by Tina Martin
“I won’t tell her how I got the number,” Bryson said as if reading Edith’s thoughts.
Edith sighed again. “Okay, Bryson. I’m going to trust you on this one. You got a pen?”
“Yep.”
“It’s 910-555-2703.”
“Got it. Thanks Edith.”
“Don’t make me regret giving you her number.”
Bryson grinned. “I won’t…see you a little later today, hopefully.”
“Okay. Bye.”
Armed with Kalina’s number now, Bryson wasted no time punching the digits into his cell phone. He listened to the rings, four of them, and when he thought the voicemail would pick up, he heard:
“Hello.”
Ah, the sweet sound of her voice over the phone… “Hi Kalina. It’s—”
“Bryson?” she asked, immediately recognizing his voice.
“Yes, it’s Bry—”
“How did you get this number?” she interrupted to ask. She was very careful not to give him her number. Even when she sent emails to him, she deleted her number from her email signature.
“I have my ways. Listen, I wanted to talk to you because I didn’t like the way you left the café yesterday. I’m sorry I upset you.”
“You’ve already apologized for that.”
“Yes, and you didn’t respond to my email, so I wanted to talk to you...wanted to make sure you received my apology and now I know that you have.”
“Okay. Was there something else?”
“Yes. Did you get the other emails?”
Kalina tapped a pen against her desk calendar. “Yes. I’ve reviewed them and sent them off.”
“How were they?”
“They were fine. All of them.”
“Good. I’m not that busy today if you would like to send more emails my way.”
“No. I’m not going to do that, Bryson.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re busy running your own company. It wouldn’t be fair for me to infringe on your time. I’m already not paying you anything.”
How had she known he was running his own company? He hadn’t told her, so Edith must have filled her in. He wondered what else Edith told her about him. “Doesn’t matter,” he responded. “Send me more emails, okay.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to help you, and I’m pretty good at this, if I say so myself.”
Kalina’s eyes sparkled. He actually wanted to help. She’d completely forgotten how angry she was when she left the café yesterday and how irritated she was that he’d somehow managed to get her number. He genuinely wanted to help her and she appreciated that. “I’ll send you a few.”
“And we’re still meeting at the café this evening, correct?”
“Yes. I’ll be there. Oh, and do me a favor?”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Bring your laptop this time, please.”
Bryson chuckled. “Will do.”
“Alright. I’ll see you later.”
“Yep. Later.”
When Kalina set the phone on her desk, Lizette asked, “What was that about?”
“Bryson wanted me to send him more emails…said he wanted to help me. And I don’t know how he got my number…”
“Well, that’s nice of him to help out. I know you appreciate it.”
“I do,” Kalina said. She glanced outside again and said, “It’s starting to rain now.”
“Uh oh…you know what that means.”
“Yes. More emails.” Kalina grunted and scrubbed her hands down her face. “I better go ahead and send Bryson more of these emails before he changes his mind.”
“Yeah. Good idea.”
CHAPTER 16
“So, how was your day?” Bryson asked as soon as Kalina was sitting comfortably next to him at the café and had opened her laptop, setting it on the table in front of her. She wasn’t dressed up today and her hair was pulled back into a lazy ponytail. No earrings. No make-up. No bangin’ outfit. She was plain, rocking a jean skirt and a yellow shirt.
“It was good. I must’ve answered two hundred emails, but then, two hundred more came in so it almost feels like I didn’t do anything.” She grinned. “Oh, and thank you for taking on more during the day. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And just so you know, I’m not sending you anymore during the day. We can work at the café.”
“If you say so,” he said, withholding a smile.
Kalina looked at him. “Yes. I do say so.” She saw those slender lips of his curve into a full smile. Her eyes landed on his mustache, down to his chiseled chin and back up to his eyes again.
“Yes?” he asked when their gazes held.
“What?” Kalina said.
“You have a question or something?” he asked, mildly amused.
“No.”
“Then why were you staring at me so intently.”
She smiled and returned her eyes back to the laptop. “No reason. Um…let me send you more emails.”
Edith walked over to the table and asked, “Are we drinking coffee this evening?”
“Please,” Bryson responded. “I’ll take a regular with two packs of sugar.”
“And I’ll take a dark roast,” Kalina told her.
“Okay. Coming right up.”
Kalina continued sending Bryson emails and when she’d sent about thirty his way, she picked up her cell and dialed the assisted living facility. When someone answered, she said, “Hi. This is Kalina Cooper. I’m calling to check on my mother…Madeline Cooper.”
“Let me find her nurse for you. Just a sec.”
Kalina held the phone to her ear with her shoulder so she could continue working.
Bryson glanced over at her. The woman had a lot on her plate and was struggling to keep up with it all. She probably would never admit to it, but she was struggling.
“Kalina,” she heard a voice on the phone say.
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Hey, it’s Joan.”
“Hi, Joan. I hope you’re doing well this evening.”
