Chapter Four
San Francisco, CA 10pm, The Bohemian Club, Monday 16 May 1983
Perry hung his head down after describing to his friend the details of his night with Velma Thomas. Doctor Wilburn couldn't believe what he was hearing from Perry. For as long as he had known Perry, he had never seen Perry so distraught – and for a good reason. He began to try and give Perry some hope that things can still be worked out with Della.
"That's so out of character for you, Perry. I don't exactly know what to say right now except that I can understand what you're going through right now…"
Still staring at the ice in the bottom of his drink glass, Perry disagreed.
"I don't think you know at all what I'm going through, John!"
After collecting his thoughts, Doctor Wilburn immediately hit back at Perry.
"But I do know, Perry!" He paused to collect his thoughts on the subject. "You see, about twenty-five years ago, I made a big mistake, too. I was engaged to Betty and somehow got mixed up in a one-night-stand that I immediately regretted..."
Perry quickly turned and looked up at Doctor Wilburn from his empty bourbon glass.
"You stepped out on Betty? Your wife?"
"Like I said, she was my fiancé at the time. It was about a month before we were going to be married. I don't know if I was just nervous about the upcoming wedding or what. I still don't know what I was thinking. When I saw Betty a few days later, I think she sensed that something was wrong when I arrived at her place to take her out to dinner. I felt so guilty and overly remorseful, I came right out and confessed."
"How did she react to that bit of news?"
"Oh was she ever sore with me! We were in my car parked outside of her house when we talked. First she scowled at me in disbelief and then burst into tears before she quickly got out of my car. Of course I ran after her begging her to stop running away. When she got to her front door, she turned around towards me and told me, in a rather blunt way, to go away – and never come back! She took her gloves off of her hands, pulled off her engagement ring from her finger, and threw it on the doorstep before she walked inside her home and slammed the door shut on me. I knew I was in big trouble from the start."
"But obviously she eventually came back around to you because she married you..."
"Yes she did – but it was not easy for her. She didn't take my calls for over a week! I even sent her two telegrams a day begging her to at least call me. Then by the end of the next week, she finally called me and set up a meeting with me to sit down with her and the pastor from her church. We began a series of counseling sessions with the pastor and worked out my issues with that one-night-stand. It was a big wake-up call for me – I even enrolled in grad school and took up my calling for psychology work instead of business administration!"
"I'm glad it worked out for you and Betty. She's a very understanding woman! But I'm afraid Della is not going to be so easy on me. I've been trying to talk to Della ever since she ran out on me. Heck, I even thought about taking a trip to LA just to see her in person but I knew that would be a wasted trip when I don't even know where she is…"
"Della's a reasonable woman, Perry. I think she'll come around soon."
"I'm afraid not, John. I haven't finished telling you the whole story yet..."
"You mean there's more?"
"Yes. It gets a lot worse, John… A lot worse!"
Doctor Wilburn waved for the bartender's attention.
"Would you mind bringing us two cups of coffee please? And make it strong!"
After ordering the coffee, Doctor Wilburn turned his attention back to Perry.
"Well, how bad is going to get?"
"It's going to get really bad. And it all began on Thursday, the day after I slept with Velma..."
San Francisco, CA 1am on Thursday, 12 May 1983
Perry opened his eyes and adjusted to the dimly lit bedroom in Velma Thomas's Nob Hill home. He blinked his eyes a few times and slowly tried to move away from the woman sleeping soundly beside him in the king-sized bed. His head was pounding from the effects of too much alcohol after dinner the night before. He struggled to recall exactly what happened after dinner and only remembered consuming several after dinner drinks until late in the night.
As his vision became accustomed to the faint light in the room, he successfully got out of the bed without disturbing Velma. After gathering his clothes and shoes from a nearby chair, he walked out into the living room where in the soft light from a small lamp, he found his suit coat on a chair. He sat down on the chair to put on his clothes and shoes. Perry used a phone in the living room and quietly called for a taxi to take him home. He silently walked out of the home and onto the front steps to inhale the cool early morning air.
While waiting for the taxi, his thoughts drifted back to the energetic Velma Thomas. He had no idea what he found so intriguing about her. She came on to him so strong and he found it too hard to resist her charms. With a sinful smirk on his face, he shook his head as he eagerly recalled her uninhibited sexual advances on him in bed. She was quite a woman – she made him feel so invigorated – a feeling he could not remember having in quite a while. He had never had a woman control him like she did. Deep down inside he was ashamed of himself for letting her take him into a situation that he regretted.
