Old Flames

Old Flames: Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The idea of friendship meant different things to different people.  For Lainie and Aaron, friendship meant walks to the park in the afternoons, barbeques at the firestation, or raking leaves into piles only to do it again after an impromptu game of “You’re It.”

As the weeks of October passed by and Halloween drew closer, Lainie discovered an abundance of friends.  After volunteering at the twins’ preschool one morning, she found out that their teacher, Ms. Dee, was the sister-in-law to her good friend, Tracy, from high school.  After attending a fund raiser for the fallen heroes of the Fire Fighters Union, she learned that Aaron kept in contact with most of their high school buddies.  And of course, after Dusty came to visit her that one day, the two of them got together on a regular basis, whether it was to go shopping or just hang out at Starbucks for a quick caffeine hit.

There wasn’t a weekend that went by in which her, the kids, and Aaron wasn’t together.  They attended birthday parties, Little League football games, church functions, and school carnivals, or Lainie dropped the kids off at her mother’s house for the occasional Girls’ Night Out.

She was exhausted…and she loved it. 

It felt so good to have a life again, away from home and her tedious job.  It felt so good to be with other adults, who weren’t her mother, and it felt wonderful to laugh and smile again.  Aaron was especially good at making her do that.  He played Legos with Chris in the evenings while Lainie read The Frog Prince to Chloe.  He dressed up in pink, frilly tutus and sat down with Chloe for her tea parties.  He erected a clothes line in their backyard, cursing and muttering under his breath the whole time, when her dryer decided to crash and burn.

And during this whole time, it was only the rare moment when she saw him gazing at her and the children with such raw yearning that it scared her a little.  But he kept his promise.  There were no more secret kisses in her hallway.  He seldom so much as held her hand or placed a guiding hand on her lower back.

Yet, with every touch, a zing of awareness shot through her body.  Friendship was good.  It was great, grand, and wonderful.  However, there were times – mostly late at night when she couldn’t sleep – that she wished for more.

Unfortunately, more she couldn’t handle right now.  The author, Mr. Xavier Quitman, of the non-fiction she’d been editing continued to complain about her corrections, saying that she wasn’t giving him the feel that he needed for the book.  Which wasn’t her job.  So, Lainie took the matter to Quitman’s agent, Marsha Townsend, a woman that Lainie had always admired for her no-nonsense attitude and quirky personality.

“I’m sorry, Marsha,” Lainie said over the phone one morning, “I can’t do much more with the manuscript without completely rewriting it.  And if I do that, it won’t be his words, they’ll be mine.”

Marsha sighed heavily.  “I know what you mean.  I’ve read the thing, and I totally agree with you, but Xavier’s brother-in-law is one of our biggest clients.  If we lose this deal, then we’ll lose Marcus.”

“Then have another editor do it.  Maybe then, he’ll see that it’s not the my fault, but his,” Lainie countered.

Marsha hummed into the phone.  “I suppose I can have Sheryl Montgomery look at it.  She’s Marcus’ editor.  If she says it’s crap, then they’ll have to realize that it is.”

“I appreciate that.”

Two days later, Xavier called her to fire her.  Like she cared, but that meant she would only receive her retainer fee from the publisher rather than the whole amount.  At this rate, she wondered how she could pay her rent, especially since the realtor dealing with the sale of her marital home was still dragging his feet.