Movie - The Secret Life of Bees and the Black Madonna Essay

Movie - The Secret Life of Bees and the Black Madonna - Essay Example The Black Madonna does serve several roles in the overall plot. As a feminine symbol, it represents maternal love and the varied mother surrogates that soothed and comforted Lily as she pondered on her relationship with her late mother and the temporal and spiritual relevance that relationship held for her. In the movie, Lily carries a picture of Black Mary that she found while rummaging through her mother’s belongings. To Lily, the picture of Black Madonna symbolized her late mother and it is this picture that eventually leads her to August, a black woman who takes her in and acts as a surrogate mother to Lily. It is August that introduces Lily to the spiritual relevance and meaning of Black Madonna, whom she considers to be the divine mother to all of the humanity. Thereby, if on the one side the picture of Black Madonna connotes spiritual and temporal maternal love and support to Lily, in the larger sense the statue of Black Madonna in this movie does convey a sentiment of love, hope and human brotherhood to a racially divided South. In a symbolic context, the statue of Black Madonna which the Daughters of Mary worship every night does convey the meaning and relevance of having faith and believing in something that transcends beyond one’s innate beliefs and yearnings. Thereby, in the movie, the statue of Black Madonna does act as a symbol of hope and reconciliation for the individual characters living in times marked by deep-seated racial divide and social tensions in the American South.

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 14

Economics - Essay Example pends on government regulations and zoning authorities which may mark land as being in industrial, commercial or residential zones which may reduce the varieties in which land could be used. For example, prime property sites in the middle of a bustling city may be zoned for parks or public recreational areas and no matter how much developers want to use that land for create high rise apartments or offices, the land remains free of buildings (Cem.ac.uk, 2008). In fact, even when demand changes to seek more industrial land in or around a city or more residential sites, government policy may be slow to react to the demand which could significantly increase the price of land currently zoned to be industrial or residential. The problem of zoning or rezoning is only multiplied when we consider how existing buildings no rezoned land may create problems for developers especially if the buildings are in congested areas or have significant historical or cultural importance (Cem.ac.uk, 2008). At the same time, there is no cost of production associated with land itself. This is because the primary determinant of what value can be derived from land comes from the best use land can be put to. However, owning a piece of land in a certain area gives the landowners the power of monopoly since they are the single owners of the site. New production of land with the same specifications in the same space is impossible therefore they can charge monopoly prices if they so desire (Cem.ac.uk, 2008). The monopoly ownership makes land an appreciating asset of course things such as an oil spill near a beach can significantly decrease the value of beachfront property but there is little chance of new land being created in significant numbers. This also encourages land hoarding as speculative ownership of land may lead to profits when properly zoned land becomes scarce in a given region (Cem.ac.uk, 2008). In this manner, speculators and those who are hoarding land may be quick to offer the

Effects of Migration Essay Example for Free

Effects of Migration Essay There are a lot of different reasons as to why people migrate, one being forced migration, where people are told to move because they could be at risk because of war or natural disasters. Another is internal migration, where people leave their country either permanently or temporarily, and could also be to escape from natural disasters or for work. Immigration is when people move to another country permanently, and could be because of a number of reasons. There are a lot of people that move from LEDC’s to MEDC’s like Mexico to America, North Africa to Europe and Japan from China, for many of those different reasons. Indonesia is far overpopulated and so the government is trying to ease population pressures on Islands such as Java by spreading out development to some of the more remote islands like Maluku. This means that many people living in Indonesia will migrate away, as overpopulation means there is a lack of resources in that area, such as food, water and even jobs. A lot of pressure is put on the areas they migrate to because over three million people have moved there. A lot of the rainforest in the area has had to be cleared, which has led to soil erosion. This also means that a lot of the land is then not suitable to be used for farming anymore. What makes it worse is that wild animals destroy the crops, which causes a major shortage. A problem that has occurred is that there has been conflict between the migrants and the local population. The trans-migrants receive land as an encouragement to move, and the locals think of this as favouritism. The tension then grows as sometimes the government give areas of land that locals used for shifting cultivation to the migrants. Even though much of Indonesia’s population has migrated away, its population is still rapidly growing, and the scheme to Trans-migrate isn’t working as well as planned. Many trans-migrants are coming back after not having much success following their leave. Transmigration isn’t helping the growing issues of over-population. Depending on the specific circumstance, migration can be either positive or negative in the long run for a country. It could be bad for the country  they’re leaving, as it could leave many jobs with not enough people to fill them, and the decreasing population could then mean the country loses money and end up with less resources. However, it could also mean that there are now enough resources for the population as the country was overpopulated before, and could have had too many jobs for the amount of people living there. The host country also could have a positive impact from the migrants, for example cheap labour and migrants could be willing to do jobs that the local population don’t want to do, and they bring more money into the country. But the country could also be affected negatively, like if that country becomes overpopulated and then there are too many people for the amount of jobs, and then they claim benefits and live off the government, as well as the shortage of resources that would soon follow.

