The Cost Of Love And Sanity (20 page)

“That sounds good. We can also put the biggest sponsor's banner in front of the registration table,” Dan added.

Alex nodded. “We need to figure out where to put the other banners.”

“Right. Let's go ahead and determine which company will get which room and how we're going to arrange the tables and chairs,” Dan said.

They walked toward the other rooms and decided where they would put each employer. Alex had a good feeling about the job fair. Seeing the center made its success real for her. She felt like the fair would not only save her job but set her head and shoulders above the rest of the managers. After identifying where they would hold lunch for the employers, the two migrated back to the car.

Once Dan put on his seatbelt, he turned to Alex. “Well, do you think we can pull all this off in a few days?”

She faced him. “We'd better.”

A
lex stumbled through her laundry room and dropped her briefcase. She desperately wanted to kick off her shoes but before she could lift one foot, the phone rang. She hobbled over to the cordless and answered.

“Hello?” She sounded rushed.

“Hey, Baby. What's up?” Nathan asked in his usual casual, positive tone. She smiled wide, wondering how he did that. Every time she talked to him, he had a way of sounding as if nothing ever bothered him. Life was smooth sailing. It was an attitude that she secretly envied and one that made her love him even more.

“Oh. Nothing, really. I walked in the door a couple of minutes ago.”

“You left a little late today, didn't you?”

“A little. My boss decided to come into my office five minutes to five and hold a thirty-minute conversation.” Alex shook her head. “But that's okay. It's getting close to time for the fair. He constantly wants details.”

“Oh. I've been thinking about you all day,” Nathan said.

Alex sat down at the table. “I've been thinking about you, too.”

“I want to see you. Are you up to doing anything tonight or do you want to chill out?” Nathan asked.

Alex's pulse quickened at the thought of spending more time with him. “I can stand some distraction. What did you have in mind?”

“Uh uh. You have to choose, remember?” He laughed.

She tooted her lips to the side. “Right.” Alex thought for a few seconds. Then, she snapped her fingers. “There's a local art gallery downtown that holds art shows a few times a week. Why don't we go there?”

“Oh, okay,” Nathan said.

“We don't have to go there. It's a suggestion.”

“No, I'm cool with seeing the art gallery. I've never been. When should I pick you up?”

“Give me an hour,” Alex said.

“All right. I'll be there.”

•••

Even though the viewing was free and the skyline looked great, Alex was surprised how many people were there. There were a few more cars there than usual. Still, Alex and Nathan managed to find a parking space fairly close to the door.

As they reached the bright lights and music from the gallery, Alex saw a room of at least thirty-five people inside. They stepped inside and were greeted with a room full of chatter. The white wall and the white floors created the perfect contrast to the art displayed throughout the room. They walked around and listened to the different descriptions of the paintings. When they got to the sixth painting, Alex couldn't resist running her fingers over the rough exterior. After marveling over the painting, she happened to glance over at Nathan and saw him looking around. To her, he looked bored. She nudged him.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Why?” Nathan asked.

“I don't know. You look kinda disinterested. This is a great painting.
Look at the colors. Even though there is a roughness to the texture, the blending of the reddishness of the sky and the light blue in the water make it very gentle and beautiful. Don't you think?” She turned to him.

He moved closer to her and nuzzled her neck. “I think you're gentle and beautiful.”

Alex chuckled and covered her mouth. “C'mon. Focus on the painting.”

She grabbed his hand and led him toward the next painting. “See, look at this one. Don't you like it?”

He put his arms around her. “It's nice.”

“Why is it nice?” Alex asked, looking up at him.

“Because it has nice colors with the textures and paper,” he mumbled.

Alex shook her head and laughed. “You are pitiful.”

He hugged her tighter, while burying his face in her neck. Warm and fuzzy feelings rose within her. All of her incessant doubts seemed to be gone but they were still there. They were at rest like a sleeping giant.

“Nathan! What's up, man?”

Alex and Nathan heard the loud greeting. They turned around to see where it was coming from. A man approached wearing jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, a tad bit underdressed for an art gallery.

Nathan broke from his embrace with Alex. “Hey, Eric. How you doing?” He shook hands with him.

“Man, I'm cool. Whatchu doing out here?”

“Ah. Hanging out with my lady.” Nathan pointed at Alex. “Eric, this is Alex.” He turned back to her. “Alex, this is Eric. We used to work together.”

Well, there's something he did different.
He included her name in the introduction. She didn't remember him doing that when he
introduced her to A.J. She supposed he'd learned his lesson but, as she observed the difference in each man's wardrobe—Eric's outside casual choice opposed to Nathan's business casual attire—she wondered about Nathan's friends. From A.J. to Eric, how could they be so different from him?

When she thought about A.J., her good mood started to deteriorate. She wondered if he'd talked to him since the incident. Were they still close friends? How would that impact her and Nathan's relationship?

“Hello.” Alex nodded a greeting to Eric.

“Hey. How's it going?” Eric said.

“Good,” Alex responded.

“All right, man. I won't keep you long. I'll let you two be,” Eric said, shaking hands with Nathan.

“Cool. See ya later,” Nathan said.

Eric waved and walked off. Nathan turned his attention back to Alex. “Now where were we? Oh, you were telling me how pitiful I was for not knowing the first thing about art.”

“Um. What are the odds of us running into people we know here, huh? I don't know anybody else that likes art enough to go to a gallery,” Alex pondered out loud, while staring at the painting.

He shrugged. “Eh, I don't think Eric likes art. He happened to be here. That's all. Plus he knows a lot of people in this area.”

“Do you know a lot of people here? Have a lot of friends?” Alex asked. She faced him, her once pleasant demeanor giving way to the sleeping giant inside of her.

