A cheery voice answered. “Good evening, Leave It To Us Flowers. How may I help you?”
“Hello. I would like to order your Spirit of Spring bouquet please,” he replied.
“Not a problem sir. Did you want that arrangement in the small or large size?”
“The large one looks good, and I would also like to add one long stem yellow rose with that arrangement as well. Could you let me know how much that will cost?”
“Give me one moment sir. The arrangement including the extra rose will be one hundred and sixty dollars,” the voice said.
“Great that sounds like a fair price.” At that moment, he dug into his wallet to pull out his credit card that was still shiny from its limited use.
“Where would you like me to send them?”
“Could you have them sent to the following person at this business address, I would like them there by noon tomorrow.”
“Would you like to put anything on the card?” she asked
“Yes. Could you please write the following: ‘Hope you enjoyed your time in London, Kyle.’
***
“So, are you going to tell me who sent you these gorgeous flowers?” Wendy, the receptionist asked after she put the bouquet on Camille's desk.
Camille picked up the card and read the message. She showed no reaction. Afterward, she flicked the card onto the desk. “No one exciting. Just a jerk I met on the plane ride to London a few weeks back.”
“You mean that trip you didn't want to go on and tried everything possible to get out of?”
“Yes, the trip that turned out to be a total disaster all around.”
“I would say based on the look of those flowers, it couldn't have been all that bad.”
“Trust me, it was,” Camille said, after she picked up the card again and tapped the edge of it on her desk.
“Well jerk or not he has good taste in flowers,” Wendy remarked.
Camille was deciding what to do with the flowers. Part of her wanted to throw them out, but they were so beautiful she just couldn't do it.
She was getting ready to respond to Wendy when the office phone shrilled. Glancing over at the screen, she leaned in closer to take a look at the number. Not recognizing it, she waved it off letting it go to voicemail.
“Look I better let you get back to work. We'll touch base later on,” Wendy said as she left the office.
Camille put her fingers in her hair then scratched her head as if her mind was itching. Why would he be sending me flowers after he blew me off in London? To think that he also possibly stole my idea for the account. He has some nerve.
Picking up the phone receiver she hit the message button. As soon as she heard the smooth voice she knew exactly who it was. She held the phone tightly in her hand while she listened to the message. What was she going to do? Her beating heart was happy to hear from him, but at the same time, her racing mind was not.
She replayed the message once more, hoping that it would give her a clue of what to do next. Finally putting down the receiver she slumped back into her chair and looked up at the ceiling. She deliberately didn’t respond to his Facebook friend request from a week ago, as she was still too upset. Now looking at the beautiful floral arrangement she wondered if she was overreacting.
With a push of her feet, the black padded office chair swung around in a full circle landing perfectly back in front of the phone. The decision to call or not to call was taunting her. This would be the perfect reason to tell him off for what he did to her in London. She would call tomorrow. It would give her more time to prepare what she was going to say.
Camille wanted to get back to the work on her desk, but she couldn’t clear her thoughts. Believe it or not, she had been so annoyed with losing the account that she never bothered to investigate him further. What was she waiting for? With the click of the keys on the keyboard, she typed in Lancamp Advertising.
A picture of Kyle Lange owner and CEO appeared. Her eyes glared at his rugged profile. It brought back memories of how handsome he truly was. She then focused on the last name. It couldn’t be a coincidence that his last name was the same as Ellis’. There had to be a connection.
She continued to read all of the details about the company. Her body burned with disbelief over who he was. She stopped reading and reflected back to her only interaction with Kyle in London. She recalled that he never gave her his last name when he introduced himself. Also, he never revealed who he knew at her company.
Then she recollected her lunch with Ellis. When she mentioned the company name that won the account, the warmth that she previously felt from his body language had changed. She didn't push it, but now she wished she had. What kind of game was being played with her? She had to have answers for her mind full of questions.
She waited for over an hour then got up from her desk and hastily walked to Ellis’ office. Once she arrived she noticed that the back of his chair was facing the door. His head was seen just above the headrest and she detected no movement.
“Ellis is everything okay?” she asked.
“What?” he replied without turning around.
“Do you have a moment for me?”
His brows were angled down and his mouth was tightly shut as he spun around to face her. It was almost as if he had aged from the brief time she saw him this morning. She didn’t want to add more to his plate than it looked like he could handle. However, her determined nature would not allow her to let things fester.
“You don't look very happy.”
“Oh, it has nothing to do with you. I just finished heavy negotiations with one of our accounts and it was tough. But nothing I can't handle.”
“Oh. I wanted to talk to you about something that has been on my mind.”
“Is it about the new account were working on?”
“No actually it has nothing to do with that account,” she replied.
“Okay, then what’s it about?”
“It's about Lancamp Advertising. It’s owned by Kyle Lange. I just put two and two together. Is he your son?”
