Folded Corners

by Idabelle Aylor

  “They were. Pappy had some great stories about all of them together.” Riggin scooted away from the table. “I’ll tell you about them when I get back.” He winked at Sofey and brushed her hand with his. “I’m going to go grab us a piece of triple layer chocolate cake.” He smiled down at her as he stood. “Go ahead and keep looking at those, zoom in if you want. They’re great pictures and if you swipe over there’s a few more. Be right back.” He looked in her eyes and smiled before walking away.

  “I’ll be here. And thanks.” Sofey smiled at Riggin. She felt good. It was so nice to be there with him and it was so fascinating to learn so much about June. She had no idea who that woman was in her younger days. The pictures were fascinating. Not just because she loved June and Barney, but because it was a totally different era in time and it intrigued her. As she was inspecting the last picture, Riggins phone let off two short buzzes and words briefly appeared on his screen then disappeared in a tiny envelope that appeared at the top of his phone. Oh, he got a text. Hopefully it’s not too important. Maybe I should put it down. Sofey looked around, laying the phone down. I don’t want it to seem like I’m snooping. Sofey bit her lip. Buzzz...buzzzz...buzzzz...buzzzz. Great, now it’s ringing. Don’t look, that’s snooping. But she couldn’t help but look. Sofey watched as a picture of a woman’s voluptuous red lips appeared on the screen along with the name EM, in all caps with a heart. Sofey’s face turned red and scenes of Matt and Kiley came barging through her memory. Sofey picked up the phone when it finished ringing, the red pouty lips had disappeared. Without thinking she slid the envelope down to reveal the message.

  Rig. I’m missing you so much. I’m so glad we were able to get back together last night. Kissing you was just like old times. I love the way you hold me. I love hearing you say you love me again. I’ve MISSED YOU! I’ll see you later, my love. XOXO

  Sofey set the phone down, rubbed her temples, and looked at the ceiling, trying to blink back hot, angry tears. What the hell? What is going on? Why, why, why did I trust him? Standing up, she grabbed her purse, forgetting her coat. She walked quickly through the restaurant past three or four happy couples and ran through the back doors to the parking lot where the valets were stationed. Heading to their small office building, her tears spilled out without warning. She dug around for her phone to call Linda.

  As she was pushing the call button, a white cab pulled up and finely dressed adults stepped out. Running over to the cab, she leaned in the window and asked the driver if he could give her a ride.

  “Sure! I ain't got nobody waitin’ for me.” After Sofey climbed in he turned to look at her, “You OK, miss?”

  Sofey nodded and cleared her throat to give him her address, then turned to watch the moon on the pines out of the window. Here you are again, Sofe! No normal guy, no NICE guy, will EVER want YOU...and this proves it!

  The red-haired woman watched as Sofey read the carefully crafted text message. She smiled as she watched Sofey glide quickly past with a tissue to her face as she watched Sofey rush out the side door toward the valets. And, when Sofey was out of sight, the red-haired woman slid out of her chair, hurrying to get to the abandoned phone. Looking around, she opened the familiar home screen and went straight to the photo gallery. She deleted pictures of a woman’s pouty mouth. Next, she needed to get to the text messages. But before she had time to find them, she saw Riggin talking to a couple four tables away. They began pointing in the red-haired woman’s direction. Standing quickly, she left the phone on the table and she cursed under her breath as she fled.

  “Excuse me.” A middle-aged man reached out to Riggin as he was walking by. “I’m sorry to bother you, but it looked like your lady friend got some pretty bad news on her phone. She left in an awful hurry and…”

  “And she forgot her coat,” the man’s wife excitedly finished for him, pointing toward Riggin’s and Sofey’s table. “She left out of the side door, over there.”

  Riggin’s head jerked toward their table. A red cape swooped around the wall that was next to their table. He thanked the couple and rushed over to figure out what was going on.

  His phone was on the table and Sofey’s coat was still on her chair. He picked up the phone and opened it, it went straight to the home screen. He shoved it in his pocket, grabbed her coat, and headed out the side door, toward the valets. “Kale! Have you seen Sofey-the girl I had with me earlier? She…”

  “Left,” Kale said, pointing to exhaust fumes that followed the back end of a yellow cab around the corner leading down the mountain.

