Elementary

by Jason Zandri

  Mark stepped forward and tucked his hand under her chin to raise her eyes back into view.

  Diane looked up the additional foot height difference into his eyes as he let go and backed up half a step.

  “The nice boys get overlooked. I’m a nice boy and I’m trying to make sure I don’t get overlooked,” Mark said with a smile. “Tell me what’s on your mind. I’m more than just your boss. I’m your friend. Or at least I think so, and I hope you do too. And I try to help my friends.”

  Diane continued to stare at him. He’s your boss; you can’t go there.

  He’s older. He has a son. The thoughts continued to race in her head. “It’s not appropriate,” she said to him softly as one of the thoughts made it to her mouth.

  “What’s not? Talking to me about some personal things? Again, if the concern is that it’s here, I can wait until after six,” Mark said and walked away slowly. “I’m not pressing because I’m nosy and want to know your business. I’m pressing because I’m concerned.”

  “You are? Why?” Diane called out, making him stop and turn around.

  “Apart from the fact that if there’s too much going on in your life outside of here, I run the risk, in the worst case, of losing the best employee ever?” he said lightheartedly, which brought out a smile on her face. “The additional fact of the matter is, people have troubles. We all do. I feel compelled to help you with yours if I can.”

  Mark smiled then turned to walk down the hallway back to the office area.

  Diane smiled so wide it hurt her face.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Diane stepped out through the door and walked over to the car while Matthew and Mark finished locking up everything inside the building then came outside.

  “I can walk home, Mark,” she said quietly. “It’s not that far and it’s quite warm for this time of year.”

  Mark unzipped his winter jacket a smidge while holding the door ajar; it felt a little warmer than it had been in the days prior. “If you want to walk to stretch your legs that’s fine. I can walk with you.”

  “Dad,” Matthew called out. “Would it be all right if I walk home on my own?” He kicked a small piece of melting ice that had dropped down from the gutter. “Either that or can I wait inside until you come back for the car? I can lock the door and stay in the back room.”

  Mark sighed. “The whole thing with Melissa?” Matthew looked at Diane and then nodded. “Okay, why don’t you wait indoors. Don’t eat any candy. I’ll be back inside of half an hour, and we’ll be home and eating by seven.”

  Matthew crossed back in front of his father and took the store keys.

  When his son had disappeared back into the store, Mark crossed the small sidewalk to meet Diane and cocked his elbow so she could hold his arm.

  “Shall we, Miss?”

  Diane grinned and took his arm. “I’m sorry Melissa upset him. I’ll talk to her. She’s friendly with Mike, but they are just friends. I know that Matthew and she are friends as well, but I don’t think she realizes he’s thinking a little differently than Mike is about her.”

  Mark smiled as they stepped onto the main sidewalk near the intersection at the edge of the property. He turned to look back at the store. “I wouldn’t meddle too much. Explain things to her and I’ll do the same to Matthew. Young love is sweet, but it can’t be guided or forced. It tends to be all over the place on its own. There’s no need for us making it worse with the intention of making it better.” The pair crossed the street diagonally while the walk signal flashed. Diane resisted the urge to put her head on Mark’s shoulder, and then became acutely aware that she felt that in the first place.

  “So, I don’t want to put a damper on our nice little three-block walk,

  but it is, in fact, only a three block walk and I do want to hear what happened the other night,” Mark said as the two landed on the north sidewalk along Ward Street.

  “If I tell you,” she said, “you need to not get upset.”

  “I can’t promise you that.” He frowned a little. “I do promise to keep an open mind.”

  Diane took in a deep breath. “A machinery problem meant that my father’s shift got canceled. They’re working without a union contract and because of that, and the loose interpretation of the old one, the shop was able to send him home. So he’s an upset man, in general, he was upset about that, then he was upset that Missy was out when she was supposed to be home.”

  Mark let her have her pause; just as well considering she’d rattled all that off in one breath. “Honestly, he came in from outside in a better mood than I figured he would. He doesn’t like meeting new people, and he knows his limitations intellect wise. Someone like yourself makes him self-conscious.”

  Mark smirked. “So what else happened? We saw the upstairs lights go on while we were pulling away.”

  Diane flinched and paused as they crossed the second block.

  Mark noticed her hesitation. “Does he hit you? Your sister? You mother?”

  “Look … I …”

  “No, Diane, no,” Mark said as he got out in front of her and put both hands on her arms. “I’m all for a little light discipline on the behind or something with Melissa coming from your mother; that’s her child. Even if you were his, hitting a grown woman is off limits, short of self-defense. At least in my book. He has no right to put his hands on you or his wife.”

  Mark seemed to realize the way he held Diane, and released her. “I’m so sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be,” she said softly, still looking up at him. “I was hoping you’d pull me in.”

  A wave of emotion darkened his eyes, and he raised his left hand slowly. He stopped short. “I shouldn’t,” he said in a light voice. “It’s not right. It’s like taking advantage.”

  She closed her eyes. “You said that after six, we were everyday people. There’s nothing wrong with it given that.” She stepped into his personal space. “And I want you to take advantage.”

