A Family Affair

by Marilyn McPherson

Chapter Fourteen

  Desperately hoping for a friendly reception, Colleen entered the revolving glass doors of Satinol Cosmetics. She moved slowly, supporting a sore left arm which ached with every step. Back at the train station, she had foolishly made a mad dash to board the train as its doors were closing. As a result, she had been temporarily caught, her arm squashed by the heavy doors. This had amused a group of young boys who sniggered as she pushed her way inside, cursing at the train in a loud voice and nursing her sore arm.

  Feeling uncomfortable and out of place in the foyer of Satinol, Colleen spotted a large directory for the building and quickly shuffled over to it, dragging her bag on the ground behind her.

  She had barely begun to scan the large notice board when all of a sudden, there was a hand on her shoulder and a fierce, deep voice from behind, “Ma’am, can I help you?”

  Colleen spun around to face a very tall and fair-skinned security officer. He kept his hand firmly on her shoulder and Colleen realised that he was probably not here to help her, after all. “No, I do not need help, thank you,” she replied.

  The security guard was not deterred, and went on, “Ma’am, I'm going to have to escort you from the building. Please come with me.”

  Annoyed by his aggressive tone, Colleen unsuccessfully tried to push his hand off her shoulder and fiercely erupted, “Let me go! Let me go right now, Mister!”

  The guard was not put off, and signalled to a nearby officer for assistance. “Over here,” he called out. Colleen's arm was casually twisted behind her back causing her to shriek in pain from the injury.

  Somehow she managed to call out through the pain, “I am here to see Tom Bradley. He is an old friend who would be very upset if he knew that I was being man-handled in this way.”

  The guard let go her shoulder and looked her up and down slowly, suddenly a little unsure of what to do.

  “What is your name?” Colleen demanded.

  The guard was now uncertain as to whether or not Colleen was telling the truth. “Ma’am. Do you have an appointment with Mr Bradley?”

  “Well, um, no,” explained Colleen tentatively. “I thought that I would surprise him.”

  Suspicious again, but also wary of upsetting a friend of the CEO, the guard looked towards the reception and back to Colleen. “Okay, come over to the desk and we'll see if this is true. If it's not, you're out of here.”

  The guard requested the young lady at reception to make a call to the CEO's office.

  “What's your name?” the receptionist asked roughly, looking up only briefly.

  “Colleen Watson,” she replied while thinking to herself. What if he doesn't want to see me after all this time? God help me if he won't help me out.

  The receptionist mentioned her name to someone upstairs and was then momentarily silent. While still holding the phone and looking Colleen up and down, the girl said in a quieter voice, “Really? Is he sure?” The phone call was ended, and the receptionist nodded to the security guard.

  The guard turned to Colleen. “Well, Ma’am,” he said incredulously. “He has agreed to see you. I cannot believe it. That man never sees anybody without an appointment. Come with me please.” The guard was obviously surprised by the fact that Tom knew this woman. He walked her over to an elevator, swiped a card and pressed Level thirty-six. Once Colleen was inside, he said in a friendlier voice, “Have a nice day, Ma’am. Sorry about the mix up earlier on.”

  Colleen breathed a sigh of relief once the doors were closed, and tried to compose herself after catching a glimpse of her image in one of the large gold mirrors in the foyer. It was no wonder the guard had asked her to leave. Her hair was dishevelled and her clothing very plain. Ideally, she would have put some lipstick on before meeting Tom again after all these years. But the situation could not be helped today.

  The doors slid open and there he was, standing there, obviously waiting for her. They had not seen each other for many years, and yet it was unmistakably him. Those eyes had not aged one day. Colleen moved forward, but stood there without saying a word, hoping that Tom would break the silence.

  It was as if he was initially stunned into silence by her very presence, but then he gradually noticed her greying hair, the lines on her face, her dropping sore shoulder, her overfilled small bag and her dishevelled clothes. The two of them could not have aged more differently.

  “Colleen, my God. I didn't believe it when Elizabeth said you were here. I always wondered if we would meet again.” Tom moved forward to embrace her.

  Tom’s cologne was a woody, musky scent and his arms were warm as they held her tight. Suddenly, Colleen realised how overwhelmed she was feeling. Besieged by his kindness, and those eyes that she once knew so well, the tears started to well. The barrier she presented to the world was ready to give way, and unleash her feelings at any minute. This was not something that she had expected.

  “So, tell me, Colleen, how have you been?” asked Tom, now holding both of her hands in his.

  Colleen took a deep breath, and fought back the tears. “It’s been tough,” she replied, thinking about how rough the past ten years had been.

  Tom looked a little taken back by her words.

  “Would you rather I said that everything has been fine or would you like the truth?”

  “Hmmm, I think maybe we had better go into my office and have a cup of tea.” He led her along a corridor finely decorated with pictures, plants and expensive-looking ornaments. “Elizabeth, we'll have some tea and coffee please,” Tom instructed a young lady who sat outside his door, as he led Colleen into his office, shutting the door firmly behind them.

  Colleen noticed the young woman's disapproving glance as she walked in.

  “Please take a seat, Colleen,” Tom said in a kind voice as he pulled her chair out and brought another chair over to sit next to her. “Now, tell me,” he continued. “What has been happening in your life that is so bad?”

  “Well, where do I begin?” Colleen asked herself loudly. He seemed to be genuinely interested. “I just can't get a break these days, Tom. Do you know what I mean?” Colleen looked at Tom and then realised that he probably didn't know what she meant, but continued anyway. “Whenever I find a guy who says he'll look after me, something always goes wrong and he goes to jail or gets beaten up or loses his job.”