  Riggin looked at the coat in his hands and shook his head. “What the heck just happened? Did she say anything at all?”

  Kale shook his head.

  Chapter 18

  Sofey slammed the hatchback of her car closed after loading the full trays for the days deliveries and threw the Cordon Bleu magnet on her door. Walking around to the front of the car, she noticed the driver’s side looked lower than usual. Her tire was flat! Her hands clenched in fists at her sides, and she growled and kicked the tire hard four times before her toe hurt so badly she had to stop. She stomped her way back to the kitchen.

  “Hey, I need to borrow your car, Beau. Is that OK? Mine has a flat.” Sofey’s voice was shaking.

  Beau peeked around the corner, his chef’s hat showing first, “Sure, no problem. Just don’t change the radio! The knob gets stuck and I’m not gonna listen to static when I get the car back. Got it?”

  “Got it.” Sofey said flatly.

  “HEY GIRL!” Linda came bouncing in with her headphones on.

  Sofey waved hello.

  Taking off her headphones, Linda frowned at Sofey. “Are you feeling any better, sweetie?”

  Sofey shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I got a flat,” she whimpered.

  Linda looked at Beau, who had walked in the room, then back at Sofey. “Hey, I heard they’re getting vans for all you drivers. That will be awesome. They’re like the cool ones, too, Mercedes Benz. They’re gonna be jet black with blacked out windows. Sooo cool. Are you excited?”

  Sofey nodded as she blew her nose. “Can’t wait. It’ll be nice to drive a new vehicle.” She smiled at Linda. “I’ve gotta go. Thanks for letting me use your guys’ car.”

  “I'll help you move the food over.” Linda jumped up and took off her apron, tossing it on the counter, she wrapped her arm around Sofey’s shoulder.

  “Have you heard from him,” Linda asked.

  “Yeah, he’s called, and I don’t answer. He leaves messages and I don’t respond. What’s the point?” She threw up her hands.

  “Well, the point is, you should listen to what he has to say. I mean, who knows what that picture was all about. Who knows what that text message meant?”

  Sofey stepped back, wide-eyed, as her mouth fell open. “Are you insane? There were red smoochy lips in my face! And the text message pretty much said it all.”

  “There were not smoochy lips in your face, they were on the phone. And I don’t know what his excuse could be, but listen to it and if he’s full of it, tell him so and never see him again.”Linda pulled on the gum in her mouth and wrapped it around the end of her finger. “Plus, he gave up half a million dollars for you.”

  Sofey sighed, “He didn’t do it for me. He obviously did it for whoever ‘Em’ is.”

  Linda shook her head and hugged Sofey, “He did it for you. I can feel it. Plus,” she put her headphones back on and turned up her music, “HE HAS YOUR COAT!”

  Sofey tried to be smiling and talkative with all her clients, but it was really difficult. At least three of them wanted to talk about the new Mercedes vans they’d read about in Cordon Bleau’s newsletter that they all received, and read thoroughly, once a month.

  By the time Sofey arrived at Edith’s, she was spent. She was in a funk she couldn’t pull herself out of. She had let herself be vulnerable, again, and she felt embarrassed by her utter foolishness.

  Before Sofey could ring the doorbell
to Edith’s, Skipper bounded to the door and barked like a feral dog. Sofey rolled her eyes and waited for Edith. Normally, Edith was staring out of the window or the screen door watching for her so she could tell her she was late, “as usual.”

  “Coming,” called Edith in a sweet voice.

  Sofey’s brows furrowed as she checked the house number. Did she go to the wrong house in her fog of depression? No, it was the correct house.

  The front door opened revealing Edith’s smiling face. “Oh! Hello, dear. Come in, come in. It’s cold out there isn’t it?”

  Sofey didn’t move. She stared at Edith. Then at Skipper who was wagging his tail and panting.

  “Sofey? Are you OK, child?” Edith was opening the screen door wider.

