Rose Tattoo

By Philip Johnson

Chapter One

"Mister Montgomery, Mister Camden's secretary is on line one."

"Thanks Millie."

I picked up the phone and said, "Hi Jean, this is Barry."

"Hi. Mister Camden would like to see you if you have a minute."

"I always have a minute for the boss. I'll be there shortly."

"Thank you, I'll tell him." I went out and told Millie where I was going and went upstairs. I went straight to his office and knocked as I entered.

"Morning, Barry."

"Morning, Abe."

"Have a seat. Coffee?"

"No, but thank you."

"Can you make a place on your calendar to go with me to North Carolina?"

"Of course."

"There are two furniture manufacturers there that I'd like to talk to, so needless to say as our materials manager I'd like you closely involved."

"Sounds interesting."

"I have a DVD from each company that gives us a nice overview of their operation and I'll send those with you to review before we go."

"Thanks, what kind of time frame?"

"Can you pack and be ready by Thursday?"

"Sure."

"I'll meet you at the airport at the Delta counter at nine."

"I'll be there."

"Anything special you'd like me to have along?"

"No, just the usual stats."

"I'll be ready."

"If you'd like to take a couple days off ahead of time, I certainly don't mind because we may stay through Saturday and golf a few rounds with the CEO's of the companies."

"It's a tough life, but I'll survive."

Abe laughed said, "Get out of here and go practice your swing or something. I'll see you at the airport" and that was the end of our little meeting. I took him up on his offer and after finishing a couple of small tasks, I told Millie I was leaving and wouldn't be back until next Monday.

I was just home when I decided that I didn't want to go anyplace or do any chores around the house. My choice for the remainder of the afternoon was a cold beer and a lounge chair in the backyard with my book in hand. I made it through one chapter of my book and half way through my beer before I dozed off. Somewhere in the fog of my sleep, I heard a noise and woke up to find my neighbor home in the middle of the afternoon. I could just see her over the fence and called out, "Hey Kara, are you playing hooky from work?"

"Hi Barry, I could ask you the same question."

"I'm legal. I have to go to North Carolina Thursday."

"I'm legal too, I have to work the weekend."

"Sorry about that."

"I don't mind. I volunteered actually so somebody else could get the time off."

"That's nice of you." She came over to the fence and looked at me half lying there in my shorts and smiled.

"Now don't you look comfortable."

"It isn't bad. How's Burt?"

"He's fine. You still seeing Lynn?"

"I think so. When she finds out I'll be out of town again she won't be any too happy."

"I'm sure you're not too happy about it either though."

"Not at all. I just wish she was that understanding."

"Well, good luck telling her."

"Thanks." Kara gave me a wave and went inside and left me to dump my warm beer and try my book once more.

Once I knew that Lynn would likely be home, I called her and told her about my trip with my boss, she was well short of being understanding. "Damn it Lynn, I don't really want to go either, but it's part of my job. I like my job and I like my boss so that's just the way it is."

"But the last time this happened you said you'd tell them no."

"I said no such thing. That's a good way for me to lose my job."

"But we were going to go to that resort for the weekend."

"We can still do that, but it will just have to be another weekend." When I finally hung up I felt tired. She was getting more demanding, or I was getting more impatient with her, I wasn't sure which it was.

I met Abe at the airport and we were soon in the air. It would take us less than two hours to get to Raleigh, but it was another hour and a half drive to get to the Radisson at High Point. Abe and I weren't exactly friends, but we got along well and he always treated me very well. The two of us had been through junkets like this before, so I had a good idea how it would go and what he expected of me. There was no real tension or preparation to be done on our part. It would be up to the two companies to sell us on their products and abilities to meet our needs. What I would have to provide were numbers. How many of this or that unit and our delivery needs. One thing we didn't want was a lot of inventory sitting around.

We picked up our car at the Raleigh airport and headed west with me behind the wheel. Once we were clear of town, both of us relaxed and settled in for the drive. When we had taken off from Indianapolis, Abe and I had talked about a little bit of everything except business. There would be time and need to do that later. Now as we rolled down the road headed west he asked me, "You are still unattached aren't you?"

