Burning Desire

by Rachel Maldonado

  Candi held Ms. Landers in her arms. She hadn't thought to ask back at the apartment, but the name of Ms. Landers' lover had seemed familiar. “Did you say your girlfriend's name was Gertrude Harris?” asked Candi.

  Ms. Landers nodded. “Yes. She was Gertie Rogers, but her married name is Harris.”

  Candi began to sob. “Oh my God. I don't believe it.”

  “What is it?” asked Suzanne, wondering now why it was that Candi was also crying.

  “The artist at the museum. The one who painted my favorite canvas of the two women in Paris. Her name is Gertrude Harris!” Candi held Ms. Landers tightly, then caressed her hair and face. “It's very important. Was Gertie an artist? Did she ever draw or paint?”

  Ms. Landers stopped crying, wiped her face, then nodded. “Yes. She was always drawing pictures of us together laying in the grass, sitting in the tree, or relaxing on the porch. She said that one day she would be famous and that people from all over town would want to see her work. Maybe even people from all over the world.”

  “I want to take you to see something,” said Candi. She turned to Suzanne. “Do you think your friends can let us in tonight?”

  “I'll see what I can do when we get there,” said Suzanne.

  They loaded back into the truck and headed straight for the downtown art museum. The guards were more than happy to help. “Anything for Suzanne Mitchell,” said Anthony Edwards, better known as Ed, the guard that was usually at the front door.

  Candi and Suzanne led Ms. Landers into the museum and it was as if her entire life flashed before her eyes, or rather, the life she was supposed to have had. She held her right hand over her heart, and the tears began to flow as she carefully viewed each of Gertrude Harris's paintings. “These were all of the things we always talked about doing together. We dreamed of going to Paris, running on the beach, rising early every morning to have coffee and talk. This was everything we were supposed to be.”

  “We want to contact Gertrude for you,” said Suzanne after some thought. “We think you should reconnect with her.”

  “Oh no. I can't. She's married,” said Ms. Landers, shaking her head.

  “No, she isn't,” responded Candi. “She lives alone. As far as I know, she was never married. But then again, she may have married and divorced, but kept her husband's name. It's hard to say because she's very private.”

  “I wouldn't know what to say to her after all of these years,” said Ms. Landers.

  “Your heart will know what to say,” offered Suzanne.

  Ms. Landers had tears in her eyes. “I just can't get over all of the gorgeous artwork. That's me in the paintings! How I've changed throughout the years.”

  “When you love someone, it's the beauty that you have within you that counts the most,” said Candi thoughtfully. “Because even though our exterior changes with time, our hearts remain forever connected.”

  Suzanne smiled at Candi warmly.

  “I'm ready to go, dear. Please, do let me know if you can reach Gertie for me,” stated Ms. Landers.

  The women left the museum, stopping at Ms. Landers' apartment to drop her off.

  When the two young women arrived back at Suzanne's apartment, Candi was feeling exhilarated. She was practically bouncing off the walls. “Oh my gawd! To think, I knew my favorite painter's lover for two years and didn't know it! I wonder why she never told me that story of her life before! First thing tomorrow I'm going to make some calls to see if I can get a hold of Gertrude Rogers.”

  Suzanne kicked off her shoes, plopped down on the sofa, and lay down. “Harris.”

  “What?” asked Candi confused.

  “You said Gertrude Rogers. Her name is Gertrude Harris.” Suzanne grabbed her blanket and covered herself.

  “Oh, right. I was still thinking of her as the girl from Ms. Landers' youth.”

  Suzanne grumbled from underneath her covers. “Uh huh. Turn off the light in here before you go to bed. I'm exhausted. I'll help you find Gertie Harris tomorrow. I promise.”

  “Okay, goodnight.” Candi hung her head in disappointment. “I don't get a walk to the bedroom door today? No kiss goodnight?”

