Chapter 6
Someone was shaking her arm, gently yet persistently. She felt it, but the last thing she felt like doing was open her eyes and face the new day. She was never a morning person. It felt as if her eyelids were glued together. She just wanted to keep sleeping.
"Mommy, wake up!"
Slowly, she opened her eyes to meet her daughter's smiling face. She smiled tiredly. "Munchkin, what time is it?"
"Late, wake up!"
She glanced at the digital clock on her bedside. 7:05. Man, it felt as if she went to bed five minutes ago. How was it possible that it was morning already? Ugh. She should get up. "Alright, alright, I'm up… did you brush your teeth?"
"I did," Libby nodded. As she sat up, she noticed that her little girl was already dressed. Her last attempt to get dressed by herself didn't go so well, but she looked alright now, wearing the clothes they chose from her dresser the day before.
"Look at you, you're all ready! Did you do all that by yourself?" She felt so proud of her little girl as she nodded, smiling brightly. "That's my girl. Go watch TV, I'll make you some breakfast."
Only after splashing some cold water on her face, she realized why Libby was so happy that morning. It was her last day at work. At the end of that week they'd be back in New York. Their apartment was nearly empty. Most of their stuff was already at Mark's apartment. She sold her car the week before. It was finally happening. She was going back home. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror as she covered the dark circles under her eyes with some more makeup. Never mind that, she thought. Everything would be okay once they'd get to New York.
She changed her nightclothes with a new suit. Her forehead cringed in confusion as she looked at herself in the full length mirror in her bedroom. The suit's pants hung loosely on her waist. This was strange, she thought, reaching for a belt from her dresser's drawer. They matched perfectly the last time she wore it to work. She loved that suit so much. When did she manage to lose so much weight for such a thing to happen? It's not like she felt weak anymore, because she didn't. Actually, she felt better. She really did. She was trying her best to eat and rest, although work was still crazy. But it was her last day. She'd have couple of days of peace and quiet before their flight.
After she was dressed and ready, she made a quick breakfast and called Libby to come to the kitchen. She watched her daughter as she ate, smiling at the girl's good mood. Libby talked constantly about seeing Mark again and about all the birthday presents she was going to get. Then she dropped Libby at daycare and took a bus to the office. Libby's happiness was contagious, it seemed. She couldn't stop smiling as she got to the company building.
The day flew by. She had some phone calls to make and a meeting with Bill, her manager, plus a last staff meeting at noon. She intended to leave right afterwards. She didn't want to stay there more than necessary. She wanted to spend some time with Libby. Maybe she'd take her out for dinner. Yeah, that would be fun.
After confirming their flight, she glanced at her watch. She still had time before the last meeting that required her participation. It was around 4PM on the East Coast. She wondered if it would bother Mark if she'd call him to the gallery, but suddenly, she didn't care. Their flight was confirmed, it was only a matter of days until she'd see him again. She just wanted to hear his voice. She reached for her phone.
But it wasn't Mark who answered the call. "Hello?"
"Tammy? Hi, it's Maureen."
"Oh, hi! How are you? We're gonna see you around here pretty soon, huh?"
"Yeah, pretty damn soon," she laughed. "I'm doing okay. How are you?"
"You know, the usual. Seriously, I'm starting to think that I am the one running this gallery."
"Oh, Mark is not there?" She hoped the disappointment in her voice wasn't that clear. She really wanted to talk to him.
"Is he ever here?" asked Tammy. She recognized the false bitterness in her voice. "He's out for a meeting. You know, this new Life thing."
"Yeah, I didn't know it was today," she said. "Do me a favor, Tammy, tell him I called? He can call here to my office, I don't mind."
"Sure, I'll tell him. I dunno when he'd be back here, but I'm writing this down. Is this the same number you're calling from?"
"Yeah. It is."
"Okay. Anything else you need me to tell him?"
"No, thanks Tammy, I'll try to call again later. In case he forgets to call me back."
"Yeah, he can be forgetful at times," said Tammy. She had that contemplated tone that made her laugh. She knew what Tammy was up to.
"I'm not gonna change my mind, you know. I will marry him no matter what you say," she said smiling.
