Drive and Determination

by Louise, Kara

  The train finally arrived and they boarded. As they rode into the city, Elyssa watched the scenery pass. It seemed a very short distance before they were outside the tranquil country feel of the suburbs and saw signs of the looming city before them.

  Upon arriving into Chicago, Elyssa felt her heartbeat grow increasingly stronger. She wasn’t afraid to see Will -- in fact she was looking forward to being in his presence again. She was amazed at how much she missed him, but she wondered whether he would be willing to forgive her for the words she lashed out at him at the airport.

  As the commuter train came to a stop, Elyssa and Maddy stood up and walked to the door, waiting for it to open.

  The two ladies kept pace with the crowd of people also exiting as they made their way down to the street. Having taken another look at the map, her aunt knew they had could either hail a cab or enjoy a brisk walk of a couple blocks to reach Pemberleo’s office building.

  Both Elyssa and her aunt opted for the walk. It was a beautiful day and Elyssa wanted to get a real feel for the city. Along the way, they passed one beautiful building after another and Elyssa was in awe at the splendor of all the architecture that surrounded them. She had never seen anything like it and her eyes darted from the addresses of each building they passed and then upwards toward the sky as they passed the tall edifices.

  Elyssa’s feet came to an abrupt stop and unwittingly her hand went up to her heart when they finally came to the Pemberleo Offices building looking out over Lake Michigan. As her eyes traveled up, she couldn’t help but wonder which floor Will was on. She figured his office was probably on the lake side of the building and had a wonderful view.

  Maddy looked at her and smiled. “Now I’m sure he won’t be all that bad, Elyssa. Just tell him you appreciate what he’s done. You’ll do fine.”

  Elyssa looked quizzically at her aunt. “Excuse me?”

  “Mr. Denton. I’m sure he will be most accommodating to you, dear.”

  Elyssa reached out and placed her hand gently on her aunt’s shoulder to reassure her. “I’m sure he will, but if you don’t mind, Maddy, I should like to go up there alone. There are some things I need to say to him and I wondered if you wouldn’t mind waiting for me down in the lobby.”

  “Of course I don’t mind, Elyssa. Take as long as you need.”

  They stepped into a large, beautiful lobby and Elyssa felt her chest tighten so dreadfully that she had to force herself to take each breath. As they walked across the marble floor, she believed she could almost feel his presence. Maddy pointed to some benches in the corner. “I’ll wait for you over there.”

  Elyssa walked over to the office directory and saw that Pemberleo occupied five floors of the building with the executive offices being on the eighteenth floor. Seeing his name, William Denton, President, sent shivers of anticipation through her.

  She joined a few others at the elevators and waited for one to come down to the lobby and open. There were three elevators in all, and when one of them finally opened, it quickly emptied. If Elyssa had any second thoughts about getting on, the push from the crowd around her would have made the decision for her. Once inside, floor buttons were pushed and Elyssa didn’t know whether she was grateful or not that there would be several stops before she reached the eighteenth floor.

  As she stood in the elevator, however, she couldn’t help but overhear the conversation between two gentlemen.

  “I hear he anticipates being gone the whole week. Some problems arose in Guatemala that needed his attention. I don’t think he was too keen on having to make the trip.”

  When she heard Guatemala, her ears tuned in to their conversation.

  “When did he leave?” the other gentleman asked.

  “Took the jet this morning. I thought it was odd that Will never seems to be bothered by having to make these unexpected trips, but he seemed rather distressed to have to leave this time.”

  “You don’t suppose he had some rendezvous he had to cancel?” The man chuckled.

  “William Denton?” The two men cast laughing glances at each other.

  “No!” They both said at once.

  The two men got off on the seventeenth floor, leaving Elyssa and another young woman on the elevator. At the eighteenth floor, Elyssa felt as though she had to step out, but she knew she would have to put off facing Will until he returned next week. She decided against even going in and leaving a message. She needed to speak to him to his face.

  She cautiously stepped off, gratefully finding herself in a hall. Her eyes took in the length of it and she smiled at the Guatemalan artifacts they had decorated it with. She pushed the elevator button to take her back down and as she waited, she looked just behind her at the door that was marked with his name.

  “Another day, Will,” she said softly to herself. The elevator finally opened and she returned downstairs to her aunt.

  When she stepped back out into the lobby, her aunt seemed rather surprised to see her return so quickly.

  “Oh, dear. It was terrible, wasn’t it? Did he just brush you off or did he not even see you?”

  Elyssa put up her hand. “No, apparently he left this morning for Guatemala. He’ll be gone the whole week.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad. But look. I saw this while I was waiting.”

  The two walked over to a small sign indicating that Pemberleo offered tours of their coffee plant on Fridays at eleven in the morning and one and three in the afternoon.

  “That might be fun, wouldn’t it Elyssa? Edward will be off in the afternoon and if I can find someone to watch the children, why don’t we come back into Chicago and take the tour? Apparently the plant isn’t too far from here.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Elyssa said. “I might be really busy at the house.”

  “We can combine a shopping trip with it. That way you won’t feel so guilty about taking some time for yourself. Come on, what do you say?”

