Final Collection

by Jesse Goodrich

CHAPTER 5

  Walking back to his car from the plane, Adam felt his stomach giving him the signal that it had been too long since he last ate. Responding to this seemingly urgent request, Adam turned on his phone in order to have Mongolian beef and fried rice waiting at the entrance to his building when he pulled in. “Two messages” Adam’s phone read, he knew they were from Allen, he was supposed to come in for half a day today but was running late because of the flight and now it wouldn’t make sense to come in for two hours. Determined to time the food right, Adam decided he’d call Allen later.

  Adam was satisfied that even if this was the only get away he would have this year, it was enough to keep his strength for a while. Without checking his messages, Adam called Allen at the office as he drove to his building. The phone rang while Adam waited for Allen to pick up and he hoped the place he usually ordered from for his delivery food would be as reliable as had always been. Frustrated that Allen’s office answering machine picked up, Adam nearly hung up, then reconsidered and left a message, “Hey Allen, Adam here, my flight was delayed; I’m heading back to my place right now. I hope you’re all getting along without me.” Adam snickered as he hung up, he knew they always did. Pulling into his parking space, Adam saw the delivery person leaving and Allen standing at his entrance with a plastic bag, indicating, he’d paid for the food and apparently needed to talk with him urgently. “Good to have you back Adam, I hope you don’t mind I paid for dinner,” Allen said with enough sarcasm that it was nearly intolerable. “Of course not, I hope you don’t mind watching me eat,” Adam played along as he closed his car door and adjusted his keys to invite Allen in. As they walked up the narrow stairs to Adam’s apartment, Allen attempted to close his nose, never feeling comfortable with the general aroma of Adam’s building. Trying to avoid thinking about the varied scents emanating from Adam’s neighbor’s rooms as they passed each one, Allen continued his sarcastic commentary hoping Adam was in a better mood than when he’d left, he usually was after returning from these excursions, “I thought you might actually check your messages this time, I didn’t know you’d go so far as to put an entire flight off schedule just to avoid coming in to work.” Adam smirked for the second time today; the only way Allen would have known about the delay without being at the office was if he called to check the flight schedule. Adam settled in to his smirk, it had been too long since he last felt so refreshed. Enjoying the lighthearted banter, Adam played along again, knowing there was something coming he wasn’t ready to hear, “You might think I was ditching work, but work is only one of the places I need to stay away from if I’m going to avoid you, I hadn’t realized my apartment was one as well.”

  Allen went straight for the dinner table to set the food down and noticed it to be the same as before, too large for one person and obviously something Sarah and he picked up together. Looking over Adam knew what Allen was thinking about and wasn’t sure he wanted to have this conversation again so instead questioned the reason for Allen’s being here, “So what’s going on? You’re out of work early but I know the office didn’t burn down and I know Mallory won’t be letting you out for at least a week after my unexpected visit.” Allen smiled back, but with a smile that suggested someone might be ill or recovering. “No, the office is still there, but Accounting made a mistake somewhere, they’re trying to correct it, but until we know how bad it is, the office is cutting back hours, it’s not entirely bad that your flight was delayed,” Allen said distantly. Pulling out two plates from the cupboard and heading to the table, Adam knew how much having something at work go wrong hurt Allen, so he diverted conversation without changing the subject, “I guess that means no ‘new hires’ and no introduction to a special lady you promised.” Still a little despondent but clearly in a somewhat lighter mood, “Partly,” Allen began, “No new hires, but you’re still on to meet Eva,” Allen finished almost as if he forgot about work entirely. “That’s the other reason I wanted to talk with you.” Allen said. Adam said the name, Eva, a couple of times to himself, trying to create a face for her before putting a question to his curiosity, “That doesn’t make sense, what’s up your sleeve? Have I misjudged your ability to be cunning?” Allen nodded his thanks for a plate as he sat down, “Actually, you may have,” Allen started to lie, “Thanks to me we’ll all be getting together tomorrow for ‘dinner’ at four.” Adam carried two glasses and his scotch to the table as Allen started placing food on each of their plates, but deciding something wasn’t being said, Adam fell into interrogation mode, “Eva called yesterday?” Adam determined he needed to say her name out loud to get a better appreciation for it. “No, she called this morning,” Allen stated, slightly baffled at the question. “And the accounting error, you found out about that today?” Adam pressed pouring a small glass for Allen, then himself. “Well, no, I found out about that yesterday.” Allen said uncomfortably and sat upright for comfort as he started to realize where this was going; he pulled the glass Adam had poured him closer and waited. As he drew his conclusions, Adam let the mood ease and asked what he thought to be his final question, one that would set Allen up to express pride for what he’d done, “So you set up the dinner as an apology for not being able to have the interview after all?” This was something Allen wanted to let go, the nagging feeling he had about how unusual the conversation with Eva actually progressed. Reservedly, Allen offered, “Not exactly, she said she wouldn’t be taking the interview and wanted to apologize to me.” After taking a sip, Allen continued, “How could I say no, not that she gave me a chance, but it’s what I wanted, for you two to meet.” Adam relaxed as he played with the broccoli on his plate, a little unsure of how he could judge Eva, someone he’d never met, instead he focused on Allen and how well he knew him and suggested, “You got what you wanted? Seems like that’s what always happens.” Allen relaxed with a little pride growing inside him. “Why should it be different this time?” Allen asked not expecting a reply and moving on to enjoying the idea of having some early dinner.