Making Time

by C. J. Harte

  “Why now?”

  “Because I’m miserable without you. I didn’t even know I wasn’t happy until you. I’ve fallen madly in love with you. I can’t think. I can’t work. No, change that. I don’t want to work. I want to be with you.”

  “You don’t want to work? I’m speechless. You’ve never said anything. I even asked you what was going on between us and you said we were friends.”

  “I know. I’ve been so confused. To be honest, I didn’t trust what I was feeling. At first, I thought it was just lust, but it’s so much more. Marry me?” Mia was hesitating. “Wait! One more thing. I do remember your father saying something about his bucket list. He wanted to walk you down the aisle. And I want him to have that chance.”

  The fact that Teri remembered her father’s wish touched Mia. She felt tears come unbidden. She put her arms around Teri’s neck. “You’ve been so wonderful. Thank you.” Teri’s embrace was tentative.

  “Is that a yes or a no?”

  “It’s a ‘Can I think about it?’ answer.”

  “I’ll beg.”

  Mia kissed Teri on the check. “Please don’t beg. I can’t give you an answer. I’m still trying to deal with all the changes in my life.” Mia’s life had been tossed into a tornado and the winds just increased. Teri wants to marry me? “This is definitely unexpected.”

  “So does this mean I have a chance?”

  “I’ve learned no door is ever closed as long as you’re alive. Come on. Let’s see what’s for dinner.”

  Mia’s emotions were roiling. There was no doubt in the sincerity of Teri’s offer. It was so sudden. Just as she had finally let go of her infatuation with Teri, Mia found Teri asking for her hand in marriage. Was this some obscene, perverted joke? Mia doubted it.

  The remainder of the evening Teri was both attentive and affectionate. She would walk by and touch Mia’s arm. When they were sitting next to each other at dinner, she was frequently feeding Mia or teasing her. She helped with the dishes and then sat next to Mia afterward. Mia liked the attention but wondered whether Teri would be there the next day or the day after that. After all, work was always more important.

  By nine, Mia was alone with Teri. The rest of her family was sleeping.

  “I’ve always wanted short hair. It looks great on you.”

  “Teri, I’m confused. You and I haven’t been able to spend a day together without arguing. You hardly know me.”

  “We’ve spent most of the last month together and only argued three times. I know how wonderful you are. More, I know how bare my life is without you.”

  “What kind of music do I like? What are my favorite foods? What have your parents said?”

  “I plan on telling my parents tomorrow. I don’t care what they say.”

  Mia was stunned. Could Teri really do something without her parents’ permission? She leaned her head against the back of the couch. “I’m tired tonight. I have an early day. I’m going to call it a night.”

  “Do you want me to leave?” Teri was stroking her hair.

  “Yes.” Teri felt so good. “No.” Mia sat up. “I don’t know. I don’t understand.”

  “Tell me what you want me to do. I’ll stay or leave.”

  Could Teri change? Was she capable of caring for someone? “If I ask you to stay, can you do that as a friend?”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “Right now, I just want to get some sleep. Stay if you want. I’m not making any promises. We’ll just see how things go.” Mia sat up. “Come on. Let’s make up a bed for you. You may need to get some clothes.”

  Teri smiled. “I’ll be all right for tonight. Thank you.” Teri kissed Mia on the cheek.

  Mia was determined to not get her hopes up. She would trust what Teri did.

  *

  A week had gone by, and every evening Teri was at the house shortly after five. She changed clothes and played with Michel or helped with dinner. After her parents were in bed, they sat up and talked. Mia was enjoying the time with Teri more and more. “Who are you?”

  “I’m someone who loves you.” Teri put her arm along the back of the couch. “And I’m happy to be sitting right here with you.”

  “Are you moving in or are you just staying for a while?”

  Teri leaned closer and kissed Mia. It was such a gentle kiss that Mia wondered if she imagined it. When she opened her eyes, Teri was inches away. Teri was waiting for her to make the next move.

