Chapter Four: Desmond
It had only been a few months – six to be exact – since their fight at the reception, and Desmond found he was actually missing the planning and Claire. Six months had given him enough perspective to believe he could do it all again. It had been fun the first time.
At the time, it had been irritating, but now, thinking back on it, he decided it wasn’t as bad as he thought. Claire’s little quips and attitude made things fun. He never knew what to expect from her. She wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever met before.
He smiled as the phone rang, looking forward to what she would say this time. Desmond wondered how Claire would respond since their last conversation hadn’t ended on the friendliest of terms.
“Crystalline Aurora,” Claire said. “How may I help you?” She sounded so cheerful, the faint sound of her bracelets adding an additional jingle behind her words. He could picture them sliding down her arm as she held the phone, and amused himself imagining what charms they would contain today.
“Hello, Claire,” Desmond said, noting the small gasp he heard on the other side of the phone.
“What do you want?” she said.
He really liked the way her voice became brisker and less welcoming when she realized it was him. It made him warm on the inside.
“Aw. You know my voice. I’m touched,” Desmond said, chuckling.
“Again,” she asserted, “what do you want?”
“I was thinking of planning a party, and for it to be great, I can only think of one party planner in the entire world I want on my team,” he sang.
“Tough break for you since I’m not a party planner,” she said. “I am a shop owner; thus, the intro you heard when I first picked up the phone. I don’t recall the word ‘planner’ at all.”
“But you’re so good at it,” Desmond said, undeterred.
“Newsflash: I’m good at a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean I do all those things at the same time.”
He wondered just what other things was she good at and if he could get a private presentation.
“Come on, Claire,” he said, all but begging, knowing that Claire would enjoy that.
“Uh-uh,” she said. “If you want to have a party, I suggest you plan a night at the bar for however many friends you want to have,” she said. “If you want to have another big outing, you’re going to have to plan it without me.”
“But I don’t want to plan it without you,” he said.
“Then you’re going to have to wait until my busy season is done because right now, I simply can’t,” she said.
“Busy season? Tell me about it.”
She huffed. “Are you dense? I’m busy. I don’t have time to be talking on the phone all day. If you want to know more, you can come visit me at work. Got to go now,” she said. “Bye-bye.”
He heard the click in his ear and was shocked before he laughed aloud to himself.
“I guess now I know how it feels.”
He was always hanging up on other people. He never had the pleasure of being hung up on, and even though he should he upset, he was delighted. Claire was a fun surprise, and he couldn’t wait to surprise her back. She probably thought he was kidding about planning a party with her or wouldn’t take her up on the offer to come by her job.
She was wrong.
He couldn’t see any reason not to pay her a visit now. He simply wanted to take a look at what she did, and if they happened to cross paths, then their paths crossed. She had challenged him to come anyway, and Desmond never liked saying no to a challenge.
The door opened quietly, and Desmond stepped into the store, hoping to look around before Claire noticed him. The store was across the street from The Velvet Box. He’d only been in there a couple of times, and the last time he had been too busy helping Frank move some inventory so Violet could stay busy while on bedrest and pregnant in Farthingtowne that he hadn’t had time to cross the street. At the time, he really didn’t see the need to cross anyway. Now, though, he felt like he had a good enough reason.
The Crystalline Aurora smelled like burning sage and books – really old books – and Desmond was shocked to realize the smell seemed familiar to him. Where had he smelled it before?
He couldn’t place his finger on it as he continued to walk around the store. He was surprised. He thought there would be more similarities between her store and Violet’s, but there was nothing similar in the stores in terms of décor or placement. The Velvet Box was purples and blacks. It was spacious, with lots of room to move around and no clear sections. It was organized by type of jewels, and within those jewels were different sets with all kinds of jewelry.
Claire’s store was a series of small tables, organized by tiny labels. Instead of wide-open spaces, narrow paths zigzagged through the store, herding the customers from one section to the other, and Desmond thought that was genius. It prevented the customer from going straight to one thing and leaving without looking around at anything else. It pushed him forward, and he walked along the path, reading the silver inscriptions on the black square cards.
Fortune telling, mythical creatures, incense, herbs, and crystals. Statues of popular gods and goddesses stood in the back corner, some marked with prices, but others clearly part of the ambiance. Those were a little more worn, a little less polished, and gave off an aura of gentle, good energy when he got closer to them.
