Draw Me A Picture (38 page)

“I don’t even need any jewelry,” Michelle said, quietly, staring at her reflection; Amelia’s eight-second hairdo made her look like a model.

A knock sounded out at the archway door.

“You may enter...” Amelia said, grandly. Daniels came in, talking on a cell phone.

“Hey, your uncle wants to know... whoa!” The security man halted mid-phrase when he saw Michelle; his mouth dropped open. “Wow... sir, your niece is... wow.” Michelle blushed at the man's reaction and looked at the mirror again. Yes, William was going to love the dress. Laurel snatched the phone from the gaping Daniels and sent him right out again.

“Yes, sir?” she said into the phone. “It’s going very well. She found the perfect dress; she looks like an angel. Yes. No. OK, Mr. Maclane. You got it.” She hung up and smiled at Michelle. “We won’t do too much more today,” she said. “I didn’t expect you to find a dress so soon.”

“I’m not keeping you from something important, am I?” Michelle asked, concerned. Laurel shook her head.

“Nope,” the lady said, smiling. “I’ve just been instructed not to tire you out. He’s just looking out for you.” Nodding, Michelle looked at Amelia.

“Thank you,” she said; her eyes felt a little misty. “It’s just what I wanted.” Amelia smiled, looking down at her own ring. She still remembered how it felt to be a bride.

Three hours later Michelle arrived back at her hotel; they’d placed an order for a bridal bouquet and battery-powered hanging lights, as well as other odds and ends. Laurel and Daniels helped Michelle bring in the gown box. The gown was apparently costly enough to request it be put in the hotel vault; Michelle pressed Laurel for its price several times but the smiling young woman refused to say.

Filling out the form at the front desk, Michelle saw Mr. Chan walking towards her. He authorized her deposit to the vault and signed off on the paperwork. Turning toward Michelle he handed her a piece of message paper.

“Your fiancé has called several times,” he said, quietly. Michelle’s smile faded. “It is not an emergency,” the kindly manager continued, smiling. “He is leaving for a business trip and wishes to meet you for an early dinner at Marie’s. He asked me to arrange a car to take you there.” Mr. Chan took Michelle’s radiant smile as a confirmation. He nodded and gestured a bellhop over. “Take Miss Gregory’s things to her room.”

Laurel stepped up.

“Don’t worry Michelle,” she said, grinning. “I’ll take care of things here. Go see your sweetheart! How romantic...” The lady sighed, causing Daniels to roll his eyes. Michelle thanked both of them; she followed Mr. Chan out the front doors to a waiting limo. It was her first limo ride, but Michelle didn’t really notice. All she could think about was William and that he was going away. He stood waiting on the steps of Marie’s as the limo pulled up; his smile almost lit up the night when he saw her get out of the car. Michelle let him lift her off the ground in a warm embrace.

“Oh, love,” he said, holding her tightly. “It is so good to see you… I’ve so much to tell you. You look so beautiful.” Michelle laughed, softly.

“It must be bad,” she teased. “You’re giving away double compliments.” William grinned at her, leading her up the steps.

“Minx,” he said. “You do look beautiful, though.”

He waited until they were seated and had ordered before telling her his news.

“Brazil...” Michelle stated. She didn’t know what to think. “That’s a long ways away.” William put his arm around her.

“Yes, it is,” he said. “Too far. But, it’s my shot—if you will--at staying employed with this firm. I’ll be back before Friday to meet your uncle, however.” Michelle smiled again.

“Really?” she asked, happily. William nodded. Michelle let out a breath of relief. “That’s good,” she said. She leaned onto William shoulder. “I know this sounds trite but I’m going to miss you horribly.” William chuckled.

“Isn’t it strange,” he said, softly. “… how we were plodding along, wrapped up in our own miserable lives and then we stumble upon one another... and suddenly the sun just doesn’t shine any more if we’re apart.” Michelle felt a bit sentimental at these words.

“You’re not far off there,” she said. “I know it’s unrealistic, but I wish we’d never have to be apart, ever again.” William smiled and looked down into his fiancées lovely eyes.

“When we are married, I will do everything I can to make that wish come true,” he said, sincerely. Michelle leaned up and kissed his face.

