by Hazel Kelly
“Well I owe him an apology then because he gave me a housewarming present for you and-”
“He what?”
“I just couldn’t remember where I stuck it and then I got distracted-” She rose up onto her tippy toes to string the last hook on the rod. “There.”
“What did he give you?”
“It’s in the bag with your plant on the kitchen counter.”
I left my half assembled bedroom and walked out to the kitchen. It only took a moment to locate the bag with my money plant in it. It was the same one I had all through college and by the looks of my gorgeous new place, it was finally starting to work. I lifted the plant out carefully and set it on the counter. When I looked back down into the bag, I saw a cd.
I picked it up and turned it over. “He gave you this to give to me?”
“Yeah,” she called from the other room. “He said you mentioned something about not knowing her version of Summertime and that it keeps him awake at night.”
I looked away from the cd in the direction of her voice just in time to see her lean against my new bedroom doorway.
“Did he say anything else?”
She shrugged. “Not really.”
“Did you say anything to him about me?”
“No. Why are you acting so defensive?”
I knew how my Mom liked to talk about me, and not knowing what she said to Will made me feel vulnerable. Still, I had to remain calm so she wouldn’t suspect anything. “Sorry. It’s just that he’s my boss so I would feel uncomfortable if you told him anything about my personal life.”
“You’re so sensitive,” she said, stepping forward and putting her hand out. “I’ve known the man for years, remember? I’ll say whatever I please to him.”
I handed her the cd.
She pointed at the stereo across the room. “Is that all set up?”
“Yeah.” I figured it would be quiet before Jackie arrived, especially without the sound of my Mom watching TV at night, so setting up my stereo was one of the first things I did.
“Mind if I put it on? It might be nice to listen to while we unpack your things.”
“Sure,” I said.
“I thought it was nice of him to think of you. You seem so ungrateful.”
“I don’t mean to be,” I said. “It’s just unexpected.”
She crossed the room and bent over in front of my dated sound system. “Your Dad used to love Ella Fitzgerald.”
“I know.”
She closed the cd tray and straightened up again.
I reached for a bottle of water on the counter and took a sip while I waited for the music to start. A moment later, soft piano notes began to float across the room.
Neither my Mom nor I spoke when Ella started to sing. It wasn’t long before I felt transported from winter in New York to the balmy American south. There was an undeniable sexiness in her voice, but there was a sadness too- one that nagged at my heart.
After a few minutes my Mom picked up the cd case and studied the back of it. “It’s actually a very romantic album,” she said. “The next song, I’ve grown accustomed to his face, is arguably even more beautiful.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“This would be sort of a weird gift to get from your boss if he weren’t a jazz lover who knew you were named after the woman.”
“I can see why Dad liked this kind of music,” I said, trying not to pine for Will.
“It’s very soulful.” She set the cd case back on top of the stereo. “He used to say that you could always trust a person who liked jazz.”
“Really? Is that even a saying?”
My Mom shook her head. “No, it’s just how he felt. He thought jazz could fix anything, you know?”
I nodded. Unfortunately, it wasn’t fixing anything for me at present. It was only muddying everything.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“I like it,” I said, wishing I didn’t. “But if you don’t want to hear it because it reminds you of Dad, I would totally understand.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “It would make your father happy to know we were listening to it together.”
“Okay.”
“He would probably like Will actually. Shame they never met.”
“Let’s see if we can unload the rest of the car before lunch,” I said.
“Sounds like a plan.”
I grabbed the keys off the counter and headed for the door.
“Make sure you thank Will for the cd,” she said. “And tell him I forgot to give it to you right away so you don’t seem ungrateful.”
“I’ll be sure to thank him,” I said, holding the door open for her. Right after I thank him for talking to you about me behind my back.
My Mom reached the elevator first and pressed the call button. “How soon is Jackie coming?”
“I think she’s planning on coming out next weekend.”
“Just in time to be your Valentine?”
“I guess so,” I said.
She looked up at the number shaped lights above the elevator and pressed the button again. “You could do worse.”
“Don’t I know it,” I said. What really killed me, though, was that I could probably do better. I mean, what the fuck was Will’s problem? I told him I needed space- even let him think I was seeing someone else- and he still went out of his way to gift me painfully romantic music. He was confusing me more with every day that went by.
“I hope when she gets here she encourages you to get out more.”
“What do you mean?” I stuck my arm across the open elevator door so she could step inside.
“Well it wouldn’t kill you to meet someone.”
“I don’t want to meet anyone, Mom. I want to focus on my career.”
“But you have a career now. Will said you’ve made yourself indispensable.”
“He did?”
“Yes, he-”
“I knew you talked about me!”
“I wouldn’t necessarily say we talked about you.”
“I think discussing my performance at work when I’m not there counts as talking about me.”