“Hey, didn’t hear you come in,” she said, coming around the corner with a stack of boxes. “One second and I’ll be with you,” she said, unable to see him over the tall cardboard.
Desmond came forward to help her, but she let it drop in a heap on the floor. “Whew. That was…what the hell are you doing here?” she said putting her hands on her hips.
“You invited me,” he said with a smirk.
“That wasn’t…I didn’t. You better be buying something since you’re here,” she said, walking behind the cash register and holding up a box cutter.
“Or else you’re going to use that?” he nodded toward her hand as she extended the sharp knife.
“Don’t tempt me,” she said, slicing the first box open.
“So, what do you have in there?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she said, slicing the box open and pushing it to the side. “Since you’re so nosy you can help me unpack them.”
“I’d rather buy something instead,” he said, walking around. “Any recommendations?”
“I think you could do well with some crystals,” she said.
“Well, what do you recommend?” he said, following her to a table where there were several rocks lined up.
Claire’s hand hovered over the crate of stones. “This one,” she said, grabbing a green stone.
“What’s this?” he said, taking the smooth stone in his hand.
“Jade. It’s the stone of prosperity. It’s good for wealth, wisdom, and peace.”
Desmond had enough wealth. In fact, if his hoard was public knowledge, he would probably be considered one of the richest, if not the richest man in the world. His wealth afforded him the luxury of speaking with people smarter and wiser than him. He could do for a little peace, though.
“I’ll take it,” he said, throwing it up and catching it before putting it into his pocket. “How much?”
“Two hundred.”
He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and slid out two crisp one hundred-dollar bills.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” she said with a smile as she took the bills from his hand.
“The same to you,” he said, and walked out the door. It was a quick visit, and one he hadn’t quite expected, but it was worth the trip into town. Of course, he didn’t mention that to Claire.
***
A few days later, Desmond was browsing online, and on a whim, he searched for some statues like the ones Claire had in her store. When he found the perfect one, Desmond didn’t hesitate in buying it. In fact, he didn’t hesitate to have it express shipped to his house. At least not until it arrived at his house, and he had to think through delivering the statue to Claire’s store.
He called Claire, and she answered on the first ring. “Hey, you in the store?”
“Yes, Desmond. Where else would I be? Some people have to work for a living.”
He ignored the jab. “Okay. I’m coming by.”
“Why?” she said.
“Just got a little something for you. When are you free?”
“I work here, Desmond. I will be here all day, and I’m never free. Besides, I still haven’t heard a why,” she said confused.
“Okay. I’ll come by.”
“But why?” she said as he hung up.
Desmond wasn’t sure what he was doing, but when he rented the truck and pulled it around the back of her store, he could tell by Claire’s face that this was not at all what she expected either.
“What is this?”
“Just a little token of my appreciation,” he said, pulling the statue out and onto the moving dolly he had rented.
“It’s a statue,” she scowled. He hadn’t wrapped so it wouldn’t seem even more out of the ordinary. It wasn’t like him to give gifts in the first place. He was a collector, not a giver. This was new and unexpected territory for him.
“Yeah. Like the ones you have, but you don’t have this one.”
He had double checked. She had Aphrodite, Eros, Hermes, Hades, and Apollo but not Athena, who was the goddess of wisdom, reasoning, and intelligence. Much like the sexy redhead in front of him.
“How the hell do you know what I do or don’t have?”
“I pay attention,” he shrugged as he pushed the statue into the building without her help, or consent, and placed it in front of the other statues.
“You bought me a statue,” she said, arms crossed in front of her as he stepped back to see his finished work. It matched the other ones perfectly.
“I did,” he said.
“Why?” she asked, and he turned to see her face. She was both confused and annoyed. He was hoping for something else, and he struggled to hold onto that.
“I already told you.”
“Yeah. You did, and I’m not buying that line of reasoning. So, try again. Why did you get me this, Desmond?”
He shrugged and turned to leave. “You don’t need an excuse to do something nice for someone,” he said as he walked out the door.
“Yeah, right. Another thing to dust,” he heard her say as he walked out the door, feeling the hope wither in his chest.