The Memory Child (3 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

Brian

February 2013

B
r
ian surveyed the reception area as he stood at the bar waiting for his order. Diane was in her element; there was brilliance about her as she swept across the room, meeting staff and their family members, having her picture taken by the press, and keeping close to Walter Dube, CEO of HK Solutions and Diane’s mentor and fath
er figure.

A woman passed by him, her bare arm lingering a little too long and close. He plastered a smile on his face as she batted her false eyelashes. With all of the low-cut dresses around, he made sure to keep his eyes focuse
d upward.

Diane’s laughter floated across the room. Brian glanced over to the bartender and found two glasses in front of him. He dipped his head in thanks and excused himself from the woman attempting to drape herself a
cross him.

Brian made his way across the room to his wife. A waiter was at her side, holding a tray of champagne flutes. Without glancing at either the waiter or the tray, Diane reached out, curling her fingers around a glass. She continued to stand there, listening to Walter speak to a man at his side. She wore her mask, the one that mesmerized her clients while demoralizing anyone who got in her way when it came to business. It always amazed him that no one saw through it to her soft
interior.

The sight of the flute in her hand made Brian pause, but only for a moment. Diane rarely drank at functions; in fact, she made it a habit never to finish a full glass. She would always hold one in her hand, but it was more part of her outfit, rather than a necessity. Brian, on the other hand, always imbibed. Only enough to get him through the night, but never more than what he coul
d handle.

He hated these kinds of parties. He was a nerd at heart, more comfortable in front of a computer staring at code than attempting to make inane conversation with people he did
n’t know.

Once at Diane’s side, he took the flute from her hand, placed it on a passing waiter’s tray, and handed her a glass of Perrier with a slice of lime. She stepped to the side, making room for him to stand by her, and gave him a swe
et smile.

Brian took a sip of his merlot and waited for the perfect moment to nudge his wife to the side to speak to her. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear, “Only a few more minutes until dinner is served. They’re about to open th
e doors.”

“Thank God. My feet are killing me.” She took a sip of her drink and grimaced. “That’s not c
hampagne.”

Brian frowned. “Of course not. You can’t be drink
ing now.”

Diane’s eyes widened at his words while he took a step back. Did she not think of that be
forehand?

“Have you?” His voice rose and he caught the quick turn of Walter’s attention to
ward them.

She shook her head, bewilderment still alive in her eyes. “Of course not,” she w
hispered.

From the corner of his eye, Brian caught the look between Walter and his wife. Brian’s lips thinned but he remaine
d silent.

There was something about Walter that always put him on edge. To be honest, he knew it was due to his own insecurity. Walter held a piece of Diane’s heart that Brian could never touch; he’d been there for her in the very beginning, when Diane and Charlie were left alone without a father figure. Walter had given Diane her first job and made sure Charlie made it through nursing school when their aunt had run out
of money.

Brian had once joked that if push came to shove, Diane would choose Walter over him. She’d hesitated a moment too long before denying his claim, but that moment was all it took, and he never pushed. Besides, his job as senior VP at Harper and Wainright LLC, an international engineering firm, had him traveling close to thirty weeks in a year. Because they respected each other’s choices, both personal and professional, their marriage had lasted for over twel
ve years.

Audible sighs of excitement filled the air as people entered the reception area. Diane’s fingers squeezed his arm. He glanced down and winked at her. The elegance of the room might be lost on him but he knew she’d worked hard on
the decor.

This was, after all, a night to celeb
rate her.

“I should have gone with the white and black look,” Diane
muttered.

Brian glanced at the table and shrugged. “Why?” He thought it looked just fine. Well, except for the fact the tables were too cluttered with tall glasses full of light blue and white marbles with a candle sitting on top. Why did women insist on filling tables up until there was no room left for anything else? He looked at the glass in his hand and then at the two glasses situated to the right of each dinner plate. What did he need those glasses for? Thank God he wasn’t the one doing t
he dishes.

“They look fine, even if it’s not black. Stop stressing about it.” He followed his wife to their table, the front table off to the right, and pulled out her chair. Diane held on to it but never sat down. Instead, she viewed the room, taking in every table and who was sitting where. He could read her mind; somewhere in the room, someone was in the wr
ong spot.

“How many hours did you spend putting together the seating arra
ngement?”

“About as long as it took you to set up that new office in
Hungary.”

Brian groaned. He still had nightmares about
that trip.

“Couldn’t Amanda have handled all this
for you?”

Diane frowned as she handed her empty glass of water to a waiter pa
ssing by.

“Not with all the media present. I think Walter has something big he plans on announcing
tonight.”

“You think? Shouldn’t y
ou know?”

Diane shrugged her shoulders. “You would think so, but whatever it is, he’s keeping it a secret.” She squeezed his hand before stepping away to talk to a couple a few ta
bles over.

Brian sat and pulled out his phone. He was in for a long night, so he might as well respond to the pile of e-mails sure to be filling his inbox. No one ever said being the head of a department was a nine-to-
five job.

“Where’s that gorgeous wife of yours?” Walter’s boisterous voice bellowed across
the room.

He pocketed his phone and twisted in his chair to catch Walter heading toward him. Brian had first met Walter almost immediately after he had started to date Diane. Back then, Walter had been a trim man who ran every day and rarely drank. A few wives later, that had all changed. Tonight, Walter looked like a stuffed penguin in his black suit. Rolls of grotesque skin rolled over the man’s collar as he waddled across the room. At least he knew enough not to pull a Donald Trump and shaved off what few strands of hair he
had left.