She shrugged. “It was all good things.”
I leaned against the wall of the elevator and shook my head. “Did you talk about anything else?”
“Ummm.” She rolled her eyes upwards. “I think that’s all. He said you were doing a great job, and I said I hoped you would get out more once you moved in with Jackie.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because it’s the truth. That’s why I said it to you two seconds ago.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing- apart from the fact that you’ve been exceeding his expectations at work- I swear.”
I sighed.
If only Will would tell me I was irreplaceable to my face.
Chapter 6: Will
Something was telling me Jackie sent the flowers.
It didn’t seem plausible that she could be dating someone seriously. There hadn’t been enough time since the fiasco with Ben, and Barb told me herself that Ella wasn’t seeing anyone. Not that mother’s know everything, but her confidence was enough to give me hope that it wasn’t too late to win her over.
As I walked into the flower shop, I imagined that Ella was relaxing in her new place, listening to Ella Fitzgerald’s version of My Funny Valentine and thinking about me.
Not that she’d mentioned it, but surely that was only because she hadn’t had a chance to listen to it. It would be a shame to think she’d refuse just because it was a gift from me- though she did have a habit of doing that. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I gave the cd to her Mom directly. I figured she would be more receptive to giving it a chance that way, and that was the hard part. I knew once she heard Ella’s voice, it would be easy for her to keep listening to it.
The flower shop smelled great. I don’t know why that surprised me so much. I suppose it was because I’d never actually been in one
before, but I was trying to take Frank’s advice and put in the extra effort to do things myself. After all, I probably only had one more chance- if I was lucky- to convince Ella of how much she meant to me so everything had to be perfect.
Just after I entered, a spectacled woman approached me. “How can I help you, sir?”
“Hi there. I’m looking for a bunch of flowers.”
She smiled. “Well you’ve come to the right place. What exactly are you looking for?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “All I know is that I need a whole bunch.”
“You mean like more than one bouquet?”
“Waay more,” I said. “I probably need at least this many.” I gestured to all the flowers in the shop.
“I’m not sure I understand,” she said. “What is it you intend to do with this many flowers?”
“I want to decorate my apartment.”
“For Valentine’s Day?”
“Exactly.”
“I see. Right this way.”
She led me over to a long glass counter, pulled a binder full of photos out, and set it down in front of me. “Have a look through here, and see if you can find a picture of what you’re going for.”
Suddenly, I felt way out of my depth. I thought fill my apartment with flowers was a straightforward enough request. Apparently not.
I flipped open the book and discovered much to my horror that there were hundreds of ways you could fill a space with flowers. From what I could gather, I either needed to choose a color scheme or get a degree in floristry.
After about five minutes, the woman returned. “How are you getting on?”
“I’m a bit overwhelmed to be honest. Can you just tell me, for example, how many roses I would need to decorate a space this size?” I gestured to the store again.
She stuck her bottom lip out and squinted around the room. “I reckon you’d need about twenty five hundred.”
“I’ll probably need ten thousand then. Do you deliver?”
She swallowed. “You need ten thousand roses delivered in a week’s time?”
“Is that a problem?” I asked. “Isn’t that what you guys do?” I looked around. “Cause if this isn’t a flower shop, your branding is all wrong.”
She blushed. “No, of course. It’s just short notice for an order that large.”
“Maybe you can give me the name of a shop that could meet that demand then?” I didn’t see what the big deal was. It was almost Valentine’s Day. Surely they had a warehouse of roses somewhere outside the city.
“Can you hold on while I make a quick phone call to confirm that we can accommodate you?”
“Certainly.”
The woman disappeared behind a beaded curtain and I walked around smelling different shaped flowers, many of which I’d never seen before.
After a few minutes, I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Mr..?”
“Abbott.”
I thought I saw a flash in her eyes, but it was hard to say.
“Would you join me at the counter for a minute?”
I followed her back to where the open binder was lying.
“Mr. Abbott, it looks like we can accommodate your request as long as you can pay in full.”
“Is Visa okay?” I asked.
She pursed her lips and nodded before taking my credit card to the back room. Thank god I got the flowers first. The trip to the grocery store would seem much easier after this.
I arranged for the flowers to be delivered a day in advance on the woman’s suggestion. She said they would need to “open” overnight in order to be at their peak beauty for dinner time on Saturday.
On the way to the specialty grocery store, I passed Cartier and had a look in the window. I always thought peering in jewelry store windows was sort of a girl thing, but now that I had a woman worth spoiling- or planned to have one soon anyway- it was actually kind of fun.
However, after much deliberation, I decided that getting Ella more jewelry was overkill. It would be enough of a victory if I could just get her to take her diamond earrings back. I did toy with the idea of getting her a nice watch which would be both beautiful and useful, but when I checked my own, I realized I was going to be late for my appointment at the grocer’s if I didn’t get a move on.
