Mourning Dove

by Donna Simmons

  “Did you leave the office, too?”

  “This afternoon actually. I went to the beach where Carl...I...said goodbye to him. I know that must sound silly.” Sara swung her legs onto the bed and leaned her head back on a stack of pillows.

  “No it doesn’t. You know spiritually he’s probably still with you. You always scoffed at the idea of life after death, but there are a lot of recorded incidences to back up the theory. Look why don’t you come up here? My couch pulls out to a bed. Just until you get your bearings. We can relax over a bottle of wine and a decadent dessert, and try to make sense of your situation.”

  “I’ll come for dinner on Friday but I need to be on my own; I need to be in control of my life. I know that sounds crazy for a woman my age but I don’t feel in control of anything right now. I’ve been making a list of priorities, a plan of action.”

  “That sounds like the Sara I knew in college. What have you got on your list so far?”

  “I need a place to live; but I need to find a job first. I don’t want to look here in New Hampshire; it’s too close to Ron.”

  “What about Portland? You’re a good accountant, Sara, you always have been. Or do you want to try something other than finance?”

  “I better stick with what I know for the time being. But, I like the idea of looking in Portland, at least for now. I’ll check online.”

  “A friend of mine got a good management position from a place in Portland called Executive Find. They might be a better first step for your level. Then if it doesn’t work out, try an internet site.”

  “I’ll look them up tomorrow.”

  “What about funds? Hotels are expensive over the long haul.”

  “I have enough for a little while. Oh Cass, do you know what Ron did today?”

  “Tell me.”

  “I told him I was withdrawing half the balance in our joint savings account for living expenses until I start drawing a paycheck. I went to the bank to make the withdrawal. When I got there, the teller told me my husband had just closed the account.”

  “That’s what Charlie did to me when he left me with two kids to raise. But, Ron doesn’t sound like the type to do that. Just goes to show, men are all alike.”

  “Of course I thought the same thing you did when the teller told me he had closed the account. That’s when the branch manager came over and asked to speak to me in his office. He told me Ron had called and said I had underestimated the cost of the project and after second thought decided I should take the whole amount. Ron is being so nice about this and I feel like such a shit. He’s hurting, too.”

  “I know Sara. I can’t imagine how it must feel to lose a child. I think I’d die if anything happened to one of my boys. Maybe this separation will be good for you both. Don’t do anything drastic yet. Just give yourself time. On Friday, I’ll do something Italian and we’ll finish it off with cheesecake and wine like we did at UNH. You can tell me about your contact with Executive Find and I can show you the place next door.”

  “The place next door?”

  “Yep, the house next to me is on the market. It’s a pretty little thing, two bedrooms with attached garage. The man who owns it just wants to sell it and move to Florida to be close to his kids. His wife died last fall.”

  “Two bedrooms?”

  “Sara, I’m only twenty five minutes from Portland. If you find a position there, and you like the house, we can be neighbors.”

  “Twenty five minutes from Portland, huh.”

  “Just think about it. I’ll see you at six on Friday. Okay?”

  “Okay, but I’m bringing the cheesecake and the wine, and, Cass?”

  “Yep?”

  “Thanks, friend.”

  Sara closed her cell phone and looked up at the door on the far wall. An adjoining room she supposed. Wondering if the door was locked on her side, she walked over and checked. It wasn’t. This is not a time to get paranoid, she thought. She opened the adjoining room door to find a locked door on the other side. Closing it, she turned the lock.

  CHAPTER 3

  The next day Sara relocated to a hotel in South Portland that had an indoor pool. After she lugged her bags up to her room on the fourth floor, she took a slow breath and kicked off her black pumps. She anticipated a hot shower and a cup of tea, but her mood was interrupted with the chimes from her phone.

  She looked at caller ID; it was Ron.

  “How are you doing?” he asked.

  “I’m all right.” Sara waited for him to continue, and then sighed at his silence. “Ron what’s up? Have you misplaced something again?”

  “Just my wife, are you still determined to leave me?”

  “I have left you. I told you yesterday, I wasn’t coming back.” She pulled out the padded chair that faced the small desk in the corner of the hotel room, sat down, swiveled around, and propped her feet up on the bed.

  “Did Account Temps send someone over?”

  “They faxed over a couple résumés. I’m no good at this human resource stuff. I just told them to send over their best candidate. Some guy named Randy is coming tomorrow for an interview. Damn, I wish you were here.”

  “You’ll do fine, Ron. You don’t really need me.”

  “You’re wrong about that, Sara.”

  “We’ve been over this before. I need to try this on my own.” She could feel the sting of tears again. “It isn’t that I don’t want to talk to you; but it hurts too much right now.”

  “If I love someone and let her go, I will know she loves me, too, when she comes back. That’s what I’m doing, but I don’t have to like it. I don’t want to break all contact with you…” She could hear him clear his throat. “You’re still my best friend. I want to be able to call you.”

  “Ron, this isn’t easy for me either. How did the Snowe job go?”

