The Rain Began to Fall (20 page)

“Are you sure?”
she pushed. Leigh’s head snapped up.

“Yes!” she
responded testily. “I’m sure! Are you sure about Rob? Are you two walking on
sunshine?” Mindy was taken aback by her sudden explosion.

“Yes, we are,” she
responded indignantly, not backing down. “We’re very happy together, and we
couldn’t care less what anyone thinks!”

“That’s not fair,
Mindy! That’s not what it’s about!”

“Oh yeah?” she
responded. “What’s it about then?”

Mindy didn’t want
to believe it was true that she had played with Kyle, gotten cold feet and then
cut him loose because of the social issue, but the thought was lurking in her
mind. It wasn’t like her at all, but if she didn’t have feelings for him, what
was the alternative? When it was a sexy guy like him, nothing else made sense.

“Was he good?”

“What are you
talking about?” Leigh responded, her eyes widening.

“I mean, you at
least found that out, right?”

“I’m done with
this,” Leigh announced, rising. “I understand that you’re dating his friend and
you’re biased. But I did not sleep with him, got it? You should know me better
than that!” Mindy stood also and walked around the table, placing a hand
lightly on Leigh’s shoulder as she turned to leave.

“Listen, I’m
sorry, okay?” she apologized sincerely. “I do know you, and I’m your friend! My
relationship with Rob has nothing to do with us.” She touched Leigh’s arm. “You
know your own heart. I just care about you,
that’s
all.”

Leigh sighed. “I’m
happy for you and Rob. Really, I am. He seems like a great guy.” She paused and
looked around for a moment, searching for the words.

“Kyle and I were
just.
. .friends. I know he wanted it to be more than that,
and it was fun to imagine, you know? But that’s all it was. And now it’s over.”

And that was the end
of that. A few nights later, Rob held Mindy in his arms by the lake at the city
park, while the stars danced in the heavens above them. After a passionate
kiss, he looked into her moist, dreamy eyes, at her beautiful face, and he
could no longer hold back the way he felt about her.

“Mindy. . . I have
to tell you something,” he whispered. Her heart leapt.
Please, God, let it
be
! And he didn’t disappoint.

“I love you,” he
said, with the most sincerity anything had ever been spoken, “with all of my
heart.”  She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly.

“Oh Rob! I love
you too!” she squealed.

He then dropped to
one knee before her, and she began to tremble all over, tears welling in her
eyes. He produced a ring box, and held it out before him, looking up into her
face.

“You’re the one
for me, Mindy,” he said. “I can’t live without you. I don’t have a lot, but I
swear I will work my tail off to make you happy. And I will love you always.”
He opened the box, and the diamond sparkled in the moonlight. She was now
sobbing uncontrollably. “Will you marry me? Will you be my wife?”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
she shrieked without hesitation, bouncing up and down on her feet. Rob stood
and gathered her into his arms, and she kissed him; her man, her
dream come
true.

Three months
later, Rob Fenton and Mindy Whitlow would be united in marriage. Through the
next fifty -nine years, the highs and lows, they would love only each other,
until the day she would find her old and feeble husband lying on the couch, his
eyes closed forever in death, an eternal smile on his wrinkled face. His last
fleeting thought, known only to him at the moment of his last breath, had been.
. .
What a life
!

The Queen’s Crown bar
& restaurant was the hottest night spot in town on the weekends. It boasted
a large dance floor and a long, full bar.
Falstead
had rented one of three huge banquet rooms in the club for a spring company
party. Ted Johnson, the sixty-year-old owner of
Falstead
,
believed in having fun and made it possible for his employees whenever
possible. The event was catered, and the banquet
room was
stocked with plenty of food, including peel and eat
jumbo shrimp, corn
on the cob, new potatoes, prime rib, pork barbecue, coleslaw, baked beans,
potato salad etc….

Employees had been
pouring in since 8:30 pm, and near the entrance Mr. Johnson, surrounded by
staff, greeted each of them jovially as they entered, with demands to “Enjoy
yourselves!” and “Have a good time!”

At 9:00 pm, Genes
Sykes and Leigh Thompson arrived.  She was resplendent in a slip of a
black dress with a short hem, cut low in the back, and the diamond earrings he
had recently gifted her. He was dashing in an Italian pin stripe suit. They
were both greeted enthusiastically by Mr. Johnson and the staff. Ted had known
Leigh’s father professionally and socially, and occasionally golfed with Joseph
Sykes.