"Well, you can't say I didn't try to warn you." There was a short pause before she said, "Oh damn. Sorry, Maureen, I have to go. I'll tell Mark you called."
"Alright. Thanks Tammy. I'll see you soon."
"Okay. Have a nice day!" said Tammy before she hung up. She just sat there for a moment, still smiling because of Tammy's hopeless attempts to put some reason in her head. Nothing was going to change her mind though. This time she would make the right choice.
"So this is your big secret," said a familiar voice from behind her. She turned, startled. Kevin was leaning against her doorframe, a sly smile slowly curling on his lips. The back of her chair was turned to the door, so she didn't notice him when he walked in. She was doing all she could to avoid him ever since the day he first asked her out. Being around him started to get really uncomfortable, especially since they still spent so many hours together. Apparently, not only that he wasn't used to be turned down, he was also determined to change her mind. He asked her out three and four more times, and the rest of the time he was just throwing all those innuendoes at her, that she really just wanted to get those last days in San Francisco over with. She was tired of his attempts to hit on her whenever he had the chance, and she had no intention to flirt back, not even to check if she still had it. Knowing the type, it might even make him think he had some chance.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't you knock?" she asked coldly.
He shrugged, an innocent expression plastered on his face. "I did. You didn't hear me."
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Couple of minutes. I didn't mean to listen to your conversation. I came to ask if you wanted to join us to lunch."
"No thanks, I've got some stuff to do before the meeting."
He just stood there on her doorway for a moment longer, eyeing her curiously. He seemed to be waiting for her explanation, as if she had to come up with one. She really wasn't sure why he was expecting her to have an explanation. It was a private conversation. "Are you going to tell me or will I have to force it out of you?" he asked eventually.
"What do you mean?"
"Who is this Mark you're gonna marry? How is it that no one ever heard of it before?"
"I didn't think it was any of anyone's business." Including you, she added silently.
"Is that why you accepted the job in the New York office?"
"Whether it is or not is my business," she said firmly.
"I see that you're not willing to talk about it," he said, the most annoying smile curling on his lips.
"That's right. I'm not. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
She could punch him for that naughty sparkle his eyes had once she asked that, but pretty soon he snapped out of it. "No. Just thought you'd want to join us for lunch," he said again. "Anyway, I'll see you in the meeting later."
She nodded but didn't say anything. He shrugged, as if he couldn't understand what her problem was, and left her office. How could she possibly fall for guys like that back then? Ugh. She huffed, angry with herself for letting him piss her off so quickly. Someone knocked on her door and Kathleen peered inside.
"Is everything alright in here?" she asked.
"Everything is fine," she said, reaching for some papers. "Kevin is being a jerk again," she added under her breath.
Kathleen could still hear her, for she shook her head and gave her a sorrowful look. "What did he do now?"
"Nothing new, just the usual stuff," she said. She was tired of him. It was giving her a headache. "Kathleen, do me a favor. I'm gonna get me some coffee from that new place around the corner. I'm expecting a call so if a man named Mark Cohen is looking for me, tell him I'm on my cell, okay?"
"Sure. I'll tell him," said Kathleen, smiling slyly. "Could that be the reason Kevin stormed out?" she wondered aloud.
"Maybe," she said shortly.
"I can go down there and get that coffee for you if you want," Kathleen suggested.
"No, thanks, that's okay. I could use the fresh air," she said, reaching for her purse. "I'm going, I don't wanna miss the meeting. Don't forget about the call, okay? It's important."
"Mark Cohen. Got it," said Kathleen with a small smile that told her that she would not try to set her up with Kevin anymore.
She got herself some coffee and a muffin and took a pill for her headache, but it didn't do much help. Her head was still pounding as she made her way to the conference room, where the meeting was about to begin. Try as she might, she couldn't avoid Kevin, who quickly took a seat beside her. He didn't mention their previous conversation, but she could notice him glance at her when he thought she wasn't looking. She didn't care. She didn't care of anything anymore. She just wanted to go back home, have a quick, hot shower and crawl into bed.
The meeting was long, and the more it lasted, the more she felt like she was losing interest. She took notes to keep herself awake, although she was having a hard time following what was said. It was so hot in the room that at some point she just had to take off her jacket. Her sudden movement caught the attention of Bill, her manager, who was sitting across from her. He stopped the man who was speaking and looked at her strangely.
