Carried Away Page 3

  “Thank you for your concerns, Paul,” Arnold cut him short. “But I think I can handle everything perfectly well, okay?”

  Arnold did not want to hear any more sermons about how helpful Angela was to him. He believed that she was more helpful to whoever Mr. R was.

  He was busy working on the engine of a vehicle when Angela arrived. He watched her walk up to him with what seemed to be unsteady steps.

  “Hi,” she said when she was about a foot from him.

  Arnold was standing close to an open bonnet examining some plugs. He took his gaze off them to look at her. “Hello. You are late.”

  Angela bit her lip and looked at the small watch on her wrist. “Yes, I guess I am a bit late.”

  “You guess that you are a bit late?” Arnold repeated. “Angela, you are arriving here at almost nine in the morning and you say that you are a bit late?”

  “I am sorry, but I would have arrived earlier if not for the back and forth I had to do.”

  “What back and forth?”

  Angela sighed. “When I couldn’t reach you on the phone, I had to drive to your place twice to find out what was wrong.”

  “What was wrong? What could have been wrong?”

  “I was worried that I couldn’t reach you and I knew that Thomas was already running late for school.”

  “I don’t see how that answers my initial question about why you were late.”

  Angela stopped talking and stared at him dumbfounded. She held his gaze as if searching for something on his face. But Arnold did not betray any emotion. He stared back at her. “Well, are you not going to explain yourself? Or are you going to continue staring at me like a fool?”

  At that moment, Angela looked away. “I apologize if I am late. But you remember that I used to take your son to school?”

  Arnold nodded. “Yes, I do remember that. But you didn’t take him to school today.”

  “Yes, and it is only because you decided to do so without telling me before-hand, Arnold. And that was why I kept driving to and from your place in search of you and Thomas. If I didn’t do that I would have been here on time.”

  “I see. So, in other words, you are using my son whom you didn’t take to school as an excuse for your being late?”

  Again, Angela turned to look at him. Arnold could see a dark cloud over her eyes. Her face was dull and he could see the sides of her mouth twitching. “Arnold,” she eventually said. “Is something wrong?”

  Arnold shrugged. “No, why do you ask?”

  “I mean, why are you being so difficult?”

  “Am I being difficult? I don’t think so. I have a business to run here. And when an employee comes late, I have the right to know why. Or don’t you think so?”

  “Yes, you have a right to know. But why ask when you already know that the arrangement we had was such that I was to be taking Thomas to –”

  “You don’t have to bother with that anymore,” Arnold cut her short.

  “I’m sorry? What was that you said?”

  “I said you shouldn’t bother about Thomas anymore. He is my son and my responsibility. I will take care of picking and dropping him off at school.”

  “I see. And you are serious about that?”

  Arnold chuckled sarcastically. “Am I serious? This is my son I am talking about here. Why wouldn’t I be serious about him?”

  Angela shook her head. “Sure, you would be serious about your son. I doubt any parent would joke about the welfare of their children.”

  “I am glad you understand this. Next time make sure you arrive early for work, okay?”

  Angela nodded. “Yes, I understand. I’ll always come on time.”

  Arnold did not say anything else as he turned and leaned over the bonnet to continue working. But she did not move. She stood rooted in the same spot, looking at him as if expecting that he would say something more. She had heard him clearly. But beyond all that he had said she could also feel the invisible wall that Arnold had erected in between them.

  This was clearly not the Arnold that she had gotten to like working with all along. Why was he acting so cold and so weird towards her? She had already asked him before if everything was alright and he had completely rebuffed her.

  Am I supposed to ask him again? she wondered. No, she decided not to bring up the same question over again.

  And then an idea struck her. She knew what she could do to lighten up Arnold’s coldness towards her.

  She cleared her throat. “By the way, I think we never got around to talking about the customer that came here yesterday.”

  “What are you talking about?” Arnold asked without looking at her.

  “Mrs. Sylvia Rhodes.”

  Arnold pulled himself away from the engine of the car he was working on. “You mean the owner of the Mercedes G-Wagon?”

  Angela nodded. “I think I was about to tell you all about her yesterday, but I got distracted by work.”

  “Yeah, you are right about that. So, what did you want to tell me?”

  “Well, you might not know it but Mrs. Rhodes and her family own a chain of businesses in this town.”

  “Really? Several businesses?”

  Angela nodded. “They own supermarkets and bakeries.”

  “They are really that rich?”

  “Very rich. And I am guessing that if we can impress her with the repairs that need to be done to her G-Wagon then I would not be surprised if she made you the official auto-mechanic workshop for her fleet of business vehicles.”

  Arnold nodded. “That sounds tempting. But what is their fleet size like?”

  “Are you kidding me? I told you they have supermarkets and bakeries, didn’t I?”

  “Sure you did. But how viable are they? Do they have lots of vehicles?”