  Suzanne Mitchell was sound asleep and couldn't answer. Candi shut off the living room light, taking Tootsie with her to the bedroom as Toonces cuddled up on the couch with Suzanne. It took her a while to fall asleep. She tossed and turned imagining herself as having the life of Gertrude and as Suzanne being Ms. Landers living in a house all alone as she, Gertie Rogers, pedaled over to visit her daily. She imagined it to be sunny, bright, and beautiful until the entire world came crashing down the day her lover chose to marry someone else to blend into society. It was her last thought before she fell fast asleep.

  Chapter Nine

  The following morning, Candi was on the phone calling everyone in the museum that she could get a hold of. She was transferred so many times that she felt as if she had already spoken to each person at least twice.

  “Hello?” answered the museum curator. “You've reached the office of Jillian Henson at the Museum of Art and History. How can I help you.”

  “I'm trying to reach Gertrude Harris,” stated Candi.

  “Gertrude? She doesn't take personal calls. Is this business related?” asked Ms. Henson. Candi was relieved that she was finally able to reach someone that knew a contact number for Gertrude Harris. “Yes. It's a pressing business matter.”

  “Do you mind if I ask what it's about?” asked Ms, Henson curiously. She was hesitant to give out contact information.

  “It really is rather private, but it's regarding a home where she used to live and an old friend in Cedar Ridge County. She'll understand.”

  “Okay. I will contact her. Leave me your name and number, and she will call you back if she wishes to speak with you,” said Ms. Henson.

  “Wonderful. You've been so helpful. My name is Candi Beacon. My number is 555-6966. Please tell her it's regarding Lilith Landers from Cedar Ridge. She should recognize the name.”

  “I will. Thank you.”

  The two women disconnected the call, then Candi began pacing back and forth in the bedroom. Tootsie sat on the bed watching her curiously. “She has to call back. Right, Tootsie?”

  Tootsie cocked her head to the side, then began to clean her face with her paws.

  Suzanne, feeling her stomach grumble, sat up on the sofa and wandered into the kitchen for a glass of milk. She was just starting to pull out a dozen eggs, ham, cheese, and a couple of potatoes when Candi sauntered in wearing her white terry-cloth robe that had once belonged to Patrice. “What are you doing? Burning the house down?”

  Suzanne laughed. “I was going to try to make us some omelets. If they fell apart, I was going to lie and say I meant to make you scrambled eggs.”

  Candi set her phone down on the table, then grabbed a frying pan and took over. “I can take it from here. You sit down. Guess what?” she asked.

  “Hm?”

  “I spent the morning on the phone with the museum, and I should be expecting a call from Gertrude Harris this morning.”

  “Wow, that's great. See, you didn't need my help to track her down after all,” said Suzanne grinning. She took another sip of her milk.

  Toonces walked by and sat by her bowl of water and began crunching on her kibble. “It's good to see you're out of hiding, sweet thang,” remarked Candi to Toonces.

  “I knew she'd come around,” said Suzanne. “She can't be afraid of a kitten forever.”

  As Candi set a plate with an omelet and hash browns in front of Suzanne, her cellphone rang. She grabbed the phone and answered it right away, “Hello? Mrs. Harris? This is Candi Beacon...Yes, I know Lilith Landers. I'm a big fan of yours, and I wasn't aware that she knew you until just last night, but she is a wonderful person and dear friend. Is it possible that we might bring her to see you?”

  Suzanne couldn't hear what Mrs. Harris was saying on the other end of the line. She could only speculate by what Candi was talking about that
they were making arrangements to meet.

  Candi ended her phone conversation with, “That sounds great. See you tonight.”

  “Did you just say tonight?” asked Suzanne as she took a forkful of her ham and cheese omelet.

  “Yes. She's being recognized at the museum and some more of her art will be displayed. She won't just have one wall. For the next few months, her work will be displayed in that entire second room! It's quite an honor.”

  “That's amazing. What did she say about Ms. Landers?”

  “She wants to see her. That's all she said. We can pick up Ms. Landers tonight to attend the museum function together, and if it's okay with you, how about a late dinner? Just the two of us?”

  “Are we still making Shrimp Alfredo?” asked Suzanne curiously as she ate. “Because I sort of had my heart set on it.”

  Candi grinned. “Yes, we can still have that.”

