“Hi, Christine. What can I do for you?”
“Well, actually, there is one thing you could do for me.”
Angela listened intently.
“I have this piece from the art show this past weekend,” she handed her a canvas wrapped in brown paper. “I’d like you to deliver it for me.”
“I thought everyone took their pieces with them,” Angela told her.
“Well, this contributor forgot it, I guess.”
Angela took the package. “No problem. I’ll do it after lunch.”
“Actually, I was wondering if you could do it right now.”
“But I was just going to get some lunch. I can do it right after.”
Christine suddenly became quite bossy. “Actually, it needs to be done right now. The address is written on it”
Well, that was that.
Christine walked away and thanked her as she left.
Jeez, what a taskmaster.
It was very unlike her. Angela figured she must be having a bad day too. It was Monday after all. Maybe she too, had come on the verge of amazing sex with the man of her dreams, and was bitterly waiting for his call.
She grabbed her purse and the wrapped canvas, and headed to her car. She decided to take the stairs to get a little exercise on the way. She would stop by the restaurant upon her return. Thankfully, her stomach wasn’t gurgling yet. As she got outside and she noticed the deep grey sky, she remembered she left her umbrella by her desk, and was not too pleased with herself.
After she settled in her car, she searched for her map book and looked at the address on the package. Her heart skipped at beat; Michael Bowman. Well, she certainly didn’t need her mapbook. She knew exactly where she was going. She looked at the wrapped package. It was Sacha’s picture. Did he not care at all; to just leave it there, and not take it with him? He had said it was for her; was he not planning to give it to her? Maybe it really did have no meaning to him; maybe their whole relationship had no meaning. She didn’t know what to think.
Occasional rain drops splattered on her windshield as she drove; a little faster than usual. Her thoughts on Michael, she became angry and upset. Maybe she had imagined everything. Had he ever told her he loved her or had any feelings for her at all? She browsed through her mind for the slightest word or action indicative of love or affection. He definitely wanted to get her into bed; there was no doubting that. But did he want more?
She almost ran a red light, and stopped at the last second, screeching her breaks and propelling herself forward.
“Settle down, Angela. You are going to kill yourself or someone else.”
She took a deep breath and went on ahead when the light turned green. She turned on her windshield wipers. She hoped she wouldn’t get caught in a heavy rain; she drove a little faster all the while thinking, she couldn’t wait to see Michael and give him a piece of her mind. She turned ontoStouffville Road; she had made this trajectory quite a few times before.
Although she had just scolded herself, she still couldn’t settle down. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was going to say, but she would definitely finally be open with him. Should she tell him she loved him? She shook her head. She couldn’t imagine doing that.
She turned onto the circular driveway in front of the house and made her way to the back of the garage where there was plenty of space to park. The rain was fierce and soaked her as she made her way to the entrance. She barely rang the bell and Ellie showed up at the door.
“Come in dear. Let’s get you out of this rain,” Ellie and Dot motioned her in.
“Leave your shoes on,” Dot urged as she walked her into the house.
“I’m so glad you finally made it,” Ellie told her.
“You were expecting me?” Angela asked her, confused.
“Michael is right outside.”
“What’s he doing outside, in this weather?”
“Well, it did come on rather suddenly didn’t it? We weren’t expecting it,” Ellie explained.
They walked her briskly past Michael’s office and the study to the back door, Dot was barely able to keep up. They walked on the pathway towards the garden. Angela clutched her package hard against herself to keep it dry, getting soaked in the process.
