by Neil Crenner
you tonight."
"Bye," Reason said and hung up the phone. How awful it is when a relative dies he thought. A whole week he'll be gone, that seems like forever, Reason moaned. He had better enjoy tonight. He would bring over some Thai food. He would need to be ready right at five o'clock. He's always on my mind, but Reason liked it that way.
Reason felt so sad that he got choked up. A dark feeling came over him. He shrugged it off. This must be the place I waited years to leave. He would be bummed out, but he would not fret. Mourning is a natural thing, best left alone. Do I have to?
"Well Colbert, you'll be seeing a lot more of me this week. She wagged her tail like she understood. More reading, walking and some shopping. Reason dreaded not seeing Didier for a whole week, just when he met the perfect man, this happens. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise he thought to himself. Then after a week, they would see each other and he would know if he really loved Didier. Tonight, one more chance to see him before he left and he felt he needed to be with Didier.
Time to get up and face the day. Reason arose in a somber state. He knew that Didier was hurting and he shouldn't be so self-centered and only think of his feelings. I need to prepare for tonight. I will take my clothes with me, and Colbert's bed, so I can go over there directly from the gallery. I'll call and have the restaurant deliver the food. He had to start right away if he wanted to accomplish everything he needed to do today.
He first turned on the radio, it was set to a station that played hit music from the 1980's. Tainted Love was playing. He made his bed and straightened up his bedroom signing along with the song. He took out a small suitcase and packed it with his loungers and a t-shirt, his slippers and toiletries, clothes for tomorrow as well. He took a shower and got dressed. Then he feed Colbert, let her out and put her bed by the garage door, next to the suitcase. He was ready. This all took about two hours and he was tired by now. He loaded it all in the trunk of the Jaguar. Then had Colbert get into the back seat, putting her dog seat belt on.
Now, check everything in the house. He made sure the coffee maker was unplugged, he checked the refrigerator door, and then the stove. He was doing all this like he would be gone for weeks. 'I am gone almost every other day, what am I doing?' He asked himself. He just wanted to stay busy. He was ready now to go to work. He grabbed his coffee and went to the garage. He pressed the button, and the garage door opened. He needed to just relax and take his time. He drove off to work.
At work, he had several messages on his answering machine. It seemed like every Rep left a message asking for something different. 'Oh, boy, I have work to do today.' It couldn't happen here now. He listened to the messages and wrote each one out. It took him the next three hours to finish all the orders. He was really tired now. The phone rang and it was Didier.
"Hey." He said solemnly.
"Hey you don't sound so good. Are you alright?" Reason asked sympathetically. It was easier now.
"I am just tired and am dreading the next seven days."
"Cheer up, you'll be seeing me in a few hours and I ordered Thai food from your favorite restaurant. They are going to deliver it around five-thirty. Sound good?"
"Yes it does, I haven't eaten anything all day."
"Well you are leaving work early?"
"Yes, but I have to finish up before I leave, unfortunately."
"Well don't work too hard."
"I won't. I'll see you later?"
"Bye." Reason hung up the phone. Boy, he's in bad shape Reason thought. At this he decided to sit down and type up a few love notes, to stick in his suitcase. This would cheer him up while they were apart. He sat there on the computer, using software that made greeting cards. It took him about an hour and he had created about seven cards. He printed them out, folded them and signed them. Then he put them in small envelopes that were really for Christmas gift tags. He used a bright yellow marker on each one and numbered them, this way if Didier would know which one to open first. He finished that and decided to check his e-mail. He signed into his America Online and there was one message. He clicked on the icon and the message opened, it was from Mike.
He read it: "Well I am so glad that you are coming up. Who is this guy you are dating? You have to tell me all about him. You can stay here at my house. Anyway, let me know when you're coming up, only one more month and I will be married. He's a great guy, you'll like him, very handsome too. Okay, got to run. Love Mike. P.S. Don't forget to bring your camera, I want some good pictures from you."
Reason laughed at this. Well he should have hired me to take his pictures. He thought about this for a second, no way, he wanted to have fun, not work. He started typing out a response to Mike's question about his new guy. He told him all about Didier, in as brief a letter as he could, he would be telling him all about him in person that would be more fun. He hit the send button and then signed off.
