“Is Romina waiting inside?”
I nod.
The second part of the
taxi drive to the airport was even shorter than the first half, at least in my
memory. The city was flying by outside the windows as Lauren’s hands were
roaming over my body, her fingertips gliding over twitching muscles and
writhing limbs, caressing every inch she could reach with a tender determination
that made hot waves of pleasure run through my bones. Her lips were sweet and
warm on mine and her tongue carefully exploring between them, tentatively
licking into my mouth. She tasted better than anything I’ve ever had and I
couldn’t get enough of her.
I never wanted it to
stop. I wanted the taxi to drive rounds and rounds through the city and never
come to its destination.
But of course it did
and because traffic was still much less congested than expected, we arrived
much earlier than we’d thought, even though we’d stopped along the way.
Lauren paid with my
money and the disgruntled look partly vanished from the driver's face when she
almost doubled the price with her tip. He even demeaned himself to help her
detach the straps that fix the wheelchair in the car. Lauren then used the
attendant controls to steer my chair down the ramp backward.
Lauren is standing
next to me now by the road while people stream around us. She clutches the
handle of her red suitcase closely to herself. I don’t have my suitcase with me
because Romina is taking care of my luggage, as always.
Lauren stares at the
rotating doors of the entrance to the terminal and I can tell she’s nervous to
say goodbye. She has to catch a bus to the international terminal and there’s
no real point for her to go inside the building with me. She turns around to
me. “Will we try to stay in contact?” she asks.
I nod. We can always
try, can’t we?
“Okay, cool…”
It’s now or never.
I’ve made my decision. I’ve made it long before, actually. Maybe already when
Lauren showed up at the speaker’s table after my talk yesterday.
“Would you… um, help
me find Romina?” I ask her and jerk my head to the terminal building. Behind
the glass wall, people with their luggage are bustling around, families and
business travelers, flight assistants and airport workers. In regular intervals
announcements over the speakers can be heard, slightly muffled. It’s not that
far-fetched to ask for help finding someone in those conditions, especially
when your line of sight is below most people’s chest height.
Lauren’s head flies up
and she beams. “Yes, of course.” Seems like she’s equally as eager to prolong
time with me until we have to part. Her flight is in a couple of hours, so she
has time for that, too.
That makes it easy.
I would find Romina on
my own, that’s for sure. The airport is fully accessible even to me and I know
pretty exactly where she’ll be. But I have other plans and they require Lauren
to stay with me for a short while longer.
We enter through the wide
wheelchair entrance to the right of the rotating doors after I bumped the front
part of my right armrest against the large button that opens the automatic
door.
“Did you agree upon a
meeting point?” Lauren asks as soon as we’re standing in the middle of the
foyer.
I nod and need only a
few seconds to orient myself. I know some international airports better than
the supermarket at home. Granted, that might have to do a lot more with the
fact that I almost never do the grocery shopping and less with me being a
frequent flyer. But it’s true.
“Follow me.”
We slowly make our way
through the thick flock of people and into one of the many large elevators that are
already waiting. We ride up to the waiting area with shops and restaurants and
I lead the way to cross through to the side of the building facing the runway,
pretending I’m looking out for signs and directions although I pretty well know
where we’re going.
“Patrick…” Lauren’s
footsteps stop shortly before resuming following me. By now, we’ve managed to
let the crowd behind us and are moving down a clean, empty corridor.
“Mmmh…?”
“Where are we going?
Are you sure-“
We round a corner and
stop in front of two large sliding doors with milky glass panes and golden
ornaments painted on.
“Hello ma’am, sir.
What can I do for you?”
The young guy in a
spotless black suit standing right behind a small counter on the side and
smiling at us in a practiced way doesn’t look familiar to me. Damn, why do they
change out personnel so quickly?
The guy’s smile
doesn’t waver the slightest when a small groan escapes me. “Are you members?”
I’d like to nod but my
neck has other plans unfortunately. My head cranes back and a couple of
grimaces flit over my face.
“Can I see your
membership cards? Ma’am?”
“Um…” Lauren bows down
to me. “This looks like a business lounge or something, Patrick. I think we
should just-”
Frustrated with my
body, I grunt something and force the knuckles of my right hand to lean against
the screen. I’ve just started the slow process of typing when a second,
middle-aged man comes through the door behind the counter. Immediately when he
sees us a smile spreads on his round face. “Ah, Mr. Hallman. We’ve been
awaiting you.”
