Second Chances (16 page)

Nichole slapped her hand against the alarm clock to stop it
from buzzing. It was so loud, screeching in her ears, and she let out a sigh of
relief when it finally fell silent. It was still dark outside; she hated getting
up in the morning when there was no light, because it made her feel extra groggy.

She groaned as she rolled out of bed, rubbing her eyes and
shivering in the cold air.  She grabbed her robe off the floor and slipped it
on, rubbing goosebumps off of her arms.

There was a knock at the door.  A second later and it slid
open. Kenni stuck her head inside.  “You awake?”

“I’m awake,” Nichole said, yawning.  “Are you ready for
school?”

“Already packed my book bag,” Kenni said. 

She opened the door the rest of the way, letting the hall
light spill into Nichole’s room. Nichole winced from the glare and yawned
again.

“What about lunch?”

“Rico made me a sandwich last night.  Come
on.”

“Okay, okay,” Nichole mumbled.  It was just after five in
the morning, still three hours before she had to go in for work or Kenni would
start school, but Kenni had to catch her bus to make it to Northmont on time.

Kenni raced downstairs and Nichole followed, bundling her
robe tighter against the chilly air.  Kenni disappeared outside onto the street,
waiting impatiently for her older sister. After fishing around, Nichole found
her crocs under the couch and slipped them on.

“Did you finish your homework?” she asked, following Kenni onto
the porch.

“Yes,” Kenni said, annoyance in her voice. “I finished it
all last night.”

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

“We have a project due today,” she said.  “A presentation,
and I need to meet with my team before school starts to make sure everything is
ready.”

“Do you want me to drive you?” Nichole asked.

“No,” Kenni said.  “I’ll be fine as long as we don’t miss
the bus!”

Nichole followed her sister down the street to the bus stop.
A few streetlamps lit the way but the sidewalk was completely empty. No foot
traffic of any kind, only peaceful serenity. The occasional car went past as
early birds began the trek to work.

This would be the last two weeks of school at Northmont, and
Kenni was starting to get excited about summer. She had a lot of plans for what
she wanted to do with her friends during the break. There were talks of camping
and swimming, and small mentions of boyfriends accompanied by giggles.

Nichole was just glad to see her young sister so happy. 
Once she was transferred back to Northmont she’d started to perk up. The
uncertainty about their mother was resolved, and Kenni was able to move past it
all; put it behind her. All of her friends were thrilled to see her come back
and Kenni started coming back out of her shell. 

She still had to ride the bus every morning, which was harder
on some days than others. Nichole had started looking for apartments closer to Northmont,
since Tyler would be starting there next year as well.  She didn’t want to be
too far from her work at the law office, but a little closer to Kenni’s school
couldn’t hurt.

They made it to the bus stop and stood together, waiting for
it to show up. 

“Can I stay with Karen after school?” Kenni asked. “She said
I could stay the night and go in tomorrow with her.”

“Did her parents say it was okay?”

“They said I could stay over whenever so I don’t have to
take the trip.”

“Okay,” Nichole said. “You can stay over tonight. I’ll call
and check on you after work. But you need to be home tomorrow night. We are
going to dinner with Rico and Anita.”

“Oh,” Kenni said.  “Oh yeah.  Then we’re going to visit Mom’s
grave.”

Nichole nodded. “So make sure you’re home on time.”

“I will be,” Kenni said.

They had only been to their mother’s grave twice since they
found out what had happened. The first was the day after the police called, and
the second was three months later when the city put in a new headstone. 

After a few minutes they heard the bus approaching. It came
to a stop with a soft
whoosh
of air and the door opened. 

“Morning!” the driver said, waving down at them.  She was a
woman in her mid-forties and a perpetually good mood.  “Bit chilly today.”

“Only for now,” Nichole said.  “It’s supposed to get up to
the nineties this afternoon.”

“Summer is almost here,” the driver said, smiling. 

“I know,” Kenni said.  “I can’t wait.”

Nichole turned to her sister.  “You’ve got everything?”

“Yes,” Kenni said, exasperated.

“Are you sure, because I can’t keep dropping things off to
you when you forget—”

“I’ve got everything,” Kenni said.

“Okay,” Nichole said. She knelt down and gave her little
sister a hug.  “Then have a good day at school.  I love you.”

“I love you too,” Kenni said, hugging her back then climbing
up the stairs onto the bus.