  The two women spent the day at the mall searching for dresses to wear to the fancy museum ceremony. Candi could hardly believe she was about to meet Gertrude Harris, the woman she idolized and who's paintings she adored.

  After hours of searching different department stores and trying on everything, both women finally decided on wearing black dresses with shawls and black heels. They stopped to eat at a nearby King of Rock N' Roll Restaurant. It was basically a restaurant where the décor was Elvis paintings and memorabilia and most of the food items were either something that was named after Elvis or something that he liked to eat like--the delicious double order of King of Pork Chops, the mouth watering Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Banana Sundae dessert and the famous appetizer squares of Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches. Suzanne's favorite was the Hunka Hunka Burning Love Bites of Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy.

  Candi was glad to be off her feet. “I don't think I've ever tried on so many dresses and shoes in my life,” remarked Candi when they were finally escorted to a seat by the hostess. She slid into her booth and sighed with relief.

  Suzanne grinned. “What's a matter? I thought you loved trying on clothes? You had a ball trying on everything in my closet.”

  “Don't get me wrong. I think it's fun. It's just exhausting. But I really like the dresses we picked out.”

  When the waitress arrived, Candi ordered the Love Me Chicken Tender Platter and Suzanne ordered her usual Hunka Hunka Burning Love Bites. Both had the Blue Suede Shoe String Potatoes and Coke Floats.

  “I've never been here,” remarked Candi.

  Suzanne grinned. “Really? I love it here. The food's great and the music on the jukebox is always Elvis. Listen. They're playing Jailhouse Rock. That reminds me. Do you want to share some Jailhouse Rocky Road after this?”

  Candi shook her head. “No, I think that's too much sugar overload with the Coke floats.”

  “Oh, right. Maybe next time.”

  When the waitress finally came out with their order, Suzanne dug into her shoe string potato fries. She had been wondering if Candi had thought anymore about moving out since she now had a house that needed care and repair, but she didn't want to bring up the subject. The thought had also been weighing on Candi's mind, however.

  “Listen, I've been thinking...” she paused for a moment as she poured some ketchup onto her fries. “I know that my new house needs a ton of work, and I was wondering if you'd want to help me fix it up.”

  Suzanne nodded, then took a bite of her food, and a drink of her Coke before speaking, “Sure, I can help. I'm not an expert or anything. I know how to fix drywall, and I can replace floor tile. I'm also pretty handy with a paint brush, but I'm afraid if you need major electrical or plumbing work though, that I'm at a loss. I don't know anything about that. But I can ask some of the guys at work. I'm sure they know something.”

  Candi shifted in her seat. “That's not all I want to ask.”

  “Oh?” asked Suzanne with raised eyebrows. She playfully added, “You're not going to ask me to marry you are you? Because that's something that I had hoped that I'd be asking you someday. And it wouldn't be over Coke floats and Love Me Chicken Tenders.”

  Candi laughed. “I'm not proposing.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I was going to ask you if you want to move in with me.”

  Suzanne smiled. “Really? You want us to still live together?”

  Candi spoke nervously and at a fast pace, fearing rejection. “Yes. I know it would be a longer commute for you to get to the fire station, but I know we can make it work if we try. I was really moved by Ms. Landers and Mrs. Harris's story, and I don't want to waste any time being apart when we could be spending precious quality time together. What do you say?”

  “I say, heck yes! Where can I park Priscilla and Lisa Marie?” asked Suzanne happily. She took a sip of her Coke float, then a forkful of her chicken fried steak bites.

  “Priscilla and Lisa Marie?” Candi furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Elvis' wife and daughter's names. Is that your truck and something else?”

  “Nope,” answered Suzanne, drowning her shoe string potato fries in ketchup. She set the ketchup bottle down on the table. “It's my sofa and love seat.” She scooped up some fries with ketchup and shoved them in her mouth, then grinned.

  “Good Lord. Really? You never told me that you named your sofa and love seat.”

  “Well, I know. I thought you'd think it was weird. But now that you know I like Elvis, and now that you've asked me to move in with you, I figured now was as good a time as any to let you know. I also want to tell you that I've been cheating on you with Priscilla. I've been sleeping with her every night since you moved in.”

