CHAPTER 9
FELICIA
Pam never ceased to amaze me. When the elevator door closed completely, I glared at her. “What’s the matter with you? You didn’t have to go there.”
“Didn’t have to go where?”
“Tell Richard he could ‘bring a date.’ ”
“Well, if you want to come to my house for Christmas, you can bring a date too.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” I said with a sharp laugh. “And if you don’t mind, let’s not talk about Richard again today.”
“That’s fine with me. By the way, did you see the way he looked at you?” Pam asked with a sly gaze.
“He looked at me the same way he always looks at me.”
“Exactly.”
I threw up my hands and we continued walking toward the break room, passing office doors that had already been decorated with streamers and wreaths. I made a mental note to hang my wreath on my door when I returned to my office, and start looking for a tree in the next week or so. I always waited until the middle of December. But with my parents gone this year, I wanted to get more in the holiday mood sooner.
I knew that if I didn’t change the subject, Pam would harp on Richard for the rest of the day. “Hmmm. I wonder where my clerks are. I haven’t seen them in the last twenty minutes,” I said.
“Relax. You’ve trained them so well you know they’re not somewhere goofing off,” Pam replied with a dismissive wave.
My job as a senior workshop coordinator was to help organize the classes and make sure everything went smoothly on the clerical end. The three administrative assistants I supervised shared a large cubicle right outside my office. Marybeth Kirby and Ramona Gonzalez were cute brunettes in their mid-twenties. Both were engaged to be married next year. Thirty-two-year-old Sandy Woolrich was a stout redhead who was expecting her first child next year. All three had been with the company for several years. As efficient as they were, I had to monitor their movements from time to time to make sure they didn’t take advantage of my laid-back management style. Marybeth and Ramona spent a lot of company time working on their wedding plans. They always met their deadlines, so I let that slide. Sandy browsed baby websites, but only on her breaks and at lunchtime. Marybeth and Ramona had already alerted me that they probably would not stick around too much longer after they got married. Sandy was going to resign when she gave birth and become a stay-at-home mom. Having to break in new employees was one of the few things I didn’t like about my job. I wanted to hang on to my current staff as long as possible, so I was pretty lenient with them.
When we entered the break room, all three of my clerks occupied a table near the entrance, chatting like magpies. Every other table was taken. I cleared my throat and glanced at my watch. They stopped talking and abruptly stood up.
“Fel! We were just leaving,” Sandy said in a nervous tone as she raked her plump fingers through her hair. “You and Pam can have this table.”
I held up my hand. “That’s okay. We’re going to take our coffee back to my office.”
The three women left the table anyway and scurried out of the room like squirrels. “My goodness, Fel. Maybe you trained them too well. Sometimes they act like robots,” Pam remarked.
“They’re the best support staff I’ve had since I joined the company,” I said proudly.
“No wonder you have such a cushy job.”
“I don’t know about that. I have a lot of responsibilities,” I reminded.
One of my responsibilities was to provide lunch for the people attending our classes. We had a great budget for that, so I had contracts with some of the best caterers in town. I always ordered enough food for myself and my clerks. That pacified them and saved them money. They were so loyal, I didn’t have to worry about them leaving me in a lurch. Marybeth and Ramona had promised to hang around after they got married until I hired replacements for them. Or until they got pregnant. That was another thing; women almost young enough to be my daughters were getting married left and right. I’d even been a bridesmaid in two of my former clerks’ weddings. I was happy for them, but every now and then I felt like I was being left behind.
By the time we got to my work area, all three of my clerks were pecking away on their computers. Pam closed my door and sat in one of the two large chairs facing my desk.
I ignored the flashing message-waiting light on my landline. I plopped down into my seat and took a sip from my cup. “You didn’t have to shut the door, Pam.”
“Yes, I did. I don’t want anybody to hear what I’m going to say.”
“What? If this is about what I told you on the bus this morning or anything else about Richard—”
“Fel, I would love to see you and my baby boy get together, but I know that’s not about to happen.” Pam paused and gave me a weary look. “Clyde wouldn’t know how to keep a woman like you happy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She sighed and shook her head. “My son is too immature for a woman like you. No wonder his wife took off and he can’t keep a girlfriend for more than a few weeks. You and Richard are perfect for each other.”
I gave Pam a thoughtful look and bit my bottom lip. “I’m glad to hear you say that,” I admitted. “You just made my day.” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.
Instead of smiling back, Pam gave me a pitiful look. “You deserve to be happy. Life is short, Felicia. Don’t pass up a good thing. Let Richard know how you feel about him.”
I inhaled with my mouth open. “No way. I could never be that forward. I don’t chase after men. I never have, and I never will.”
“Who said anything about chasing? If you see something you want, go after it. I did.”
“You did what?”
“When I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Carlton, I let him know. He’s no dreamboat in the looks department, but he’s beautiful on the inside and that’s more important to me than looks. We belonged to the same church and lived in the same neighborhood all our lives, so I got to know him real well over the years. When we were teenagers, he dated a lot of girls and I dated a lot of boys. By the time we finished high school, I realized he was the best man for me.”
“And how did he feel about you?”
“Even though we attended some of the same social events and he took me out a few times, he had never shown any romantic interest in me. We were more like brother and sister. Like you and Richard, and you and Clyde. But when I found out he was planning to join the army, I didn’t want to risk losing him. A lot of the boys I knew were being shipped to Vietnam, and a couple didn’t come back.” At this point, Pam paused and blinked hard. “A month before Carlton left for boot camp, I asked him to marry me.”
“What did he say?”
Pam sniffed and kissed her wedding ring. “Isn’t it obvious? Why else would I be wearing this ring? He was surprised when I proposed, but he didn’t waste any time accepting my proposal. We got married three days before he left. I was proud that he was willing to fight for our country, and God answered my prayers and sent him home in one piece in time for the birth of our first child.”
I swallowed hard. “That’s a touching story, Pam. I’m glad you shared it with me.”
She pursed her lips and gave me a wistful look. “I’m glad you shared your feelings about Richard with me. I hope things work out between you and him.”
“I have no idea how he feels. He’s been a great platonic friend for so long, I don’t want to ruin things by telling him I’m in love with him.”
“Why not?”
“Seriously? You and I have seen enough movies and read enough romance novels to know that’s one of the quickest ways to spook a man and end a good relationship. I’ll never tell Richard I’m in love with him. If all he’s ever going to be is a good friend and coworker, I’ll have to settle for that.”
“I hope you think about it some more and then make the right decision.”
“I’ve already made the right decision. If he has feelings for me, other than as a friend, he would have let me know by now after all the years he’s single.”