Friends Or Lovers Part 15

Hi John, Still trying to corrupt my sweet innocence? Naughty, naughty. Id love to be seen with you, but it will have to be in the morning as we arranged although a lazy lunch is possible, if you prefer. Ill save the silky black dress for another occasion (!!) youll just have to admire my power suit instead.

Penny

xx

I read over the message again. Was I being too flirty? h.e.l.l, this was John and "flirt" was his middle name so I hit the [Send] b.u.t.ton without further ado. Fewer than five minutes had pa.s.sed before I received his response.

Penny, Lazy lunch it is. We can compare power suits. If my meeting goes well in the afternoon then Ill be in Leamington quite a lot over the next 2 months and you can impress me with your silky attire . Meet you at 12.30pm at Bella Marie?

John

xx

I loved flirting with him. He still had a way of making me feel special. I confirmed the time and place of our next lunch date and allowed myself a few minutes to bask in the warmth of feeling attractive and desirable. The issues with Nathan and Mike slipped from my mind as I contemplated the prospect of spending more time with John. I finished going through my e-mails and the last one was from Dave about the evening event.

Subject: Launch Event Pen, Just finalising stuff for Wednesday. Are you able to meet me in the morning so that I can try out my presentation on you? Also, just been going through some Professional Development stuff. Both you and I need to consider this before our appraisal in July. Do you know of any CIPD events coming up that we could attend to catch up on the latest issues?

Dave I confirmed that I could meet him and asked Phil to call the Chartered Inst.i.tute of Personnel Development to find out any events that would be running in Birmingham in the near future. He found an afternoon event with an optional evening dinner. It would run on 30th June and covered the latest legislative changes in our field. The evening event had two guest speakers scheduled one giving a talk on entrepreneurial behaviour and the other called "Intimacy at Work". Given what was going on, the second of these really caught my attention. For those attending the evening event, there was an option to stay overnight in the hotel. I thought Dave would enjoy the first talk so I asked Phil to liase with him and book the overnight option for both of us. Thankfully the day ended without further incident.

Chapter 23.

On the Monday morning, I got into work early and resumed work on the contracts for Dave. Around 9am, the phone rang.

"Phil," I shouted, "could you get that for me?"

He picked up the receiver and redirected the call to his own phone. A few moments later I could hear him conversing in a slightly agitated way.

"Im afraid shes......no shes.....shes busy at the moment. Can you......?"

It sounded as though someone was not letting him get a word in edgeways. I mouthed to him 'who is it? but he shrugged his shoulders to indicate that he didnt know.

"Please hang on a moment, sir! Ill see if I can find her," and with these words he pulled the handset from his ear and gave it a harsh look.

"Who is it?" I asked out loud.

"Its a man for you. Called John. He insists he must talk to you."

I smiled because it was unusual for him to call me. He may be bold by e-mail but he rarely initiated phone conversations.

"Its okay, Phil," I say. "Hes a friend."

"Well he doesnt sound very friendly to me," Phil said as he diverted the call to my phone.

I picked up the receiver.

"Hi, John. Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Wednesday. Can you meet any earlier?" he asked without seeming to pause for breath.

"And a 'good morning to you too, John!" I pointed out.

"Sorry Penny! 'Good morning to you. Can you meet any earlier on Wednesday?" he repeated.

"Well, a bit I could bring it forward to 11.30 if that helps."

"Yes. Thats good. Okay. Ill see you at 11.30."

"Hang on, hang on!" I say, trying to slow him down. "What is this all about?"

"Cant say, Penny, not on the phone. Ill tell you Wednesday. We need to talk."

"That sounds fairly ominous! What do 'we need to talk about?" I said in an attempt to mock him slightly and lighten the mood.

"Cant say, Penny, not on the phone," he repeated.

"Why not? The heavens havent fallen down over the weekend have they? My sisters wedding hasnt suddenly been cancelled, has it?"

He completely ignored this piece of news and carried on.

"Its better to talk in person."

"John? Has something happened to you?"

I could feel concern creeping into my being. It was unlike John to sound so agitated.

"No! Not me."

"Your wife?"

"Penny. I dont want to talk on the phone. Ill meet you at 11.30 we can talk over a coffee before lunch. Try not to worry."

