by Kris Calvert
I dropped the box and opened the door to the bedroom—a room I’d not explored yet. It was beautiful. White from top to bottom including the fabric-covered headboard, sheets and comforter, I ventured in farther and saw that it was so much more than a bedroom. There was a small efficiency attached and when I opened the refrigerator, I couldn’t believe how stocked it was. Was this all for me?
Walking back into the bedroom I noticed there was a chest of drawers and I opened it, not knowing what to expect now that I’d found the kitchen so complete. Inside there were bras and panties from LaPerla, silk nightgowns and robes. What was this madness?
I rushed to the closet and opened it to find it full of dresses, slacks and sweaters. The tags all still intact, I lifted the arm of a St. John suit coat and saw that it was a size four. “Are all of these for me?” I asked aloud.
“Yes.”
“Holy shit!” I screamed as I jumped and slammed the door to the closet.
“I’m sorry,” David exclaimed, his tan face red with embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You scared me to death. Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
“I did call your name a couple of times. Didn’t you hear me?” he asked as he moved in closer to me, looking amazing in a black pinstripe suit and blue shirt. He was rocking the French cuffs and links but still no tie.
“No. I didn’t hear you. I wouldn’t have jumped ten feet in the air and cursed. Sorry about that, by the way.”
“You’ll hear much worse around here in the coming months.”
I nervously nodded and put my hands behind me and began rocking back and forth. “Soooo…” I drug the word out, waiting for him to say something.
“So…yes.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Yes. The clothes are all for you. We’ll have some late nights here and you’ll need to be near my father, so you have a place to sleep if you need to stay over and you have clothes so you don’t have to bring things from home.”
“How did you know my size?” I asked as I opened the closet to gaze in amazement one more time.
“Good detective work?”
“Jonathan.” My best friend had been forced to shop with me too many times and he clearly knew all my sizes.
“Jonathan,” David confirmed with a nod. “There are shoes in there too. Workout clothes, jeans, sweatshirts, anything you might need.”
“This is all too much, David. Weren’t you listening last night? I’m just a hospice nurse.”
He moved into me and took my hand. I blushed at his touch. “You’re so much more than a hospice nurse. While my dad is sick you’re the most important person in this company. We need him and he needs you.”
I swallowed hard and nodded.
“Now, you have a busy day. I’ve seen your schedule,” he said as he walked to the door. I quickly shut the closet and followed him through the bathroom and back to my office. “You’re meeting with Dr. Beaman to go over Dad’s information and care plan this morning. You have lunch with me and the old man at twelve-thirty and Lewis and I have a business dinner tonight.”
“Your father is starting his chemotherapy tonight.”
“Not before having his dinner meeting.”
“Well, I need to give him the temozolomide before bed and he can’t eat for two hours prior to that. Plus I’ll need to get some anti-nausea medication in his system before that even takes place.”
“See?” David said as he rapped his knuckles on my desk twice. “It’s already going to be a late night.”
“I understand.” I nodded my head, knowing this was going to be a twenty-four-seven job without vacation for as long as Lewis Thornbury was alive.
“It might be a good night to break in your new digs.”
“I–” I began my sentence and recoiled.
“What?” David watched me squirm a little before he took me out of my misery. “C’mon, Indie. We need to be able to talk about anything. And I mean anything.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m a little afraid at night. I mean, in new places. And this place is so big and scary—and empty.”
David smiled, walked to the door and turned just before leaving. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right down the hall.”
The meeting with Dr. Beaman was over quickly. I had a copy of Lewis’s medical history, all the drugs had been delivered and he walked me through the ICU room set up in the building to make Lewis’s illness as painless as possible.
Lewis Thornbury was dedicated to his work. He literally lived and worked in the building, as did David. Work and leisure seemed to be one thing for them—or perhaps it was that there was no leisure and only work. I hoped I wouldn’t get caught in that trap.
I needed to call Dr. Nabi and set up an appointment to see him before I left town. I wanted to get some things straight in my head. I couldn’t go on pushing stuff to the back of my mind and not dealing with them. I somehow knew that I was coming off the rails and at the same time, I’d never felt more in control of my life.
The job and money gave birth to a whole new me. I now had two homes, one in Barlow and one at the office. I was dressing better than I ever thought I’d be able to and I only had one patient. It was going to be a challenge but I knew I was up for the job. My personal life had sucked but my professional life was always on point. This was my calling and I carried out the job with the highest regard for my profession. Caring for Lewis would be no different.
I sat at my desk and went through all of Lewis’s files making sure I’d not missed anything when I heard a knock at my open door.
I looked up to find the older beauty from this morning that’d given me the once over standing in the doorway. “Yes?”
“Indriel, I’m Madge. I’m Mr. Thornbury’s personal assistant.”
I immediately stood and met her halfway in the middle of the big room to shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Please call me Indie.”
“May I sit?”
“Of course,” I said, gesturing to the chairs in front of my desk.
