by Adler
“Listen Danielle, I don’t want you to get off the phone mad. Maybe when I am back in Portland, I can go down to the precinct and take a look at the pictures. It might jog my memory. I just have had so much going on at the moment. I don’t recall meeting you on the beach. Just because I don’t remember, doesn’t mean I am saying that I don’t believe it happened. As you pointed out, the picture doesn’t lie.” He pauses, “Good luck tomorrow with those difficult clients of yours.”
I feel defeated. I can’t believe that he doesn’t remember the beach scene. I don’t honestly understand why I feel it is so important that he remembers. It just is. “Thanks. Oh hey, speaking of the beach, I think I am going to head down to visit my folks this weekend. With Simone gone, I wouldn’t be able to see you even if you were here, I could use my parent’s company.”
“That’s fine Danielle, but I want you to take Albert with you. No arguments.”
Ugh! “Harrison, how am I going to explain him to my folks? Seriously?! I am taking Henry with me, and I will be with my parents anyway. Why can’t he stay at the house to watch over things here?”
“I guess it would be hard to explain a lumbering bodyguard to your parents. If there was a way to send him with you, without worrying your parents, then I would insist, but I think you win this one.”
I am relieved. “Thanks Harrison. I love you.”
“Just so you know, when you get back Albert will be waiting. And, I love you. Bye.”
The line goes dead.
It’s hard for me to get off the phone. I look at my laptop, sitting in the middle of the island, and I decide to get the last of my notes ready for tomorrow. The printer here at Simone’s is still out of whack. I have to hurry to get the final schematics over to Beth that way she can get them printed by tomorrow morning. All of the prep work, like removing the walls painting, and new flooring has been completed. We are now at the decorating stage. This should be the fun part, as long as the professor and Mrs. Picky stay out of our way.
Upon hitting send, I backup my system on a thumb drive and close my computer. I heard a few text message alerts while I was trying to concentrate, so I ignored them. Finally finished, I pick up my phone and see that I have three messages from Bradley. Ugh! What does he want?
4:10 PM
Bradley
Hey stranger. Can you break out of your holding cell and have dinner with an old flame?
4:12 PM
Bradley
I’ll buy!
4:15 PM
Bradley
Hurry though, don’t wanna miss happy hour.
So, Harrison does not want me to see or speak to Bradley. I have to be up early tomorrow and the last time I met him for drinks, I had too many anyway. Besides, I am still a little disturbed by his behavior last week. He seemed different when he dropped in on me here at Simone’s.
4:55 PM
Me
Hey! Thanks for invite but can’t. I have to work in the morning and I need some sleep. Too much fun with Clarke last weekend, still recovering.
There, that ought to take care of that.
5:01 PM
Bradley
Oh c’mon. Just one drink! I’m at the River Crank House, it’s just down the street from you.
Geeze, can’t he take no for an answer?
5:01 PM
Me
Seriously I can’t and besides, I promised Clarke I would hang with her tonight. Rain check?
5:02 PM
Bradley
Kind of hard to hang with someone who is out of town Dani. Nevermind.
Now, how the hell does he know that Clarke is out of town. I don’t recall telling him. In fact, now that I think about it, how did he know I was going to Palm Springs. It’s not like I posted it on Facebook. I can’t remember the last time I even logged into Facebook anyway. Weird.
5:04 PM
Me
Don’t get your nose bent out of shape. Let’s schedule something when I am less stressed out. Talk soon and take care.
I want to ask him how he knew about the trip and Clarke being out of town, but I thought better of it. I just need to diffuse him right now.
5:04 PM
Bradley
I said never mind Dani. And yeah, you take care!
What a jerk. I put the phone down and work on making myself some dinner. Albert takes a quick trip down the hill to get himself some fast food junk to eat.
Chapter 27
The install for the professors goes off without any problems. I am lucky that everyone is industrious. By the time the professors returned from work we were putting the final touches on the living room. All in all, the project was worth doing despite some of the earlier problems. It seems as if I worked on that house for a long time. When she writes me the final check, she actually includes a bonus. She explains that many of her friends have horror stories about decorating nightmares they’ve endured. They want to reward me, and my team, for not giving them their own horror story. I leave them a stack of business cards, hoping for future work and referrals.
Albert and I get home in time to watch some television. He seems to like watching The Bachelor, of all things. I am not a fan. It is a bitter reminder of how hard it is to find someone to love. When you do find that person, you have to fight for him tooth and nail. In the end you may not end up with him, after you lay your heart out on the line.
After I say goodnight to Albert and let Henry out one last time, I head back to my room to get my bag packed for the weekend at my folks’. While I pack I think about the last time I was there, just a few short weeks ago. My heart was broken. Completely shattered. My parents had to help me put the pieces back together. This time though, my heart is not actually be broken. It is heavy. I just wish that I could go into happy territory for a while. I have only been on the dark side of neutral for the last couple years. I can’t imagine how nice it would feel to be happy, without limitations.
