Caroline and the Greeting Card Convention

Chapter 5

"Del!" Caroline exclaimed. She was surprised to see him there, to say the least. Del's note had said that he wanted to make up with her - but on the next day.

In his most repentant voice, Del said "Sorry, Care. I couldn't wait. Can I come in?"

"Oh Del – I'd prefer you didn't."

"Caroline, I can see you're about ready for bed. But don't be embarrassed about wearing only a robe. I've seen you naked, remember?"

Caroline nervously looked back at her bathroom door and answered "Uh… Del. Can't it wait until morning?"

"Caroline, please don't say you're still mad. Did you get my flowers?"

"Yes, Del. Thank you, they're beautiful. That was so sweet of you. But…"

"Oh Caroline, I'd really like to talk to you alone, now. I don't want to talk with all those other people around at the convention. Can't I please come in – just to talk, I swear."

At that moment, Richard emerged from the bathroom, wearing only the complimentary robe.

Hearing some noises, Del became suspicious. "Is somebody else in there?" he asked accusingly.

Richard, unaware of the situation, started to speak "Caroline, I didn't want to dry myself with the same towels you had used before. I think they forgot to provide extra ones…"

"Aha! I knew it! You and Richard...! I can't believe what a fool I've been!" Del cried angrily, then stormed off.

Caroline fumbled with the chain. "Del…!! Wait…!! Let me explain!!"

After fumbling with the hotel door chain for what seemed like an eternity, Caroline finally got it unlatched. She ran out the door, chasing after Del, finally catching him at the elevator.

"Del…!! Del…!! Please let me explain!!"

Del put his hands before him, gesturing Caroline to stop. "Caroline, I'm mad and disappointed right now. I thought we had something. Anything you say right now is just gonna make me madder. Give me some time to cool down and think about things. I'm going down to the casino."

"But Del…"

Just then, the elevator arrived. "Tomorrow, Caroline… tomorrow" Del said firmly, as he got on the elevator and left.

Caroline, tears streaming down her face, slowly walked back to her room. She didn't want to break up with Del, not like this. Oh, she had broken up with Del before – several times. But it had never been acrimonious, they had always remained friends. She and Del always enjoyed being together, always had fun. The problem came when Caroline felt she wanted something more, then Del backed away. But they always seemed drawn together again. Never had a breakup involved betrayal – although Del had several near misses.

When Richard had emerged from the bathroom, still somewhat wet, he had been confused at first. Since Caroline had left, Richard had just stood there, not knowing what to do. When he saw Caroline reenter, tears running down her face, he asked "Del…?"

"Y – Y – Yes" Caroline sniffed.

A part of Richard wanted just to flee the room. Because of his miserable childhood and unhappy experiences with romance, Richard was always nervous and insecure about strong emotions – in anyone around him, but especially his own. Richard had erected elaborate verbal defenses around himself – ready to zing anyone who came too close.

Another part of Richard, the part whose feelings for Caroline had just been awakened, wanted to shout "Hooray!" Part of him wanted to tell her that she should be happy that Del may be gone, that he wasn't right for her. Del wasn't the intellectual or emotional match for Caroline – he was. As much as Del might like or even care for Caroline, he would never really understand her. Richard did. Sometimes he would know what she was going to say before she even said it. How could you love a woman, if you didn't understand her?

But it was a third part of Richard that elbowed its way in front of the other two. The part that was Caroline's friend. The part that went along when she needed company, the part that helped her out, even with crazy schemes – the part that was going to console her now.

"Oh Richard" Caroline sniffed. "It's – it's – it's all my fault. I – I – I came up with this crazy plan and now Del and I might break up."

Richard put his arms around Caroline and let her cry on his shoulder. "There, there, there… Del will be calmer in the morning, you'll explain things to him, everything will be alright… I mean, you and me…? No one would believe that, right…? He'll listen… You'll see, things will be fine tomorrow."

Richard led Caroline to the bed, brushed off some roses, and told her "Why don't you lie down? I'll get you something to drink… something other than champagne."

