When Two Worlds Touch

 

Kelly struggled to contain her fury as she looked at Clayton. His handsome face was downcast and, though she knew he meant the expression to reflect his petulance, he just looked stupid.

“What were you thinking?” She hissed, straining to keep her voice calm and her vocabulary clean. Clayton had already made a fool of himself and of her. She didn’t need to compound it by releasing her ‘crazy’.

 “I’ve been going insane without you, Kel. My heart feels cold like ice. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I can barely breathe. You need to come back to me or I think I’ll die. Say you’ll forgive me.”

“Clayton, let’s talk later.” She spun to return to the office when he captured her hand and tugged her back to him.

“Let’s talk now,” he said.

“I have to work.” She pushed him off. “If you want me to hear you out, if you really care about me… leave.”

His eyes searched hers, the dark irises pored over her face as if he was doing his best to memorize it. At last, Clayton gave in. “I’ll see you at home. We can talk then.”

“Whatever.” Kelly brushed him away, unable to tackle anything but the most imminent task of getting him off her company’s property. “Just go.”

“Alright.” He planted a kiss on her forehead, which she accepted without fuss. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Kelly watched him until the elevator swallowed him whole and then scrambled back into her office. Like a crowd of travellers who had witnessed a car crash and could not look away, the entire staff of D&T stared at her when she entered.

“Uh… hi.” Kelly waved. “Don’t pay him any mind. He’s not completely right in the head.”

“Old boyfriend?” Harley inquired.

Kelly opened her mouth to answer when Errol tapped his foot on the floor and folded his arms over his chest. “Ms. Banner!” his voice boomed. “My office. Now!”

She winced at the tone and bowed her head to follow him out of the foyer. Rene shot her a sorrowful look as Kelly began her slow, tortured trek. The two friends communicated a world of well wishes and fears in the short glance.

The journey to Errol’s office ended too quickly. Kelly ducked inside as he slammed the door behind her and pointed to the chair facing his desk. The silence caused her skin to crawl. Kelly would much prefer if he yelled at her instead of leveling her with that cold, disappointed stare.

“I can explain,” Kelly said before her supervisor had even been properly seated in his chair.

“Save it, Ms. Banner. I think we’re both well aware the incident that occurred today is a shameful and unsavory event that should never be repeated.”

“Yes, sir. I take full responsibility, sir.”

He eyed her and tossed his glasses on the table. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m about to get a little personal with you, Ms. Banner.”

“S-sir?”

“My family is not well off. My father is a papaya farmer from the Toledo District. They could not afford my education and I dropped out during my first year of high school.”

“I… had no idea.”

“I had to work harder than anyone else to earn money so that I could go to night school and earn my high school diploma. I did not have many friends and in most social situations, I hung back and simply observed. You’d be amazed how much you can see if you just look.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I hear you, but what does this have to do with—?”

He held up a hand. “Bear with me.”

She nodded.

“I eventually completed my education and earned scholarships to qualify for the position I hold now, but my observation skills have sharpened in that time. And do you know what I observed today, Ms. Banner?”

“A shameful and unsavory event?” she asked, using his own words on him.

“Your friend—Mr. Clayton, was it?”

“That’s his name.”

“There is a tan line on his finger where his wedding ring should be.”

Kelly paled. “Sir…”

“I’m not asking to know your business. I have no bearing in the choices that you make outside of this workplace and I generally would not mention it, but now that your personal life has collided with my territory, I feel that addressing the issue is acceptable. Do you agree?”

“It’s not like I can say no.”

“True.” He cleared his throat. “The moral and ethical consequences of your decision are not my concern. My concern is for you, Ms. Banner.” He leaned forward. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Yes, sir.”

He squirmed. “I’m not very good at this, but if you ever need someone to speak to, or if you need a group of strong farmers to rush to your defense in a crisis, I have people I can call.”

She grinned. “Thank you, Errol.”

“That will be all.”

She nodded and left his office. Maybe her supervisor wasn’t the Grinch that she had painted him to be. Now, his arrogant airs and controlling personality were almost tolerable.

She would never call him Errol the Grouch behind his back again.

When Kelly walked down the hall, she felt a hand on her arm. The hand hauled her into the darkness and the face attached to the hand peered at her with worried, hazel eyes.

“What did Errol say?” Rene whispered. “Are you fired?”

“He won’t fire me because of what happened today,” Kelly said, her chest cooling with relief. “Do you think everyone will have mercy on me and pretend it never happened?”

“They’ll definitely talk behind your back,” Rene said. “Thank God Clayton wasn’t wearing his ring or you’d be annihilated. From the outside looking in, his gesture was almost romantic.”

“I guess I can’t ask for more than that.”

“Probably not.” Rene glanced around. “I have to get back to my desk. Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m not leaving my office until it’s time to head home, so I think I’ll survive.”

“Alright.” Rene squeezed her hand and darted straight to the lobby.

Kelly used the more clandestine method, sticking to the shadows and darting into corners when she saw her coworkers approaching. At last, she made it to her office and buried herself in work until her phone chimed that it was five o’clock.

Without looking back, she sent a rushed wave toward Rene and shot straight out of the Yasser Center. As she stepped into the clean, Caribbean air, Kelly seriously considered hiding out at Rene’s place until Clayton got tired of waiting around for her.

Unfortunately, Renesha’s bungalow would be the first place Clayton would look and she didn’t want her friends to be bombarded with his desperate attention because of her cowardice.

“Just get yourself together and end it once and for all,” Kelly muttered to herself. Head high, she strode to the bus stop and boarded a vehicle heading toward her apartment.

Clayton’s car, parked outside her building, drew her eye when she climbed off the bus. Kelly neared the lobby and glanced around, wondering if he had chosen to wait for her outside again.

The foyer was empty. Had he let himself into her place? She really should change the locks.

Kelly climbed up the stairs and took a deep breath before opening her door. Immediately, the scent of reino—a flavorful black soup and her favorite food—filled her nostrils. Candles were lit on the table in the kitchen and Clayton stood holding a chair.

His brown eyes shone as he smiled at her. “You’re home.”

“Hey,” she said hesitantly, slipping her purse on the floor. “What’s going on?”

“I realized that I’ve been taking you for granted, Kel. I’ve only asked from you without thinking of how you feel and I regret that now.”

The words were sweet and Kelly felt her resolve melting. This was the biggest attempt at apologizing that she had ever seen. Wasn’t this effort all she’d wanted in the first place?

Kelly walked deeper into the room. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything,” he said. “Just read.” He pulled out a paper from his pocket and handed it over.

“This… it’s a petition for divorce.”

 He strode closer to her and cupped her cheeks. “I want you. It’s over with Leshawna.” He pulled her jaw up to kiss her and, drowning in the surreal moment, she would have let him.

Just before their lips touched, a frantic knocking sounded at the door. “Kelly!” Benjamin’s voice rang out. “Kel! Open up!”

Her eyes popped open and she stepped back as if coming out of a dream. Her gaze flung to Clayton and the reality of what was about to happen set in. Panic swept through her chest. She could never let the two men meet.

“Hide!” Kelly hissed, racing to the candles to blow out the flames.

“Why? Are you ashamed of me?” He swaggered to the door. “Who is it?”

“Shhh! Shut up, Clayton!”

Instead of heeding her request, he threw the door open—puffing out his chest.

Benjamin and Clayton stood face to face.

Kelly nearly fainted.