STALK: Chapters eleven through thirteen

                               

CHAPTER ELEVEN.............

It was five thirty when the phone on Carolyn’s desk rang.  “This is Carolyn….”

“Carolyn, can you come to my office?”  It was Wally, so of course she could come to his office.

“Be right there.”  She had already shut down her computer and had been gathering her things to head to the gym.   The thought crossed her mind that he was calling her in to tell her the Play Land account was going to Gary.  “Shit.  That’s it; I’m getting the ‘best man for the job’ speech again.   Strange the best man for the job is always a man,” she muttered under her breath.

Carolyn’s heels clicked on the tile floor as she walked quickly toward Wally’s office.  Pushing open the door to his outer office she noted that Marion’s stylish white desk was empty.  Tapping on the frosted glass door to Wally’s inner sanctum she heard him cough, then “Come on in…..come in.”   His voice was thick with a head cold that seemed to plague him at least six months out of every year. 

“Carolyn….come in.”  Wally wore thick, black rimmed glasses that magnified his watery blue eyes, making him even more unattractive.   At least a hundred pounds overweight, his rubbery rolls jiggled when he moved.  It was obvious Wally didn’t own an undershirt, because the curly black hair of his big belly was pressed flat under the thin, white short-sleeved shirt that threatened to explode in a spray of shirt buttons.   

“Please, have a seat,” he gestured to a chair in front of his shiny oak desk.   Wally’s office was in sharp contrast to his personal appearance.  He moved around behind the desk and sank into his big brown leather executive chair.   “I wanted to tell you this myself.  (Wait for it…)  I know how much you’ve put into the Play Land account already.  (Here it comes….here it comes….) I went over your proposal again after you left this morning and I was thoroughly impressed," he sniffed loudly and cleared his throat with a phlegm rattling "whoompa".
  
"I’m giving you the account….it’s your chance to shine, and you have earned it,” he mopped his forehead with a huge white handkerchief, then buried his face in to blow his nose in a loud, honking expulsion of air.

Dead silence.   Not a whimper.   Ten seconds passed....and then, “Wally, you’re giving me the account?   Honest to God?” Carolyn’s voice was a croak.  Wally simply blinked at her behind his thick glasses, his watery eyes registered his head cold induced misery.

The only thing she could think to say was, “Now ain’t that a kick in the head?”

                       CHAPTER TWELVE................

Jennifer Keeler reclined in her hospital bed with the tray table over her lap as Carolyn came barreling through the door.   “I got it….I got it….I got it…..I gooooooot it!" Carolyn danced around the room like a Flamenco dancer, snapping her fingers above her head and twirling around  Jennifer and the hospital bed .

“I knew you would!  I just knew it, and it’s about damned time that ugly troll gave you a break,” Jenn said.  She started to get up to give Carolyn a big hug, but her incision reminded her why she was resting in a hospital room.  "Ouch!"  She grimaced as she lowered herself back into her bed. " You'll have to accept my congrats from here, girl."

“I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right.  Took it a minute to register!   I knew Gary was hot and heavy after this account, and I know Marion must have had something to do with it, but I don’t care,” her words tumbled out. 

“I’m so happy for you.  As soon as I blow this pop stand we are gonna celebrate with a shopping trip that will take us six months to pay off,” Jenny laughed.

Carolyn pulled a chair over to the bed and plopped into it.  “I’m sorry, Bird.   Here I am jumping up and down and you’re in a hospital gown….with no back…..and dirty tie strings….and what looks like a big blob of spaghetti sauce on the front.”

“Bitch,” Jenn laughed.

“When are they going to cut you lose ?” Carolyn asked?

“Tomorrow, if I can poop.”  Jennifer toyed with the delicate tea cup that held the fern and the pretty yellow ribbon.  “Hey, did you send this to me?”

“Nope, wasn’t me,” Carolyn answered.  “What’s the card say?”  Carolyn picked up the cup by it's delicate handle and inspected the air fern, then carefully put it back in the saucer. 

“From a friend.   I don’t want to give someone false hope, because I have one friend…you…and that’s plenty,” Jenn laughed.

“Well, the good news is if you just have three more appendectomies you’ll have a complete tea set,” they both laughed and went back to talking about Play Land Pools and Spas and how it was  THE account that would surely put Carolyn on the fast track to success.

The delicate porcelain tea cup and saucer with its hand painted violets sat on the tray table between them, totally forgotten.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.............

Marco imagined Carolyn turning into the drive way at the house on Brainard Road. Eight thirty. She’d have gone to the gym and she’d be pulling into the garage, climbing out in her workout clothes and thinking about opening a can of soup for dinner. He smiled because he knew her so well.