"Yes I am."

"Lucky you." All I could do was laugh. I'd met his wife, and though she seemed nice enough, she struck me as cold or maybe just lacking emotion, either good or bad. All in all not a very exciting person to be around.

"Were you ever married, Barry?"

"No, I never was."

"Do you think you could ever have an affair if you were?"

"That's a tough one. I don't know if I could or not. I guess there are circumstances where an affair could be justified. I mean, hell I'm too busy taking care of myself, to be worrying about what somebody else is doing."

"So you don't look down on someone if they cheat on their spouse."

"No, it's none of my business, if it works for them then okay. If they get caught at it then, those are the risks one takes when they play around."

"There are just so damn many desirable women in this world."

"Isn't that the truth." Was he trying to test me or was he having an affair? This trip could be interesting. We had separate, but adjoining rooms at the Radisson and took our time getting settled. We went down for dinner, and while we waited to be seated, a very attractive brunette about Abe's age came up and kissed him on the cheek. "Hi love," Abe said as he smiled at her. "Barry, this is Melinda a very good friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you Melinda, I hope you'll be joining us for dinner."

"Yes, if you don't mind."

"Of course not." Okay, now I knew why he was playing twenty questions on the drive over. Old Abe was indeed having an affair. Miss Melinda was quite a good looking woman, and certainly had more spark than his wife ever displayed, at least when I was around her. Like I told Abe earlier, it was none of my business. After dinner I stayed long enough to have one drink with them and then excused myself. They didn't need me around and I felt like a fifth wheel, so I went back to my room and watched television and went over statistics on my laptop. I didn't really need to do that, but it gave me something to do and it couldn't hurt.

Friday morning, Abe and I drove over to Furniture Expressions and met with them. We were given a tour of their facility and then went back to their conference room and talked business, and most of the time I sat there, and listened, and made a few notes, adding technical data where and when it was needed. We were finished there by half past eleven, and went to lunch before going to Oak Creations at one thirty for another tour and another meeting. When that was over, Abe and I went back to the Radisson and talked about our impressions of both companies, in size, capabilities, and quality of product. It would be Abe's decision, but he respected my input to the extent that I felt free to speak my mind. By the time we had finished with all of that it was seven o'clock, and went down to dinner. "Will Melinda be joining us this evening?"

"No, I'll be meeting her a little later."

"She is a very attractive woman and I was most impressed with her."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to tell her you said that." We had dinner and over coffee Abe said, "Barry, you've said how you feel about situations like what Melinda and I have and thank you for that. It isn't the lifestyle that I'd prefer, but for the time being at least a little discretion is required."

"I understand. It's like I said before, whatever works for you."

"Will you be ready for an eight o'clock tee time tomorrow?"

"Sure. I think I'll have breakfast in my room though, so I'll be sure to be ready in time."

"Good idea." We walked out together, but at the lobby I went upstairs and he went out the front door no doubt to meet Melinda.

Chapter Two

Saturday morning was golf with the president of Furniture Expressions, followed by lunch, and then we golfed with the president of Oak Creations in the afternoon. It was a very pleasant day, and not surprisingly, as much business was done on the course as there was done in those conference rooms. By the time we left, we had a pretty good idea of what we were going to do. Our trip home on Sunday morning was quiet and both of us nodded off as we flew west, and by the time I got home, I was tired and took a nap as soon as I went inside. An hour later I fixed myself a light meal and went out to my patio to enjoy what was left of the day's warmth. I didn't see Kara, but I heard her move so I eased over to the fence and called to her. I could always count on a nice smile from her and this time was no exception. "Hi Kara."

"Barry, you're home from your trip."

"Got in an hour or so ago. You done with your weekend shift?"

"Yes, thank God. You have a good trip?"

"I did. We accomplished a lot and even squeezed in a couple rounds of golf."

"Good for you."

"Is Burt around?"

"In a way, we had cocktails with a couple we know, and he didn't stop in time so he's sleeping it off."

"That boy is a glutton for punishment."

"Both from the booze and from me."

"Uh oh."

