by JD Strand
Elise was not sure how long she stood there, staring blankly out of the store window. In fact, she was not aware of anything until she was sitting in the front seat of her car and her phone began buzzing. It took a moment for her to react. As Elise reached for the phone, she saw that Bonnie was calling and felt a wave of emotion sweep over her. Perfect timing, she thought.
Taking a deep breath and trying to make her voice sound as casual as possible, Elise said, “Hello, Bonnie.”
“Hi, Elise. I, uh, hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time,” Bonnie replied.
Before she could respond, Elise heard her sister’s sniffling and became worried. “What’s wrong, Bonnie?” Elise’s mind immediately went to her parents.
“It’s Phil,” Bonnie stammered. “We got in a huge argument. I think it’s really over this time.”
The sense of relief that Elise felt at hearing that Bonnie was upset about Phil rather than her parents was immediately replaced by a feeling of guilt. She actually liked Phil and thought he made a good match for Bonnie. The pair had been together for a few years and seemed destined to marry. The idea that even such a perfect couple like Bonnie and Phil, who had been through so much together, could not survive the challenges of life did not give Elise much hope.
“Don’t say that,” she said, forcing as much cheeriness as possible into her voice. “What happened?”
“I don’t know exactly. It seemed like one day we were getting along fine, just like every other day since we’ve been together. I mean, we never had a big blow out argument or anything like that,” Bonnie paused, thinking about their time together. “You know, I can’t remember ever having any really big fights with him. We just seem to have grown apart. It’s like we’re working toward completely different goals.”
Elise had never been one to give advice, but the words came spilling out of her, “Have you tried telling Phil all of this? I mean, you two are great together. You can’t give up so easily. Whatever it was that attracted you to each other must still be there, and you just have to find it again.” Elise thought the words sounded like something read off of a sappy greeting card and felt silly for having said them. “Sorry, what do I know, right? It’s not like I’m some great expert on keeping a relationship going.”
“No, I think you’re right,” Bonnie said, sounding much more in control of her emotions. “Actually, I know you’re right. I guess I just needed to hear someone else say it. It’s been a long time since we had a real heart-to-heart talk like this. So tell me something about your love life, and I won’t believe you don’t have one.”
Elise started to brush aside any questions about her personal life with the usual response about her career leaving little time for anything else. Instead, she replied, “Well, believe it or not, there is someone special in my life,” Elise felt overwhelmed by the words.
“Oh, you have to tell me all about this someone special,” Bonnie said with curiosity.
Now, it was Elise’s turn to fight back tears as Cody’s angry face flashed into her mind. “Well, I don’t know if he…” At that point, Elise lost the fight, and the tears began to flow. Her attempt to continue speaking ended in sobs.
Elise had always been considered something of a rock upon which everyone could depend, so the sound of her sister crying took Bonnie completely by surprise, and it took her a moment to realize what was happening. “Elise, I’m so sorry. Here I am dumping on you about my problems and not even thinking about you.”
Elise tried to say something amid the crying, but Bonnie had no idea what it was.
“It’s okay. Just take some time and catch your breath. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere, honey.”
For the second time in a few minutes, Bonnie was surprised by her sister’s reaction.
The sobbing stopped, and Elise began chuckling. “You sound exactly like Mom.”
There was silence for a moment and then both sisters were laughing.
Bonnie commented, “You’re right. I think Mom used those very words when Bobby Turner broke up with me in 6th grade.”
“Bobby Turner’s loss, I’d say,” Elise replied.
“No doubt,” Bonnie laughed.
Elise went onto give Bonnie all the details of her experience with Cody.
When she had listened to her sister’s story, Bonnie commented sarcastically. “Ain’t love grand?”
“Do you think we’re doing something wrong?” Elise asked. “I mean it shouldn’t be this difficult to have a career and a relationship, should it?”
“I don’t know about that, but I’m pretty sure what Mom would say,” Bonnie answered. “Something about how love always comes before work.”
“Or that love is really the only thing worth working for,” Elise offered. “I sure wish it were that simple.”
“You and me both,” Bonnie agreed. “So where is Cody now?”
The answer to Bonnie’s question was difficult for Elise to express. “Oh my God, he’s in jail!”
“He’s in jail now?!?” Bonnie practically screamed. “What are you doing talking to me? Go! Get him out of jail!”
“I will! Bye!”
Elise had started the car and was driving away when she realized that she had no idea where the nearest police station was. As the young business-woman drove around looking for the place, she had to shake her head in wonder. “I sure never thought I’d be out searching for the nearest jail,” she said aloud. “Cody, you have definitely disrupted my life.”
Eventually, she found herself at the police station closest to the Haight. This must be where Cody was taken Elise decided.
She pulled into the parking structure across from the police station and drove to the top of the floor before finding an empty parking space.
Elise had no idea what exactly she was going to say to Cody. She only knew that she had to speak to him and try to make things right. While she waited in the line to get into the station, Elise reviewed everything that had happened and how she had stood by as Cody was arrested, arrested for nothing more than bringing her coffee. After being scanned for weapons and drugs, she got into another line of people in front of the processing desk.
