by Len du Randt
Natasha smiled. ‘You’re a good man, Jared Greene.’
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. ‘And you’re a good woman,’ he said and kissed her on the forehead. He finished another drink and then another as the rest of the evening blurred by.
* - - - *
It took Jared a moment before he could manage to open his eyes. It felt as if they were swollen shut. His head felt as if it was clamped by a vice grip that was slowly squeezing tighter and tighter. The pain increased with each passing second, stabbing into his nerve centre while his temples throbbed to the rhythm of pain. Jared swallowed hard at the cork taste in his mouth and pulled his face. He moaned as his cell phone chirped next to him and he flapped his hand around on the bedside table in a feeble attempt to pick it up.
Shaun.
Jared didn’t answer the phone. He sat up straight and rubbed his numb face. When the ring tone stopped, Jared saw that he had four missed calls and three voice messages. The two numbers registered as missed calls were from Shaun and Amy. He checked the time.
11:37 A.M.
The first voice message was from Shaun, asking him why he wasn’t at the office yet. According to him, there was another problem with a Patterson shipment and that they were about to breech service agreement once again. Jared deleted the message without listening to the rest.
The second message was from Amy. She said that Shaun was looking for him and that she too was worried about him. He was to call her at work as soon as he received the message.
The third message was from Shaun again. Patterson wanted to know what was going on with the shipment and why it was late. According to Shaun, Patterson himself wanted to see them both at two o’ clock regarding the hiccups of the last few days.
Jared swallowed hard. The saliva scraped down his throat like tiny shards of glass. He flinched and switched off the phone. He had no intention of getting out of bed for another few hours still. Shaun could handle Patterson. How hard could it be?
‘Who was that?’ Natasha asked as he dropped the phone to the floor.
‘No one,’ he said and kissed her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. ‘Wrong number.’
Chapter 4
‘Where the hell have you been, man? Why didn’t you return my calls?’
‘Not now, Shaun,’ Jared said and rubbed his throbbing temples.
‘Not now?’ Shaun asked. ‘Have you gone insane, Jared? Have you totally lost your mind?’
Jared stopped at the door to his office. ‘What do you want from me?’ he snapped. ‘I just got here, for crying out loud!’
Shaun didn’t back down. ‘Patterson left after waiting over an hour for you. We’re losing it. The contract is as good as gone.’
‘We’re not losing it,’ Jared said. ‘Patterson should just keep his big boy pants on.’
‘He had all the right in the world to throw his toys, Jared. We had a meeting scheduled for two o’ clock. Two! And here you are, casually strolling into the office at three thirty as if nothing’s wrong. Do you even know that we lost two clients in just the past week alone?’
Jared stared at Shaun and pulled his face into a get-to-the-point frown.
‘The employees are spreading rumours that we’re going to blow this one and that everyone would lose their jobs.’
‘It won’t happen.’
Shaun could only shake his head at Jared’s blindness. ‘You didn’t hear Patterson’s words and tone of voice when he left here.’
‘I’ll handle it,’ Jared said and opened his door to indicate that the topic had come to an end. ‘Don’t worry about it.’
‘I’m serious, Jared. If we mess up one more time, Patterson—’
‘I don’t care about Patterson!’ Jared’s voice exploded. It took him a moment before he could calm himself enough to speak again. ‘I told you that I’d handle it. Now just leave me alone for a while, please.’
Shaun looked as if he had been physically struck, but he just remained quiet and took a step back, allowing Jared to enter his office and slam the door shut behind him.
Jared made his way to the liquor cabinet and poured himself what was left of the Scotch. He swivelled the glass in his hand as he watched the afternoon traffic build up. The ice cubes clinked against one another as he contemplated the excuse he would give Amy about the previous evening. Since she unofficially moved in over a year ago, he had never stayed away for an entire evening. He would definitely have to keep a cool head about this. Once Jared had his ducks in a row, he walked over to his desk and dialled her number.
‘Hello?’
‘Hey,’ he said softly.
There was a moment of silence before Amy spoke. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry that I didn’t come home last night.’
More silence. Jared allowed her time to speak first.
‘What happened?’ Amy asked, trying her best to sound concerned and not as if though she was interrogating him. ‘Where were you?’
‘Well...I went to that fund raiser after work and had one too many drinks.’ Most important rule of lying: Keep it short and simple. The more you explain, the less believable the lie. ‘A friend of mine suggested that I stay at his place. According to him, I wasn’t fit to drive.’
An uncomfortable silence lingered between them for what felt like forever to Jared.
‘Are you coming home tonight?’
Jared wanted to smash the handset into the African Blackwood desk. He wanted to slam it into the wood again and again until the table cracked. Why did he have to ask permission for anything? He was rich! He was his own boss! Why did he have to explain himself to anyone, or be subjected to a curfew in his own house? ‘I’ll be there,’ he said, his voice barely above an audible whisper. ‘Just finishing up a few loose ends at the office.’
‘I’ll make sure that there’s something nice to eat when you get here,’ Amy said. She made no effort to hide the relief in her voice. ‘Anything in particular that you’d like?’
‘No.’
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ Amy probed.
