Natalie also opened up about her life. She was born in a little town outside of Chicago. Her mother was a single-mom for reasons that were still unclear. She had tried to broach the subject with her mother, but was always rebuffed. It was as though the remembrance by her mother was too painful to discuss. She was raised by her mother and her grandfather, both of whom worked. Her mother worked at night so as to be home during the day until she went to school, then she switched to a day job at a nursing home and worked enough hours to be home when she returned from school. Her grandfather worked in a factory making metal parts for automobiles. Both of them worked hard to give her the best they could.
Once old enough, Natalie did odd jobs like babysitting and so on in an attempt to save money for college. Her grades in school were good, so good as to earn her a scholarship to a college in New Jersey. While her mother was reluctant to see her go, it was a chance to make something of herself and with New York being so close and the opportunities that were there, it was finally agreed that she could move to New Jersey and attend school, provided they stayed in touch several times a week. So far it had worked out as planned.
When the waitress walked over and asked if everything was ok, Ron asked for the check, which was promptly delivered. He paid at the register, leaving a sizable tip on the table for the waitress first because of her excellent service, and second, for her realization that they wanted to be left alone to talk. The three hours was worth a little extra, thought Ron.
They had taken two cars that night and Ron said, “I'll follow you home to make sure you make it safely.” Natalie protested that it was not necessary but Ron insisted and eventually she gave in. After parking next to her, Ron got out of his car to open her car door and walk her to her apartment building door.
Ron looked down at his watch and moaned that it had stopped. “What time is it?” he asked Natalie.
She smiled, grabbed his hand and said, “Later,” as she pulled him through the door.
Chapter Thirty-One
Ron had never experienced anything like this before. It was nothing like two teenagers scrambling in the back seat to rid themselves of restrictive clothing and forget about everything their parents had ever told them. Nor was it the drunken rush to get this over and done before falling asleep. And it surely was nothing like “Honey, hurry up there is a show I want to watch.”
No, it was more like two angels facing each other, their wings stretched out in front of them, the tips of which were touching the other's. It was like a hidden waterfall deep in the forest with mist that broke the streaming sunshine into strings of color that could only be seen and heard by those fortunate enough to be basking in its glory. It was like the only two people in the world, the Adam and Eve of their time, enjoying the goodness of their togetherness. It was like nothing else mattered.
And as the excitement grew the angels wings began searching and stroking, the waterfall picked up speed, the colors grew brighter and brighter and the silence grew louder and louder until it came to a crashing halt, accompanied by the breathless search for air and the desire for space. It was like a magical scene in the playhouse of the mind.
They lay there close to each other, as close as possible, each inch of skin searching for more skin to touch until it seemed like there was a melting of skin to make one body. Slowly they each recovered and realized what they had achieved. And Ron chuckled.
Natalie looked at him and asked “what is so funny?”
Ron turned his head and looked at her. “It reminds me of a joke,” he said with a silly grin on his face.
“Well, let's hear it,” was her response.
“A couple was lying in bed,” he began, “and a Martian suddenly appeared at the foot of the bed. The man sat up and asked what he was doing there. The Martian answered that his home planet had sent their people out to other planets to study the reproductive practices of the people, the inhabitants, who lived on those different planets. His part of the project was earth and its inhabitants. Would they be willing to demonstrate their practices to him as he took notes?
The couple looked at each other and decided, for the sake of science, to demonstrate the human process to procreate the species. And saying that, they proceeded to indulge in first foreplay, then the reproductive intercourse itself. When they were done, the husband asked the Martian if he had enough material.
The Martian said he did, but also asked where the baby was that they had created. The husband responded that the baby would come in about nine months.
With that, the Martian, straight face and all, asked ‘Then why the sudden rush at the end?’”
Natalie chuckled and with a fake grimace punched Ron on the shoulder. With that he started to get up.
“Where are you going?” she asked quietly.
“Thought I would head back to the office,” he responded.
“No,” she said like a child to a parent, “Please stay here with me.”
Ron thought for perhaps half a second than laid back down, pulling the covers up over him. He slid his arm under her shoulders as she buried her head on his chest. They stayed that way as they fell asleep. A few hours later Ron woke up. Natalie appeared to be still sleeping soundly as he slid out of bed, put his clothes on and got ready to leave. Before leaving, however, he leaned over the bed and gave Natalie the slightest kiss on her forehead.
“See you in a couple of hours,” she whispered in a tiny voice that filled the room with the love she was feeling.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The sun started to peek into Natalie's bedroom causing her to pull the covers over her head to block it out. She had nowhere to go this morning until she had to go to work at around noon. She glanced over to the other side of the bed where Ron had slept and thought about the night before. She smiled at the joy they had brought to each other, the feeling of togetherness, the delight in being able to bring pleasure to the other person, and the satisfaction of knowing that each enjoyed both the giving and the receiving. She rolled over and went back to sleep.
