by Wood, Lauren
Dahlia agreed.” Yes, I can think of several people that have really stuck with me, but there is one in particular that I always seem to think about. You know, the one that got away.”
“Yes, that's exactly what I mean.”
“How do you have one that got away, Angie? You're beautiful, blonde, successful and rich.”
I waved her off and told her that she was being silly. Dahlia was beautiful in her own right, but she was never satisfied with her looks. She had brown hair, but she wanted blonde like mine. Her eyes were the same color; however, she was convinced that she would be happier if they were a different color.
“It was a chance meeting that I had with a young guy when I was still in college. I was going to New York for New Year’s holiday with some family and friends, and I just happened to sit next to him. My father wouldn't let me take the jet, so he made me fly business class. That's where I met Jaime.”
It was strange to think that this was the first time that I had said his name out loud in so long. Why did I have this strange feeling that came over me when I said his name? It was a feeling of yearning and something else.
“So, what happened?”
“We had a great night together. He pleasured me in ways that I didn't even know were possible at the time. Even now, all these years later, I have still not found a lover as skilled as he was. It's rather strange too, because he wasn't much older than me at the time. I can’t even imagine how talented he would be now.”
Now Dahlia was paying attention, because my friend had a mind that was always in the gutter. She wanted details and I wasn't sure if I was prepared to give them. That would mean remembering it all again, which was something I did anyways. I dreamed about it all the time, but I didn't want her to see my reaction. It was such a long time ago, but the realization that I would never see him again was still very ripe in my mind. As was the pain from that realization.
“And?”
“And, like I said, we had a great night together and we went to the airport to catch our flight to New York. They booked us on a flight the next morning. When I got to my seat, he never showed up. I don't know exactly where they put him, but I tried to find him after we got to New York. But you know how New York is. There's so many people running around and I never found him. He was gone.”
“Didn't you get his number, something?”
“No, that would have been the smart thing to do. We were so wrapped up in the moment, that I guess we didn't think about the next day. I didn't even catch his last name, if you can believe it. All I know is that his name was Jaime. The best lover of my life.”
She sighed out loud and I could tell by the dramatic motion that she wanted to tell her own story. I listened to her tell me about one of her several men that got away. The one she was thinking of particularly was an auto mechanic that had fixed her car. He had given her a discount and she had given him a night of passion.
“I'm telling you Angie, the size of that thing, there is no way that I can forget him. I don't think I'll ever see another one that big again.”
My story had been of passion and desire and this connection that was inconceivable from someone that I had never met before. Hers was about the size of the man's member. It made me laugh and I told Dahlia that we had to get back to work.
“Well, you still have to go have that meeting with the Bronx restaurant. They want to do a full restoration and since I saw that you had a little bit of time, I figured that you would want to go check it out. There is also a house call for Mister Randall. Your meeting with him is tomorrow at nine in the morning. He sent over a few things that he wanted more information about. You can work on that before you go see the restaurant.”
She handed me a few papers that were faxed over and I glanced at them quickly.
“I will take a look at them in a little bit. For now, I’ll make a couple of calls and get ready for the restaurant. If anybody calls for me, just take a message. I need a little quiet time.”
She smiled and Dahlia left, because she thought that I was talking about at the moment. I wasn't though. I needed a few moments so that I could forget about Jaime again. He always seemed to come back into my mind, but if I tried hard enough, he would go just as easily. This was no time for me to be thinking about lost loves. I was getting too old to carry on the hope that one day I would see him again.
Right after it happened, there had been this thought in my mind, that if we were really meant to be together, I would see him again. We would have a chance meeting, just like we did when we met, and I actually waited for that to happen for such a long time. But it didn't.
Instead, I was left to compare all the men I've been with in the last couple of years to a ghost that I would most likely never see again. Talking about Jaime had brought all those emotions and memories back up, not helping at all.
“I am sorry, Ma’am. Mr. Randall should have been in already, but there is something keeping him from being here.”
I was about to tell the maid that it was fine, and I would come back later, but a little red-headed girl came in and informed me that her father did that rather often.
“But don’t worry. He always brings a gift if he is late. Maybe he will bring one for you, too.”
Some of the paperwork that had been sent over was a layout of the house. One of the major renovations was going to be the child’s room. Since there was only one kid’s room marked, I had to assume that it was this little girl that was getting an upgrade.
“That’s all right. I am not just here to see him. I am supposed to be doing a kid’s room. Is it your room that we’re going to put unicorns in?”
The girl instantly brightened up and she had this smile that was infectious. For a second, I had a flash of the same mouth, but I pushed it aside. I really was going to have to stop talking about him. It was messing with my head now.
“Yes! Daddy said that I could get whatever I want.”
Considering the house was huge, beautiful and in a great neighborhood, I would imagine that her parents could afford anything that she wanted. If unicorns were real, I had a feeling that this little girl would have a real one for her room as well.
“Well, what is your name, so I will know what to call you? My name is Angie.”