When the taxi arrived to take him home, he felt a slight twinge of guilt for leaving in the middle of the night like that, but he decided that he would call Velma later in the day to explain his actions. If he could get some sleep for the rest of the night, he would have plenty of time to think of some sort of apology when he calls her with a clearer head.
PMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXO
San Francisco, CA. 1 pm Thursday, 12 May 1983
Perry walked in the back door of his office from the court room after hearing oral arguments all morning and through the lunch hour on a criminal case. He hung up his judge's robe on a hanger and sat down at his desk to page through a few phone messages and other paperwork from his secretary. It was hard for him to concentrate on the civil case that he heard arguments on first thing in the morning because he knew that it was ill-mannered of him to leave Velma's in the middle of the night. He needed to figure out how he would handle seeing her again – mostly to explain his shame for spending the night with a woman he barely knew anything about.
On a short break after the first case of the day, he discovered that he did not even have Velma's telephone number to try and call her. He quickly looked through the phone messages on his desk wondering if by any chance Velma had called him! There was a knock on his door and his secretary came into the office carrying another file folder.
"These documents came in by courier late this morning. You'll want to look them over so we can reply by tomorrow."
Perry did not find any message from Velma in his stack of phone messages and looked up at his secretary to take the file from her.
"Thank you. I'll look at this right away. Are these all of my phone messages?"
His secretary was standing next to his desk and looked at the messages in his hand.
"Those were the only ones that I'm aware of." She heard her phone ringing at her desk and turned to walk away from him. "That's my phone now – let me answer that! I'll be right back."
Perry began reading through the file in his hand until his secretary returned.
"There's a call for you. A Miss Velma Thomas?"
He was leaning back in his chair, but Perry immediately sat straight up to reply.
"You can put it through please. I'll look at this file and get back to you on it right away."
The secretary closed the door behind her as she went to her desk to transfer the call.
Suddenly Perry felt awkward but was anxious to take the call. As his phone line lit up, he let it ring twice before he answered – mostly to clear out the lump in his throat that he was feeling.
"Velma! Hello!"
The voice on the other end of the line sounded a little hesitant.
"Hi Perry. I don't blame you at all for not staying all night. I'm sorry if I got a little carried away last night..."
Perry couldn't believe what he was hearing. He expected her to remark on his rude behavior, but instead she was apologizing to him!
"I think we both got a little carried away last night, Velma. I'm sorry that I left in the middle of the night. I had a long day ahead of me." He began thinking that his apology was sounding a little lame so he tried to divert from his paltry excuse for leaving into a better explanation for his behavior. "I meant to call you first thing this morning, but then I discovered that I don't even have your home phone number!"
"Oh! I sort of just assumed that you wouldn't want to speak with me after my behavior last night! I should make it clear to you that I'm not normally like that!"
"And neither am I, Velma. I even have a few regrets about what happened last night. Anyway, I should take this opportunity to thank you for a nice dinner. You're a good cook!"
"Well thank you Perry. I love entertaining guests for dinner. Maybe we'll have to spend another evening together again soon to discuss those regrets that you are feeling."
"I'd like that. And I wish we could meet for dinner tonight, but for the rest of the afternoon I'll be meeting with my colleagues on the appeals panel to sort through some of the oral arguments we just heard. After that, I'm attending a membership meeting at my men's club."
"Well maybe another night soon? Perhaps it would be safer for both of us to just go out for dinner somewhere else!" She giggled nervously.
Thinking about other things he had upcoming on his calendar, suddenly Perry had an idea.
"Why don't I make a suggestion? What are you doing this weekend?"
Velma only hesitated for a moment to reply.
"I don't have any big plans. What are you suggesting?"
"I'm thinking that we should put last night out of our minds for right now. Slow this down a little bit and take some time to get to know each other a little better..."
"I couldn't agree more! Last night was so unlike me!"
"It was way out of character for me, too." Perry's mind was going full speed ahead now and he couldn't believe what he was about to ask her. "Can you take off on a long weekend, say, starting tomorrow morning?"
"I can make that work..."
"Great. Let me jot down your phone number right now and I'll call you later tonight with the details."
After disconnecting the call, Perry smiled sitting back in his chair and thought over his plans for the weekend with Velma. He somehow convinced himself that his intent was to have an innocent, low-key weekend away from the city with a very engaging woman.
After lightly placing her phone receiver back on the hook, Velma curled up on her couch and smiled while she thought to herself that she had Perry Mason right where she wanted him now.
DSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXO
Los Angeles, CA Monday, 23 May 1983
Della nervously looked at a clock in Doctor McRae's office thinking that her first appointment with the doctor was about to run over the time limit. Doctor McRae noticed her glance at the clock and put her at ease.
"If you're worried that we're running out of time, don't! I don't have any other appointments scheduled for the rest of the day. And I usually expect to run a little late with first appointments for new clients..."
Della was relieved.
"I didn't expect it to take so long to give you the background information on my story. Sometimes I tend to babble on and on just so it's clear to others what I'm talking about!"
"Well I think it's pretty clear to me what happened on Tuesday the tenth. Would you care for some more coffee?" Doctor McRae got up to move towards the coffee pot.
Della handed over her coffee mug.
"I could use another cup if you still have some, please."
Doctor McRae returned with their coffee and sat back down at her desk.
"So why don't you tell me what happened after that Tuesday phone call?"
"Hmmm. Let me think back. I spoke with Perry briefly on the morning of the eleventh – that was Wednesday. We still hadn't agreed on how we'd spend our weekend. Oh – but on Thursday things began to change a bit as far as my weekend plans went. It started with a call from Junior..."
PMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXO
Los Angeles, CA 1pm Thursday, 12 May 1983
Over the intercom in her office, Della was told by her receptionist that Paul Drake Junior was calling for her on the main line. She cheerfully took the call right away.
"Good morning, Paul! How are you today?"
Paul was his usual jovial self.
"I'm fine. But it's no longer morning, Della. You must be really busy today to not know that it's way after noon already!"
After a quick glance at the clock on her office wall, Della smiled before answering.
"Well it's just barely after noon, Paul... So what's on your mind?" She leaned back in her desk chair.
"I'm wondering if you're free for a dinner meet tonight. I have good news and bad news about the tickets for my show tomorrow night."
Della frowned and leaned forward at her desk. "Give me the bad news first."
"I can't meet you and Perry for dinner before the show..."
"Oh, that's too bad. So what's the good news?"
"I'll treat you to dinner tonight instead and hand over the tickets. It will be easier than leaving them for you at the box office at the club."
"Okay. So where are you taking me to dinner? And don't make it Red's Reef this time. I get indigestion eating there!"
"Relax! I don't hang out at Red's Reef anymore. The girl I was dating from there dumped me for the bartender."
"Oh my! Well where is your newest girlfriend working?"
Paul shook his head grinning. Della was always so interested in his latest girlfriends.
"I don't only date restaurant waitresses or hostesses. Let's just go to Jake's. I'll buy you a nice filet mignon steak! I got paid for a side job today so my pocket is full of spending money!"
Della was pleased – mostly because Jake's was close to home for her.
"It's not necessary for you to buy, Paul. Shall I meet you there and what time?"
"I'll pick you up at your home at six o'clock sharp. And hopefully I'll remember to bring the tickets!"
"That will be fine, Paul." Della's intercom buzzed. "I'll see you then. It looks like I have another call coming in – gotta go! Bye!"
They both hung up and Della got back to work.
DSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXODSXOPMXO
Los Angeles, CA Jake's Steak House 6:30pm Thursday, 12 May 1983
Della and Paul were seated in a booth at Jake's Steak House near some windows overlooking a garden area. The seating hostess handed both of them a menu and announced that their server would be with them shortly. Della looked around the dining room at the décor as she secured her purse on the seat beside her.
"They must have remodeled since I was in here last. That wallpaper looks new – and the bar area looks larger."
Paul quickly looked around the room and shrugged his shoulders.
"Looks the same to me." He opened his menu. "Wow! The only thing different that I see is their prices! The prime rib is a lot more expensive now! Probably had to raise their prices to pay for remodeling the joint!"
Della opened her menu to look at the prices. She quickly closed her menu and reached across the table to place her hand over Paul's menu and chuckled.
Paul lowered his menu to the table.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, I was just thinking back in time… Perry and I decided to try out a new French restaurant one night..." She paused to recall the name of the place.
"It was Ferrold's Cafe! Well, when I opened the menu and saw the prices, I told Perry that the restaurant was going to need a lawyer. He was just casually reading the menu and asked why Ferrold's would need a lawyer, so I told him that the prices were grand larceny! He kindly reminded me not to read the prices on the menu. Then he saw the price of just a cup of coffee – one dollar! Perry nearly flipped seeing that! Well we didn't even get to try out the place that night – as usual our dinner outing was interrupted by the beginning of a new case!"
