Tammy Grignon Smith of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, has won a literary award for this story. She's had no formal writing training, which she hopes to remedy, by taking a home study course in creative writing, in order to hone her already recognized skills.
Tammy Grignon Smith
A MOTHER'S DAY LOVE
by
Tammy Grignon Smith (copyright 1997 All Rights Reserved)
"Seriously, think about it Catherine."
The group of woman squealed with laughter.
Tonight was Friday, the girls' night out and they had
decided that an evening at Karen's home and a bottle of wine was
in order. Catherine couldn't help frowning as her friends
casually spoke of their husbands and families. Her husband had
walked out on her and her two children almost two years ago. She
still felt a raw bitter pain tug at her heart when she recalled
that day.
Marcy spoke, "Seriously think about it," she repeated,
"you're the only one of us who doesn't have the excess baggage
of a husband. You could go out and meet a rich millionaire and
travel around the world on his personal jet, drinking champagne.
When you come home you could meet with us and we could live
vicariously through you."
Again laughter filled the room.
Catherine spoke as she walked towards the picture
window, "I'm a grown woman with two children. Who would want to
start a relationship with me?"
She had not had a date since before meeting her
ex-husband. She held very little hope of ever meeting anyone.
She was too old she had convinced herself, then there were the
children. She was a devoted mother who worshiped her children.
She knew that no single man would want the burden of an instant
family.
"Well, what about William," Marcy was speaking, again,
"he seems friendly and from what I can see he's pretty
interested."
Marcy and Catherine worked for the same company and
both knew William Winters, a top executive for their firm.
"Don't be silly, he's kind to me when he sees me, just
like he is with everyone else. But, he is gorgeous, with his
dark silky black hair, and quite built, I must admit. But he
wouldn't give anyone of us a second look. I'm sure he thinks
we're beneath him."
Marcy nodded her head in agreement, "I think you may
be right, I've never once seen him sit with anyone but upper
management. But he does have the most heavenly green eyes I ever
saw."
The conversation slowly steered away from Catherine's
love life as the remainder of the evening covered memories of
their youthful high school days.
The following day Catherine took her seat behind her
computer but before she could begin her work she became
distracted by a familiar energy that filled the room as he
entered. All eyes were on him as he made his way towards her
desk,
"Catherine can I speak with you? Do you have a
moment?"
She swallowed hard and nodded her head. Her common
sense seemed to slip away as she looked into his dreamy eyes,
their brief exchange so intense as to arouse a passion she
thought had long since been buried. He smiled, then presented
her with the stack of hand written papers,
"I have a very important presentation this week and
need this outline ready by noon tomorrow."
She felt her face flush with embarrassment as she
realized how foolish she had been. "Certainly
Sir," she reached for the stack of papers.
"Thank you, please bring them to my office as soon as
they're complete."
And he was gone.
She made her way to the ladies' room and chided
herself for her behavior. She couldn't imagine what had come
over her, why she had allowed herself to engage in the fantasy
that she saw something other than a professional look in his
eyes. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror she reminded
herself that she was a divorcee, a mother of two. Although she
possessed a natural beauty she could never hold a candle to all
the elegant woman who passed through this building every day,
all of whom she was sure could captivate William's heart at a
glance. She composed herself, returned to her station to spend
the remainder of the day completing the task he had given her.
By eleven o'clock the following morning she was
standing in his office, assignment in hand.
"Please sit down Catherine, let's see what you have."
Catherine sat nervously as he reviewed the documents.
She struggled with the unaccustomed emotions that coursed
throughout her body as she became aware of his overwhelming
masculine presence filling the air. The silence was broken as he
rose and gestured for her to precede him.
"This is excellent, I'm really impressed. I have a lot
of presentations to prepare over the next couple of months so
I'll likely be calling on you for your assistance, O.K.?"
She nodded agreement as she slid past him, "Sure Mr.
Winters, I would love to work with you again."
He placed his hand lightly on the small of her back as
he guided her to the door.
"Call me William."
The memory of his touch lingered throughout the day,
like a sweet velvety caress.
