Page 8 of With Wine Comes War

“Not too bad. I was just calling to thank you for the beautiful flowers.” There was a twinge of melancholy in my voice and I’m sure that didn’t sound super enthusiastic, but I hoped she understood my intention.

“I’m glad you received them. I don’t like to send flowers when everyone else does. Then you have a ton of flowers and mine get lost in the crowd. I like to stand out.”

I laughed because this woman was almost six feet tall, she always stood out. She was right about the flowers too. I had dead flowers in vases all over the place, it was nice to see some fresh ones.

“Well, they're beautiful and they will definitely stand out among the graveyard of flowers I have going on right now.”

“That’s funny and you’re welcome.” She continued before I could say anything else. “Hey, would you like to have lunch with me this week one day?”

I paused for a moment. “Yeah, I would. I’m trying to be ‘normal’” I did air quotes that she clearly couldn’t see through the phone for my own benefit but I’m sure she could hear it in my voice. I wanted to try to get back to a somewhat regular routine, whatever that may look like, and maybe being around Amelia would help with the Roman issue too.

She laughed then whispered, “Little secret, lunch sustains life and normal doesn’t exist. Just be you.” I anticipated having a genuine friendship some day from that statement alone.

“Can you do life sustaining lunch tomorrow?” I sheepishly asked.

“Of course, how would noon work?”

“Perfect.” I said as I pulled into Johnson Realty.

I walked into the office expecting to be greeted at the reception desk by Shay. I totally forgot we had a new receptionist.

When I came to the desk she beamed, “Good morning, how can I help you?” She was so cute, like a cookie cutter version of Shay, only happier, if that were even possible. She was probably about nineteen or twenty with a perfectly straight, blonde bob and hazel eyes. I may have to have a sit down with her and see what her future endeavors looked like. I loved team building; except I don't work here anymore. I let out a breath of frustration.

I reached out my hand as I said, “Hi, I’m Alex Kennedy. We haven’t exactly met yet.” Her eyes got so big.

“Are you the Alex they talk about in the office all the time?” Why did she look nervous? What the hell did they tell her about me?

I cautiously inquired, “Uh Oh, that depends, is it good or bad talk?”

“It’s really good. You’re like a celebrity.” I burst out laughing and leaned across the counter to get a better look at her name tag.

“Felicity, is it?” I squinted as I read her name. She nodded and I looked up at her and said, “Don’t listen to a thing they say about me. I’m not a celebrity, I’m just a normal person like you…Ahhh” I screamed as I was picked up and swung around. Ryan put me down quickly but squeezed me into a hug so tight I could barely breathe.

“It’s so good to see you.” Ryan was the friend that I felt was never going to settle down. He’s one of those guys who’s good looking and knows it. I was happy when he started seeing someone before things went bad for me.

He excitedly replied, “This place is not the same without you.” Then I heard Landon and Shay yelling down the hall and I turned swiftly in that direction in case I was going to get run over or mauled.

I turned to Felicity with a smile, “It was nice to meet you. I’ll see you around.”

“Okay, sure. Nice meeting you too.” She smiled and resumed answering the phone.

I hugged everyone and they ushered me into my old office. It had been turned it into another conference room, but nothing had been touched. Even my personal pictures were still on my desk and the bookshelves. Grant was positive I was coming back at some point and wouldn’t let anyone have my office. I ran my hand over the top of my desk, picking up the picture of my family, tracing the outline of my mom with my finger. I held it for a minute just staring at her and imagining what she would be saying to me right now if she knew how hard all this was for me. Would she find a way to encourage me, or would she do what she always did and tell me this was the best there is for me. I shook off the thoughts and put the photo back on my desk.

“Where is my old man anyway?” Grant was in his sixties. A total silver fox. He was more of a father figure to me though. I went over and sat on the sofa because I didn’t want anyone to think I was there to work, so I stayed away from my desk after walking down memory lane.

Landon said, “He’s out showing one of those estates again to your Italian clients.” The Santoro’s were a very wealthy family from Italy who were starting a winery in Ohio just north of Cincinnati. I’ve been wondering how that was progressing.I cringed thinking about the things I had saddled Grant with when I suddenly took an indefinite leave of absence.

“Really, has anything been cleared up with the zoning on that?” It was a huge deal and a reason to buy or not buy. I got comfortable on the sofa and crossed my legs, casually laying my hands in my lap as I waited for a response.

Shay said, “On Friday, Grant got a message from some construction company that commercial zoning had been restored.”All of a sudden? King Construction?

“Construction Company?” Less of a question and more of an“oh really.”How the hell did Roman fix that? I thought as I sat up a little more alert now.

Shay said, “Yeah, we thought it was strange too, but Grant said he’s been working with King Construction on a project, and they pulled some strings for him.

I burst out laughing and said, “Was I really that secretive?” Did no one here except Grant know I was seeing Roman King of King Construction?

Ryan said, “What do you mean?”