  Sofey took a step back, still staring at the woman and her dog. What was going on here?

  “Come in, please. A chill is getting in.”

  Sofey nodded and entered Edith’s house, following Skipper, who led the way to the fridge. “Um, how are you Edith?” Sofey scanned the room quickly looking for drugs or intruders or anything suspicious.

  “Oh, I’m wonderful dear, just wonderful! And look,” Edith opened a cookie jar on her kitchen table, “I made cookies.”

  Sofey leaned against the counter. “Edith, what’s happened since I saw you the other day?”

  “Why what do you mean?” Edith looked at her with wide innocent eyes.

  Sofey just noticed Edith’s lashes were bathed in black mascara and her lids were painted with soft pink shadow. Her cheeks were blushed in warm pink and her lips shined with a soft red lipstick. Her hair, dyed red, was in soft curls, framing her face. And when she moved, she smelled of orchids. Sofey smiled, “I just mean you seem so happy today.”

  Edith clapped her hands together, “Oh, I am! Joe came to see me earlier today and we had the most wonderful talk.” Edith traced the bumble bee that sat on top of the cookie jar, with her finger. “We’re boyfriend and girlfriend now.”

  “Edith, that’s great!” Sofey was genuinely happy for her. As she began putting the trays of food in the refrigerator, she noticed a huge bouquet of yellow roses in a beautiful green glass vase sitting on the kitchen windowsill. “Oh,” Sofey smiled bigger, “these must be from Joe? They’re beautiful.”

  “Yes, they are from Joe.” Edith beamed and petted Skipper. “Even Skipper is happy to have Joe around.”

  As Sofey was finishing up telling Edith about the Mercedes van she’d be driving next month, because Edith had read about it in the newsletter and wanted to know more, her cell phone rang. And they both jumped.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I had this in my pocket.” Sofey’s face turned red as she looked to see who was calling and silence it.

  “Don’t worry about it dear.” Edith’s neck grew long, as if trying to peer at who was calling. “Is it your boyfriend?”

  Sofey frowned. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “Did something go wrong? You are not yourself today.”

  Sofey couldn’t take it. “Yes, I fell for a guy I had no business falling for. He only met some of the requirements on my list and then, his girlfriend, who he dumped his fake wife for, called him while we were on our first date! I was holding his phone when she texted and called, and her picture showed up.”

  “Oh no.” Edith thought for a minute. “Why did you have his phone? Was he there when she called?”

  “He was showing me pictures of mutual friends of ours and he left me with his phone while he went to get us cake.”

  “Hmm. Doesn’t seem like he would leave you alone with his phone if he thought for one minute, that his girlfriend would call. Unless he’s a nimrod, that is.” Edith handed a cookie to Sofey and took a bite of hers.

  “I hadn’t really thought about that.” Sofey giggled at the thought of calling Riggin a nimrod.

  “What does he do for a living?”

  “He’s a lineman for the power company.” Sofey took a bite of the iced oatmeal cookie. “These are delicious, Edith.”

  “Thank you, it’s my mother’s recipe. And, if he’s a lineman, doesn’t seem like he’d be so absent minded as to forget he had a girlfriend.”

  “Well, why was that stuff on his phone, then? How would it get there?” Sofey asked, exasperated.

  “That, honey, sounds like a great question for him.”

  Sofey nodded and drank the last of her glass of milk Edith had forced on her. “Well,” Sofey stood and grabbed her empty trays and the paper plate full of cookies Edith gave her, “I want to thank you for a nice visit and these delicious cookies, but I have to get going.” As she was leaving, Joe’s yellow roses caught her attention, and she heard his words again, And when you find him, you bring him here to see me and bring a yellow rose. That’ll be our sign to each other that he’s the one.

  Chapter 19

  Riggin listened to the endless ringing of Sofey’s phone. She had it set to ring like four hundred times before her voicemail picked it up. He left another message, the fourth one today.

