The Promotion

by Laura Domino

  First, the realtor called this morning to say he could sign closing papers on his house if he rushed over to the title company right away. Someone had canceled their appointment and left a vacancy in the schedule. Mom had probably instructed Paul to have the papers ready as soon as possible. So now, after an hour of paper-signing, he was a homeowner.

  Then, Benita had put her info in his contacts list on his phone. What could be better than that?

  He should probably call her tomorrow after lunch to confirm exactly where to meet at seven.

  Adam couldn’t remember ever dating a woman like Benita. Or ever seeing anyone as beautiful. Was he dreaming? He was going to meet with a tall, stunningly beautiful woman. For an hour, at least. Almost every day.

  This was crazy. Crazy good.

  He wanted to throw a party, but not the grief-induced pity party he’d been having. A real party. While he was sober and could enjoy it. He wanted to celebrate this opportunity he’d stumbled into.

  He thought about Dan and how sad he had been when they’d last spoken.

  Dan needed a party too.

  Adam tapped his phone to call the nurses’ station outside Dan’s room and waited for one of the nurses to answer.

  “Yes, I need to find out what the limitations are if I want to have a quiet little party in a patient’s room. It’s for Dan Mattison. He’s been a little cranky, and I can come with some party hats to cheer him up.”

  “You can’t have a party. He needs his rest.”

  “I’ve been visiting, but he doesn’t seem to have a good attitude. I think I can help. What can I bring to the party? Nothing big or noisy. Just a party hat for me and some streamers to brighten up that window area. I’ll make sure it’s not in the way. Is that okay?”

  “Well, if it’s just a hat and streamers, that’s okay. But remember, if anything gets out of control, you’ll have to shut it down.”

  “Thanks. You’ve been very helpful.”

  He put away his phone, the phone that Benita had held in her hands.

  Chapter 11

  It was only Tuesday, but it felt like the weekend to him. Adam turned down the volume on his phone as the next song started a little louder than the last. He did his best to keep the noise down in Dan’s room. There were other patients in their rooms trying to get some rest so they could heal.

  Common sense told him not to have a party in a hospital, but common sense wasn’t always right. Wasn’t laughter the best medicine?

  It hadn’t taken very much effort to put together plans for a party yesterday. After grabbing some snacks this morning, he picked up colored streamers to tape around the door and the window. It wasn’t much, but it would do.

  Standing against the wall, he admired his decorating style and turned to one of the older nurses standing in the doorway with him. “Do you like the music?”

  “It’s okay. I don’t dance much.”

  “I’ll dance with you.” Adam started nodding his head, bending his knees. No clapping. That would be too loud.

  “Stop that. No dancing.” Dan coughed. The frown was not what Adam expected to see on Dan’s face.

  “Dan, you love to dance. Remember?” Adam stopped.

  “And turn down that danged music. You’re disrupting the whole floor.”

  Adam looked at the nurse by the door.

  She stepped out to the hallway, looked both ways, and came back in shrugging. “I don’t see anyone complaining but you, Dan.”

  “Okay. I’ll turn it off if it bothers you.”

  “It bothers me.”

  Adam picked up his phone, ended the music, and put it away.

  Dan wheezed out a breath in the silence. “Thank you.”

  A young doctor walked in with a folder in his hand and stood near Dan. “Hello. Are you okay?”

  “No. I’m in a hospital. Stupid question.”

  He smiled. “Dan, I came by to check on you before going home. It’s not your birthday. What’s the celebration?”

  “I have no idea. Ask him.”

  The doctor looked at Adam. “Is it your birthday?”

  “No. I wanted to cheer him up. It didn’t work.”

  “Oh. I see. Well, let me look at a few things before I go.” He flipped a couple of pages in his hand.

  Adam walked over to the nurse and leaned against the wall. He nodded at Dan. “He’s one of the few people in the world my dad trusted. I think that’s because Dan could always get him to laugh.” He turned to the nurse. “Dan could get anyone to laugh.”

  “Really?” She stared at Dan, watching him interact with the young doctor. “I don’t think he’s laughed, smiled, or said anything nice the whole time he’s been here.”

  “It’s hard to smile when you don’t feel good.” From Adam’s own experience, he knew there were times when a man didn’t feel like it.

  “Well, thanks for the cupcakes.” She patted her bulging waistline. “Didn’t need them, but I’m sure enjoying them.”

  With a smile, Adam acknowledged her gratitude. “It’s not every day I get to have a party for Dan at a hospital.”

  The doctor shook his hand on the way out of the room, and he stopped briefly at the nurses’ station to leave a few instructions.

  Adam walked to the window and stared out into a dark night sky. The view seemed to fit Dan’s mood.

  “Do you want to play a game?” Adam held up a new deck of cards he’d brought with him for the party.

  Dan’s expression didn’t change. Only the direction of his gaze shifted from the TV to Adam and back again.

  “Not in the mood?” Okay. He put the cards down. If all Dan needed was just simple conversation, he could do that. “I came here to share my good news with you.”

  The angry, wounded expression on Dan’s face sucked all the joy out of Adam’s party.

