Letting Go

"Listen, I'm still serious about employment. You are one impressive lady, and I'd love to have you come visit and give us a chance."

"I need to think about it, Keith. I enjoy new challenges, and from what you've told me, it would be that. But there are lots of things involved, and they all have to be considered."

"All I can ask is that you do that. Of course, I think if you visited us, you'd get a much better picture of what we're about."

I knew he was right, and I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't do that sometime in the future.

"Don't make hotel reservations yet, but I'll probably take you up on that."

"Here's my cell number." He waited until I had my phone, then recited his number, which I entered, and then checked.

He changed gears completely, then, and began asking about my childhood, about my home and parents, and what I'd liked and disliked then. Of course, after a little more wine, we got silly and laughed a lot until it was time to turn in.

"I can run you to the airport in the morning," he said, and I was sure I detected a note of hopefulness in his voice.

"I've already signed up for the shuttle, so you're off the hook."

"Well, I hope that I can at least get a 'see you later' hug."

"You bet."

We hugged, and Keith held on a little longer than normal, but I didn't mind. It had been a number of years since I'd been hugged like that ... and it was kind of pleasant. He gave me a last squeeze, and we headed to our rooms.

~~~

Keith

As I walked to my room, the feel of her in my arms stayed with me until I unlocked my door and went into my room ... alone. In the bathroom, I was reminded of my first encounter with Abby, although it wasn't exactly an encounter. But without that, I'd probably never have met her.

I'd shower in the morning and probably just head home after breakfast since, like Abby, I'd seen what I needed to see and collected a briefcase full of information. I'd just run in to work and catch up with things.

The drive was boring as I kept wondering how long it would be before Abby called. I somehow knew that she'd eventually call; I just hoped it would be sooner rather than later. Maybe I was being overly optimistic, but I felt it was going to happen.

She'd be coming to investigate the job but on my home turf this time. I wasn't going to let her get away without letting her know my feelings, and then I'd be at her mercy, so to speak.

Phil met me when I arrived. "How was the conference and the show?"

"It was good. I got lots of ideas and a pile of information."

"Cool. I've got a couple of resumes for you, but they're not too promising "

"No problem. Let's put that on hold for a while."

"So, you came across a prospect at the show?"

"Yeah, one of the award winners and presenters; we'll have to wait and see."

"Sounds like high-class material."

In more ways than one, I thought, but I didn't say it. Knowing Phil, he'd be keeping track of that and would be asking about it.

"Very sharp, but obviously has a good job and is a little reluctant to move. We'll just have to see."

"We'll, if he won an award, he's probably worth waiting for."

I didn't correct him as there'd be time for that later if needed. As difficult as it was, I just needed to wait and hope. I wished I'd taken a selfie with her so I could see that face occasionally. I knew, though, that my memory would have to suffice.

ABBY

It was good to be home, and with a suddenly-received one thousand dollars, I was ready for some serious shopping. I let Erin know I was home, and she was anxious to see my certificates and the trinkets I'd collected, as I always shared them with her.

"So, girl, let's see the loot." Erin was straight to the point.

"I thought you wanted to see the awards."

"Later."

"And the thousand dollar check."

"Holy shit. You got a thousand dollars?"

"Yeah. My project was good," I teased.

"I need to go back to school and get an engineering degree. Maybe I could win some big bucks, too."

"Maybe you should just keep teaching those sweet second graders. A thousand bucks isn't exactly a fortune."

"You can say that because you're not a school teacher. But the important question is, did you meet any hot guys? I mean, you were kind of a celebrity."

I bit my lower lip. How much should I tell her about Keith? There really wasn't much to tell, so why was I concerned, almost nervous, about telling Erin? She was staring at me ... waiting.

"I met a nice guy who helped me a lot with my presentation. He owns an engineering company. He offered me a job or at least an interview," I said, retreating slightly.

" Good-looking?"

"He was okay, I guess." I'd decided on the trip home that he was way more than okay. I was just so much on the defensive while I was in Cleveland that I was resistant to anything positive.

"Are you taking the job, and where is it located?"

"One step at a time. I haven't even talked to them about the job, and I'm still not sure I want to. If I do, it's in Columbus, but I need to do more thinking."

"Get a book and keep notes regarding plusses and minuses. It should help. And Columbus isn't that far away."

"I think Erin was giving me permission to move to Columbus, but that was frightening. I was born here and had never left, getting my engineering degree from the University of Cincinnati. I was thirty years old and should be able to handle relocating, though.

A little more chatter and we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner, which was delicious, as always. We headed for a department store; I was old-fashioned enough that I liked to touch things and even try them on before I purchased them. I bought things online, but not that much, unlike Erin, who did nearly all her shopping online. She usually had as much being returned as she had headed in her direction.

I ended up spending a little over four hundred dollars, making good use of the discount racks. I would be a pleasantly dressed engineer in the near future.

We spent another two hours jabbering until Erin had to leave for some lesson planning. I watched a Hallmark movie and went to bed.

The next day I was welcomed back by my colleagues and dug into my new project with a vengeance, I guess hoping to win another award. I was finding that I enjoyed the recognition, which people told me was normal. It was reassuring to find that I was normal. That went on until Friday when Mark, an engineer I'd worked with in the past, stopped by my desk.

"Meeting in the conference room at three."

"What's that about?" I hadn't heard any rumors.

"No idea. I asked around, but no one seems to have any clues. I guess we go in blind."