“Suresh… hi…” I don’t
think I’ve ever felt more grateful for being the most recognizable guy in an
airport lounge.
Suresh comes round the
counter, squeezes my upper right arm and cups my right fist on the joystick in a
sort-of handshake. Although it surprises me I certainly like it more than
people standing around awkwardly with no clue what to do. “Ah…” Suresh turns to
Lauren. “Well, well… Who is the beautiful lady?” he asks with a beaming smile
and offers his hand to Lauren.
“Um… Lauren Brooks,”
Lauren says, shaking his hand and throwing confused looks at me.
“It is a pleasure to
meet you, Miss Brooks.” Suresh gesticulates to the sliding doors. “Please,
please, follow me through here. Would you like something to drink, Miss Brooks,
champagne perhaps?”
“Um…”
“Alex, go and fetch
two glasses of our best, would you? And one straw.”
“Oh… um… of course.”
The young guy startles, his gaze flits over me before he vanishes behind the
door in his back while we follow Suresh into the lounge.
It’s not the largest
lounge in this airport, nor has it the best view or the best drinks. The better
lounges are located after security. But this one is still rather convenient if
you have a meeting scheduled directly after arrival or just simply need an
undisturbed place in the city. Right now there are not many people present.
There’s an older guy in a corner with red plush chairs, reading a newspaper and
checking his watch every few seconds, obviously waiting for someone. And at a
table in the back there’s Romina.
“I already checked our
bags,” she says in lieu of greeting when we approach.
“Thanks,” I say. I
know from experience with this airport that I can stay in my powerchair until
shortly before boarding, which is a blessing. There’s nothing worse for me than
being forced into an airport wheelchair that doesn’t provide nearly enough
support for me. I always feel like falling out every time even moderate spasms grab
my body or simply when I go round a corner, because the seat is not molded to
fit my crooked body. Plus I can’t steer those manual chairs myself and I tend
to slide into uncomfortable positions that make it hard to breathe. So yes, as
much as I despise my own chair at times, I know that in reality it’s one of the
most valuable things I own.
I maneuver the
wheelchair around the last table and arrive at Romina’s place. Suresh has made
sure to move all chairs out of my way but I guess he can’t make the tables
vanish. “Thanks, Suresh.”
Suresh bows a little.
“If you need anything you’ll only need to ask, Mr. Hallman. Your drinks will be
with you in no time.”
I smile at him and he
leaves. I turn the chair to face Romina. “Have you gotten what I asked you
for?” My stomach churns a bit because most of my plan is dependent on several
people working seamlessly together in a very limited amount of time.
Romina nods and places
my tablet down on the table. I steer the wheelchair behind the table and Romina
pulls the tablet closer so that I can read its content.
“Um… Patrick, what-?”
I look up at Lauren
who is standing somewhat forlorn near the table. “Please, Miss Brooks, take a
seat.”
It takes a few seconds
for Lauren to understand me. She snorts a little but takes out the chair across
from me and sits. Her smile grows unsure, however, when I don’t acknowledge her
any further. “Fancy lounge…” She giggles, slightly nervous. “Why are we here,
Patrick?”
Our drinks arrive but
no one takes notice of it. Lauren is staring at me and I’m still studying the
tablet.
I move my hand to the
talker and then look at Lauren across from me. “So, Miss Brooks. As I see you
have applied for a position as a…” I jerk my chin at Romina and she scrolls a
bit further down on the tablet. “As a…” I pause, waiting for Romina to continue
scrolling. “Ah, that’s a good one, I guess.
Thanks Romina,” I say to my aide. I busy myself with the talker again.
“As a senior researcher in our research
division,” the talker says.
Lauren’s eyebrows jump up. “What?”
I struggle to reach the tablet on the table and manage to slide the
device over a bit with the back of my hand. Lauren takes it and turns it around
to herself to read the application form on the screen. Most of her personal
data is already plugged in, almost all, in fact, except for her signature.
Whoever my brother instructed with researching personal information about
Lauren, I’m mildly impressed by the quick and thorough work, and I make a
mental note to ask who he set up to it.
Lauren lets the tablet sink, her eyebrows furrowed. “I’ve never-”
I cough weakly, my upper body slumping into the strap around my chest.