  Elyssa laughed. “Well since I saw one side of the coffee production in Guatemala, I guess it would be interesting to see the rest of the process.”

  “Good!” Maddy clasped her hands. “I think it will be interesting. Edward always enjoys things like that.”

  They walked out of the building and Maddy turned to Elyssa. “Now, where were those stores you wanted to check out today?”

  They consulted their map again and plotted out their course. The first store they stopped in appeared to be very up-scale and Elyssa felt as though the salespeople looked down their noses at her because she didn’t work for a well-known design firm and they didn’t know who she was. They left after merely looking at a few items.

  After feeling the same way in each of the first three stores they came to, Elyssa turned to her aunt. “If only they knew what a big sale they could have made if they had treated us with a little more respect!”

  “I’m sure they would have changed their tone if they knew about the house you are working on. They might even know the name Richard Fitzpatrick.”

  “Well I’m not inclined to inform them of that just to garner their approval. If they can’t accept some independent designer from California, I won’t do business with them!”

  They walked to another store that Elyssa had circled on the map. It was a few blocks away and Elyssa knew from the information she had taken from the internet that it would be smaller than the ones they had just been in.

  They finally reached the other store and walked in. An older gentleman greeted them and told them that his wife was out ill and he was minding the store. As Elyssa glanced about her, she wondered if they would have anything at all of interest to her.

  “Now,” he continued. “I can help you with a few things, but my wife’s the real expert. Hopefully, she’ll be back tomorrow.”

  “That’s OK,” Elyssa said. “I would like to look at some samples of designer fabrics, if you have some.”

  “Oh, yes. That we do!”

  He took her to a small room off the main floor where there wer
e rows and rows of fabrics. They were meticulously sorted by texture, color, and company. “Just let me know if I can help you. My name is Curtis Jones, by the way.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Jones!” Elyssa said. “I’m Elyssa Barnett and this is my aunt, Madeline Garner. Do you, by any chance, allow people to take some of the samples out of the store to see if they work well?”

  “We certainly do! Take home as many as you want. But let me warn you. If you take any samples down from the rod and then change your mind, just leave ‘em. My wife has a very particular sorting system that even I don’t understand.”

  Elyssa laughed. “I can see she is very well organized!”

  “I have some coffee brewing over here and some cookies if you like. Can I bring you some?”

  “Thanks. That sounds great!”

  He took their coffee orders and returned with a plate of cookies. When Elyssa took a sip, she knew immediately that it was Pemberleo Coffee.

  Elyssa spent at least an hour going through the fabrics, matching tints and hues to the paint colors she had marked and occasionally asking for her aunt’s opinion. When she finished, she had a pile of fabrics that was as diverse as a sampler box of candy. Knowing she needed to scale down her selection, she then went through that pile, pulling out ones she wanted to take with her, leaving the others for Mrs. Jones to put away.

  Elyssa laughed as she held up one of the samples, admiring its color and running her fingers across the heavily textured fabric. “Maddy, I can’t help but feel as though this Fitzpatrick character is going to get his house decorated exactly according to my own personal preference, unless he decides he really doesn’t care for what I select.” She picked up one of the fabrics she discarded. “Do you think I should throw in some bizarre pieces just to see what he does?”

  Maddy smiled. “I think he is very fortunate to have chosen you, my dear, and you must trust your instincts about this. You were chosen because of the designer board you submitted and he must have appreciated your partiality toward the traditional look. Personally, I think too many people go a bit overboard just to be different. I have a feeling he just wants something nice that will stand the test of time.”

  Elyssa leaned over and whispered to her aunt. “I hope Mr. Fitzpatrick won’t be upset, but even though there isn’t a budget to worry about, I’m not planning to buy from the most expensive stores. I think I can get the same items from a place like this for half the cost and I like the service much better.”

  “If he doesn’t appreciate your financial prudence, I certainly do. No sense in throwing away money just to be able to say the house was furnished by a particular store.”

  They gathered up the fabric samples and Elyssa took them to Mr. Jones. She gave him her driver’s and decorator’s licenses and Emily’s letter and business card so he could complete the check-out form. As she stood at the counter, she looked around her, admiring the eclectic array of both antique and modern furniture and accessories.

  She suddenly had a thought. “Do you have any porch swings here or do you know where I can find some nice ones?”

  “As a matter of fact, we do have one! Follow me!”

  He placed the fabric samples in a bag and handed them to Elyssa, then took them to a back corner of the store. “We picked this up a few days ago at an estate sale. It needs a little sanding and refinishing, which I had planned to do myself, but other than that, it’s in great condition. If you want it, just tell me what you want done and I can have it for you in a couple of days. Refinishing is my specialty! Most of the antiques you see here I have restored.”

  “And I can see that you do an excellent job,” Elyssa commended him.

  Elyssa turned her eyes back on the swing and smiled as she ran her fingers lightly over the wood. I think it will look striking with a dark wooden stain. Can you do that?”

  “That’s what I had planned to do with it. I need to replace the chain and I’ll throw in the fixtures to hang it up. Would Thursday be soon enough for you?”

  “That’s great!” Elyssa said and exchanged a grin with her aunt. She made arrangements to have it delivered directly to the house.