Making and Managing Change at FedEx

Making and Managing Change at FedEx Managing change in todays organizations is not easy but doing it well is the new imperative. If companies want to survive and strive in todays highly competitive environment, they have change quickly and yet successfully. Managing changes is now a core competency where organizations fall short in the race to adopt it. The increasing pace of change coupled with accelerating uncertainty. An IBM study reveals the following rates in change program success, only 41% organizations implementing change fully met objectives, 44% missed at least one objective and 15% missed all objectives or aborted. Basically 59% change initiatives failed to meet their objectives. The study also discloses the key success factors such as, the highest rating has a top management sponsorship (92%), an employee involvement (72%), an honest and timely communication (70%), a corporate culture that motivates and promotes change, 55% change agents (pioneers of change), a change supported by culture (48%). The lower r ating but still important are the following factors, efficient training programs (38%), adjustment of performance measures (36%), an efficient organization structure (33%) and monetary and non-monetary activities (19%). The most considerable of all the above is the human factor because people matter the most in managing change in organization. Change is something that makes people upset and has the higher potential of failures, loss production or failing quality. On the other end, there is a positive side of change, where he effects of change are important to the survival of the organization. From the perspective of employees both definition and understanding is essence to successfully managing change. As mentioned before uncertainty, a fear of unknown or an expectation of loss make people resistant to change. To eliminate this discomfort we have to make sure that people perceive the change in the positive way and that they are well equipped to deal with the change they expect either though training programs or communication. People have to be aware of the impact of the change of them. To begin with, the change has to be defined to employees in detail and as early as possible. It is a leader responsibility to provide updates as things developed and become clearer. Management has to help people understand what is changing a nd why and recognize they reluctance. People would like to know answers for what the change will be and when it will happen and why it is happening. Maintaining channels of communication between employees and management will help employees to embrace to change when they become aware of what is coming and what it will mean to them. The employees will appreciate that and be more productive before and after the change. Implementing change poorly is worst than not implementing change at all because poor implementations contaminate peoples attitude toward change and creates problem in the future. Middle management has to be aware that change for change sakes is a recipe for failure. Change should be pursued in the context of clear goals. Making change work at FedEx Todays fast pace work environment is causing the organizations to change the traditional view of what normal is. FedEx is a perfect example of the organization that is reframing its traditional view in effects of globalization, technology advances, complex multinational organizations, frequent partnering across national borders and company boundaries. The company was transformed by its founder into the worlds leading overnight shipper and major force in ground shipping. Within forty years of being a leader in delivery service the FedEx Company went though chain of constant and successful changes. The company was founded in June 1971 by Fred Smith with only two small French-made airplanes handful of employees using their own cars or rental tracks for deliveries and its first customer, the Federal Reserve System. Fed was transporting checks and other documents between banks overnight. At that time Smith was already thinking to expand the service with an impact in air-cargo transport. The main focus was on high priority items such as computer parts and medical equipment where fast deliveries were crucial. With help of investors within not even a year FedEx had nine Falcons and was ready to expend it service in Midwest and South with the hub location in Memphis. On March 12, 1973 only six packages were sent in the first overnight flight to Memphis but next month there were 168 packages. There were also niepowodzenia, the company gained a negative attention when in 1975 Smith was accused of forging documents to obtain loans for the company. Fortunately, he was cleared of charges and resume control of its own company. FedEx situation significantly improved when government deregulated the air cargo industry what lets FedEx carry more cargo on large planes. FedEx quickly reacted on the new government regulations and replaced small Falcons with Boeing 727, 737 and DC-10s. This had a tremendous impact on FedEx hub and spoke system. Not only planes where replaced but Smith purchased all leased trucked and run a designation operation to promise delivery by noon the next day for FedEx premium service. In early 1980 FedEx was a winner in the express delivery industry, an industry it has established. Among competitors such United Parcel Services and Emery, FedEx stand out as the first company