Unstuck

by Liliana Camarena

  “Wow. I’m the one that is supposed to have commitment issues; I’m a man after all,” he sounded amused.

  “I don’t have commitment issues; I just work a lot,” I said shrugging again, “Work is not an excuse, Lucinda,” I knew that but thanks for stating the obvious, Sherlock! “It’s not.” I was sad all of a sudden, “it’s more the fact that I am considered a bitch.”

  “You ARE a bitch,” he interrupted and I nudged him with my elbow, "And I kind of intimidate men, or used to.”

  “Yeah, I don’t get that,” I just looked at him, “you know, men being intimidated by successful women. It’s plain stupid; I’d rather have a woman that challenges me in my everyday life than a submissive Stepford wife.”

  “Well, not every man has the confidence of being a business mogul,” I said with sarcasm and he just shook his head. We were both in silence staring to nothing, sitting on the kitchen’s floor. We have definitely gotten comfortable around each other.

  “Wow! So no sex for you! No wonder you are so uptight.” he said finally looking at me, “That’s none of your business,” I said trying to get up from the floor, “but for your information I am not celibate if that’s what you thought.” I finally got up and put the plate on the sink. In less than a second Patrick was standing next to me.

  “Oooh! Miss Stuart does get laid! And One night stands!” Wow, he was excited about that.

  “Oh shut up, Patrick,” I said while walking out the kitchen “It’s not like I have someone in my bed every night, like someone I know.” I stopped on the foyer and turned to look at him and he had a big smile plastered on his face “What?” I asked.

  “You continue to amaze me, Pepper,” There it was that awful nickname again, “Here I thought you were an uptight woman that lived for her job and now I see you are human after all!!”

  “I hate you,” I said and tried to walk towards the pool house.

  “No, you don’t,” he said from the bottom of the stairs. “Want to watch a movie? It’s 5:30. It would be a crime to go back to bed only to get up in a few hours.” He had a point, it was a Saturday and we had a home office day planned but that didn’t mean we could sleep in; we had to be up in about 2 hours.

  “Fine,” I said and we both walked towards the T.V room.

  I felt someone moving me lightly and I opened my eyes only to find Brian hovering over me, “Shit! Brian, you scared me,” I said looking around trying to recognize where I had fallen asleep. “What the hell are you two doing here?” Asked Brian suspiciously, I turned to look at Patrick who was stretching his arms over his head.

  “Someone woke me up in the middle of the night, more like, this morning, to scare away the bimbo of the day,” I said my voice full of annoyance.

  “Nice. Who was she?” Brian asked grinning and looking at Patrick.

  “Lina,” I just rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe them.

  “Still,” Brian continued as I stretched my legs, “that doesn’t explain how you ended up in front of the TV.”

  “This genius’ idea,” I said while glaring Patrick who seemed quite happy that morning ,“he said that we had barely 2 hours left before we had to be up again so maybe we should just watch a movie,” I just shook my head, “we were asleep by the time the movie began.”

  “Well, I hope you had your beauty rest, we have a lot of work to do,” said Brian clapping his hands once.

  “Oh shut up, Brian the “pushing boss-let’s get working,” attitude doesn’t fit you,” I said walking towards the door, “I am taking a shower, see you at the dining room.” I was in a foul mood because I had not slept enough and the fucking chairs were amazing for watching movies but horrible for sleeping anything longer than a nap.

  “You do that, Lucy, you look like crap this morning,” I stopped at the door and turned to look at him sending a glare that could have killed him. Twice! Twice that morning men have told me I looked like crap. Someone was going to die.

  Forty minutes later I was in the kitchen having OJ waiting for Patrick to show up for breakfast. My bad mood was better once I had taken a shower and I was ready to work. I heard voices coming from the dining room and I went there with coffee for everyone. I sure needed a cup or twenty to get through the day.

  “Coffee?” I said placing the cups in front of Brian and Patrick. They both gave me a strange look and I wondered if I had something on my face. “What?” I finally asked.

