Chapter Thirty-Four
Kennedy
Almost two weeks had passed since the incident at Reed's house. I hadn’t heard from him, which was a surprise, but I hadn’t called him, either. I was sure that if something was wrong, he would’ve called me, but it still ached every time the phone rang and it wasn’t him. I had taken a few days off afterward. I basically slept from the morning to night, and only left my bed to shower or get something to eat, both of which I didn’t do very often.
But for the most part, I slept. When I did eat, it wasn’t very much. I was in bed at the moment, wondering if I should bother to drag myself over to the TV when I heard a knock at the door. For a while, I was frozen on the spot, unsure on how to react. Was it Reed? I sat up and looked in the mirror. I looked a mess. I stuck my head back under the duvet. There was no way I was going to go out and see Reed looking this way. Whoever it was knocked again, and I closed my eyes, willing them to go away.
For a few minutes, there was no more knocking, and I stuck my head out of the duvet and breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe it wasn’t even Reed. Maybe it was a salesman. There had been an influx of them lately driving the neighborhood mad. The more I thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed that it would even be Reed. Then the phone rang beside me, and I saw that it was Camille.
“I know you’re in there,” she said without saying hello.
“Cam? Was that you knocking at the door?” I asked.
“Of course it was me. Who did you think it was? Anyway, I’m still outside. Come and open the door for me or else I’m going to find a way to crawl through a window. And don’t lie about not being there. Your car is here.”
“How do you know I haven’t just gone for a walk somewhere?” I said.
“Well, have you?”
I sighed. “No. I’m coming.”
I dragged myself out of bed and made my way downstairs. When I opened the door, Camille frowned at me.
“Whoa. You don’t look good.”
“Hello to you too,” I said, and I let her in. I locked the door behind her. Ever since the incident, I had become pedantic about locking the door wherever I was. Sometimes I ran down in the middle of the night just to make sure it was definitely locked.
“Ken, come on, you can’t stay holed up forever. When’s the last time you had something to eat? You look so skinny.”
“Skinny is good,” I said.
“No, it’s not. When did you last eat?”
“Uh, not so long ago. Few hours maybe. I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
“And what did you have?”
“Toast.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know. A slice.” It was more like a few bites out of a slice, but she didn’t have to know that.
“Okay, and before that?”
“Toast,” I said again.
She shook her head. “And when’s the last time you showered and got out of those clothes?”
There was no point in lying about it all. I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Okay, so here’s the plan. You’re going to take a long shower right now. You’re going to wash your hair, and put on some clean clothes. Then I’m taking you out for something to eat. And you are not going to argue with me because I’m not going to let you get away with not doing it. You know I’ll stand here until you do. Got it?”
“Got it,” I said. I wouldn’t dare argue with her.
Admittedly, the shower did feel good, and when I got out and dried my hair, I almost felt like my old self again. It was amazing how easy it was to dwell in self-pity. I put on some clean clothes and made my way downstairs where Camille was waiting.
“Feeling better?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Thanks, Cam.”
“Come on then; it’s time for some food.”
I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until we stepped inside the restaurant and I smelt the food coming out of the kitchen. My stomach grumbled, and I quickly ordered a plate of scrambled eggs with avocado on toast and a cup of coffee. When the coffee arrived, I took a grateful sip and sighed.
“I haven’t had coffee in days,” I said.
“Are you serious? I’ve never known you to go without coffee. Or food for that matter.”
“Yeah. I just wanted to sleep. I have never felt such an overwhelming desire to sleep before. I would just close my eyes and fall asleep again. It was crazy.”
“And that, my friend, is a little something they call depression. How are you feeling? You’re not still hurt, are you?”
“Nah, I’m fine. Apparently head wounds bleed a lot even when they’re not that bad.”
“Gross.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, tell me about it. When I finally came to, I couldn’t believe it was my own blood on that floor. I almost fainted all over again.”
“Have you heard from them?” Camille asked.
“Not a word.”
“Well, that’s good. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
“I guess so,” I said although I wasn’t so sure anymore. I missed them more than I could’ve imagined. I wanted Reed to call me even though I had told him not to. I wanted him to prove that I had been wrong about them, but after what had happened I also wasn’t sure that it was a good idea to get involved again. I probably shouldn’t have gotten so close to them in the first place.
“You miss them, don’t you?” she said as if reading my mind.
I nodded. “More than ever. I had no idea they would do this to me. It’s so damn hard not seeing them every day. I’m not sure what’s worse: not seeing Trinity or not seeing Reed.”
“I guess they come as a package those two,” she said thoughtfully.
“Yeah, they certainly do. I still cannot believe that Angela took Trinity away. What was she planning to do? And they found her just sitting in her car. Poor Trinity must’ve been so frightened.”
“I can’t believe she hit you over the head. She sounds bonkers that one.”
“Yeah, and get this. She hit me over the head and still thought about switching the stove off before running to get Trinity.”
“How thoughtful of her,” Camille scoffed.
“Such a lovely lady,” I said sarcastically. “Let’s not burn the food, but it’s okay if I just knocked a human being onto the floor while her blood runs out from her head.”
“Weirdo! Anyway, let’s not think about them anymore. I think it’s time you start moving on from this whole thing. You chose not to work for them anymore, and you chose to stop going out with Reed. I know I’m being harsh here, but that was your choice, and I think it’s time you started looking toward your future.”
“I know,” I said. “This is what friendships are for. I needed to hear that.”
“Good. Now, what are you going to do about work?”
“That part I haven’t even thought about.” The fact that I hadn’t thought about work said a lot about my state of mind. I had never enjoyed being out of work. Cooking was simply an extension of myself.
“Well, I have. We still need loads of help at work. Why don’t you come and work for us for a while? If you like it, you can stay. If you don’t, we can find someone else. It will at least help get your mind off everything. Cooking was always your number one distraction.”
