The Husband Maker Boxed Set

by White, Karey

  I had spoken to Daphne, an older lady with short, curly hair that fell across one eye.

  “We have a one-bedroom unit that’s empty, but the tenants had a dog in there. You don’t have a dog, do you?”

  I shook my head. “No, no pets.”

  “Good. We don’t allow dogs, but it smells like they had three or four of them. The carpet was just plain sick. Of course, they lost their deposit. Anyway, the new carpet won’t be laid until Saturday. I’m having my son-in-law install it, and he didn’t have time until the weekend. But after that, you could rent it. It’s number 213. I’ll let you take it for the same price as the last folks since I won’t have to advertise it. But only if you promise not to have a dog in there. Or any pet. I don’t even want a fish in there. A few years ago, some renters begged and begged to have a fish tank for their little girl. Supposed to help her learn some responsibility. Um hmm. I’ll be danged if that thing didn’t spring a leak and warp the floor under it. So now we have a policy. No pets at all.”

  “No pets here.” I smiled and put my hands up in surrender.

  Daphne smiled back.

  “And that unit’s furnished?” I was hoping it would look as nice as Angus’s apartment.

  Daphne opened a folder and flipped through a couple of papers. “This one has the basics. Nothing too fancy. But the bed’s pretty new.”

  By the time I paid the rent and the required deposit, I was panicking. Once I deducted the car repairs from my account, I’d have less than two hundred dollars in the bank. I hadn’t been this depleted on funds since I was in college. I had a check coming from Jayne next week and another one as soon as I turned in my last project, but I needed to find work here. I wouldn’t last long if I didn’t.

  I had nearly sprinted back to Angus’s apartment so I could look for work. There were no jobs available that made me excited. In fact, the job situation was dismal. Would I ever find something I’d enjoy as much as my job at Jayne Fife? I felt a little encouraged by the fact that there were temporary, seasonal jobs being posted. If all else failed, I could wrap Christmas presents at a department store.

  “Do you want me to warm up some lasagna for you?” If Angus was using his dinner break to take me to pick up my car, I didn’t want him to go hungry.

  “Nah, let’s go get your car and see if there’s time to eat when we get back.”

  Angus was quiet as we drove to the garage, and I could tell he had something on his mind.

  “How was work today?”

  “Busy.”

  After a few more blocks of silence, I tried again.

  “Is everything okay?”

  He raised his eyebrows and looked at me sideways. “Just a lot on my mind.” His tone let me know he didn’t want to talk, so I didn’t push him.

  It didn’t take long to get my car. There had been an extra charge for balancing the tires that hadn’t initially been quoted, and I swallowed hard as I watched my bank account sputter and choke.

  “Ya’ll come back now,” said an old guy who might have been Sid. I smiled and waved, whole-heartedly hoping I wouldn’t have a need to come see Sid again.

  I followed Angus back to his apartment and pulled my car into a visitor parking place. I could have pulled into my own, newly-assigned spot, but I wasn’t ready to inform Angus that he now had a new neighbor.

  Back in his apartment, I dished up two plates of food and put one in the microwave. Angus leaned against the counter, his legs stretched out in front of him, and his arms folded. “You should stay here again tonight and head out tomorrow morning. It’s not a good idea to be driving by yourself late at night.”

  I turned my back to him and switched the plates in the microwave. I could tell he was waiting for a response, but I didn’t want to argue with him.

  “Did you hear me?” Angus asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “We should have topped off your gas tank on the way home so you’d be ready to roll in the morning.”

  “You should eat.” I motioned to the plate of steaming food. Angus pushed off the counter and sat down to eat.

  “Do you know how much gas you have?”

  I had about half a tank, but that didn’t matter. I took a glass out of the cupboard,filled it with ice and water and placed it in front of him.

  “Chuck? Are you purposely ignoring me?”

  I shook my head. “No. I heard you.”

  “Do you know how much gas is in your tank?”

  “I’ve got enough.”

  Angus looked up from his plate and studied me. He didn’t look happy.

  “Enough?” His voice was steely.

  I stood across the counter from him and met his eyes. “Angus, I’m not going home.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not. I found an apartment today, and I have some jobs I’ll be checking on tomorrow.”

  Angus put down his fork and laced his fingers together in front of him, stretching his fingers back, first on one hand and then the other as he thought. He took a deep breath. “Charlotte, why did you come here?”