"Now what?" Reason looked around for a few seconds. "Let's organize this desk, so tomorrow when I come in it won't be such a mess, then we'll go for a walk," he said to Colbert. At this Colbert jumped up and shook her entire body and head vigorously, she knew what the word 'walk' meant and now she was wide-awake. "Okay then, let's go now."
He took Colbert for about a half hour walk, down the street, across the street, across the street again and back to the gallery. She needed the exercise and fresh air, Reason would say, as well as me.
Back at the studio, Reason continued to speak out loud, to Colbert, "Well now we are all set. I ordered the food already. You went for a walk. What else? Oh yes, the desk needs a bit of help." He started to straighten up the desk, then he walked over to the light table, a few of the negatives were still there of the lighthouse. "I am so bad. I shouldn't have these negatives lying around. They are too important."
He went and filed them away in his filing cabinet. He had them labeled alphabetically by category, then by class. Outdoor photos, beach. This was the easiest way to remember where some negatives were. Every negative had a number on it and it was on a master list with the full description. Just in case he needed to find one and he couldn't remember where it was.
He was just cleaning up the desk and he looked at his watch. "It's five minutes to five," he exclaimed. He locked the front door, closed the shutters, turned off the lights, then headed to the back to get Colbert & his cards and off he went. He was in the car and on his way in just a few minutes.
"Boy what a long day it has been, actually," he told Colbert. I'm so glad this day is over. Now I can enjoy the rest of the night with Didier. He drove as fast as he could, without exceeding the speed limit by too much. He just wanted to get to Didier's house. He pulled into the drive a few minutes later and was getting out of the car. Didier came out of the front door.
"I am so glad you are here. I just spoke with my mom and she is all upset still crying on the phone blaming herself for Aunt Mae's death." Reason went over to him and hugged Didier.
"It's alright, I'm here now." He led him into the house and stood there holding him.
"I just can't stand to hear my mom cry," Didier blurted out, almost in tears. "It's so hard to hear her like that. I was trying to be strong, but I was about to start crying." Reason hugged him tighter.
"Shh. It's okay, just relax. Let me hold you." They were just standing there for a few minutes. Reason let go, he knew Didier was alright.
"Okay?" Reason asked quietly. Didier nodded his head. I'm going to get Colbert out of the car. Didier shook his head in agreement. Reason went out to the car and let Colbert out, then he got his suitcase and her bed out of the trunk. Colbert was sniffing around the edge of the yard, near the sidewalk, "Colbert, come over here. You know you can't roam around without your leash on." Reason was serious when he said this.
"Come here now!" She trotted over to where Reason was, her head down. She knew when she was being scolded.
"Now come inside." He went inside, and Colbert followed him.
"Hey Colbert," Didier said, "Come here girl, I've got a
cookie for you." She walked over to Didier wagging her tail back and forth. Didier gave her the cookie and she took it into the living room. "She's such a sweet dog, I want a dog."
"She's for rent." Reason replied. "Hey the food will be here in a few minutes. I'm going to go wash up."
"Hey, come here," Didier said, "I need a hug, another one."
Reason walked over to Didier and held him.
"I am so glad that you are here," Didier whispered into Reasons ear.
"I am so glad that you are so glad," Reason whispered back. He kissed Didier and then squeezed him really tight.
"Oh, you give the best hugs." Didier said.
"Just for you, just for you." Reason let go and went to the bathroom to wash up. Didier set the table and then opened a bottle of Chardonnay. He poured two glasses and then went into the living room and sat on the sofa. Reason came back and sat next to him. "I poured us some wine," and handed Reason a glass.
"That's just what I needed tonight." Reason said. He took the glass and sipped the wine. Let's just sit here and relax with our wine before the food gets here."
"That sounds good to me. Cheers," Didier held his glass up and then took a big sip.
10 minutes later.
The food was delivered and they sat down at the dining room table, the chandelier turned very low and they ate in silence, with drift music playing in the