I smiled. She knew me too well. “Thanks, Cam. I appreciate you thinking of me. Yeah, I think that’s a great idea. When can I start?”
“Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow is perfect.”
The following day I was glad to have something to do. If Camille hadn’t gotten me out of bed, I was sure that I would’ve been in the same place day after day. I made my way over to her work and spent some time getting to know my way around. I already knew it well, but it was different now that I was actually working with them. For my first week, they had asked me to put together a few concept ideas to give to wedding guests, which was actually pretty exciting. It was the first time that I was able to get creative with my food in a long time, and it didn’t take me long to see that it was something I was good at. It wasn’t just cooking food that I enjoyed, but it was everything that surrounded it. I liked coming up with new ideas and finding a way for people to enjoy both the food and the experience.
“Oh wow,” Charles said as he looked through my notes.
I’d known Charles for a long time. He pretty much ran the place. Nothing happened without first going through him. Camille used to tell me how scared everyone was of him and I could never understand it. To me, he had always been such an easy guy to be around, but now that I was working for the company, I understood what she had meant. I felt a desperate need to please him.
“Uh, is that a good wow or a bad wow?” I asked him.
“It’s a very good wow. This is incredible, Kennedy.”
“Really? I was a bit worried. I like it, but obviously it’s not just about me anymore. I wasn’t sure if I was going in the right direction.”
“Oh, you’re definitely going in the right direction. I love what you’ve come up with. We actually asked someone else to help us with this not so long ago, and she took weeks to come up with a proposal that I hated. You’ve been here one day, and already I love what you’ve done. Camille should’ve hired you a long time ago. What’s wrong with her?”
I laughed. “Trust me; she’s been trying to get me to work here for a very long time. I’m the one that has been turning her down.”
“Really? How come?”
“I didn’t think I’d enjoy catering. But this is a bit different. I had no idea I’d get the chance to put something like this together.” It wasn’t just that, though. I’d always been worried that Camille would hire me just because I was her best friend, and I had always wanted to be hired purely on merit. I realize now that my pride had gotten in the way of me being in a good job.
“Oh yeah, well, this is all pretty new to me, actually. Before we were purely focusing on the catering side of things. But we’ve recently decided to get a bit more creative with the food side of the business. After all, sometimes that’s almost important as the wedding itself. It is for the guests at least. They come for the food over and above everything else.”
I chuckled. “That’s true. The food is the part they remember. That and the bride’s dress.”
“Exactly! Well, this is great. Carry on with what you’re doing. And show Camille when she comes in. Tell her that I’m very happy she convinced you to join us.”
I beamed at him. It was the best I had felt in a long time. “Thank you, Charles.”
Camille had been out shopping for various décor ideas that morning and came back when it was nearing the end of the day. She rushed to see me the moment she came in.
“I am so sorry!” she said the moment she saw me.
“Sorry? Why?”
“Because it’s your first day and I practically abandoned you. I feel so awful. I had planned to be here the whole day with you, but it didn’t work out like that at all. There was just so much to get done. I tried desperately to get back earlier, but I just couldn’t get away. Every shop I went to seemed to be missing one thing, and I’d have to go to another.”
“Don’t stress. It’s not like I’m not comfortable here. I already know everyone. And they’ve all been great,” I said. I held up the paper in front of me and waved it in front of her. “Also, Charles is really happy with what I’ve done.”
“Really? Already?”
“You sound surprised.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I love Charles. But he’s a very hard man to please. Which is why the company does so well, of course. But if he likes what you’ve done from day one then you’re off to a good start.”
“You don’t think he’s just being nice because he knows me?” I asked as the thought suddenly occurred to me.
She laughed. “Have you met Charles?”
I smiled. “That’s true.”
“So, show me what you’ve done so far,” she said and took a seat next to me.
I showed her everything and explained my ideas. She squealed and clapped her hands.
“That’s a good sign, I hope?” I asked.
“Ken, you’re amazing. This is incredible. You’re so creative. I would never have thought of any of these things myself, which is why I wanted someone like you to join the company. No wonder Charles is so happy with you. I always knew you’d be good at this kind of stuff. You see? Aren’t you glad I forced you to work here?” she said.
I chuckled. “I am, actually. And, it’s helped get my mind off everything. So thank you. I owe you big time.”
“It’s my pleasure. I’m just happy you’re here. I’ve always wanted you to work with me. Oh, and before I forget, I wanted to tell you about Saturday.”
“Saturday?” I asked.
“There’s a gala for a senator. Our old caterer can’t help so is there any chance we can count on you? I know it’s short notice.”
I smiled. “Well, I do work here now. Of course I’ll help. The more things I have to do, the better anyway. I’m all about keeping busy these days. Just let me know what you need from me, and I’ll start planning this week.”
“Great! Thank you so much. I’ll have some assistants ready for you on the day. You just have to make the food, and they will do the rest.”
“Ooh, I’ve never had an assistant before!”
“Well, I don’t want you to have to worry about anything other than the cooking side of things. I’ve emailed you the paperwork as we need to have a spreadsheet of exactly who's coming and who’s not coming. Can you fill it out and send it back before you go home?”
“Sure thing! I’m just going to work a bit more on these ideas, and then I’ll check my mail. And don’t feel bad about not being here today. I’ve had a great day, I promise you.”
I checked my email just before leaving and saw the email from Camille regarding the gala. I was really happy to be cooking for such a prestigious event. I’d been dreading the weekend anyway, so now at least I had something to keep me busy. I filled out my name and various other things. I almost laughed when it asked if I would be bringing a date. I ticked the no box and sighed heavily.
“I think I’ll be ticking the no box for a very long time,” I said to nobody.