Maybe they're going to congratulate me on my award. It had been mentioned but not formally recognized.

At five before three, I made the short trip to the conference room and joined the other puzzled participants. When Russ, our boss, walked in, the murmuring stopped.

"I just wanted to gather everyone together to let you in on some big news. You probably know that we are growing and that I'm being pulled in several directions at once. We've decided to make a change that should help me quite a bit." He paused and looked around. "Effective on Monday, Ron Black will be the manager of the New Project Engineering Department. I'm counting on all of you to help Ron get acclimated to the new job."

After some congratulations to Ron, everyone headed back to their area to contemplate what had just happened. I plopped into my chair. I didn't know that Ron's new position was being created, but if I had, I would have wanted it for myself. I was the one who helped everyone else, who helped plan the presentations. I hated to classify Ron too quickly, but I wondered why Russ had chosen him. Perhaps I'd find out as time passed.

I spent Friday evening fuming, as I'm sure a few others were doing, as well. I vowed to act and not react, so I'd work my hardest and deal with Ron as I went along. It was when I was in bed that I recalled Keith's offer. What had happened had been a little slap in the face, but it wasn't enough to dislodge me from Cincinnati ... at least yet.

On Saturday morning, my phone rang -- an unrecognized number.

A cautious, "Hello."

"Hi, Abby. This is Alex."

A shiver ran up my spine. I hadn't heard his voice for seven years.

"What the hell do you want, Alex?"

"I'm a new man, baby. I'd like another chance." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Are you freaking crazy? I never wanted to see your face or hear your voice again, and that hasn't changed."

"Abby, you were always a reasonable person. Just give me a chance."

"Alex, I'm going to hang up, so goodbye." I disconnected.

Shaken, I went to the kitchen for a glass of wine. Why was that asshole bothering me again? The last thing I wanted was more contact with him.

During my second swallow, my phone dinged -- a text message. I checked the number, and it was the same as the phone call.

Come on, Abby. We were married once. You owe me a chance.

At least he'd used capital letters and punctuation, probably remembering that I was fussy about that sort of thing. What I owed him was a kick in the balls for the way he'd treated me when we were married. His behavior before we were married had been a lie, and he was probably lying now as well. He'd been a snake in the grass, and I could never forget that.

My phone rang again during my second glass of wine, and I ignored it. Before bedtime, I had three more text messages, all of which I erased. When I finally went to bed, after double-checking that my doors were tightly bolted, I turned off my phone, which I almost never did.

In the morning, there were six more texts and one phone call. I was being stalked, and the thought crossed my mind that maybe I should notify the police. I didn't, though. At work, I silenced my phone and received several more texts and calls. I finally decided to text back, hoping to silence him.

Alex, if you don't stop bothering me, I'm going to notify the police and try to get a restraining order.

I received a quick response.

That hurts me deeply, Abby. I still love you and have missed you.

I laughed out loud at that one.

I knew that getting a restraining order would mark his life forever, and I hated to be the one to do that. If I ignored him long enough, I prayed he'd leave me alone.

The ignoring didn't work. There weren't quite so many messages each day, but they continued. I just erased most of them, but read a few just to see where he was going with this whole thing. In one, he invited me to have dinner with him. Ugh, that was an ugly thought. One evening, my phone rang.

"Oh, hi, Rita. What's up?" Rita lived across the street from me.

"Hi, Abby. I don't know if it means anything, but a couple of nights lately, there's been a car driving slowly down the street, and it would stop for a few seconds in front of your place and then move on."

The chill again, and a tiny bit of trembling.

"No one has stopped, and I haven't heard anything. Maybe it was a lost delivery man," I said, trying to chuckle but not very successfully.

"I hope so, Abby. I'll keep watching and let you know if it happens again."

"Thanks a ton, Rita. It's great to have a good neighbor like yourself."

"No problem. Bye now, Abby."

I'd never felt so insecure in my life, even during the earlier problems with Alex. I either had to report Alex -- or do something else, and I had no idea what that something else might be. Maybe I could think better with a little wine inside me.

In the kitchen, I sat at the island and poured a tumbler of wine. Those long-stemmed glasses were a pain and had to be refilled too often. Another text message and I cursed. I hesitated but looked at the number. It was Keith.

Don't want to seem pushy, but would love to have you come and give our place a look.

I stared at the words ... and at the name. I hadn't thought about that for a while, but all sorts of thoughts came rushing back to me. My time at that conference had been about the last peaceful time of my life. Since then, there had been Ron's promotion and Alex's harassment. I had struggled with my feelings about Keith, not wanting to admit that they were there. But I had certainly enjoyed the time I'd spent with him, particularly those evenings at the bar.

Some of his comments had popped into my head as I reread the text. I'd tried to ignore them when I was with him, even chastised him a touch for saying them, but I'd always known that he meant what he was saying. I'd just been afraid to acknowledge it. I read the message one more time, then the name.

"Abby, you must have gotten my text."

"I did, Keith, and can I come for a visit tomorrow?"

"You can come right now if you'd like."

He wasn't being subtle at all, and he said exactly what I wanted to hear, at least the kind of thing I wanted to hear.

"Tomorrow morning," I said, "and I have some things to share with you." I would tell him everything and see where things went.

"Sounds perfect, Abby. I'll book a hotel room for tomorrow night, and we can extend it if we need to. Anything else?"

I cleared my throat. "Are you busy?" I asked tentatively.

"Just kicking around some stuff from work. Why?"

"I'd just like to talk for a while if we could."

"About?"

"I don't care. I just feel like talking."

