First Class Stamp

by Aj Harmon

  “I met Sophia yesterday and I have to say I thought her to be a lovely girl, simply lovely,” Maureen gushed.

  “Oh thank you,” Gloria graciously replied. “Your Ben is just a wonderful young man too.”

  “He is, isn’t he?” Maureen smiled. “So how do we get these kids together?”

  *****

  Arriving unannounced wasn’t the smartest idea but she assumed if Ben was available he’d see her. There were three women that sat behind desks in the executive office reception area, the middle one taking her name and then informing her that Ben was currently in a meeting. That’s when Sophia heard the conversation down the hall.

  “Ben! I forgot to give you this.” It was a woman’s voice with an accent.

  Spanish maybe? Or Italian? No…not Italian.

  “Luca drew it for you and forgot to give it to you on Saturday night. He wanted me to give it to you today.”

  Saturday night? He said he had a previous engagement. With her?

  “Is this us?” That was Ben’s voice.

  “Yep the three of us.”

  The three of them?

  “He really is a talented boy. You should think about getting him into some art classes.”

  Then a gorgeous looking woman breezed past her and out of the office. Sophia didn’t know what to do. Do I continue to stand here or should I leave? Who was that woman and who is Luca? In the end, she remained where she stood.

  *****

  With their business completed, Alan stood and shook Ben’s hand. Ben walked him to the door and down the short hall.

  “Thanks for helping out tonight,” Alan said, a gleam in his eye.

  “No problem!” Ben slapped him on the back. “Glad to do it.”

  As they entered the lobby, Ben was surprised to see Sophia. With a genuine smile plastered across his face he hurried across the thick carpet and kissed her on the cheek. He thought he sensed her flinch.

  “We had some leftovers this morning from breakfast and I remembered you like them so…here.” She shoved the pan into his empty hands and turned to leave.

  “Sophia, wait!” Ben pleaded. “Come in to office and stay for a bit.” He turned to Emily and said, “I have some time, right?”

  “I can’t. I have to get back to mom. I can’t be gone for very long.” She was still walking to the door.

  Ben handed Alan the pan of cinnamon rolls and darted across the room as she walked down the hallway to the elevators.

  “Well, can I see you later then? I was going to call you today.”

  Sophia knew she shouldn’t feel this overwhelming desire to punch that woman she’d just seen but she did. And now she couldn’t even look up at Ben. “I’m sure you’re very busy,” she managed to mutter as the shiny doors opened in front of her. “Enjoy the rolls,” and she stepped inside and the doors closed behind her, leaving Ben to wonder what was going on.

  When Sophia returned to the store, she took the back entrance to avoid her parents. She changed back into her pajamas and began to make gnocchi. Cooking would be an excellent way to keep her mind of Ben. And eating would also keep her mind off him. What to do with the other ten hours of the day she had no idea.

  *****

  That evening Alex sat in the window seat of the living room complaining that he was bored. According to him, he didn’t have any homework and Sophia had dinner ready before six so they’d eaten already too. She couldn’t take the whining for another two hours.

  “Read a book!” she said, exasperation in her voice.

  “There’s Ben!” Alex noted, looking down to the street. “Who’s that?”

  “Who’s who?” she replied absent-mindedly.

  “He has a boy with him.”

  Sophia left the dishes in the sink and walked to stand behind Alex. Sure enough there was a boy with him, probably not much younger than Alex. “Don’t know,” she muttered and hurried back to the kitchen.

  Later that night, after Alex was sound asleep and she was in her bed tossing and turning, she wondered who in fact that boy was. And who the woman was earlier in his office. She had no claim on Ben. In fact, she’d told him she wasn’t looking for anything serious. But, was he dating someone else? Was it serious? Was she nothing more than a convenience? Why did it bother her so much? She knew the answer to that question but wasn’t ready to admit it, even to herself.

