by JD Strand
As she always did when visiting a site, she took a few pictures with her phone. She liked to have a record of the progress. Having the workers see her taking pictures of what they had done or not done also seemed to motivate them to work faster.
She liked visiting construction just for the fact that it was tangible proof that what she did had results.
After walking around for a few minutes, Elise realized that she had to head downtown now to be on time for the meeting. As she walked quickly out the front door, the young woman could feel the eyes of the construction workers on her. More out of curiosity than irritation, she wanted to turn around and ask them what they were looking at. While Elise knew that she was attractive, she had always felt that the whole game between men and women was a little silly.
This attitude probably explained why she had never been in a serious long-term relationship. Her record to date was two months with a coworker named Kyle. The awkward outcome of that situation certainly did not motivate her to rush into anything similar. The fact that she still had to work with Kyle was a constant reminder of her bad history of selecting partners. A familiar voice broke her away from memories of her past mistakes.
“Hey! It’s the mysterious vanishing woman!”
Elise looked up to see Cody standing among the protesters.
Despite her best efforts, she could not help but to smile at him. She immediately felt childish. Cody smiled back and walked closer to her.
“What are you doing here?” Elise asked him.
“Well, I was going to ask you the same thing,” he replied. “I’m here to try to keep big chains from ruining the special vibe of this place.”
The image of the young man getting out of his car with the surfboard strapped to the roof and now mentioning the “special vibe of this place” made Elise smile. “Well, take care, surfer dude. Tell Penny hello for me.”
The grin that Elise was really starting to enjoy curled Cody’s mouth and brought out his dimples as he said, “You got it, mystery lady.”
At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to stay and chat with him. Maybe it was because she was dreading her presentation or maybe it was that Elise enjoyed Cody’s company more than anyone else she could think of right then. She started to say something more to him but stopped herself and turned quickly to leave.
Back in her car, Elise felt ridiculous. “What are you doing, Elise?” She asked herself. “This is the last thing you need right now. This project is your chance to shine, show them what you can do, have the kind of future you’ve always wanted. The last thing you should be doing is acting like a lovesick kid with a crush on some sexy surfer.”
Once again, Elise shook her head as if the motion would somehow wipe the thoughts out of her mind. It seemed to work as the images of Cody were replaced by the PowerPoint slides of her presentation to the San Francisco chamber of commerce. Despite having gone over and over the speech, she felt better repeating it once again.
Anyone passing her on the freeway would have thought the woman was talking to herself. But by the time she pulled into the parking lot near city hall, Elise felt energized and confident. A half hour later, she was standing in a large conference room with a long table in front of eight members of the chamber of commerce.
“Let me start off by thanking all of you for giving me some of your time today,” Elise smiled at her audience and quickly won them over. She never felt more comfortable than when the research and preparation were finished and it was time for action. Her presentation covered every possible concern from how Smart-Shop valued the unique character of the area to the ways the store would positively contribute to the neighborhood and city.
She finished her presentation and waited for questions from the people around the table. To her pleasure, there were only smiles. An older Asian woman leaned over to say something to the young black man sitting next to her. They both looked over at her and nodded energetically. Elise smiled back at them and said, "Again, thank you for your time today. I would also like to invite all of you to take a walkthrough of the new store Wednesday morning at ten o'clock."
Before leaving, she walked around the room and shook hands. Elise left the meeting feeling very confident that the new store had nothing but smooth sailing ahead.
Chapter 5
For the first time in a long time, she felt like she had something to celebrate. The only problem was Elise had no one with whom to celebrate. Her life, by design, was focused upon her work. That life little time to develop social ties. Other than her sisters, she had no friends outside of the office.
Her mind flashed back to the image of Cody in the group of protesters and then Cody climbing out of his SUV and then Cody sitting in the coffee shop with Penny. Without really considering what she was doing, Elise drove back to see if Cody was still with the protesters in front of the store.
The street was pretty busy in the early afternoon, and she had to drive a bit before finding a place to park. The parking spot was nine or ten blocks away from the store, and it was not the best area of the city. She sat in the car and looked around her. The buildings were rundown and covered in various designs of sprayed graffiti. An old woman pushed a shopping cart loaded with old blankets and a small dog down the sidewalk. A pair of rough-looking men were stood a few yards away looking directly at her. In fact, if it had been after dark, Elise would not even have felt comfortable driving through the neighborhood much less getting out of the car.
Elise started the car and had just begun pulling away from the curb when she saw Penny coming down the sidewalk. It took her a moment to be sure that the little girl holding the hand of a large black man was indeed the same little girl she had met in the coffee shop. As if she could feel the eyes upon her, Penny suddenly looked directly at Elise and her face lit up. She immediately began running toward Elise's car. The big man next to her look stunned at first but then trotted after her.
Elise got out of the car to meet the small girl. The men on the sidewalk kept watching as Penny practically jumped into Elise's arms. "Elise! What are you doing here?" Without pausing for Elise to answer, she asked "Did you come looking for me? Why did you leave Cody and me at the coffee shop?"