"Is everything alright, Maureen?"
"Yeah, it's just a bit warm in here."
He gave her a weird look, and the meeting resumed. She took a deep breath and tried to keep her attention focused on what was going on, but she couldn't. Something was wrong. It was getting hotter and hotter with each passing second. She could feel the sweat gathering on her forehead as her heartbeat quickened its pace. It felt as if there was not enough air in the room. She wanted to ask someone to lower the heat or open a window, but everyone was so concentrated at what was said in the meeting, no one seemed to pay much attention to her.
The dizziness came out of nowhere. It was as if she was falling, falling with no end. Someone was calling her name, then another, and then another, but she couldn't answer. She closed her eyes… or didn't she? It all turned blank, and she was sinking. Their voices were getting louder, closer. They were all around her. She had no air, she wanted to scream at them. She was choking. They asked if she was okay and she wanted to say that she couldn't breathe, but she couldn't speak. She just wanted to sleep. She was tired, so tired-
Someone picked her up. She felt herself being carried away. She forced herself to open her eyes. Her unfocused gaze met Kevin's eyes. "Calm down. We're taking you to your office. Everything is gonna be okay," he said softly, soothingly. She felt too weak to speak so she simply nodded, letting her head drop on his chest again. And then darkness took over.
"Hey, she's waking up."
"Maureen? Are you okay?"
"Lady, Gentlemen, will you please sit aside and let the poor girl some air?"
A phone was ringing in the distance. "… is not available right now. Can I take a message?"
"Maureen?"
She was hurt all over. She had no idea what was going on, but the voices were all around her, getting stronger and clearer as she regained consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open. The sun from the windows hurt her eyelids. She winced as she tried to sit up, but a gentle hand stopped her from doing so, slowly pushing her backwards.
"Not so fast, honey. Lie back down," a voice said. Once her vision cleared, she realized that she recognized his face. It was that nice doctor that worked in the building next to them. She sighed and leaned back. He nodded. "That's better."
"What happened?" she asked in what she couldn't believe was her own voice.
"Well, you scared the hell out of everyone in that conference room. That more or less sums it all up." His voice was gentle, but it was pretty clear that he was serious.
She slowly recollected her surroundings. She was lying on the small sofa in her office. Kathleen, Kevin and Bill were sitting not far behind, letting the doctor do his job, but they were clearly worried as well. And then something else hit her and she nearly jumped to her feet. "Damn it. Libby. I gotta go get my-"
Kathleen hurried forward and sat on the sofa next to her. "Libby is okay, Maureen, I called daycare and Caroline. She'll pick her up and watch her until we'll get you home." She laid a gentle hand on her forehead. "Just calm down now."
"There's no wonder this happened, with what I'm hearing from your colleagues. You need to rest. You cannot exhaust yourself the way you did in the past several weeks. I'll give you something to help you sleep, but you must promise you'll take a better care of yourself." The doctor was looking at her sternly. She felt like she was Libby's age.
"I will. I promise. But I really have to get home."
"I'll take her there," she heard Kevin suggest. She closed her eyes. Maybe he wasn't such a jerk after all. This was her last thought before everything got dark again.
Floating, soaring, as if she was out of her whole body… it felt so strange. What happened? Where was she? It was so hard to open her eyes. She moaned in pain. Something felt wet against her forehead. A hand slipped gently along her cheek. As she opened her eyes, she recognized Caroline's face hovering above hers. Her expression was comforting, grandmother-like. She smiled.
"Finally, you're awake," she said quietly.
"How long did I sleep?"
"Several hours," said Caroline, helping her sitting up against the pillows. "Those pills the doctor gave you had a great affect. I've never seen someone falls asleep so quickly and for so long. I guess you really needed it."
"I did," she said, yawning. "What time is it?"
"Almost nine. Libby is asleep. She was really worried about you but I didn't want her to stay up for so long. I'll stay with you tonight to make sure you're okay."
"Thank you, Caroline. For everything you did for us today."
"You're welcome, dear. I'm just glad that you're alright. Now is there anything I can get you? You should eat something."