  After avoiding Ben for almost a week, the questions still bounced through her head all day long…and all night long. It made for a very unrestful sleep each night and each morning she found herself to be a little bit more irritable than the day before. On Friday night when Willis called to cancel his weekend with Alex…again!...Sophia had had enough and stormed down to the store and straight to the chocolate aisle.

  Gloria watched her daughter with curiosity. She’d noted her mood deteriorating quickly throughout the week and when she’d called Maureen to ask if there was anything new on Ben’s end, the women had hatched a plan to put the two in the same place at the same time. Gloria was certain it was now time to put operation “Last Man Standing” on green, or go, status. The name had been Maureen’s idea, as she’d said Ben was her last unmarried child and she wanted to see that remedied…quickly. Ben was now closer to forty than thirty and Maureen had said that he was completely clueless as to what he really wanted. She knew better and would do anything to help him come to the realization that mothers always knew best. Gloria knew that with two mothers working together for the common good, neither of their children stood a fighting chance.

  With an armload of Cadbury’s and Lindt chocolates, Sophia stomped back out of the store and up the stairs to shut herself in her apartment with her comfort food. Gloria called Maureen.

  18.

  Ben Lathem was a man who was used to getting what he wanted. Not by force but by the art of negotiation. He’d learnt from his brother, Matt, and had learned well. But in the situation he suddenly found himself in, his skill was not coming into play, because in order to negotiate, he had to have a conversation and he hadn’t seen Sophia since she’d left his office five days ago.

  He’d stopped by the store and returned her empty pan and he’d called her, but to no avail. After what he thought was a fabulous weekend, she’d all but blown him off. And it baffled him to the point of almost insanity. He replayed their date over and over again, always ending in arousal as he remembered their love making. He recalled every moment from their picnic in the park with his family and could find nothing amiss. He’d called Lindsey to see how their lunch had gone and all she could say was how wonderfully well they got on and had planned on seeing each other again soon. When his mother had called to ask him if he’d like to invite his “new friends” to Sunday dinner, he’d sighed and said he wasn’t sure they were friends anymore. Maureen laughed and said it sounded like middle school. Ben, however, didn’t find the situation amusing…not at all!

  By Saturday morning he had no idea what he could’ve done differently. On a positive note, however, Maria had gone to dinner with Alan again and he could see that they were clearly smitten with each other. At least somebody was happy.

  Ben entered the gym at MEL Holdings and started on the treadmill, as usual. He warmed his muscles with a slow jog and then gradually upped his pace until he was running a seven minute mile. His feet pounded in rhythm with his heart and his mp3 player blasted Nirvana into his ears trying to drown out the thoughts of Sophia. It wasn’t really working. After an hour he slowed the machine to a slow jog once again and then stopped and sat on the end of the belt and wiped his face with the towel that he’d slung over the hand rails.

  With his face buried in his towel, he tried, for the umpteenth time, to recollect any signs of her unhappiness or dissatisfaction with him. He came up with nothing. Heading for the showers he decided that she must not be interested…a thought that didn’t sit well, especially now that he realized he was in love with her.

  *****

  Maureen sat at her vanity in the bathroom and
stared at the counter as Peter shaved. Mass began in just a little while and at the rate she was going, Maureen wasn’t going to make it. Peter finally gave in and asked her what was wrong.

  “Ben and Sophia are no longer seeing each other and Gloria and I don’t understand why. They’re perfect for each other!”

  “You and Gloria?” he asked, turning to look at his wife still in her robe. “When have you talked to Gloria?”

  “Oh I stopped by their store on Monday and we’ve had several telephone conversations since.”

  “You just popped on over all the way down there?”

  “Well, yes. I mean, I took a cab.”

  “For the sole purpose of meeting Sophia’s parents?”

  Maureen didn’t answer.

  “Stay out of it,” Peter warned. But he knew she wouldn’t and somehow the thought made him smile.