It makes Lauren stop talking effectively. “We’ll talk about the details later,
won’t we,” I rasp, and Romina relays quickly. I return my hand to the talker.
“Now, Miss Brooks. Let’s talk about your expectations in this job. And our
expectations in you.”
“Is this a… is this a job interview?” Lauren asks, blood draining from
her face quickly.
I nod.
“But…” Lauren turns the tablet around in her hands, nervously. “How can…
don’t you have to contact your boss first?”
I chuckle a bit. She is cute
when she’s clueless. “I talked to my brother,” I say. “But technically I don’t
need to ask anyone.”
When Lauren keeps staring at me with a confused expression in her face I
nod to the tablet. “Do you see the company’s logo?”
Lauren blinks and looks down at the tablet between her hands. “The H
squared?”
“Mmmh…”
“H and H… Hallman and Hallman?” Comprehension lights up in her eyes. “Oh
my goodness, this isn’t …? I had no … That’s incredible!”
I grin at Lauren’s incredulous face. Yes, the company that my brother
and I started a few years ago might not be overly large, but we’ve been growing
steadily since then. And you don’t need to be big or popular to be important.
You only need to do what no one else does, and make it good. And we are good at
what we do, as has been shown again by the invitation to this conference.
Something fierce flashes in Lauren’s eyes. “You don’t need to do this,”
she says suddenly and places the tablet down on the table.
I look at her questioningly.
Lauren crosses her arms. “I know why you’re doing it and I appreciate
it. It’s really sweet. If I’d work in your company I could move back, and I
want that. But not at any cost.”
“And what cost would that be?” I ask her, letting Romina relay again.
“I’d be forever indebted to you.”
I shake my head. “Only if you’d prove to be an absolute failure at work.
Otherwise we’d be lucky to have you.”
“And how do you know I’m good for your company?” Lauren asks, narrowing
her eyes. “Maybe I’m a completely lost case and you’re wasting your money on
me.”
I nod. “That’s what a job interview is for, isn’t it? To find that out.
Of course there’s always a residual risk. That will be on me, I guess.”
I don’t think there is, though. I’d definitely never offer Lauren a
position if I were not a hundred percent sure she’ll be great working with us.
When I talked to my brother about open positions it wasn’t hard to convince
him. Yes, it may have helped that he could barely suppress his obvious delight
hearing that I’m doing actual recruiting for once. But I only needed to tell
him what I’d gathered from Lauren’s conversation with me after my talk and she
was basically hired.
I still need to confide in him that I’m also stupidly in love with our
newest possible hire. But that has time until her contract is safe and sound, I
think.
If he hasn’t already put one and one together, anyway.
First, though, we need to bring this job interview behind us.
Lauren’s shoulders relax a bit. “You’d hire me even if we hadn’t… you
now…? Even if I were just someone you’ve met on the conference?”
I hesitate. In reality, I probably wouldn’t have. I hate recruiting.
Picture me in a regular job interview and you know why. There’s nothing worse
than having a candidate stare at you the entire time, knowing that the most
important question on their mind is if this guy is for real or someone is
having a very cruel joke with them. So nope, I probably wouldn’t even have
asked Lauren if she was searching for a job, simply to avoid having to go
through just that. But she doesn’t need to know that now. I hope we’ll have
time for more conversations later. Anyway, it doesn’t change my view of her as
a very valuable addition to our company.
Lauren finally nods. “Okay… let’s do this, I guess.” She folds her hands
on the table, squeezing them together. She looks nervous again.
I move my hand to the talker. “To make things equal between us I suggest
you let Romina set the tablet up for text to speech.”
Romina catches my look, nods and goes over to prepare the tablet. I use
it as a spare if ever my talker should break on a journey and it has the same
programs installed. Lauren frowns at me, surprised and apprehensive.
“A little test, perhaps,” I say through the talker once Lauren is set
up. “How are you Miss Brooks?”
“Um…” Lauren blushes when I grunt somewhat gruffly at her attempt at
speaking and obediently she returns her hand to the tablet. “Good,” the tablet
reads out loud after a few seconds. Romina has switched it to a female voice
that I haven't heard before. It’s nice.
Lauren looks at the tablet and then at me, a bit uncomfortable. She’ll
get the hang of things quickly, I’m sure. “Excellent. Now, let us begin.”