"How did Lynn take you being out of town?"

"Not very well at all. I thought about it while I was gone and I think I'm going to have to make a change."

"I'm sorry it's come to that."

"I think I knew it before, but just didn't do anything about it."

"There's a special woman out there just waiting for you."

"I hope you're right. I guess I better go call Lynn and get it over with."

"Good luck, Barry."

"Thanks."

I called Lynn and told her, "I'm home."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Did you work?"

"What kind of question is that? That's what I went out there for. So you think I went out there for a vacation is that it?"

"I don't know."

"You do know because I told you. What you just did was call me a liar. Lynn I don't want to try anymore. I'm calling it quits."

"Oh, did I hurt your feelings?"

"No, actually that isn't it. I just tired of you," and I hung up. All I could think of was screw her. I went from mad to sad to relieved. By the time I went to bed, I felt better for having severed my ties with her.

Monday, I spent a good part of the morning meeting with Abe and our accountant, and worked up a couple of ways we might want to go. By four in the afternoon, I had written up what I thought we should do, and explained my reasoning and left if for Abe to review. Tuesday morning he called me upstairs and we spent another couple of hours working on details, and then he was going to talk to Ralph Delmar at Furniture Expressions. My part was done for the time being. Tuesday evening, I did my laundry and decided what the hell and threw in what I was wearing too. I wasn't expecting company, so like most evenings I had dinner and watched the evening news while I finished my coffee, except this time I was in the nude. By bed time I'd washed and dried my laundry and ironed the few pieces that needed it.

Wednesday after work, I finally saw Burt as he dragged the trash cans to his backyard as I was doing the same thing. I looked over and said, "The glories of home ownership, we get to hose out the trash cans."

"It's one of our more pleasant tasks." I put down my hose and leaned against the fence.

"I hear you had a pretty good time yesterday for a while." He continued spraying his trash can and answered, "Yeah, I did."

"Kara didn't seem too pleased with you." He made a face and shook his head.

"No, she wasn't in a very pleasant state you might say." I just smiled and shook my head. It was like Abe's affair. It was none of my business, except I really thought a lot of the two of them, especially Kara, and I hated to see them having trouble over booze. I just waved at him as I returned to my chores too.

The next time I saw either of my neighbors it was Kara and I was using crutches. "Barry, what happened to you?"

"Well, you know how I have to go down one step from the kitchen to the garage?"

"Yes."

"Yeah well, I guess I forgot it was there."

"Ouch. Did you break anything?"

"No just a sprain, but the doc wants me to stay off of it for a few days."

"Can I do anything for you?" I paused and gave her my best innocent smile.

"Well you could come over and wipe my brow and see to my needs." She just laughed.

"I guess that's a no then, but it was worth a try."

"Now seriously do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm going to order a pizza because I don't feel like hopping around the kitchen to cook."

"I'll bring you dinner."

"That isn't necessary I'll be fine."

"No, I insist. You can have pizza tomorrow night when I'm not here to cook for you."

"How can I say no to your cooking?"

Within an hour Kara was in my kitchen and serving me dinner. She stayed and had coffee with me while I ate and we talked. When I was almost done I stopped for a second and said, "Kara are you okay? You seem quiet, introspective maybe."

"Do I? I feel fine."

"I'm glad."

"Maybe I'm just a little tired."

"Maybe that's it."

"Thanks for worrying about me though."

"This was a wonderful dinner and I can't thank you enough."

"You're welcome." She even cleaned everything up and then used the kitchen towel and patted my forehead and smiled. Then she bent down and kissed it and said, "See I know how to take care of you."

I had to return her smile as I said, "You certainly do."

My ankle healed quickly in the coming days and I was soon hobbling around pretty well, and within a week I was almost back to normal. By Monday, I was back to my old routine of watching television while I had breakfast and the evening news while I had dinner and that was about all the TV I watched as a rule. I didn't see Kara or Burt for several days, which wasn't all that unusual and I didn't give in another thought.