  Maybe if I was honest, he wouldn’t be so determined to send me away? “For you.”

  “That’s a nice thought, and I appreciate it. Really, I do. But you need to listen to me. This isn’t happening.” He unclasped his hands and motioned between us. “We’re not happening. You don’t belong here and you need to go home.”

  I swallowed hard. No matter how disappointed I was, I would not cry. Even though nothing had gone according to plan, I would stay focused and determined. Will and Flynn both thought it would take a grand gesture, and perhaps the grandest gesture of all would be not giving up too easily.

  I squared my shoulders and looked Angus in the eye. “I’m not leaving. I came here because I miss you. I want to be where you are. If you want me to go back to San Francisco, I will. But you’ll have to come, too.”

  “You know I can’t go back. I have to be here.”

  “Then so do I.” I made my voice as firm and determined as I could muster. Angus took several long, slow breaths, and I knew he was trying to figure out what to say that would convince me to go back to San Francisco. I continued, my voice pleading. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get a clue. I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  Angus laughed a bitter laugh but didn’t interrupt me.

  “Angus, I want to make things right. You’re my best friend. I love you, and I think you still love me, too. Stop being so stubborn and accept my apology.” Angus rubbed his hands over his face, and I added, “I’m not going back home. I’m staying here. With you.”

  “There’s no point in you being here. I don’t have time for anything but work. You’re lucky you needed rescuing yesterday. Most days I couldn’t have come.”

  “I won’t need to be rescued again.”

  When Angus finally spoke, his voice was slow and measured. “I accept your apology, Charles. All’s forgiven. You don’t need to feel bad anymore.” He stood and slowly pushed the stool up to the counter, his meal almost untouched. “The thing is, I think I was mistaking my feelings of sympathy with feelings of love. I always felt so bad for you. I always wanted to fix things.” Every word was like a blow. A smart fighter would go down for the count and save themselves the bruises.

  He must have known he was about to deliver a knockout punch because he walked to the door, and with his back to me, he said the words that were meant to level me. “Charlotte, I don’t want you here.”

  He closed the door behind him without looking back.

  And that was his mistake. If he wanted me to leave, he’d have to look me in the eyes and tell me.

  Charlotte

  Angus was avoiding me. I texted him to see if I could stay at his apartment for a few days since mine wouldn’t be ready until Monday, and he grudgingly agreed. At first I took that as a good sign. At least I would see him when he came home to shower and change. But I was wrong. When he came home on Thursday, it was for less than an hour, and when he lef
t, he was carrying a small suitcase.

  “I have a key, so when you leave on Monday, you can leave yours on the counter.”

  “You don’t have to leave because of me, Angus. I can stay at a hotel.”

  “It’s fine. It’s just until Monday.”

  I didn’t see or hear from him again for almost a week. I moved my few things into apartment 213. My apartment was in a different building than Angus’s, but I could see his parking spot from mine and his front door from my bedroom window. His car was almost always gone. He was off being a doctor and learning about hips.

  I, on the other hand, had too much time on my hands. I finished my last souvenir project for Jayne—a set of four prints for t-shirts for a whitewater rafting company in Wyoming. I had mixed feelings when I sent off the prints. Sad because I’d miss working for Jayne. Apprehension because I didn’t have a replacement job yet. Elation because I really needed that last check.

  And now I was officially unemployed. I had sent my resume to several companies, including Hallmark. They sent me a pleasant response telling me they were impressed with my experience, but they weren’t hiring. So far the only company that had invited me in for an interview was a temporary staffing agency. I was meeting with Mark this afternoon.

  My phone played “Copacabana” and I braced myself to take Mom’s call.

  It had been two weeks since I’d left San Francisco. So far I’d done most of the calling between us. I needed to control the narrative and that was much easier if I made the phone calls. I had told her about Angus saving the day. She liked the sound of that. I didn’t tell her about his rebuff. I had told her about my second apartment. She wanted to know what it looked like, so I texted her pictures. They put her mind at ease. She wanted to know about jobs, so I had told her I had an interview today. That was probably what she was calling about.

  “Hi, Mom,” I said as I applied mascara.

  “Charlotte. How are you?”

  “I’m great. Just getting ready for a job interview this afternoon.” I should give myself a good poke in the eye with my mascara wand for lying to my mom like this. I wasn’t doing great. I was broke and lonely and Angus didn’t want me here.

  “Yes, I wanted to wish you luck. What company is it?”