"Thank you, Richard. I will" Caroline said as she laid down on the bed.

Richard went to the mini-bar, got a bottle, and poured a couple of drinks. He handed one to Caroline, who sat up to drink it, and said "Aren't we the pair? You, alone in a bed strewn with roses from your boyfriend, reeking of champagne. And me, standing here, still dripping. Both of us wearing nothing but bathrobes, drinking." After that elicited a small chuckle from Caroline, Richard continued "You know, everything's going to turn out okay. Del will come around. Some day, we'll all look back at this night and laugh… I know I will. Your plan, although ill advised, was quite entertaining."

"It was fun, wasn't it?" Caroline said, smiling weakly.

For a moment, their eyes locked. Though they had been referring to the pain and embarrassment inflicted on Del, they both then started recalling their "play" kissing and cuddling. Then…

Richard cleared his throat. "I guess I should be going, before I turn into a prune" he chuckled.

The moment broken, Caroline agreed. "Okay. Thank you, Richard. You really helped. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right. See you at the booth" Richard said, as he put down his drink and left.

******

The next day was awkward, to say the least.

Caroline tried to explain. "Del, I'm really sorry about last night. It was all a stupid scheme that backfired. What happened at Primavera was all a show, just to make you jealous. I knew that Donna wasn't your cousin, I wanted to get even."

"I thought that might be the case. But then I saw you two at The Comedy Stop. I was spying on you there. You seemed pretty snug."

"That was part of the plan too, Del."

"How could it be? I was the one that thought up getting my own extra ticket to Seinfeld and spying on you."

"I thought you might. But just in case, Donna was going to suggest it."

"Donna was part of this, too?"

"What did you think?"

His ego somewhat deflated, Del replied "I just thought… that she liked me.

"Well, part of my plan worked. You're kinda cute when you're jealous. And all those roses, that was so sweet…" Caroline reached out with her hand and tenderly touched Del's cheek.

But Del was still angry. He returned to the argument. "Why were you both in your room and out of your clothes?"

"We were celebrating the success of my plan, but Richard spilled champagne everywhere. We were just getting cleaned up. Please Del, you have to believe me, nothing happened."

"I have to think about it… Let's get to work."

The Cassidy Greeting Cards booth was not that large. Caroline, Del and Richard tried to avoid each other, but it wasn't that easy. Whenever possible, one of them would take a break, just to get away. Richard tried mostly staying in back, behind the partition, emerging with more cards only when he had to. Del and Caroline moved as far away from each other as they could in the front of the booth. Del forced himself into his usual charming demeanor with clients and Caroline's smile was forced as she autographed cards for fans.

After a couple of hours, Del announced "Caroline, I just have to get away from you… from here… for awhile… I'll be back in a bit." With that, he left.

……

Awhile later, Del returned with two sandwiches, handing one to Caroline. "Here. I thought you might be hungry."

"Thanks Del. Does this mean you believe me?"

"I'm not sure that I believe you yet, Caroline. But I do want to work things out."

"Okay, Del. That's a start."

"Just one thing – I want you to fire Richard."

"What??!!"

"Oh, c'mon, Caroline! You said he told you himself, he hates his job! And it's not like he'd be taking a huge pay cut to work elsewhere! You'd probably be doing him a favor."

"Del, I told you – nothing happened! It was all just a big misunderstanding. You've got to believe me!"

"Caroline, I don't know yet whether I believe you or not. But even if I did, I just don't trust that Richard… He's a guy, Caroline. I know how guys think. I saw you two kissing at Primavera last night. Play acting or not, Richard's gotten a taste of 'Sweet Caroline', he's gonna want more. I just don't think I'd feel comfortable with you two working so closely together every day."

"Del, I can understand how you feel, but…"

"Caroline, who's it gonna be? A geeky, stuck up egghead who insults you, your work, and your friends every chance he gets, or me, a guy who really cares about you?"

Caroline had a decision to make…