  Mark took a couple of small steps backward. “You’re strikingly beautiful and an amazing woman. I’m a mess. I’ve spent the last year of my life starting over; the last few weeks of it here back in my father’s house.”

  “I thought you told me he deeded it over to you and Matthew.” She took a step forward.

  “He did.” His raised shoulders and tone of voice indicated his defensive reaction.

  “Well, then it’s your home now; yours and Matthew’s. Regarding starting over, you’re already there. New town … well, new for Matthew since you were born and raised here.” Diane raised her hand to touch Mark’s face.

  “A new career as a small business owner.”

  “Look,” Mark said and turned partly to start back toward Diane’s house, “I’m what, twelve years older than you, and I have a twelve-year-old son. You’re probably looking forward to a life with a husband and kids. I’m not that man anymore.”

  “No one truly knows who they are until they find themselves reacting in the middle of what they’re doing,” she said in a soft but confident voice. “I do want those things. I want, perhaps too much so, to be the other half of someone. I’m almost desperate for it. I don’t feel complete without someone in my life to take care of, but I want them to be there for me too. That matters to me more than any age difference or life stage. I’m a good woman, a good person. I deserve the same from whomever I am with. I can tell the type of man you are by the actions you take and by the way you raise your son.” She smiled just slightly. “Unless you tell me ‘no’ outright, for lack of a better word, I’m going to win you over.”

  Mark opened and closed his mouth a couple of times as if struggling for words, and in the end he settled for taking her hand and re-looping it on his elbow. “Let’s get you home and see what the natural progression of things is as it comes.”

  Diane smiled and walked with him the rest of the way in silence. The pair reached the front stoop, and Diane turned towards Mark. “I know you

  have to get back t
o Matthew. Would you like to come in just to say hi to my Mother? My stepfather isn’t here, so you don’t have to deal with him.”

  “Sure,” he said with a small shrug. “If nothing else, it’s polite. I would love to meet her.”

  Diane smiled like a schoolgirl and opened the front door. “Momma?”

  she called out. “I’m home. Mark Sanford is here. I wanted to introduce you to him formally.”

  Karen Canton walked out of the kitchen area in the back of the house and down the long hallway to the front door and entryway where Mark stood with Diane. Clearly an older version of Diane, she had the same striking features. “Hello Mr. Sanford, so very nice to meet you,” she said quietly. The first thing Mark noticed when she looked up and made eye contact with him were her striking blue eyes. They closely resembled Diane’s. Mark found himself equally lost in them.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Sanford,” she said and folded her hands in front of her then lowered her head a little.

  “It’s Mark, please. Mr. Sanford is my Dad,” he said with a smile. He looked over at Diane, who beamed over the introductions. “I can see where Diane gets her mannerisms. She folds her hands and stands like that as well.”

  Mark turned to look at Diane then back to Karen.

  “Mark it is then. Karen, for me please.” She raised her head to look at her daughter more than him. She then turned to look away. “Do you have time for a cup of coffee? I could make some,” she said without fully looking back.

  “Actually, no.” Mark studied her face a little harder to verify the healed bruise on her cheek. “Thank you very much. Matthew is still over the store, and I have to head back to get him.”

  “I understand; perhaps another day then,” she said, tucking a strand of her faded blond hair back behind her ear. “It was nice to meet you.”

  “And you as well.” Mark extended his hand. “I had always wondered where Diane got all her beauty; now I know.”

  Karen smiled at the compliment and blushed a little. “I’m just an old wife and mother ...” she said and reached over to touch her daughter’s face.

  “I’m not as pretty as Diane.”

  Mark glanced up to the top of the stairs where Melissa sat listening in.

  “Nonsense,” he said, turning his attention back to Karen. “You can’t be more than forty … what … four?”

  “Right on the money, Mr. Sanford,” Karen said. She finally shook his hand.

  “Well, eight years older than me can’t be old,” Mark said, “otherwise my father is officially dead on his feet.” The three of them laughed at the quip. “Besides, the saying goes, ‘if you want to see how a woman might age, take a look at her mother.’ I think this is clearly one of those cases where that saying is meant for the positive.”

  Diane and Karen were both unaccustomed to receiving compliments.

  Diane managed a small “thank you” before the silence between them became deafening.

  “Well, it was nice to meet you, Karen. I do have to go. Diane, I guess I’ll see you at the store tomorrow?” Mark said as he made his way back toward the front door.

  Diane nodded. “Yes, I’ll be there.”

  “Good night then,” Mark said then made his way outside.

  Melissa came down the stairs and followed Diane and Karen into the kitchen.

  “Your boss seems like a nice man,” Karen commented, putting some dinner serving plates out for Diane to pick over. “A little forward, but nice.”

  “What do you mean, Mother?” Diane served some turkey and potatoes onto a dinner plate. Melissa walked in and took a smaller dish and grabbed the few remaining carrots and corn.

  “Well, what’s the best way to put it? … I guess he was being a little flirty. Complementing you and then me. I mean, I’m married and all …”

  Karen talked while she made a plate for her husband.

