The Moment She Knew Read online

  “I would like to thank you all for coming today as we talk about graduation and the start of our summer classes in a few weeks. We have so much going on this summer and then this fall. We not only have additional certification programs we are offering but additional courses being taught by previous adjuncts as well as new adjuncts. I want to thank Mr. Sterling of Sterling Technologies, who is not only our guest speaker at graduation, but who is also dedicating his time to help our students by offering to lecture this summer about his experience and success as an entrepreneur. Everyone, please give Mr. Sterling a warm welcome.”

  Everyone clapped as the man in the baseball hat stood up hesitantly and waved a quick hand, you can tell the attention made him uncomfortable. The Dean went over a few other items on her list and as the meeting came to an end, Callie got up to head over to Ryan and Mr. Sterling. Before she got to them Mr. Sterling rushed out of the room.

  “Hey Callie. Sorry, I had to sit next to my cousin and figure out a few details, plus he didn’t know anyone,” he said with a shrug.

  “Your cousin is Mr. Sterling?” Callie asked. Ryan hadn’t mentioned it before. They started walking out of the auditorium and headed down a hallway.

  “Yea he is lecturing this summer. He started a technology company at an early age and it took off so I asked him about lecturing at the college. He’s smart and I think the students could really get motivated by what he has to say. The business department could use some help anyway.” She was going to have to look this Mr. Sterling up later.

  “Is his degree in Business or Technology?” Callie had worked for a technology company briefly but it was more administration work.

  “He doesn’t have one. He started his company a couple years after high school.”

  Callie was puzzled. “So he doesn’t have any degree?”

  Callie had to bust her ass to get her Master’s degree before the college would even consider letting her teach as an assistant. To work at most universities and colleges she needed her PhD, which she was looking into.

  “Well they see how successful he is plus he is donating to the school.” Well that always helps she thought. She was mad but it wasn’t going to consume her thoughts, she had too much going on right now.

  “Oh. So what were you figuring out?” She asked as they continued down the hall.

  “He is staying at my apartment so I had to make him a key and get him situated. He is from New York and I’ll be working opposite his days so there isn’t much time for me to be spending showing him around. I want to get the important stuff out of the way.” Callie walked with Ryan and listened about her temporary new neighbor. Yea, she was going to have to look up this Mr. Sterling later.

  Chapter 4

  Callie was in her living room folding laundry, it was a battle to get the clothes put away before Charlie and Lo tried to sleep on them. She was telling them about her day when her phone went off. A text from Ryan appeared on her screen.

  Need a date for this weekend. Business/charity/fundraiser event. Reasons why you should go… 1. It’s for the kids 2. There will be food 3. There will be wine.

  Do I have to wear a dress?

  Yes you do, it’s kind of fancy.

  Then no.

  Pleasseeeee. I ain’t too proud to beg.

  You just quoted TLC.

  Yes. Yes I did.

  Sorry but it’s still no.

  Ok what if I throw in a night of all you can eat wings at Louie’s and TWO hard ciders?

  Make it three ciders.

  Damn woman, you really know how to negotiate. Ok deal!

  I’m all yours then.

  Ok ill email you the invite with further information. We have to leave earlier though to catch the train.

  Train?

  Yea btw it’s in NYC.

  Callie tossed her phone on the couch. She exhaled with a loud puff of air. She didn’t do fancy. She looked at her surroundings and saw what her wardrobe consisted of. She loved her yoga pants and tank tops but she would need to buy a dress. Most girls loved shopping, Callie wasn’t one of them. In the past she knew what clothes shopping entailed. She would go from store to store, finding not one style or piece of clothing she liked, but she would try them on regardless. Next, the tears would come fast as she looked in the faulty dressing room mirrors with horrible lighting; they made even the skinniest girl look frumpy in clothing. Last she would leave the store with no garments and even less self-esteem.