When I first called, the owner of the store seemed a little surprised. I guess most people don’t make appointments when they’re planning a special dinner, but I wasn’t too proud to admit I needed help. Plus, once I explained who I was and that I was planning on making the dinner myself, it didn’t seem so ridiculous anymore.
As per my request, Patrick, the owner, was standing in the front of the shop waiting for me by the organic grapes when I arrived.
“Mr. Abbott, how are you today,” he said when I approached him.
“Very well, thanks, and please call me Will.”
“Alright, Will, I’m sure your time is valuable so let’s get stuck in.”
I nodded. I liked this guy already.
“I’ve given some thought to your menu,” he said, picking up a wire basket from the stack at the front of the store.
“Glad to hear it. I’m counting on you to make me look good.”
“You mentioned something about wanting to do a cheese tart for the starter?”
“If at all possible.”
I followed him over to the cheese section. When we arrived, he nodded at the hair-netted man behind the counter who produced a pre-wrapped hunk of cheese.
“That doesn’t look like a tart,” I said.
Patrick smiled. “It will when you’re through with it.”
“I’m listening.”
“All you have to do is wrap the brie inside some puff pastry with some winter berries and bake it,” he said. “I promise it will be perfectly creamy and delicious.”
“If you say so,” I said, hoping it didn’t count as cheating if I didn’t make my own pastry. I knew she would probably be amused if I screwed the whole thing up and the dinner was inedible, but I wanted to impress her by pulling it off.
“For the main, I was thinking you could cook up some Venison in some red wine which will complement the starter nicely.”
“Now that I can do,” I said. Not because I had cooked it before, but because I had enough respect for a fine piece of meat that I was confident I wouldn’t screw it up.
Patrick helped me pick the cuts of meat and talked to me about how best to cook them when I got home.
“I think I should be writing this down,” I said. “We haven’t even gotten to dessert, and I forgot what the hell you said I was supposed to do with the cheese.”
“Not to worry. I’ve already done that for you. I’m only going through it now in case you have questions.”
I tried not to let the immense relief I felt show in my face, though I knew he couldn’t answer my most nagging question.
Could I actually pull this off?
Chapter 7: Ella
When Will waltzed in at 9:30, I was waiting and ready.
“Good morning, Ella,” he said.
“Good morning.” I stood up, conscious of Emily working nearby. “Could I have a word with you in private?”
“Of course.” He switched his briefcase to his other hand and checked his watch. “Can you wait ten minutes?”
“Sure.” What’s another ten minutes when I’ve been waiting all weekend?
I watched the way his suit pulled across his shoulders and tried not to picture him naked as he walked over to discuss his agenda with Emily. It was going to be so much harder to be nasty when he was looking so handsome.
I looked at the clock on my desk and sat down, trying not to ease drop on their conversation.
When Will finally went in his office, I took a deep breath. I had to calm down so I could be assertive. I needed him to take me seriously when I told him I didn’t want him to screw with me anymore. A moment later my phone rang.
“Ella Riley.”
“How was that?” he asked.
“I’m sorry?”
“What did you think of my acting there?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I wanted it to look like I didn’t spend all weekend thinking about you. Was I believable?”
“Very,” I said.
“Good.”
“But we need to talk.”
“I’m all yours- I mean ears.”
I hung up the phone. His joviality was so frustrating I was ready to pull my hair out. I stood up and walked to his door, avoiding eye contact with Emily the whole time. When I reached his office, I let myself in and closed the door behind me.
He was standing behind his desk.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi.”
“We need to talk.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” He removed his suit jacket and hung it over the back of his chair. “You start.”
“Why did you go see my Mom at the shelter last week?”
His whole face scrunched up. “Because I give her lots of money and want to make sure I approve of how she’s spending it.”
I swallowed.
“I hope that’s not a problem for you,” he said, sitting down. “As you know, I’ve had a working relationship with your Mother for years.”
“I don’t mind that you went to see her-”
“Good.”
“But I do mind that you talked to her about me.”
“Should I not have? All I said was that you were doing a great job.”
I folded my arms.
“I didn’t think you would mind. It made her feel good to know that you were excelling in your position.”
“And the cd? Did you really think that was appropriate? To give her a gift to give to me?”
“It was a housewarming present.”
“It was a cd full of love songs.”
“That’s just a coincidence.”
“Is it?” I asked, shifting my weight.
“You said you weren’t familiar with that type of music, and I thought you would enjoy it.”
“I thought I made it clear that I didn’t want any more gifts from you. Of any kind.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said.
“Well it did upset me.”
“Was it a particular song or-”
“No.” I leaned my hands on the back of one of the chairs in front of his desk. “I’m not upset about the music. The music is beautiful-”