  He couldn’t pick what it was about Sofey Merchant that he liked the most. Was it her sparkling eyes? Her curly hair? Her healthy body? No, no, it was much more than that. She had a way of making him feel...happy. He’d never felt the kind of happiness he felt when he was with Sofe. Not even Ember had given him that kind of contented feeling. Sofey’s smile was sweet and she was so smart and driven to finish her writing. She didn’t seem to be afraid of anything, but she was nice to everyone and so funny.

  Riggin could not choose what was best about Sofey, but he knew one thing, he was beginning to trust her and that scared and excited him at the same time. All he knew for sure was that if he let her go, he’d be losing. He just wanted her to call him back. He still didn’t know what had made her so upset the other night that she left but he wanted to find out so it could be worked out.

  It was Wednesday so he figured he’d go to the bookstore and hang out to see if she would be there. He went straight from work to Folded Corners and bought a coffee, then headed to the chaise lounge where he sat and watched people come and go. He tried reading but couldn’t concentrate on anything except seeing Sofey. Plus, if he was reading he might miss her walk in and she might leave if she saw him before he saw her.

  The clock ticked away and still no Sofey in sight. It was almost 10 PM when Riggin decided to go home even though he was reluctant to, what if she came in right after he left? The drive seemed like it took days. He replayed everything from their dinner in his head again and again and still couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. He pulled up in his driveway, oblivious to the red 2014 Honda Civic parked on the street in front of his house.

  Riggin decided to try calling Sofey one more time before heading in the house. No answer. He dropped his head and rubbed his temples. Maybe tomorrow. Riggin dropped his keys on the wooden chair by the front door.

  “Hi, Rig.”

  Riggin jumped and spun around to see Ember sitting on his couch drinking a glass of water. “What are you doing here?” Riggin growled at her a little louder than he was trying to.

  “I just came by to see you and ask how you’re doing?” She sipped her water.

  “How did you get in?” Riggin’s face was hot and turning red.

  “Well, silly, I remembered that you hid the spare key under the doormat. You never could just leave the back door unlocked, like I do.” She laughed and flipped her hand in the air. “I see you still love your iced tea in a jar,” she gestured to the Mason jar sitting on the side table by his recliner. She stood and walked to him, reaching for his arm.

  He pulled away from her. “There’s nothing here for you Ember,” he sneered.

  “Well,” she said, making sure to exaggerate the hurt tone in her voice, “I thought maybe we could meet and go to dinner sometime. We can just talk, and you can tell me what you’ve been up to.” She stepped closer. “I really have missed you.”

  Riggin rolled his eyes and walked away from her, int
o the kitchen. “What have you missed about me, Ember?” He leaned against the counter, with his arms crossed.

  Ember cleared her throat. “I’ve missed your smell, your smile, being around you.”

  Riggin stared at her, not saying a word.

  Shifting her weight, she continued, “I’ve missed going to dinner. I’ve missed the little presents you used to give me.”

  Riggin poured some tea into a Mason jar he had retrieved from the cupboard.

  “Haven’t you missed me at all? I mean we shared some good years. We were going to get married, Rig.” Ember had always been good at whining.

  “We were together for two years and we fought for a year and a half of those. Plus, you cheated on me, Ember. How is that love?”

  “Riggin,” Ember’s voice became shrill, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, it really just happened. We’ve been through so much together.” She touched his arm. “I was always there for you. Remember when you lost your job? I was there, telling you it would all be OK! I’ve always had your back, Rig.”

  Riggin sipped his tea.

  “We can be good again. We can go back to like we were. Please, let’s try,” Ember pleaded.

  Riggin shook his head. “I’m kind of seeing someone right now.” He set his jar down. “And she’s smart, hardworking, kind, hones-”

  Ember’s words came out quickly, “But we know what the other wants and needs. We know each other. We get each other!”

  “Hmmm, I just don’t really see it, Em.”

  “I know we could make it work; I KNOW we could.” She leaned against the counter next to him. “We had some really good times right here in this kitchen, Rig. Remember when we clinked our glasses together that New Year’s Eve and they broke because we accidentally hit them too hard?” Ember giggled.

  Riggin grinned.

  “Soooo, what’s the girl’s name you’re ‘seeing’?” Ember spat the word ‘seeing’ from her mouth like it burned her tongue.