-The present -
"A latte please"
"Coming right up. Would you like anything with that?"
Beca scanned the display and asked "Do you have any pumpkin seed muffins? I can't see it on display."
"OK. I'll get that for you. Miss, don't forget your receipt."
Beca grabbed her drink and muffin and left the café. She glanced quickly at the receipt like she was checking she's been charged correctly before shoving it into her jeans. She circled the place twice before entering a shop.
"Hi, I'm here to collect my Amazon parcel."
"The lockers are right at the back. Do you have the paperwork?"
"I forgot to print it out but I remember the number."
"Just punch it in, honey."
Beca smiled her thanks and went to the back of the shop. She punched in the numbers she just memorised a few minutes before and opened the locker. A small padded envelope was inside and she kept it in her messenger bag before leaving the shop.
She sat on a table outside, opened up her small laptop and opened her mixing software. With her headphones on and nursing a cup of coffee, no one paid her any attention. She casually prised the envelope open, grabbed the tiny memory stick she found inside and plugged it into her laptop. A few minute opening the folders and running through her software; then she sat silently listening to the recording.
She opened another folder from the stick and scanned through the documents quickly. Her eyes stopped at one particular name on her list. She opened the related documents, very quickly scanning before deleting them. She wiped the memory stick clean and ran a systems clean. Unplugged the stick, shut down laptop and walked away, but not before snapping the stick into two and chucking it with the coffee and muffin into the nearest bin.
"Yes, Benji. No, it's all done now." Jesse patiently spoke to the phone. His eyes scanned the mess on the table before him. "Yes, it's all settled. I got the papers through and it's over…. What? When? Oh, about a few weeks back."
He smiled wearily when he heard the indignant squawk from Benji's end of the line. Benji berated him some more about not telling him sooner. This was exactly why he did not tell him sooner. He knew Benji would probably make a big fuss if he found out Jesse's divorce papers came through.
"No, Benji. You don't have to come over. Seriously, I am fine. I'm just relieved it's all over….. I'm keeping busy. I got to fly out to LA tomorrow."
"Yep, a new project. They are finishing up the principal photography and that's when I have to work my ass off….. The director wants me to meet up with someone called Max Hartley? Some shit hot recording artist or something. For the soundtrack."
Charlotte, his PA let herself into his office, laden with a tray. "Benji, I got to go now. Yes. OK. OK. Bye. I'll call. Yes. OK. Bye." With a sigh, he ended the call. Charlotte came over and put the tray down. Jesse looked at it, taking in the huge sandwich, juice and slice of chocolate cake "What are you fattening me up for?"
"You got to eat," she answered. Jesse smiled up at her kindly face. His mom had been very keen on him hiring Charlotte. It was only so Charlotte could keep an eye on him and fuss over him since his mom was not there to do so. And of course, report back to his mom. Honestly, why did he hire his mom's best friend?
"OK, how many messages from my mom?"
"Two this morning. Together with three yesterday. But I fobbed her off. Told her I'll give her the juicy details later."
"And?"
"One from Stephanie's lawyer to check you got the paperwork. Two from Donald and another from... Bumper?"
"Bumper?"
"Yes, and you may want to look at that message. There's an interesting project to tie in with your LA trip tomorrow."
"Am I all set for that?"
"Yes. Tickets, passport, money."
"Thanks, Charlotte. You are the best." and he gave her a hug.
The older woman smiled at him as she left the office. That guy need to eat. He was all thin again and had those dark shadows under his eyes and she knew he had been working flat out. He had such a shitty year this year, what with all that divorce thing kicking off. She shuddered when she thought of his ex-wife. What a nasty piece of work. She was all sweet and fake smiles when she got her way but all hell broke loose when Jesse tried to end it. She could not phantom why Jesse stayed with that harlot all these years. And all the things she accused Jesse of doing. Hitting her? Cutting off her money? That woman was seriously delusional. Thank goodness he had a good lawyer.
Jesse picked at the sandwich. He was not hungry somehow. He stood and stretched his back. That feeling of tension he had been carrying these last few weeks was still there. He did not know why he was feeling like this. The divorce had been hard, of course, but he was not lying to Benji when he said he felt fine. It was finally over and frankly, when the papers came through, he felt like celebrating. He looked round his office and just noticed any photos of Stephanie had been removed. Charlotte probably had done it some time back and he didn't even notice.
He switched on some Metallica, just to get him out of his funk but even that was not helping. He needed to book a sparring session this afternoon, just to get rid of this tight feeling he had. Meanwhile, he would just have to try and concentrate on what he was supposed to do. He glanced at the messages Charlotte left for him, read one closely and then dialled his phone.
"Yeah?"
"Bumper?"