The girl was a beam of light. “Marjorie Eleanor Randall.”
“Such a proper name. Is there something that I should call you for short?”
“Most people just call me Ree.”
“I see, is that what you would like me to call you?”
She agreed with a nod of her head. I put my hand out and she automatically took it. She was watching me, taking in everything that I was doing to mimic later. I couldn’t get over how delightful the little girl was. Ree had good manners, which showed through in the chance meeting.
“Why don’t you take me to your room, and we can plan the best room for you ever?”
Ree jumped up and down. It was clear that she was excited and when I got to her room, I was excited as well. The place was huge, great height of ceilings, a sliding door to her own balcony, as well as a walk-in closet that any debutant would have been proud to have. This parent was serious when he said she could have anything. The sky was the limit, and I was going to make sure that I made all of her dreams come true. Such a sweet girl like Ree deserved nothing less.
4
Jaime
The driver asked me where we were going.
“To hell, Antonio. The devil calls.
My driver laughed in the deep baritone that I was so used to hearing.
“You know, if your uncle ever hears you call him that, there will be hell to pay.”
“I suppose you are right. I will have to make sure that he doesn't hear me, but we both know it’s truth. Hopefully I don't have to be there that long. I have a meeting with a decorator later for Ree.”
“Is Ree finally getting her new unicorn room?”
I agreed that she was, and he smiled. “How is she doing with her fractions?
She was very upset about it the last time I spoke to her. She was afraid that she might actually get a B on her homework.”
I smiled at the sentiment. My daughter was just like me. She was a perfectionist and anything under an ‘A’ was unacceptable in her eyes. I hoped that it wasn’t my push for her to strive to be better that had made her this way. I liked to think that it was just a natural trait that she had picked up from me instead.
“Yes, I have worked with her several nights over it. I think she has it down pat now because she hasn't asked me to go over homework in the last couple of days. Usually that means she doesn’t need the help.”
Antonio had helped her a few times as well. He was more than just a driver to me, he was family. He had worked for my father for many years and since my father had been a different sort of dad than I am, Antonio was the only one that was around to even help me with my homework. He was the reason that I finally mastered my times tables. When I heard that my father was going to let him go, I made sure to double his pay and bring him on board. It was one decision that I had not ever regretted. Beyond having Marjorie, there was really not much else I could say that about.
We drove in silence for a few moments, while I checked my emails on my phone. My uncle Colin had sent four already this morning and that told me instantly he was in a tizzy about something. It could be something major or something as simple as a few papers weren't signed. It was always something, and I never knew the magnitude of the situation because his reaction was always the same.
When we got to the office, I told Antonio that I would give him a call when I was ready to go.
“Hopefully, it won't be that long. I am not trying to be here all day.”
“Well, I will stay close.”
I thanked him and watched him drive off. How badly I wanted to be in the back of that car leaving as well. A meeting with Colin Randall was never a good prospect. Today, I really just wasn't in the mood for the personality that was always so much bigger than life.
The elevator took forever, and it felt like too long had passed and now dread was ever present. I really did not want to be here. I would have rather been anywhere else than here, even talking to some woman about Unicorn paint and furniture would have been better. Anything had to be better than speaking to my uncle. He was just as bad as my dad had been, laying down pressure that was almost suffocating in its nature.
He was in my office when I got there. I sat down my briefcase and started to take off my jacket. I could see the disgruntled look on his face. I still wasn't sure how big of a deal it was yet. I was waiting patiently, sitting down and rolling up my sleeves, before he uttered a word. This certainly wasn’t the first time for me.
“This issue that is going on with Anika has to stop.”
Anika was my ex-wife and Marjorie’s mother. I opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle, as well as a couple of glasses. They held a certain sentimental value to me, but I had to push the flood of thoughts away. This was not something that I wanted to think about right now. Not in front of my uncle.
I poured us each a couple of inches, pushing the glass across to him.
“I divorced her Colin. It has been finalized for months. Why am I still having to worry about Anika?”
Because the woman will not let go of the family name, and I swear that all she is trying to do is besmirch it. She is doing a pretty damn good job of it, and her connection to us drags us into the press every time they take pictures of her half-drunk, getting out of a bar with some new suitor on her arm.”
I had seen the same pictures in the magazines, but I wasn't too worried about it. It wasn't like she hadn’t done the same thing when we were married. At least now, I didn't have to feel the betrayal that came with it as well. I had almost been numb to it by the time we divorced as it was.
“You know that Anika likes to party. She actually didn't used to be this bad, but as soon as she had the baby, she was out. She hasn't been back since. Do you know that she hasn't seen Marjorie since the divorce? She doesn't even care. She called once and I thought that she wanted to talk to her daughter, but instead she wanted to talk about alimony checks. She wanted to prepay a few months, because she was going to be out of the country and there was some issue with her bank.”
