The gift

Chapter 6

A Deal Sealed

      WHEN LOU S MEETING WITH MR. Brennan about the thankfully not rare but still problematic slugs on the development site in County Cork was close to being wrapped up, Alison appeared at his office door, looking anxious, and with the pile of clothes for Gabe still draped in her outstretched arms.

       Sorry, Barry, we ll have to wrap it up now, Lou said in a
rush. I have to run. I ve two places to be right now, both of
them across town, and you know what traffic is like. And just
like that, with a porcelain smile and a firm warm handshake, Mr.
Brennan found himself suddenly back in the elevator, descending
to the ground floor, his winter coat draped over one arm and his
paperwork stuffed into his briefcase and tucked under the other.
Yet, at the same time, it had been a pleasant meeting.

       Did Gabe say no? Lou asked Alison.Did Gabe say no? Lou asked Alison.

       There was no one there. She looked confused. I stood at
reception calling and calling his name God, it was so
embarrassing and nobody came. Was this part of a joke, Lou? I
can t believe, after you made me show the Romanian rose seller
into Alfred s office, that I d fall for this again.

       It s not a joke. He took her arm and dragged her over to his
window.

       But there was no man there, she said with exasperation.

      He looked out the window and saw Gabe still in the same place on
the ground. A light rain was starting to fall, spitting against
the window at first and then quickly making a tapping sound as it
turned heavier. Gabe pushed himself back farther into the
doorway, tucking his feet in closer to his chest and away from
the wet ground. He lifted the hood from his sweater over his head
and pulled the drawstrings tightly, which from all the way up on
the thirteenth floor seemed to be attached to Lou s
heartstrings.

       Is that not a man? he asked, pointing out the window.

      Alison squinted and moved her nose closer to the glass. Yes,
but

      He grabbed the clothes from her arms. I ll do it myself, he said AS SOON AS LOU STEPPED through the lobby s revolving doors, the
icy air whipped at his face. His breath was momentarily taken
away by a great gush, and the rain alone felt like ice cubes
hitting his skin. Gabe was concentrating intently on the shoes
that passed him, no doubt trying to ignore the elements that were
thrashing around him. In his mind he was elsewhere, anywhere but
there. On a beach where it was warm, where the sand was like
velvet and the Liffey before him was the endless sea. While in
this other world he felt a kind of bliss that a man in his
position shouldn t.

      His face, however, didn t reflect all this. Gone was the look of
warm contentment from that morning. His blue eyes were colder as
they followed Lou s shoes from the revolving doors all the way
to the edge of his blanket.

      As Gabe watched the shoes, he was imagining them to be the feet
of a local man working at the beach he was currently lounging on.
The local was approaching him with a cocktail balanced
dangerously in the center of a tray, the tray held out high and
away from his body like the arms of a candelabra. Gabe had
ordered this drink quite some time ago, but he d allowed the man
this small delay. It was a hotter day than usual. The sand was
crammed with glistening, coconut-scented bodies, and the muggy
air was slowing everybody down. The flip-flop-clad feet that
approached him now sprayed him with grains of sand with each approached him now sprayed him with grains of sand with each
step. As they neared him, the grains became splashes of
raindrops, and the flip-flops became a familiar pair of shiny
shoes. Gabe looked up, hoping to see a multicolored cocktail
filled with fruit and tiny paper umbrellas on a tray. Instead, he
saw Lou, with a pile of clothes over his arm, and it took him a
moment to adjust once again to the cold, the noise of the
traffic, and the hustle and bustle that had replaced his tropical
paradise.

      Lou also didn t look like he had this morning. His hair had lost
its Cary Grant like sheen and neatly combed forelock, and his
shoulders appeared to be covered in dandruff as the drops falling
from the sky nested in his expensive suit, leaving dark patches
on the fabric. He was uncharacteristically windswept, and his
usually relaxed shoulders were instead hunched high in an effort
to shield his ears from the cold. His body trembled, missing his
cashmere coat like a sheep who d just been sheared and now stood
knobbly-kneed and naked.

       You want a job? Lou asked confidently, but it came out quiet
and meek, as half his volume was taken away by the wind.

      Gabe simply smiled. You re sure?

      Confused by his reaction, Lou nodded. He wasn t expecting a hug
and a kiss, but his offer seemed almost expected. This he didn t
like. He was more atuned to a song and a dance, an ooh and an
aah, a thank-you and a declaration of indebtedness. But he didn't aah, a thank-you and a declaration of indebtedness. But he didn
t get this from Gabe. What he did get was a quiet smile, and,
after Gabe had thrown off the blanket from his body and raised
himself to his full height, a firm, thankful and, in spite of
the temperature, surprisingly warm handshake. It was as though
they were already sealing a deal Lou couldn t recall
negotiating.

      Standing at exactly the same height, they gazed directly into
each other s blue eyes, Gabe s from under the hood that was
pulled down low over his eyes, monk-like, boring into Lou s with
such intensity that Lou had to blink and look away. At the same
time, a doubt entered Lou s mind, now that the mere thought of a
good deed was becoming a reality. The doubt came breezing through
like a stubborn guest through a hotel lobby with no reservation,
and Lou stood there, confused at what to do next. Where to put
this doubt. Keep it or turn it away. He had many questions to ask
Gabe, many questions he probably should have asked before
offering the job, but there was only one that he needed to ask
right then.

       Can I trust you? Lou asked.

      He had wanted to be convinced, for his mind to be put at ease,
but he did not count on receiving the kind of response he was
about to hear.

      Gabe barely blinked. With your life.
The Presidential Suite for the gentleman and his word.

I can't write more so  I am so sorry