It was early Saturday morning when Daisy turned the keys to her one room apartment. One would think that being a corporate solicitor would allow someone to own a high end villa but they surely didn't know how it was to support an elder sister and her drunk husband, take care of a mother with dementia and pay off student loans all on the wages of a solicitor's assistant. Ingrid Solutions was a well to do Legal consultation firm that believed assets should be given their due. Unfortunately Daisy wasn't counted as one of them. As Daisy pushed open her front door it creaked unpleasantly. Crying for hours had already managed to give her a headache. Thankfully the weekend would allow a little peace. The last sixteen hours of her life had been hell. She lost one of the few relations that meant more to her than a responsibility. Honestly Ella was the only one she could look to for support in times of her need, since her mother's schizophrenia worsened during her teenage years. That was almost more than half her life time. In truth a part of her felt orphaned.
The first thing she noticed on pushing open the door was the stench. It was the stench of loneliness. In the morning air it was more perceptible than when she came home after work. As Daisy rarely left home during the weekend she was desensitized to it. It was the stale wall paper and the heavy damp curtains that covered the windows. Or perhaps it was simply The drudgery of her life that had started stinking long ago. Daisy walked to her phone. She had a cell for work but preferred a landline for personal communication. It was unconventional no doubt but she had her reasons. The reason's reared their heads as soon as she turned on the answering machine. There were five messages, all from Mallory.
"Help me Daisy, Jon got drunk again."
"Daisy, Jon is going to kill me. Please do something. I am too afraid to call the police."
"I am in my room. I locked the doors. He can't get to me. I am so scared. Should I call the police?"
"Jon left. He just left Daisy. I am so scared. What if he gets into an accident? What will happen to me?"
"Jon is back. He just went to cool off. I am sorry for panicking. It isn't like you even care since you didn't even bother to answer or pick the phone. Some sister you are. I guess you can't still accept that Jon chose to marry me."
Daisy listened to all the messages, sighing at the last one. This wasn't something unusual. The last one still managed to stung though. She never envied Mallory for bagging Jon. She had her reasons to stay away from him. Jon lived in their neighbourhood. Did Daisy like him? Not really. Did she hate him? Not until he made her hate him.
She entered her room and stared at the bed. She was tempted to lie in for the rest of the morning, even greater part of the day. Then her eyes gazed past her soft bed and to the bedside table where the draft for the contract for Melinda International waited expectantly. It was the largest chain of hotels in the continent and Ingrid Solutions was drafting the employee's contract for the new hotel to be added to the chain. Daisy rubbed her neck and went over to the loo to splash some water on her face. The bath looked inviting but she feared if she could avoid drowning in her state of alertness. She decided to head for the kitchen and whip herself some breakfast along with some strong coffee. Daisy could never afford culinary school but that couldn't take from her the love of cooking food. A younger version of her often imagined cooking food for her family. But right now, on the wrong side of thirty Daisy was happy cooking for herself and the soup kitchen where she volunteered on Sunday afternoons.
When her cellphone rang she was about to take a bite of her sandwich. It was not a sound she was much used to as it was the company phone and rarely rang on a weekend. On weekdays she remained at office late into the night and her bosses rarely if ever had to get her from somewhere other than behind her desk. She carried her plate of sandwiches as she walked towards the drawing space. It was not much a room as a space connecting the kitchen to the bedroom and comprised of an old television set and a couch that barely fitted two people. She looked about for her work bag but couldn't locate it. It was on her bedside table which doubled up as her workstation. She fumbled through the chains till she finally came up with the ringing communication device. It wasn't a smart phone, just a modern version of a pager. The voice on the other side wasn't someone she particularly liked. He was the public relations officer of Melinda International and worked in a office in the same building as theirs. A couple of years earlier, before they were even acquaintances he had walked up to her and asked her out. She had flat out denied him, mostly because of her trust issues and the fact that he was a practical stranger. She later found out that he had a bet with one of her juniors to break her ice queen image. His behaviour seemed juvenile to her and Daisy wouldn't be associating with him if he were not working the project with her.