  Colleen proceeded to describe her previous two failed marriages, how Ted ended up in jail, her evictions, her money problems, recent time in jail and other various circumstances that came to mind.

  The more she spoke, the more uncomfortable Tom started to look.

  The two of them drank cups of tea while Colleen continued to explain the details of her troubled life. “So I guess the real reason that I'm here is to ask for help,” she finally concluded.

  “Help,” Tom echoed. “Okay, then. What sort of help do you have in mind?”

  “Maybe five to ten thousand dollars’ worth of help.” Colleen paused briefly to study his expression, but she could not read anything from his blank stare. “I promise this is a once-only type of deal. I just need some cash to get back on my feet. Find somewhere to live, that sort of thing. This last jail sentence really took a lot out of me.”

  Tom was quiet. He stood up and paced slowly around the office, before turning back to face Colleen. “I must say Colleen, this is not the reason I thought you were here today. I thought you might want to talk to me and hear how I’m going. But you haven’t asked anything about me. I also thought you might like to discuss ‘her’,” Tom said pausing.

  “No,” Colleen fiercely spat back. It hurt her that he would say that. Couldn’t Tom see how tough things were for her? It hadn’t even crossed Colleen’s mind that the two of them would speak about ‘her’. Colleen tried to explain, “You know that I don't know what happened to her, and I think it's best for the past to stay in the past.”

  Tom looked thoughtful. “Well, regardless of the past, I don't feel comfortable just giving you money. I'm sorry Colleen, bu
t I don't think that I owe you anything. I'm sorry to hear that you think I do.”

  “I didn’t say you owed me anything.” Colleen took a deep breath and tried not to look angry. He was unlikely to give her anything if they had a fight. “It's just that I know you are so rich and, well, I was hoping you could share the dough with a friend.”

  “What I could do is offer you a job, and you could earn your own money. How does that sound?”

  Colleen stared at him blankly.

  “What sort of skills do you have?” Tom said, continuing down this path.

  Raising her voice and feeling more and more irritated by his manner, Colleen finally snapped. “I don't want a job from you. I'm not here for a job interview. I haven't asked you for a job, have I?” Colleen stared at Tom for a couple of seconds and then continued, “Working in a building like this is not for me. I would think someone as smart as you could plainly see that.”

  “Colleen, please!” Tom was shocked by the tone of voice she was using with him. She seemed so angry and he wasn't sure why. “I just don't think it's fair that you come here, after all this time, and demand money from me.”

  “Well, I don't think it's fair that you have a big home, a fancy job and a young girlfriend that's half your age I might add, while I could be sleeping in the streets tonight.”

  Tom was unsure what to do or say, and let out a deep sigh to show his exasperation.

  Colleen went on, “I'm right about your pretty young girlfriend, aren't I. I saw it in a magazine in jail. You wouldn't want her to find out about our little secret now, would you?

  “Colleen, you're blackmailing me now?” Tom said, in a shocked and frustrated tone.

  “I'll tell her, I will,” she screamed.

  “How do you know that I haven’t already told her?”

  Colleen was thoughtful. Could he have done that? It hadn’t even occurred to her that he could have been honest with his girlfriend about the past. Colleen wasn’t sure if he was bluffing. “Well, have you told her?”

  Tom looked away. “Actually, to be honest, no. I have been meaning to tell Ellen about the baby you gave birth to all those years ago. Our baby. I just haven't found the right moment.”

  Tom seemed so hurt and fragile to Colleen all of a sudden and she nearly told him that she didn't mean it, that she was sorry. But she didn’t.

  “I can't believe that you would come into my office like this and try, and try to blackmail me. I really thought that our shared past gave us a special connection in some way. But I can see that you have changed beyond recognition. You are nothing like the girl I remember so fondly.”

  “I’m the same person, but Ted and I really need a break, that's all. It’s not easy living on the streets. I’ve had to fight for everything I have.”

  “I know who you are, Colleen. And this woman in front of me, this is not you.” Tom's voice was stern. “I will give you the money, but not because of what you have threatened, but because I want to see you return to who you once were. Can you do that for me?”

  The tears were finally showing in Colleen's eyes and she felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders. “Thank you, Tom, a million thank yous. I’ll be anyone you want me to be for ten thousand dollars.”

  Tom opened his wallet and counted the notes in there. “Here is five hundred dollars, that's all I have on me at the moment.”

  Colleen’s eyes bulged at the sight of so much cash.

  “I will arrange for you to pick up the rest of the money from my bank in the next couple of days. Take this card.” Tom had written some details on the back. “I’ll have someone I trust take care of this matter tomorrow. How will he contact you?”

  Colleen wrote her mobile phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Tom. She took Tom's five hundred, folded it into her bra and stood up to leave. She had one more question though. “Tom, what do you know about our girl?”

  “Not much. Only that she is healthy and happy with her adoptive family. I'm not sure where she is living at the moment.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “I had an associate of mine look her up some years back and find out if they ever told her she was adopted. Her adoptive parents obviously thought it was best not to tell her. We gave up our rights a long time ago, so I thought it was best to keep my distance and leave well enough alone.”

  “I'm glad to hear that.” Colleen had often wondered about the girl's looks. “Do you know what she looks like?”

  “No, I've never even seen a picture.”

  Colleen nodded. It didn’t really matter. She had her life to worry about right now. “Well, thanks again, Tom.” Colleen scurried out quickly before he could change his mind about the cash. For the first time in months, Colleen was excited about her future again.