“I will probably be here until the late hours of the morning. Yes please stop by as early as you can so we have ample time to review and edit it.”
“Sure, see you this afternoon.” Taylor disconnects and puts down the phone as a smile grows on her face.
She actually likes him but does not realize it.
******** Sitting quietly across his desk, she nervously watches him review her article. With a pen in hand, he pours editorial insights onto her work and makes his markups. He breaks from reading and looks at her from across the desk without saying a word.
“What?” Taylor raises an eyebrow and wonders if he likes the material. Without answering he continues reading; impatiently Taylor pulls out a nail filer from her bag and begins filing her nails. Annoyed by the sound of nails filing against the emery board, Ivan complains “please do not do that in my office, especially when I am trying to grasp the context of your material.”
Like an obedient student Taylor puts away the emery board and begins chewing on her nails instead. Ivan leans back into his leather chair and rests his arms on the armrest,
“Taylor” Ivan chooses his words carefully “this is great work but you are not quite as ready as I thought you are. You can do a whole lot better.”
Sincerely Taylor refrains from arguing “Elaborate please.” “I would like you to rewrite the entire article as third person and eliminate some of the biased comments. Reach an objective point of view and lead the readers to agree with your point rather than trying to convince them.” Ivan looks at the sheets of paper, “other than that, I like your creativity and enjoy the humor between the lines. I can see your potential and you have a conceivable talent. I can help you become a credible writer if you will allow me to.”
Heartfelt Taylor blushes “Why? I mean, why do you want to help me?”
Ivan smiles “Because I want to be your friend.” “A friend?” Taylor is a bit baffled. “Don’t you have platonic friends who care and support your endeavors?”
“No.” Taylor answers frankly and blushes some more, “the men that I know are all interested in only one thing.”
“Sex?” Ivan is curious about Taylor, finds her uniquely interesting and would like to get to know her, as a friend.
Taylor laughs, “something like that.” “Welcome to Ivan’s world where people connect and inspire each other to become the very best.” Unmistaken and clearly a leader, Ivan shows Taylor to an unoccupied glass office, “this can be your office for whenever you need to write for the magazine. I suggest you begin rewriting now, we have eight hours to make your article a hit.”
Touched by his genuine nature Taylor shows her appreciation “thank you.” She nods affirmatively, sits behind the desk and pulls out the laptop from her brief bag and begins restructuring her article. She watches Ivan close the glass door of her office and walks away. Feeling a peculiarly unfamiliar sentiment creeping up inside of her, a smile grows on her face,
“Platonic friends, what the hell is that?” she chuckles then shifts focus to concentrate on her work.
From his office Ivan can see Taylor’s desk and is watching her while she restructures the article. Not the typical Ivy League type woman that he likes, but he finds her attractive and highly interesting. Feeling rather hungry he picks up the phone and texts her to see if she would like to join him for a quick dinner break.
Taylor hears her phone beep, reads his text message on her screen and mumbles while giggling,
“Predictable. Sorry you are so not my type.” He watches her pick up her phone and admires her perky smile from across the hallway. Still holding the phone he hears the signal of her reply,
“Platonically I am tempted but cannot stop right now.” Appreciating her sense of humor Ivan laughs out loud, stands up and heads out for a dinner break. Walking pass Taylor’s office he turns his head and holds her gaze for a brief moment. Showering her with the warmest smile, he walks on and begins to wonder what is behind that fortress that she has build around herself.
He perceives her as a misunderstood rebel, troublesome and an untamable challenge. Stereotypically a wild one, as he sees her.
Part of him would like to get to know her better, but egotistically he warns himself that he should not play with fire. His sanity would be at stake, and he is not going to allow the risk of having a wild one burn him down to ashes.
“Stay away from trouble.” he mumbles and exits his office.
Chapter Nine. Amber stretches her naked body between the silky sheets on her bed and yawns. Opening her eyes slowly, she stares at the window and admires the soft rays of sun light creeping through the cracks of the drapes. Slipping out of bed, she wraps a lace robe around her body and heads to the kitchen to prepare a fresh brew of coffee. Turning on the TV she flips through different channels to find an interesting distraction but is interrupted by an incoming call. She shuts off the TV and picks up the phone to answer the call from an unfamiliar number.
Her face turns pale as she listens to the other party speaking over the phone. Feeling fragile and sick in the stomach over the appalling news being conveyed to her, she sinks onto the sofa and shuts her eyes. Silently, she listens to the caller without interrupting, closes her hand into a fist and bites into her index finger.
The caller stops talking and Amber finally speaks up “I will be there.” She puts her phone down on the coffee table, bends over and rests her head on her lap while cradling her head with her arms. Rocking back and forth a few times, she sits up abruptly and screams as loudly as she could,
“Oh My God!”
******** Time seems to move forward as slowly as a snail’s crawl for Amber. Dressed in a simple and classy black dress, she drives over to the office of Gary Wasserman, her ex-husband’s attorney.
The receptionist expects her arrival and Amber is shown immediately to the attorney’s office. Gary greets her somberly and pulls a chair for Amber to sit across his desk.