Elise started to answer but then noticed the large black man standing nearby listening and watching. "Oh, this is my friend Valentine, but he's not like one of those cards with hearts and stuff," Penny introduced her companion with a giggle. Valentine looked down at the little girl and smiled. He then raised his eyes to Elise, and the smile vanished.
"Don't worry, Valentine. Elise is nice," Penny said, noticing his less-than-friendly expression.
"Nice to meet you, Valentine," Elise said and offered her hand.
The large, black hand nearly swallowed the small white one.
Penny and Valentine were looking at her curiously. "I'm here to look at the new store, and I thought maybe I could give you and Cody a tour." She looked over at Valentine and added, "Of course, you could come too, Mr. Valentine."
The rumble of laughter rolled out of the man like a burst of thunder. "Not Mr. Valentine, just Valentine," he replied in a much softer voice than Elise expected. "Thanks anyways, but I got other things I have to do." A shadow crossed the man's face that made Elise wonder about the other things he had to do. "Penny, you okay?"
The little girl nodded and exclaimed, "Love you, Valentine!"
The big man looked embarrassed as he quietly said, "Love you too, Penny." Valentine looked once more at Elise as if judging whether he could trust her, before turning quickly and walking away.
She knelt down to Penny’s level. "So now that I answered your questions, how about you tell me what you're doing here?" Elise said, confused that Cody would allow her to roam the streets without supervision. "Does your dad know you're here?" Penny stared at her with confusion.
In her mind, Elise was asking herself, "What kind of a man just goes to protest without even taking care of his daughter?"
Suddenly, Penny's expression
of confusion turned to a smile. "Oh, you think Cody is my daddy!" The little girl started giggling and didn't stop for a long time. "Elise, you're so silly."
She locked the car, feeling a little unsure about its safety. Her eyes automatically went to the men who had been watching her. Strangely, they now seemed to have no interest in her. Elise wondered if Valentines appearance had anything to do with it.
“Okay, honey, let’s go see if we can find Cody,” she said as Penny took her hand.
“Okay,” the little girl said happily. “I like taking a walk with you.”
As the two of them passed the woman pushing the shopping cart, Penny yelled, “Hello, Millie!”
The woman looked around as if startled. The expression of surprise seemed to highlight her wild, uncombed gray hair and bloodshot eyes. She looked around in every direction until she caught sight of the little girl. “Oh, Penny! How’re yuh child?” Before getting an answer, the old woman turned her attention to Elise and regarded her with some suspicion.
“I’m fine,” Penny announced. “Millie this is my friend Elise.” The little girl’s energy and enthusiasm was contagious, and Elise could not help but smile as she shook Millie’s dirty hand.
“Nice to meet you Millie,” she greeted the old woman.
Apparently, Elise’s sincerity was in question as the woman regarded her a moment with some suspicion. Finally, she nodded, shook hands briefly, and said, “Nice to meet yous too.” The woman continued to stare at Elise as if expecting something more.
“Okay, we have to get going now!” Penny interrupted, taking Elise’s hand and pulling her away.
As soon as they were a block away, Penny pulled Elise down closer to her and quietly said, “Sorry, but Millie doesn’t hear so good, and… well, she can be kind of strange sometimes.” She giggled, and Elise could not help but to join her.
As they walked along, Penny greeted several people and introduced Elise.
As they neared the new store, Elise asked the question that had been on her mind since seeing the little girl that morning, “Penny, why are you out here by yourself?”
She tilted her head slightly and crinkled her nose in confusion. “This where I live,” she said, looking around. “And I’m not by myself. I’m with you, and you met some of my friends.”
Now, it was Elise’s turn to be confused, but she just smiled and kept walking along.
As they got closer to the new Smart-Shop, the sound of protestors could be heard. “Hey! Ho! Smart-Shop has got to go!”
“What are they singing about?” Penny asked.
“Well, those people don’t like new things coming into their neighborhood,” she answered.
“They don’t want a new store to go to?” The little girl asked with disbelieve before declaring, “That’s silly!”
“I agree,” Elise said aloud while thinking, Leave it to a child to see things most clearly.
She immediately saw Cody in the middle of the protesters and walked quickly toward him. When she was a few yards from him, Elise glanced over at the store front. The sight caused her to freeze in her tracks
There was Stewart Olson talking to Vic Larsen, the construction foreman. By the way, Stewart was gesturing at the protesters, it was obvious that he was not happy.
Elise felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Once she recovered, she told Penny to go to Cody.
“Aren’t you coming?” The little girl asked, looking as though she was going to cry.
“Sure, but I have to go somewhere first,” Elise answered, hoping that she wasn’t telling her a lie.
As soon as Penny started towards Cody, Elise turned toward the store. A moment later, she heard the little girl call her. She turned back around to see her.
“Love you, Elise!” She called and waved.
Elise felt a huge lump in her throat and had to wait a moment before replying, “Love you too, Penny.”
Cody watched with some curiosity as Elise walked to the store and Penny came to him.
Elise tried not to think about the scene behind her as she approached Stewart Olson.