  “Allen completed it. He came back to the office with pizza and that sugary stuff he drinks to celebrate. He wanted to know where you were.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I told him you left us.”

  “Oh.” Her throat constricted, she reached into her purse for a tissue. “I’m sorry.”

  “Where are you now? I mean where are you staying?” His voice was whisper soft now.

  “I’m at the Sheraton in South Portland.”

  “Are you still okay with money?”

  “Yes. Thanks for what you did at the bank.”

  “If you need more, just let me know.”

  “My needs are simple. If I get this job I’m interviewing for, I should be set.”

  “Someone called to verify references for you.”

  “What did you say?”

  “What could I say? I told her the truth – you’re the best thing that ever happened to Stafford Sound Systems.”

  “You could have ruined it for me.”

  “I thought about that. It would have driven you farther away; that’s not what I want. I still love you, Sara. I always will.”

  “Leaving you is the second hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Don’t you understand? I need to do this to survive!” Tears welled up in her eyes. She pulled the last tissue from her purse and heard the click on the phone. He hung up on her.

  ***

  Sara sucked in her stomach as the elevator door opened on the sixth floor of the Starr Shine Communications building. A slender young woman with black curly hair, dressed in a dark blue power suit, walked toward her with a hesitant smile.

  “I’m Louise Stevens.” She extended her hand.

  “Sara Stafford, I’m here to meet with Mr. Pierce.”

  “He asked me to escort you to the board room.”

  A door slammed shut down a long hallway echoing like a gunshot. Startled by the sound, Sara and the young woman both punctuated the moment with a pair of nervous grins. Without explanation the woman led her to the opposite end of the hall, opening a pair of paneled mahogany doors.

  “Would you like coffee, tea, or water?”

  “W
ater will be fine, thank you.” Sara watched the woman reach for a leather covered ice bucket, “No ice, please. Are you Mr. Pierce’s secretary?”

  “We do our own letters and such. I’m one of two staff accountants. Mr. Pierce is the Chief Financial Officer.”

  “I’m sorry if I offended you.”

  “No offense taken. I would have thought the same thing in your shoes. I was a nervous wreck when I first interviewed here.”

  Sara accepted the glass and was directed to a chair at a conference table that could easily seat twenty people. The conference room was impressive in its elegance with the polished shine of mahogany, burgundy leather conference chairs, and gray watered-silk wallpaper. The charcoal gray carpet silenced their footsteps; matching vertical blinds covered a bank of windows shielding the room from outside distractions. Sara wondered about the underlying tension in the young woman fidgeting at the sideboard.

  When the door opened again, a tall cowboy type wearing a gray western suit strolled into the room. His gray hair curled over his shirt collar; his face accented with a handlebar mustache covering his upper lip. He greeted Sara with a smile that didn’t quite reach the brown of his eyes; then he walked around to the end seat of the table, laid a black leather notebook on top, and reached across to shake Sara’s hand.

  “Ms. Stafford, I’m Jonathon Pierce. I hope Louise made you comfortable durin’ this unavoidable delay.” His slow Texan drawl left Sara with the feeling he had all the time in the world. His eyes never left her face as he continued speaking to his subordinate, “Ross will be leavin’ the building within the next half hour,” he told Louise.

  A strange comment to make, Sara thought as the woman turned to Sara with her first warm smile and extended her hand, “I’ll see you again.”

  Sara turned back to the man who held her future in his hands. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his right ankle to his left knee, and dropped a bone-handle pen on the top of his notebook. He continued to stare into her eyes as he brushed the first two fingers of his right hand across his mustache. The room filled with silence and she began to feel uneasy. There was now a twinkle in his eye as he continued to stare. Was he trying to test her by playing mind games? Was she supposed to respond to an unspoken question?

  The silence continued a few seconds more before he shifted his stare to look at the ceiling and break into a rich baritone chuckle. “Sara Stafford, I like you,” he drawled. “You don’t back down and you know when to hold your tongue.”

  Mimicking his body language, she crossed her legs at the knee, leaned back in her chair, and smiled at this unorthodox interview. “If I read your challenge correctly, Mr. Pierce, we are conducting this meeting in body language alone.”

  “Touché,” he responded and finally began the verbal segment of the interview.

  “As Marilyn Margeson should have told you, we need to fill two financial positions within the company: corporate comptroller here in Portland and staff accountant in Chicago. I have three final candidates for the two spots available. I’m impressed with your credentials. Why are you looking for employment? Why Starr Shine? What do you think you can do better than anyone else?”

  Sara thought this was where she would lose the job. Interviews were sales pitches. You had to sell yourself. She hated doing that. Why couldn’t she come in, show them her credentials, and say take it or leave it. Maybe that’s what he wanted.

  “I’m the best financial analyst around,” she began. “I’m accurate and I can spot a pile of bull a mile away. I know when to keep my mouth shut, and when not to. The reason I’m looking is personal. I’m interested in this location, and Starr Shine offers the best position available. And, the staff accountant position is beneath my expertise. From the description I received at Executive Find the comptroller slot here in Portland is challenging, fast paced, and complex. It’s also something I have years of experience doing. I want the comptroller spot.” She laid her gold pen on the table, leaned back in her chair, and stared into his eyes with her challenge.