  “It’s called CRS. Creative Resource Solutions.”

  “Sounds like a perfect fit.”

  I held the phone between my ear and shoulder and closed the mascara. “It does?”

  “Yes. You’re one of the most creative people I know.” I breathed a sigh of relief, glad the founder of the company had chosen a name that wouldn’t immediately let my parents know I was applying to be a temp.

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “You’ll do great. I’m sure they’ll be impressed with your portfolio.”

  I smiled. They didn’t even want to see my portfolio. Their creativity didn’t mean artistic ability. It meant they’d send a graphic artist to wait tables or an engineer to chop carrots. But Mom didn’t need to know that.

  “How’s Angus?”

  “He’s great. Really busy. He puts in a lot of hours.”

  “Be sure to tell him hi for us, okay?”

  “I will. For sure. I’ll tell him the next time I see him. I’m sure he says hi back.”

  “We miss you, honey, but I have to say I’m proud of you. I hope Angus knows how lucky he is.”

  “I’m sure he does.” I cringed as I wound myself tighter and tighter in my web of deceit. “I’ve got to go, Mom. Please give Dad a hug and tell everyone hello.”

  “I will, Charlotte. I love you.”

  I hung up feeling a little sick. I needed Angus to come around so I could honestly tell my family everything was going well.

  Mark was like Anderson Cooper on amphetamines. He was handsome, in a graying, middle-aged man sort of way. He talked so fast it was hard to keep up, but I soon realized that he made up for his rapid-fire speech by repeating most things at least once.

  “What kind of work are you hoping for?” he asked.

  “I’ve been designing souvenirs, but I can certainly do other kinds of graphic design.”

  “Of course, you can. Of course, you can. This says you have no criminal history?”

  “No. I got a speeding ticket once, but . . .”

  “That’s not criminal. Not criminal at all. We drug test around here. Will drug testing be a problem for you?”

  “No.”

  Mark looked up from his computer and looked me over again. “No, I didn’t think so. I didn’t think so. If we don’t immediately have something that uses your artistic skills, are you interested in being placed in other positions? Temporarily, of course.” He laughed. “We are a temp agency, after all, so most of our positions are temporary, but just in case we don’t have something that uses your skills, we’d like to be able to send you out on other positions.”

  “I really need a job, so I’m open to other things. As long as they’re legal.” I smiled at my little joke, but Mark looked at me seriously.

  “Of course our jobs are legal. Why would we care if you have a criminal record if we’re going to send you out on an illegal job?”

  I laughed nervously. “Oh, you wouldn’t. I was just joking.”

  Mark smiled. “Ah, I get it. I get it.” He laughed and nodded his head. “I get it.” He turned back to the computer screen in front of him. “How soon can you start?”

  I would have said, “Yesterday,” but I wasn’t sure now if he would appreciate my sarcasm, so I opted for, “Tomorrow.”

  He scrolled through some pages on his computer. “Tomorrow. What do we have tomorrow? Plumber’s assistant? No. Drywaller? No. Driver?” He looked at me. “No. Sous chef? Sous chef. At Escape in the Marriott. Hmm. Any experience in the kitchen? I don’t mean classically trained chef, I just mean do you have any experience cooking.”

  “I cook at home.”

  He ran his finger along his computer screen as he read. “Food prep, general kitchen help and cleanup.” He turned to me. “Think you can do that? We can send you out tomorrow if you can do that.” He looked back at the listing. “Ah, and it’s a position that lasts two weeks. If they like you, that is. That’s the beauty of our industry. If you don’t like each other, there’s no obligation to keep you. Of course, we want them to keep you. Yes, yes. We want them to be happy with you. And we’ll be more inclined to send you out on future jobs if past employers have liked you. Yes, it’s important they like you.”

  “I’ll definitely do my best.” I wanted to wrap up this conversation. Mark was giving me a headache.

  I filled out the necessary papers and left the offices of Creative Resource Solutions with a smile on my face. Things were looking up. I had a job. For at least two weeks. Unless they didn’t like me. My smile faltered only a little.

  I hadn’t seen Angus since the day he’d taken a suitcase to the hospital, but when I pulled into the Milton parking lot after my job interview, his car was in its spot. I considered walking to his apartment and telling him my good news, but I was happy about this sous chef job and I didn’t want to see a look of disappointment on Angus’s face when I told him about it. I texted him instead. Given the long, drawn-out and depressing nature of our texts the last few months, I decided to spill it all in one long text. It ended up going through as three separate texts with awkward breaks, but once I’d hit the send button, there was nothing I could do about it anyway.

