“Don’t be dumb. This isn’t nineteen sixty. Call the man.”
“I can hear mother now…”
“Pooh. Don’t hide behind Mom. You know where he works. You can find his number. Call him if you want to see him.”
“What if he—”
“What if he says no? Then you stop thinking about him and talk to someone else. In fact, you should do that anyway. New assignment—talk to a stranger every day this week, for ten minutes.”
Right. Like it was that easy. She knew everyone at the office, so…what? Was she supposed to accost a guy at the grocery store? Or maybe on the street? She chuckled as she glanced behind herself, making fun, as if looking for her first target.
Amy pushed through the door just a couple of minutes after eight. The office consisted of a large room with eight carrels and four private offices lining the walls. One of the offices belonged to the supervisor and the others were assumed to go with seniority. Amy understood that it had been a matter of some consternation among the staff when she had been assigned an office.
The grapevine had supplied a ready explanation for the preferential treatment being given to a new hire—she was a really good friend of Mr. Simmons, one of the vice presidents, it was said. The rumors were deemed confirmed when the staff discovered that she had not held a full-time job in over thirty years. The fact that she had proven herself to be a crack programmer had done nothing to sway their opinions.
Barb, one of the junior staff members had been especially vicious. She was the first to notice Amy as she entered today.
“Hi, Mom,” she said, a smile pasted across her face.
Barb was no more than twenty-five years old and seemed to take pleasure in making references to Amy’s age. Amy generally ignored her remarks.
“Hi, Barb. How’s it going?”
“Going fine. Been on vacation? Romantic getaway?” She looked around the office. “Don’t think I saw Mr. Simmons all week, either.”
“Really?” Amy rolled her eyes. “Neither did I.”
“Of course not.” Barb’s forced smile was so irritating. “Where was it? Cancun? Lying on the beach. Soaking up the sun. Flirting with the guys?”
“Try my sister’s house in Colorado. Hiking in the mountains.”
“Oh.” Barb looked down, an expression of disappointment on her face. “How did you get a vacation after four months on the job? Hmm? Tell me that.”
“Easy,” Amy smiled sweetly. “I requested it.” She turned toward her office. “Have a good day,” she called over her shoulder.
Amy flipped on the overhead light as she entered her office and put her briefcase on the desk. No organization was perfect, she knew, but did she have to work with someone like Barb?
“Good to have you back. Nice trip?”
Amy turned to find her secretary, Ellen, leaning against the door, holding out a cup of coffee.
“Thought you would need some fuel to get started this morning.”
Amy smiled gratefully as she took the cup. “Thank you so much.” She sipped the coffee. “So good. You didn’t stop just to get it for me did you?”
“Mine is on my desk.” Ellen gestured across the room. “Saw you waylaid by Barb as you came through the door.”
Amy shook her head. “She is something else.”
“So, tell me about your trip. Did you climb every mountain that you saw?”
“Not every one. We did take a two-day hike up to Independence Pass.” She described the hike, the campfire, almost falling into a stream.
“Meet any cute guys?”
Amy generally rolled her eyes when Ellen asked about men. Today, she smiled. “One. I met one.”
“Tell me.”
Amy glanced at the schedule Ellen had placed on her desk. “No time right now. I met him on the flight home.” She glanced at the clock on her desk. “He was really nice, good looking, and lives in Charleston.” She fished her notebook from the briefcase and set off for the conference room. “Tell you later.”
As she reached the door, Amy bumped into a smirking Barb.
“I was bringing you this printout. Just couldn’t help overhearing.”
“You were listening to our conversation?”
Barb ignored the question. “You met a cute guy? At your age?” She laughed. “Maybe it’s true. There may be someone for everyone.” She handed the printout to Amy, turned, and sauntered back across the office to her desk.
Amy sighed and looked back at Ellen. “Give me strength.”
***
Drew arrived at his office shortly before noon. The line at the post office had been long, and an accident had snarled the traffic on Charleston’s narrow streets.
He was not teaching during the summer, but the department’s research analyst had completed the initial work on some data that had been collected during the spring. Drew wanted to review the analysis. He also wanted to talk with his friend, Jody Watson, who taught in the Department of Psychiatry. Jody and his wife had also been friends with Di, and Drew had talked with Jody frequently since Di had passed away. It was Jody who had suggested that he consider online dating.
“How was your trip?” Jody was leaning back in his chair, the morning newspaper open to the comics section, when Drew entered his office.
“I can see that you’re hard at work.” Drew smiled as he settled into the chair across the desk.
“Definitely hard at work. Humor is an important facet of life. If I understand a person’s sense of humor, I understand the person. Why, even Jesus—”
Drew held up his hand. “I’ll take your word for it.” Both men laughed. “The trip was terrific. I’ve only started going through the photographs, but I’m very pleased. I’ll have some to show you in a couple of weeks.”
“After you tweak them, as you say.” Jody folded the newspaper and put it to the side. “It used to be that a photograph showed the viewer what the photographer observed. Now it shows what the photographer wished he had observed. Sometimes they depict things that never even existed.”
“It’s not quite that bad.”