‘I’m fine, Amy, thank you.’ He didn’t care for the sliver of irritation in his own voice. A stabbing pain shot through his head and he dropped the glass, spilling the Scotch on the Persian rug. He didn’t care; couldn’t care. He wanted to be with Natasha, not bound by people and their insecurities. Jared wanted to be free from the bondages of monogamy. ‘I’ll see you soon, okay?’
‘All right.’ Amy caught the hint. ‘Just call me if you need anything, okay?’
The door opened and Natasha stepped into the office. The sight of her made Jared’s heart flutter and he yearned to hold her in his arms.
‘I will,’ he said.
Natasha closed the space between them with the graceful skill of a hawk swooping down on its prey. Her legs barely moved and her feet didn’t appear to be touching the ground at all. She came to a standstill right in front of Jared as he replaced the receiver back into its cradle. She brought her lips close to his, lightly breathing into his mouth. ‘Is there anything you need?’ she asked, her eyes locking onto his.
Jared didn’t answer. He pulled her closer and pressed his lips firmly against hers. He couldn’t resist her; didn’t want to resist her. Patterson could wait. Orange melted with gold as the afternoon sun sank behind the horizon, bowing down to the darkness of night. Patterson could definitely wait. Jared kissed her fully and lustfully. His heart raced and his stomach floated upward inside him as he completely and utterly lost himself to her.
* - - - *
Dinner was an apricot-jam basted chicken with rice, potatoes, and mixed vegetables. Two starches, Jared thought as he absentmindedly picked at the food with his fork.
‘I really hope you like it,’ Amy said. ‘It’s a new recipe that I wanted to try out.’
‘It’s nice,’ he said blandly. He couldn’t get Natasha out of his thoughts. Some things were better left unsaid; some sec
rets better left undisclosed.
‘Oh,’ Amy said, not sure whether his answer was truthful, or just a bad attempt at humouring her. She searched for a topic changer and pointed at the television. ‘Did you hear about the earthquake that struck last night?’
Jared looked up. ‘Earthquake?’
Amy turned up the volume. ‘Somewhere near Australia,’ she said.
Jared decided to get the information from the news reader instead and focussed his attention on the television.
‘The death toll has risen to twenty five thousand since the earthquake that struck to the northeast of Australia last night. The quake that measured eight point six on the Richter scale left thousands homeless and millions of dollars in structural damage. Tsunamis caused by the quake washed two miles inland into Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea. Smaller islands like Caledonia and the Solomon islands have completely disappeared under water.’
‘We have clients in Australia and New Zealand,’ Jared said. Had the quake struck a week ago, he would have been on the phone with Shaun, trying to do some damage assessment while attempting to get hold of their clients to find out if there’s anything that Whyte & Greene International could do to assist them. Today he couldn’t care less.
‘This is terrible,’ said Amy.
‘Rescue workers have worked non-stop to put out fires, save people from flooded areas, and provide shelter for those who have lost their homes.’
‘Enough of this,’ Jared said and switched off the television. ‘I’m going to bed.’
‘Now?’ Amy asked. ‘It’s only nine o’ clock. Is everything all right?’
‘I’m tired.’
‘You never go to bed this early.’
‘I’m never tired this early, okay?’
Amy nodded. Once Jared had decided on something it was useless to try and convince him otherwise. Amy followed him to the kitchen where he left his mostly untouched food on the counter. He then made his way to the bedroom and went to bed without as much as a goodnight.
Amy wasn’t tired. Tears welled in her eyes as she sat down on the living room couch. She ate a few bites of her chicken and put the plate down on the ground. She then switched on the television and turned her back on it as she lay down on the couch, jerking slightly as she softly cried herself to sleep.
* - - - *
The buzzer jarred Jared back to reality. He was having another day-dream about Natasha. The abrupt ending of the dream invoked an irritation he couldn’t control.
‘What?’
‘Shaun is here to see you.’
Natasha’s silky smooth voice calmed him instantly.
‘Thanks, Nats. Send him in, please.’
Both doors opened and Shaun burst into the room in a steady stride. Natasha closed the doors behind him. ‘What’s this?’ Shaun thundered. ‘I have to make an appointment to see you now?’
Jared didn’t flinch. ‘I told Natasha to let me know before letting anyone in.’
‘But it’s me, for crying out loud!’
‘Anyone.’
‘And how long is she still going to be here, anyway? Where’s Lisa?’
‘I don’t know,’ Jared said calmly. ‘Did you come here to discuss Lisa?’
Shaun clenched his teeth. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes again. ‘You weren’t up to discussing any of our problems yesterday,’ he said. ‘So I figured I’d sit down with you today and sort this mess.’
‘What mess?’
Shaun almost choked. ‘The Patterson deal,’ he said. He could feel the anger slipping in again. ‘You know that they want to cancel the contract.’
‘They can’t do that.’
‘They can, Jared. That’s the point. They had three months to evaluate us. Three months! We managed to mess up their shipments three times in only two weeks. Yes, Jared, they can back out, and you know it.’
‘We can fix it,’ Jared said. ‘This is merely a small bump in the road.