to tap the over-night delivery market. Today, in one day (twenty four hour period) FedEx plane travel 500,000 miles which is equal to circling the globe twenty times. Smith expanded the company business again in 1981, adding the overnight delivery of letter and documents and in 1984 started operating around the world after purchasing Gelco Express International, an international package shipper base in Minneapolis, Minnesota and several overseas delivery firms. In this year the company rolled out a PC based automated shipping system. In 1986 the company introduced hand held bar code scanners to track packages. Focused on the improvement of the service FedEx introduced Service Quality Indicator (SQI) in 1988 which allowed tracking lost packages, missed pick-ups, and late deliveries. The scanners were also used to read the barcodes n invoices as well as to track the location of the packages throughout their journey. The company grew again n 1989 when it purchased Flying Tigers, an air cargo delivery specializing in overseas market. This transaction, added to FedEx debt and foreign losses and by 1992 the company stopped shipping packages within Europe but continuing shipping goods to and from Europe. In 1994 Federal Express Corporation officially changed its name to FedEx, in and lunched website www.fedex.com to let customers track their packages on the internet. The website capability was extended in 1996 allowing customers to create shipping labels and order courier pickups. According to Chris Newton, a senior ana lyst of supply chain strategies for AMR Research in Boston, this emphasis on IT innovation has gained FedEx 30 percent share in the highly competitive business to consumer expense delivery market. Among three possible change models with IT innovations such as Technology Driven Change, Stakeholders Decision Making and Stair Change Model FedEx had chosen the last one. The Satir Change Model. The Satir Change model focuses not just on systems or technology but individual people. This model describes the major stages of a change, transition between stages, effects of each stage on feelings, thinking, performance and physiology. Stair Change Model also evaluate helpful and harmful intervention during each stage, making it a robust model which explains the success the number one service industry that uses technology to carter to customer needs (Gordon, 2001). Studying this model we will understand how individuals cope with unexpected or significant change as go through four stages: Late Status Quo, Chaos, Practice and Integration, and New Status Quo. We will notice how the performance changes as we move to the next stage in this model. In the Late Status Quo we see only small fluctuations in performance from time to time. In this stage people feel comfortable, bored, frustrated or anxious. The foreign element, something that comes from outside of your world, that shatters the familiarity experienced in the late Status. It normally happens when the company reorganizes and puts employee in a new role. Than we have another stage, which is Chaos, it is unfamiliar territory, where the life in unpredictable and individuals typical behavior dont work. People in this stage feel stressed, confused, afraid, hurt, and uncomfortable or have other strong yet not positive emotions. The performance usually drops. Employees can react to Chaos differently , some will be directing other people around and try to stay in control, some will be focusing on small part of problem totally ignoring the Chaos happening around them, and other will be doing everything to find information about what is going on. Some of this actions work some do not. Peoples bahaviors and performance are unpredictable, often varying from day to day or even from moment to moment. There is also a good thing about this stage, Chaos can be very creative time but experienced under urgency and stress. The Transforming Idea gives a new understanding of what to do. New ideas are created when being in Chaos. In Practice and Integration we try the new idea or behavior. People learn quickly even though make lots of mistakes but make progress. The performance improves, reaches higher level that before the Foreign Element. The last step in this model is The New Status Quo the performance starts to level off as people manage new skills. The excellent results continue with less concentration and attention. People feel comfortable about how rapidly they learned new skills and gained confidence. With time, the New Status Quo becomes a Late Status Quo. FedEx employees are familiar with the organizational team and understand that the company success and survival dependents on IT success. They know what is expected of them and are aware that if something fails so they might have to pick up the pace to fix it. FedEx stuff experience resistance to change which threatens power structure of the company. Resistance is natural reaction when change is to be implemented, However, overcoming resistance requires that peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ open up, become aware, and overcome the reaction, to deny, avoid or blame (Smith, 2009). It is a natural reaction that the employees resist and questions validity of any new devices but after being trained and educated on particular device they realize that the product is a good. FedEx put significant efforts on employees training programs as well as communication. As pictured is the graph above, following