Catherine arrived to work the following morning and
was quickly ushered to his office. She felt her heart rate
increase as he looked deep into her eyes.
"Well, I have another assignment for you, I think
you'll find this one interesting. Shall we begin?"
The couple began working on the project and Catherine
was pleased at how relaxed she began to feel in his presence. He
had an uncanny ability to make you forget all outside
distractions as you listened to his soothing voice. They worked
intently for several hours before the telephone rang. William
was obviously irritated as he picked up the receiver and
listened for a moment. He nodded and then handed the phone to
Catherine.
"It's for you."
After a brief conversation she hung up and turned
towards William, "It's my son's school. He's been sick for the
past hour, probably the flu."
William seemed oblivious to the panic stricken look on
her face as he spoke.
"You can't leave. We have to get this done today!"
She sat stunned as the man who was present only
moments ago changed right before her eyes.
"Just call someone to take care of him, this is too
important to leave now. I'm warning you, don't go!"
Catherine stood, tossed her notepad on the desk, "My
son needs me."
**********
She smiled as she read the thermometer, Matthew's
temperature was back to normal, he would be fine. She had taken
him right from school to the doctor and had been informed that
it was simply the flu.
Matthew looked at his mother sleepily, "I forgot your
Mother's Day card at school."
Tears filled her eyes as she stroked her son's
forehead, "Honey, Mommy will be just as happy to get it later.
Now go to sleep, I love you."
She kissed him goodnight then made her way to her
daughter's room, was pleased to find her fast asleep. As she
headed to the quiet of her own room, peaceful in the knowledge
that her children were fine she reflected on the conversation
she'd had with William earlier that day. How could she have been
so blind? How could she not have seen the real William Winters,
the cruel selfish man who thought only of himself and his
deadlines? A chill crept through her with the realization that
William was not the man she had envisioned, not the man she had
found herself falling in love with. She drifted into a fitful
sleep burdened with the knowledge that she would be forever
alone.
"Mommy, look," Catherine rubbed her eyes and tried to
focus on the her daughter, "Happy Mother's Day, here," little
Rose shoved a huge bouquet of flowers towards her.
"Where in heavens did you get those?"
Little Rose looked momentarily confused then said
matter of factly, "The man downstairs."
Fear gripped Catherine's heart as she leapt out of bed
and grabbed her robe, "You stay here," she ordered as she ran
down the stairs.
The man and her son looked towards her as she
frantically entered the kitchen.
Matthew grinned, "Happy Mother's Day Mom! See, I'm all
better now."
William quickly rose, "Matthew let me in, hope you
don't mind. I told him not to wake you. I figured you could use
the extra sleep, thought you may have had a late night with him."
He pointed to the fresh brewed coffee, "I put a pot of
coffee on, care for a cup?"
Fury flashed across Catherine's face as she turned
towards her son, "We'll talk later Matthew, right now you go
play with your sister."
Matthew slowly bowed his head as he passed William,
"I'm not supposed to let strangers in."
Catherine watched as her son made his way out of the
room then turned to William.
"How dare you? You have no right to come into my home
like this. You're my boss at work, that's all! Get out, right
now!"
William reached out, touched her arm, "Catherine, I'm
so sorry. I was so horrible yesterday when you got that phone
call. All I could think of was that I wanted to be with you but
then you had to leave. I..I think I've loved you since the first
time I saw you. As soon as you left yesterday I realized what I
had done, what I had said. I prayed your little boy would be
O.K."
William gestured towards the room where the children
were playing , "You have great children."
Catherine combed her fingers through her tangled hair
as she spoke, "I don't know what to say William, this is so
confusing."
His eyes pleaded with her.
"Say you'll give me one more chance?"
She looked towards the kitchen archway and was amused
to find both her children peeking their noses around the corner,
their grins wide.
"Well, what do you think?"
Their response was obvious as they ran into the room
squealing with laughter, squeezing their mother with their
little arms.
Matthew looked up at her and spoke with a blunt
honesty reserved only for children, "I like him Mom, I think you
should marry him."
Catherine laughed as she looked into William's eyes,
"Happy Mother's Day, Catherine," he said as he placed his arms
around his new found family.