Interrupted (The Progress Series) (20 page)

Charlie’s phone rang. “Charlie here.”

“Hi Charlie, it’s Robin! How are you?”

“Oh hey, boss lady! Good! Just about to grab some lunch and then back to maintenance checks.”

“I just spoke with Roxanne, and she told me that she got a lease this morning!” said Robin.

“Oh, yeah. She’s pretty excited about it. I’m not sure if he’ll qualify though, we’ll see.”

“Well, I certainly hope he does. If he qualifies, you’ll be ninety-nine percent leased, and you know what that means
don’t you?
” Robin asked.

“No, what does that mean?”

“It lines you up to be a contender for Manager of the Year! Well, as long as you can maintain that occupancy until the award ceremony in a few weeks.”

Oh, so I was wrong. This situation could get worse.

“Oh, that’s fantastic. I certainly hope he qualifies, too.” Charlie’s voice was monotone.

“Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Your first year of management and you win a two thousand dollar bonus? You sure are doing a great job! Keep up the good work. Gotta run, I’ll see you tomorrow morning at the managers’ meeting.”

“Thanks again, Robin. Bye.”

Charlie glared at her phone and had to stop herself from throwing it across the room.
Shit, shit, shit!

Thursday

Charlie had no choice but to approve his application. There was no way she could justify denying him. No felonies, no evictions, even his credit was good.

By Thursday, Jesse had signed his lease and Roxanne had given him his keys. He was now Charlie’s resident.

Charlie had been a mess. Her once happy and seamless routine was now chaotic and unorganized.

No, no, no. This isn’t happening! I need to talk to Sam. I need to stay calm. I just need to hear his voice.

“Knock, knock.” Jesse said, peeking into her office.

Not the voice I wanted to hear.

“Hey, stranger. Come on in. What’s up?” Charlie said, trying to act as casual as she could.

“I have a few maintenance issues,” he said.

Turning to her computer, Charlie pulled up a work order. “What’s going on?”

“Well, the dishwasher doesn’t seem to be working correctly. It could be user error, though.” He smirked. “Oh, and the water pressure is really low in the shower. I’m not sure if you can do anything about that.”

“It might be your showerhead. I can have the guys check it out. What is going on with the dishwasher?” she asked.

“I turn the knob and nothing happens.” He shrugged.

“Hmm, well I was just about to check out a vacant near your apartment. I could take a look at your dishwasher right now. We can find out if it’s user error or not.”

“Great,” he said as they both walked out of the office.

“So, your application says that you’re working at a golf course. Do you still play?” Charlie asked as they walked slowly down the hall.

“I don’t start until next week, but yeah, I’ve been playing more this past year. Well, when I wasn’t working. It was different in New Hampshire, not like it was back here,” he said.

“How so?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It was quiet there. From a work standpoint it was difficult to stay busy, so I was always trying to find new ways to drum up business. We were located around a few tourist seafood restaurants on the coast and there wasn’t much of a call for pizza and burgers. People didn’t spend thousands on their vacations just to go to a restaurant that they could go to at home. So, the majority of our business was for the five thousand locals in town. Business really picks up in the winter all around, only because there are fewer fishermen on the water and more in the bars. The only thing I really did with my time off was sleep or golf.”

After a brief silence, Charlie tried to think of an innocent question. “What’s the ocean like?”

His eyes darted around the hall and his steps slowed. “It depends on the day. Some days there’s more sun than others. Sometimes there’s more algae in the water. I’ve seen it every color. It depends on the wind and weather on other coasts, too. It can be calm or violent. It can be cold or warm. The only thing consistent about it is its size. Sometimes I wished it would swallow me,” he said.

Charlie’s head snapped up. “You wished? You wished it would swallow you?”

“No, that’s not what I said. I said I
thought
it would swallow me.”

Did he? Why am I asking him about the ocean? This small talk is killing me. I have so many questions, I have so many things I want to say. I don’t even know where to begin. Why are you here? Did you miss me? Did you have a girlfriend out there? Do you still ride your bike? Are you still playing the drums and writing music? Gah!

“I’ve thought about you,” she said quietly. “Often.”

“Oh yeah? Been lonely, huh?” he said, his face hardening.

Shaking her head and letting out a giggle, she said, “No, not lonely. I actually have a fiancé, but I wondered about you from time to time—how you’ve been, if you still ride, whether or not you’ve played any chess recently. You know, you creep into my head once in a while.” She watched his face at her mentioning of ‘fiancé,’ and nothing about the word evoked a physical response from him.

Ask him, Charlie.
They continued at a slow pace through the hallway.

“So, did you have a girlfriend out there?” She swallowed.

Without a word, Jesse pushed her up against the wall, with his hip to hers and his forearm over her clavicle. His strength was overwhelming as he had her tightly pinned against the laundry room door. She lost her breath and looked down each side of the hall for any witnesses before making eye contact with him. Charlie could feel his warm breath on her cheek as he leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“No, Charlene. You know I don’t do the girlfriend thing.”

Oh, you thought you’d be so strong if this happened. And look at you. Completely smitten with him…again! It’s been less than a week since he returned, and you’re as weak and debilitated as the day you met him. You’re so pathetic.

“Then what thing
do
you do?” she whispered.

“My apartment is right there, I could show you,” he said, thrusting himself roughly against her thigh. “Have you missed me?”

“Hey, Charlie, there you are… I…was looking for you,” Roxanne said as she came around the corner, convinced she had interrupted something inappropriate.