  With her recent weight loss she could use a new wardrobe but couldn’t afford a new one at the moment. She was going to need help and she sent Dani a quick text. Dani’s father-in-law was Mayor of a surrounding town, so Dani had been to her share of formal events.

  The thought of the train ride lead Callie back to her dream about Reed. As night time approached, with the warm May air flowing throughout her apartment, Callie started to think of him.

  She appeared in a park. She knew this park; they had been here many times. Following the path past the willow tree and near the bench, there he was. She stopped before reaching him. She rarely had the chance to view him from afar. He sat on a bench, gazing at the pond.

  “Are you going to say hello, Callie? Or are you just going to stare?” He smiled as he turned in her direction.

  “Hello Reed,” she walked over to the bench, feeling embarrassed for having been caught staring at him.

  “How have you been?” He asked, really wanting to know.

  “Good, I guess.” She didn’t really know how she was doing. She had been feeling a bit out of sorts lately.

  “Good? That’s all?” He smiled. There was always something comforting about his smiles.

  “Graduation is almost here and then summer classes start. I’m more worried about the fall time I guess. I just wonder how I will do teaching full time. I’m nervous. I have to keep telling myself, I got this, I keep repeating it so I start to believe it.” She was starting to feel more relaxed. Talking to him did that to her.

  “Don’t be nervous, you will do great. You always will in life,” he said with a head nod of certainty like he knew how her life would end up.

  “Man I hope so. I really have been busting my ass for a while.” Callie closed her eyes and tilted her head towards the sun. She took a deep breath, “ah the park, nice place to pick. I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve been here.” The chirping birds in the trees, the worn out wood benches, the all-around atmosphere was relaxing.

  “I like the park, it’s calming. I like the pond, watching the birds with their families.” She could tell he was deep in thought and the way he hung on the word ‘families’ made her wonder. She made Reed up, so he didn’t have a family but did he want one? She talked about hers all the time.

  “Is everything ok?” She asked.

  “Of course, how could it not be?” He instantly smiled again, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “You just seem to be somewhere else,” she put her hand on top of his hand, which was placed on his knee.

  “I’m just enjoying my time with you,” he placed his other hand on top of hers, lightly patting it.

  “So you enjoy our meetings?” She moved her hands back to her own lap. Not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

  “Of course I do. I like your company and our surroundings. Our meetings are more important than you know,” he said this with seriousness.

  “Ok I just wanted to make sure because you seem off. I think our meetings are important too.” She knows they have helped her, but have they helped him?

  Besides Dani, Reed knew more about her life than anyone. She had opened up to Ryan a few times but didn’t want to burden too many people with her problems.

  “I have visited to you many times. I have seen you grow in many ways. You should know how special you are. I have tried to help you see this so you don’t miss your life.” He was looking at the birds walking around on the ground.

  “Miss my life? How can I miss my life?” She was curious to know what he meant.r />
  “Miss how you are supposed to live it, with whom you are supposed to,” he responded.

  She laughed nervously and was a bit confused. “I guess only time will tell what happens in my life. I have all the time in the world it seems.” She didn’t know what else to say.

  “Ironic thing is, time isn’t on our side Callie.”

  Her alarm went off and she cursed in anger. In all their meetings together he has never made her mad or talked in code. What was all this talk with not having forever and not having time? Jesus was she dying?! Well this day was going to be fantastic!

  Chapter 5

  Saturday approached and it was time to put on a dress she bought earlier that day. She tried on four million dresses or so it felt like. She liked a total of zero dresses. She had gotten home with nothing when she told Dani about it. Dani made her go back to the store and buy not one but two dresses, incase this ever happened again. Of course Callie would like to thank huffing, puffing and Facetime which made this purchase possible. After a quick shower, some light makeup and tossing her chocolate brown hair in a bun, she was ready to go. Of course Ryan was another story. She walked over to his apartment, remembering his cousin was staying with him. She knocked. “Come in. I’m almost ready, I swear,” Ryan yelled from behind the door.