  Adam focused on the reason he’d wanted to celebrate in the first place. The old Dan would’ve wanted to hear the news. “I met a girl.” He turned his gaze to a blank space on the wall so he could imagine her face more clearly. The thrill of meeting her flowed through him again. “I met a girl, and I got a job.” He laughed at the timing of it. If he’d seen her a month earlier, he might not have even noticed her. His overbearing grief had clouded his days and nights until he couldn’t see reality. It had taken his mom’s firm, but gentle hand to help him see how sad it was that he’d gotten used to living in grief.

  The party was supposed to help turn this hospital room into a more cheerful place. He was Partying Dan, after all. Why couldn’t he see the opportunity to enjoy his company as he once had?

  “Dan?”

  No response from him, but Adam’s joy could not be contained.

  “I came here to celebrate my new tutoring job. I get to teach Spanish almost every day to a beautiful woman. And I get to see her today… in…” He looked at the time on his phone. “…about three hours. That’s great news, isn’t it?”

  Dan’s head tilted as he gave Adam his full attention. “You don’t know Spanish.”

  “I do. I’m pretty good at it.”

  “Don’t kid yourself. Ordering at a Mexican restaurant is not the same thing.”

  “Dan.” He laughed. “Do you remember when I spent five weeks in the eastern part of Guatemala and the northern part of Belize and then those three weeks in Spain?”

  “You and your brother.”

  “Yes.” Adam swallowed at the way Dan said it. Such an unwelcome feeling in the pit of his stomach. The close relationship he’d shared with his brother made his absence sting. When would he stop missing him so much? The raw pain he’d nursed for months was knocking on the door. Adam knew he could go back down that path with just a couple of beers. But he had to be strong. There was something to live for now. Someone to live for. “We didn’t have a translator. We didn’t need one.”

  “Translator. Ha. You needed someone to put you on a plane and get you back home where you belonged.”

  Adam sighed. What a party this had turned
into.

  Chapter 12

  Adam heard the distant thunder, walked across the hardwood floor, and stood in his new dining room, looking out the front window. The rain came down in sheets onto the grass of his new home. The storm might be moving out... he hoped.

  Although it was still fairly empty, his house was warm and fragrant with the flowers his mom had sent as a housewarming gift. He looked at the boxes in the middle of the room where a table should be. The house needed furnishing, at least before he asked anyone over for a meal. Estimating the size of the room, he made a mental note to find his measuring tape. He’d have to get to a furniture store sometime during the next few days. He could start looking for recliners, lamps, drapes. But not today.

  A sudden flash of lightning turned his attention back to the rain falling in his yard. Immediately after the thunder, kids yelled and laughed across the street.

  The schoolyard across the street was covered in squealing kids now that classes were out for the day. They lined up at the corner to cross the street and go home. No doubt they’d be stomping in as many of the puddles as possible all along their way. The crossing guard led the way into the street holding a stop sign in one hand and a red umbrella in the other. She wore a windbreaker, but her jeans were soaked. She struggled against the wind, the umbrella bending and almost turning inside out more than once. Then she returned to the corner and waited for the next group of kids running down the sidewalk and out of the protection of the school building’s roof.

  She had to be miserable, but she had a way with the kids. They showed her respect even in the pouring rain. Adam couldn’t take it. A few raindrops wouldn’t ruin his yellow lightweight cotton shirt and cargo shorts. He scooted his feet into his flip-flops by the door. He could take her place and let her go back inside. He grabbed his black umbrella and pulled his front door closed behind him.

  While kids were making the trip across the street, he headed to the crossing guard and followed her back to the corner. “I live across the street and saw you in this terrible downpour. I want to do this job for you. Just for today. You can go back inside. Or go home. Whatever you need to do. I know you don’t need to be doing this.”

  “Yes, I do have to do this. It’s my job.” She turned her face toward him while she spoke, but she didn’t make eye contact. Instead, her gaze was trained on the kids and cars.

  “But allowing citizens of the community to participate as volunteers is also your job. Right?”

  “No, not specifically that.” A gust of wind blew her umbrella until the spines curved the wrong way. “Great. Broken. I’m going to be so wet.” Now that the umbrella was unusable, she didn’t even bother holding it above her head.

  “Here, let me take that. You take mine.” Adam held the handle of his umbrella closer to her.

  “No need. Thanks.” She tossed the broken red umbrella into the grass, away from the kids. Her hair, which had been slightly dry, was now out in the rain. With each raindrop, her dark brown curls hung lower. The water saturated what used to be a professional-looking style.

  “You’re miserable. Go inside.” He put himself between the line of kids and the street.

  “I can’t do that. I’m in charge of these kids. If my boss is over there watching when I get back to the school and sees me leaving you, a complete stranger, in charge of these kids, I’ll get fired.” She looked at the rain-soaked watch on her wrist. “There aren’t very many kids left. Please, be careful going home.”

  “Okay, so I’m a stranger. I know what you’re saying. But cars might slide on the wet road. Little feet might slip. I’m big and visible. I can help take care of the kids today.”

  “Thanks.” She held up her sign and moved out to the middle of the street while the kids marched across. Adam held his umbrella over her as she directed the kids.