‘Fix it? How? We’ll be lucky if Patterson doesn’t sue us. Hell, we’ll be lucky if he ever speaks to us again, especially with you looking like that.’
‘What do you mean?’ Jared asked and looked down at his clothes. He couldn’t see anything wrong with his appearance.
‘Your clothes look dirty and wrinkled; you’re not wearing a tie; and it doesn’t even look like you’ve bothered to shave or brush your hair. What’s going on with you, man?’
‘Wrong with me?’ Jared asked and stood up. He walked around the wooden desk and approached Shaun like a lion approaching a cornered gazelle. ‘Why would anything be wrong with me? Natasha thinks I’m fine.’
Shaun rolled his eyes. ‘Oh brother,’ he said. ‘Don’t you realise that since that woman’s been here, you’ve been focussing on nothing else? You’re losing your grip on reality, Jared; you’re losing control of your business and your private life, and I can’t just stand by idly and watch it happen.’
Jared brought his face up close to Shaun. He narrowed his eyes and pulled his lip into a snarl. ‘So what are you going to do about it?’
‘You’re obsessed, Jay,’ Shaun said. ‘You need help.’
‘And you’re going to help me?’ Jared asked and shoved his friend back hard. Shaun almost fell over, but regained his balance. ‘I suggest you keep your nose out of my business, Shaun.’
‘I’m just trying to help you, man! Can’t you see that? I’m trying to save you and the company.’
‘I’m not the one who needs saving,’ Jared growled. ‘Now leave my office before I say something that you might regret.’
* - - - *
The garden was coming along quite nicely. Rebecca took a step back and removed her gardening gloves before wiping her forehead with the back of her arm. She smiled, impressed with the fact that a fifty-year old woman could build a beautiful garden all by herself. She looked at the house. Justin was still in there, hacking away at the revisions of his novel.
She squinted at the late afternoon sun. Fridays always had a different texture in the afternoon air than any other week day. There was an added tint of copper that always reminded her of Kelwick. Small town. Brown leaves. Refreshment with every blast of the cool breeze as it hit one’s face on a warm summer afternoon. Kelwick.
Rebecca sighed.
Jared went to the small town to visit Tanya for a holiday and instantly fell in love with the place. She couldn’t blame him. It was unlike any other town in South Africa. In fact, it was unlike any other town in the world.
Rebecca wanted to add the finishing touches to her garden but decided that she would offer Justin a glass of cold orange juice first. He would appreciate that. She neatly arranged all the tools that she would use when she returned and started making her way back to the house. A figure in the corner of her eye made her freeze. There was a man standing by the huge oak tree by the fence. She could feel it. Slowly she turned her head.
There was indeed a man leaning against the tree. He was smiling, and for a moment Rebecca couldn’t figure out who he was or what he was smiling at. When the realization dawned on her, her hand shot to her mouth.
‘Justin!’ she yelled as she made her way to the house. ‘Come! Quickly!’
‘What’s wrong, Becky?’ Justin shouted from within his study. ‘Is everything all right out there?’
‘Hurry Justin!’
There was a sound of furniture moving as Justin got out of his chair. As quickly as he could, he made his way to the hallway. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘You have to see this,’ she said and pulled him outside by the arm. ‘You have to...’
Justin looked at where she was pointing. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
‘He was there,’ she said. She looked around, but the man was gone. ‘He was standing right by the oak tree.’
‘Who was?’
Rebecca looked at Justin with a grim expression on her face. ‘Simon,’ she said. ‘Simon stood ther
e at the tree.’
Justin took a few steps toward the tree. ‘Are you sure it was him?’ he asked. ‘Couldn’t it have been the mail man or something?’
‘I know what I saw, Justin.’
He took another look and raked his hands through his thinning hair. ‘There’s no one there now.’
Rebecca sighed. ‘I’m worried.’
‘Worried? About what?’
‘I’ve been having nightmares about Jared,’ she said. ‘And now I’ve seen Simon.’
‘And you think that these nightmares are related in some way?’
‘Well, it must mean something, right?’
For a moment Justin didn’t say anything. The gentle afternoon breeze carried the memories of thirty years ago. A week after they moved out of Kelwick, Simon appeared to both Justin and Rebecca in a dream. He told them that their son would one day influence the history of the world, for good or evil. Millions would either die at his hand, or be led to Christ. That would be Jared’s destiny. That much would definitely happen. Free will would ultimately decide which fate Jared would embrace. And now, almost thirty years later, Rebecca was having bad dreams about Jared. He couldn’t help but wonder. Was Simon trying to tell them something? Was he trying to prepare them? Justin figured that only time would tell. He wanted to believe that they had raised Jared to the best of their abilities and that their son would make the right decisions in life. ‘I don’t know,’ he said as he led Rebecca back into the house. ‘I simply don’t know.’
* - - - *
‘Is something wrong?’ Natasha asked as she entered Jared’s office.
Jared approached her from his desk. ‘Close the door,’ he said and waited until both doors clicked shut. ‘Everything’s fine. I just wanted...needed to see you again.’
‘My, Mister Greene,’ she purred. ‘If you keep saying things like that, I might start thinking that you like me.’