"I'm not hungry, but I guess I should." She noticed a bowl of water on her bedside. A cloth was half dipped in the bowl. She looked at Caroline questionably. "What is that for?"
"When your colleague brought you here you had a fever. You still do, but I think you'll be fine by tomorrow." She got up. "I'll get you some soup. You should eat something, even if you're not hungry."
"I will. Thanks."
Caroline hesitated before she left the room, but eventually turned back to her and said, "While I'm doing that, you should give this man a call. You know, that one who is just an old friend of yours." Although she tried to keep a straight face, she couldn't hide her smile. "I guess you are very close friends, since he called 4 times this afternoon to check up on you."
She laughed softly. "I guess you kind of figured it all out by now, huh?"
"It's very hard to keep those things from me. Other than my very good instincts after raising three daughters of my own, you have a little girl who cannot stop speaking about a man named Mark from New York City who is going to be her daddy."
She smiled. She should have known it would be Libby who would give her away. "Alright. I'll call him back."
"I'll get you that soup."
She waited until she heard the rustle of dishes in the kitchen before she reached for the phone. She knew it was after midnight in New York, but knowing Mark, he was probably still up, waiting for her call. And indeed, he picked up after the second ring.
"Maureen?" he asked urgently.
"Yeah."
"Oh, thank God! What the hell is going on?"
"I'm fine. Really, I was just-"
"-Don't tell me you're fine, you collapsed at work, you are everything but fine!" he cut her off abruptly, as if he was waiting the entire day to tell her that. The panic in his voice was clear. He had never raised his voice on her. Only once, back then when they dated, and he apologized for two weeks afterwards for doing that. And now he suddenly seemed to realize he had done it again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that, it's just…" he sighed. "You had no idea how it felt… hearing that something is wrong with you, knowing I can't do anything about it."
"I know." She didn't know who told him what happened. She didn't remember much of what happened earlier that day. She remembered waking up on the couch in her office, but nothing more. She figured he must have returned her call at some point of the day. "I'm sorry I got you worried."
"I was really scared," he said quietly.
"I was scared too."
"Please take care of yourself, okay? At least until you'll get here and then I will. Damn it, Maureen, how could you not tell me you weren't feeling okay?"
"Mark, come on, stop this. You said it yourself. There was nothing you could possibly do. I'm okay. I'll be okay. I promise."
There was a short pause and then he asked, "How's Libby?"
"I only saw her this morning. She's asleep now. You should sleep too, it's late."
He sighed. "I know. I will. It's been a long day. I just had to make sure you were okay."
"I'm okay. I miss you so much," she added quietly. Suddenly, she felt like crying.
"I miss you too," he said softly. "Try to get some rest, huh?"
"You too. Good night, Marky."
"Night Mo."
She hung up, and just sat there in bed, thinking of nothing. Soon Caroline was back in the room. She ate a little, and answered the older woman's questions about Mark. Caroline said she'd spend the night on the couch in the living room, just in case they'd need her. After Caroline fell asleep, she went to check on Libby. She sat on her bedside, just watching her as she slept soundly. She smiled, thinking back of the day she had first seen her after she was born. She was tiny, so tiny that she was afraid to hold her. But then she realized that there was nothing to be afraid of. Libby was hers; the only thing that ever was really hers. She loved her baby girl so much.
"Mommy?"
She opened her eyes and realized that Libby was awake and watching her with sleepy eyes. "Go back to sleep, Munchkin," she whispered.
The little girl looked at her inquiringly. "You okay?"
She smiled. "I'm okay. Don't worry, I'm fine. Just wanted to kiss you goodnight, is that okay?" Libby nodded. She smiled and leaned forward to kiss her daughter's forehead. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"
She was halfway out of the room when she heard Libby's voice again. "Mommy?"
"What, baby?"
"Can sleep in your bed?"
She hesitated. Libby hadn't asked that for a while, and she really wanted to stop this habit of hers, considering the fact that they were about to go and live with Mark. "Only if it's just for tonight. You're a big girl now, remember?"
Libby nodded. "Just tonight."
"Alright then. Come on." She watched Libby as she slipped into her Piglet slippers and got out of bed. She felt too weak to pick her up so she gave her a hand, and together they went back to her bedroom.