She was the only student on the bus this early, and it would
remain that way for the next hour before they started picking up local students
in the district.  Nichole watched the bus pull away, waving at her sister as
she disappeared down the road.

Once the bus was out of sight it felt eerily silent on the
street.  She glanced down at her watch and then headed home.  She would be able
to get about another hour of sleep before she had to get ready for work.

“Good morning, boss,” Meghan said as Richard exited the
elevator.

“Morning, Meghan,” Richard said. “You’re awfully cheerful
today.”

“That’s because today I’m going to get a raise!”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Mmhmm,” she said.  “My boss is going to give me one, he
just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Ah,” Richard said.  “That’s what you’re banking on?”

“When he sees the new clients I set him a meeting with, he
will,” Meghan said.  “Because these are going to be some major accounts.”

“You got Baxter on the phone?”

“And Wilson, that insurance company I was telling you about. 
You’re meeting with Baxter today, and Wilson tomorrow.”

“Wow,” he said.  “You sound like a miracle worker.”

“I am,” she said.  “So, about that raise…”

Richard chuckled.  “Your boss is going to have to think
about it. Is Nichole in yet?”

“She came in early. Good thing too, I set her to researching
the stuff on Wilson.”

“Good,” Richard said. “I haven’t worked with a lot of
insurance companies before.  Its new territory, and I’d prefer sounding like I
know what I’m talking about before meeting the clients.”

“Really? It’s never stopped you before.”

Richard laughed.  “Anything else, before I go into my office?”

“Your brother called.”

“Oh? What did he want?”

“He was checking if you guys were still on for the baseball
game Saturday.”

“Okay, I’ll call him back.”

“A baseball game?” Meghan asked. “Really? Do they still have
those?”

“It’s the American pastime.”

“Yeah, in the fifties.  We’ve moved on.”

“It sounded more fun than what we usually do, which is visit
his clinic,” Richard said. 

Meghan laughed.  “That’s for sure.  But, next time you want
to have an outing, do me a favor and let me get the tickets.  I’ll get you
concert tickets, or a soccer game. You know, something fun.”

“Baseball is fun,” Richard replied.

“Yeah,” she said. “But it’s old person fun.”

“Old person fun?”

“You know, like golf,” she said.  Then she tapped her chin
thoughtfully.  “But, you know boss, you
are
getting on in years…”

“That’s enough for now,” Richard interrupted, heading to his
office. “If you need me for
work
related issues, give me a call.”

“Sure thing,” Meghan said. 

Richard dropped his suitcase on the couch and sat at his
desk.  It was going to be a rough day, having to meet with one client and then
prep for another, but it meant he would be busy. He liked to keep busy, since
it made the day go faster.

After a few minutes, he heard a knock on his door.  “Come
in,” he said.

The door opened and Nichole peeked inside.  “This a bad
time?”

“No,” he said, waving her in.  “Come on in.”

She strode in, confident, and set a stack of papers on his
desk.  “This is everything I could find so far, and I highlighted all of the
important details.”

“Okay,” he said.  “I’m going to look over their books today
and make sure everything is solid in accounting before we commit.  I don’t want
to get our firm into a bad situation.”

Nichole nodded.  “Let me know if you need me to look
anything else up.”

“I will,” he said.  “Have you seen the intern?”

“Cody is out today,” Nichole said. 

“Ah,” Richard said.  Cody was Nichole’s replacement, and
more like a real intern in that he was always cancelling and rarely working.

When they needed a new intern, they all got together to look
through the resumes and pick the best candidate.  It was actually a tremendous
relief for Richard, bringing more people into the conversation.  It was nice
not trying to do it by himself.

“Did you need him for something in particular?” she asked.

“Nah,” Richard said.  “Just busy work. Nothing important, so
I’ll just wait until he’s back.”

“Okay,” she replied. She started walking to the door and
reached a hand out to touch the handle, then hesitated.

“Did you need something else?” Richard asked.

She turned to face him.  “Tomorrow is…” she said, biting her
lip. “Tomorrow is my Mom’s birthday.”

“Oh,” Richard said, “I’m sorry.”

“I just wanted to say…a year ago I didn’t really know what I
wanted to do with my life. I had vague ideas, but nothing concrete.  And now,
it’s been a year and…I think my Mom would have been proud.”

“I know she is,” Richard said. 

“And I said some pretty mean things about you—”

“Nothing that wasn’t true,” Richard said.  “You have nothing
to apologize for.”