  “What’s with the sundress? You do know we are doing the whole home office day today, right? Those days where you wear sweats and have horrible hair,” Brian said.

  “I’m aware,” I said and they both waited for an extended version of that answer, “It’s not even 10 am and I’ve already heard from two different men that I look like crap; maybe if I put some more effort, my looks won’t be such a nuisance in their lives,” I said sitting down on the chair next to Patrick and in front of Brian and took a big sip of coffee.

  “You told her she looks like crap,” Brian looked at Patrick; Patrick looked back at Brian with a look of panic in his face and nodded.

  “Well, I think you look wonderful,” said Brian smiling, “Oh shut the hell up, Brian, you said it too.” I was acting offended but I was in a better mood and in desperate need of my sweats but I would wait a bit longer until I could go and change into them.

  “Burn,” said Patrick smiling.

  “You too, Patrick, shut up! Eat,” I said since Sarah had already placed our food in front of us.

  Brian and Patrick were like little kids when they were together outside of the office. They played, laughed and had a good time. During office hours the story was very different, Patrick was the boss and Brian his employee, his most trusted employee. I was thankful to be around them during off office hours because it could be really funny plus it took away a lot from the burden of working long hours.

  Once we were done with breakfast I took all my stuff to the library, where we were working, and then I excused myself; I went to change into sweats, a tank top and to tie my head in a horrible knot that resembled to a bird’s nest.

  “I knew you wouldn’t be able to work in a dress all day today,” Said Brian while arranging a stack of files on the table in the back of the library. It was the same one where Patrick and I had worked on the first day. Wow! It seemed so long ago and it had only been a few months.

  “Why? You don’t think I can pull it off?” I said sitting on a chair. Patrick was already going into office mood because he had not said a word.

  “Not at all, it’s just that after a few hours you end up with your legs on the table or on the chair. A dress wouldn’t work.” I just stuck my tongue to him in a very mature response. Patrick was looking at Brian in a weird way, which was a look I had not seen yet.

  “As amazing as you looked in that dress, Lucinda, I like when you are in your sweats because you tend to be more relaxed. It reminds me of midnight munchies,” He said smiling. Weird… no sarcasm or anything, there was like a tiny second of awkwardness until he spoke again “It must be the beautiful nest on that head of yours,” Brian laughed out loud and I threw him a pencil that hit him on the head “You will be held responsible if I lose an eye,” he said laughing.

  The day was long we went over some people Brian wanted to let go and of course I will have to notify. The new people that would take their place were decided by the three of us since Patrick liked to promote people instead of hiring new people. May, Inc was already collaborating with E-course but was looking forward to move some of May’s people into the office and we went over the candidates for the position. By the time we had down the profile it was time for lunch; I had requested Miranda to make her famous crab salad since I had been in a horrible mood and I was craving comfort food. When the time to eat came I was no longer grumpy but her salad was always welcomed.

  The second half of the day was all about the new deals Patrick wanted to sign. Although Brian was head of HR Patrick always asked for his opinion and considered his input. That�
��s why his name was screamed as often as mine in May, Inc’s offices. Not in a good way. I was supposed to take notes, make appointments and listen to what Brian and Patrick said but that didn’t happen. Patrick got stuck like 5 times; Brian was useless because he made a habit of needing to use the bathroom every time the “I’m stuck,” line came out of Patrick’s mouth so, I helped him get unstuck all those times.

  We were during an “unstucking,” moment when Patrick declared it was time for dinner, I agreed. So, when Brian came back from “using the bathroom,” I ordered some Hindi food that was brought to us to the library.

  “You know as head of HR I have the obligation of announcing that there’s someone’s birthday coming up,” said Brian we had moved from the table to the couches in the reading area. I was sitting on the floor eating, Brian was in a couch directly in front of me and Patrick was in a couch behind me. I looked from Brian to Patrick. Patrick seemed clueless.

  “Oh c’mon Lucy,” said Brian and then it hit me; my birthday was in a week. I was turning 30. I just went back to eating.

  “Whose birthday?” said Patrick. For a man that was so intelligent he could be pretty unobserving.