Brian pushed out his chair and stood. He might not necessarily like the man and he might think he took advantage of Diane too often, but he had to p
lay nice.

“Walter.” Brian held out his hand and forced himself not to grimace at Walter’s sw
eaty grip.

“Where is that girl of ours? I’ve hardly said a word to her
tonight.”

Brian kept a tight smile on his face. “My wife”—heavy emphasis on the
my
—“is around somewhere.” He thrust his hands in his jacket pockets and turned on his heel slightly so as to look over the crowd, when in truth, he didn’t want to encourage any sm
all talk.

“Tonight’s a big night for her.” The force of Walter’s hand slapping Brian’s back pushed him forward. “Her whole world is about to change and I couldn’t be happier. She dese
rves it.”

Brian glanced back at Walter. How did he know? Surely, Diane wouldn’t have told Walter their news yet, when they hadn’t even had the chance to talk themselves. She wouldn’t
do that.

“What are you boys talking about?” Diane laced her arm through Brian’s as she came up be
hind him.

Brian leaned over and placed a small kiss upon her cheek. “About how awesome you are, honey.”

Diane beamed up at him. There was a light in her eyes that mesmerized him. His heart raced at the thought of why she was so happy. Those earlier misgivings must have passed. The reality of the life growing inside her must have
hit her.

The noise in the large room stilled as Diane clinked her butter knife against the water glasses. Walter made his way up the stairs, stood at the podium, and tugged his suit c
oat down.

She sat beside Brian, her fingers knotted together. He knew she was nervous. This was a big night for her. A night she’d worked hard at for a long time. She deserved every singl
e moment.

He couldn’t help but wonder how all of this would change once their baby
was born.

Brian reached out and threaded his fingers through hers. He rubbed the pad of his thumb against her smooth skin and couldn’t believe how cold
she was.

“I want to thank y’all for coming tonight. This is a night of celebrations. A lot of great things have happened at HK Solutions, but let me tell you”—Walter paused for what Brian knew to be dramatic effect—“none of it could have happened without each and every one of you tonight. Give yourselves a round of applause; you deserve it!” Feedback screeched through the sound system as Walter clapped his hands right in front of the microphone. Brian winced and shot the sound guys over in the corner a look. The two of them were shaking their heads while fiddling with their so
undboards.

Diane wrenched her hand from Brian’s and clapped, a strained look filling her face as she kept her attention focuse
d forward.

While Walter’s voice droned on, Brian studied his wife. Something was wrong; he could tell. There was no sparkle in her eye, no excitement over tonight’s events, especially since this part was about her. Every bone in her body was rigid with tension, every movement
precise.

He moved his chair closer and laid his arm on the back of her chair. She jumped the moment he placed his hand on her
shoulder.

“Relax. Walter’s not going to do anything stupid.” He winked. “Okay, so maybe he doesn’t have the greatest of track records, but he’s been good so far
, right?”

Years ago, Walter announced a crazy new idea in the middle of a speech and told the crowd that it would reinvent the digital age for the blind in a way that would astound the world. Diane had to burn the midnight oil just to figure out what Walter had wanted, and it took a while, but his scheme of being the first software company in San Francisco to offer speech-to-text software had com
e to pass.

“There’s always a first time, right?” A small smile played on
her lips.

“Right.” Brian nodded, satisfied to see th
at smile.

Walter continued, sharing stats about how well the company did in the last year compared to the year before and about their growth and expansion in the area of distribution. He caught Diane’s lips moving and knew she’d written his speech
for him.

“It’s time,” Diane
mumbled.

“Finally,” Brian groaned. Diane elbowed him while Neil snickered away beside him. Brian flashed the guy
a smile.

“Before we end our night, there are a few people in this room I’d like to recognize for their dedication, for their motivation, and for keeping me on
my toes.”

A smattering of laughter filled the room while Walter puffed out his chest. Brian was tempted to count the seconds before a butt
on popped.

“First off, Neil, why don’t you come on
up here?”

Brian couldn’t keep the smile off his face as a startled Neil rose from his seat and buttoned up his jacket. “What’s going on?” Neil whispered
to Diane.

“Go on up.” Diane smiled and started to clap her hands, which forced the rest of the table and then the room to join along
with her.

Brian felt sorry for Neil. The poor guy’s cheeks flamed, and he almost tripped going up the stairs. Walter was there to lend h
im a hand.

“Neil here is one of those guys who like to keep me on my toes. He’s always coming to me with new ideas, wanting to buy new equipment that will increase our productivity, and forcing me to slow down on my innovative dreaming. Apparently, what I want isn’t always available, and I need guys like Neil to keep me on the straight an
d narrow.”

Brian didn’t think Neil’s face could turn another shade of red, but it did right there. “Neil”—the audible slap from Walter to Neil’s back echoed through the microphone—“you’ve shown nothing but dedication to this company. You’ve proved to me over and over that you are a man I need to keep by my side. So it’s with that in mind that I’ve decided to make you head of our technical department! Congratulations!” Walter stepped back and thundered his hands together, the smile spread wide across his face. Brian stood up beside Diane to show their
support.