“Hello, Gene, how
are
you?” he asked, smiling broadly and shaking his hand
heartily.

“Fine, thank you,
and yourself?” Gene responded, equally animated.

“Good, good,” he
replied. “Tell Joe I’m ready for a re-match at Shady Pines. He really spanked
me last time out!”

“No!” Gene
exclaimed. “You let the old man beat you?” Ted laughed.

“I didn’t
let
him
do anything!” he responded. He then turned his attention to the stunningly
beautiful woman on Gene’s arm. “And how are you, Leigh?”

“Fine, thank you,”
she responded, smiling.  She was proud to be with Gene in that moment. He
was so smooth and polished.

“So, are you two
lovebirds ready for the big day?” Ted asked winking. Leigh genuinely liked her
boss. He was a fair man, and generous to a fault. He had made her experience
working at
Falstead
pleasurable.

“Yes sir,” she
answered readily.

“Absolutely!”
Gene chimed in, patting her hand.

“Good, good!” Ted
replied. “So where’s the honeymoon?”

“We’ve decided on
Paris,” Gene responded.

“Great
choice!
I love that city! And I’m looking forward to the wedding,” he
said, and then waved his hand in a sweep toward the buffet. “Listen, there’s
plenty of food here, so you two help yourself and have a good time, okay?” He
clapped Gene on the shoulder, then walked away to greet other recent arrivals.

The deejay was
cranking out a popular mix of tunes.

“I want to dance,
Gene,” she said, moving her body in rhythm with the music. The dress she was
wearing sported daring splits up the sides, and when she walked or turned, they
displayed a breathtaking view of her shapely thighs.

“We will,
hon
, guaranteed,” he responded, looking her up and down.
“You look beautiful tonight, darling,” he added, pecking her on the lips.

She felt really
good, in control of things. Her romantic trysts with Kyle, now almost two
months in the past, rarely drifted through her mind. When they did, they seemed
the actions of someone else, a silly girl.

Mindy had been
respectful of Leigh’s wishes, making no attempt to bring up the subject of Kyle
in several weeks. But at lunch last Wednesday, she had casually mentioned to
Leigh that Kyle was planning on turning in his notice and leaving Charlotte. It
shook Leigh some to hear that - and Mindy had looked for her reaction -, but
her expression remained calm. She wasn’t entirely surprised, and she thought it
was probably for the best.

They partook of the
buffet, and then, after socializing a bit more with Mr. Johnson and the staff,
they went to the bar. Gene ordered a scotch and soda, and Leigh, a margarita.
They took their drinks back to their table.

“Good music, huh?”
he remarked, as a slow number began playing. Several couples had taken to the
dance floor. “May I have this dance?” he asked, standing and extending his
hand.

“Yes, you may,”
she responded.

As they swayed he
held her tightly, and she encircled her arms around his neck.
He really is
good for me,
she thought, and then shook her head involuntarily.

“What’s wrong?” he
asked, pulling back and looking into her eyes.

“Nothing,” she
replied. “Just hold me.” And he did.

She had recognized
her justifying thought. She found these skirting through her mind on occasion
lately, and she knew it was evidence of a lack of conviction in her
relationship.

They were heading
back toward their table after the dance when Mindy and Rob intercepted them.

“Hey
girl!”
Mindy exclaimed. The two friends embraced tightly. Mindy was
wearing a red dress, equally as enticing as Leigh’s, and she looked stunning.
Gene glanced at Rob as the two women greeted each other. Through Leigh he had
learned that Mindy had broken up with her boyfriend. Apparently she had gotten
over it. Rob looked at Gene and appraised him.
So this is Leigh’s fiancé
.
No big prize
.

“Hi Gene,” Mindy
said. “This is Rob Fenton.”

The two men shook
hands. Rob noticed the Rolex watch shimmering on his wrist.
Rolling
in loot.

“Hello, Rob,” he
said, with a mild smirk. “Good to meet you.”

“Same,” Rob
replied, shaking his outstretched hand firmly. His condescending expression did
not go unnoticed by Rob.

“So what do you
do?” Gene asked, sipping his drink.

“
Falstead
,” Rob answered evenly and unblinking. Both women
watched the exchange between them closely.