Jody chuckled. “I suppose not, but overstatement can be useful in making a point.” He removed his glasses and held them in his right hand as he talked. “Tell me. Anything interesting happen on your trip? Other than sweeping vistas and beautiful flowers?”
Drew nodded. “Ate some good food.”
“You always manage to find good food. Even as you complain that the photo shoots run through both breakfast and dinner.”
“You pay attention to the important things.”
“Meet any interesting people?”
“Fantastic workshop leader. Entertaining, knowledgeable, helpful. I learned a lot. All you need do is compare the images from the first day to those from the last day.”
“Let me rephrase.” Jody motioned for Drew to stop. “Did you meet any interesting women on your trip? Talk to any of them?”
“Why are you so interested in that topic? Is it because psychiatrists are hung up on sex?”
“Let it be noted that you were the one to bring up sex.” Jody paused to allow his observation to sink in. “Actually, I’m really not interested in the topic, but my wife,” he rolled his eyes, “is quite concerned with it. Lee believes that every man needs a good woman, and she asks about you weekly. Knowing you’ve been on vacation, she will ask tonight. I would like to have something to tell her. Make something up if you need to.”
Drew sighed. “There was one woman…”
He heard Jody’s feet hit the floor. “Seriously or—”
“Seriously. I met her on the airplane.”
Jody’s eyes dilated and he leaned forward.
“Actually, I met her in the hotel elevator, then I saw her in the terminal, getting coffee, then she sat next to me on the flight from Denver.”
“Wait, now. You met her in the hotel and she chased you onto the airplane?”
“No, she didn’t chase me onto the airplane.” Drew shook his head.
“How would she have known we would be on the same flight?”
“True. Go on.”
Drew told Jody about Amy, how they had talked and laughed for the entire flight.
“I do have one question.” Jody cocked his head to the side. “If I know you, you had four hours of work to complete in the two-and-a-half hour flight. Am I right?”
Drew nodded.
Jody looked puzzled. “How did this woman distract you from all of that work? I mean, you take it with you so that you can hide behind it.”
“I take it with me because I have to get it done.”
“Whatever. How did she manage to attract your attention?”
“She spilled a cup of hot coffee in my lap.”
“She what?” Jody roared with laughter.
“She spilled coffee in my lap, then she tried to wipe it up with a towel.”
Jody kept laughing until tears streamed down his cheeks. “What did you do?”
Drew smiled and shrugged. “I went to the restroom to clean up. Then, I brought her more coffee.”
“That’s terrific. Talked to her for the remainder of the flight?”
“Of course.”
Jody smiled wickedly. “Kiss her good-bye in Chicago?”
“I did not.” Drew shot a glare at him.
“I’m sorry, Drew, I was just—”
“We flew on to Charleston together.”
Jody placed both hands on the desk as he leaned closer. The glasses he had been holding slipped from his hand and slid toward Drew. Drew caught them as they cleared the edge. “She lives in Charleston? When are you going to see her again?”
Drew did not respond.
“You are going to see her again?” He spoke slowly, tapping on the desk to emphasize each word.
“She didn’t give me her number.”
“But you know her name? Where she works?”
Drew nodded.
“A telephone number is nothing. Go online. Call her at work.”
Drew looked away. “She might not—”
“And she might. Might be old fashioned. Might need for you to make the next move.”
“I don’t know.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“What’s her name, Drew?” Jody idly picked up a rubber band and looped it around one thumb.
“Her name? Amy. Her name is Amy.”
“Her last name?”
“I’m not that dumb, Jody.”
Jody reached across the desk, putting his hand on Drew’s arm. “What would Di tell you to do?”
Drew stared out the window at the clouds building across the river. He could hear Di’s voice, telling him exactly what she thought he should do. Follow your heart. It won’t lead you astray.
“It’s been six months, Drew. What would Di tell you to do?”
“The night she died, she told me to find someone nice, someone pretty. She told me to remarry.”
“What’s the problem, then?”
Drew continued to stare at the clouds. “It would mean that Di’s really gone, Jody. Gone and not coming back.”
“She is gone, Drew.” Jody shook his head slowly. “She’s not coming back. You won’t see her again in this life. You do know that.”
“I do. But I don’t like it.”
“I know. I don’t either. But it’s true.” Jody sat back. “Think about it, Drew. You don’t have to call today. See how you feel next week.”
First Move
“Everyone want dessert?”
“I do. I do.” Zach and Amber raised their hands and shouted in unison.
“Count me in,” Rich said. “I never get dessert at home.”
“Not true.” Heather crossed her arms.
“Is true…”
“What is for dessert, Mom?” Elaine asked.
“Peach pie. I bought half a bushel yesterday. I think these are about the last for this year.”
“I’ll pass, I think.”
Six weeks had gone by since Amy had returned from Colorado and her family was gathered around her patio table for their traditional Labor Day dinner. They had Dafuski Stew, named after a community on the Carolina coast. It was a boiled dinner consisting of shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn. After the water was drained, it was served by pouring the contents onto a newspaper-covered table so everyone could dig in. The entire family had come—Cathy, of course, and Elaine, her husband, James, and their two children, as well as Rich, his wife, Heather, and their daughter, Eliza, who was asleep in her car seat.