  “I can’t do this.” The hurt look on Teri’s face revealed so much about the intensity of Teri’s feelings. Mia rushed to finish her thought. “The last time you kissed me that’s what you said. Why did you say that? What’s changed?”

  Teri looked confused.

  “I was staying at your place when the Gastons were visiting.”

  Teri nodded. “I remember. I woke you up. That was the day I realized how much I wanted you. It wasn’t just about sex.”

  Mia’s eyes were wide. “What was it about? I felt you were saying that I was interfering with your work.”

  “No. I was attracted to you from that first day I saw you. That day, however, I realized I didn’t want one night. I wanted lots of nights. I wanted you, and I just didn’t know what to do.”

  “I don’t understand. You wanted me?”

  “Work has been my life for most of the last fifteen years. Suddenly, I realized I wanted you in my life almost as much as I wanted to go to work. I couldn’t just want one night when I wanted much more. For the first time, I was actually wondering what it would be like to be in a relationship. A relationship with you.”

  Mia was quiet for some time. “Back to my question. Are you moving in or just staying for a while?”

  “I’ll do whichever you want. I want to stay. I want to see if I can convince you that I love you. I want to find out what all this relationship business is all about. If you ask me to leave, I will.” Teri’s voice broke. She looked away.

  “Teri, look at me.” She waited until Teri’s gaze was steady. “I need to know what you want to do. Are you staying or just visiting? I need you to tell me.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Every time she brought more clothes over, Teri asked herself the same question. “I’m trying to figure that out. I know that the past week I’ve been happier than I thought possible. Not only you, but your parents and Michel.”

  “What about your parents?”

  Teri shook her head. “They’re not happy, but I don’t care. I go to work, but now I can’t wait to leave and be back here with you.” She looked down at her hands, now restless in her lap. “I don’t know how to have a girlfriend, much less a wife. You challenge me. I want to do things differently.” She finally looked at Mia. “I even miss finding Lego blocks in my shoes.”

  Mia laughed. “Your timing couldn’t be worse. For half my life I’ve had a crush on you. When Natalie came into my life, I began to think I could love someone else. And I’ve been working hard to get over you. It’s obvious I haven’t succeeded as well as I thought.” She became serious. “I need to trust you. I need to know you’re going to be there. Natalie taught me how important that is. Especially now. I have a son, a parent with heart disease, and a parent who is dying. I don’t want to fight with you. It’s taking every ounce of my reserve to get up each day. I lost Natalie. I’m losing my dad. I can’t take any more losses. If you can’t commit for the long term, then we don’t have a chance.”

  Mia turned away. Teri saw the tears forming before Mia hid her face. Bren and Jeremy were right. She hadn’t taken care of anyone except herself. She’d never worried about anyone’s feelings. Relationships, she was discovering, were definitely harder than she ever imagined. She preferred the black-and-white of her work world. It was easier, but it didn’t make her happy anymore.

  “I don’t want to fight either. I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through. In fact, I don’t understand how you get through each day. I want…I want to be part of your life. I know this is
a hard time, and I’d like to do whatever I can to make it better.”

  Mia’s tears tore at Teri. She didn’t know what to do. She tentatively touched Mia’s shoulder. Mia turned and leaned against her. Teri held her.

  “Sorry. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed.” Mia sat back, pulling herself from Teri’s embrace. “I need to get some sleep.” She kissed Teri on the cheek and left.

  Teri watched Mia walk away. The emptiness in her arms was nothing compared to that in her heart.

  Teri was alone. She realized she had been alone for a long time. “Why didn’t I care before?”

  She went to bed. Alone.

  *

  As soon as she arrived at the office, her father met her. “Theresa, we need to talk.” Teri nodded and led him into her office.

  “You’re here rather early.”