White as snow Amber stares at Gary “What happened?” she inquires weakly and is barely audible.
“My client Nathan Ferguson, your exhusband, had an accidental overdose and is pronounced dead at 1:36am yesterday morning.”
“I do not understand” Amber appears shocked and seeks clarification, “overdose on what? Was he taking drugs?”
Gary takes Amber’s hand and holds it firmly between his palms, “Amber, shortly after your divorce, Nathan started to see a psychiatrist to treat his depression. Apparently he was prescribed with Citalopram which he overdosed on. I am sorry.”
Still stunned with the news and trying to grasp hold of reality, Amber tries her impossible to suppress her emotions and fights against her tears. After years of arguments and disappointments, even though she no longer loves him, she has lingering feelings for him. Desolately she tries to understand the situation,
“Yes but we are no longer married to each other, so why do you want me to come here?”
“Amber you are the sole beneficiary to his Will.”
“But we are divorced.” Amber does not understand. “He has named you his sole beneficiary regardless of your marital status.” Gary pauses then continues “this is off the record Amber, the only reason why he did not contest your divorce filing is because he loves you, and wants to free you of misery by giving you a chance to find your own happiness which you can’t seem find with him in your life.” Gary pauses again, “I know this because he told me so.”
Motionlessly Amber stares at Gary in stillness and is unable to respond. Shocked with lips parted halfway, images of Nathan flash before her eyes and she begins to feel dizzy. Unable to mutter a word, she frowns and blinks a few times to digest what has just been disclosed to her.
As if he can read her confusion, Gary stands up, walks over and hands her a closed envelope. Nathan has included a letter in his Will and has instructed the attorney to deliver it to Amber prior to the reading. Gary sympathizes over the misfortunate incident and leaves Amber in privacy.
Reluctant an
d fearful to read the letter, Amber stares at the envelope for a few moments then opens it courageously.
“Amber my love, If you are reading this letter then chances are something has happened to me and I am no longer physically present with you in this world.
You are the strongest woman I have ever known and your strength has motivated me throughout the years. At moments I felt like I am about to lose my mind over daily stress at work, but I knew that at the end of the day I would be returning home to you and everything seemed alright again.
We have had our ups and downs, and a fair share of trials over the most dishearteningly moments when we literally tore each other apart, but your love has kept me going and Amber, even though you may not believe it, but I have always loved you and will always love you until my heart fails to beat.
Although my body is no longer with you, but just remember this, I believe there is ‘life after death’ and I know I will come back to this world one day, just to be able to see your beautiful face again.
Eternally yours, Nathan.”
******** She can scarcely hear Gary while he reads her Nathan’s Will. Listening but not registering, the only thing that she understands is that a few million dollars will be wired into her account after all his assets will be liquidated by the trustees.
The voice of Nathan reciting his letter is echoing in her mind. Driving home, she stops by a liquor store to pick up a bottle of her favorite vodka and heads home in solitude.
Mourning over her ex-husbands death, she realizes that his love for her is unconditional and that every fight over the past few years are completely unnecessary.
If she has a way to rewind the hands of time, she would refuse his proposal then neither of them would have to suffer any losses. She would not have to give up her career and her freedom, and he would not end up losing his life with an accidental overdose.
“So stupid,” Amber cries while driving home “you’re so fucking stupid Nathan. Why? Why wouldn’t you leave me alone?” she screams in rage while driving “you want to make me feel guilty for the rest of my life? No, you will not win. I will not let you take over my happiness. Damn you Nathan, damn you!”
She drives like a maniac and cries like a lunatic while driving home. Releasing her anger and frustration she screams over her sobs,
“No. Don’t touch me!” she shivers “Don’t fucking touch me!” Realizing that she still loves him and that he still holds a huge piece of her heart, “I love you Nathan but I hate you SO much! I hate you. I hate you for doing this. I hate you for doing this to me.”
With absolutely no recollection of how she even got home safely, she opens the bottle of vodka and devours it from the bottle. Flooded with tears, she eyes the pieces of broken Iladro porcelain doll in the garbage bin. Choking on the omen, she sensed that something horrific was going to happen, but never expected an incident this drastic.
She refuses to feel guilty or responsible for his depression and disallows herself from blame. She has nothing to do with his overdose and has not contributed to his accidental death.
Biting on her lower lip and trying to refrain from crying, she walks over to a closet and pulls out a box. She removes albums full of old photos of their days together and stares at them. Sobbing hysterically she mumbles “go away. Now that you are dead, you must go away, far far far away from me and I never want to see you again!”
Bringing a handful of photos to the kitchen, she places them in large steel mixing bowl, picks up one of their photos taken together during their honeymoon in Paris, lights it up with a match and sets all the photos on fire.
“Burn, burn, burn!” she sobs some more “please, set me free … let me go now, let me go!”
Devouring the bottle of vodka while watching the photos burn into ashes, Amber feels tipsy and distraught. She staggers over to her piano and starts playing a tune in her head. Banging on the keyboard in rage, her fingers fly up and down the scale. Giving the keyboard a final bang with both fits, she pauses to catch a breath and pulls out a few blank score sheets. With a no. 5 lead pencil in hand, she marks down the notes of the tune in her head and begins to put them together into a full number.