“I guess. I mean, I've been here for most of my life, minus college. It's hard not to get to know different people all over the city. Don't you?” he asked.

“What?”

“Have a lot of friends?”

“Not really. I keep my friend circle small and tight. That way I can avoid drama and confusion.” She eyed Nathan.

He nodded. “I suppose with women that's a bigger issue.”

Alex placed her hands on her hips. “With women? And men don't have similar issues?”

“No.”

“So, how do you describe what happened with A.J.?” she asked.

“That was an unfortunate situation, which I've talked to him about.”

“And what did he say?” Alex crossed her arms.

“He said it was a misunderstanding.”

She scowled. “You believe him?”

Nathan sighed and ran his hand over his head. “Listen. Don't worry about that situation. It's not gonna happen again.”

“But you're still friends with him?” Alex asked. She shouldn't have been surprised but she was disappointed. Trusting him would be difficult knowing that the two men were still thick as thieves.

“Yeah. What's the problem?” Nathan asked, sensing her distress.

“The problem is that we're going to have a hard time building this relationship when there is someone around intent on sabotaging it. Why don't you see that? Why can't you see that you're going to have to cut him loose?” While this may have been a bold statement, Alex felt justified in saying it. It was necessary to address it because she didn't want a repeat of ten years ago.

“Wait a minute, Alex. You can't tell me who I can and can't be friends with.”

“But your ‘friend' tried to cause problems for us.”

“And I said I dealt with it.”

Alex shook her head. He still didn't get it. “What if it happens again? Are you gonna deal with it again?”

“Yes,” Nathan said, staring her in the eyes.

She turned back to the painting and pursed her lips. “Well, given our history, that's not good enough.”

“What about our history?”

Reluctant to go there, Alex hesitated in answering him. “We have a history of friends getting in the way.”

Nathan stepped beside her. “That was a long time ago. You said you forgave me.”

“I do but I don't want history to repeat itself,” Alex said.

Nathan's tone and demeanor changed. He lowered his voice. “Then, you're gonna have to trust me.”

Alex maintained her strong stance but deep inside she was hurt. It's like she saw a Mack truck coming but couldn't push her and Nathan's relationship out of its path. On one hand, she respected his desire to be a loyal friend. She also understood that he wasn't the type of guy to take someone telling him what to do. On the other hand, she had a hard time seeing a happy ending to this situation. Her discomfort grew as she thought about the type of games A.J. probably had up his sleeve. It sickened her. She didn't know how she would compete with him on that level. Nor did she know how she would keep Nathan focused on their relationship instead of the foolishness.

Her gaze fell from the painting to the floor. “You're making it hard for me to do that.”

T
he disagreement Alex and Nathan had at the art gallery worried her. She was even more worried about the fact that they hadn't spoken in a few days. In her heart, she wanted to call him and try to hash out their differences. She missed the whirlwind they were in. She missed talking to him almost every day about how they missed each other and how they were so glad to have found each other again. Although Alex had been reluctant to believe in their relationship a second time, she found herself giving in to the happiness their renewed union created.

Now her newfound bliss had been threatened and she didn't know how to recover. She asked herself was it worth it to take the risk of repeating the same thing all over again? She believed Nathan to be a good guy. His actions, however, were either naïve or conniving. He had to know that A.J. meant them no good.

But when the clock hit 4:00 a.m. on February 23rd, Alex didn't have the option of worrying about those things. It was the day of the job fair. She knew the event would go well because she and Dan put a lot of preparation into it. She also knew that she would have to pull her attention into the fair and away from Nathan—at least until the afternoon passed.

She quickly dressed and piled a few boxes and bags into her car. After swiping a bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle from McDonald's, she arrived at the Rockford Center way before others. Between bites,
Alex pulled decorations, numbers and other things she needed out of the boxes. A few call center reps arrived to help Alex arrange the tables, signage and check-in forms. She then briefed them on their responsibilities and answered their questions.

A staff of four suited professionals walked in carrying briefcases and two medium-sized boxes.

She greeted them with a smile. “Hello, I'm Alex.”

“Hi, Alex. I'm Bela and this is Harper, Felicity and Kennedy. We're here to recruit for PharmScope.”

Alex reached out her hand to shake each of theirs. “It's a pleasure to meet all of you. We are so happy you could be here. This is going to be an awesome job fair.”

“Me, too. A lot of people have asked us about it,” Felicity said.

“Same here. Let me show you where you all will be setting up.”

Alex walked them toward the second room from the entrance. She and the reps had placed six chairs in each room to make sure they had enough for recruiters. The PharmScope recruiters placed their boxes on the table and began arranging their laptops and pens. Alex proceeded to brief them on the number of candidates they were expecting and the way the agency planned to handle the crowd. Harper opened the box with several plastic bags but did not remove the contents.

“Where is the nearest restroom?” Harper asked Alex.

“Right next door.” She pointed.

“Great.”

Alex heard multiple footsteps outside. Dan's voice followed. She peeped around the door and found him introducing himself to a few other recruiters that had arrived.

“I'll be right outside. If you all need anything else, please let me know,” Alex said to the PharmScope staff.

“Hey, Dan,” Alex said once she stepped outside.

“Hey. I see you already have the reps set up. That was Continuum International. I showed them to the room across the hall.”

“Good. Where are the banners?” Alex asked.

“They're in my car. I'll go get them now.”

Once Dan and Alex retrieved the banners from his car, they hung them up. Meanwhile, more employers trickled into the conference center. She and Dan switched off in preparing the recruiters for the onslaught of people coming their way. By the time the last employer arrived, potential candidates had lined up outside awaiting the conference center doors to open. Alex trotted over to the rep's table and flipped through the check in sheets. She also made sure the reps had enough numbers for each candidate.