“Come on, Elaine,” Rich said. “It’s Labor Day and Mom’s right. These are the last peaches. No more fresh ones until next June.”
“Watching my weight, Rich.”
“You’ve watched it for years, Sis. Watched it go up and down, and up—”
Heather popped his shoulder. “Stop. Don’t tease her.”
“No teasing? What is a little brother for if not to tease his big sister? Up and down. Up and—”
Heather’s glare silenced him, and he turned to Amy. “Mom, we haven’t seen you since you went to Colorado. How was your trip? How was Aunt Lucy? Is it true you climbed a mountain? Cathy told me that you did.”
Amy began to pass around slices of pie.
“The trip was wonderful. I really enjoyed seeing my sister. First time I had seen her since…since the funeral. We climbed up to Independence Pass.”
“You’re joking. That’s—what?—fourteen thousand feet? You hiked?”
“Surely did. Seven of us went. We camped out, cooked over a fire. It reminded me of when I was a teenager.”
“You need to take things slower, Mom,” Elaine began.
“Because I’m old and decrepit?” Amy laughed. “I was a little sore the next day, but no big deal. Lucy and I shopped, ate, talked. It was good. A good trip.”
“Grandma poured coffee all over the man who sat next to her on the airplane,” Zach said.
“Hush, Zach.” Elaine was scowling. “It isn’t necessary to repeat every story you hear.”
“But she did. She told us.”
Amy laughed. “I didn’t exactly pour it. I spilled it. Of course, I spilled almost the entire cup, so I suppose there is no real difference.”
Everyone was laughing, except Elaine.
“I’ll bet he asked for another seat,” Cathy said.
Amy shook her head. “Actually, no.” She took a deep breath. “Lucy and I had been talking, you know, and she thought that I needed to learn to meet new people. She had given me an assignment to talk to someone, for ten minutes, about something other than the weather.”
“Talk to someone or to some man?” Cathy was still laughing.
“Honestly,” Elaine mumbled.
“Anyway, I met Drew—the man’s name was Drew.”
“So he didn’t change seats?” Cathy interrupted.
“No, he didn’t change seats. Actually, I met him in the elevator at the hotel, before going to the airport, and I thought about my assignment, and, well, why not him I thought.” Amy proceeded to tell her family about the ride to the airport, seeing Drew in the terminal, spilling the coffee.
“I’ll bet that got his attention.” Rich laughed as he put his arm around Heather’s shoulder.
“Oh, yes. Definitely. He jumped, dropped his folder, and bumped his head.”
Cathy was laughing and could barely talk. “Then what?”
The flight attendant offered him a towel. I grabbed it and tried to wipe the coffee off his pants, to soak it up…”
“Mom, you’re blushing,” Cathy gasped.
“You were wiping it out of his lap?” Rich’s eyes were big.
“Way to go,” Heather exclaimed. “Sounds like something I would do.”
“Sounds like something you did—”
“No.” Heather put her hand over Rich’s mouth before he could continue. “Don’t go there.”
Elaine surveyed the group, a look of disapproval on her face.
As the laughter died away,
Cathy looked up at her mother. “What happened next?”
“Don’t encourage her, Cathy,” Elaine snapped.
Amy smiled again. “We talked all of the way home.”
“You mean all of the way to Chicago,” Elaine corrected her.
“No, home. Drew lives in Charleston. I told you that, Elaine. Remember? He’s a professor at the medical school. His wife passed away in January.”
“Going to see him again?” Cathy asked.
Elaine sighed. “No, Cathy…”
Amy’s smile faded. “I gave him my number.”
“You gave him your number?” Elaine’s voice rose.
“But it’s been almost six weeks, and he hasn’t called.” She glanced away. “So, I suppose not.” Everyone was silent for a moment. “At any rate, I called Lucy and reported that I had completed my assignment.” She looked around the table. “More pie, anyone?”
***
Later, after everyone had gone home, Cathy helped her mother clear the table. “Why don’t you call him, Mom? The guy on the airplane, Drew. Why don’t you call him? You know where he works. You can find his number.”
Amy continued to rinse the dishes before placing them in the washer.
“I…can’t do that.”
“Why not?” Cathy caught her eye as she handed over the last plate. “Why can’t you call him? Just too old and set in your ways?”
“No, Elaine. Your grandmother would turn over in her grave if I called a man. I’d be asking for a date. I can’t do that.”
“You wouldn’t be asking for a date. You would be calling to…to tell him about our conversation tonight. It made you think of him. You wanted to make sure that the stain came out of his pants.”
Amy smiled and shook her head. “Same thing, Cathy.” She sighed. “I doubt he was interested in seeing me again.”
“Why wouldn’t he be?” Cathy dried her hands on one of the towels hanging near the sink.
“I told you I gave him my number.”
“Did you see Elaine’s face?” Cathy giggled.
“Yes. She’s a trip. Anyway, if he had been interested, he would have called me. It has been six weeks. Wouldn’t he have called by now?”
Cathy nodded. “You would think so, but guys can be weird. You never know what they are thinking.”
To Fall in Love Again Page 5