“You smell really good,” she whispered. Chuckling, William allowed himself to smell her hair.

“So do you,” he said. “Now, let’s not be sad about me going away, love. Shall we just enjoy our dinner together and leave it at that?” Michelle nodded, drawing a little away from him.

“Good plan,” she said, mustering up a brave smile.

They did enjoy themselves; they talked and laughed over many things. Michelle spoke of her odd day, some of which amused William very much. She left the part about her dress vague amid much blushing, something which tugged at William’s curiosity a great deal. He let it go, knowing he’d find out soon enough. He amused Michelle by telling her of his new boss and his odd behavior, especially his sudden, sane appearance that day.

Saying ‘good night’ was unusually difficult, for both of them, knowing it would be three days until they saw each other again.

“I will call you each night, love,” William said, kissing Michelle fondly outside her hotel. Michelle let him and responded in kind.

“I don’t mind admitting I’ll be waiting by the phone,” she said, smiling. William could see a few tears in her eyes and it clenched at his heart.

“Don’t cry, Michelle,” he said, embracing her tightly. “I’ll see you soon. Chin up?” Standing away a little, Michelle nodded.

“I love you, William Montgomery,” she said, suddenly. William kissed her again and walked to his waiting taxi. Standing by it, he turned to look at Michelle once more.

“Each day, I think to myself that I would ask you to marry me all over again,” he said, looking at her intently. He got in the taxi and closed the door.

The cab drove off but Michelle did not feel completely bereft. The warmth of William’s unfeigned words stayed with her all the way to her room; thoughts of him kept Michelle company, even as she fell asleep.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

In flight to Brazil William had plenty of time to ruminate over his new employer’s rather dark sense of humor. Located in the noisier ‘Coach’ section of the airplane William sat next to Bob from the office. On his other side reposed an old man fast asleep, leaning rather comfortably on his shoulder. Every once in awhile, William brought out his handkerchief and gently wiped the man’s accumulated drool from his suit. Normally, he flew first class as a rule, but... William made up his mind not to complain; there was no way in hell he’d give the new boss the satisfaction. That and the thought of losing his job just before getting married spurred William to keep a ‘stiff upper lip’. Minus the drool and noise, it didn’t seem all that bad.

'Power-saw' Bob proved to be a decent sort of chap; William found the man knowledgeable and easy to speak with on business matters. It turned out that he and Mr. Maclane had met on a particularly difficult construction job in Italy. Bob liked the then-foreman’s work ethic and got a job with him when Oscar started his own company. He didn’t have a lot to say on ‘the boss’ but grinned mysteriously and shrugged when asked; he turned the conversation to family matters. Apparently Bob was happily married with three children, most of who were already in high school.

“It’s great having kids,” the man said, smiling at the tiny, round window beside him. “They get older and like to take care of themselves. When they’re this age, you can send them off to the bowling alley together and they think it’s a great privilege to be trusted so much. Really, it’s just to get them out of the house so the wife and I can be alone for awhile.”

William chuckled at this.

“I see,” he said. “I’ll be getting married myself, in about two weeks.” Bob smiled.

“Congratulations,” he said. “I hope that works out well.”

“So do I,” William replied.

They spent the three-hour flight to Miami mostly talking of business matters. Both Bob and William combed through the file, discussing in hushed voices the best angle to handle negotiations. The potential client was a Brazilian-owned Internet hosting company, one that also provided web design and other e-services. William was taken aback at the company’s financial statistics.

“I had no idea e-business was so large a market in Brazil,” he commented aside to Bob.

The older man nodded, looking at a page of research.

“According to this, Brazil currently hosts forty-one percent of the entire Latin American Internet audience.”

“Good heavens,” William responded, shaking his head. “Let’s see... from the information sent to us, the owner is really only a partner. His wife owns the majority of the shares. I’ve been skimming through the company regulatory forms and articles of incorporation. From what the client wrote down on the query... it appears the partners wish to meld their shares together and hire a new CEO.” He rubbed his forehead for a moment, deep in thought. “There does look to be a loophole where they could do this without board authorization, but it gives one partner all the power prior to the switch.”