The large black female officer behind the desk in the lobby of the police station barely looked up as people stood before her for various reasons. Finally it was her turn to stand before the officer.
"Okay, why are you here?" The cop asked her without looking up.
The question startled Elise as it suddenly seemed difficult to find the right words. After a moment the woman looked up and tiredly repeated, "Why are you here?"
"I...uh...I'm here to see someone who was just brought in," she answered.
The officer smiled condescendingly at Elise and asked, "Okay, sweetie, does this person have a name?"
"Yes, it's Cody...uh...Cody," she realized that she had forgotten his last name. After a second, she recalled him saying it when they first met in the coffee shop. "Cooper! It's Cody Cooper."
"Okay, great Cody Cooper," the woman said. "Now what is your relationship to the prisoner?"
It was another question that threw Elise for a loop. "I guess he's my boyfriend," she answered slowly.
The officer shook her head slightly and chuckled, "You guess he's your boyfriend? Well, sweetie, you need to decide whether he is or not."
"Okay, he's my boyfriend," she snapped back, irritated at herself for feeling so foolish.
If the officer noticed Elise's reaction, she showed no sign of it. "Head through the doors to the right and down the hall.
The station was brightly lit and seemed more like a hospital than anything else. She brushed past the people standing in the hallway and through the doors as directed.
Another officer directed her to another set of doors with chairs in front of a series of small windows. There were about ten other windows and chairs with people sitting in them. She sat down as instructed and waited. Through the window, Elise could see a chair identical to the one in which she sat. In
fact, the view through the window was very close to seeing a reflection in a mirror.
After nearly twenty minutes of waiting and listening to a couple next to her argue through the glass, Elise was contemplating asking the officer if there was some mistake. It was then that Cody came into view. A tall thin officer led him in and guided him to the chair in front of Elise.
As soon as she saw him, her heart began beating faster and the butterflies began fluttEliseg. However, those sensations did not last long. The Cody she saw on the other side of the glass seemed like a different person.
The shine and warmth of his blue eyes was replaced by dull and cold as he looked at her. Elise could not bear his gaze and looked away.
He picked up the phone and flatly said, “I didn't think you'd have the time to come here,"
Elise looked at him, and the words stuck in her throat. "Cody, I'm so sorry. I just didn't know what to do."
He spoke slowly without emotion, "They've already told me that there are no charges being pressed, and I'll be released soon."
"That's great," Elise interrupted. "I'll wait and give you a ride back."
Cody shook his head. "No, I don't want you to wait. And I don't want to see you again."
The words knocked the wind out of Elise. However, instead of showing her emotions, she went right into defensive mode. "Well, the store is just about ready to open, so I won't be in the Haight much longer."
Cody showed no reaction to the words but simply looked at her for a moment before replacing the phone and calling the guard.
Elise sat there with the phone still against her ear as she watched the young man walk away.
It took a few moments for her to decide just what to do next. She considered ignoring his statement and waiting to give Cody a ride anyway. The notion brought a smile to her face for a brief instant before Elise's pride swept away the idea.
"What reason does he have to be so angry?" She asked herself. "Did he just expect me to throw everything away like that? If he can't understand that I had to do what I did, then he has no idea about real life." Once things started going around in Elise's head, they kept going. "What do I really know about Cody anyway? He's a nice guy who owns a coffee shop and likes to surf. And he expects me to throw my future away for him?" After thinking about this for just a minute, Elise had convinced herself that she was better off without Cody.
By the time she got back to the office forty minutes later, Elise had completely twisted what had happened into being a good thing. "Better to find out now that Cody doesn't take my job at all seriously."
Elise went on to tell herself that she had simply gotten temporarily distracted by an attractive man and her job had suffered for it. The image of Stewart telling that she wasn't the person he thought she was returned to her memory. She realized she needed to talk to him and convince him that his faith in her had not been displaced.
Kristen's expression showed her that the secretary knew something was wrong. Elise wanted nothing more than to get to her office without reviewing the events of the morning with Kristen, but that was not to be.
"So, Elise, what the heck happened out there?" The secretary blurted out as soon as she saw her.
Despite her initial desire to avoid discussing what had happened at the store and then at the police station, Elise actually found that describing it all out loud actually made her feel better.
Kristen listened carefully to the whole thing, making only occasional sounds of surprise. When Elise finished, she immediately said, "So he thinks you're just around to do what he wants, like you can't have a life of your own! Some men are so blind.”
"I know, he thinks I can just hang around, drink coffee, and maybe surf together," Elise answered sarcastically.
Kristen's confusion was clear. "What are you talking about?"
"I mean I'm not going to throw my future and everything away for some guy who's never going anywhere." Kristen nodded and was quiet as Elise spoke. "What?"
“Oh, I thought you were talking about Stewart being so demanding.” The secretary smiled and continued, "Well, the thing is just that I've never seen you as worked up as you are right now or as happy as you have been the last few weeks."
