The office door opened, and the chef and butler brought the food in to the office.
“Mr. Dave, you’re back. It’s wonderful to see you back in the house and office, sir.”
David stood to greet them, crossing over to the two. “Noble. Thank you. It’s good to be back.”
“We were all very sorry for your loss, sir,” Chef said in her lightly French accent. “How are you holding up, Mr. Dave?”
Rick knew they were only asking out of concern, but the look on David’s face answered the question. And yet, consummate polite man that he was, the look was gone so fast, Rick was sure that Chef hadn’t seen it. Or paid attention to it if she had. But Rick knew. He knew.
“As well as I can, Chef,” David answered, keeping his voice from breaking again. Or trying to.
She hugged him, patting his back in sympathy. Noble dabbed at his eyes. David stepped back so that they could do their work and thanked them again for their concern. He would be fine; it would just take some time. Noble shook his hand, Chef patted his arm, and after the food was laid out on the sideboard, they left the office.
“Hungry, Rick?”
He smiled and nodded. “Get yours first.”
“There’s room for both of us, dude.”
Rick chuckled and went back to the email he was typing out. “Let me finish this. Get yours.”
David filled his plate with two sandwiches and a pile of chips, grabbing a bowl of what appeared to be Chef’s famous beef and barley vegetable soup. When he sat down at the desk, Rick looked at the plate and hid another smile behind his hand, under the pretense of rubbing his nose. David’s appetite had returned. He must not have cooked or eaten much— if anything—in the time he was in hiding. Rick got a sense of joy for that. The first step of coming back to life after a sorrow was hunger.
“Rick?”
He looked up, a bit wide eyed. How easy it was to fall back into that memory. Almost too easy. “Sorry, David. Yes?”
“Eat. That email can wait. Besides, I can hear your stomach from over here. Eat.”
Yes it could. He’d been distracted by this PrimaCom acquisition to the point that he hadn’t noticed that not only was his belly rumbling but the pain of having nothing in his stomach was nagging at his middle. So, he stood and got some soup, a sandwich, and a handful of chips. He sat down and bit into the roast beef—succulent and tender. The vegetables fresh prepared and crisp. The soup was still steaming hot. Chef had made her delicious homemade potato chips. David was right. The email could wait.
“David?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve missed you. I mean that.”
“I’m here now. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“What have I missed? Catch me up on everything.”
They ate in peaceful conversation as Rick did just that, spending most of the time talking about PrimaCom. But he caught David up on D’Olivetto as well.
“I wasn’t as good as you are with them, but I did okay. At least I hope I didn’t mess anything up.”
“Rick, you know just as much as I do about how that place works” He sounded so tired. “I’m sure you did fine.”
Rick shrugged but warmed under the praise. “Read your emails and then see if you can tell me that.”
When the phone rang, they both jumped. Rick was the only one who laughed.
“Geeze.” David covered his mouth to keep from spitting chip crumbs all over the desk.
Rick managed to swallow first and took a sip of his soda before picking up the receiver. “Rickman here.”
“Front gate, sir. We have a visitor.”
Rick listened for a few seconds and what he heard made his blood freeze. “Are you sure?”
“That’s what he says, Mr. Rickman. Do we turn him away?”
Rick turned on the gate camera and looked down into the face of a man he hadn’t seen in twenty years. Oh God, it’s true. It’s true.
His Man Wednesday
By Siobhan MacKenzie
Novella 5 - Chapter Excerpt
“There is no set time limit on grief, David. It takes as long as it takes. Just know that I’m here. I’m right here. For anything you need. Even if it’s just to sit and watch a stupid movie, I’m here. I’ll do it. Okay?”
David nodded, so subdued. “I’m counting on that. On you.” He sat back and made eye contact with Rick again. “Rick, you mean so much to me. You mean everything. And I don’t mean just the job and the wonderful life you’ve given me.”
“You mean everything to me too, David.” He felt warmed inside, felt the spark of emotion bubbling up. “You are my dearest and best…friend.”
“And you’re mine, Rick. But it’s more than that. And I want you to know that I know.” The smile was genuine now, not forced. Small but there. “I’m tired of hiding. It’s time to come back out in the world. I need to be here. With you.”
“Do you even feel like working?” Rick asked.
“Yeah, I do. Time for me to get back to normal.” David went back to the laptop, this time typing. His voice cracked a little when he added, “She wouldn’t want me to waste my life.”
Nor do I, Rick thought. But didn’t say. What he did say was, “Don’t forget Stavros. I told him I’d make sure you replied.”
“I will, Rick. Thank you.”