Leaving Barringer

by Tina Martin

  “Calista moved out. Isn’t divorce the next step?” Barringer sat down again, burying his face in his hands. He moved them away then said, “Anyway, what did you want? You must be here for some reason.”

  “It’s…it’s not important. I’ll talk to you about it later.”

  “About what?”

  Garrison didn’t want to talk about anything related to the baby after Barringer’s blow up, but since he insisted, he said, “I told you I was taking some time off.”

  “As you should with the baby coming and all.”

  “Well, I’ve decided not to come back.”

  Barringer could only shake his head.

  “I’ll try my hardest to help my replacement transition into this role as smoothly as possible,” Garrison said.

  “I imagine you’ve already spoken with Dad about this,” Barringer said.

  “No, I haven’t. Dad doesn’t run this company any more. You do.”

  “But he founded this company and with you gone, I’m going to be the only one of his sons working here.” He chuckled uncomfortably. “This is great. Just what I need. First, I lose a multi-million dollar account, then my wife leaves me, now my brother is quitting on me.”

  “Barry, everything is not about you.”

  “You’re right. It’s about everyone else screwing me over. But, hey, that’s life, right? It works for some people and for others, it sucks.”

  Garrison shook his head. “In the grand scheme of things, you don’t know how good you got it, man, so why don’t you stop this pity party you’re having and learn to appreciate what you have.”

  “I do appreciate what I have.”

  “No, you don’t,” Garrison said firmly, “Because if you did, Calista would have never left you. You can try to make her the villain in all of this, but the truth of the matter is, you didn’t hold up your end of the marriage and you have no one to blame but yourself.”

  Barringer’s brows furrowed. “You don’t know nothing about my marriage.”

  “I know you don’t have one at the moment, and until you realize your role in her leaving you, you’ll always find a reason to blame other people for your mistakes. I’m out.”

  “Be out, then!” Barringer yelled from behind his desk.

  As Garrison exited the office, Barringer’s desk phone rang. Candice was calling again. Barringer took a breath, attempting to calm himself down before he picked it up.

  He failed.

  “What is it, Candice?”

  “Hey, did you see the email from Eleanor.”

  “I get tons of emails from Eleanor. Can you be more specific?”

  “The one about Telmark. It’s a possible new account for us. I think we need to set up a meeting right away. They’re not as big as Blakeney, but hey, at this point, we need to take what we can get.”

  “Then set up the meeting. I’m occupied with other things at the moment. I don’t have time for a new account.”

  “Barringer, it would be rude for you not to be available to meet with their CEO.”

  “I didn’t say I wouldn’t meet with the CEO. I said, set up the meeting, Candice. You want to set it up, set it up!”

  “Okay, jeez. I’ll set it up,” Candice said with a raised voice.

  Was everybody trying to give him attitude today? He could give it right back. “Where was this dedication to The Blakeney Agency?”

  “Excuse me.”

  “You heard me. You’re the customer relations manager and you let Blakeney slip right through the cracks.”

  “Wait a minute…I let them slip away? I told you three months before Blakeney signed with another company that they were fishing. As I recall, you blew it off like I didn’t know what I was talking about while you looked for new business. So don’t try to turn this around on me, Barry.”

  “I don’t have time for this. If you want to set up a meeting, set it up. If you don’t, don’t. I can’t even do my own job right now. How on earth am I supposed to do yours?”

  “I’m not asking you to do my job, Barry.”

  “Sure sounds like it.”

  “You’re being a real jerk right now.”

  “Yeah, well this jerk has work to do. Bye.” Barringer hung up the phone and sighed heavily again. He had to get himself together. So far, he hadn’t done one productive thing today. Deciding to start with replying to Eleanor’s email, he responded:

  FROM: Barringer Blackstone

  TO: Eleanor Hargrove

  CC: Candice Blackstone; Garrison Blackstone

  SUBJECT: Re: Possible New Account – Telmark Corp.

  Eleanor,

  Candice will be taking the lead on this account. Please direct future correspondence directly to her.