While hours seemed to pass it was only thirty minutes and her eyes opened again. Her eyes teared up as she replayed again the events of the night before. She realized that she had to share her happiness with someone.
“Mom,” she thought. “I'll call Mom. She is the only one who would understand how I feel.”
The phone rang twice before a quiet voice said “hello?”
“Hi Mom” Natalie said. How are you doing this morning?”
“Natalie, what are you calling me so early for. It's barely time for you to get up.”
“I know, Mom, but I have to tell you something. Last night was wonderful.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. “What do you mean?” the concerned voice asked.
“Mom, we actually did it. We actually made love,” she said with a lilt in her voice.
“You mean,” the stern voice answered, “you got laid?”
“No, not like that. We made love, you know, the way you used to describe the feelings you and my father would feel as you physically showed each other how you felt about each other. We did the same thing, and it came naturally, not contrived, or set up, but like two natural beings who belonged together. Mom, it was wonderful and I now know what you must have felt when you experienced the same thing.”
The moment of silence felt like an eternity.
“I have to meet this man, Natalie. He must be someone special for my daughter to fall in love with him, and I look forward to it.”
Ron woke up out of a sound sleep with the bright sun coming in through the window. He jumped out of bed with the vigor he had not known for a while, started the coffee and headed for the shower. He had just finished when the coffee pot whistled its readiness to fill the cup and begin the day. Carrying the hot coffee to his desk, Ron began to read through the stack of papers for his final review. Every now and then, he would stand up, walk around the desk and think about the night before. He found it hard to compre
hend the events of that night. And when he did, he smiled the likes of which he had not done in years. All was good in his mind.
He struggled not to think of his wife at home, but when he did it was more of a comparison than anything else. It had been such a long time since he and his wife had been intimate, it was almost a comparison between Natalie and nothing. And, as in such a case, Natalie always won.
Ron looked at his watch. Being Saturday morning, there were few people in the office and those that were there would probably only work half a day, and leave around noon. And that was fine as the proposal was almost ready to wrap up. All the input was in and most of it had been through the first review. All that was left was the final review and the assembly of the package. Margaret would over-see that process, with Natalie's help. Plane reservations had been made, contingency plans reviewed, people briefed, cars reserved and one person even took the trip as far as the computer giant's door. There would be no mistake on this one.
Ron kept plugging away at the stack of papers he needed to review and pretty much lost track of time. The coffee pot surrendered more and more of its precious commodity until it signaled its total displacement with a screeching squeal causing Ron to raise his head from his work. With a little chuckle, he got up from his chair, did a couple of knee bends to get his legs working, and walked back to the small kitchen to unplug the pot and accept its unconditional surrender. The morning had been very productive and he strolled back to his desk feeling pretty good about his progress so early in the day. A good start after a great night.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ron was busy at his desk when he heard the familiar sounds of high heels clicking on the office floor. He looked up in time to see Natalie walk past the door to his office. She gave a little smile, waved ever so slightly, and continued on her journey to her cubicle for the day's chores. He followed the sound of the clicking till it stopped and the rolling of her chair took its place. He smiled as he envisioned the lithe body hiding beneath the free flowing material which mocked his curious eyes. He leaned back into his soft chair and thought about the night before and wondered how it all came together. “Never mind how it happened,” he thought. “Just be happy it did happen.”
And with that thought, and a bigger smile on his face, he went back to reviewing input for the proposal.
An hour went by and Ron stood up to stretch his legs and relax his eyes. He walked around the office, out the door and over to Natalie's desk. Though there was nobody in the office that Saturday morning, they both maintained their professional demeanor. After chatting a few minutes, Ron turned to head back to his office.
And it began. First, a little tingle in the fingers of his left hand, nothing to worry about as he shrugged the feeling off. Curiously, it started moving up his left arm, reaching the elbow in a couple of seconds and then moved upward. His legs began to feel like rubber, unable to hold up his body and the whole room was spinning. He grabbed hold of the edge of a desk, trying to steady himself from falling. Nothing seemed to be working and he could feel himself slowly falling to the floor.
But he wasn't falling, he was collapsing.
Natalie noticed Ron shaking his left hand, then his arm. His knees were buckling and he tried to straighten up. But the legs gave out, and even trying to grab a desk didn't work and he collapsed into a heap on the floor. His body was shaking and spittle dripped from the side of his mouth. His head, where it had hit the floor, was bleeding from the blow and moans were coming from his mouth. His eyes were rolled back into his head and he was shaking worse now.