  Candi couldn't help but laugh. “You're so funny! I really like your sense of humor.”

  Suzanne held a smug little smirk on her face. “I know you do. It's part of my charm.”

  When lunch was over, they went back to the apartment to start packing things into storage containers and boxes. Suzanne was finding all kinds of things she didn't even know she owned. “Where did this Michigan State University sweatshirt come from?” she asked, pulling it out of the closet.

  Candi frowned as she held up a pair of black stockings between her thumb and forefinger. “I'm not bothered by that. I'm wondering where these fish net stockings came from. Were they your ex's or are they yours?”

  Suzanne laughed. “I've never seen those before in my life. It looks like something that fell out of my tackle box.”

  “Okay, well they're going in the garbage.” Candi tossed them in a white trash bag that was starting to accumulate with unwanted items.

  “I found this under the bed. What is it?” asked Candi, holding up a clear Tupperware bowl with a blue lid.

  “Oh, don't open that. It used to be bran muffins or maybe it was blueberry muffins. I'm not sure anymore, but I didn't eat them and hid them under the bed.”

  “How long ago was that?” inquired Candi, inspecting the contents of the bowl through the plastic.

  “A year ago I want to say.”

  “That clearly explains why they look like they've grown legs and want to run away,” stated Candi, tossing the bowl in the garbage can.

  Suzanne laughed. “She was a good cook. She just couldn't bake.”

  When they were done for the day, they had managed to fill three garbage bags with outdated clothing. It was set by the door to be donated to Goodwill. Most of everything else was boxed including most of the dishes, glasses, and stemware. Any other unwanted items were thrown in the garbage can.

  The two women showered and changed into their new outfits. When they were both fixing their hair and doing their make up, Suzanne's stomach grumbled.

  “Was that your stomach growling?” inquired Candi.

  “It could be. I guess I worked up an appetite. How long is this shindig supposed to last?” inquired Suzanne.

  “I'm not sure. But I imagine not more than an hour or so.” Candi was busy looking in the mirror applying her eye make up.

  As soon as they were both ready, they rushed over to Ms. Landers'
apartment to invite her to the ceremony and help her pick out something to wear. Candi worked on Ms. Landers' hair and make up while Suzanne dug through the closet.

  “How about these blue pastel pants with this blue polka dotted blouse?” questioned Suzanne. She held up the outfit for Ms. Landers to take a gander.

  “Heaven's no! With my bluish gray hair? I'll look like an Easter egg!” exclaimed Ms. Landers. “How I wish I still had my girlish figure back when I was twenty-five. I looked more like you two girls back in the day.”

  “I'm sure you'll look beautiful in anything you wear,” remarked Candi as she added some final curls to her hair with a curling iron.

  Suzanne found another outfit and pulled it out. “How about this pantsuit? You can wear this silky white blouse underneath. We figure that you can't go wrong with black to something formal.”

  “That's much better. I can wear that.” Ms. Landers was a bundle of nerves. “I just don't know what to even say to her. And how does she look? Will I recognize her?”

  “I'm sure everything will be fine. Don't worry so much.” Candi stood behind Ms. Landers and they both admired her hair and make up in the mirror. “You look beautiful,” stated Candi.

  Candi and Suzanne excused themselves from Ms. Landers' bedroom while she dressed, then they promptly left to head to the museum. When they all arrived, it was already bustling with people walking around, mingling, and drinking champagne. Candi and Suzanne escorted Ms. Landers to the front row and took their seats.

  “Are you sure we're supposed to be sitting here in the front row?” whispered Suzanne.

  Candi nodded. “That's what Mrs. Harris wanted. We were to sit in the honorary section meant for family. This program says that's here in the front row.”

  The seats in the room quickly began to fill as the time grew nearer for Gertrude Harris to speak. Candi and Suzanne glanced around the room. Each noted that the new paintings were covered. The museum curator that Candi had spoken to briefly over the telephone came out to introduce Mrs. Harris.