~~~

KEITH

I'd sent the text on a whim, and my pulse rate jumped when she called. She was clearly eager to visit, and now she wanted to talk. Something was up, and I was eager to find what it was. Somehow, though, I needed to be patient, which was not always easy for me.

" Let me start by asking if you're famous around Columbus now?" A warm laugh filled my ears.

"Not a bit, but I've enjoyed spending the money."

"I almost forgot about the money."

"I'll wear one of my purchases tomorrow." A little giggle followed that.

"Which reminds me, what time will you be getting here?"

"I'll be there at ten, but we both forgot about giving me the address."

I waited until she had a pen and paper and recited our address. Somehow, that seemed to be the clincher -- she was really coming, and I needed to talk with her about a subject outside of employment.

"Keith, I've been thinking about going up to Columbus for this visit, and I'm excited about finally doing it. I'm taking the rest of the week off. I decided that about thirty seconds ago."

I decided that I liked the sound of that, even if our thinking wasn't on parallel paths.

Another ten minutes, during which I invited her to share what she had mentioned earlier but was told she wanted to do that in person, and she was ready to say good night.

"Thanks so much, Keith. I just needed someone to talk with tonight, and you've been perfect. I'll see you in the morning. Good night, Keith."

"Sleep well, Abby."

A hugely warm feeling raced through my body. I had been concerned that she was out of my life unless I drove to Cincinnati to see her. Once I was able to get to sleep, I knew I'd sleep soundly.