resistance is another stage called chaos, a lot of unknown which normally takes place upon accepting new device. This stage is required as a means of processing, problem solving, reframing and acceptance and buy-on for change initiatives. There is no place for old behaviors. Than is integration, the one of transforming elements that can show FedEx employees how the device can benefit them and increase value of the company in the market place. FedEx communicates the value of the change to their employees through their bottom line as the bottom line is affected by the consumer behavior, the company communicates that the initiator of change is (their) customer (Gordon, 2001, p.3). FedEx new status quo, which is the last step in the Satir Change Model, is to put company in a better place, stabilize performance at a higher level get more reliable information, anything to reduce change employees resistance, increase internal communication and to reduce customers change resistance. FedEx objective desire was to reduce the change resistance among employees who fear the lack of competence to change, feel overloaded and overwhelmed. Through the implementation of the new technological devices the company wanted to convince its employees that the risk of change is greater than the risk of standing still. This was helpful for people who feel connected to other people who were identifying with the old. Minimizing resistance to change was important for the company so its employees have a healthy skepticism and be sure that new ideas are sound. Without offering support, counseling and training people will feel that the propose change threaten their notions of themselves. According to Schuler people genuinely believe that any recommended change is a bad idea. FedEx experienced the most significant change which was a massive reorganization announced in January 19, 2001. The company consolidated four of its five operating subsidiaries under the FedEx brand name and moved most of its IT, sales and marketing stuff into a new company, FedEx Corporate. Simultaneously, FedEx realigned the relationships of these companies to one another, intending to provide customers with a single point of access to sale, customer service, billing and automation systems (CIO.com, 2001). FedEx has managed is own way to manage resistance to change mainly by communicating with the stuff. Implementing and use of FXTV which connected the members of the company trough live broadcast was the FedEx way to increase communication as well as to exploit the internal expertise of company employees worldwide. The close-circuit television network which enables broadcasting with employees at any time around the world is the one of the most valuable FedEx IT resources available when the company goes through a new change or undertakes a new project. Employees appreciate the way the company communicates the reorganization or the project even though it may not have a direct impact on them. They know in advance what will be happening in details that are provided clearly through email and FXTV. This indicate that the company values its employees Besides FXTV, the Smith company uses IP multicast technology to fuel programming through the company intranet into IP-TV viewer that employees have on their desktop. FedEx continually works to find a way to reduce change resistance of their employees as well as its customers. Customers value FedEx as a very responsive vendor and are encouraged to do more business with the company. For instance, General Motors Service Part Operation was working with FedEx to improve shipment of small automotive parts from GM facilities to dealers worldwide. FedEx willingly worked with GM to blend their systems expertise and successfully fulfilled GM needs. In todays fast paste environment, there is ongoing pressure to be responsive to customer needs and at the same time maintain the cost-effectiveness. According to FedEx customers, the company can translate expertise into IT solutions and create opportunity to serve customers better and eliminate waste from its system. From the very beginning the company had shown a potential of managing change without losing touch with its core mission. During the 40 year period of operation in delivery business, FedEx technology and competition have shifted enormously but the company was able to coordinate the following, introducing new services with avoiding fluctuations in growth, profitability and very important efficiency of employee morale. FedEx success was achieved with use of the Satir Change Model and through communication with employees. As mentioned by Gordon, FedEx has regularly managed change to its advantage by maintaining different task simultaneously, such as perpetuating the company essential mission, remaining innovative, exploiting competitive edge to achieve value-added services and seeing the end result of any change as a continual way to build value and utility through customers. For every prosperous business, it is fundamental to establish communication practices that enable employees to be informed, administer feedback, ask questions and develop a re-framing of the change situation so they become aware and understand overall benefit to the system in a company. The communication practices benefit FedEx employees as they develop the competency and expertise in using these systems so they can move through the frequent changes required to provide value-added products and services to customers.