  *****

  All the family was there taking up two pews in St. Luke’s. Ben sat next to David and Lindsey and fidgeted all the way through the service. Maureen kept looking down the row at her son and questioned whether or not she’d done the right thing by inviting all of the Mannings over for Sunday dinner. She hadn’t told Ben and was curious how Gloria was going to get Sophia to come.

  Luckily, Gloria was as devious as her new counterpart when it came to her daughter. She had seen the sparkle in her eyes when she’d been involved with Ben, even if it was for only a few days. And she’d been witness to her pouting for almost a week now and knew it was because she hadn’t seen him. Gloria had complete faith that Ben hadn’t screwed up. She was sure it was just some silly misunderstanding and if she and Maureen could facilitate getting them into the same room then the two women were sure it could all be smoothed over and Maureen could have her last son happily married off and Gloria would snag the ideal son-in-law, not to mention a wonderful step-dad for Alex.

  The plan was perfect. Aldo had started giving more shifts to his two part-time employees and he’d decided to no longer work on Sundays, giving Gloria the opening she needed to tell the family that they’d all been invited to spend the afternoon with some new friends, without dropping any names. As expected, Sophia and Alex grumbled. Even Aldo wasn’t overly excited about the idea but didn’t express anything but support for his wife. He was thrilled she was wanting to venture out more.

  “You were specifically invited,” Gloria chastised her daughter. “You will come and be gracious about it.”

  So at straight-up noon, they hailed a cab and all rode to the Upper East Side to the Lathem’s.

  *****

  Janie stood at the dining table in her mother-in-law’s home with her hands on her hips and a confused expression on her face. Matt came and stood behind her, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her backwards until her full length was flush with his body. He nuzzled her neck and unconsciously, Janie tilted her head allowing him access to all her husband desired.

  “Why are there extra places set?” she asked.

  Matt didn’t look up, just continued to kiss and nip and suck on her silky skin. When she asked again, he breathed into her neck, “I don’t know. How long do we have to stay?”

  Janie chuckled and twisted in his arms so that she was facing him. She smiled at him and looked over his shoulder into the family room where Ella and Christopher were on the floor with their cousins Isabelle and Gregory and lots of adult supervision.

  “Dinner is in fifteen minutes,” Janie winked. “Guest bathroom on the third floor?”

  Matt didn’t answer but grabbed her hand and yanked her towards the stairs. They didn’t see Ben watch them leave.

  Ben, sitting in an arm chair in front of the fire place, wasn’t watching the football game that was muted on the television. Nor was he playing with his nieces and nephews as most of the adults were. He was just sitting, trying to figure out how he’d gone from successful, confident business man to love-sick, hormonal, disappointed teenage boy in less than a week. It was humiliating to him that he had allowed a woman to affect him like that. The more he thought about, the more he stewed, the angrier he got.

  There was a commotion in the room, as all the adults got to their feet, blocking Ben’s view of what was happening and then introductions were being made and Ben wondered what the hell was going on. He stood and moved to the right a couple of steps and saw the long silky black hair and his stomach rolled and his gasp was audible as Sophia turned and her profile came into view.

  Maureen was making the introductions and was baffled as to where Matt and Janie had gone. Christopher ran to Alex and hugged his leg and all the adults sighed at the same time. Alex kneeled down and hugged the little boy and Gloria caught Maureen’s eye and they both nodded and smiled. It was a go!

  *****

  As Sophia’s heels clicked down the stairs of the Lathem home, she wanted to turn and run in the opposite direction. How could her mother have ambushed her like this? And since when did her mother know the Lathems? But the questions didn’t matter now as she smiled and greeted the people in front of her. She genuinely liked them all. It was just Ben she didn’t particularly want to see. But just as that very thought entered her mind, out of the corner of her eye she could see him standing there…to her left…not moving. She daren’t look at him so she hugged Lindsey who’d shoved her way to her and chatted about how the soon-to-be-mom was feeling.

  Maureen invited everyone to step into the dining room as dinner was ready and still Ben hung back. Christopher insisted he sit by Alex, which nobody objected to and Alex helped him up onto the chair.