  “I feel this is important, and I want an answer today.” He sat on the couch in the office. “Sit here.” He pointed to the other end of the couch. “It’s almost October and the Milton deal is not anywhere near closed. Your mother and I received a notice about Jeremy’s wedding to some girl in California. We don’t know her parents or who her family is. I came in yesterday afternoon at four thirty and you’d already left. I’ve never known you to not carry out my orders. What the hell is going on?”

  Teri stood up. Time to decide. That was easy. “Jeremy and Elaine love each other, and I will not interfere in that, regardless of what you or Mother want. The plan all along was to complete the Milton acquisition by the end of the year. At this point, I’m actually looking at other possibilities because having Pamela Milton as an executive in our new company is a deal breaker as far as I’m concerned.” Teri took a deep breath and continued before her father had a chance to protest. “And I’m leaving work at the end of the work day. I have asked Mia Daniels to marry me, and I’m spending my non-work time with her and her family.”

  Her father stood up. “Have you lost your mind? You’ve really let me down, and I’m beginning to think you no longer have what it takes to be the chief operating officer. I had been thinking of announcing my retirement at the end of the year and promoting you. Now, I may need to find someone else. You have until the end of the day to make up your mind. There are plenty of the right girls for you to marry. Girls who understand how important work is. Obviously, Mia Daniels doesn’t. I want an answer by three. Either you want to be C.E.O. or you don’t want to work here anymore.”

  Her father turned to leave. Teri had wanted the C.E.O. title for too many years. Now, she wanted something, or someone, more. “I’ll give you my answer now. If taking over your role means giving up Mia and her family, I’m turning the offer down. Jeremy will marry Elaine, and Bren and I will be there. Pamela Milton will not serve as a vice president as long as I am chief operating officer.”

  He stopped at the door and stared at her. “Then you may not be in the job much longer.” The door slammed as he left.

  The rest of the morning went much better, but Teri couldn’t concentrate. At the afternoon staffing with all the top-level managers, she kept staring at Bren and Jeremy and wondered how she had lost touch with them. She wondered what she would do when she no longer worked for Stanton Enterprises.

  “We’ll meet again next week. Good meeting.” She turned to Bren and Jeremy. “Can you two stay after the meeting?” They nodded.

  “Is everything okay?” Jeremy asked.

  “Why are you asking?”

  “Because you said good meeting.”

  Teri sighed. “Work is fine. I just wanted to talk to you both. I realized that we haven’t spent much time together.” Bren started to speak. Teri put up her hand. “I mean outside of work. We were close once, and I don’t know what happened.”

  “I’ll tell you what happened.” Jeremy’s voice was filled with regret. “You chose work over us. You chose to do whatever our parents wanted over us. You chose you over us. I’m damn tired of being a Stanton.” He spun around in his seat. Teri wanted to speak but sat quietly and waited. Finally, he looked at her. “I’m done working for Stanton Enterprises.” He started for the door.

  “Jeremy, wait.” Teri met him at the door. “Please. I’m sorry. I’m trying to change. What can I do?”

  “You can start by telling our parents that I plan on marrying Elaine, no matter how much they threaten me.”

  “I understand. Please don’t leave.” Teri walked with her brother back to the table. “They’re giving me the same story.”

  “What do you mean?” Bren asked.

  “I told Father that I was going to your wedding and that I plan to marry Mia.”

  “You what?” Bren and Jeremy said in unison.

  “Since when?” Jeremy asked.

  “I asked her last week.”

  “What did she say?” Bren asked.

  “She said she needs to think about it.” Teri told them about that evening and her conversations with Mia. “I don’t know how to win her, but I’m not giving up.”

  “What did our parents say?” Bren seemed almost excited. “I can’t imagine Father wanting to come back to run the company.”

  “He’s threatened to remove me as C.O.O. and hire someone outside. They’ve been insisting for over a year that I date the daughter of one of their friends. They’re sure I’ll come to my senses.”

  “Great!”

  “Great? Do you have any idea what it’s like to listen to them every day?”