Red Death Essay -- essays research papers

Edgar Allan Poe's short story entitled The Mask of the Red Death is an artistic example of vivid symbolism. Throughout the sinister tale Poe writes in a style that appeals to all five senses and captivates the reader's curiosity until the story's dour conclusion. Upon first glance, the story seems to be a complex tale of good versus evil. If the reader were to examine the story more deeply, they would then discover that the plot and symbolism intertwined throughout the narrative is no more than a simple metaphor for life and death. A quick synopsis of the story tells the account of the affluent and overly confident Prince Prospero and his faulted attempt to escape death. Poe illustrates that Prospero is blinded by his riches and believes that he can escape death. A heavy dose of figurative language is used to create a struggle in which the mood goes from elation to somberness in just a mere three pages. The characters of the story are well defined in that the reader can ascertain certain traits, good or bad, of the characters. For instance, Poe writes, "When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court." (Poe 41) This line identifies the Prince as a smug, insecure, and even foolish character all while foreshadowing a dark conclusion. These lines identify the Prince as the axis of the story by illustrating a few ... Red Death Essay -- essays research papers Edgar Allan Poe's short story entitled The Mask of the Red Death is an artistic example of vivid symbolism. Throughout the sinister tale Poe writes in a style that appeals to all five senses and captivates the reader's curiosity until the story's dour conclusion. Upon first glance, the story seems to be a complex tale of good versus evil. If the reader were to examine the story more deeply, they would then discover that the plot and symbolism intertwined throughout the narrative is no more than a simple metaphor for life and death. A quick synopsis of the story tells the account of the affluent and overly confident Prince Prospero and his faulted attempt to escape death. Poe illustrates that Prospero is blinded by his riches and believes that he can escape death. A heavy dose of figurative language is used to create a struggle in which the mood goes from elation to somberness in just a mere three pages. The characters of the story are well defined in that the reader can ascertain certain traits, good or bad, of the characters. For instance, Poe writes, "When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court." (Poe 41) This line identifies the Prince as a smug, insecure, and even foolish character all while foreshadowing a dark conclusion. These lines identify the Prince as the axis of the story by illustrating a few ...

Crash by Jerry Spinelli :: Jerry Spinelli Crash

Crash by Jerry Spinelli   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Setting: This book starts out in this kids house his name is crash. Then they go to the arcade. That is where they spend most of the story. Then close to the end they go to the riverside.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Main Character: Crash he is the only one mentioned in this whole book. He is the main main character. He is tall has blonde hair, brown eyes, and has glasses. He has a funny personality. He just wants to have fun. On the outside he is a weird, tall, skinny guy on the outside but a lost, hopeless, scared boy on the inside.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Winnie is the girl that Crash likes loves dearly. She never paid much attention to Crash though. She has dirty blonde hair, really pretty blue eyes and, and is really funny.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Plot Summary: This is a story about a kid named Crash. When he was four he met this boy named James but that was all that was told about him so I didn’t put his name in the character list because he wasn’t all that important. He and Crash got into a lot of trouble at their house I mean a lot so one day when they were 12 and 13 Crash’s mother kicked him and his friend James out to go to the arcade. There they met this girl Winnie that crash liked I mean loved dearly but, she never really realized him until that day when they went to the arcade.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There he got into this big fight with the a big strong guy named Biff that was all said about him too. The guy Biff was Winnie’s really greedy boyfriend which she was only going out with because he threatened to kill her friends. That day Crash accidentally bumped into Biff and said excuse me and Biff punched him he then kicked Biff in the face since he knew karate then Biff fell to the ground and chased him until Crash jumped over James on to a game and did a back flip kicking Biff in the face again and knocking him out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After that Winnie was amazed and fell deeply in love with Crash. For being the only person to stand up to Biff and saved her from him. After that whole big incident at the arcade they were kicked out so he, James, James’s girlfriend, and Winnie all went to the river side.