Hours whisk by and she finally stops by nightfall. Feeling sick and drunk, she writes down the title of the number on the first page and collapses on the keyboard.
The sheets fall from her lap and float gracefully in the air until it lands on the floor. The cover page falls to her feet on the pedal and reveals the name of her new Broadway musical,
“Life After Death.”
******** Amber hears the sound her phone ringing and stirs on the keyboard of her piano. Unsure of how long she has slept on the keyboard, she shrugs and tries to pull herself up. Staring at the pieces of score sheets on the floor, she slides her hand into her wild mane of long wavy hair and rubs the back of her sore neck while trying to rid the ghastly feeling of a hangover.
Staggering to the kitchen she picks up her phone and answers Taylor’s call, “Amber, something is wrong. Karina has not answered my calls or texts for the last few days. She has been so delusional since Alex left, I am afraid something bad had has happened to her. I am on my way to her apartment, do you want to come with me?”
Amber clears her throat and tries to speak, with a coarse morning voice she manages to whisper audibly,
“I can’t Taylor. Nathan just died of an overdose. He is dead. I have huge headache and am about to explode. I cannot drive right now. I can barely stand up. I can’t talk anymore.” Amber’s whisper fades into the phone.
After a pause of silence, “I am sorry Amber.” Taylor sympathies Amber’s agony and wishes her inner peace.
“I will be fine.” Amber presses her lips together to control her emotions, “Just make sure Karina does not do anything stupid like that.”
Chapter Ten. Karina vomits into the sink when she hears a loud knocking on her door. Feeling extremely nauseous she is unable to stop vomiting and screams as loudly as she could “go away! I am busy.”
The knocking continues and annoys her so she picks up a hand towel, covers her mouth, runs to the door and not knowing who is behind it she swings it open and yells “what!”
Taylor has her fist in midair and is about to knock again. Startled by the look of Karina’s unsightly appearance she gasps, “Oh my God, what is wrong with you? I have called and texted you for the past few days, I thought something horrible happened to you!” Taylor forces her own way into Karina’s apartment and holds her breath “what the hell happened here?”
Stunned speechless, Taylor stops in her tracks and freezes to a standstill in the center of the living room while Karina dashes pass her and runs into the bathroom again.
The walls of the living room are lined with canvas of different sizes, and has been turned into the most artistic paintings that Taylor has seen for a while. Pails of empty paint lay scattered across the floor which is covered by large pieces of plastic. Taylor walks along the walls to study the paintings and is mesmerized by a large mural on the wall at the far back of the living room. She gasps as she touches the wet paint which has not air dried yet. Taking a step backward she admires the mural some more and begins laughing,
“So I see you have been busy! I cannot believe how talented you are!” Taylor’s excitement is conceivably apparent.
Walking over to the bathroom with a smile on her face and with every intention to praise Karina proudly,
“My god, I did not know you can paint like this.” Taylor begins to congratulate Karina but stops at the corridor as she stares into the bath room. She sees Karina leaning over the sink vomiting,
“Oh my God Karina, you are bleeding!” Taylor exclaims and rushes over to Karina.
Shocked to hear what Taylor has said, Karina pulls herself up and tries to stop vomiting,
“What?” she stares at Taylor weakly “What are you talking about?” Taylor watches a thin trail of blood drip down from between Karina’s legs, “Karina you are bleeding!” Taylor r
epeats “you are bleeding between your legs!”
Taylor sprints forward to catch Karina who tumbles backward and is about to faint at the sight of her own blood.
Frightened, Karina grabs onto Taylor’s arms to seek balance “I don’t feel too well Taylor, I think I am dying.”
******** Amber rushes to the hospital and joins Taylor in the waiting room, “how is she?”
“Not sure, they just brought her in the examination room, have not heard from anyone yet.” Taylor chews on her fingernails nervously.
“Good thing you went to check on her this morning!” Amber sits next to Taylor.
“I know.” Taylor is worried about Karina but remembers her brief conversation with Amber “so what happened to your ex-husband?”
“Oh my God, I do not want to talk about it, maybe another day but not now.” Amber smells coffee, looks around and is surprised to see her attorney Russell Krugerman walking up the corridor.
Russell spots Amber with the corner of his eye, waves hello and walks towards her,
“Hello Amber, what are you doing here?” He greets her with a friendly kiss on the cheek.
“I was just going to ask you the same question Russell. My friend is in the emergency room and I hope you are not stalking me.” She jokes half heartedly.
“I would rather be stalking you, it sounds more fun, but my wife Yvette just had an accident and is admitted. I am visiting her.”
“Is she alright?” Amber inquires genuinely. “By the grace of God, yes. A few broken bones to fix then she can come home.” Deep inside Russell could not care less if she were dead or alive, but on the surface he must appear a loving and caring husband for the world to see.
A nurse walks over to Taylor while Russell says goodbye to Amber “your friend is alright, but we could not save the baby. She is sleeping now, why don’t you come back in a few hours?”
Has Cupid Gone Mad?: War Of Hearts Page 5