Cosmo's Deli (20 page)

Renny notices the satisfied look on Val's face. “The team?”

“The team of Heffner, Wilde and Cook, which includes all of us.” Contempt creeps into her voice. “They're going with Cosmo's Chips though. Walt was quite taken with the idea of being in commercials, however misguided I may think that idea is.”

“And I'm sure as a team player you kept that to yourself.”

Val points her finger with flourish. “Touché. They're going to need some guidance on selecting a new ad agency. Those three were fired right after the meeting. Lance will set up an appointment with Cedar Foods next week to work out a time table for everything.”

Renny shakes her head. “What do you mean, Lance?”

“Cedar Foods is a big piece of business and we need our best on this. You're both going to work on the follow-up.”

“I thought the loser gets fired.”

“Just because someone fumbles a play doesn't mean he's cut from the team. Besides, you didn't play by the rules, Renny. You were supposed to pitch the idea we discussed. That nullifies the conditions. And Lance is one of my best people.”

“I'll just bet he is.”

“You'd be wise to put your differences aside. As of a half hour ago, Lance is also your new boss.”

“My what?” Renny is dumbfounded.

“He needs to have a Manager title to be team leader on Cedar Foods.”

“But I won the account! That should be my title!”

Val puts her hand on the doorknob. “Yes, that's true. But I need to be able to trust my people to follow directions and you didn't. Lance is in charge.” She cracks a sinister smile. “By the way, if you're planning on leaving early, you need to clear that with your new boss.”

“I have to get to my mother's appointment,” Renny exclaims.

“I'm sure that's out of the question. Lance has scheduled a Cedar Foods meeting for four o'clock.” Val turns to go.

“No!” Renny declares.

“No what?” Val says, turning back.

“I'm leaving.”

“You have no choice but to stay.”

“Then, I quit.” Renny's insides tumble as though she were unexpectedly heaved from an open window.

Val reels back. “You can't just quit.”

“Watch me.” A sense of calm washes over Renny as she realizes she isn't falling at all. Instead she's escaped and landed—with no bumps or bruises. Renny grabs her bag and picks up her coat.

“You, you're going to regret this,” Val sputters.

“I don't think so. But you will.” And then she knows that by quitting she has cut off Val's legs, diminishing her like a human shrinky dink under a bulb. Standing face-to-face with Val, Renny wonders how she never realized that they're the same height. Renny walks past her and opens the door. “There is one thing you could do for me.”

“What?” Val answers coldly.

“Go to hell.” Renny breezes out the door past Lucy and the gaggle of secretaries who were listening on the other side.

***

The Lincoln Town Car rolls into the parking lot of the brown brick medical office at three-fifteen, teaching Renny once and for all—nothing ever goes as planned. Not for her.

Instead of light midday traffic, the turnpike was a parking lot, thanks to an overturned tanker oozing hazardous chemicals across the blacktop. Not that Renny ever laid eyes on the sight herself. That's what the driver reported after listening to the radio traffic report and before they were guided to the next exit due to a three mile stretch of the turnpike being shut down. The exit delivered them into the road trip equivalent of purgatory, an endless maze of side streets leading no where. The car quickly filled with frustration.

“Are you sure you know where you're going?” Renny asked the driver for the umpteenth time. They've spent the last half-hour navigating the bowels of northern Jersey.

“Don't you know? You're from New Jersey,” he snarled

“Meaning what? I'm supposed to have a state road map tattoed to my ass,” she snapped. “Besides, you're the car service driver. It's your job to know.” They didn't speak another word for the rest of the ride, but he did pull over into a gas station to ask directions.

Hurrying into the building lobby, Renny searches the listings for Summit Partners Oncology.
Suite 204
. Renny mounts the nearby stairs two at a time and then follows the numbers on the second floor to the last pair of double doors. Turning the knob, Renny prays to find her family still in the waiting room. Maybe the doctor had an emergency. Inside, the room is half full. However, none of the people are any relation to her other than stranger.