With that last comment, he rang off. Whenever anybody says "try not to worry" it is sure to make you worry even more. He did not answer my question about his wife and I wondered whether something might have happened between them. But then I remembered that he said it was nothing to do with him. What then?

"Did he say anything to you?" I asked Phil.

"About what?"

"Did he say what he wanted to talk about?"

"No. He was just very insistent that he talk to you immediately. Very pushy guy, if you ask me."

I thought for a moment.

"Yeah. Hes a pushy guy alright." In my head I added a few extra words that Phil did not hear. "Thats what I love about him."

Chapter 24.

I took the contracts around to Daves office and he ran through his presentation. I took notes and stopped him after each section to give him feedback. He ran through the section again until I gave him a thumbs up and we continued this process until late morning. We dont do many major product launches so Dave was putting in extra effort. His belief in this entrepreneur and his innovations was high so he was making a career gamble by investing in a lavish public relations event. After working through the contracts, we agreed a few minor changes for his afternoon meeting.

"Do you have to rush off?" he asked.

"No. Something on your mind?" I enquired.

Dave is rarely hesitant, and for him to pause for any length of time before giving an answer was quite strange.

"Yeeaah!" he finally said slowly.

"Well, come on then. Tell aunty Penny...." I was beginning to get used to the idea that I was going to be an aunty twice over.

"Do you remember I said my wife was ill?

I vaguely recollected him saying something, but I responded with more confidence than I felt.

"Of course! Is she not better?"

Dave did not show any emotion. It was almost like he was a blank, looking straight into my eyes in a way that Id never seen before. He licked his lips and I could tell that he was slightly nervous so I walked up to him and touched his arm.

"Come on, Dave. If theres something, you can tell me!"

He looked into my eyes again. There was fear in them. I had never seen him like this before. He licked his lips again. Finally, he spoke.

"Shes dying!"

This news had a deep and lasting impact on me. I held his left arm in my right hand and then placed my left hand on his shoulder. He didnt say anything either, just tilted his head until it rested on my hand and closed his eyes. He was in pain and I let go of his arms and put my hand on his cheek and stroked it.

"Have you told anyone?"

"No. Youre the first person Ive told."

Id worked with Dave for 10 months and this was by far the most human moment that we had shared.

"Family? Have you told them?"

"Ill do that later today. Shes not been well for a while, and shes been back and forth to the doctor. I took her into hospital this weekend because her headaches were so painful that she could not sleep. Theyve done a scan and found a tumour. Its advanced. They dont think sh.e.l.l survive more than a few months.

"Oh Dave! Im so sorry. Come here."

I put his head on my shoulder and my arms around him. Dave had a lot of energy but deep down he was a gentle soul. As I held him I could feel his heart breaking and the gentle movement of someone crying. We stood there for many minutes before he slowly pulled away and without looking at me said "thank you". He turned slowly and left the room.

Sometimes you work with a person for a while and simply do not realise the bonds that are forming. I was sad for the rest of the day, and in the evening when I was on my own I felt acutely distressed. Deep down a pain formed inside me that actually hurt. My friend Dave should not have to bear this so young. It was unnatural, cruel and so unfair. He was a bit older than me, but not by much. I found myself struggling to get to sleep as the silent anger I felt kept me awake. There was no G.o.d if this could happen. I had not realised I cared about him and it came as a surprise. As I lay there - thinking of him sitting with his wife at the hospital - I decided he needed a friend. He needed someone to care about him. It was my time, my moment to face someone elses pain and not shrink from the thankless task of helping him through it.

Chapter 25.

When Wednesday came, I had no idea what was in store for me. I had taken extra care getting dressed because I wanted to look good for my lunch date with John. In the afternoon, I was due to meet Mike and Nathan for a showdown. In the evening was Daves product launch.

I strode into work feeling smart and confident. When Phil saw me, he raised his eyebrows.

"Doing something special today?" he asked.

"Got the launch event tonight and have no time to go home," I lied. But it was a good lie, I thought.

"That young entrepreneur will think hes died and gone to heaven!"

For Phil to pay me a compliment was so unexpected that I actually stopped in my tracks. I looked at him with new eyes.

"Thats very sweet of you," I said, smiling.

He looked a little embarra.s.sed, as if he had said more than he meant to, but with a small shuffle of his feet and with his eyes slightly lowered, a few words came out.