“Well, we have a two-hour layover in Miami and another three hour flight into Rio to prepare a proposal for the guy,” Bob said, looking at his watch. Letting out a short sigh, William took out a legal pad and began writing notes. Bob glanced briefly at the thoughtful young man and then turned to the window to hide his grin.

Michelle was folding laundry when her phone rang. Dropping the clothing, she jumped over to the phone and lifted it off with a smile.

“Hello?” she asked, a bit eagerly.

“It’s so good to hear your voice,” William said, sounding a little far away. “I’m in Miami. Half the journey’s over.” Michelle closed her eyes to savor every bit of his voice.

“Was the flight good so far?” she asked, not knowing what else to say. There was no real way she could grasp the nature of his work; she knew so little about what he did. All she had been able to understand is he was down there to convince a corporation to sign up his firm as their international legal counsel.

“It was interesting,” William said, with a chuckle. “I don’t mind admitting I’ve never flown coach before. It’s not as bad as I’ve heard.” Michelle smiled at this.

“My only flight was going from Denver to New York, but I flew coach,” she said, smiling. “It seemed alright to me. You’ve made great strides in becoming common.”

“Minx,” William said, grinning. “You’ll be happy to know, then, that an elderly gentleman slept on my shoulder.” Giggling softly, Michelle held the receiver tighter; she could just imagine it.

“Did he drool on you?” she asked, smiling.

“Yes, he did. I am glad I wore a black suit. The prospective clients in Rio will hardly notice, I imagine.”

“I know they’ll love your proposal,” Michelle said, in her quiet way. “You’re so professional and polished. They’ll see your firm is the way to go.”

William smiled, he leaned on the phones privacy panel, wishing Michelle were there.

“Thank you, love,” he said. “I miss you. And no, it doesn’t sound trite.” Michelle laughed softly at his words. The sound of it rang sweetly in William’s ears.

“I think every day that I would accept your proposal all over again.”

Amid the bustling, noisy airport, William smiled.

“You’re adorable,” he said. “There are other people waiting to use the phone dear one, so I’ll make this short. I’ll try to call when I get in the hotel, alright?”

“Please do,” Michelle said, trying to keep any desperation from her voice. “Even if it’s really late; I won’t mind in the least.” A person in line behind William cleared their throat noisily.

“Must go, love,” William said, shooting the offending party a very cold look. He turned back to the phone. “Honestly I’d have brought you down here with me.”

“You can when we’re married,” Michelle said, giggling. William knew she was blushing on the other side of the line. “I’d go anywhere with you.” William laughed.

“I love you, Michelle.” William hung up the phone and was surprised to see more than twenty people in line behind him.

Walking over to the terminal, he saw Bob had secured them two seats to wait out the layover. Sitting down, William didn’t bother trying not to look depressed.

“You wish she was with you,” Bob said, a knowing smile on his face. “Been there.” William nodded in agreement, staring at the green and tan swirling pattern of the carpet. Bob looked around.

“Hey... there’s a Chicago Pizza over there. I say we eat; the dinners on this airline are awful.” William smiled.

“Your remedy for bad airline food is… pizza?” he asked, amused. Bob grinned.

“Well, they have really good pizza,” he said, sagely. “Come on; you’ll feel better if you eat something.” William picked up his briefcase and coat and followed the man. They found a table inside; delicious smells of melting cheese and baking crust filled the air.

“It’s not New York pizza, but it’s not bad at all,” Bob said, placing order for them. The man proved right; William had to admit the pizza tasted well-cooked and flavorful. As far as fast food was concerned, he did not mind eating this.

“Michelle would find this humorous,”
he thought, smiling. “Not bad at all, Bob,” he said, genially.
 

“Mm...” Bob said, with his mouth full of cheese. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “Not much pizza in Brazil, I’ll bet.” William smiled and worked on finishing his food.

The last leg of the flight went by quickly; William wrote notes solidly through the whole trip from Miami to Rio de Janeiro international. He conferred with Bob several times and they came up with a fairly decent proposal.

The Rio airport was much like Miami’s, bustling and noisy, but Portuguese dominated the intercom speakers instead of English. The air felt immediately hot and humid, but not overwhelmingly so, being nine o’ clock at night; still, in contrast to the biting cold of New York it was a bit of a shock.