Mist & Fog 9

I sat in the tub drinking a bottle of beer wondering why I hadn’t heard from Broderick all day. My skin was turning into prunes, but still I sat and wondered why I was sitting here alone. My heart was heavy and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I was more pissed off than hurt. In my mind, I was running through a cabinet of vile words to say to him should he call. When I heard the phone ring a few moments later, I bolted out of the tub, water dripping onto the floor. I grabbed the receiver on the third ring, a curse word already on my tongue.

            “It’s Henry,” the voice on the other end said.

            Shit. Good thing that word hadn’t come out when I wanted it to. “Hi Henry. What’s going on?”

            “I’m sorry to call you at home. I got your number from Gary. I forgot to give you a folder to look over.”

            I sighed, already feeling the exhaustion win over me. Whoever said that anger wasn’t tiring was either really good at faking it or a really good liar. “Uh…why don’t you just leave it at the office and I’ll take a look at it when I can.”

            “That’s the thing, Natasha; I’m leaving for New York before you. I’m on my way to the airport and was wondering if you could meet me real quick.”

            I was standing naked and not in the mood to go anywhere. I was in a black mood and any wrong word would send me on edge. But for some reason, I agreed. I dressed in jeans and a simple red v cut shirt. With no time to do much, I just pulled my hair into a bun and applied some lip gloss. I met up with Henry at the corner bakery close to the airport. I found him sitting in a booth dressed in a tan shirt and black slacks. He had a few folders sitting on the table and he looked up when I entered. A smile formed on his lips and I returned it as he stood up when I reached him.

            “I’m so sorry for this sudden rush, but I got a call from Broderick that the clients in New York have an emergency and needed me to go ahead,” he explained.

            He got a call from Broderick? Ok, I could swear at Henry if I really wanted to. “How is he?”

            Henry smiled nervously. “I don’t know. He sounded like he was in a hurry.”

            I’ll bet, I thought. “What did you need to give me?”

            He pushed forward a folder. “This is the client’s folder and if possible, you should go over it before you come to New York on Friday. It will give you a good review of who you will be dealing with.”

            My eyebrows rose up. “Dealing with? You make them sound as if they will eat me alive if I say anything wrong.”

            Laughing, Henry said, “No, but they’re clients that we’ve dealt with in the past and we know them well. Actually, to be completely honest, Broderick wanted me to pass that folder on to you before you left since he isn’t here to accompany you.”

            My fingers stopped short of opening up the folder. I looked up at Henry who was staring at me like I’d grown three horns. “Broderick wanted you to give this to me?”

            He nodded. “Yes.”

            I stood up. “Thank you, Henry. Have a safe flight and I’ll see you in a few days.”

            He smiled as I turned to leave with the folder in my hands. I was fuming hot heat now and seeing red. As soon as I got outside, I tossed the folder outside into the garbage, making sure Henry saw me do it. I got into my car and tore out of the parking lot. As soon as I made it to the highway, my phone rang. I grabbed it and saw it was Broderick calling. I was too angry to answer and left it ringing. It went to voicemail and began ringing again. Blowing out hot air, I picked it up.

            “What do you want?” I snapped.

            “The folder was for your safety,” Broderick’s voice came on.

            I laughed. “Hello to you too, you bastard. Here I thought I was going to give you my heart and let you into my life. Boy was I wrong. You couldn’t have the balls to call me when you couldn’t make it. You had to send me an amateur in your place.”

            When he spoke next, I could hear him straining to keep the anger under control. “You were told why I wasn’t there.”

            “Well, you should have called me yourself. Did you forget that we had spent a weekend together? How could you just toss me away like I was some used item?”

            “You’re nothing like that to me. You have to understand. Something very important came up and as much as I want to be there, I can’t.”

            “How do you know I tossed the folder? Did Henry call you?”

            “That doesn’t matter.”

            Before I could speak, I heard the sound of a woman’s voice whispering. I pulled to the shoulder and slammed on the brakes. My thoughts were running wild with accusations and I wanted to slam the phone into the ground. I wished I could reach in and grab him by his neck. Tears filled my eyes and I hung up as I pounded my hands on the steering wheel. The phone rang again and I tossed it under the seat. Turning up the music loud, I turned back onto the highway and roared the car to ninety.

            I was blinded by anger, hurt, and jealousy. How could he lie to me? How could he hurt me like that? I’d been too kind and let him into my life. Now that he had the reins, he was leading me toward a cliff. I would be forced to jump off. I started bawling and the howls that ripped through my lips were that of an animal, not a human.

            Somehow I made it home alive and once inside my home, I poured out my hatred, my anger, and my pain. I sat in the corner going through my mind why he would turn to another woman. I had no answers and the more I thought about it, the more I felt betrayed. Now I knew what my father felt and unlike him, I wasn’t going to settle into being a mute. I was going to tear a new heart for him. I was fuming on my anger and living on hate, but it was what would save me and keep me sane. Broderick wasn’t going to be the end of me.

 

            I landed in New York at ten in the morning, checked into my hotel room, and called up Henry for some lunch. I wasn’t sure how I had worked through the last few days, but this morning when I stepped on the scale, those pesky ten pounds I hated, were gone. It felt good because those numbers reminded me of someone I’d rather hate. I choose a deep red dress that came to my knees and I sported it with a pair of very high black heels. When I walked into the hotel dining room, I caught Henry going over some papers and walked over. I tapped his table and he looked up, the pen in his hand dropped to the ground. I bent over and picked it up letting it dangle from my fingers. He took it slowly and gestured for me to sit down.

            “How is it that you can travel and look like that? I look horrible after I get off an airplane,” he said.

            I smiled. “Well, we women have secrets that we don’t share.”

            He laughed. “I’m glad I wasn’t born a woman. I don’t think I’d survive.”

            He handed me a folder and I took it. I opened it and it was the same one that I’d tossed away a few nights ago when I had met him. I closed it and looked up at him. He had an unreadable expression on his face. I set it down and sighed.

            “Did you call Broderick that I’d tossed the other one?” I asked.

            He blushed. “I did. I’m sorry. I was…I had been instructed that you were to get this folder and I’m just trying to do my job.”

            “I understand, Henry, and I’m sorry for putting you in jeopardy. But can you just explain what this is?”

            He sighed. “A few years ago, when we worked with this client, his son has a tendency to hit on the women who work on the cases. Broderick was working with an associate who came with him and his son ended up impregnating the girl before they left to go back home.”

            I felt my spine shiver. “Wow.”

            “That’s not even the worse yet. He refused to take actions and the associate ended up getting an abortion. She left the job and Broderick felt responsible.”

            I stared at the folder before my hands and opened it up. I saw a photo of a young man staring back at me. He had blond hair and blue eyes, which seemed cold and unrealistic. My eyes scanned the name below and read Lincoln Walker. I looked back up at Henry and sighed as I closed the folder.

            “If that’s the case, why do you continue to do business with them?” I asked.

            “It’s not him we do business with anymore. It’s his father. But he could be around and Broderick didn’t want you to get hurt.”

            I stood up, feeling guilty. “Thank you, Henry. I’ll meet you here tomorrow at eight.”