  “Where is Matt and Janie?” Maureen asked as they were all seated.

  Ben made a noise through his nose and all eyes swung to him. “Um,” he frowned. “I’m sure they’ll be down in a minute.”

  Mark chuckled and Tim stifled his laugh and Maureen looked confused but before she could question her sons’ reactions Matt and Janie ran into the dining room and took a seat.

  “Are you alright dear?” Maureen asked Janie. “You’re all flushed.”

  Katy laughed and winked at her best friend and Janie turned redder…if that was possible.

  “I’m fine,” Janie mumbled.

  “Yes she is,” Matt added.

  Peter, understanding exactly what was going on, announced it was time to say grace, saving Janie from further embarrassment.

  Sophia and Ben sat on opposite sides of the table. She was in deep conversation with Katy who sat on her left, looking away from Ben. Every now and then, Ben would find himself staring at her; at her silky black hair, her dark eyes and full pink lips. He couldn’t hear their conversation, but in his mind he heard her seductive voice and her laugh. Oh how he loved her laugh. His eyes would travel lower to her shoulders and he wondered if the mark he’d left on her was still there. It was an immature thing to do but he felt the need to claim her somehow…as his. He’d always thought of himself as a champion of the feminist movement. He made sure that women and men were compensated equally in their company and their executive team was made up of many women, at times even outnumbering the men.

  Yet the most Neanderthal need to claim this woman had surfaced and he couldn’t release himself from its firm grasp. His father’s words popped into his head. My heart literally skipped a beat. My palms got all sweaty and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She had the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. Ben felt his palms. They were clammy. His heart was beating an anthem in his chest and his eyes were drawn to her…he could no longer look away. Until you meet that woman who actually makes your heart stop, you shouldn’t get married. Wait for her. You deserve that and she deserves that.

  “Dammit!”

  “What’s wrong Ben?” Maureen asked. All eyes swung to him…even Sophia’s.

  Shit! Did I say that out loud? “Dad was right,” he muttered.

  “Speak up, Ben,” Maureen scolded. “Nobody can hear you.”

  “Dad was right.”

  “I was?” Peter exclaimed. “Well I’ll be damned!”<
br />
  “Language, Peter!” Maureen chided.

  “About what, Ben? What was Dad right about?” Matt asked, a knowing look in his eye.

  “Yes, Matt,” Ben smirked. “You were right too.”

  Matt chuckled but didn’t say anything more. Gloria and Aldo were completely confused. But everyone went back to eating…in mostly silence.

  As the dessert was devoured, Ben decided to wait no longer. He stood, asked Gloria if she and Aldo could please take Alex home, to which they readily agreed, and then he stomped around to the other side of the table and offered Sophia his hand. Her face expressed surprise and confusion, but she gave him her hand and stood.

  “Thank you mom for a wonderful meal as always.” And with that he dragged Sophia out of the dining room, through the family room, out of the door, up the steps and onto the sidewalk.

  19.

  Unable to speak, Sophia all but ran to keep up with Ben who continued to drag her down the street. At the corner, he flagged down a taxi and ushered Sophia inside, climbing in beside her. He gave the driver his address and they drove in silence for the almost thirty minute trip down to the Financial District.

  There were questions she wanted answers to but she didn’t trust herself to speak. Her hand in his had opened the flood gates of desire for him and now she sat with his thigh brushing against hers. She had no faith in her ability to think straight so remained silent.

  As the cab pulled in front of Ben’s building, he pulled cash from his pocket and handed it over to the driver. As he hauled her from the car, Sophia could hear the man trying to return the change but Ben was stomping towards the front door giving no heed to the driver.

  The doorman opened the door and nodded in polite greeting and Ben strode through the lobby and straight to the bank of elevators.

  “Where are we going?” Sophia asked, immediately regretting she’d asked such a stupid question. It didn’t matter though because Ben didn’t respond, just pulled her into the elevator behind him and pushed the button.