Ignoring me completely, she walked across the room to the sitting area where she perched herself in a chair and gestured for me to sit on the couch. I felt like I was twelve and being called on the carpet by my parents for stealing a sip of vodka out of the liquor cabinet. “Oh,” I quipped. “Okay.”
I joined her and sat, smoothing down my dress and crossing my feet at the ankles like a proper lady.
“Maybe you should get your notebook, darling. We have some things to discuss.”
Her condescending attitude was starting to tick me off. I’d forgiven the look this morning in the hallway and I could even handle her not wanting to sit across from me at my desk, but Madge was about to learn that I didn’t back down. “I think I’ll be okay. I’ll just keep it all up here,” I said as I tapped my temple with my finger. “And if not, you can email it to me.”
Madge pursed her lips tightly without losing the stare she had locked on me. I raised my eyebrows and gave her my best smile. “I’m all ears.”
“I’m one of the few people who knows why you’re really here, Indriel. You and I are going to need to work together.”
“Indie.” I corrected her before moving on. “I’m happy to accommodate in any way I can, Madge. As long as it doesn’t interfere with Lewis’s treatment plan.”
“Mr. Thornbury.” She said his name as if I didn’t know my place. She was going to make sure I figured it out quickly. “He pushes himself too hard and I for one would like to see him live a longer, healthier life.”
“Me too.”
Madge’s nostrils flared as she inhaled and exhaled in exact and measured breaths. I didn’t know if I’d ever met anyone so precise in everything they did.
“Indriel.”
“Indie.”
“Listen to me.” Madge leaned into me and narrowed her steely gaze. “GlobalTech has a hierarchy. You need to get to know it a little better.”
“Madge,” I replied
with a smile I used for tea parties and wedding receptions. “I report to Lewis and Lewis alone. He made that very clear to me when he hired me. Now, perhaps you report to many–”
“I serve one. Mr. Thornbury.” She cut me off, grinding the words through her teeth. I could see her civility was an unraveling thread. Still I continued.
“Let’s not get our roles confused. I know my objectives while in the employ of GlobalTech. Should those change I will take that directive from Lewis.”
Her nostrils flared again as she took one last breath before standing.
“Was that all you wanted to discuss, Madge?”
“I’ll have Andrea send you your itinerary for the rest of the day.”
“Andrea?” I asked as I stood and walked her to the door.
“Mr. Thornbury’s second assistant.”
I thought back to the pretty blonde who met me the first night I interviewed. “I’m pretty sure I have my schedule for the day.”
Madge stopped in the doorway and cocked her head to the side, giving me a wicked smile. “Darling,” she began, giving me the same once-over I’d received in the hallway. “You’re a beautiful little neophyte, aren’t you? Just a babe in the woods—lost. Isn’t that so, Indriel?”
“Indie.”
“Do your best to keep up, honey.”
She walked out and I closed the door behind her. The energy in the room was completely negative and I paced frantically, looking for a window to open. I needed fresh air. It was as if she’d come into my office and polluted it. I couldn’t breathe.
I panicked as I walked through the space and into the bedroom, looking anywhere for something that would open my world into the real one on the other side. And then I saw it. One window behind the thick white curtains that hung behind my desk. One lever.
Grabbing it with force I wrenched it open slowly, beating it with the palms of my hand. When that didn’t work I tried my fists. Two pounds in it opened. The five inches of fresh air seemed like salvation to me as the high velocity winds that kicked up around the fifty-story building blew into the room. My hair lifted from my shoulders and blew a sweet spring breeze through my body.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I needed to get a grip on my emotions. If I was going to work here I would need to be able to handle Madge better.
After calming down I closed the window but didn’t lock it and walked through the bathroom, stopping to wash my hands and smooth down my windblown look.
I stared at my face in the mirror. Maybe the altercation had caused my cheeks to flush, maybe knowing I had money to pay my bills was alleviating my stress—whatever it was, I felt like I looked better than I had in over a year. I gave myself a nod in the mirror and noticed the claw foot tub in the reflection. Turning, I muttered under my breath, “If you fill up on your own I’m knocking out the window and jumping.”
I walked back into my office and checked the time on the wall. My lunch meeting was in half an hour and I had just enough time to call Dr. Nabi to make an appointment. I left in one week for Italy and there was a lot I wanted to discuss before—like maybe getting a new prescription for Klonopin. Opening the bottom drawer where I’d shoved my tired messenger bag, I searched for my shattered phone. I’d not had a chance to transfer my contacts yet and I only had Dr. Nabi’s number on speed dial.
I pulled the old phone from the bag and pushed the button to turn it on. While I waited for the white apple to appear on the cracked screen I dug through my bag for some Advil, knowing plenty of cold Diet Cokes were waiting for me in the fridge. I shuffled my hand through the dark bag looking for the bottle and kept coming up with paper. I pulled out two old receipts and finally my note from George.
I stared at the words he’d written to me and shook my head. I turned the paper over and saw the odd letters and numbers again. My phone buzzed and I immediately went to my contacts and found Dr. Nabi’s number.
