Susan tapped on the door of Walter's office. "Good morning!"
"Hey! What's up?"
"Is tomorrow good for lunch?"
"Yeah, sure!" Walter responded. "Did you have a place in mind?"
"There's a new French-Vietnamese place downtown," Susan suggested. "It's supposed to be good."
"Yeah, let's try that!" Walter agreed. "So far, I'm free from 12 to 2; I'll try to keep it open."
"Great! Should I meet you here?"
"I'll stop by your office," Walter offered. "We can drive together."
"Okay, sure!"
"See you then!"
"Thanks!"
-
Terri was at her desk when Francisco's number appeared on her phone. She decided to answer, but she kept her voice in a neutral tone in an attempt to disguise what she was feeling. "Hello?"
"Hello there!"
"Thank you for the flowers," Terri said. Her voice betrayed then grin on her face.
"You're welcome!" Francisco said. "Are they nice?"
"Yes, they are VERY nice. There's just a LOT of them!"
"Too many?" Francisco joked.
"Uh, maybe! My desk looks like a jungle!"
Francisco laughed. "Well, I hope that you tipped the nice man."
"Yes," Terri confirmed. "He did well. And, thank you again. It really was a nice gesture."
"Anything for you! Do you have a minute to talk?"
"I'm pretty busy today," Terri said. It was the truth. He calendar was packed.
"How about tomorrow?" Francisco suggested. "I could take you to lunch."
Terri thought for a moment. "Looking at my schedule ... yes, that should be okay. I'll have to let you know if anything comes up."
"We can be flexible," he offered.
"Yeah," she said. "We can."
"¡Bueno! ¡Hasta mañana!"
"¡Hasta mañana!" Terri replied. "And thanks again!"
Terri sat for a moment and then dialed Louise.
"Hey, it's me!"
"Hey! How are you doing?" Louise asked with empathy pouring from her voice.
"I'm okay."
"Did he call again?"
"Douglas? No."
"Well that's good," Louise said.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Terri countered. "Douglas doesn't give up easily."
"Okay, well, just be careful."
"I'm trying," Terri said with a hint of fatalist humor in her tone. "Anyway, are you busy tonight?"
"No, I'm free," Louise answered. "Did you want to do something?"
"I thought maybe we could chat a bit," Terri suggested, "either at your place, or we could meet somewhere."
"Okay," Louise said. "I just have this ... there's a cocktail party after work. I can leave early, but I have to put in an appearance."
"Oh, well, we don't have to..."
"No-no-no!" Louise insisted. "I want to see you."
"Okay," Terri agreed. "What time are you going to be done?"
"I think I can leave by 6:30. 6:45, maybe..."
"Is it close by?"
"Oh, you know what? It's just down the road from Stu's. You want to meet there?"
"Sure!" Terri agreed. "What time? Seven-thirty?"
"Seven-fifteen," Louise suggested. "Unless you want to crash my office party..."
"Uh, is Antonio going to be there?"
"Probably."
"Then that's a definite no," Terri said. "I have enough problems. I don't need to punch somebody."
Louise laughed. "Okay, 7:15 at Stu's, then!"
"I'll see you there."
Terri gave herself a moment to sit and relax and not think about anything. She took a deep breath and let it out without effort. A powerful thought came into her mind. She would need to tell Louise the truth even if it made her uncomfortable. There was too much going on now, too much to handle alone.
'The Horse Farm'
Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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