I was at work early, making sure everything was ready. With all of the feelings I had for Abby, I was still intent on hiring her and was sure she'd be a HUGE asset to the company. I called Phil, and he appeared in my office almost immediately.

"Sup, boss?"

"Do you remember me telling you about the engineer from that show?"

"I do, and you seemed pretty positive about him."

"Well, she'll be here tomorrow to check us out."

"She?"

"Women can be engineers too, you know. And this one looks like no other engineer that you've ever seen."

"Whoa. Can't wait, and we'll be ready."

At five minutes before ten, I saw her come through the front door and into the anti-room, looking around for help. I opened the door, and although I didn't think it was an appropriate way to greet a possible new employee, I extended my arms, and she slipped between them, wrapping her arms around me. Her hair had that same wonderful aroma I'd experienced before.

"Good to see you, Abby."

She raised her head and looked at me.

"You too, Keith."

We separated, unseen, I was sure, and I ushered her inside. We had to pass Phil's office to get to mine, so I stopped to introduce her.

"Hey, Phil. I'd like for you to meet Abby Cres, the engineer I told you about."

Phil looked up from his work, and his expression changed almost instantaneously.

"Well, hello. Glad to meet you, Abby." He came around the desk, and they shook hands. "Keith has nothing but good things to say about you." He gave me a you devil, you look, and I quickly led her to my office.

As she sat down, she said, "On one hand, I can't believe I'm here. On the other, I can't believe it took your text to get me to do it."

Her smile was gorgeous.

"Well, you said that you had things to share with me, and I have some things to share with you as well -- that don't involve your possible employment here."

"We should probably get the business part done first then, don't you think?" I smiled at her practicality.

We spent the next hour discussing the business and what our engineers did. Abby asked many questions, which I'd expected, and I provided the best answers that I could. She particularly asked about future plans and where I envisioned the business heading. We visited a couple of the engineers, and they explained what they were working on and had worked on in the past. I stepped and she asked each of them several questions that I didn't hear. A quick run through the manufacturing area, and we were back in my office.

"Lunch, Ms. Abby?"

"I had an early breakfast, so lunch does sound good."

"Preferences?"

"I'm your guest, so I bow to your choice."

"You're very brave. I might be a fan of mountain oysters."

Abby burst out laughing. "I've heard of them and doubt you can get them in Ohio."

It was my turn to laugh. "We have a Longhorn Steak House not far from here, but we also have about 50 different eating places within about three miles."

She looked away for a moment, then back at me. "Do we have more business to talk about?"

"Yeah, just about how I see you fitting into the business and things like that. But I have things to say to you before that happens."

"How about a quiet place that may not have so many customers so both of us can talk?"

"How about Chinese?"

"I love Chinese."

We left the office, and once outside, she took hold of my arm. I hoped that meant that what she wanted to say was similar to what I had to say. As we walked, she not only held my arm but occasionally gave it tiny squeezes. Too quickly, it seemed, we were at the restaurant.

"Ah, Mr. Elliot, good to see you and lady this afternoon." I'd eaten many lunches at M. J. Wu's.

"Thank you, Akari. Maybe we'd better see the menu today since I've brought a guest. And we'll be staying a while since we have business to discuss." Not exactly true, but close enough. There were three other occupied tables.

"Let me sit you over here, then," she said, guiding us to a table along the far wall and closer to the kitchen. "I won't have to walk so far, either." She giggled.

We discussed what was good and decided on simple shrimp chow mein, which was ready quickly. A bit of soy sauce, a sip of the hot tea, and we ate.

"Since you staying, I bring plate of fortune cookies, okay?"

"Perfect, Akari."

The cookies arrived, and we were ready. Who would go first? I had hesitated the last time we were together, so that wasn't going to happen this time. Her eyes were locked with mine, and I was afraid I'd have trouble saying what I had to say.

"You may need to help me," I said.

"Okay, and the same may apply when it's my turn."

"At the conference, the time I spent with you was, well, treasured. It's been six years since my divorce, which happened after eight years of marriage. I think I mentioned before that I found my wife in bed with a neighbor, and it was like something inside of me broke, and it has never been fixed ... until I met you at the conference."