She watched him rub the right side of his face with the palm of his hand. He then shook his head from side to side before she saw his lips move.
“Look I’m really not in the mood to respond to that right now.”
“Okay, but based on your reaction it appears that I’m correct. At our lunch, when I mentioned the name of the company that won the account, your body language changed. At that moment, I knew something was up. Why didn't you tell me that your son owned the agency?”
“I didn't see the need to tell you.”
“Fine, but you did see the need to mention about people being conned. What was that all about?”
“Nothing, just me spouting off.”
After his comment, Camille reflected on how many times she heard him speak about his son since she was at the agency, which was very little if any at all. She knew there had been some tension between the two of them, but never felt it was any of her business to inquire as to what it was about. During her time, there she had interacted with Tracee on several occasions, though she was always cordial, she hardly mentioned him either. Tracee had many similarities in her features and personality to that of her father. However, the resemblance between father and son was much subtle.
“Okay, then I’ll leave you to get back to work.”
She spun around walking slowly towards the door.
“Camille.”
“Yes,” she responded with a quick turn towards him.”
“Nothing.”
She turned around again her forehead wrinkled with discontent. She felt he wanted to tell her more, but decided against it.
Once back in her office, Camille stood in front of her window and shook her head from side to side.
“Men, she mumbled. They always seem to have something to hide.” Her mind reflected back to her past relationship.
Josh had moved out unexpectedly over a year ago, leaving her with mounds of debt that he had
hidden from her. All she found of his when she got home that day from work was a pair of socks, a comb and a slew of phone calls from bill collectors. In his recent email, he begged her to forgive his rash departure. He knew how much he had hurt her after they had been living together for two years and he was truly sorry. He wanted her to consider giving him another chance.
Did he think she was some kind of desperate fool? After all, he was such a coward not wanting to tell her face to face. Instead, he sent a short text telling her he had gone. Her shock and despair lasted for weeks. At work, she stayed strong, smiling and laughing when required. However, at home, she was broken, often finding herself crumpled on the couch like a well-used throw, wondering how she could have been so blind and gullible.
Suddenly her trance was interrupted by a ping. “What now,” she said as she grabbed the phone. Coincidently, it was from Josh of all people.
“I really need to see you. Please respond to my previous text.”
“Really? Not if I have anything to do with it,” she said as she threw the phone down on the desk.
She barely sat down in her chair when she looked up and saw Ellis at her door.
“Come in and see me in about five minutes. We need to finish our previous discussion.”
“Sure,” she said now very curious about what he had to say.
She picked up her purse, slung it over her right shoulder then headed for the bathroom. While checking her hair in the mirror she noticed her eyes looked baggy and tired. I need to get more sleep at night, she concluded. Just then she looked at her watch which showed it was close to the five minute time frame.
She rushed back to her office, dumped her purse in the drawer and headed to his office.
As she walked in, he got out of his seat, strutted towards the door and pushed it shut.
Ellis started out by telling her that he hadn’t seen his son in over three years. Kyle could never forgive him for sending his mother to a home when her dementia got out of control.
It was difficult for him to see his wife of thirty years going through the troubles of the disease. She was a proud woman who made him promise that under no circumstances were the family to be saddled with taking care of her. She was well aware of the damage this disease did to the mind and didn’t want them to watch her go through this every day. When the time was right, meaning that she could no longer remember much or manage herself, she instructed them to put her in a facility. Kyle and Tracee said they could never do that. So she left the final decision to Ellis. She reminded him about it every lucid moment she had. Her only request was that they visit her regularly to make sure that she was being properly taken care of.
Ellis had a nurse come in during the daytime to take care of her. He took over in the evenings and on weekends. Although he kept her home longer than was promised, he knew the right thing to do was to finally honour her wishes.
At the time, Kyle and his twin sister Tracee had a hard time understanding this. Tracee eventually came around and kept in regular contact with him, but his son had yet to forgive him. It tore them apart.
There had been a lot of harsh words spoken and subsequently quite a few words that were left unsaid the last time they spoke. Kyle accused him of wanting to dump her so he could get on with his life. He made it seem like taking care of her was a burden. There were many challenging times and he wasn’t perfect, but he loved his wife through thick and thin. He wasn’t particularly religious, nonetheless, he had prayed that time would heal the wounds between his son and himself. So far nothing had changed.
While he continued to talk, he took up the picture on his desk. “She was a beauty in her day, wasn't she?” he said as he handed it over to Camille. She noticed that the woman's caramel brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, with a few wisps flowing on each side of her face.
“She was a mere five feet tall but as feisty as they come,” he continued. “Her temper was often a challenge throughout our marriage. I barely ever won an argument. Even when I was right, it was easier to give in for the sake of peace. She would stay angry at me for days if she felt I had done something wrong. It looks like my son Kyle has picked up my wife's trait, except in his case, days turned into years.”