All or Nothing

My doorbell was the last thing that I wanted to hear on the morning of 20th September. It was the first day that I'd had off work for months so I was hoping to stay in bed for as long as I could. The doorbell rang once more and at that point I realised that my long morning in bed was never going to happen. I jumped out of bed, the same as I did every other morning, and went to the front door to answer it. There was a postman stood at the door with a small parcel that was rectangle shaped. â€Å"Good morning†, I said to the postman. He handed me the parcel and also a clip board with a piece of paper clipped to the front for me to sign, I signed the paper and went back inside. I took the parcel into my living room which was still a mess from the night before; the coffee table in the centre of the room had an empty Vodka bottle, crisp packets, and also an empty twenty pack of cigarettes. My sofas outlined the coffee table with one either side, I sat on the one that was closest to me and opened the parcel, there was a small letter inside that said: To Victoria, A present from your dearest friend, hope you like it. Love you and miss you. Love Tom x x x. At that moment, a smile appeared on my face, I missed Tom a lot when he was away, especially when they'd been for this long, he had been away for nearly two months now, and normally I'd see him twice a week or more so it was weird for me not to have him near. He was on a business trip in London and I was still miles away from him in Bristol. I had known Tom since we'd started the same secondary school at the age of eleven, since then we've gone through college and university together too. At school we'd been close and we'd always wanted to do the same kinds of things, I was quite boyish and we used to play football after school had finished and on weekends. Our relationship just got stronger as we got older and it just never seemed to leave, even when Tom moved away for a short while with an ex-girlfriend who wanted everything her way. I took the velvet container and letter and put them onto the table in front of me, I opened the container to reveal a matching necklace and earring set, they were 18 carat gold and had one small diamond in each, the necklace was a heart at the end of a chain and the earrings were also hearts and also contained a diamond each. I grabbed my mobile phone from the kitchen side and pressed 1 on the speed dial, I placed the phone to my ear and it began to ring. â€Å"Hi!† said the voice at the other end. â€Å"Tom, its Vic†, I said, â€Å"just to say thanks for the jewellery set, it only came this morning†. â€Å"Oh†, he murmured, â€Å"you're worth it, oh and Vic's what time is it?† â€Å"About 1o'clock in the afternoon, why?† I replied. â€Å"I'm late, see ya!† was the answer I got, and then he put the phone down, I knew he was already very late. I put the phone back onto the kitchen side and began to walk towards my bathroom, and seeing as I had all day to do whatever I wanted to, I was intending to have a long relaxing bath. I went into the bathroom, and started to run a bath full of water, I put bubble bath in it, I lit the candles around the edge and my nightdress over my head and threw it into the washing pile. I spent over an hour in the bath, until the water started to go cold and I had to get out because my skin was all wrinkled. I dried myself and went through to my bedroom. Once in there, I grabbed a pair of silk French knickers out of my drawer and a long, light pink satin dress. It was meant to be really hot today according to the weather reports on telly, so I thought that I would dress appropriately as normally I would be in a suit jacket and black trousers. I threw the bed sheet over the bed, and fluffed up the pillows a little, pulled open my curtains and opened the window, ready for the day to begin. I blow-dried and straightened my hair before putting on my make-up and getting dressed. I then fed the cat and opened the rest of the curtains in the apartment. I picked up my keys and my phone from on the kitchen side and went out the front door. I went down the stairs and out to where my car was parked, it was my pride and joy, a black Lotus Elise which had taken me years to save for. I drove it out of the car park and along the street towards the shopping centre. As I approached the car park, I got my card out of my purse; I paid on the card for all of my parking tickets because I spent so much time in car parks, and keeping cash like that on me all of the time wouldn't be easy. I showed the man at the kiosk my card; he took one quick glance and then returned it to me so that I could get through. I put the pass back into my purse and headed into the main bit of the car park where I found a space next to the stairs that led down to the shops. I got out of the car and locked it; I then flung my bag over my shoulder and started to walk down the stairs. The first shop at the bottom of the stairs was Monsoon, I could see in the window, the shoes that I had bought the last time I had a day off. I went into the shop, I wasn't sure what I wanted but I knew I had to buy something special to wear to Tom's welcome home party that was being held that weekend. The dress that I bought eventually, was rose red and touched the floor, it was pure silk and cost me over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½200, the slit that went up the back was huge and went all the way up to my thighs, luckily enough I had good legs so I knew I could carry it off easily. I needed a new pair of shoes to go with the dress so I carried on walking on the path through the middle of the centre until I came to River Island, I went in and bought the first pair of black, stiletto heeled shoes that I could find. I already had a purse at home that would match perfectly with my outfit and I was planning to wear the necklace and earrings that Tom had bought me. The party was being held at Tom's mum's house, as Tom's was too small