  Thanks,

  --

  Barringer Blackstone | CEO

  Blackstone Financial Services Group (BFSG)

  Ext. 200

  _____

  Chapter 12

  “Don’t go in there, girl. Oh my God! Stop!” Calista yelled, sitting in the middle of her bed, in the dark, tossing cheddar cheese popcorn inside of her mouth while her eyes were pinned to the TV. “Don’t do it. Don’t do it!” She was watching a movie about a woman whose new next door neighbor, a man, was stalking her. Only thing was, this woman didn’t know it. Now, her stalker had her in a chokehold while holding a rag drenched in chloroform over her nose.

  “Told you not to go in there, stupid,” Calista mumbled with a mouthful of popcorn. “Now you’re going to be chained in this maniac’s basement.”

  Her attention shifted from the TV to her cell phone vibrating on the bed. Kalina’s number was on the display. “Hey, Kalina,” she answered.

  “Are you on the way?”

  Calista frowned. “On the way where?”

  “To the hospital. Garrison called and said Vivienne’s being induced today. Don’t know why she had to be taken by ambulance, though, but at any rate, the baby is going to be here soon. I’m so excited!”

  Calista’s heartbeats pounded in her chest like drums. “Okay. I’m on the way.”

  Calista jumped off the bed, took off her pajamas and slid into the pair of jeans she’d left on the floor next to the bed. And when she was able to put on a bra, a T-shirt and grab a jacket for the chilly night, she stepped into a pair of slip-on canvas shoes, snatched her purse from the kitchen counter and ran out the door.

  * * *

  When she arrived at the hospital, the Blackstone family had taken over the maternity waiting room. Elowyn trembled with excitement as she sat next to her husband Theodore. Candice sat on the other side of her mother, checking her timeline on her phone. Everson leaned in closer to Bryson chatting it up about something sports-related. June and Kalina seemed busy with their own conversation.

  After speaking to everyone and hugging Elowyn and Theodore (she hadn’t seen her in-laws in a while), Calista sat down, not directly among the family but near them, saying silent prayers for Vivienne. Too bad the rest of the family didn’t know. Vivienne and Garrison could use all the prayers they could get. They all should’ve been praying instead of talking about football, checking social media and cackling about some stupid reality TV show.

  Calista sighed. She threaded her fingers together, rested her chin on top and closed her eyes. She would have to pray enough for everybody. She hoped the doctors were wrong and Vivienne, and the baby, made it safely through labor. A child needed its mother – its real mother – and while she would fulfill her promise to Vivienne if it came down to it, she could never completely fill Vivienne’s shoes. No one could.

  Calista blew a breath of frustration that was loud enough to catch Elowyn’s attention. She smiled warmly at her mother-in-law and rubbed her eyes while feeling a dark aura near her. She didn’t have to lay eyes on this being to know it was Barringer. She smelled his cologne, his scent and for a reason she couldn’t explain, the smell of him made tingles run through her. Made her cheeks rosy. She hadn’t seen him in ten days. Now he was here, sitting in
the chair next to her. Not a chair away or across from her. Next to her. And he didn’t say a word. Just sat there. Was this some sort of intimidation?

  Calista released a pent up breath, looked up and saw Kalina and June staring at her. She could imagine what they must’ve been thinking. She saw Candice look at Barringer and rolled her eyes while shaking her head.

  Calista wouldn’t look at him. She avoided him, refused to be the first one to say anything, and while they sat quietly she could feel his eyes on her. He was recording every inch of her face, her hair, lingered at her lips, before his eyes rolled down her arms to her hand.

  “I see you’re not wearing the five-thousand-dollar ring I bought you,” Barringer said when he noticed she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring.

  Calista glanced at her left hand. No, she wasn’t wearing the ring. There was no need to wear it. A ring that once meant something, a symbol of his love, was now a reminder of a marriage she no longer wanted to be a part of.