I only receive one text from Harrison all day, and it simply says:
“I love you.” That is enough for me, at least for the time being.
I wake up early, and I’m ready to go to the beach in the morning with an anxious Henry. As soon as I grab his leash, he knows that we are going somewhere, and he gets excited. He stands waiting by the door wagging his tail. We head on out to the garage while Albert is still in the house using the bathroom. I open the garage door and am shocked to see that all of my tires are flat. What the hell??
I drop my overnight bag on the floor and run back into the house, with Henry trailing close behind me. “Albert! Albert!” I am shrieking as I run back into the house.
He comes running out into the main room with his toothbrush still in his hand. I am relieved that he is at least dressed. “What is it?” He looks as freaked out as I am.
“My tires, they are all flat!”
He adds lines to his already scowling forehead. He puts his toothbrush on the corner of the dining table and follows me through the mud room, out to the garage. I stand in the doorway of the garage, waiting for him to inspect the tires and premises.
“Danielle, the air has been let out of the tires, but otherwise I don’t see any damage.”
I let out a huge sigh of relief that they aren’t slashed. At least this isn’t going to cost me a great deal of money. But, now I am left with the realization that someone let the air out of my tires.
“Well, good thing they aren’t damaged. The question is how am I to get air back in them so that I can drive?”
“Let’s call one of the tire dealers and ask them to send a repair truck. Otherwise, we may need to have you towed.”
Great! Now this is going to delay my departure.
We return to the house and make some calls. It turns out that US Tire Company will make roadside calls or, in this case, garage calls. We have a technician here within an hour, and he checks over the tires to confirm that there is no damage. He uses a mobile air compressor to fill up my tires. I pay him and he is on his way.
Albert attempts to persuade me to allow him to accompany me on my trip to the beach. I remind him that it would be too hard to explain to my parents the reason that I have a bodyguard. I can tell that he is disappointed. I think he has an ulterior motive, which is to see the Oregon Coast. I suggest that once things are resolved here, he can go check out the Oregon Coast before he heads back to Montreal. He agrees. I am finding my conversations with Albert to be less difficult. I am either growing accustomed to his accent, or he is getting better at English. Either way, it has been less of a strain recently. He sees me and Henry off and probably runs back into the house to watch soap operas and eat bon-bons. I chuckle to myself.
About two hours later, having only stopped briefly to get gas, I arrive at my parents house. I encounter very little traffic, given it is a Friday morning in October. My folks are home for my arrival for a change. They are usually at the gallery when I come down. When they hear me pull up they come charging out of the house and greet me in the driveway. “Stay Henry.” He is practically bounding out of my driver’s side door, while I attempt to close it. I want to warn my parents before I unleash the ‘happy to see’ beast.
In their usual manner, they are both gushing to see me. My mom holds me back at arm’s length and says “Honey, you look fantastic. Look how firm you are…you have been running again haven’t you?” I nod and before I can respond,
“Yes, I have to agree with your mom, kiddo, you are looking good. Is that Simone’s dog?” He motions to the drooling, window-licking monster in my driver’s seat.
“Yeah, that’s her dog, Henry. He is a nice dog and usually well behaved. He’s obviously excited. Hope you don’t mind that I brought him. I’m sure he and Stormy will get along.”
Dad nods, “Ok, let’s hope so. Come on, get the guy out and we’ll introduce them.”
After wrangling the dogs for the better part of an hour, we finally have success, and the two settled down for naps. The excitement of meeting each other has worn them out. I am sitting in my room, when Mom calls up the stairs that lunch is ready.
I come downstairs and sit at the table with my dad. Mom joins us. I look down at my plate and like what I see. Mom made a chicken salad set atop a bed of romaine lettuce, with a piece of zucchini bread and a cluster of red grapes on the side. Not realizing how hungry I am, I start devouring my food.
Dad chuckles, “My my, don’t you eat in the big city, or is that how you are looking so svelte? Not eating that is?!”
“Oh dad, you know I can’t resist mom’s cooking. Not to mention, the sea air usually increases my appetite. I had intended to stop for coffee and a scone, but I powered through the drive instead.”
Mom gets back up to grab a bottle of wine from the cooler. She sets it in front of my dad and then takes her seat. He works on opening the cork before pouring us each a glass.
“Let’s lift our glasses and toast to a safe trip down here, and a wonderful weekend ahead of us.”
“Here here,” Mom chimes in.
After the lunch dishes are cleared, I look at the time and wonder if Harrison has returned my text. I texted him when I first arrived, after the dogs finished their introductions.
I take the stairs two at a time, just as I did when I was a teen. In my room, I dig my phone out of my purse. Aha, I have three text from him. Crap! Of course, two calls missed from the unknown stalker. I’ll record that in my notepad later. Back to Harrison’s texts. I feel giddy.
11:53 AM
Harrison Towers
Glad you got there safe. Have a great time.
11:56 AM
Harrison Towers
I heard about your tires. Do not go anywhere alone. Albert really should be at the beach with you.