  “Lucy’s! Next Friday,” said Brian. Wow, he had even checked the day and everything. I still didn’t look up from my food.

  “Oh,” Said Patrick and sat down next to me on the floor where it seemed we had our honest moments. I looked at him with tears in my eyes that were threatening to flow “Oh,” he said knowingly. I had mentioned me approaching my 30th birthday the day Fish had died.

  “What?” said Brian joining us on the floor.

  “I think Lucinda is not up to celebrating her 30th birthday,” said Patrick looking at Brian.

  “Wow, you know how old she is going to be?” said Brian and Patrick shot him a look that told him it was not the moment for those questions “ Anyway,” he went on “we should definitely do something, Lucy, we don’t have to discuss it no.,”

  “Yeah, think about it, it should be fun to celebrate it,” said Patrick and I looked up to him and nodded. The subject was dropped and we reviewed the day’s work, going over what each one had to send to each other and called it a day. Thank God. I needed to take a long bath and drink a big glass of wine.

  At 1:00 am I heard my work phone ringing non-stop. I reached out for it knowing already it would be Patrick. It was a fucking weekend; he never had guests on a weekend. What the hell did he want?

  “What?” I answered.

  “Grumpy are we?” I heard Patrick. He was not whispering or texting so it meant there were no girls in his bed.

  “Sorry. What can I do for you, Patrick?” I sat on my bed knowing that my rest was ruined now.

  “I want an ice cream sandwich, do we have those?” I rolled my eyes.

  “I think you ate them all on Wednesday but I can check if you want?” I asked but I knew his answer. I was already in front of the mirror adjusting my nest before he answered.

  “That would be great,” I hit the disconnect button and went to the kitchen. There he was, still dressed and looking somewhat fresh.

  “Haven’t you gone to bed?” I asked as I approached the fridge “No, I was up with some spreadsheets,” I nodded and noticed there were no more ice cream sandwiches “Nope, you ate them all. Can I offer you something else?” I said in mid yawn.

  “Hmm yeah, I want…. Pie, do we have pie?” He widened his eyes looking like a 5 year old.

  “Let me see,” I said opening the fridge once again “There’s key lime pie from Friday’s dinner,” I heard him say yes so I took the pie and put a slice on a plate for him.

  “Milk?” I asked putting the plate in front of him. He just nodded. Once he had his milk we sat on the floor; Patrick eating his pie and me chewing on a piece of cheese.

  “Your Birthday is on Halloween’s day,” He had looked at a Calendar.

  “Yes,” I said not bothering in going in too deep with the answer.

  “Has it always been like this?” He was so fresh that he was in the mood of talking feelings. I was never in the mood of talking feelings due to my allergic reaction to them. They made me run away. “What? My Birthday? Yeah, I always have one on Halloween’s day,” I said with a straight face “Funny. You know what I mean; have you always hated having a birthday?” I really didn’t want to talk but I knew he wouldn’t go for that.

  “I’ve never been a huge fan of birthdays but I didn’t hate them,” I shrugged “Until my meltdown,” “Oh… well then, we should celebrate it,” He said in the middle of chewing his pie. He made it look so delicious; I was considering a piece for me.

  “Nope,” I just shook my head

  “How about a party,” He sounded excited.

  “Nope, I don’t want a bunch of people reminding me I am 30 and without a life,” I stared at the floor.

  “Ok... whaaaaaaat abouuuut?” he said looking up to the ceiling, “Got it. What about having a Halloween party, no one has to know it’s your birthday but still you will have a nice, not boring, moping around, pitying yourself, birthday?” He gave me a huge smile.

  “I’ll think about it,” I said smiling

  “Nope, not thinking, decide now,” he turned his body so he was facing me.

  “Too much pressure, Patrick,” I said looking at him, “You could invite Nick,” he said.

  “He would love that.” Suddenly the idea of partying without the horrible feeling of having everyone celebrating my 30 years on this earth, and me knowing that half of them had been lived oblivious of what was important in life, didn’t seem so bad.