  She liked this store. She was eager to come back and leisurely walk through, looking at the selection of furniture they had in stock and glean any ideas they may have. She appreciated the kindness of Mr. Jones, who told her he could order anything that the larger stores carried. Elyssa was anxious to meet his wife and knew she would be coming back here.

  Despite her disappointment at not being able to see Will earlier that day, and knowing it would be a week before she did, Elyssa couldn’t help but feel elation. The joy and fulfillment she felt in actually doing work that she enjoyed surprised even her.

  She and her aunt talked all the way home about their afternoon. Now that Elyssa was actually “getting her feet wet” in the actual design process, her excitement mounted. When her uncle returned home from work that evening, he graciously and patiently listened to a recap of Elyssa’s first day as a designer.

  *~*~*

  Elyssa spent the rest of the week choosing color for the paint, tile and flagstone to finish the living room and fireplace, and went back a couple more times to the little store. With each decision she made, she passed it on to Emily, who in turn, passed it to Richard Fitzpatrick. She always received an OK on it by the next day.

  On Thursday, Elyssa stayed at the house all day, awaiting the arrival of the porch swing. After thoughtful consideration, she decided she would put it at an angle at the corner of the porch so a view of the front and the side of the house could be enjoyed. She was almost as excited about the porch swing as anything.

  Another delivery that Mr. Jones brought along with him was a large area rug that Elyssa had selected from his store. It was one of the finer brands and had all the colors in it that she had chosen to work with. Once he had the rug down on the beautiful hardwood floors and the swing was installed, Elyssa felt as though that was all that was needed to give the house a warm and welcoming look.

  She found herself in new territory, though, ensuring that the sub-contractors were doing everything exactly as she desired, checking each order that arrived to make sure it was accurate, and then having to deal with some difficult people when things didn’t arrive on time or as ordered. By Thursday night she was tired and decided taking the tour of Pemberleo Coffee on Friday would be a diversion she could well justify.

  Chapter 23

  On Friday, Elyssa and Maddy planned to meet Edward in Chicago at the Pemberleo plant for the one o’clock tour. He was working at a job nearby in the city and decided that rather than come all the way home and go back, he would meet up with them there.

  Elyssa was required to be at the house that morning to oversee some work that should have taken only an hour or two to finish. When some mistakes were made, she insisted that it be redone and she called to tell her aunt she wasn’t sure when she’d get back. A quick call to Edward alerted him to the delay and so he decided he would run some errands and then join them for the three o’clock tour.

  It wasn’t until almost one o’clock that Elyssa finally walked through her aunt’s door. She had never been so glad to finally get away. It hadn’t been so much a problem of poor workmanship, but of not fully understanding what she wanted. She hated the fact that she had inconvenienced her uncle, but her aunt assured her he had plenty to keep him busy in the city as he waited their arrival.

  “Don’t worry about it, Elyssa,” her aunt assured her. “He’s used to being flexible. I change my mind so often that he doesn’t put anything on his calendar until after it happens!”

  Elyssa laughed as she considered how different her aunt and uncle were from each other, yet they complimented one another wonderfully. “I have enjoyed being with you so much this past week. I can’t imagine what it would have been like doing this job here without really knowing anyone. It’s nice to come home after a full day’s work and relax and laugh with people you really care about.”

  “I
’m glad we were here for you, too, Elyssa. Although if we weren’t,” her aunt gave her a teasing smile, “you know there would always be Mr. Denton.” Maddy chuckled. “He certainly is a handsome man -- he must have some redeeming qualities. Perhaps once you have paid your visit and thanked him, you’ll actually find yourself totally smitten with him.”

  Elyssa tried to sound genuine as she joined her aunt in a laugh. “Perhaps,” was all she could mutter as she turned and looked away.

  A crinkle in Maddy’s brow suggested that she had begun to ponder why it was that each time Mr. Denton’s name was mentioned, Elyssa behaved so uncharacteristically. She shook away any conjecture on the subject, though.

  Elyssa and Maddy planned their departure so they would arrive at the plant at two thirty. That would give them plenty of time and allow for any delays. They kept in touch with Edward by cell phone to let him know where they were and when they were close to arriving.

  When they came upon Pemberleo’s manufacturing plant, Elyssa was surprised at how modern and clean it looked. A sign on the door in front instructed those coming for the tour to step in and remain in the waiting room until it was time to begin. Edward was already inside.

  The room was dotted with photographs, and Elyssa recognized several as being from Guatemala. She walked around with her aunt and uncle showing them places she visited and telling them a little bit about them.

  They came to a picture of Lake Atitlan, and Elyssa could tell from the finer buildings around it, that it was taken at Panajachel.

  She laughed as she began to tell her aunt, “This is Panajachel at Lake Atitlan. It’s a beautiful place, but Will and I got caught in a most torrential downpour there.”

  Both Maddy and Edward looked at her and asked simultaneously, “Will?”

  Elyssa’s breath caught as she realized she hadn’t told a soul about his coming down to Guatemala while she was there. Before she could command herself to calm down, her fingers intertwined and she nervously began rubbing her thumbs together.