With Lauren and me both typing out our questions and answers we don’t
really manage to cover all what is necessary in a proper job interview in the
short time that is left until I’ll have to go through security. But as I said,
we can talk about details later. I make sure that Lauren knows the most
important facts about the job we’re offering her, and we fix a few dates, like
the time she’ll be able to start working with us. She’s nervous in the
beginning, but it vanishes quickly. Typing gives her plenty of time to gather
her thoughts, I assume, and also I hope my presence is not the most menacing
she’s ever experienced in a job interview.
“If you’re still interested, Miss Brooks, we’ll be happy to have you,” I
type finally. The contract will be send to her as soon as we have clarified all
remaining open questions.
Lauren sits back in her chair, her cheeks a bit rosy but a huge,
relieved smile on her face. “Of course I am. This sounds great.” She chuckles
and moves her hand off the tablet. “Thanks for everything… Patrick,” she says
in her own voice, her eyes resting on me.
I smile back at her, my stomach making tiny flips of joy. She’ll move
back and I’ll be able to see her regularly. I allow myself to start dreaming
about the things we will do. We can go have lunch together and after work we
can do those ordinary things that people do in their free time. I won’t be her
direct boss, so that won’t make things awkward, I hope. We can go to a museum
again, go to the theater, have dinner together… There are endless possibilities
ahead of us and I can hardly wait for it to start. It’s still almost a year
until her current job position ends, though, and I already feel impatient now.
We don’t have time to finish our drinks in the lounge before Romina
announces it’s time for us to leave. Lauren takes the handle of her suitcase in
hand and we exit, Suresh and Alex escorting us out with lots of well-wishes. I
promise to come back next time I’ll stay in the city.
The dreaded entrance to the security line that can only be crossed by
passengers with a domestic flight ticket arrives much too early. I turn the
wheelchair around to face Lauren. In the corner of my eyes I can see that
Romina gives us space, talking to the security personnel guarding the area.
“I’ll miss you,” I say
to Lauren before I grow too anxious to say it.
Lauren smiles when she
understands it, her eyes glistening a bit. “Me too,” she says. She watches my
right arm slip from the armrest and the fingers twitch at bit in my lap, before
taking my hand in hers, squeezing lightly. I can’t believe how well she can
gauge what I’d like to do even if my body doesn’t always let me. “We’ll talk
over skype, okay?”
I nod, my legs
quivering as I try to squeeze her hand back. “I can’t wait,” I say out loud
what’s on my mind. “I really… want to see you again.”
“We’ll see each other
again.”
I suppress a sigh. “If
only I could make you stay now...” I’ve done what I could, though. There’s no
way to make her stay here right now, I know that. And it’s not her fault,
either.
Lauren shakes her head
with her lips pressed together and I’m left wondering if she understood me when
she bends down and kisses me softly on the lips, shortly before my head is
jerking away.
“I’d stay if I could,”
she whispers. “I like you a lot, Patrick, you know?” She replaces my hand on
the joystick and gently thumbs away some wetness under my left eye. My face is
hot but somehow I’m not embarrassed because I can see Lauren is fighting tears,
too.
“Give my greetings to
Uluru,” I say slowly, already moving the wheelchair around toward the entrance
to security, where Romina is waiting.
“Maybe you can give
them yourself,” Lauren says. She keeps standing with her suitcase, watching me
wheel away. “Not in a way you like, perhaps…”
I grimace but yes,
she’s right. “Maybe.”
She lifts her hand and
waves at me, and I swivel the chair around to her fully again and lift a finger
from the armrest, my left arm snapping to my chest and my face contorting
again. Well, what a wonderful last image of me.
Lauren smiles, though,
and then she’s swallowed by the crowd and I concentrate on steering the
wheelchair through the narrow gap to the short line of first and business class
security, Romina following me. A middle-aged man in an airport uniform is
already waiting at the front of the line and waving at me with a pair of
plastic gloves in his hands. I sigh but I manage to give him a friendly nod.
It’s only one year. And
maybe, if I can make myself go through with it and board a plane to freaking
Australia once or twice in the course of it, it may be even shorter than that.
I’m already now dreading the journey but I know one thing for sure…
It will be worth it.
THE END
THE END
loved this story!!! Do you have any plans to make it available on Kindle?