“I’m doing fine and so is your mom. She slept for most of the day. By the way…I was wondering if the doctor discussed with you about switching her to an all-liquid diet.”
Kalina stopped typing, held the phone to her ear with her left hand again and said, “Yes. He mentioned it a month ago, but I haven’t heard anything since. I think he was waiting until it was absolutely necessary.”
“Looks like we’ve reached that point. Beginning tomorrow, we’re going to start spoon-feeding her some Ensure. She’ll still be getting all the nutrients and vitamins she needs every day, but it’ll be in liquid form.”
Kalina closed her eyes. A liquid diet to her meant her mom was nearing death – something she didn’t want to think about but thought about every day since her mother had been in the facility. In a way, she felt like her mother had died a long time ago because of the awful, dreadful illness that took her mind away.
Bryson looked at her. Her eyes were closed as she held the phone to her ear. She looked like she’d gotten some bad news and he wondered if her mother was okay.
“Kalina, are you still there?” Joan asked.
Kalina, fighting back tears, exhaled a long breath before opening her eyes again. She swallowed hard and said, “Yes. I’m here, Joan. I will talk with you more about it on Saturday when I’m there.”
“Okay, sweetie. See you later.”
“Alright. Bye.”
Kalina placed the cell on the table next to her laptop and rubbed her eyes. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back,” she said standing up.
“Okay,” Bryson responded.
Kalina walked behind the counter to find her aunt and said, “Edith, I called the facility to check on mama and they said they were switching her to an all-liquid diet now,” Kalina said with tears in her eyes.
“Yes, we knew they would do it soon. Madeline hasn’t been eating much and she needs h
er nutrition.”
“I know,” Kalina said, pinching the corner of her eyes while forcing tears in.
Edith walked towards her with open arms and hugged her tight. “You know it’s best for her right now.”
“Yes. I know…it just seems like…like this is it.”
Edith unwrapped her arms from around her niece and said, “Sweetheart, Madeline has been dealing with this disease for a long time. The doctor has already warned us that she was in the final stages of it.”
“I know. You’re right,” Kalina said, even though it was hard to accept.
“Relax. Breathe. Think positive thoughts, okay.”
Kalina nodded. “I’ll try, Edith.”
“Alright, honey. I’ll be over there with your coffee in a minute.”
Kalina left from behind the counter and walked back over to the table, joining Bryson.
“Everything okay?” he asked, seeing sadness in her eyes.
She nodded and continued with the emails.
Edith had brought over their coffee and when Bryson took a sip of his, he glanced at Kalina. She was staring blankly at the computer screen again. Her hands were in typing position but her fingers didn’t move. She didn’t blink. She only stared.
“So I realize I haven’t told you anything about myself,” he said, taking her out of her trance.
She turned to look at him. “You don’t have to. It’s not like we’re going to be around each other for an extended period of time anyway.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re going to be working together on a daily basis so you should at least know the basics.”
“Such as?”
“Well, I’m thirty-eight. Like you, I’m also an entrepreneur. I own Blackstone Tree Service.”
“You own a tree service?” Kalina asked. Edith had already told her this, but she didn’t believe it.
“Yes. Why did you ask it that way…like you don’t believe me?”
“You don’t look like the outdoorsy type…you look more white-collar.”
“Well, I am more white-collar now. I spend most of my days at the office. However, when I started the business eight years ago, I was out in the field all the time. I still go out from time-to-time if we’re understaffed or after storms when demand is high.”
“Interesting,” Kalina said. “How do you like working for yourself?”
“It’s wonderful…the American Dream, right?”
“I suppose.”
Bryson clicked on send, successfully answering another email. “I have three brothers and one sister. You already know Everson.”
“Yes,” she said, typing again. “I know Everson and June.”
Bryson waited a moment to see if she would expound on how she knew them, but she hadn’t wanted to talk much about it yesterday and she didn’t seem too eager to talk about it today either. So he continued, “I’ve been divorced for two years.”
Kalina stopped typing, turning to look at him. “Really?”
“Yes. We were married for six years and she cheated on me.”
With eyebrows raised, Kalina asked, “She cheated on you?”
“Yes. Apparently, the affair had been going on for a few months before I found out about it.”
Shifting her body towards him and using the backrest of her chair to rest her arms, she said, “That must’ve been devastating.”
Bryson smiled uncomfortably. It was devastating, but he’d done a good job hiding that fact. “The crazy thing is, I never wanted to marry. I was content with being single. Then, one day, I felt the sudden longing for a family…a wife, children, a dog…the whole nine and I met her around the same time. We dated for a short while then we got married.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Hmm…um…yes and no. At times, I feel like, if I would’ve listened to my intuition and avoided marriage in the first place, I would’ve saved myself the trouble. On the flip side, I’m glad I got to experience it because now, I know what love is not…guess you can say I took it as a learning experience.”