11:56 AM
Harrison Towers
I should be at the beach with you.
12:40 PM
Me
I wish you were here too!
12:40 PM
Harrison Towers
I can’t stop thinking about Palm Springs. I can’t get the image of you on top of me out of my mind. My God, Danielle, what you do to me!
Oh lord, my loins are on fire! I feel my panties getting soaked at the remembrance of my riding him in the limo. He felt so good moving around, deep inside me.
The depth of my orgasms that night went far beyond anything I had ever experienced. My loins are now throbbing.
12:41 PM
Me
When will you be back? Will we get to see each other?
12:42 PM
Harrison Towers
I haven’t confirmed my return trip yet. Yes. I promise you, we will see each other.
12:42 PM
Me
Looking forward to seeing you.
12:43 PM
Harrison Towers
Me too. I’ll touch base later. I love you.
12:43 PM
Me
And I love you!
Just as I turn off my phone, I hear a tap at my door. I look over and see my mom standing there, with her purse in her hand. “Am I interrupting?” I shake my head no. “Good then let’s go have some girl time and head into town. I want to spoil you at the new designer boutique that just opened a few doors down from the gallery.”
“That sounds like fun! Let’s go!” I love retail therapy with my mom. Her idea of spoiling me is a whole new wardrobe. Not today though, I think I will treat her to something new.
We make our way to town, parking in the lot behind the gallery. She insists that we go inside, so I can view the works of their latest featured artist. My dad is the one who secures the artists, and he has a great eye for talent. After we spend about an hour in the gallery, mom suggests we move on to shopping. We walk a couple doors down and enter into a lovely shop packed full of stylish options. The eager owner is quite pleasant and helpful. We have armfuls of clothes to try on. While mom is in her dressing room, I slip out of mine and select some items off the rack of lingerie to try. Mom chatters on about one thing or another, while I slip into a one-piece number in emerald green satin, trimmed with black lace. My breasts look supple, while my waist appears tiny and hips slightly curvy. I imagine Harrison will approve, if I ever get a chance to wear this for him. I try on a few more pieces of lingerie and then set my sights on some new jeans. After about two hours in the boutique, we leave with my credit card smoking from the amount I just spent. Mom and I decide to refresh ourselves.
We stow our purchases in the back of the gallery then head on foot to a quaint little wine bar. Once we are seated, mom insists that we try a wine flight. We settle on a white selection.
“So honey, how are you, really?” She gives me her all-knowing ‘mom’ look.
“I am a lot better than the last time I was here.” Our waiter delivers our first sampling of wine. We start with an Oregon Chardonnay from the Willamette Valley. “I just finished two installs this week, so I have plenty of money in the bank, and I have decided to move.” I blurt out.
She looks surprised. “Oh baby girl, why are you moving?”
“Honestly mom, it’s kind of complicated.” Now, I am sounding like Harrison. “I just need a change, and I am not feeling the condo anymore.”
“I see.” She nods her head and finishes her wine. “Where will you go? Are you looking to rent again, or are you ready to buy?”
“I want to stay in the Pearl or the Northwest Hills. I am still crazy about my office, so I don’t want to move too far away. I went shopping with Candace for a place on Tuesday, but I didn’t find anything. I think I may just rent again. I’m not ready to purchase just yet.
Our waiter returns with our next tasting, a Chardonnay from Northern California. I take a sip and taste notes of green apple and ginger.
“Oh, say, I really like this one. I might have to get a bottle of this for home. So Candace, she was your neighbor when you and Bradley were married right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
She and her husband moved in next door to
us about a year after we bought our house. We used to hang out all the time, but when Bradley and I got divorced, we lost touch.
The last wine of our flight arrives at the table. Mom raises her glass and says, “To my beautiful daughter. I am so proud of you.” Her eyes are misty.
“Oh mom! Thank you!” I get up from the table to give her a hug. I sit back down and take a good look at my mom. She really is a lovely woman. Mom is a 52-year old knockout, with shoulder-length chestnut brown hair, shining green eyes, a pert nose and full lips. She had an accident with her front teeth, so they are capped and gleaming white. I have a thing for straight white teeth. She is vivacious and I aspire to be as happy as she and dad have always been. Her only flaws are the character lines forming around the corners of her eyes. Others may call them crow’s feet, but that doesn’t suggest growing old gracefully. She is certainly the picture of grace.
My parents are an attractive couple. My dad is handsome and reminds me of Tom Skerritt, from Picket Fences. He has salt-and-pepper hair, with a tad bit of grow-out and a mustache. Most men look creepy with a mustache, but not my dad, for some reason. It may be that I am just used to it.
She interrupts my musings.
“Now, shall we order some dinner?” She smacks her lips.
“Sure, but what about Daddy?”
“Oh, I left him a plate in the fridge. Besides, he is only too happy to be left alone with his TiVo.”
I giggle. Yes, he was thrilled when he got his TiVo set up. I got several phone calls, giving me updates on the multitude of features, as he discovered them.