Monday, March 12, 2018
I was sitting in my office today, reading the online newspaper from my home city. I didn't log in over the weekend and was trying to catch up. I scrolled down clicking on articles that caught my eye. I saw one that was titled, 'Heiress, Charitable Foundation Head Loses Heroic Battle with Cancer.' I felt as if my heart stopped.
I read the name in the first line and stopped. Laura Parker. No, it couldn't be. I scrolled further down and there was her picture. In the photo, she was older than I remembered, but I would never forget those eyes or that smile, as long as I lived. I scrolled down to the bottom of the article and saw that her funeral was planned for tomorrow. I knew I had to go. I buzzed Emily and asked her to book my flight. Then I called my Aunt Evelyn to let her know I would be in town tonight and would like to take her to dinner.
Emily, my 27-year-old administrative assistant, walked in a few minutes later and handed me my boarding passes and rental car confirmation. She walked behind my desk and sat on my lap. She wrapped her arms around me, pulling my head to her chest. In addition to being my day-to-day right hand, Emily had been my lover since shortly after she started working for me 7 years before. She looked at the news story still displayed on my laptop.
"I'm so sorry, baby," she said comfortingly.
"She's finally gone...," I answered. As I held my sweet Emily against me, I began to remember days gone by.
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I'd met Laura on May 21
st
, 1992, when I knocked on the door of her palatial home, hoping to talk her into letting me handle her yard care that summer. I'd graduated from high school the previous Monday night and I was desperate to earn some more spending money for college. I'd been fortunate enough to add two other large yards in her neighborhood to my schedule that same morning. Competition was keen in that area, and I was eager to win new clients as I knew that those people typically gave generous tips in addition to the weekly rate.
She answered the door politely, "May I help you?"
I still vividly remember seeing her for the first time. She was a gorgeous brunette, in her early 30's, I guessed. She wore a beautiful, red dress and black heels. Silky, tan nylons graced her legs. She was a remarkably attractive woman and had a warm, friendly smile. I stood there dumbstruck for an uncomfortable moment, just looking at her.
"Um, yes, ma'am. I was hoping that maybe I could help you. I'm Mike Tanner." I handed her one of the business cards my mom insisted on having printed. "I was wondering if I could give you a bid to take care of your lawn work this summer."
"It's funny that you stopped by, I was just thinking about that. My husband typically takes care of all that. Well, he used to anyway. We recently divorced and I'm learning to do some of the things that he would take care of," she explained.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." I said.
She smiled again, "Thank you. So, what do you think you'll charge?"
"Could I look at the back yard, first," I asked.
"Yes, you certainly may, follow me," she smiled and waved me through the door. I followed her through the massive house. I couldn't imagine the cost of a place like this. I'd grown up the son of a successful doctor and attorney, but our 4,000-square foot home was like a wing of this palace. I couldn't have imagined meeting such a beautiful woman that morning, either. I admired her figure as she walked in front of me. We weaved through what seemed a maze of hallways, before we finally reached the large, ornate glass doors that led to the back yard. There was very little grass to mow due to a large concrete patio, huge swimming pool and hot tub. There was also a large pool house. I noted several large shrubs that hadn't been trimmed back properly the previous summer, but the remaining landscaping generally consisted of low-maintenance species.
"So, what do you think," she asked with a smile.
"You have a beautiful home, ma'am. Those shrubs really need a good trimming. I think $250 for the first time, and $175 a week after that would be fair."
"Are you sure," she asked. "I believe my ex-husband was paying much more than that."
"No ma'am. I think that's fair," I replied.
"Fine, I just don't want to take advantage of you. I'm Laura Parker by the way," she said. We shook hands.
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am." I pulled my note pad out of my back pocket and wrote down her name. "Will Friday mornings work for you?"
"Yes, that should be fine. I'm usually here most mornings, though. I'll give you my phone number in case you need to reschedule," she offered. She wrote her phone number on my note pad. I pointed out my pager number on the business card, in case something changed on her end.
"Thank you, ma'am. I look forward to doing a good job for you. I'll see you tomorrow morning," I said.
"Fine, but please call me Laura and save the ma'am for your mother! You make me feel like an old lady," she smiled and gave me a wink. I still couldn't get over how beautiful she was.
She led me back through the house and I walked down the sidewalk hoping to find more customers. I'd be very lucky to find another client as beautiful as Laura, I thought to myself.
The next morning, I showed up at her house. I unloaded my mower from my trailer and was already working when I saw her walk out the front door. She waved at me, retrieved her mail and then went back inside. She was wearing a dress again, except this time it was black and she wore black nylons. The dress was cut just right, showing off her hourglass figure. She was older than me obviously, but I couldn't believe how great she looked.
It struck me as funny that I was admiring Laura so much, like I would have any chance with a woman like her. I could barely even talk to the girls I went to school with. I was a three-time all-state football player and wrestler with a perfect GPA, but I completely fell apart when I was in front of pretty girl. I was about 6'3" and a solid 220 pounds at that time. I wore glasses and had an unruly head of blond hair. The girls at school always said I was "nice" or "sweet", but not dateable for some reason. My jock friends continually made fun of me about my lack of charm, but no one seemed to have any advice regarding the "keys to success." I assumed they were hardly any better off than I was.
After mowing, I trimmed the shrubs in the back yard. I was loading my mower and the shrub clippings when Laura came back out. She had an envelope in her hand.
"The yard looks great," she smiled and handed me the envelope.
"Thank you, Laura. I always try to do my best. If you ever see something you don't like, let me know immediately, and I'll fix it."
"Oh, I think you'll do just fine," she said. I looked at her closely. I wondered what she looked like when she was my age. She was still undeniably gorgeous.
"I was telling Valerie, one of my girlfriends, that you were going to take care of my yard work this summer. She said you were a big-time football hero. Her daughter graduated with you," Laura said.
"Oh really? Who's that," I asked, with a smile.
"Clarice Jennings," she replied.
"Yeah, I know Clarice. We had a lot of classes together. She's a really nice girl," I said. I'd had a crush on Clarice since middle school, but never found the courage to ask her out.
"Yes, she is. A real sweetheart, like her mom. She wanted me to ask you where you going to be playing next year."
"I'm going to school at State, but I'm not going to play football," I said.
"No? Why not? Valerie said you were really good," she replied.
"Mostly, it's because I know it's going to be different than playing in high school. It's a full-time job in college. My dad played when he was in school, and he told me it was hard to play and stay on top of schoolwork," I said.
"I can imagine that was a very difficult decision for you to make."
"Yeah, it was. There were a lot of my friends that told me I was stupid, but my school is paid for at State because of academics. So, I still get free school and I don't have to tackle anybody for it," I smiled.
"Ha," she laughed. "That's funny."
"Thanks." I had this amazing feeling. I was standing there talking to this beautiful woman and I wasn't making a complete ass of myself like usual.
"You have a great sense of humor. The girls must love that about you," Laura said.
"Nah, most of them don't seem notice," I replied.
"No? That's really a pity. I like a handsome man with a sense of humor," she smiled. She gave me another one of those little winks I'd noticed the first day. "So, what do your parents do," she asked.
"My mom is attorney, my dad was an obstetrician, but we lost him to cancer last summer," I said.
"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that. I lost my father when I was about the same age," she said.
