him when ever she wants something.
Given all these circumstances, it is no wonder that the wife can’t wait for the husbands nap every day to prowl for her next playmate. The Generale naps every day for 2 hours. She has a stable of handsome and rich young men willing to sneak around with the Generale’s wife. If they knew the Generale better they would run for the hills.
When they first arrived in Florida no one suspected that this nice old man and his beautiful wife would scandalize their beautiful homeland, destroy the current American President's career and reputation and put his cronies and party out of office in disgrace.
Chapter Two
The opening event to this little soap opera was, oddly enough, an innocent luncheon given by the Generale for the Counsel Generale of his home country. With the Generale’s desire to introduce his wife and himself to local high society he had directed his social secretary to invite not only the Consul Generale but several local high ranking politicians. For all his planning and hopes, at the last minute the Generale was called away and did not attend his own luncheon. Thinking it a good idea, the Generale asked his wife to host this event and went off to his emergency meeting.
The guest list included several older gentlemen of his home country, a few local older gentlemen and one very young and handsome aid to the Counsel Generale who just happens to be very well connected in the political scene. From the moment this young man set foot in the door Esmeralda was enthralled and couldn’t take her eyes off him, he reacted the same way. Therefore it was not long before they put their heads, and other body parts, together and disappeared. Everyone watching could sense the electric charge in the air between the young couple. Finally Esmeralda told the social secretary to take over and Esmeralda and the young man, Walter Cotton, vanished into the Generale’s garden. Several hours later they came up for air and everyone else had left, with the Consul Generale leaving a message for Walter to take the rest of the day off.
As the lovers took leave of each other they promised undying love and a very quick return engagement. At first sneaking around to local hotels meeting in prearranged rooms several times a week without arousing anyone’s suspicions. When the Generale began to complain he missed his wife, the lovers became more inventive, using the Consul Generale’s office as a foil more and more.
Esmeralda knew the young man Walter was the nephew of the President of the United States and this connection helped increase her interest in him. Unfortunately for the President of United States, he was very close to his nephew and they got together at least once a week to play squash at the White House. As men often do, they brag incessantly, and these two were no exception, speaking of women and their own conquest’s was part of the ritual of life. The nephew couldn’t contain himself; it was only a matter of time that he would brag about Esmeralda. Of course the President knew how beautiful Esmeralda was and was duly jealous.
Chapter Three
Esmeralda bided her time for several weeks before beginning her campaign to get invited to the White House as Walter’s guest. She began asking Walter questions about how the President lived and who they were friendly with, questions to get to know the man. This line of attack continued and grew to more blatant requests for an invitation to the White House. Everyone but Walter knew this was Esmeralda’s intention all along. It was not long before Walter gave in to this onslaught and began hinting to his Uncle that an invitation would be welcome. Intrigued the President didn’t hesitate to pursue this and arranged a private dinner between the four of them, Himself, the First Lady, Esmeralda and Walter.
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