Renny pounces on the young nurse seated behind the front desk. “I'm Shirley Shuler's daughter. She has an appointment with Dr. Landon.” She wears a white lab jacket over a shirt that has a repeating pattern of teddy bears and hearts. Renny wonders for a moment if she took a wrong turn into a pediatrician's office.

The nurse looks up at her. “What time is her appointment?”

“Now. She should be back there now.” Renny's impatience is palpable.

“Which doctor?”

“Doctor Landon. I really need to get back there.”

The nurse checks her appointment list. “Your mother's appointment was at two-fifteen.” Her eyes dart to the clock hanging in the waiting room. “That was over an hour ago. I'll go check if she's still here.” The nurse disappears around a corner and returns a moment later. “Your mother left already. Doctor Landon had a cancellation, so he took her in early.”

“Excuse me?” Renny shakes her head incredulous. “I planned this day based on the universal constant that doctors never take patients in early. So, no, I'm sorry early just doesn't work for me today!”

In answer to Renny's rant, the nurse quickly closes the glass partition between them and walks away. Renny throws up her hands and turns toward the others in waiting room with a “do you believe this place” look on her face. No one notices. They are all absorbed in their reading or whispered conversations with their companions. Renny turns back and raps on the glass partition, knowing full well the effort is futile, because no one is there. Suddenly an older nurse rounds the corner with the younger one trailing behind her. The older nurse smiles at Renny and comes forward to slide the glass open. Renny notices the gray streaks that stripe her dark hair and when she smiles the skin at the sides of her eyes contract like an accordion. Peaking out from under a lab coat is a shirt adorned with teacups and birdhouses.

“Are you Renny?” the nurse asks.

“Yes.” Renny floods with relief at hearing her name spoken in a mothering way.

“Your father said you might come by. I'm afraid they left about twenty minutes ago.”

“Is she…I mean, does she have…” Renny doesn't want to say it, hoping instead that the nurse will fill in the blank for her. When she doesn't, Renny follows through, “Is it cancer?”

“I can't discuss your mother's condition, dear.”

“Can I speak to the doctor?”

The nurse shakes her head, “I'm afraid not. He's with a patient.”

Renny opens her mouth to protest, but inherently knows that even though she speaks with soothing tones, this woman's words are cast iron. The only way she'd get to the doctor is if she wrestles her way past this woman. As if reading her thoughts, the nurse asks, “Is there anything else we can help you with today?” Her face is serene, but there is a glint in the older woman's eye that says, “Do you want a piece of me?”

Renny doesn't. Her adrenaline high has taken a powder, leaving her drained. She shakes her head and leaves the doctor's office.

As the Town Car pulls out of the lot, Renny gives the driver directions to her parents' house. He nods in acknowledgement. Prick, Renny thinks, annoyed by his silent treatment. She pulls out her cell phone and dials her parents. On the third ring, her brother, Ira, answers.

“It's me,” Renny says. “I just left the doctor's office. They wouldn't tell me anything.”

He snorts as if the phone call were the anticipated punchline to a bad joke. “Here's Dad.” Ira hands the phone over to her father.

“Renny, where are you?” He asks.

“I just pulled away from the doctor's office. What did they say?”

“It's not good.”

Renny feels her stomach churn. She feels like she is going to throw up.

Her father continues, “There's a mass on her right lung. It's malignant. They want to operate.”

“When?”

“As soon as possible. It could even be next week.”

“I'll be there in about fifteen minutes,” Renny tells him.

“Hang on a minute.” Her father muffles the phone and hears her mother talking, though the words are inaudible. Renny can tell that the exchange between her parents is about her. He comes back on. “You know, honey, it's not such a good time right now. I think you should go back into the city.”

“She doesn't want me to come? Does she?”

“It's been a rough day for her. She's just tired. It'll be okay.”

“Put her on the phone. I want to talk to her.”

Her father blows out a heavy sigh and Renny knows he's shaking his head even if she can't see it. “Maybe later.”