  Callie entered his plain apartment. All the furniture was from Ikea, she had helped him put most of it together. The apartment lacked color and had just the basic essentials. Ryan ran into the bedroom and walked out in a tuxedo. Like an actual tuxedo. The shaggy mess on his head was trimmed, not too much but it was noticeable. His hair was parted to the left side, he actually looked rather handsome. Callie glanced around his two bedroom place and tried to see if she saw Mr. Sterling, she reminded herself again to look him up later.

  “Hey I thought you had a roommate for a bit?”

  Callie caught her reflection in a full length mirror on the wall. She wore a plain sleeveless fitted black cocktail dress with a square neckline. The dress rested right above her knees. She wore black peep toe patent leather heals. She loved black to as it thinned her out. She had gotten into shape over the past few months, shedding a few pounds. Callie was curvy and she didn’t mind. She was the type of girl that god had blessed with boobs and a butt, so she was portioned if you asked her. It took a while but she felt comfortable with herself now. She wasn’t meant to be a tiny and that was fine with her. She had wavy chocolate brown hair that fell just past her shoulders but no one ever saw that because she often kept it up. She stood about 5’6’’ and had blue eyes. Not like those electric blue eyes that you read about, they were more smokey blue.

  “Yea he is moving in tomorrow,” Ryan said moving around his living room grabbing his wallet off the coffee table.

  “So I guess you can’t walk around here naked anymore?” Callie teased. She never thought about what she was going to say. Words just flew out of her mouth.

  “Fuck that, of course I can! Wait, you look in my windows?!” Ryan stopped tying his shoes and looked up at Callie, she felt her face turning red, not because she of what she said but now she had the image in her head of Ryan, naked, walking around his apartment.

  “No I was just messing with you. But it’s good to know so I can keep a look out now,” she threw in a wink because that made her comment less awkward.

  On the train they looked for a seat, they picked a horrible time to head down to NYC as every person on the train was already drunk and heading to New York City for a night out on the town to further their drinking. They finally found two seats together. Ryan pulled out a flask and offered Callie some. “Why not?” she said, and down it went.

  Chapter 6

  After the train ride from hell, they took a cab and arrived at The Fitzgerald Hotel. It was a beautiful hotel, way out of her league. Shit she was in deep she thought. This isn’t her. She couldn’t eat or drink anything without spilling it on her and what if dinner had more than one fork; she didn’t know which fork was for what. She took a deep breath and followed Ryan into the hotel, walking on the shiniest floors she had ever seen. The floors were cream and gold marbled. The walls were coated in cream paint with accents of gold and brown trim in every corner. Terracotta colored curtains dressed each window. Gold banisters marked the paths around the hotel, leading to higher floors. Ryan led Callie down a hallway ending at two big red doors. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling every few feet enhancing the beauty of the hotel. Two men held open the red doors. Callie walked into the hall and yea, she was in deep. The room was just like the rest of the hotel, elegant. The men were in tuxes and women in gowns, not cocktail dresses like she had on. She hit Ryan with her clutch and asked why didn’t he tell her this was that kind of fancy event. She sent him a picture of her dress and he said it was perfect. She should have known better. This was coming from a man who still wore Spiderman underwear while eating Captain Crunch and watching morning cartoons.

  She wanted to leave, but Ryan bribed her to stay by grabbing a whole tray of wine glasses. The waiter was hesitant but whatever Ryan said worked and the waiter gave up the whole tray. They found a seat and he placed the tray next to her and she began to drink. The wine they poured into each glass was a sip or so according to Callie. She always filled her glass to the rim. Ryan told her about the event, “Well it’s an annual event. People buy the plates of food and the money goes towards a charity. It’s not always the same charity. This year it goes to help kids; either with school programs or basic needs like food and shelter, that kind of deal,” he said as he looked around.

  “How much do the plates go for?” Callie wondered while downing her third glass of wine.