“That is all well and good, but I am more worried about her dragging the family down through the mud myself. She’s your ex-wife, so now you have to control her.”
“I couldn’t control her when we were married. I don’t know why you think it would be any different now.”
“I don’t know either. Maybe I was hoping that you had grown a pair.”
I paused for a moment and tried not to let him get to me. I knew that he was trying his best to mess with me, but I wasn’t going to be prodded into an argument, especially one that was going to make matters worse.
“I don’t know what I can do, but I will speak to her. I have a few things that I have to take care of this afternoon, but I will get to it soon enough.”
The last thing I wanted to do was talk to Anika about anything, but I was more than willing to do so, if that meant getting Colin off of my back. I had married her for the same reason after all. Pressure from my family and now they were regretting the situation. But of course, I was the one that was going to have to deal with it.
“I don't care how you do it, Jaime. Just get it done. The last thing that I want to talk about again is that girl. It could have turned out so much different. If you would have been a different husband to her, one that she needed, she wouldn't be running around now. Now we have to do damage control because you couldn't take care of your wife.”
There was a lot that I wanted to say, resting on the tip of my tongue, but I knew better. It would not end well, and this wouldn’t be the first time that he had said such things. Usually I could just let him roll off my back, but for some reason today, it was bothering me more than usual.
"I'm done talking about Anika as well. Is there anything else that you need from me?”
“Not necessarily. How is the Birchen case coming along?”
“I have been assured that he will get off for all of his crimes, just like he always does. That's why he came to the best, after all.”
My uncle smiled wide and I knew that it was exactly what he wanted to hear. He was rather easy to please. He wanted a yes man, and that was usually what I was to him. It was easier than trying to argue, because I learned a long time ago, there was no arguing with the man. It was also a huge aggravation in my life that I didn't need.
“Well I'm going to take off and handle Anika. If there's nothing else, I will leave you to it.”
I picked up the jacket that I just laid over the back of my chair and put my hat back on. The phone was already in my hand, calling Antonio when the elevator opened to take me back downstairs. Just that single act, like getting out of this godforsaken building, was all I needed to be immediately uplifted. I was still trying to figure out why I had followed in my father's footsteps when I started working at the firm. It had certainly not turned out the way I wanted it to. None of it had.
The little bit of relief that I felt because I didn't have to see my uncle anymore was quickly replaced with worry about having to go see Anika. It was rather preposterous that I should have anything to say about what she was doing. I didn't really care what she was doing and how she besmirched anything. I just wanted to stay away from her. The divorce was the best thing that I had been able to get out of the arrangement. I certainly didn't want to go back.
Antonio was there moments later, and I was thankful for that. He had the knack to always be there in time.
“Where are we going to now, boss?”
“First, we're going to stop at a bar, and then we're going to go to my ex-wife’s house.”
Antonio gave me a look and I just waved him off. There was no explaining this one, not really. My day had just gone from bad to worse. I wished it wasn’t that way, but I knew that I didn’t have much say in it, no
matter how much I wanted to.
5
Angie
When I got back to the office, I told Dahlia to make sure that she called Mr. Randall to set up another appointment. I was a little perturbed that he hadn't come to the meeting, annoyed even, but being around his daughter made me realize that I wasn't doing it for him anyways. I was doing it for her, because I had made her a promise and I was going to make her the best unicorn room that any little girl could ever have.
Dahlia had a questioning look on her face.
“He was otherwise kept away from the meeting and I ended up sitting with a seven-year-old all afternoon. Hands down, it was probably the best meeting that I've had in a long time. Maybe I should just get into doing kids' rooms. Then I wouldn't have to deal with the adults.”
“You just branched out to entire houses, and not just restaurants and cafes. This is a big step and Mr. Randall is going to open a lot of doors for you. You just wait and see.”
Dahlia was the one that was always my cheerleader. She was impossibly positive and I tried not to scoff. I did anyways, but at least I didn't do it as loudly as I knew I could. Sometimes what she thought was just preposterous.
“I don't know about that, but I did make a promise to that little girl, so try to see if your highness can make a meeting tomorrow so that we can go over the plans. I know his type well.”
“I'm telling you Angie, I have a feeling about this.”
“You have a good feeling about everything, Dahlia.” She smiled and pushed her brown hair out of her face.
“I just think that a little bright-side thinking could help.”
Again, I told her that it was nothing, but I also made a mental note to not talk about my love life with Dahlia any more. Obviously, all it did in the end, was open me up to questions that I didn't have an answer for.
She pestered me a little bit more about it, but finally dropped it, and I was thankful for it. I left work not long after that and went home. It wasn't as large and grand as my parents’ home, but for a starter house, it certainly suited me just fine. I put my purse and coat on the table in the foyer and went to make myself a drink. I pulled out a glass and smiled to myself for a moment. Not only did talking about Jaime make me miss important meetings, but it also brought back memories that I was still trying to push away. Even something simple like a glass had my mind flooding with a sad recollection of our one night together.