Chapter 7 - Sally's Gone
"Henri, Henri, open your eyes…." He opened his eyes to look up at Sally's lovely face.
Confused, he asked, "Where am I?"
"Henri, the maid Suzette called me…she found you passed out in a heap on the floor and she didn't know if you were hurt or dead or what…"
He sat up and looked at himself. Oddly, his clothes were as dishevelled as if he'd been in a fight. Perhaps it was a fight with his conscience...
He looked at Sally. "Why are you here, my dear?"
"As I was explaining, Suzette thought you were dead. She called me, knowing I am your friend and a nurse." She turned to Suzette. "He's all right, Suzette. You can go back to work. I'll take care of him." She turned back to Henri. "Let's get you up to your room and put some clean clothes on you, Henri."
Once up in his room, he removed his jacket and opened his tie. He sat on the bed.
"All right, Henri, what's going on?"
"I got a little drunk last night."
"Why?"
"I found something…I do not wish to discuss it."
"You won't tell me, your best friend? Or am I … I certainly haven't seen hide nor hair of you lately, since you got this job."
"Yes, you are correct. But I can't tell you, Sally, it's something…bad."
"Bad?"
"Oui. I don't wish to involve you." Sally sat on the bed next to him and put her arms around him. "Sally, this is not fitting for you to be in my bedroom…you must go…I must get ready for work…"
She nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, running her fingers through his thick curls. He smiled, stood up and took her hand. "Perhaps I will see you after work, non?"
"Yes…you have my number at home…call me, honey, please?" He nodded.
That day at the Yorkton mansion was an extremely busy one. The Yorktons arrived home and the Mistress had, in addition to the many suitcases she had gone away with, many, many new gowns and other boxes of things she had bought. Everything had to be put away for her by the maid and Henri helped carry it all and organize it. The Senator had ordered new furniture which arrived in the afternoon and caused a great deal of fluttering by the Mistress as she decided and un-decided and then decided again where she wanted it.
Henri thought, with a smile, this wasn't quite as exhausting as working on the railroad, but the Mistress could be much more of a pain than those steel rails ever were. Then there was a dinner party to ready. Normally these things were planned ahead of time; for tonight's party there was no advance warning. And Henri thought, with chagrin, he would have to cancel his date with Sally.
So caught up was he in the preparations and the dinner, which the Senator had asked him to stay for, to supervise, that Henri completely forgot about even calling Sally.
He arrived home at midnight and wondered if he could still call to apologise. A recent luxury bought by his new found wealth, the telephone came in handy at a time like this. He called the operator who plugged into Sally's number and the phone rang and rang. He was about to hang up when she answered, sleepily.
"Who is this?"
"It's Henri, ma chèrie…"
Suddenly her voice seemed more awake and angry too. "Don't you "ma chèrie" me, you French worm!"
"I am so sorry, I forgot to call you…it was a very busy time…I would not have been able to take you anywhere tonight….I worked until just a short time ago…"
"I understand that, Henri. I know things come up…but you could have called…that was terribly rude. I have come to the conclusion you don't care for me anymore. I shan't be seeing you in the future."
Henri put down the phone and sat down in his favourite chair. He could hardly believe what he had just heard. He realized that she had become very important to him and he could hardly think about life without her. He would have to try to see her again to apologise….he had not been so bad to her…then he realized it had been months since he had taken her anywhere…he was always too busy with the Senator's special jobs; work which he now realized was not honest work by any means.
This was the second night in a row he hadn't been able to sleep. His conscience was bothering him terribly and he was missing Sally. He would probably never see her again. His eyes became wet and he pulled out his handkerchief as large tears rolled down his cheeks. Soon he was sobbing like a woman. He was thankful no one was here to see him.