  “I think it’s 3 thousand this year.” Callie started choking on her current glass of wine. Ryan patted her on the back to help her out. He wasn’t helping. She figured the cost was going to be high but not in the thousands!

  “Dollars?” She shouted and surrounding people looked in their direction. “Dollars?” She leaned in and whispered this time.

  “No no, crumpets, yes dollars,” Ryan saw the worried look on her face and quickly added, “but my family buys a table every year and we are just here to fill the spots.” Instantly Callie relaxed. She felt guilty having someone else pay but she did not have that kind of money for anything, especially for food. She barely ate out and if she did it was 25 cent wings or at a dollar menu. Her nerves began to take over and now she was doing shots of wine to shut them out.

  “So your family has money then?” She asked, but knew the answer since they bought a whole table.

  “Yea, they do well for themselves,” Ryan said looking away like he was embarrassed.

  “Then why the hell do you live in our shitty apartment building? You should be living in the loft apartments they have downtown or something.” Callie was completely puzzled by this. Ryan had a plain apartment; he didn’t act or live like his family had money. The kind of money where a plate of food cost 3 grand at a charity event and you buy a table that sits 8-12 people just for the hell of it.

  “Honestly, my mother and father are great. They have given me and my siblings a fantastic childhood but I don’t know. I see them and I don’t want what they have because of what they sacrificed to get it. They were never home, always traveling for work. They missed holidays because they didn’t have a choice and it sucked. After I graduated Yale with my business degree, I went to work with my father and I hated it. I still had my apartment in New Haven so I moved back and went to South Central looking for a teaching gig. I just want to be there for my future wife and kids. I want to be around for holidays and home for dinner. I don’t want my kids feeling the way I felt as a kid. My parents were mad I was going to throw away the opportunity I was given at the company my dad works for, so they gave me some money and cut me off from the rest. I made it on my own. I struggled for a while but I made it. After sometime they offered to help me out but I declined. The feeling of making it on my own was priceless. They send me checks every now and then li
ke around holidays and such so I cash them,” Ryan nervously laughed, “but I don’t want them supporting me. I do have a nice trust fund but I don’t touch it. It’s going to be given to my kids. They can be whoever they want to be and I don’t want them struggling to get there.” Ryan finished and the look on his face was pure happiness, relief and a touch of accomplishment all mixed together.

  Callie had known Ryan for over a year, they had many conversations about love, life and family, but Ryan was exposing a side she never seen. He was always laughing and smiling but this time he was serious and Callie could see the hurt in his facial expressions when he was telling his story. Ryan looked around and decided it was time for a drink. He told Callie to stay put while he went to the bar. She was about done with all the glasses of wine when a gentleman sat next to her.

  “Wow, you really are putting these down.” Callie looked over and saw blue eyes. Those kind of blue eyes, Jesus they were nice. His eyes were a deep blue like the bottom of the ocean, and she stared in them for a moment. You could get lost in them. Any longer and she might have saw his soul, she was staring so hard. She looked away quickly. She felt nervous and wanted Ryan to hurry back. When she looked at him again she noticed the rest of his face. He had a square jawline with a clean shaved face. His eyelashes were long and dark, she wish she had eyelashes like that. She remembered his comment.

  “Umm yea, it’s been a hell of a week,” she nervously looked down at her lap, fidgeting with her hands.

  “Tell me about it.” She figured he meant it was a rough week for him as well but as silence took place he said, “Or you don’t have to tell me about it,” he chuckled, revealing a smile that probably made hearts melt. Who is this guy she wondered.

  “Oh no, sorry, I can tell you, I didn’t think you really wanted to know.” Callie stumbled on her words, “umm well ok first off there is this guy who said a few things and I really don’t know what he means by it and I want to be over it but I’m kind of not. He’s a dream anyway, so its whatever.” Callie was still racking her brain over her last conversations with Reed which got her fired up and her rant began.