“Hey, Gianetti”, his supervisor called to him from door way of the glass walled office in the middle of the warehouse. “Come here for a sec.”

Marco put down the cartons he was checking and headed to talk to Bob. “Yes, sir.”

“I know you are supposed to be off tomorrow night, but I got two guys out and I need you to be here. That a problem for you?” Bob chewed a pencil and looked at a clipboard as he talked. “Dammit. How ya supposed to run a bizness with people always calling off work?”

Marco tried to get his mind around an excuse but came up short. “Naw..I guess I can help you out tomorrow, Bob.” Actually it could work out for the best. It might mean three days in a row off to spend at the house before Jeff got back from his trip. Yeah……this could be alright after all.

Marco went back to checking in his cartons and imagining Carolyn now in the shower after her work out. She’s always tired after a long day and a good workout, Marco thought. Next week I’ll have three days at the house, and I can rub her shoulders and tell her the plan. She’s going to like the plan, he thought.

                                                                     ######

The scene had played out in his head a thousand times, often it was the last thought in his mind before sleep. 

Marco sees himself walking into the bedroom; Carolyn stands with her back to him. 

"Carolyn", he says softly.

Turning, she looks at him as if she has seen his face many times before.  "You are the one, aren't you?  I've felt you here all along," she speaks slowly and quietly.

"Yes.  I've been here waiting patiently and watching.  I had to know everything about you before I could come for you," Marco says.

At this point in the vision his view changes and he is looking down on the bed from above as the two of them make passionate love for the first time; twisted in champagne colored silk sheets.  Carolyn has come willingly into the bed because she understands what he has done for her.  She knows he is the only one who really loves and understands her.  She also understands Jeff is the enemy.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.................

Carolyn stepped from the shower, her blonde hair streaming water into her eyes. She dried vigorously with a big fluffy towel, then plugged her blow dryer in and put it on the vanity.   

Standing in front of the mirror she gave her naked image  hell for not making it to the gym.  Sucking in her belly she was dismayed to see a tiny bulge that she knew could grow into  a full blown weight problem if she didn't pay close attention.  Always a stickler about her weight, Carolyn had no intention of ending up in cotton underwear and "mom jeans" any time soon.

Filling her tooth brush with a whitening gel she vigorously brushed her teeth,  then filled the glass from a shelf over the vanity with mouth wash and water. With her mouth full, she decided she didn’t want to chance getting the hairdryer wet, so she picked up the lid to spit the stinging mixture into the toilet.   Surprised, she noticed the water was yellow. 

Carolyn was meticulous about her bathroom. One reason she fell in love with this house was because the master bedroom boasted his and her bathrooms and walk in closets. It meant she and Jeff never had to fight over the lid being up or down, toothpaste on the sink or whiskers on the vanity top. She could be as anal as she wanted, he could be the slob she knew he actually was. Everybody won.

She puzzled for a second about the unflushed toilet, then spit the mouthwash into the water.   As it spiraled down the drain she muttered,  “I must be getting forgetful in my old age.”   She wiped her mouth on the soft, salmon colored hand towel, then carefully refolded it and place it on the counter. 

When she finally crawled into  bed Carolyn was surprised at how tired she felt. As she called Jeff’s cell phone she snuggled deep under the covers.

“Hey, babe”, he sounded tired, too.  “I would give a hundred bucks to be home in my own bed right now.”

“I wish you were here, too. We would be having some really good celebration sex! I got the account, Jeff…I cannot freaking believe it, but I did,” Carolyn chuckled.

“That is great news, honey. I am so happy for you! Does this mean you can pay your bills if the Iron Maiden kills me off before I get out of here?”

“Don’t think you’re getting off that easy, bud. You have to fight her off so we can have another fifty years. Tell me what’s going on, sweetheart,” Carolyn's tone had shifted to one of concern.

Jeff tried to add a cheery note to his voice so she wouldn’t worry, “Aw, the same old stuff. Nobody likes change, and that’s what I get paid to bring these folks.” He told her about the past few days, including how the Iron Maiden had run out of the office in tears about three o’clock this afternoon.

Curled under her big comforter, Carolyn tried her best to keep her eyes open, but Jeff’s voice became one long, soothing sound track. She started awake to Jeff’s, “Hey! You still there?”

“You’re losing me, big guy. I am going to sleep now to dream of all the money I’m going to make now that I’m a full-fledged advertising executive. I’ll call you in the morning on my way into town,” the last was interrupted by a big yawn.

“KO? I love you. I won’t have to stay as long as I thought; I’m leaving here on Saturday morning. I’ll be there for lunch, and I can’t wait to get home, honey,” Jeff said. 

 "Honey?....KO?".  The only response was a soft snore on the other end of the phone.