  “Sara Stafford, you are a pistol,” he roared through his laughter. “You’re waitin’ for me to call security to remove you from the premises, aren’t you? Don’t deny it; I can see it in your eyes. We’ll have to work on your poker face.”

  He reached below the table and pulled out a hidden phone. Punching in two digits, he winked and waited for the phone to be picked up on the other end. “Louise, join us in the conference room, please.” He listened for a moment in silence then responded, “Good, that’s fine.” He replaced the receiver and continued to speak.

  “While we wait for Louise, you need to know there will be a final interview included before I can officially welcome you to the company. Management positions at this level also need the blessing of Robert Starr, owner and president. We generally see eye to eye with most decisions, but we should follow protocol. We also require a pre-employment physical, drug screen, and criminal background check. Do you have any questions I can answer at this time?”

  “Several, but you need not answer any of them.”

  “Fire away, Sara.”

  “Is Ross, the employee I’m replacing?”

  Jonathon Pierce paused with his eyes narrowed and head tilted in contemplation. “He’s making a lateral move to our San Francisco office. It’s his position we’re filling.”

  “Doesn’t sound like a lateral move to me. When did you tell him of the change? This morning?”

  “Semantics,” he shrugged his shoulders in response. “I told him last night.”

  “What did he do to piss you off?”

  He covered his mustache with the index finger of his right hand before answering. “You come right to the heart of the matter, don’t you? What makes you think he pissed me off?”

  “In a sophisticated office like this one I would think the slamming of a door would be tantamount to termination or transfer to the great beyond. My guess is that he slammed the door and was given thirty minutes to remove himself from the premises.”

  He smiled again then shook his head. “It was suggested that a coolin’ off period commence immediately. It isn’t something that should concern you.”

  “If I’m offered his position, my concern is the possibility of sabotage from the disgruntled outgoing employee. Are safeguards already in place?”

  “They were in place yesterday which was the cause for the door slamming incident. Any other questions?” he asked.

  “Are you having second thoughts about my employment?”

  “I’ll let you know upfront if I ever do. I like the way you charge right into the bullpen. You don’t dance around the cow pies either. Shall we meet Louise at the door?” He stood and extended a very long arm to direct her out.

  Sara was amazed she was still in the running for the job. She didn’t trust him, but she liked him. She watched him walk down a long carpeted hallway.

  “Are you ready for a tour of the facility, Ms. Stafford?” Louise asked.

  “Sara, please. I think we can dispense with formal structure, don’t you?” They passed through smoke gray glass doors with the logo for Starr Shine Communications, a shooting star orbiting a blue globe with rays of light casting a golden net. Beneath the logo, tight script announced the offices of Accounting and Finance.

  “How long have you worked here, Louise?” Sara asked to ease the silence building between them.

  “I’ve been here three years, the last two as a staff accountant. Have you been working in finance long?”

  “On and off over the last twenty five years.”

  They walked between two work stations and Sara asked, “Who works here?”

  “My desk on the right, Steve’s, he’s the other staff accountant, is on the left.”

  “And this door leads to?” Sara pointed to the mahogany door just before the desk on the left.

  “The office of corporate comptroller.”

  “Is he in there?”

  “He should be gone by now. Do you want to take a pee
k?”

  With a light tap on the door just in case, and silent response, Louise and Sara walked into a stark box of a room with gray carpets. The furniture included a mahogany desk, credenza, and a burgundy leather executive chair, centered behind the desk. A flat-screen monitor and keyboard decorated the desktop. Two straight back chairs with gray cloth seats stood at attention in front of it. Pale gray vertical blinds covered a four-foot high window that filled the back wall. The light filtering between the blind slats reminded Sara of the bars to a jail cell.

  “Nice space, a bit austere, needs decorating badly. It gives me the impression that the outgoing comptroller was very confrontational.”

  “You could say that. He was a tiny tyrant to work for.”

  “Work for? Is part of the comptroller’s job here to supervise the staff accountants?”

  “In the finance division, the bookkeeping people answer to the staff accountants, the staff accountants and divisional comptrollers answer to the corporate comptroller, the corporate comptroller answers to Jonathon Pierce, he answers to Robert Starr, and Robert Starr answers to God.”

  “Where are the bookkeepers?”

  “They’re at the other end of this corridor. That’s where payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable for corporate headquarters are housed. Are you ready to tour the rest of the building?”

  Sara nodded. “Before we leave this area, tell me where the office of the CFO is.”

  “See that door between Steve’s desk and mine? When he leaves the door open he can hear everything going on out here. With both doors open there is no escaping.”

  “I would think with the right mix of people, it could be a very open, efficient set up.”

  “Hope you’re right. I’d like to see that,” Louise said.

  “I’d like to tour more of the complex if you have the time.”