  “I do,” Jeremy said.

  Bren was smiling. “Between the three of us, we own thirty percent of the company. We only need to talk our uncle and aunt into supporting us and we have majority voting control.”

  “What’re you talking about?” Teri looked at Bren and wondered if she were hallucinating.

  “One of the first things I did when I became legal counsel was to divide Dad’s share so that we each had ten percent and he had thirty percent. It was part of the agreement for me to come to work here. Father felt that having some ownership was motivation. Aunt Betty and Uncle Joe each have twenty percent since they refused to work for the company. That was Nana’s influence.”

  Jeremy and Teri started laughing. “You mean we can unseat Father?” Jeremy was grinning from ear to ear.

  “What makes you think our aunt and uncle will support us over their brother?” Teri asked.

  “Well,” Bren started, “Aunt Betty has been living in my condo in South Beach with me since her husband left her for a much younger woman and Father refused to help his own sister. Uncle Joe has refused to talk to Father since he refused to help Aunt Betty. He and his wife come down to Miami twice a year to spend a couple of weeks with our aunt.”

  Teri shook her head. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

  “You were Father’s shadow. I didn’t trust you.”

  “I’m sorry. No more secrets?” Jeremy and Bren nodded.

  “I’ll talk to our aunt and uncle,” Bren said. “You two be happy meanwhile.”

  “I love you. Both of you,” Teri said.

  “That’s the first time you’ve said that since we were kids.” Bren hugged her. “I love you, too.”

  “Jeremy? If you want to do something else, I’ll help you however I can. I’d ask you to reconsider leaving, though. I’m going to need both of you to run this company. I want to spend more time with Mia. Her father isn’t doing well. And I just want to be with her.”

  “Well, let us know if we can help.” Jeremy smiled at her.

  Teri was grateful for the offer but wondered what it would take to convince Mia.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  Teri hadn’t been over in two days. She had called and said there was an emergency at work but would be in touch. Mia hadn’t heard from her since her call on Thursday. Now it was Sunday and not even a text message. Mia was wondering if Teri could put a relationship before work.

  She sat down in her office to pay bills when she realized she hadn’t received any information about her payments for the house. Mia was s
ure she hadn’t misplaced any bills. Why hadn’t she asked Teri? She knew. The whole process of moving back to the U.S. had occurred so quickly that she hadn’t thought about it. “Damn! Now I have to call her.” Mia sighed and picked up her cell phone.

  Teri answered after several rings. “Sorry, I’m having some trouble with the Bluetooth in my car. I’ve missed talking to you.”

  Mia ignored the last comment. “Teri, I haven’t received a payment book for the house.”

  “I’m outside. We’ll talk about it when I get in.”

  Mia heard the key turn in the door. She hoped Teri was in a good mood.

  “You look ready for bed.” Teri sat at the table. She patted Mia’s hand. “Don’t worry about the house. I paid cash for it. I didn’t want you to worry about payments.”

  The good feeling from the day was slipping away. “Teri, that’s very nice, but I can’t accept that. I can’t live here and not pay rent or the mortgage.”

  “Mia, I’m trying to make your life easier. You already have so much to worry about.”

  “Thank you, but I can take care of myself and my family. We can’t live in your house. I thought you had arranged for me to rent or buy the house.”

  Teri slammed her hand on the table. “What’s wrong with me buying the house? What’s wrong with me paying for anything? Don’t you know how much I love you?”

  “There’s no need to raise your voice. The family is sleeping.”

  Teri took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I don’t doubt your abilities. In fact, you amaze me every single day. I just want to help.”

  Mia relaxed. She didn’t want a fight. “Thank you again. I appreciate that, but I don’t want to be obligated or for you to feel obligated.”

  Teri sat back in her chair. “Obligated? Mia, I asked you to marry me. I’m in love with you. I want us to share a life together.” A look of pain crossed Teri’s face. “Do you dislike me that much?”