Natalie ran over to where Ron was lying and tried to help him. She soon realized that she was not prepared to do anything but the most remedial of tasks, none of which would solve the immediate situation. She ran to the phone.
“911, how can I help you?” the operator responded quickly.
“My boss just collapsed on the office floor and I need help immediately,” she said quickly into the phone. “It looks like he had a heart attack. Please help.”
“Easy, Miss. You don't have to yell. I can hear you perfectly. Where are you?”
Natalie gave all the information to the 911 operator. “Please hurry,” she said. “I don't know how long he can last! Please, please hurry!”
“They are on the way, Miss. Please stay there to help direct them to your boss. They will be there shortly. Try to keep your boss comfortable and protect him from any further injury and we'll take it from there when we arrive.”
It seemed like an eternity, but it was less than five minutes before the emergency team arrived. They were stationed at the airport in case of an aviation related emergencies so with lights flashing and sirens blaring, they had traversed the airport in quick time and jumped right into their protocol for someone who had suffered a heart attack.
The paramedics turned Ron on his side and checked in his mouth to make sure there was nothing obstructing his throat that would prevent breathing. They attached a heart monitor to his chest to keep track of the condition of the heart. The monitor showed wild swings of normalcy combined with erratic contractions as a result of the attack. They injected medicine to calm the heart down and restore its regular rhythm and they placed a respirator over his nose to ensure that oxygen was available. The respirator did not cover his mouth in case the stomach rebelled and vomited. When the initial prep was completed, they gently placed him on a rolling gurney and five of the paramedics escorted it to the waiting ambulance in front of the building. One paramedic stayed behind to gather information.
Natalie stood stunned as Ron was wheeled out of the office to the waiting vehicle outside. “Ma'm, can you tell me what happened?”
Natalie stumbled through the events leading up to the heart attack, trying mightily not to betray the real emotions she was feeling. Here was the man she had just learned to love, had just been with her in bed, who had been in her heart and mind since the night before. Now he was in severe danger of dying leaving her empty, angry, and alone. She told the paramedic all she could remember than excused herself saying there were phone calls she had to make. With that, she walked back to her desk, picked up the phone and dialed a number she had memorized but never expected to call.
“Hello,” said the female voice on the other end.
“Mrs. Williams, this is Natalie from your husband's office. Your husband has had a heart attack, the paramedics have been here and are taking him to the hospital. You need to get there was soon as you can.”
“Oh my God,” exclaimed the rushing voice. “Is he all right? What happened? Where are they taking him?”
“He seemed to have survived the initial attack. The paramedics checked him out, gave him some medicine to settle the heart and attached a monitor to keep track of it. He was semi-conscious when leaving, moving in and out of consciousness. He probably has no idea what is going on. The paramedics said they were going to Newark General as that is the closest hospital so I would go there. If there is anything I can do to help, please call me at once. I will probably be awake all night so don't worry about waking me up. Your husband was like a good friend to me, so please keep me informed of his status. I'll stop by the hospital tomorrow and check on both you and him.”
Lannis Williams slowly hung up the phone and peered down at the opened letter from the municipal county court house. Inside were the completed divorce papers which had stumbled their way through the legal system. She was now without the support of a husband, and based on Natalie's call, may soon be without the support of a long-time friend. Despite their differences, she still loved him and prayed for his well-being. She was worried about the children, how they would take the divorce and now the heart attack. Her mind ran through many scenarios as she rushed to get dressed and hurried to the hospital.
Natalie hung up the phone and for the first time since the incident, sat down and took a deep breath. A few minutes later, she again picked the phone.
“Hello,” said the voice on the other end.
�
��Mamma, I need you to come right away. I need your help,” she cried into the phone, tears flowing.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Natalie wondered around the office. A daze engulfed her body, the reality of the situation unable to penetrate the protective moat which encompassed her being. She floated from menial task to menial task, hoping they would make a difference, but none did. She sat and thought about her new-found relationship, what they had discovered and what now was wobbling on the edge of a cliff, ever threatening to fall off. She did manage to call Margaret, telling her what happened while trying to get a handle on the situation herself. Their discussion was curt, straight-forward, and unsupported of her fears. Margaret did say she was going to the hospital to see what she could find out and to be there for Mrs. Williams when she arrived. She had known her for a long time and wanted to be there in case she needed help She advised Natalie to call Dick and let him know, which she did.
The conversation with Dick was even shorter, nothing but the facts, no opinions of the cause of the stroke, no suppositions of what is to happen next, just the expected, “Oh my God” and the “I'm going to the hospital.”
Natalie cleaned up Ron's desk, placing papers where they needed to be placed, arranging notes to be read, cleaning his coffee cup, and generally getting ready for the next day, not sure when that would be.
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