  “Of course, they do. They have delivery vans, trucks, and more. You must have seen them around the neighborhood before – Rhodes Supermarkets, Rhodes Bakeries.”

  “Yes, I have seen their supermarkets and vans. You mean they own all those delivery vans?” Arnold’s excitement started to grow. He could see the potentials involved in handling the repairs and maintenance of their fleet of vehicles.

  “They own them. And beyond just Mrs. Sylvia Rhodes and her businesses, there are the people that she knows as well.”

  “You mean she really could give us the referrals that she promised to give?”

  “If there is something that the woman is, it is that she is very straight-forward and plain. If she promises you something, she always delivers. She is not like so many other rich people and big wigs who only boast and never keep their promises.”

  “Then it would be a really great idea to please her with the work on her G-wagon.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Arnold nodded. There was an awkward silence as they both looked at each other, waiting for the other person to speak first. They were behaving like two strangers, unfamiliar and unsure of what to say.

  “Well, that’s about it then,” Angela finally said. “Let me get to work.”

  “Sure,” Arnold gave her a short nod. As she turned to leave, he called out to her. “By the way, Angela...”

  It seemed as if she was expecting him to call her back all her life. She stopped and hurried towards him. “Yes?”

  “I just wanted to thank you for the background information on Mrs. Sylvia Rhodes, that’s all.”

  Angela hid the fact that she had expected to hear more from him, like an apology or an explanation for how hard he had acted towards her. But since she did not hear that this could suffice, at least for now. She smiled at him. “Sure. No problem. You are welcome anytime.”

  Anytime, Arnold repeated to himself. Really? What about when she’s with Mr. R?

  Arnold shook his head and buried himself in work.

  Chapter Three

  Arnold was assessing a part in an engine when Angela came to meet him. “I am off to go pick up my boys,” she said.

  “Really? Okay. Drive safely
,” Arnold responded.

  “Okay. I will. Thanks.”

  But Arnold sensed that she was still around. He looked up from what he was doing to see her standing close to him. “Didn’t you just say that you were going to pick up your boys from school?”

  “Yes, of course, I just did.”

  “Then why are you still here?”

  Angela ran her fingers through her hair. “I was just thinking, maybe, I mean, I don’t know if you would not mind me, I mean you seem to still be busy.”

  “Yes, I need to clean up that engine block and then work on the plugs next.”

  “I can see that. And it just means you are still quite busy, aren’t you?”

  “I absolutely am. Is there a problem?”

  “You haven’t made any plans on picking up Thomas yet, have you?”

  Arnold slapped his forehead. “Damn. How could I forget?”

  Angela smiled at him. “You don’t have to be so hard on yourself. I could help you pick him up, you know? Just as I have always been doing all this while.”

  Something seemed to give way inside Arnold and he stared at her agape. “You would really do that? I mean, after all, after all, after all –”

  “Stop, it is alright. Of course I will.”

  He looked around. It was just the two of them in that part of the workshop. He ran his fingers through his hair. “You know I don’t know what it is that got over me earlier today.”

  “It’s alright, Arnold. Don’t beat yourself over for it. I understand why you must have felt the way you did.”

  “You do? You do understand me?”

  Angela chuckled. “Who wouldn’t understand what jealousy can do to a man?”

  “Jealousy? No, you are wrong about that. I wasn’t jealous about anything.”

  “Of course you were. I know you wished it was you that I sent that message to.”

  Arnold frowned at her. “Message? What message are you talking about?”

  “You really want me to repeat it for you?”

  “Sure. I mean, I am your boss and I have a right to know, don’t I?”

  “No, not when it has to do with my private life.”

  “Yes, maybe. But remember too that even your private life has got an interested party in it as well.”

  “Really? Like who? Who is interested in my private life?”

  “Maybe me.”

  Angela did not say anything as she studied him for a moment in silence. “I think we both need to talk about this, Arnold.”

  “Talk? About what?”

  “This thing, about your interest in me and my life and all.” She paused. “I mean you are a good guy, you know? I admire your drive and your vision, how you want to succeed at all costs in a new town.”

  “Thank you for the complement, Angela.”

  “You are welcome. Honestly, I would be the last person to want to stand in your way, preventing you from achieving all you want to achieve.”

  Arnold reached for her at that moment. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her so close that his face was merely inches away from hers. “You are not standing in the way of anything.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes darting as she looked from one eye to the next as if assessing something in them. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I am sure. I am sure of so many things. And one of them is that you cannot stop me from becoming what I want to become and do you know why?”

  “No. Why?”

  He flicked away some strands of hair from her face. He could feel her breath against his face and he could smell the aroma of her perfume, mixing with the tempting scent of her skin. “Because I feel a strong connection with you, Angela. I feel that with you I can really go places.”

  “Are you really sure about that? I mean, my life is not as rosy as yours might be.”