“Oh
really?
So when did you start?”

“Last week,” Rob
replied. He already despised this pompous ass.

“Then you barely
qualified for this party, didn’t you?” Gene remarked, laughing. But he was the
only one that did. Leigh stared at him with a reproachful look, embarrassed for
Rob. Rob looked at him with a smirk, but Mindy placed a hand on his shoulder
before he could respond.

“So, I bet there’s
some good food here, huh?” she asked.

“There’s a great
buffet in the banquet room,” Leigh offered, with an “I’m sorry” expression.

“Let’s go get some
grub, honey, what do you say?” Mindy suggested, tugging on Rob’s arm and
favoring Gene with a cold glance. “We’ll catch up with you guys in a few,
alright?”

Leigh turned on
him as soon as they were gone.

“How can you be so
rude?” she chastised. He looked at her quizzically.

“Hey, I was just
joking,” he said, smiling, but she looked away, extremely irritated by her
future husband’s attitude. With a keen sense for the politic, he suddenly
decided he needed to go to the restroom.

“I’ll be back in a
minute, okay sweetheart?” he said, excusing himself.

“Sure,” she
responded indifferently.

 
Leigh frowned as she watched him walk away.
She abhorred that “better than thou” quality that occasionally surfaced in
Gene’s character, a quality that thankfully didn’t make an appearance very
often. Otherwise, he would be insufferable. She turned her attention to the
dance floor and watched people dancing as she sipped her drink, already feeling
a little woozy. She swept the room with her eyes, and just happened to be
looking in the direction of the entrance to the banquet room when Kyle walked
through the door. He was dressed in black pants and a black sports jacket over
a burgundy button down shirt. To Leigh, who was unaware that she was holding
her breath, he was in that moment the most devastatingly handsome man she had
ever seen. In her initial shock that he had actually come to the party –
wasn’t
he supposed to be leaving Charlotte?
- , she failed to notice the shapely,
pretty red head accompanying him. But now she saw her clinging tightly to his
side, and the vision of him with another woman caused a sudden, massive
explosion of jealousy to erupt within her. The entirely unexpected emotion
intensified as they made their way across the floor in her direction. Trying to
grasp the idea that he was actually
here
was hard enough, but he had
brought a date? As they walked along, Kyle spotted her and stopped in his
tracks.
Don’t come over, don’t come over
, she thought. She was reeling,
disoriented; too out of sorts to deal with him right now. But after staring at
her for a moment, he took his date by the hand and did just that.

“Hello Leigh,” he
said as they walked up. He was smiling warmly and confidently, his eyes as
beautiful and intense as ever.

“Hello Kyle,” she
responded tentatively, gulping. Feelings that were supposed to be over (never there)
nipped (bit hard) at the edges of her heart. She grappled with the sudden
reality, not the fantasy, of those feelings as she looked into his captivating
eyes. Lisa was glued to him, her female instincts ever diligent; and although
it was subtle, she saw the way Leigh was looking at him, and she didn’t like it
a bit. Warning bells clanged in her mind:
This girl is competition
.

“I’d like you to
meet my girlfriend Lisa,” he said. “Lisa, this is Leigh Thompson, the Human
Resources manager at
Falstead
.”

“Hi,” Lisa said
curtly.

“Hello Lisa,” she
sputtered, her voice cracking.
Girlfriend
?
There was something stuck in her throat. Kyle, over Leigh’s shoulder, saw Gene
heading their way.

“Let’s go check
out the buffet, what do you say?” he asked Lisa, taking her hand. “Good to see
you!” He practically dragged her away from the visibly stunned Leigh. Gene
arrived at her side, watching Kyle and Lisa walk away.

“Who was that?” he
asked.

“Friends from
Falstead
,” she replied in a weak voice, watching the man
that used to want (
love
?) her walk off with his girlfriend sashaying by
his side.
Girlfriend
?
her
bewildered mind dumbly repeated.
That didn’t take long!
And why
wouldn’t he have a girlfriend?
Of course he would!
 Her mind
was spinning and her eyes were quivering.
Why is this happening
? She
shouldn’t be feeling this way; she was over him!
Over him?
Over what, exactly?
And it was all just...nothing,
right?  She picked up her glass and slugged the remainder of her drink,
trying to drown the jealously that was roaring in her heart. She took Gene’s
hand.