"Hi beautiful. I got your number from your boss. Would you reconsider grabbing a bite with me?" He chimed on the phone.
"What do you want? This is not my personal phone and I hope this call isn't either." she snapped.
"Hey, why the bite? You know all it would take me to sit you out of this project is a phone call to your boss. We need to discuss something about the employee insurance that The Chairman had declared without consulting the PR."
"So have you actually met him?"
"No, he tweeted it. The guy is high on social media but low on media presence. Gets really difficult to build a brand image without an actual image. What Bartolli does is good. But he is just the CEO."
"Where do you want to meet?"
"There is a cafe at the corner of fourth and Wislock Avenue. It is almost equidistant from both out places. I could be there in fifteen minutes. Bring the draft. I want to give it a once over."
"I actually don't think that you are authorized to do that. If you want the draft you will have to get it from my boss with whom you are clearly in good terms with. But I will be there and I can discuss the clauses on employee insurance and given there and if any modification is required."
The cafe was more of a bistro-bar and on a Saturday morning was quite crowded despite its quaint location. It was almost lunch time and most of the people who filed in were young couples in their mid to late twenties. Daisy feared sticking out like a square thumb, especially with Ramon Mendoza no where in sight. After a good half an hour she had finished a tiramisu and three creme souffles and was beginning to feel a bit of a sugar rush.
"You should have something savory before eating so much sweet." said a deep voice behind her. She turned around to see a face which seemed familiar but it did not belong to Ramon Mendoza.
"Have we met before?" Daisy asked slightly turning. The man with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes was pleasing to the eyes. He wore a pair of denims and a blue shirt. He was casually dressed but had formal shoes and a glasses that gave him a serious look. The facial hair on his face made him look younger than he would perhaps be deemed with all his laugh lines. The first two buttons of his shirt were open and some chest hair peaked through. The man wasn't old but he had a look about him that said that he had been around the block. His face lit up with a smile at her words.
"We work the same soup kitchen, I do the evening shift so we may have bumped into each other a few times. I never got your name though." he confessed.
Daisy's face showed recognition. Yes it was a familiar face indeed. "My name is Daisy, Daisy Durant."
"It is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Durant. My name is Thomas Monroe but you can call me Tom." he said. The man had a jovial manner to him and Daisy couldn't force her guard up in his presence. Suddenly he walked forward to take a seat beside her.
"I am expecting company." Daisy said apologetically.
"Counting the number of ramekins I would reckon that he is late and I am just here to provide company till your date shows up. I am here for someone else as well and that person isn't here." Tom said confidently.
"It's not a date." Daisy said shyly.
"No it's not. This is just company." he replied playfully.
Daisy got flustered at his insinuation. "I meant the person I am waiting for. He is a business associate and I am here to work business with him."
"On a Saturday afternoon while you look like a wreck and could very well do with some sleep? I must say you are a very driven woman." he remarked sarcastically.
"I depend on this job, Ok? A lot. And you have no idea the 24 hours I have had. My best friend who was just 35 died yesterday while giving birth to the child of her dead husband and in her last wish she made her doctor promise that he would convince me to have a baby before I become too old and fall under high risk pregnancies. Can you imagine how horrible that is?" Daisy burst out.
Tom nodded gravely. "I am sorry for your loss. My friends are my entire world. I can't imagine losing any one of them." Tom replied. "You shouldn't be working now. You need to allow yourself time to grieve." he suggested.
"I will, as soon as I deal with this PR." Daisy said.
"PR? Are you someone famous?" Tom asked matter-of-fact-ly. That actually made Daisy laugh.
"No. He is the PR of Melinda International chain of hotels. My company is doing a project for them and the PR needs to be kept in the loop."