to accommodate so many people. Jane was too wealthy for her own good, she had married an older man when she'd only just left Tom's dad, the man died five years ago and left everything he owned to Jane. He was lying on millions the day he died and before Jane realised it, she was too. He left his business, his home and everything in it to her, the house alone was worth over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1 million. The house was on 12 acres of land and had 10 bedrooms which would be well over enough space for the party. I had known Jane for as long as I had known Tom so she was like a second mother to me, being at her house was nothing new so I wasn't nervous about that, just about seeing Tom again after so long. I had spoken to him over the phone and had written letters but this was different and I was looking forward to it so much. I had to be well prepared for this so I had written myself a list of what I needed to do beforehand. Among the other things on that list was buy new dress and shoes so I ticked them off. The last thing I did before I left the shopping centre was grab a cup of coffee from O'Brien's, they made the best coffee that money could buy so I always bought one when I was on the move. I got into my car still with the polystyrene cup that was so hot that it was difficult to carry, and put my bag down on the passenger seat. I downed the last bit of coffee and threw the cup into the bin next to the car; I then put my new dress and shoes onto the back seat and drove out of the car park. By the time I had got back to my apartment, I was knackered; I parked my car in the same place that it had been in before I had gone out this morning. I then walked into the main entrance hall and up the stairs to the door of my apartment; I opened the door and pressed the button on my phone to check for messages. â€Å"No messages†, it said slowly, beeped three times as usual, then back to normal. I picked up the receiver and dialled Jane's home number, I always tried this first as it cost me less. It rang twice and then her answer machine kicked in. â€Å"The Williams residence, sorry but we can't come to the phone right now, please try our mobiles or leave a message after the tone†, the tone sounded so I began. â€Å"Jane, it's Victoria, just to say I'll be at the party, will be there as usual early to help set up, see you then if not before†, and I put down the phone. I went into the kitchen to see it gleaming, the living room had also now been cleaned and there was no rubbish on the table anymore, the cleaner had been in. I put the kettle on, picked up my post from the kitchen side, and sat down on a breakfast bar stool to open it. The remainder of the day passed as some what of a blur, I couldn't have done anything particularly exciting because I would have remembered. I only finally looked up at the clock on my living room wall at 10 p.m. and I knew that I had work in the morning so I went to bed. The two days after were the same, work which never changed from day to day, and doing the same thing every day made me more bored than anything else. I did longer hours than I should every day because I knew I had nothing to do when I got home and this made the two days go quicker. The weekend came and I knew that Tom was supposed to be coming home. I had the whole weekend off, I wasn't intending to get drunk but just to be sure I had booked the two days which meant I didn't have to go to work with a hangover. I had all day to make myself look stunning for the night ahead; it was only ten thirty in the morning so I got out of bed and put the television on in the living room. I had to be at Jane's at five o'clock to help her with any last minute things, she was having caterers in to cook all of the food and to set most of it up but she knew that I would be sure of what Tom liked. That morning I went out and had my hair cut and my nails done, I got home and showered to get rid of the access hair that was in all of my clothes. It was now gone 1 o'clock in the afternoon so I pulled a microwave meal out of the freezer and put it in for five minutes. I didn't have the time to do something proper, today was going to be quite busy for me, I still had to get ready although I was clean. After I had finished the meal, I put the dish in the dishwasher and tidied the kitchen again so it looked presentable; I only just had enough time now. I got dressed up to my waist; I didn't want to get make-up on the top of my dress so I put that part on last. I blow dried my hair and straightened it, did my make-up, put on all of my jewellery, including the necklace and earring set that Tom had sent me and then put the rest of my dress on properly. I put my shoes on and left and left at a quarter past four. When I got to Jane's, the place was deserted, there was nobody to be seen anywhere. It was quite early, and Tom wasn't due until around six. Jane came to the front door to greet me, so I parked the car and got out. I followed her through the entrance hall and into the living room which looked amazing as usual, but today the walls were covered in welcome home banners. I then joined her in the dining area situated next to the living room; the table was laid with the most beautifully presented food which I knew she hadn't cooked. A man, who turned out to be the bar manager for the night, was putting the finishing touches to the bar at the other end of the room, more bar staff would come later to help him with catering, waiters and waitresses to carry around the drinks on trays. I couldn't wait to see Tom; he was always away when I came around to see Jane, he only ever came home for a while and then he was off again to some business meeting or other. Jane noticed the earrings and the necklace and I told her that Tom had sent them to me. She complained because she said that he never sent her presents and said that he spoilt me, which was mostly true; he did always send me presents from wherever he was