“She won't even talk to me?” Even after their most bitter fights, her mother has never refused to talk to her.

“We'll call you later,” he says, before hanging up.

Renny legs begin to tremble, a small quake that spreads quickly over her body. When it subsides she leans over the front seat, “Ah…driver, just head back into the city. Okay?” Sitting back, her body trembles again and she crosses her arms across her chest for solace.

The driver makes a quick u-turn down a side street, this maneuver being the only acknowledgement that she'd changed their course.

She'd momentarily forgotten that they weren't on speaking terms either.

***

Strains of sad love songs float through her apartment as Renny stretches out on the couch, physically and mentally exhausted. She wears the clothing equivalent of a big hug, faded navy sweats and an oversized hoody, replete with holes and bleach stains. She clutches a half-empty goblet of Merlot, while the rest of the bottle sits on the coffee table waiting to be poured.

Renny eyes the phone. She called her parents twice since getting home and her mother still won't talk to her. She sips her wine and absorbs the music.

The last twenty-four hours are like a sinister fable. Little Renny Shuler went off to work and when the black hearted queen tried to do away with her, she escaped by quitting instead. Then upon trying to return to her family, she found them quarantined with the plague. Now, the only thing that can break the evil spell cast on her life is to fall into the arms of the handsome prince with a kiss.

Only the prince hasn't called. And he may never call. Renny tells herself that Georgie was just tired last night and that their date will still happen. And as for her mother, well, she'll be okay. She has to be.

As Renny wails aong to the music the phone rings.

She jumps. “Hello?” All she hears is bar noise. “Speak up, I can't hear you.”

“It's Lucy!”

“Lucy?”

“You left the office so fast today. I wanted to congratulate you on quitting. That took balls.”

“Thanks,” Renny answers raising her glass in dismal self cheer. “It's starting to sink in.”

“Listen, I want to let you know that Val is gonna clean out your office on Monday. I overheard her saying that the only reason she didn't do it today is because she's going away for the weekend and didn't want to miss her train. If there is anything you want from your office you better go in tomorrow and get it.”

“Can I still get in?”

“I left a note for the weekend guard that you'd be stopping in. You should go tomorrow though.”

“Thanks, I will. Where are you?”

“Shark Bar.”

Renny waits for more. “Lucy are you there?”

“Listen, I don't know how to tell you this. Are you sitting down?”

“Yeah. What is it?” Her palms turn clammy.

“It's Georgie. He's here and he's with Tawney.”

The fog that has surrounded her all night grows thicker. Renny looks at the wineglass in her hand and notices how tiny and faraway it seems, as if she were seeing it from a distance away. “Are, are you sure?”

“What?” Lucy shouts.

“Are you sure?” Renny suddenly yells.

“I'm sure. And you don't have to scream at me. It's not my fault he's here canoodling with her.”

“They're friends. I'm sure it's perfectly innocent,” Renny rationalizes.

“Innocent my big thong wearing ass. By the looks of it, they're really good friends.”

“Well, then what are they doing now?” Renny demands.

“I can't see, too many people moved in the way. Maybe they left.”

“Go look!” Renny pleads.

“But I'll lose my seat at the bar,” Lucy whines. “And I have Mr. Giggles in my sight line. He's six seats away.”

“Lucy, you called me on what has been the worst day of my life with even more shitty news. I need to know what he's doing with her.”

“Okay, okay. I'm going,” she grumbles. “I'm working my way through the crowd. Hang on a minute.”

Renny listens for what feels like an eternity to the generic bar static of voices, tinkling glass and music.

Lucy comes back on. “They're still there.”

“And?”

“Hang on.” She muffles the phone.

“Lucy!” Renny shouts.

“Oh my god! You're not going to believe this.”

“What, what is it?” Renny's heart clogs her throat, making it hard to breathe. What if I pass out right here in my apartment, she thinks? I could asphyxiate. Half the world isn't talking to me. Who would find me? I'd probably lay here decomposing until my stink wafts down into the lobby.