Elise wasn't sure how to respond to the comment, so she simply rolled her eyes at Kristen and said, "Is Stewart in his office?"
Kristen wrinkled her nose and said in a hushed tone, "You might want to stay away from him today."
Thinking that the secretary was joking, Elise chuckled and asked, "Is he being difficult today?"
She leaned closer and kept her voice low. "You should have seen him. I was afraid to say anything to him." Kristen paused and looked closely at Elise. "You really pushed his buttons.”
"It’s just a big misunderstanding. It’ll be okay after I explain this whole thing was a ridiculous mistake."
Elise started walking toward Stewart's office, before Kristen stopped her by saying, "Wait! This may not be the best time. He's not alone." The secretary's expression made it obvious that there was something unpleasant about the situation.
Elise turned back to the reception desk and asked, "Okay, he's not alone, but what's with the mystery? Who's in his office?"
Once again, Kristen leaned forward like she was revealing top secret material and spoke in a hushed tone. "Glen Adair, the director of the planning commission, is here again." She wrinkled her nose like she smelled something unpleasant.
Elise had met with Adair on a number of occasions, and he was there for her presentation to the city council. He was also one of the most egotistical bastards she had ever met. Elise thought of how when he looked at her she always felt dirty. Without realizing it, Elise wrinkled her nose as well.
"Well, I should probably be a part of this meeting," Elise announced and marched down the hallway toward Stewart's office.
Just as she got to the closed door of the office, her phone rang. Elise stopped and quickly fished the phone out of her purse. She was surprised to see Cody's name on the screen. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered for just instant before she pushed them away.
She was standings just outside the office door wondering why he would be calling when Stewart's voice reached her ears.
"I told you last time you that we were finished," a clearly angry Stewart hissed.
Elise looked at the phone in her hand and had the idea that recording this conversation might be a good idea. She quickly scrolled through the apps on her phone and pressed record.
There was a chuckle she assumed came from Adair. "Well, I told you that I might be visiting you again," he said in an overly-cheerful voice. "Stew, when we made this arrangement I told you that we could help each other."
"And I told you that we had a deal. It’s simple. I pay you thirty grand for each permit you approve for us. We never agreed to these other payments," Stewart Olson answered, sounding like someone who knew he was stuck over a barrel.
"If it makes it easier for you, think of it like insurance, Stew. You got your permits just like you wanted. I made sure of that, am I right?" He chuckled again and then continued in a condescending tone, "Now you're making payments to make sure those permits stay in good shape. That makes sense, am I right?"
There was a long pause. Elise imagined Stewart was having trouble dealing with the fact that he was not in control of the situation. Finally, he said, "But that wasn't the deal we made."
Adair's laugh was cold and loud. "Adapt or die! The first rule of business, Stew. I'm sure you've heard that before." More chuckling. "Things are constantly changing so you've got to adapt to survive. You should simply think of this as adapting to our changing arrangement. Your new store is set to open pretty soon, am I right?"
"You know that it is," Stewart spat the words at him.
"You must really be looking forward to that," Adair observed casually and then continued in a more threatening tone. "Bet you'd lose your lunch if there was any problems that slowed things down."
The image of Stewart's s
hocked reaction to being threatened brought a smile to Elise's face.
Adair continued, "You're going to pay me another fifteen grand next week and--"
"Fifteen thousand dollars!" Stewart exclaimed. "I can't--
"You're going to pay me another twenty grand next week," he continued as if he hadn't heard Stewart's objection. "Then your store will be up and running. I'll make sure it stays that way. Do we have a deal, Stew?" There was a long pause. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you."
"Yes," Stewart answered flatly. "Just make sure the store opens on time."
"No problem, Stew," Adair replied. "Been a pleasure doing business with you."
Elise realized that she was about to be discovered outside the door and quickly headed back to Kristen's desk.
"Are you okay?" The secretary asked. "You look like you saw a ghost or something."
Elise started to say something about what she had overheard, but the sound of Glen Adair and Stewart approaching stopped her.
"Oh, Miss Warren, nice to see you again," Adair said as he leered at her.
Elise forced a smile to her face even as a feeling of disgust spread through her body.
Stewart watched silently as Adair extended his hand to her. The young woman summoned all of her self-control and reached out to shake the hand. At the moment of contact, Elise felt as if she would vomit. Adair appeared oblivious to her feelings as he held her hand tightly and moved his eyes all over her body.
"I would much rather have a meeting with you than this guy," he said, tilting his head toward Olson.
Stewart automatically let out a fake laugh in an effort to show he was in on the joke. However, the artificial laugh only drew looks from everyone.
Finally, Elise managed to say, "Who knows we may have other stores in the future."
"I will be waiting anxiously," Adair said as he left the office without saying anything further to Stewart.
As soon as he was gone, Stewart commanded, "Elise, I need to see you in my office now."
She glanced over at a very concerned-looking Kristen before following him to his office.
Stewart was sitting on the front edge of his desk as she came into the office. He nodded toward the chairs in front of the desk and commanded, "Have a seat and tell me exactly what the hell happened this morning."