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“Youngstown,” I answered.
“So, what brings you here?”
“A new job. Actually, a paid internship that I hope will become a permanent job. Fingers crossed. I’ll be at a place called Bennett-Jacobs Info Tech. Do you know it?”
Ben let out a loud, hearty laugh that matched his big, hearty physique.
“Was it something I said?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” said Ben. “Bennett-Jacobs Info Tech? I know the owner, or one of them. He’s a really good buddy of mine. One of the best.”
“That’s an amazing coincidence,” I said, marveling at the odds.
“Elijah Bennett is an amazing guy. Smart as a whip and in good shape. He’s also a client, so I can take some of the credit for the shape he’s in.”
“Well, if he’s a client of yours, he must look great,” I said. “I’ve only met one of his Human Resources people online. I haven’t met the boss yet.”
“You’ll like him, I promise,” Ben said. “And, listen, I know there’s a lot to learn about a new city. If I can help you get settled here, use the card.”
“That’s so nice!” I said, smiling broadly. I hadn’t even been here a whole day, and I’d already met one of the nicest guys. It really seemed that luck was with me on my first day in Cincinnati.
“Well, you have a good first night in town. And believe me, you’ve come to a good place,” he assured me. “Take care.”
“You, too,” I said to Ben as he wheeled his cart away, taking with him both the meat he was buying and the meat he was packing under that T-shirt.
I rolled my own cart towards the produce aisle, trying to imagine the kind of Information Technology CEO who was a client of Ben Diamond. Now, I wasreallylooking forward to meeting my new boss.
CHAPTER7
Elijah. Sunday
Sleep started to catch up to me Sunday afternoon. Everything that was on my mind had screwed up my sleep patterns. I’d started waking up in the middle of the night and not getting back to sleep for an hour or more. It hadn’t affected me at work — yet. But if I had to have a sudden crash, Sunday afternoon when I had nothing going on but watching ESPN on the couch was the time for it to happen.
Somewhere in the midst of the commentators running down scores, players, and game performances, my eyelids got heavy. They fluttered and slid shut. My thoughts dissolved into something else.
I remember seeing Kathleen. Not Kathleen the way she was when we broke up, disappointed in our relationship, unable to accept my past, seeing no future for us, and walking away. It was Kathleen the way she was when we were first together — smiling, laughing, cuddling with me.
We were together on the couch, watching some old movie; she liked old movies. I couldn’t remember what movie it was. All I could recall was Kathleen starting to unbutton my shirt. Kathleen unbuttoning my shirt was the beginning of so many things we’d always loved. I lay still and let her undo what I was wearing, one button at a time…
And that was when the damn buzzer from the front entrance downstairs jarred me from my dream and made me bolt up on the couch, cursing.
Damn it all, who the hell could this be and what were they doing in the lobby of my building, pressing my buzzer now?I wondered. If my dream had continued, Kathleen and I might have pressed some much more pleasing buzzers for each other.
The buzzer kept sounding, and I pulled myself up off the couch with a scowl. Whoever the hell this was, it had better be about something damn good and important.Sunday afternoon, of all times…
I went to my apartment door and hit the intercom. Not particularly caring if I sounded rude after what was just interrupted, I barked, “What?”
And there it was: the voice.Thatvoice. My irritation turned to dread at the sound.
He called to me as if there wasn’t a problem in the world. “Hey, Elijah, it’s me! I’m here! Ring me up, buddy!”
My jaw clenched, and my whole body followed it. I looked away from the intercom as if by not looking at it, I could make this moment disappear. But, no such luck.Hewas here. He was just a few floors below me, in the entrance to my building. Moreover, he knew I was here, and he wasn’t about to go away. I’d never felt so cornered in my life.
Because my hand wasn’t on the intercom switch, he couldn’t hear me when I growled through gritted teeth, “Damn! Damn, damn, damn!”
The buzzer sounded again, making me want to tear the intercom out of the wall. I took a breath to calm myself as much as I could (which wasn’t that much), and pressed the button.
“Hey, Kane,” I said, unable to sound excited. “Yeah, come on up.”