Dialing, I saved his contact info, noticing that David and Lewis’s lines were both in my favorites as well as the direct line to GlobalTech and Dr. Beaman. These people were efficient, if anything.
“Peachtree Psychiatric.”
“This is Indie Luce and I need to change an appointment I have with Dr. Nabi and move it up if at all possible. I’m leaving town for awhile and I really need to see him before I go.”
“Can I put you on hold?”
“Sure,” I replied as I picked up a pen and a Post-it note to write down the new time. I glanced back at George’s letter, drawn to his scribbling on the back. Why hadn’t I noticed it the first time I opened the note? Maybe it was because I’d read it while I was sweating my ass off waiting in traffic.
“Miss Luce?”
“Yes?”
“He’s had a cancellation tomorrow at three. Does that work for you?”
I tried to pull up the schedule on the GT app of my phone. Then I thought of myself. I needed to talk to Dr. Nabi before we left, and if tomorrow was my chance then I was taking it.
“Yes. Three. I’ll be there.”
I hung up the phone and immediately checked the schedule. It looked as though other than overseeing some routine blood work for Lewis in the morning I was free until his chemo treatment that night.
I typed it into my online calendar on my new Mac Air letting the office know I would be out from two until four, giving myself plenty of time to get to Nabi’s office and back.
I folded up George’s note and put it in my drawer. And just as I was about to shut it I wondered….
I opened the browser to Google and typed in the letters and numbers: doseogwan wi 12. Google obliged me with a long list of links and I realized it was Korean. I scanned through the list looking for anything that might tell me the exact translation. And then I saw it five entries down. Doseogwan = library. I Googled translate and typed in the entire phrase. Doseogwan wi. I hit enter and sat back. Above library.
What was above the library? Did he mean the library in Barlow? Clearly he wanted me to know something other than just to beware of prowling lions. Was George trying to tell me something from beyond?
A loud rap came at my door and I jumped in my seat. “Come in.”
David strolled in with confidence and I witnessed what first drew me to him the night we met. “Ready for lunch?”
“Sure.”
He raised one eyebrow at me. “Is everything okay?”
I stood and smoothed down my pink dress and nodded. “Of course.”
“Shall we?” he asked as he held is arm out for me to take it.
I walked to him and stopped. “David.”
“Yes?”
“How much am I going to have to interact with Madge?”
“Oooo, so you met my dad’s mistress?”
“What?” I asked with a gasp as I stepped back in amazement. “She said she was his assistant. His first assistant.”
David nodded confidently. “She is. But she does lots of things for my father—if you know what I mean.”
“Oh.”
“Listen, I’m just filling you in quickly. The faster you understand the group dynamics around here the easier it will be for you. There are going to be a lot of people who want a piece of my father while he’s sick. We need you to manage that pretty tightly. The most important thing is for him to seem in control and as well as he can be.”
“And if Madge fights me on that?”
“Come to me. I’ll take care of it.”
I nodded and began to walk with him. “Oh—I also have a doctor’s appointment I can’t break tomorrow at three. I checked the schedule and it didn’t look like I had anything. I really need to do this before we take off next week for Italy.”
David smiled at me and lovingly touched me on the elbow. “You do whatever you need to do. Just put it in the master schedule.”
“I did.”
“Then you did good. Let’s go eat,” he said as he walked to the door without me.
“My bag,” I said as I quickly turned around to pu
ll it from the drawer. Pausing at the desk for a moment I looked at George’s note and shoved it in the top drawer and exited out of the browser.
“Are you sure everything’s okay?” he asked again.
“Sure.”
We walked out of my office and I wondered when I would be able to fit in a visit to the Barlow library before departing for Rome.
SEVENTEEN
It was late—almost midnight before I got Lewis into my office and the makeshift hospital room. He sat in the chair, visibly exhausted and I hoped he’d taken the anti-nausea medication. I’d given it to him before he left for dinner and it was best if he’d had it on board at least an hour before he took his first chemo pill.
“How are you feeling, Lewis?” I asked as I picked up his massive hand to check his pulse.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes before exhaling and dropping his shoulders. “Fine.”
“You look a little tired.” I pulled my stethoscope from my neck and unbuttoned his shirt one more button past the point where he’d already loosened his tie. “I just want to take a quick listen to your heart and chart your vital signs.”
“I took the other pill as you said.” His voice was quiet, deep but still echoed off the marble floor.
“Good.” I walked to the counter where I’d already placed the white capsule in a tiny paper cup. “Take this and then head straight to bed please. You need to get a good night’s sleep. I will be here early to check in on you before you begin your day.”
“Is it going to make me sick tonight?”
I gave him a reassuring smile. “It will take a few days before you start to feel nauseous. And then again, you may not feel that way at all. Everyone is different but that’s certainly the most common side effect along with fatigue.”
He looked at me, really looked at me. The bright green of his eyes seemed to have faded. He was a man who was sick—very sick—and refused to let it stop him. Although I knew in the end it would. It would stop him cold in his tracks. “Thank you for joining the team, Indriel.”
“Please call me—”
“Indie. I know. I’m sorry.”