Charlie gently pushed Jesse away from her, but he instinctively pushed her back. Her eyes opened wide, pleading with him. After realizing the severity of the situation, he retreated and stepped away from her.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but Robin keeps calling about one-oh-seven. You forgot your walkie in the office, and your phone keeps going straight to voicemail. Robin said you’d know what it was about—,” Roxanne began.

“Yes, I know. I was just going to do a quick walk-through on this one and then I’m going back to the office. Thanks for the message.” Charlie turned toward Jesse. “And I will see
you
another time. I’ll make sure the guys take a look at your dishwasher.” With a smile, Charlie turned and walked toward the vacant apartment and waited to breathe until she was safely inside, alone.

*

Looking through the peephole, she made sure that both Jesse and Roxanne had left the hallway. After locking the vacant behind her, she walked quickly back to the office.

She couldn’t focus. She was forgetting work orders, spacing out on applications, and not following up with prospects. Jesse was proving to be more of a distraction than she had anticipated.

“Hey Roxanne, can I ask a huge favor?”

“Of course, what’s going on?”

“I need to take a long lunch today. I’ll be back by four or so. Can you stay here in the office?”

“No problem, Charlie. But make sure you call Robin before you go.”

“Oh god. Yes, one-oh-seven. Thank you. I completely forgot already.”

*

Making a pit stop at her apartment to grab her old journal and a Nutri-Grain bar, Charlie headed for the park—
their
park—chain smoking the whole ride there.

Stepping out of the car, she felt a calming. This was
her
park. A place that once meant so much to her; spending days and nights listening to the crickets and frogs, watching the pussy willows sway in the breeze and looking for minnows in the pond. It was almost seventy degrees that day, all the snow had melted, and everything was a drab brown in comparison to what she was used to there. Knowing the ground would be soft and wet, she grabbed a blanket from the backseat.

She found her seat, lit a cigarette and started thumbing through her journal. Time had certainly done its work in changing her, but it had also successfully stolen half of the memories she had.

As soon as she hit the first entry, her memory sparked a flashback.

“Why haven’t you had sex yet? Waiting for a knight in shining armor?” he asked.

“Knight? Are you kidding me? I’m not waiting for anyone! In fact, if there was a way I could just get rid of it, I would. I’m kind of embarrassed about it.”

“Normally, I would agree with you. But, for some reason it suits you.” He smiled.

Charlie laughed a little. She looked toward the parking lot and another flash crept up.

“You must really like frogs…” he said, raising one eyebrow.

“I suppose. But, it was more of the principle.”

“So, are you Little-Miss-Do-Gooder…”

Charlie shook her head and continued reading. She got to the pages that she had filled about her trip to Karalee’s cabin. Vividly, she recalled his words on the beach.

“I have one more confession to make.” He looked down at the sand and picked up a small shell.

“I’m listening.” She waited.

He threw the shell back in the lake and smiled, not meeting her eyes.

“I saw you last night. Coming out of the water, picking up your clothes and walking to the fire.”

“Hey.”

Hurtled back to the real world, she was startled by the word. She turned and put her hand up, shielding her eyes from the afternoon sun.

Jess.

“What…what are you doing here?”

Smiling, and at a loss for words, he shrugged. “Probably the same thing you’re doing here.” He looked just as surprised to see her.

She snapped her notebook shut and an envelope fell from its pages. She picked it up quickly and shoved it in her purse.

Red flag, Charlie. You certainly don’t trust yourself with him. Get out of here.

“I should go.”

“I think you should stay,” he said, sitting down next to her.

She shook her head quickly and started gathering her things. “No, I shouldn’t,” she said more forcefully.

“Charlie, look…I wanted to apologize. I mean, for earlier, in the hallway.”

“You came here to tell me that?”

He laughed. “No Charlie, I didn’t know you’d be here, honestly. This is a complete coincidence.”

She tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows, a suggestion he was lying.“What? How would I have any idea you’d be here?” he asked innocently.

“Then, why
are
you here?”

He stretched his legs out toward the pond, acting casual. “Because I have a lot of good memories here,” he said.

Charlie rolled her eyes and stood up, preparing to leave.

“What? You’re the only person who can consider this place…special?” his voice grew softer with the last word.

Her face softened. “I’m gonna go.”

“Charlie, wait. Can’t you just sit with me for a while?”

“No, Jess. I’m a little uncomfortable with all of this.” Her arm swept around, gesturing to their surroundings.

He nodded. “I promise I won’t bite. That is, unless you should request it.” He winked.

Five minutes, Charlie. You can sit with him for five minutes.

Setting her purse and journal back on the ground, she sat down next to him.

“See, Red, was that so tough?” he asked, elbowing her arm. “So,
Charlene
. How have you been? Look at you, all professional and shit. I mean, you’re wearing clothes that require an iron,” he said playfully. “When did that happen?”

Displaying a shy, proud smile, Charlie started picking at the dead grass. “A while ago. I started as a caretaker and just…made my way up.” She tucked her kneecaps under her chin. “What about you, Jess? How have you been holding up? I’ve worried—” She cut herself off.

His eyes glazed over, staring in the direction of the playground. He was still tough, but still broken, Charlie could see that. She could see all of the emotion in his expression, switching back and forth from rigid to soft. “Things have been…hard for me.”

His eyes focused on hers now, she could sense that he needed to say more.