  “Guess it doesn’t mean anything, anymore, huh?” Barringer asked with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

  Calista turned to look at him for the first time. He looked rough, not in a bad way but a bad boy type of way. She wondered when he’d last shaved. And he had on a suit. Must’ve came straight from the office. Typical. Nothing had changed about his routine. He was still working well into the night.

  Looking him in the eyes, Calista responded, “Now is not the time nor the place to discuss this. I’m here for Vivienne.” She turned her attention away from him, rested her elbows on her knees again, closed her eyes and began saying another prayer for Vivienne.

  Barringer leaned close to her ear and whispered, “It’s funny how you can be there for everyone except me.”

  “Barry—”

  “And changing your number,” he let out a snide grin. “That was real mature of you, Calista.”

  “Like it was mature of you to leave me ten voicemails and twenty text messages in one night. Yeah, real mature.”

  “You left me,” he said angrily. “I left those messages to get your attention.”

  Calista couldn’t help the grin that escaped her lips. “Oh, is that how it works? You wait until I leave and then you try to get my attention. Brilliant,” she said in a sarcastic tone.

  “You had my attention before.”

  “No, I didn’t. Your job had your attention. Still does.”

  “That’s a lie.”

  “It’s not a lie. Your job is the most important thing in your life. Look at you…you’re dressed up right now. It’s ten o’clock and you still have on a suit. I know you just came from the office, but now, I don’t care. You can work twenty-four hours a day without having to hear me nag, whine and complain anymore that you work too much. That should make you happy.”

  Barringer rubbed the back of his neck. “You know what would make me happy? A wife who appreciates me, who appreciates everything I’ve done for her,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “Then good luck finding one, Barringer.”

  A deep frown appeared in his forehead. “What are you saying, Calista? Are you saying it’s over between us?”

  Calista looked at him for a long moment. Choosing her words carefully she said, “I’m not happy when I’m with you. Face it, Barringer. We grew apart. You have your work, and I have…well I have nothing. I know you’re angry with me, and that’s fine. Be angry. I was angry for years but that didn’t change anything, did it? I was still Calista Blackstone, Barringer’s wife. That’s all people know me for…being your wife like that’s a job title or something. Barringer’s wife. And I was barely even a wife to you. You stayed gone and I don’t know if it was intentional. I tried to think it wasn’t…tried to reason in my head that you were trying to be the man by working hard to provide for your household, but then I got to thinking…why is he working so hard when it’s only me and him? When we share a five-bedroom house that’s so cold and empty, I can hear my own echo. And who are you supporting? Me? Because I never asked to be supported. You volunteered. Told me you wanted to be the breadwinner, so I let you win bread while I did absolutely nothing with my degree.”

  “You agreed—”

  “I know what I agreed to. That’s why I stayed home and did the Susie Homemaker thing – cooked for you, paid bills, did housework – well things the cleaning agency wouldn’t do. But it was just me, always at home. Alone. Working. And you, Barringer Blackstone were never there.” Calista dabbed her eyes. “It was just me and the house. And the TV, but never you. I was lonely, and I still am. I’m lonely, but the only difference is, now I don’t have any expectations. When I go to my apartment, I know it’ll just be me, and I’m okay with that.”

  Calista stood up with the intention of finding a bathroom but first, she turned to Barringer and said, “When you walked in and sat next to me, I sensed your presence. I smelled your cologne and it gave me goosebumps. You haven’t given me goosebumps in years, but I felt it a few minutes ago and it proves to me that I still love you. I will always love you, Barry, and I’m sorry we’ve become a statistic…sorry our marriage…didn’t…didn’t work.”

  Calista continued on to the bathroom.

  Barringer rubbed his face and sighed deeply before noticing all eyes were on him. But the eyes of his parents were much more inquisitive than everyone else’s, and rightly so. Before tonight, they had no idea he and Calista were having problems.

  Barringer hung his head. He should’ve listened to Calista when she told him now wasn’t the time nor the place to talk about their personal business. Instead of everyone focusing on welcoming the newest addition to the Blackstone family, they’d be thinking about the latest subtraction – Calista.