  “And whoever told you that my life is rosy? You don’t know anything about it so you would be wrong to think that I have not been through a lot of shit.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “No, you can’t. You don’t know what it is like to live in a town, knowing that you and your family are a laughing stock to everyone.”

  “Was that how you felt when you were in your former town?”

  “That and worse. I couldn’t even imagine what kind of an impact it would have on Thomas. I just didn’t want it all to negatively affect him and that was why I left as fast as I could.”

  “I understand. It was a good thing you decided to move away and start afresh elsewhere.” She paused. “But do you think I am the answer you need to the questions you may have?”

  “Angela, you are not just the answer, you are the question and the answers I have been looking for.”

  She chuckled lightly. But Arnold could see there was some hesitation in her eyes. “You really need to know more about me. You need to know so that you can determine if we can make this work out together.”

  “What else is there for me to know? I feel like I know everything already,” he said as he held her close to him.

  “Now, that is where you have it all wrong, Arnold. You are listening to your emotions instead of to what I have got to say.”

  “But what else could you want to say that I don’t already know?”

  “Really? You are asking me that after the way you have been behaving?”

  “Well, I feel that I know everything I need to know about you.”

  Angela gently unwrapped his arm from her waist as she pulled away from him. “Now I know that you are so confused, Arnold. If you really did know all about me why have you been jealous and angry since morning?”

  “Now that I can explain as my being simply childish.”

  “Well, that is a harsh assessment coming from you. But still, it is on point.”

  “Thank you for acknowledging my sincerity.”

  “You are welcome. But still, we really need to talk about all that is happening around me.”

  Arnold pulled two seats close to him. “Alright then, let us talk about them.”

  “Now? No, you cannot be serious.”

  “How serious do you want me to be? Of course I want us to talk about it right away.”

  “Arnold, remember that the kids need to be picked up from school?”

  Guilt gnawing at him, Arnold cringed. “My goodness. Don’t tell me it slipped my mind again.”

  “Yeah, you should really ask yourself why do you keep on forgetting. Anyway, I have to run along now.”

  “So, when are we going to have the talk?” Arnold called after her.

  “Soon, I am sure.”

  “Soon, I hope,” Arnold called after her.

  After she was gone, Arnold heaved a sigh of relief. He was grateful to Angela for looking past his jealousy and anger to help him out with Thomas.

  Who was I fooling? There was no way he could successfully handle such chores successfully – handling work in the workshop and then handling the school runs for Thomas at the same time?

  Perhaps it was no wonder that it took him so much time to even get a school for Thomas his son. His job could get so tasking and demanding that one completely forgot about everything else.

  He rubbed his chin and he recalled all he had discussed with Angela.

  There was no doubt that she understood his intentions towards her. But what were her reservations towards him? And what was it that she was keeping away? What was it that she felt would make him not to take the chance to be with her?

  Women, he mused. They can be full of suspense and mystery sometimes.

  But he was willing to dive deep into any mystery and suspense that Angela was made up of.

  Arnold returned back to work and continued to clean out the engine. He was still there when Angela called him on his phone.

  “Yeah?” he answered.

  “I am stopping over at the house to drop off the kids,” she said.

  “Sure, no problem. Is Thomas with you?”

  “Yes, he is. And that is why I am cal
ling you.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “He is insisting on staying here with the twins.”

  “But he normally comes back to the workshop with you.”

  “Yes, I know, so that you both can leave for home when you are done for the day,” Angela agreed. “Well, I don’t know Arnold but he said he would like to stay here in my house with TnT. What do you think?”

  Arnold sighed. “I don’t know. I would have thought –” He bit his lip. “Kids, kids, kids. Is he avoiding me or something again? Can you tell why he suddenly came up with this plan?”

  “No, don’t think along those lines, Arnold,” Angela reassured him. “I am pretty sure that he wants to hang around the twins.”

  “But why did he not discuss this with me earlier today?”

  “Well, he is a kid. He might have wanted to do so but then you remember all the drama that happened?”

  Arnold frowned. “Drama? When?”

  “Come on, Arnold, remember when you took him to school this morning?”

  “Yes, yes, I remember. But that should not have made him not want to come back here to the workshop.”

  “No, it wouldn’t have. But I am sure he might have been more comfortable to tell you his idea if none of that had happened.”

  Arnold sighed. He thought over his son’s request. “I don’t know what to say, Angela. What do you think?”

  “I think it is alright. They are all kids and almost of the same age, you know? They are already getting along well and they would enjoy each other’s company tremendously as well.”

  “So, you are cool with it?”

  “I sure am. They really like being around each other.”

  “They do? They like each other?”

  Angela laughed. “Sure they do. Did you really not know?”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t.” He exhaled. “Okay then. If you are fine with it then he can stay with the twins. But he should know that when I finish working, I am going to come pick him up.”

  “Sure, he is fully aware of that. And he wants to say a word to you.”

  “Who?”

  “Thomas, of course. He says he wants to tell you something.”

  “Okay then. Put him on the line.”