ReplyDeleteI’d be happy to help if you wanted to do this, Lovis!
DeleteThanks Queenkala! Sure, if people are interested... sounds exciting! Annabelle, thank you sooo much! Your help would be greatly appreciated and sorely needed. Honestly I have no clue how to publish on Kindle :D
DeleteLoved it also. Maybe need a follow up when they are back together. You're writing is lovely.
ReplyDeleteThanks blueskye! That's what Annabelle said, too :D I do my best, promise.
DeleteI am going to miss the two of them, so much !
ReplyDeleteGreat story, with a graceful, memorable ending.
Thanks, Pepper! So glad you liked it. I'm never sure about endings.
DeleteA wonderful conclusion to this great story! Thank you so much! ❤
ReplyDeleteI would like to read ALL you stories on Kindle!!
This chapter addressed my soft spot for strong minds in a frail body with full blast! Patrick's job offer had me gasp in delight because this was a brilliant plan to stay in touch on the one hand, and to help Laureen to gain a positive experience with a job interview on the other! :) Their parting was so sweet, I almost had a tear in my eyes, too. :)
I only wish that there were such fairytale stories in real life as well. I wish that there were more people who could take control of their lives despite the disadvantages thrown at them at their births. I wish there were enough people to see past broken bodies and take the time to find brilliant personalities in them.
Once again, thank you for writing and sharing and hope to read more from you soon!
Haha, I'll start with publishing this one first I guess ;-) I didn't know people would even be interested in reading this on their Kindle. I'm definitely flattered.
DeleteAww, your words are so sweet and make me so happy. Thank you!!
Ahhh, this is such a perfect chapter that I almost don't feel like I need to go into mourning for the last of Patrick and Lauren's story. ;) I'll really miss these thoughtful characters and their sweet, mischievous relationship, but this left me with so much hope for their future and how they'll get to grow together. Sigh! (And how much Romina and Patrick's brother will get to tease him... oh boy.)
ReplyDeleteI savored every moment, but here are a couple things that jumped out to me -
I enjoyed the little side character of Suresh. I appreciate you including characters of color in an understated way, and I loved his polished yet genuine consideration for Patrick.
And seems like we can all agree that the way Patrick set up the interview for Lauren was lovely. I'm intrigued by several aspects of it - the fact that it is, in a way, quite flirty because of the way that he takes command of the situation; the way that he's actually inviting her to experience what he has to do to function on an everyday basis; and the way that he is, of course, helping her bypass her fear of interviews. All of these things at once! So compelling.
Thank you again for this lovely, heartfelt story!
Thanks, Rowan! Thanks for following me through this story :) I'm glad I found an ending that leaves hope for both of them. The interview part was so much fun to write. I hadn't even planned for this to fit all so well together in the end, it fell into my hands like that.
DeleteI've enjoyed this story and am sad that it has come to a close. I hope you will share more of your writing and maybe pick the story up again once Patrick and Lauren are back together.
ReplyDeleteThanks, anon! I love posting on this blog, be assured that I will share with you whatever my mind comes up with next. Maybe its a continuation of this story, maybe something else... I don't feel like I myself have much saying in that :D
DeleteThis is a story I enjoyed immensely! Thank you so much! It was great fun reading, and quite ... steamy ... is that the word? :-D
ReplyDeleteI will come back to reread, and I am looking forward to more of your writing.
By the way... have you ever seen one of these videos? Maybe you or someone else is interested in following the nearly daily adventures of Bernd Thill? https://www.youtube.com/user/berndthill
He may not be as successful, handsome and is certainly not as well dressed as your Patrick ("Why are your tights so extremely colourful, Bernd?" - "Yea, why shouldn't they be?!") - but he is real, active and has a strong mind and a sweet humor.
Thank you again for a very good read!
Thanks for your comment! I'm so moved people are still reading this and commenting. Makes me very happy :)
DeleteSteamy, sounds good to me. I'm currently adding an epilogue for the version I want to publish as a book in the (probably far) future, which is also quite steamy I think. If you liked that, you will like the book as well.
I haven't come across this youtube channel yet, thank you for the recommendation! This guy is hilarious. But, geez... what's with those tights? He desperately needs someone in his life to tell him NO!!! Nonononono, only-over-my-dead-body-no! :D
Well... if reality were like our fantasies we wouldn't need fiction, right?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!