  Elowyn stood up, walked over to Barringer and took the seat Calista had been sitting in. “What was that about, Barringer?”

  “Nothing, Mother,” he said, running his palm across his mother’s full head of gray hair. The last thing he wanted was for her to worry.

  “It didn’t look like nothing to me, son.”

  “Me and Calista are going through some things right now. I’ll talk to you about it later, okay. For right now, let’s focus on Gary and Viv.”

  Chapter 13

  Garrison came out into the waiting area in a blue gown, blue booties covering his shoes and a bonnet on his head.

  Everyone rose to their feet in excitement.

  Around the same time, Calista stepped back inside the waiting area, looking at Garrison, seeing something no one else saw. Worry. No one knew to look for it, so how could they see it?

  “Well?” Everson said. “Do we have a nephew yet?”

  “Ah…” Garrison swallowed the lump in his throat. “He’s here. He’s seven pounds, two ounces…twenty-one inches long.”

  Cheers erupted. Claps. Celebratory hugs.

  Candice wrapped her arms around Garrison. “Congratulations, Gary. I’m so happy!”

  Gary forced himself to smile.

  “How’s Viv?” Kalina asked.

  “Yeah, how’s Vivienne?” June said.

  Garrison’s lips trembled. “Um…”

  Candice frowned. “Gary, what’s wrong?”

  “Vivienne’s not doing all that great,” he said, his voice strained.

  “What do you mean?” Theodore asked.

  Garrison glanced up and locked eyes with Calista. Looking at his father again, he said, “She’s in a coma.”

  Tears dropped from Calista’s eyes as she walked back down the hallway, near the bathrooms. Using the wall for support, she cried while hiding her face behind her hands.

  “No,” Candice said, her hand over her heart. “What happened?”

  Garrison went on to explain how, from the start, the pregnancy was high-risk for Vivienne and they’d known all along this could happen. He told them it’s what Vivienne wanted. She wanted to give him a son…wanted their baby to live.

  “The doctors don’t think she’ll make it through the night,” Garrison said before
he completely broke down and cried. Bryson held him up while Candice tried to console him. Barringer and Everson went to stand by their brother’s side, attempting to comfort him, too, but what could be said to comfort a man whose wife was in a coma after giving birth to his son?

  Garrison sniffled and said, “I have to go back.”

  “Will they let us see her?” a tearful Elowyn asked.

  Garrison sniffled again. “I don’t know, Mother. I’ll…I’ll see what the doctor says. You can see Junior, though. He’s in the nursery. They’ll let you look through the glass, but I don’t know if everyone can go back at once.”

  “They can,” a nurse said out of nowhere. “As a matter of fact, you all can come with me and I’ll lead you there.”

  While Garrison rushed down the hallway to get back to Vivienne’s side, the rest of the family followed the nurse, all of them crowding the hallway, anxious to see baby Garrison junior, while batting tears from their eyes about Vivienne’s prognosis.

  “Aw…look at him,” Elowyn said while tears effortlessly fell from her eyes. Happy and sad ones. “He looks like all my boys did when they were babies. So beautiful.” Elowyn turned to Theodore and buried her face in his chest as she cried.

  “He’s beautiful.” Candice brought her hands to a steeple in front of her mouth.

  “Looks just like Garrison,” Kalina said, dabbing her eyes.

  Bryson took Kalina into his embrace and held her close to him.

  “I see some of Vivienne, too, especially his eyes,” June observed. She sniffled.

  Elowyn took a second look. “You’re right, June. He does have Vivienne’s eyes, doesn’t he?”

  With his arms crossed, Everson stood speechless next to his father.

  Barringer stood the closest to the observation window, staring at his new, little nephew. For a split second, he imagined he was looking at his own son. Then his thoughts quickly went back to Vivienne and Garrison. Now he knew why Garrison was leaving the company. And he also realized he’d been selfish, trying to make Garrison feel guilty for doing so. Garrison was dealing with the possibility of losing his wife, a very real possibility, and all Barringer could think about, at the time, was the company.