by Alle Wells
“I’m speechless.”
Tom smirked. “Me too. That’s not a good thing for the best damn realty team in Nashville.”
I suddenly saw the pallor and deep lines in his face that I’d missed before. I felt my lips turn up. They quivered and portrayed no happiness.
“We’re a great team, all right. I can’t envision life without you.”
“Envision—that’s a good word. You are a visionary, Nikky. That’s what it takes to succeed in this world. You’ve always had it. So have I. I like to think of us as mavericks, conquering the world on our own, one deal at a time.”
Tom looked around the office and stretched his arms. “This place has been my whole life. I was always too busy to have a family. This is it for me, and it has been enough. I’ve made a will, Nikky. I’m leaving the agency to you.”
He grinned at the irony. “You don’t even have to change the name.”
My tears flowed as Tom talked, dry eyed. I seemed to be much more upset than he was.
“I’ll make you proud, Tom.”
I looked up and saw his eyes glisten, too. “You always have. I’ve never regretted the day I stopped you in that restaurant and offered you a job. You’re the cream of the crop.”
I added, “And the cream always rises to the top.”
“Nikky, I’d be honored to join you for Thanksgiving dinner.”
***
My dear friend and mentor died before Christmas that year. After he passed away, I’d sit in his office for hours, just to feel close to him. I eventually made Tom’s office my own and talked to him often behind the closed door. I called my new office the Harris office because it still belonged to both of us. I reminded myself everyday how lucky I am that he took me under his wing. Tom had left me set for life with a thriving business and the money he had invested for me. But he knew that I would never rest, that life goes on.
In the spring of 1985, I contacted a producer with the local cable network about launching a real estate infomercial. I scheduled an appointment to meet with Sandy Shive at the Harris office. My carefully chosen business attire clashed with her colorful layers of flowing rayon. We couldn’t have been more different. I shared my idea of starring in a real estate infomercial for Harris Realty.
Sandy’s voice boomed. “Miss Harris, you are a beautiful woman. But that accent will never cut it on the air, not even in Nashville. If you want to do this, you’ll have to invest in a speech therapist.”
I was shocked that she had insulted me in my own office. How dare she find another flaw in me after I had worked so hard?
“Ms. Shive, I didn’t invite you here today to insult me. I am a businesswoman, not an actress, but no one can represent Harris Realty as well as I can. That’s a proven fact.”
The woman reached into her handbag for a tissue. “You don’t believe me.”
“No, Ms. Shive. I don’t. Over the last ten years, I’ve sold over five hundred houses in South Nashville. I think that I’m perfectly capable of selling real estate on the air.”
Sandy reached into her handbag again and placed a small tape recorder on my desk.
“Listen to this.”
When Sandy played the last few lines I’d said back to me, I realized how differently I sounded on tape than in real life. My words didn’t come through as sharply or clearly as I had intended. I quickly learned that what you see is not always what you get on camera. I took Sandy’s advice that day and made an appointment with the therapist she recommended. It took a long time to break those sloppy old habits, but it was worth every minute of it.
Since then, Sandy and I have become best friends. The vivacious redhead was just what I needed to lighten up my life and help me begin a new segment of my career. We’ve shared many laughs about the day we met. My infomercials have gone viral over the last few years. I share home inspection and financing tips during the thirty minute advertisements. Each segment ends with a tribute to Tom Harris.
I carried on Tom’s tradition of helping young women break into the business world. Today, Harris Realty is made up of a strong, competent team of nineteen women and thirteen men. If Tom is watching from another realm, he knows that I work hard every day to make him proud.
***
My pace gradually slows down as I reach my parents’ house. My walk through Serenity has been therapeutic. Kari would approve. With a lot of help from my friends, I’ve come a long way since the last time I was here.
I turn the handle on the glass door leading to the foyer. My mother and siblings are enjoying a lively dinner in the dining room. I feel like a teenager again as I sneak back to Daddy’s room and lock the door behind me. He turns his head and recognizes me in the curtain shadowed sunlight.
“Hello, Trooper.”
I sit next to the bed and take his hand. The grip of his hand releases an avalanche of tears that stream down my face. I don’t remember holding Daddy’s hand before. I mourn the loss of a relationship that could have been.
“Hello, Daddy.”
His voice sounds weak and unsteady. “I’ve been watching you on TV. I like the way you’re wearing your hair these days. How’s Goldie?”
“She’s just fine. I had her restored, just like new.”
“I should have known that you were the cream of the crop.”
He lets go of my hand. I couldn’t have asked for more in life than hearing those words from his lips. Daddy closes his eyes for the last time, and I finish for him.
“And the cream always rises to the top.”
The End
Copyrighted names, books, film, and song acknowledgements:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Days_Are_Here_Again
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Gees
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_McGraw
http://marystewartnovels.com/extras/moonspinnersmovie.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Dreamin'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_of_the_Dolls_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delilah_(Tom_Jones_song)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Got_You_Babe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowan_%26_Martin's_Laugh-In
http://www.thehighchaparral.com/cast.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janis_Joplin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Three_Times
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Space
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo's_Nest
Other Novels by Alle WellsLAME EXCUSES
RAILROAD MAN
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