The morning news on TV talked about a motorcyclist that was hit by a car, and they showed what was left of the bike while they told the story. The driver of the car was arrested because they found drugs in the car. Then they talked about a one car accident where one person died and the passenger was in serious condition. Again they showed the footage and you could just about tell it had been a car at one time and that it had been a black one. Other than that it was just a mangled mass of metal. For whatever reason, the car had veered into a cement bridge abutment at a high rate of speed. All they said was the accident was under investigation.

Shortly after I got to work we received our first shipment from Furniture Expressions, so I spent the morning in receiving going over everything with a fine toothed comb.

Everything seemed in order, so I finally left and spent the rest of the day getting caught up on a whole laundry list of minor things that I had been neglecting. It was a good day and I went home in good spirits. I didn't feel like cooking, so I stopped at the deli and came home with a huge sandwich and a couple of salads. Not healthy, but very tasty. At least I ordered whole wheat bread.

I was done with dinner before the news came on so I dropped onto the couch and turned on the TV. After the commercial break, they went through the national news highlights and then went into the local news. They showed the mangled car again and said the passenger was in the hospital and still in serious condition but was stable and then they released the names of the victims: Burt and Kara Whitt. I almost dropped my soda. They didn't say which one was in the hospital for what seemed a long time, but then they said that Kara, the passenger was expected to recover. I just dropped back against the couch and stared at the television like I could will it to tell me more. It didn't take me ten minutes before I was on my way to the hospital to see Kara.

Chapter Three

Her room was on the fourth floor and when I got there I paused at the door. I was afraid of what I was going to see. The car was so totally destroyed she had to be pretty badly busted up. I took a deep breath and tried to will myself to be strong as I tapped softly on the door. "Come in." I eased the door open and saw a young woman that I didn't know sitting in a chair. I didn't know for sure if I even had the right room. I could see the foot of the bed as I entered, and as I continued in I looked around the corner and saw her lying there with her head elevated a little. The strange woman stood up and put out her hand and said, "I'm Nancy, Kara's older sister."

"Nice to meet you Nancy, I'm Barry."

"I thought you might be." I looked over at Kara and could tell it was her, but she was an awful sight. She was awake but her face was so swollen that if she was smiling I couldn't tell it.

"Hi, beautiful." I had to lean down a little to understand her, but she managed to say,

"Hi, Barry."

"I just learned about all of this and I came as fast as I could."

"I've been sleeping a lot so you didn't miss anything."

"I won't stay, but I had to come see you for a minute. I'll come back though I promise. If there is anything I can do for you just say the word. I know you already know that, but I just want to remind you."

"Thank you, Barry."

I turned to Nancy and said, "That goes for you too. If you need anything just call."

"Thank you." Kara's lips were so swollen I had to guess at some of the words, but I got the general idea of what she was saying. I leaned over and gently kissed the only spot that I could see that wasn't bruised and that was high on her forehead. "I'll be back tomorrow night."

"Thanks for coming."

"I'm sorry for your loss Kara."

"Thank you."

When I left I was rattled, and yet I was amazed that she looked as good as she did. How she survived at all was a mystery, and to survive as well as it appeared, she did was a miracle. I'd ask her about her injuries when she could talk a little better. I went home and mowed and trimmed her yard. I still couldn't believe Burt was dead.

After I left the office on Wednesday, I went straight to the hospital to see Kara. When I went in, she was sitting up a little more but was asleep, so I quietly sat down just watched her for a time. Needless to say her face was still a mass of bruises, but the swelling seemed just a little better. Either that or I was just getting used to the idea. The nurse came in and checked her I.V., smiled at me, and slipped out, but Kara still woke up. When she saw me, she did her best to smile as I scooted my chair closer to her bedside. "Hi, neighbor."

"Hi, beautiful."

"I don't feel beautiful that's for sure."

"I just look past the blue and yellow shades of your bruises and see the real you. How are you feeling?"

"About the same I guess but a little less pain."

"The swelling around your face seems better today."

"Does it?"

"It does and you can talk a little better."

"I'm glad for that."

"Does it hurt to talk?"

"No, just to breathe deep, cough, sneeze, and move."

"Oh, is that all?" "How bad were you hurt or would you rather not talk about it?"