Camille continued to listen to Ellis as he described bit by bit the essence of his disagreement with his son. He also stated that he felt there was more going on as to why Kyle was so angry with him, but he had no idea what it was.
Her mind was in a whirl with some of the information she heard. She watched him pound his fist from time to time on the desk with frustration.
He finished half an hour later and during that time she sat very quietly and never spoke a word. It was difficult to try to put her thoughts together. The right words didn’t appear in her mind and she was not going to speak until they were formed properly.
“Are you okay? You look astonished,” he said.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m taking it all in. I guess I didn’t realize that this was even happening and can tell that it troubles you deeply.”
“I’ve held it in for quite some time, but it’s good to finally get it off my chest. It’s been on there far too long.”
Camille brushed over the top of her teeth with her tongue while thoughts of what to say next came to mind. “While you were telling me your heartfelt story, what came to my mind was that it seemed that you would really like to reconnect with him.”
She watched as he stood up and with some hesitation walked over to the brown metal cabinet located to the right side of his desk. His pale blue pinstriped shirt was neatly tucked into his navy-blue pants, which were held up with a black Ralph Lauren belt. She looked down to his black leather shoes, and what else would he be wearing but Ferragamo? He leaned in with his right hand and pulled something out of the drawer and once again, glossed his index finger over what was obviously a picture. A comfortable smile appeared as he handed it to her.
It was of himself and Kyle fishing off a pier, both wearing matching green camouflage vests and baseball caps. Kyle looked as if he was about twelve years old and was leaning back in a struggle with the white perch dangling on the end of his line.
“You both look like you were having a lot of fun.”
“Yes, and he was a great son. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. We were as thick as thieves. Even when he grew up we were close. Then my wife got sick and it all changed. To answer your question, I would do almost anything to get my son back in my life.”
“Thanks for sharing this with me Ellis. I know it's been tough. They always say that it's a small world. But now I truly know how small it is.”
“You can say that again. By the way, I noticed some flowers on your desk. Who are they from?”
She had to think fast as she didn't want to make matters worse. “Ahh, just a past client.”
“They’re nice.”
“Thanks. Look, I think I'll leave you alone for a while. We'll catch up later.”
“Sure, sounds good.”
Camille returned to her office not knowing what to think. She decided to take some time before making up her mind whether to return Kyle’s call or not. Especially after what she had just heard from his father.
***
Forty-eight hours had passed since Camille had gotten the voice message from Kyle. After mulling it around over and over in her mind, she decided that today was the day to call him back. She was ready to tell him what he could do with the flowers. While feeling a bit apprehensive about how the conversation might go, she knew that her determination to set things straight far overpowered her discomfort.
“Thank goodness for Saturday mornings,” she said as she threw on her light gray and red banded yoga pants and a loose fitting black hooded jacket. She headed out to do some running around and pick up her weekly grocery items. First thing in the morning was always the best time to go out when she wanted to avoid running into people. Besides, the fresh salmon and snapper that she liked always came out at the local fish market
around 7 am. By 8 am, the vegetable vendors were finished setting up and she could get the first pick of the items she needed for the week. As much as she loved this recent eating healthy kick she had started a few weeks ago, it could be quite costly at the marketplace. It was just twenty minutes away and the fresh air always gave her time to regroup her thoughts, especially on a day like today when her wit had to be as sharp as ever.
Evening dinner was going to consist of fish, and hopefully tomato salsa with cilantro, asparagus, and corn. As much as she didn't want to spend too much time at the market, the choice of vegetables had to be fresh and firm which took her longer to select.
Upon arriving back home, Camille pulled the vegetables out of the bag smelling each one before they went into the fridge. She then separated the three snapper fishes into single zip locked bags before they reached the freezer. One snapper remained out in a metal bowl as it was going to be seasoned and stuffed with spinach for dinner that evening.
Once finished, she grabbed a tall glass of apple juice and sat down on the couch. Instead of watching the television, she grabbed a book she was still reading and thumbed to the part where she had left off.
Within a half hour of undisturbed reading, she was at the end of the novel. Although it was fairly obvious how the story was going to end, it still held her interest right through. She was hoping that the killer would have tripped up and the protagonist would be the one to catch him, but the savvy detective, as always, came through instead. She thought to herself, maybe someday she would write a book and come up with a wild and crazy unexpected ending for her readers.
The time showed 11 am which would be 7 pm in London England. She looked at the phone number she had written down from the voice message, took a breath and tapped the numbers into the phone. Before she pressed the call key she took another sip of the juice and then tapped it.
She counted the rings and exactly four rings later his voice sounded on the other end.
“Hello.”
“Hi Kyle, it’s Camille Pryce from San Francisco calling.”
“Wow, it’s so nice to hear from you. I was beginning to feel as though you brushed me off.”
Walking Through and Other Stories Page 8