Chapter 15: Friends?

It was uncharacteristic for Arthur to care much, if at all, about the feelings of strangers. But there was something about Rachel that was different. Something about her got under his skin. She was upsetting all of his strong, until now, unchallenged beliefs. She had worked her way into his life at the least desirable time, while he was busy and stressed out studying for TWO American bar exams! The New York and California tests were known for being difficult, with many law graduates failing on the first try. He had neither the time or the inclination to deal with women right now. “They just complicate matters”, he thought.

The next morning Arthur was slightly hungover but very keenly aware of what had happened the night before. He remembered that he had apologized to Rachel. To keep on the good side of his grandmother, he wanted to make sure that things were better between them not just for a night, but going forward indefinitely. He pulled himself together and went to knock on Rachel’s door.

“Rachel, It’s Arthur. I know it’s early, but...do you have a minute?”

She heard his voice and wondered, knowing him, if he was there to take back his apology. She would not put it past him.

“Yes,” she said, already half exasperated by his usually negative attitude toward her. She opened the door but did not let him in.

“Please make it a quick one. I need to get to work.”

“About last night...”

Here it comes, she thought, the rescission of his apology. She summoned her courage and her public mask and got ready for a verbal battle with him before her day had officially begun.

“Look, Arthur, I think that if you came to...”

He cut her off mid-sentence.

“I was drunk last night and wanted to make sure that I was clear. I am not only asking for your forgiveness and acceptance of my apology, but for a truce. We got off on the wrong foot, that’s all.”

“A truce? A truce. Okay,” she was surprised but willing to try to get along better with him as an almost house mate and a possible associate or even someday perhaps as a friend. “I can accept that. Thanks for following up.”

“Oh. I’m in no condition to drive right now.” He looked her up and down and saw how well-put together she was today for going to work at the bakery. “Are you good with getting to town on your own?”

“Definitely. I planned on going to the pub for dinner after work, anyway, so I might walk there and back. It’s a nice day out.”

“Good. Well, have a good day.”

“Likewise.”

# # #


On the walk into town, she reflected on the whole Arthur situation. “Well he certainly is full of surprises,” she thought. Before she got to the bakery she had a million thoughts about him and the power of a strong female presence, like his grandmother, on a grown man. She believed that the idea for the apology came 100% from her, not from him.

She entered the bakery and greeted Faye. Every alarm at the store was going off and “SWEET”, the code, was not working.

“Oh no, they’ll be here in a minute and charge me for setting the alarm off. Plus there are a hundred voice mails on the catering line. Word is getting out about our sweet treats. Good day, Hon. Strap on your armor, it looks like it’s going to be one of those days.”

Faye was right. The entire day sped by. Their busy times were busier and their downtimes were nonexistent as they spent that time responding to voice mail and filling orders. Rachel felt she earned her pub night after a day at work like that. She was grateful for the general amiable disposition of the customers and the success of the bakery, which meant job security for her in Clovelly. When they closed up, Rachel invited Faye to come with her for dinner at the pub, but the workday had worn her out.

“You’re in your twenties but I’m in my seventies. Running a business like this takes its toll when you reach my age, Honey. Have fun beating the men off with a stick. I meant to tell you how nice you look today. Hopefully someone other than me will appreciate that tonight,” she said with a wink. “I may be the first, but I bet there will be plenty of others at the pub tonight who will be eager to do the same.”

# # #

When she reached the pub, it was packed. It was ladies’ night and there was live music by a local band. She grabbed a seat in a booth and took a few moments to catch her breath after her whirlwind workday. Ten cent wings would have made it perfect but their fish and chips special on a Friday night would hit the spot just as well.

Someone must have left behind a tabloid on her table. While she was waiting for her server, she decided to look through it to pass the time. Sure enough on the top right hand corner was a photograph of her “fiancé” flanked by several exotic-looking, nubile females and partying on a cross continent train. “So my future husband is partying his way across Europe. Thank God I was a runaway bride and missed the boat with that one. Phew,” she breathed a sign of relief.

As the night went on, a man sent her three drinks. She acknowledged his generosity each time with a smile. She asked the server if he knew anything about him.

“Well, Sweetie, if he was gay and sent me drinks, I’d be all over him by now, as fine as he is. Don’t you worry. You can handle it tonight, girl. You look too fierce to be alone. Let me introduce you.”

The closer the man came, the more nervous she became. He was so good looking. She felt out of place and uncertain. More than a little shy at the prospect of meeting such a handsome man, she decided to ignore her feelings of being a fish out of water and dive in.