  ME: YOU’VE BEEN A BUSY MAN. I DIDN’T MEAN TO KICK YOU OUT OF YOUR APARTMENT. I FELT TERRIBLE THAT YOU FELT YOU COULDN’T BE THERE WHILE I WAS THERE. I SHOULD HAVE JUST GOTTEN A HOTEL SO I WOULDN’T INTERRUPT YOUR LIFE TOO MUCH. BUT I’M GRATEFUL FOR THE PLACE TO STAY UNTIL MY APARTMENT WAS AVAILABLE. I DON’T THINK I EVER TOLD YOU WHERE I’M LIVING NOW. YOU WERE IN A HURRY TO LEAVE THAT DAY AND I DIDN’T WANT TO MAKE YOU ANGRY. I STILL DON’T WANT TO MAKE YOU ANGRY, BUT SINCE YOU’RE THE ONLY PERSON I KNOW HERE IN KANSAS CITY (EXCEPT A COUPLE OF APARTMENT MANAGERS AND A TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT MANAGER), I KINDA
WANT YOU TO KNOW WHERE I AM. I’M LIVING IN A NICE COMPLEX NOT TOO FAR FROM YOU. YOU’VE PROBABLY HEARD OF THEM. THEY’RE THE MILTON APARTMENTS. YES, YOU GUESSED IT. I’M LIVING IN THE SAME COMPLEX AS YOU. I LIVE IN THE D BUILDING, NUMBER 213. WE’RE NEIGHBORS!

  WE HAVEN’T LIVED THIS CLOSE SINCE WE WERE KIDS. IN FACT, I THINK THIS MIGHT BE EVEN CLOSER, BUT THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT.

  ME: I GOT A JOB TODAY. SORT OF. I MEAN, IT IS A JOB, BUT IT’S NOT PERMANENT. I’M STARTING TOMORROW AT THE MARRIOTT. I’M GOING TO BE A SOUS CHEF AT ESCAPE. THE JOB LASTS TWO WEEKS. THEN WHO KNOWS WHAT I’LL BE DOING. THAT’S THE BEAUTY OF TEMP WORK, RIGHT? NOTHING IS TOO PREDICTABLE. ACTUALLY, I HOPE THE TEMP WORK IS ONLY TEMPORARY. :) I’D REALLY LIKE TO WORK AT HALLMARK, BUT THEY DON’T HAVE ANY OPENINGS RIGHT NOW. I’LL HAVE TO KEEP CHECKING BACK AND KEEP MY EYES OPEN FOR A JOB THAT’S A GOOD FIT. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, AT LEAST I’LL BE ABLE TO PAY MY RENT.

  I HOPE YOU’VE GOTTEN OVER BEING ANGRY WITH ME. I KNOW YOU’RE NOT HAPPY I’M HERE, BUT I HOPE THAT CHANGES. WHEN YOU ASKED ME WHAT I WAS DOING HERE, I TOLD YOU I CAME FOR YOU. THAT WAS ONLY PARTLY TRUE. I ALSO CAME

  ME: FOR ME. I MISSED YOU. I WANTED TO TRY TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT WITH YOU. I WANTED YOU TO KNOW WHERE MY FEELINGS WERE. I’VE DONE SO MANY DUMB THINGS IN MY LIFE, BUT I REALLY, REALLY HOPE THIS ISN’T ONE OF THEM.

  ANYWAY, GOOD NEWS ABOUT MY JOB, HUH? I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOUR WORK SCHEDULE IS LIKE, BUT IF YOU’RE AROUND, WOULD YOU LIKE TO CELEBRATE MY NEWFOUND EMPLOYMENT? I CAN’T REALLY AFFORD TO GO OUT TO DINNER, BUT I HAVE THE INGREDIENTS FOR A GOOD STIR-FRY AND YOU KNOW YOU CAN USE MORE VEGGIES IN YOUR DIET. LET ME KNOW IF YOU’RE INTERESTED. SEE YA SOON.

  Angus

  After reading Charlotte’s text, I threw my phone on my bed, left the bedroom, and shut the door harder than necessary. Then I felt a little foolish. I was behaving like a teenage valley girl, and there was no one here to appreciate the tantrum.