Nichole smiled.  “Good because I wasn’t planning to,” she
said.  “Thanks.”

Richard nodded.  “When do you start back up?”

“I’m enrolling this coming semester.”

“Good,” he said.

“Anyway, I’ll let you get back to work now. I just wanted to
say thanks.”

“No problem,”

Nichole nodded to him and then slipped out of his office,
leaving Richard alone.  He leaned back in his chair and let out a deep breath
of air.

“No problem at all.”

Jason’s thunderous yellow car pulled to a stop in front of the
quiet suburban home where Desiree lived with her parents, sister, and young
child.  Ben sat in the passenger seat, sweating and nervous with two dozen
roses resting on his lap.

“We’re here,” Jason said, turning the car off.  Ben thought
to make a joke about how obvious it was they had arrived, and then changed his
mind. He felt nauseous.

“We should just go,” he said “and come back later. You have
to get back to the clinic to set up for tonight’s meeting anyway.”

“I’ve got plenty of time,” Jason said.  “And Richard is
coming tonight to help, so it won’t take a lot of time.”

“I don’t think I can do this.”

“Ben…”

“I mean, what am I supposed to say? What if she doesn’t
answer the door? What if…?”

“Ben,” Jason said, grabbing him by the shoulder.  “Take a
deep breath, and relax.”

Ben let out a shuddering breath and nodded. “Okay.  I’m
good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” Ben said.  “I’m sure.”

“You look fine, Ben.”

“Do I?” Ben asked, shifting and looking down at the suit he
was wearing.  It was navy blue, almost black.  “You don’t think this is too
much?”

“Richard picked it out, didn’t he?”

Ben nodded.  “It’s too much, isn’t it?”

“A little,” Jason said, laughing, “but it’ll be fine.”

“And the flowers,” he said, holding them up.  “I feel like
an asshole with flowers. Like ‘hey, I screwed everything up and abandoned you
when you needed me most but I got these for you.’”

“Then don’t take the flowers.”

“But I should bring something, right? I mean, I need to have
something to give her…like a positive gesture.”

“Then take the flowers.”

“But what if she thinks the flowers mean I’m trying to get
back with her and that I think this is enough of an apology? I mean I know she
will probably never take me back and if—”

“Ben,” Jason interrupted gently.  “Just take the flowers.”

Ben blew out a deep breath. “Okay.”

He looked over at the house they were parked in front of,
feeling lightheaded.  “I don’t think I can do this.”

“You’ve come this far,” Jason said.  “Seven months sober,
you’ve got a job, and you’re getting your life together.”

“What if she slams the door in my face?”

“Then you tried,” Jason said.  “All you can do is try.”

Ben rubbed his sweaty palms against the expensive suit.
Richard had purchased it a few months ago for Ben to use at a job interview to
become a line cook.  He’d been the best dressed person interviewing, and it
made him feel good. It made him stick out and feel important, something he
wasn’t used to.

Right now, though, it made him feel out of place. It was
either too much for what he was about to do, or not enough. He wasn’t sure.

“Do you think it’s too soon?” he asked.  “The baby will only
be a few months old. Maybe I should give her some more time.”

“Do you think it’s too soon?” Jason asked.

Ben hesitated.  “I want to know the baby’s name. I want to
know what she looks like, whether she got my nose or her mother’s eyes. I want
to know that she’s okay and safe and that…that I’m her father.”

“You think it’ll be a girl?”

Ben shrugged.  “I hope so. I’ve always wanted a daughter.”

“Then go meet your daughter,” Jason said. “Or your son. We
can sit here all day, or we can go home and think about when the right time is.
But the truth of the matter, Ben, is that the right time is when you make it.”

Ben was silent for a moment longer, and then he nodded.
“Okay,” he said.  “I can do this.”

“I’ll be here if you need me.”

Ben opened the door and got out of the ugly yellow car,
smoothing out his suit and walking toward the house.

“Just say ‘hi’,” he mumbled under his breath. “Ask how she’s
been doing and tell her you’re sorry and you want to make things right and be
there for your child in any way she wants you to and you’ve been getting your
life together and…”

He trailed off, standing in front of the door, the thick
sheet of beige wood separating the life he had from the one he wanted.

“…and tell her you love her.”

Gently, Ben reached up and knocked on the door.

Thank you for reading!

Lincoln Cole