“So that’s why you’re so good at answering these questions.”
He smirked. “Yes, that would be why.”
Kalina took a sip of coffee. “What about children?”
“We didn’t have children, and now I’m glad we didn’t. That would’ve complicated the divorce.”
Kalina nodded. “Yes…very much so.”
“You told me you’ve never been in love,” Bryson said.
“I haven’t.”
“Not ever?”
She grinned. “No. Why is that so hard for you to believe?”
“Well, you’re smart, beautiful…there must’ve been some men after you.”
“There was, but I shut them down. I didn’t have time to date. I started college right after high school, and in college I started the blog. I spent all of my time working. Plus, I—”
“You what?” he asked when she paused, trying to keep her engaged in conversation.
“Never mind,” she responded. She hesitated to talk to him about her personal life, but why? After all, he had been sharing personal things with her.
Bryson frowned a bit, removing the irritation from his forehead before she could see it.
For the next fifteen minutes, they both worked quietly. Out of nowhere, Kalina said, “I don’t have good role model when it comes to love and relationships.”
Finally, Bryson thought, feeling a wave of relief that she was opening up to him. “What do you mean?”
“My father, if you can even call him that, left my mom and I.”
“That’s terrible,” Bryson said.
“Yeah, what’s even more terrible is why he left.”
“Don’t tell me there was another woman.”
“No, well not in the beginning, anyway. Um…he left when my mother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease.”
“Wow. I’m truly sorry to hear that, Kalina.”
“Thanks,” she said, flashing a lazy smile. “I was thirteen at the time. I knew something was wrong with my mother, but I didn’t know what it was. She was forgetting things she should’ve known, things she’d been doing routinely for years. Finally, the diagnosis came and my father said he couldn’t watch her deteriorate into nothing. Said he couldn’t watch the woman he loved lose her mind.”
Bryson shook his head.
Kalina sighed heavily. “All I could think about was, if he really loved her, wouldn’t he have stayed and did everything in his power to take care of her instead of running away? How is that love?”
Bryson quietly thought on what she asked.
Kalina continued, “So from that point forward, I always considered love to be something tangible…something you can pick up and throw away at any given time, at least when it comes to relationships between two people who say they’re in love. So no, I’ve never been in love. I love my mother and I love my aunt Edith, but I’ve never loved anyone romantically. Why fall in love when it comes with no guarantees and is almost certain to end in heartbreak?”
“Seems your father has given you a negative view of what love is.”
Kalina shook her head. “No. He painted a very clear picture of what love is. You want me to break it down for you?”
“Yes, break it down for me.”
“Love is being with a person for years, saying vows before God to this person and leaving them at the very moment they need you. Boom. There you have it.”
“That’s not what love is, Kalina.”
“That’s what it is to me. Perception is reality, right?”
“Um…not in all cases.”
“Well, in this case, it definitely is to me.”
Bryson opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.
“What?” Kalina asked when she saw his hesitancy to speak.
“Nothing.”
“What is it? We’re in the middle of a conversation. You can’t just stop talking.”
Bryson chuckled. “I’m trying to check mys
elf today, Kalina. I don’t want another repeat of last night.”
“I’m not going anywhere tonight…have too much work to do. Now continue. What were you going to say?”
“I was going to ask a question.”
“Then ask me.”
“How are you able to answer these questions from your readers when your perception of love is so flawed?”
“My perception is not flawed. It’s my perception. With that being said, my views do not prevent me from answering these questions about love because I’ve studied human behavior…majored in it. Also, I do a lot of research.”
“That’s all fine and good, but until you’ve experience love firsthand—”
“And have my heart broken? No thanks. I watched my mother weep, not cry, but weep and wail for days when my father left. That’s when I decided I would never put myself in that predicament, and I haven’t.”
Bryson grimaced. He typed another email before asking, “So how is she doing?” He’d asked the question before he realized it. Edith had warned him about bringing up Kalina’s mother in conversation. And he even knew not to mention anything about her again, especially after watching Kalina bolt out of the café last night. Still, the question had rolled off his tongue as easily as the coffee slid down his throat.
“Who?” Kalina asked.
“Oh, never mind. Sorry.”
“Are you asking about my mother, Bryson?”
He looked at her. “I was, but, like I said…never mind.”
Kalina finished typing an email then said, “I don’t like to talk about her, but since I’ve discussed her already, um…she’s not doing all that well. She’s lost a lot of weight.”
“And she’s in assisted living?”
“Yes,” Kalina said as she worked. “I go to see her every Saturday. Of course she doesn’t know who I am. She never recognizes me. And you want to know what the messed up part is.”
“What’s that?”
“She always asks for Stanley.”
“Your father?”
“Yes. Amazingly, she asks for him by name. The man who left her heartbroken is the one name she remembers. I swear I want to scream every time I hear her say that man’s name.”
“So I take it you don’t have a good relationship with your father.”