"Did the instruction come from the client to keep the PR in the group or was it a decision by your company?" Tom asked businesslike.
"I am just a low end solicitor's assistant. There are a few others I work with. I only know what I have been instructed."
"Aren't you made to sign something like a Non disclosure agreement between the client and the company and isn't getting the PR involved like a violation of that?" he asked.
"Yeah it is. That is why when this guy asked me to bring a draft of the document I refused outright."
"And where is that document?"
"In my apartment, on my bedside study table."
"Have you considered the fact that the person who wants those papers could actually lie to you about meeting you here to keep you busy while he ransacked your apartment?"
"Yeah they would except I don't live where it says I live in my employee records. I had to move out of the place years back because I couldn't afford the rent. Where I live now, no one would imagine a solicitor's assistant to live there." Daisy said nonchalantly but you could hear the sound of defeat evident in her voice.
Tom was about to say something but a glance towards the entrance changed his mind. He leaned forward though. "I think your 'not' date is here and he looks pissed." he whispered in her ear while getting up. His breath smelled of fresh peppermint and she almost failed to understand what he said. Then it hit her. Ramon was here.
At that moment Daisy did something that was totally unexpected of her. She reached out and clasped Tom's hand. "Do you really have to go?" Tom raised an eyebrow and shifted his chair near Daisy. Daisy could feel his body heat warming her skin.
"Daisy." Ramon said irritated.
"It's Ms. Durant to you, I believe." It was Tom who replied.
"And who might you be." Ramon asked with hostility.
Tom looked towards Daisy once and reassured her with a glance and then turned to Ramon in reply. "I am her boyfriend, Tom and you must be the PR." he said smirking. Ramon was too busy glaring at Tom to see Daisy's face. She recovered quickly but not before Tom gave her hand a squeeze under the table.
"You told him about me?" Ramon asked Daisy.
"We don't believe in secrets." again it was Tom who answered.
"Ms. Durant. I need the terms of the employee insurance as worded in the document." Ramon said, with eyes still glaring at Tom. The testosterone was notable.
Daisy tightened her grip on Tom's hand. "Like I told you over the phone. I cannot discuss the document but I could explain the terms of the insurance if you like. To get hands on the document you would have to get my boss."
"Why are you making this difficult?" Ramon asked her.
"She has a signed NDA she needs to respect as a solicitor herself." Tom said.
"Look man, why don't you keep your head out of this. Too much is at stake here." he said.
Tom looked straight into his eyes. "I understand your intention Mr. PR but you have to understand my concern. I won't get my girl mixed in anything illegal."
"You have no idea what the rival companies are paying for this draft." Ramon said.
"It is just a draft. It may not be finalized." Tom said with a meaningful glare.
Ramon pressed back into the chair, intimidated. "Even when she tells you about the draft it is a breach of the NDA, even if you are literally living in her panties." he chewed out.
"Then it is good that she hasn't shared any details with me." Tom smirked.
Finally Ramon got up and jerked his grey suit jacket straight. "See you on Monday Ms. Durant." He said smoothly. Daisy saw the threat his eyes gave but chose to ignore it. Her sleep deprived mind was not in a position to deal with it. As he left she turned towards Tom however. "What was that? Boyfriend? I barely know you."
"Well, the way you held my hand in a vice grip I felt you were threatened by him and so I put myself between you too. Now if I had been introduced as a guy who works in the same kitchen as you do it would seem rather odd for me to intervene. Anyways you told me that you are strictly professional so I doubt if the question of your boyfriend would ever come up and even if it did I am sure your real one would provide some plausible explanation for the fact that he is not by your side after the day you have had." Tom said.
"Ok fine. You are right. I appreciate what you did there. Thank you. I am just not really good at being indebted to people."
"I know the perfect way to clear the debt." Thomas said playfully. Daisy's eyes darkened with fear before he concluded, "Buy me lunch". At that relief washed over her and she gave a nervous laugh and called the waiter for the menu.