  Melissa laughed lightly. “Mom, you’re pretty. We tell you. He was telling you because he likes Diane, and one way to win a girl over is to get her parents to like you.”

  “Oh really,” Karen said in an exaggerated tone, “I had no idea you were the ‘ boy’ expert now.”

  Diane played along, “Really? You were so concerned a little while back about my teasing you regarding Matthew because you liked him, and then you let Mike walk you home.”

  A pregnant pause overtook the room. Diane’s attempt to be funny had failed, and she had mentioned something sensitive to Melissa.

  “What do you mean?” Melissa asked then took a mouthful of food.

  “Oh, nothing. It sounded funnier in my head,” Diane said, hoping that would defer further commentary.

  “No.” Melissa took a stern stance with hands on hips. “You meant something by the comment.”

  Diane glanced over at her mother then back to Melissa. “Well, Missy, and I’m not sure he wanted me saying so, but you hurt Matthew’s feelings today a little.”

  “I don’t understand.” She sounded genuinely innocent.

  “He got off the bus and headed in your direction. He knew you hadn’t gone to school but was wondering how you were, and he was thinking about you.” Diane looked down and played with the food on her plate. “He walked with you and bought you an ice cream, and then you let Mike Anderson walk you home.”

  Karen smiled and turned away.

  “Matthew was going over to the store. I asked if I could sit with him there but then Mike came down the hill on his bike. I haven’t seen him in like forever and figured I would go back with him.” She ate another mouthful of vegetables. “Matthew didn’t make a big deal out of it. He said ‘go ahead’ or

  ‘that’s fine’ or something like that.”

  “Okay. When the situation is reversed, you can think out the conversation today,” Diane said and ate more of her dinner.

  Karen finished getting something aside for her husband and put the remaining food away. Some time later, after a little reading and some television, Melissa went to bed, and Diane sat with her mother in the living room.

  “Did you want to talk about it at all?” Karen asked in a quiet voice, as she knitted.

  “About?” Diane asked and lowered her book to her lap.

  “It’s evident to me that you’ve developed some feelings for Mark Sanford. You’re not even hiding it well.” Karen grinned.

  “Why should I? He’s a wonderful man. He’s divorced. He works hard. He’s kind. He treats me nicely.”

  “You forgot how nice he is on the eyes.”

  “Well, since you clearly noticed, there’s no reason for me to bring it up …” Diane adjusted herself in the chair a little and set the book down. “He is very nice on the eyes,” she said under her breath.

  “Are you sure this is something you want to pursue? I mean, it’s a nice job, and it’s close to the house here. So many things can go wrong having affection for someone you work with, forget your boss.”

  “Steve was a jerk. He wanted something to keep at home and playthings at work, and Kevin before him wasn’t much better, but at least he was straightforward. He had his fun with me. He was my first and then he wanted to date other people.” Diane frowned. “The others were just boys from high school who weren’t even polite enough to pick me up for a date properly … blowing the horn at the curb.”

  Karen set her knitting down so she could pay closer attention to her daughter.

  “The ideas I gave to him at the store … he’s going to try some if not all of them.”

  “Well, I will admit …” Karen got up with her glass for more wine. “

  … he certainly values you more than just a worker bee, and he sees the value you bring in your ideas and your work ethic.” Karen filled her glass and came back to her seat. “Still, it seems to me that men still value a warm meal and a clean home most.”

  “He may have that high on his list, Momma, but he has a higher than a mainstream value on the rest too. How nice would that be for me? I love taking care of the man I’m with. It would be so
nice to have that returned for a change.”

  “I agree, honey,” Karen murmured, and sadness shadowed her face.

  Diane felt for her mother’s situation and wished she could help. “I just want

  you to focus on the fact that unless he feels the same, romantically, or if something goes sour, you’re going to lose more than one portion of your life at once. Not that he can simply fire you if you were together and then you weren’t, but you’ve seen first-hand how uncomfortable that can be.” She gestured up the stairs toward where Melissa slept. “And we still have that little drama to unfold.”

  Diane nodded at her mother’s point, and the two said nothing further.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Melissa, Carrie, and Alecia walked outside at recess, coming together at the exit doors to the playground from different classes. The late March temperatures had finally started to break.

  “… so that was how badly he got into trouble,” Carrie finished.

  “I didn’t hear the whole thing,” Melissa said as she unzipped her coat part way, and the three of them broke to the hill on the right to an upper lawn area.

  “Well, I guess Tim Cafferty got sent down to the Principal’s office again,” Carrie said as she turned to Melissa.

  “You’d think a kid that started late and stayed back would catch on that everyone is watching him since he’s such a troublemaker,” Alecia added.

  “I don’t know him that well,” Melissa said. “He lives in our neighborhood, on Valley Street, I think.” She pivoted her head around to look for him in his usual spot over at the far wall near the library emergency doors. While it was a fair distance away, someone usually sat there and most of the time it was him. “The few times I’ve talked to him he seemed nice enough.”

  “He’s a blockhead,” Carrie said as the three girls walked on. Alecia nodded in agreement. Melissa didn’t protest further—she didn’t know Tim all that well and it wasn’t worth the effort to defend him to her friends.