He smiled and moved toward her. “Elise, I hear that you knocked it out of the park this morning!”
As usual, she felt uncomfortable getting praise and tried to change the subject. “When did you get back?” Elise asked.
Olson smiled at her obvious effort to deflect his compliment. “Just got back and decided to stop by on the way home from the airport. In fact, the suitcases and Theresa are still in the car.”
She looked over at Stewart’s car to see the frowning face of his wife as she watched from the passenger seat. If she had ever seen the woman smile, Elise could not remember it.
She turned back to Stewart and asked, “How’s your father doing?”
Stewart’s face tightened slightly as he answered, “He didn’t make it. By the time we got to Chicago, he was already gone.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Stewart,” she said and reached out to touch his shoulder.
The man quickly moved away from her touch. “It was to be expected. He was a tough old bird, but he never took care of himself.” His mouth curled into a smile. “Right now, I am more concerned about these protesters.” He nodded toward the crowd about twenty yards from the front of the store. “We need to get rid of these lowlifes.”
Elise started to say something about this attack on the protesters but decided it was better to bite her tongue.
Stewart was glaring out at the crowd, and Elise’s eyes followed his out the window. The protesters had signs with various comments like Keep Chains Out of the Haight and Haight-Ashbury is a Greed-Free Zone. She searched for Cody and Penny but could not find them.
“I will make some calls this afternoon. I know a few people downtown who should be able to get me a restraining order by tomorrow.” Stewart looked at Elise for some comment. She managed just a half-hearted nod. “Anyway, we should be able to get them pushed back 200 yards, which would put them across the street.”
A thought occurred to her. “The board is scheduled to be here for a walkthrough on Wednesday so--”
“So we need to get rid of those hippies before then,” Stewart interrupted.
"Maybe we could get a firehouse and spray them into the gutter!” Vic Larsen had snuck up behind them and added his thought.
Elise looked at the two men and suddenly felt sad. She turned to look back at the crowd and search for Cody and Penny. Finally, she spotted them off to the side of the crowd.
Penny was sitting on a wooden crate which had been left at the edge of the parking lot. It was clear that she was unhappy. Cody knelt next to her stroking her long red hair. They both looked toward the store, and Elise wondered if they could see her. At that moment, she hoped that they could not.
“So tell me about the meeting,” Stewart commented.
Thankful for the distraction, she began detailing the events of the morning. By reviewing everything that had happened at city hall, Elise felt that she regained her sense of purpose and priorities. Her talent for staying focused and pushing everything else out of her mind was put to full use. In a matter of moments, the young businesswoman had brushed aside feelings of guilt about Penny. Her normal feelings of confidence took over, and her smile returned.
By the time she finished talking to Stewart and walking around the site, an hour had passed.
"Leave it to Stewart to get me back on track," Elise thought.
A few minutes later, Theresa pushed through the front door. "Stewart, it is time to go!" She commanded.
The tension in the room instantly increased, and Stewart's behavior became much more formal toward Elise.
"Hello, Theresa," she said cheerfully.
Theresa Olson looked at Elise as if she were looking at something stuck to the bottom of her shoe. "Yes, hello, Ms. Warren."
The dismissive attitude was not missed by Elise, but she smiled politely.
"Sorry, Theresa," Stewart apologized. "Elise and I were just finishin
g up." He looked toward her and said, "Okay then, I will see you tomorrow in the office." He immediately went to his wife and held the door for her.
Chapter 6
Elise watched as they drove away. She wasn't quite sure what she was feeling at that moment. The elation she had been feeling earlier was completely gone. To be honest, for the first time that she could remember, Elise was not sure exactly what to do next. It was already four o'clock. It seemed pointless to head back to the office this late in the day.
She was still trying to decide what to do when an image of Cody and Penny flashed back in her mind. The feeling of guilt also returned. However, this time Elise was not overcome by it. Instead, she felt a bit irritated.
"Come on, Elise," she scolded herself. "Get your head back to business."
However, she soon realized that no amount of scolding was enough to keep the thoughts away for long. She decided that the only way to end this silliness was to replace her thought with reality. It was like confronting ones fears. Once the thing that causes the fear is faced it loses its power.
If she simply spent some time with Cody and Penny, she would quickly realize that they had no place in her well-planned future. A homeless child and some surfer dude were most certainly not going to be a part of her life. The idea of it made her chuckle. Still she could not deny the fact that the pair had taken up residence in her brain.
Without considering it any further, she went out and started looking through the crowd of protesters which seemed to be growing. Cody and Penny were nowhere to be seen. Elise considered asking someone in the crowd where they had gone but thought better of it.
The coffee shop seemed a good place to look, so that is where she headed. As she walked, Elise went over how the scene would play.
“Cody, we need to talk,” she says as she quickly approaches the table at the back of the shop.
The boyish surfer looks up her and grins stupidly. “Whoa! What’s up? You sound pretty gnarly, dude.”
The idea that she had been infatuated with this man/boy with no ambition beyond catching the next big wave seemed absolutely laughable. Elise could not believe that she even had to make a point of telling him that there was no place in her life for him.