She sighed before continuing as Paul politely listened.
"Eventually we did go back to Ferrold's after that murder case." She chuckled again. "We went back because we both wanted to find out what they could possibly put in a cup of coffee to make it worth a dollar!"
Paul smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Well that was probably way back in the fifties! Paying a buck for a cup of coffee nowadays is a bargain!"
Della brought the conversation back to the menu.
"Yes it was back in the fifties and you shouldn't have to worry about buying dinner tonight, dear. I think I can manage to pay the tab. Besides – you need to save your money for rent and other things."
Paul continued looking over the menu. "No, Della. Tonight is my treat! I invited you here and I intend to pay." He gave Della a wink and pointed to another page on the menu. "But maybe you should look in this section of the menu for the senior citizen specials!"
She chuckled and raised a brow. "You just watch it, Junior! If you keep making fun of my age, I'll order a dessert - and not on special, either!"
Their server arrived to take their drink orders and informed them of the daily specials. Paul was excited that prime rib was one of the specials that night.
After the server left to get their drinks, Della informed Paul that she hadn't entirely convinced Perry to come to Los Angeles for the weekend yet.
"I think that Perry is having a bad week. He's still not too keen on flying to LA for the weekend. I'll call him tonight when he's had an opportunity to relax a little after his meeting at his club. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing your band. And I hope you play some nostalgic jazz songs. I love singing along to my old favorites!"
Paul thought over the music that his band had in mind for the shows.
"There might be a couple of Duke Ellington songs – and maybe a few from Jimmy Van Heusen. But we tend to bring it into the modern world with a more upbeat tone..."
"Just don't ruin those songs by making them too much like the new wave craze. That stuff is too hard to listen to..."
"Just give me your requests right now and I'll try to fit them in to our first set… And before I forget, I better give you the tickets!"
Paul reached into his shirt pocket and took out the envelope with the tickets. When he handed them to Della, their dinner drinks arrived at the table and Della put the tickets in her purse right away.
They enjoyed their drinks and dinner and ninety minutes later they were ready to leave after Paul picked up the tab. Paul helped Della out of the booth and she gathered her purse off of the seat.
"I'm interested to see the tickets. I hope we're all sitting near the stage – unless it will be too loud there."
They left the restaurant and by the time they got to Paul's car, Della had opened the ticket envelope to look at the tickets. She had a confused look on her face.
"Paul, what's this abbreviation for our seats? 'SRO'?"
Paul opened the car door for Della and took the tickets from her hand to look at them. His brow furrowed as he examined the tickets.
"This can't be right! These are labeled Standing Room Only!"
Della got seated in the car and waited to hear more while Paul walked around to the driver's side door to get in the car. When he got seated behind the wheel, he handed the tickets back to Della.
"Let me make a phone call when we get to your place. I'll take care of this right away!"
At Della's place, Paul made the call but then hung up the phone with a disappointed look on his face.
"Apparently those are the best I can do for tickets! The shows are oversold for both nights. My friend recommends that you get there early so you can grab spots along the railing. I'm really sorry about this, Della!"
Della paused before replying.
"If we have standing room only tickets, I know that Perry won't like that at all." She lightly bit her lower lip. "I better call him tonight and find out what he wants to do..."
"I'm so sorry Della. I'll completely understand if you don't come to the shows – I know how Perry can be! But if our shows are as successful as I think they will be, we'll get opportunities to play better venues – and I'll be sure to get you really good seats for future shows!"
After a goodnight kiss on Della's cheek, Paul left and Della picked up the phone to call Perry. There was no answer on his phone, so she left a message.
"Hi Perry! Say, there's been a slight mix-up with our show tickets for tomorrow night. Please give me a call so we can talk about this. Goodbye!"
Della hung up the phone worried that Perry's reaction was not going to be very pleasant. By Friday morning, the thirteenth of May, she still had not heard back from Perry. Around eight o'clock in the morning after a light breakfast, she tried to call Perry again and still did not get an answer. She thought to herself that he had probably already left his apartment in San Francisco for the drive to Carmel since that was the last thing he told her that he was going to do. Sighing, she got back on the phone right away and called for airline reservations for a flight to Monterey – the closest airport for Carmel. It was apparent that she would be joining him in Carmel after all.
TBC
Thanks for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate your interest! Are there any guesses about which television episode Della was describing when she chuckled about the menu prices at Ferrold's?
