Eleven o’clock. Benji stood in front of the full-length mirror. His loafers were polished, his nails were cleaned, his face was shaved. His body fitted into a nice suit and tie and his grandfather’s briefcase rested upright between his feet.
“You look sexy,” Copper complimented, tapping the electric razor against his cheek. “How do you feel?”
“Like a twat,” Benji growled, loosening the tie.
“No, no, leave it. You look fantastic, just go see her, listen, nod. Answer intelligently, and you’ll do fine. Just remember, don’t mention anything about the zeds, all right?”
“No zeds, right. I understand that part, you grilled me on that all through your girly spa treatments.”
Copper held up a strict finger. “They were to clean your appalling feet and hands. I do it for Fiona all the time. Do you want a faggot before you go?”
Benji denied with a toss of his hands. “I’ll have a mint instead.”
“Alrighty.” Copper reached into his back pocket and took out a tin. He popped open the lid and took out a round breath fresher. He placed it on Benji’s awaiting tongue. “There you go. Are you ready?”
“No.”
“Do you have everything?”
“Yes.” Benji held up the suitcase.
“Remember to shake hands and be polite, don’t talk too much, but talk enough so they know you think, yeah? Let girls go first, don’t compliment too much, and don’t touch everything.” Copper hurried Benji to the front door and out to the car. He opened the driver seat and shoved Benji inside. “Have a good day at work.”
“Thanks, babe.” Benji started up the car and drove to the London Variety. It was a lengthy drive since he lived west of London, but it gave him time to listen to his favourite songs, think about what could go wrong, and about what he wanted for lunch. As he tapped the steering wheel to a Colbie Caillat song, he began singing along with her, only to stop halfway when he remembered his last singing experience didn’t go well. Dropping his eyes to the switches on the radio, he reached over to skip the song before the sound of a blaring horn zoomed past him. Looking up suddenly, he saw a red car speeding ahead of him and then, in the rearview mirror, he saw a yellow car coming into view.
In a reaction anyone would have done with a car going fifty miles over the speed limit on a highway and passing right beside the driver’s side, Benji swerved off the road, the wheels of his car skidding across the pavement onto a merging highway. Daringly, he removed his foot from the brake, allowing the speed to replace his gas. He tried to maneuver from the signs, trees, and cars, but everything was happening in a second. From Grace above, his car slid off the highway and into a grassy area. It wasn’t a soft landing, in fact, Benji suffered from a busted eyebrow, bruised knees, a twisted ankle, and severely sprained wrists.
Blinking away the fuzziness, he pressed a hand against the side of his head and unhinged his clenched jaw. He looked out the window and saw a police car pull up behind him. Leaning his head back in gratefulness, he rolled down the window and gathered his phone and wallet. The police officer came up beside him and leaned in.
“You all right, sir?”
“Yes, I’m all right. I’m on my way to a job interview, and I can’t be late.”
“I’m going to call an ambulance, please stay where you are. I need an account of the accident, and if you’re injured, you shouldn’t go anywhere. Call your boss and let him know.” The officer walked away and began talking to what sounded like other officers.
In frustration, Benji fisted the side of his door and dialed Kris’s number. As he waited, he dabbed the blood from his eyebrow and checked his face for any other wounds.
“Kris Madison of London Variety, publishing department, how may I serve you?”
“Yes, this is Benji Dore, I’m so sorry, but I’ve been in an accident.”
“Oh my god, are you okay?”
“I think so. They’re going to call an ambulance and all this stuff, I can’t come in. Is it possible to reschedule? I need this job, please don’t give it to anyone else. I’ll—,”
“Mr. Dore, please, don’t worry about it. I will make sure you’ll have your interview, But for now, get well. I’m so sorry to hear this.”
“Ta. Well, the officer looks like he wants to speak to me. Ring you later, then?”
“Sure. Take care, Mr. Dore.”
Benji hung up and placed a hand over his tightening chest. The officer reached in and unlocked the door. He opened it, catching Benji before he collapsed onto the ground.
“Sir, sir?”
Two hours later, Benji’s eyes fluttered open and a bright light greeted him. Grimacing against the ache in his body, he closed his eyes again and pressed the side of his face deep into the pillow. “Am I all right?”
“You fainted,” came a light voice from the chair beside him.
“I was talking on the phone. I hate talking on the phone. Bless my socks, it makes me so nervous,” Benji said, more to himself than the vistor.
“This was a coincidence.”
Benji turned his face to the voice and stared in disbelief. “Why?”
“It was a car wreck, for God’s sake, Benji, of course I would be curious.”
“Wait, what do you mean? Why are you here, Shannon?” Benji said with a bitter tone to the name. “You know I don’t want to see you. Just go home.”
“I got worried when I saw you in the car, can I worry?”
Benji remained silent and turned his head away. He couldn’t stand her. The mere presence of her increased his throbbing head ache. “Go away.”
“Benji—,” Shannon began before Benji began struggling to sit up.
Shannon stood up from the seat and tried to calmly push him down. “Stop it, Benji, you’ll hurt yourself.”
“I don’t care!” Benji jerked a chord from his arm and shoved her away from him. “I can’t believe you’ll show your face after all these years! Do you know what you did to me?”
The brunette girl, with her striking features and curvy build, dropped her head in shame. She pushed the hair from her face and her lips closed. “Yes, I know, Copper told me when you were admitted.”
“You don’t do that to a person!”
The hospital door opened nurses and assistants came in. “Mr. Dore, are you all right?”