  Two slow-moving boys trying to catch every raindrop on their heads met them at the corner when they walked together out of the street.

  “Then if you won’t let me send you back inside where you could be a little warmer, at least let me give you my umbrella.”

  “It’s kind of too late for that.” She laughed.

  “Okay, then I’ll just hold it over you until you’re through here.”

  “All right. I’ll take the umbrella. Thanks.” Her voice sounded of gratitude, but her eyes stayed on the kids.

  Adam walked across with the kids and kept going to the other sidewalk. He turned and waved to her.

  She couldn’t wave back with both hands full, but she nodded.

  Sure, he was getting his fair share of rain on his own head, but nobody ever melted in the rain. Certainly not him.

  XOXO

  “Benita.” Robert walked into her office with a quick step and a smile. “I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Are you hiding from someone, Robert?” She hadn’t seen him in her office in quite a while.

  “No.” He laughed. “Of course not.”

  “So the boss man is looking for you, and you’re not prepared to give him what he wants? Is that it?” There had to be a reason.

  “Benita. You know me better than that. I’m always prepared. You’re the one who should be running away. I’m surprised you’re still here.”

  “Why?” He was up to something. “What happened?”

  “It’s in the email. You didn’t read it?”

  She hadn’t checked her interoffice emails since before lunch. “I’ve been working. Who has time to check emails every ten minutes? I have things to do.” She slid her mouse around and clicked on the email tab. After reading the message about the meeting he was excited about, she knew she was in trouble. The meeting was scheduled for Casey’s office in the next twenty minutes, so it was a surprise that Robert showed up to tell her about it at all. If he’d known she hadn’t checked her emails, he might have been tight-lipped about it so she’d miss the meeting completely.

  Sitting in the chair across the desk from her, he gloated. “Did you suddenly get the flu?” He fake-coughed into his fist. “Or is it a cold? You know this wet weather stirs up all kinds of trouble.” He sniffed three times and put his hand to his forehead to check his temperature. “I’d better leave before I catch what you have.” He winked and coughed again in the hall outside her office door.

  Robert had a habit of bringing bad news to her before she heard it from any other source. She hated that he was so well informed.

  She didn’t have much time to prepare. Casey was going to give an update about the job in Spain, and he asked both of the employees vying for the position to report to him during the meeting. This job promotion was turning into an extreme game show. She and Robert were contestants or combatants, each one trying to climb over the adversary’s body to reach the flag at the top of the mountain.

  Robert would report about the fact that he is fluent in Spanish. Even his family is fluent, according to Gail and Dee. Then he would accidentally let it slip that Benita is not.

  Elbows on her desk, Benita let her head sink into her hands. There was no way she could face him in that meeting. She couldn’t even release her stress in a deep, cleansing breath. She sniffed to test whether she could fake a cold and go home early. Not happening. No one would believe her. She hadn’t been sick enough in her lifetime to make it seem real. Besides, she was bigger than this challenge. She was a winner, and winners don’t quit.

  Forget about Robert. Let him hang himself with his performance. All she had to do was report on her own strengths. She had plenty.

  The simple fact that she had learned a lot of Spanish phrases and even a couple of full sentences since the job in Spain had been announced was going to work in her favor. The boss would love her drive and initiative.

  But she would stop there. She couldn’t admit to having purchased a book of Spanish poems. Unfortunately, she hadn’t learned enough Spanish to read anything more than part of one poem. And she didn’t know what the poem was about.

  Benita looked down at the work on her desk, th
e work that she had planned to finish before leaving the office today. Now that this meeting was eating into her productivity, she’d have to finish the work later. Her work ethic was something she could report on in the meeting. She would just have to stay late again and rush home at the last minute for her Spanish lesson with Adam.

  XOXO

  The ticking started as soon as the battery went into Adam’s new large kitchen clock. He set the time and stepped back to look at it on the wall. Six o’clock on the dot. The hands looked like a thin, black neck tie. Especially since his new kitchen was all dressed up in black and white.

  With hair still wet from the hot shower, Adam looked down at the change of clothes he’d picked out after coming in from the rain. His red, short sleeved, collared shirt looked great in his new kitchen. But Benita’s apartment was mostly tan. No big deal. His red shirt would look good in a tan apartment too.

  He wanted to look good for her Spanish lesson this evening. He was in a much better mood. Yesterday after Dan’s party, he couldn’t enjoy the lesson at her apartment as much as he thought he would.

  He should’ve never had that party at the hospital. What should’ve cheered up Dan made his frown even more pronounced. And it distracted Adam from enjoying his first lesson with Benita.

  The clock’s ticking reminded him to get busy putting things away. Thinking of her really seemed to distract him. Not being able to focus on his unpacking made it take a lot longer. There was still time to unload the boxes in his dining room before he needed to leave for her lesson tonight.

  As Adam unpacked more of his boxes of belongings, he realized he needed to find a specific box. He kept thinking of how to help Benita learn faster. After only one lesson, she seemed to understand a lot.

  He needed to refresh his language skills, and he knew a great way to help himself and his student at the same time. He looked at the clock again. Time was getting away from him. He opened two more boxes with no success. Where was it?