  “Ok,” I whispered.

  “Ok?” Patrick widened his eyes

  “Yes, I would love to spend my birthday in a Halloween party,” I said smiling.

  “Love it. We should get the planning started. We only have one week,” He seemed eager.

  “What should I do?” I had not planned an event for Patrick so I had to get instructions.

  “Oh, no, this party you won’t plan,” I was about to say something but he went on “I know! It’s not your party but you’ll be part of it so I’ll find someone to plan it for us,”

  “Ok. But it’s not my party, Patrick. No Happy Birthday, no cake, no gifts ok?” I pointed my finger at him.

  “Halloween party only,”

  “Ok, can I get drunk?” I asked hopeful. I had not gotten drunk in years. Not even during my one night stands was I drunk.

  “Hell yeah! As scary as it’s to imagine drunken Lucinda, I can’t wait to see you having fun,”

  “I would tell you I’m not that bad but the truth is that I can’t remember. I haven’t been drunk in a loooooong time,” I said trying to get up from the floor.

  “When was the last time you got drunk?” Patrick put his plate on the sink and we both start walking

  “College…. First week in college,” I said and kept on walking “Wow…. Lucinda, you do need to get drunk. Why has it been so long?” he asked as I stood in the foyer.

  “It was awful,” I said looking down.

  “Well, this party won’t be,” He said smiling and I had to smile too. Patrick was a lot of things: womanizer, spoiled, bad tempered at work, perfectionist and oblivious to his surroundings but he knew how to read me. Whenever he sensed a touchy subject he knew when I wanted or not wanted to talk about it and knew exactly how to change it quickly. You had to love a boss like that.

  “Don’t forget you have a lunch date with your parents tomorrow,” I said turning towards the pool house.

  “Are you coming too, Pepper?” He asked. I didn’t even turned to look at him I just shook my head.

  “You use me as a shield, you know they will ask about you settling down,” I heard him chuckle and kept on walking.

  Five

  Sunday felt like breath of fresh air. I was able to sleep in, till 9 am mind you, and go into the kitchen in my pj's to have a delicious breakfast. Miranda made blueberry pancakes and I devoured them like the zombie apocalypse was upon us all
. To top the carb-induced coma I was about to have, Miranda made a banana shake that surely would trump the carb induced coma and turn into a sugar induced coma. It was delicious! I was having too much fun just by eating my breakfast on the bar.

  “This should be illegal,” I said chewing and sipping the shake. Sarah giggled while doing inventory on the pantry, “write down 5 pounds of blueberry, Sarah, I am eating this every single time I can,” I heard her giggle again from the inside of the pantry.

  “What are you doing today, Lucy?” Said Miranda while cleaning around the kitchen.

  “I don’t know, I have the morning off so… I don’t know,” I said shrugging and taking another mouthful of delicious, mouth watering, almost orgasmic blueberry pancakes.

  “Isn’t today your day off?” she asked and that made me stop in mid chew. I didn’t know what a day off was these days. Patrick never mentioned them anymore and well, today should be my day off there is nothing on the schedule for me; it was a personal day for Patrick.

  “Well, no, I wasn’t told so but…,”

  “Oh Ms. Owens I think I just died and went straight to heaven that smells delicious,” I heard Patrick voice coming from the kitchen door.

  “Good Morning, Mr. Maynard. What would you like for breakfast?” Asked Miranda “Whatever it is I am smelling,” He said smiling.

  “That would be Lucy’s pancakes. Would you like some?” Oh Miranda was like right out of a movie, very professional and well spoken.

  “Yes, I’d love to,” He had a wide smile. He was in a great mood considering he was having lunch with his parents.

  “I’ll take them to the dining room as soon as they are ready,” said Miranda.

  “No, I’ll eat here,” he said sitting down next to me in the breakfast bar. I took a look at him and he was still on his workout clothes and looking a bit sweaty. “What were you talking about?”

  Oh right! “Why isn’t this classified as a day off?” I asked looking at him while sipping on my shake.