“Just get this woman away from me, who let her in?” Benji hobbled back to the bed. Pressing his hand against his sore ribs, he sank down into the mattress and laid his head down. The melodic sounds of her voice, the ones he had heard somewhere in his tainted memories, faded in the background.
A nurse came up to him and neatened his bed and rearranged the machines. “Mr. Dore, are you all right?”
“Somewhere in my jacket or car, there’s a number. I need to talk to her.” A tear fell from his eyes as he fumbled for the words. “I need to talk to Kris Madison.”
The nurse started to leave.
“Wait,” Benji called out in a distance voice. “Bring the girl back in. I want to ask her a question.” As the nurse left to fetch Shannon, lines creased in Benji’s forehead in thought. He caressed his chin, his eyes stretched in contemplation. When the click-clacking of his past lover’s heels entered the room and the nurse left them together (supervising from the window outside, though), Benji turned to the young woman. “It wasn’t coincidence.”
“Pardon?” Shannon said, taking a seat in the chair again. “What do you mean?”
“You followed me. How else would you have known where I crashed? People don’t just pull over to see a crash.”
An ashen eyebrow arched and Shannon rolled her tongue between her cheeks. It doesn’t matter.”
“Why? Why are you here?” Benji glanced down at her folded hands. “Where’s your ring?”
Shannon scratched the part above her eyebrow before hiding her hand under her handbag. She rearranged herself in the chair, her ankles having a hard time finding a place to stay. “He broke up with me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. He didn’t really understand me.” Shannon scooted in closer and placed her fingers softly on his arm. “I’m so sorry, Benji, please.”
Benji bit down on his bottom lip and fought the tears muddling his vision. All the emotions he kept so well hidden after their separation seemed to be unstoppable now.
Shannon squeezed her eyes shut and let out a soft gasp, trying to figure out how to redeem the situation. She closed her fingers around his arm, her thumb moving back and forth in an intimate fashion over his skin. “Benji, I got scared, and I couldn’t commit.”
“Don’t justify yourself.”
“Do we have to bring this entire thing up again? Can’t we just try again? You were always so good at second chances. Please, let me give us a second chance.”
Benji shook his head slowly. “Shannon, I thought once that I would let you back in. I dreamt of this moment so that I could accept you. But now, I don’t think I can take you back. I’m sorry.” Benji blinked, releasing an unwanted tear.
Carefully and gently, Shannon caught the tear through a kiss. She forced her emotions on him, kissing him on the bruises and then ever so softly on the lips in a way he couldn’t break from. Her hands cupped his face in the security he once trusted. Memories of their sweetest moments flooded back in his mind, and for a moment, he thought he loved her again.
Breaking the kiss, Shannon said through a warbling voice, “Benji, I am so sorry.”
“I—,” Benji began in an apologetic tone before he spotted Kris standing outside of the door, looking at them in confusion. Yelping, Benji sat up and shoved Shannon aside, not meaning to thrust her so hard against the chair. But it did make him smile for a moment. “Shannon, just go.”
“Who’s that?” Shannon asked in a protective voice. Her shoulders were arched, his fingers curled, and her eyes sized up Kris in a unsparing manner. Benji swore he could see her hackles rise.
Scrambling from his ex-lover’s shadow, he tumbled to the floor and limped over to the door. The nurse met him halfway and insisted that he’d return to his bed and resolve things later. Benji pushed against the nurse’s hands, his eyes locked on Kris’s sad ones.
“Please, Kris, please, let me call you and explain.”
Kris forced a smile and held in her composure. “I’ll call you later about the interview, okay?”
Shaking his head and mouthing the one syllable word that he hoped would stop everything, Benji whispered, “No, no. Don’t go. No, don’t go.” Before he returned to the bed, he called out in his strongest voice, “Call Copper!”
Turning her head in confusion, Kris asked in unintentional comical confusion, “Who’s Copper.”
“His awkward friend,” Shannon replied.
“Shut it! He’s my friend!”
“Your only friend,” Shannon snapped back as she looked over at Kris in disgust. Her painted lips snarled at the innocent beauty in the doorway.
Benji ran past Shannon and caught Kris by the arm just in time before she turned her back on him. “Please, Kris, this is Shannon, all right? She was my ex-fiancé. I loved her once, okay? Once. I don’t understand why she’s here except that her husband or whatever dumped her. Now she wants me back. But I don’t want her back. I w—,” Benji stopped himself from what he really wanted to say. But he didn’t know Kris well enough to say it boldly. But he knew if she didn’t, she’d walk away, too.
Clearing her throat, Kris stepped in the room, arms crossed. “There’s a misunderstanding, obviously. But, Mr. Dore, can we keep it business?”
“Don’t be like her. Don’t be one thing and be something different.”
Kris’s shoulders fell and she crossed a leg behind her other ankle. “A person can be kind without being…I’m sorry if you misunderstood, I didn’t—I got to go.” In a sharp breath, Kris escaped the room, a hand pressed against her mouth to stop from what appeared to be crying.
Turning to Shannon, Benji shouted, “Get out!”
“You’re a walking tragedy,” Shannon spat before the nurse hurriedly removed her from the room. The nurse gave Benji a look of pity and then closed the door. Benji stood at the side of the bed, his eyes still where Kris had last stood. “I don’t understand. I don’t understand anything.” Dramatically, he threw himself in the direction of the bed, just to miss it and crash awkwardly into the machines. He remained unconscious for awhile.