staying, even if it was only a t-shirt or a key ring with the name of the hotel on it. The last guest arrived at five thirty; Jane and I greeted them at the door and took their coats. Finally at ten past six a taxi pulled up at the door and out leaped Tom, as happy as ever with that same smile on his face as I had first seen so long ago. I was so glad to see him, even if at that moment it was only through the window. The door knocked and I stood behind Jane as she opened it. Tom threw his arms around his mother like a child, a finger just tapping me as his hand passed. Tom screamed my name as soon as he noticed that I was there, he then pulled me into his chest so that I could put my arms around him for the first time in ages. â€Å"Welcome home†, I squeaked, I couldn't breathe very well because he was holding me so tightly. He spent the next half an hour greeting people and thanking them for coming, and then he came back over to see me. We talked for a while about his trip and about how we both were; he looked great, although a little tired from the journey. He noticed that I had the earrings and necklace on that he had bought me and I thanked him again, he told me that I looked beautiful and I could feel myself getting embarrassed and going red. He just smiled. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of Jane coming from the dining room, she winked and smiled when she saw us together, she had always thought that Tom and I should have been a couple but we had let her down after we had split up years ago. â€Å"Wanna dance?† He asked me. We stepped into the centre of the living room where Jane had made a space for everyone to dance in. He span me around, and I laughed, we danced for a while to a song which I recognised from my childhood. He kissed me as the song ended and I knew that Jane was watching us. In that moment I felt something which I hadn't felt with Tom since we were together, and then I heard a voice. I knew even before I looked that it was Jane, stood there hands on hips and giggling. â€Å"What?† Asked Tom, â€Å"it was just a friendly kiss†. I agreed with him and Jane walked away. It was now quite late, and most of the guest had left, the few that hadn't were getting coats and saying goodbye to each other. â€Å"Fancy coming back to mine for a bit?† he asked, â€Å"for coffee or something?† I answered almost immediately, â€Å"yeh, sure†. We phoned a taxi from Jane's house and got to Tom's just after midnight. He paid for the taxi and we got out. Once inside I sat on the sofa in my usual place next to the window, he got up to make coffee and I suggested wine instead. He put the two glasses down on the table and opened the bottle of wine, he poured wine into both the glasses and handed me one. We toasted â€Å"to love and all of life's other pleasures†. We talked some more about his trip and after the third glass of wine he moved closer to me, I wasn't really sure what to do. He touched my face and pulled me closer to him, we kissed, and not just a little one this time but one that lasted minutes, passion and lust filled me and I kissed back. He was caressing my hips and all up my back, he stopped the kiss just for a second and in that time I was trying to remember who I was with and what was happening. It was Tom, just Tom but for some reason it felt so right. I pulled his face back to mine so that I could kiss him again. He grabbed my hand and led me to what I knew was his bedroom. We fell to the bed still kissing passionately; he removed his jacket and his tie, and then started to undo his shirt buttons. I wanted him so badly and was so excited that I couldn't stop myself from pulling my dress over my head, shocking myself that I could be so forward. I threw it onto the floor beside the bed where the clothes he was wearing only moments before now laid. We were both now in only our underwear, I felt so calm with Tom, and I wasn't scared at all. Still kissing me, he undid the back of my bra so quickly that I didn't even notice, I had forgotten what Tom's touch felt like but now longed for him. He had taken off his boxer shorts and was now taking off my thongs, kissing and gently nibbling my breasts as he did. He started to stroke my thigh and I moved his hand up higher so that his fingers were on my clitoris, I was scratching his back and pulling him closer, begging for him to touch me more. I screamed with excitement as he slid inside me. When I woke that morning, I felt different, and then I remembered what had happened the night before. I got out of the bed still totally naked, and grabbed my clothes from the floor on the way out the door, Tom was still asleep and I didn't think that I could wake him; I just wanted to get out. When I got home I went straight into my bedroom where I cried for hours, I didn't regret the night before but I didn't want to ruin what we already had either. The phone rang beside the bed and I picked up to hear a voice which I knew was Tom's. I was crying as I answered, and Tom could tell this. He asked me what was wrong and I explained. â€Å"I want it all or nothing at all. There's nowhere left to fall when you reach the bottom, it's now or never. Is it all or are we just friends, is this how it ends, with a simple telephone call, you leave me here with nothing at all?† I sobbed. â€Å"That's what I phoned to say to you Victoria, I want you to have it all, I want us to be together properly, I'm sick of pretending that I don't love you because I do!† he answered. I told him that I loved him too, I was overpowered by shock. The next few weeks passed quickly, Jane loved the idea of us being back together again, so did all of our friends. We're planning to wed in the summer and then we want to start a family of our own. Who would have guessed that you can look love in the face for so long and not even realise that it's there. This book is a lesson for all of you, you only live once, live it to the full, don't let anything come between you and your dreams†¦