A Woman in Search Of...

“May I help you?”

“Yes, I love this plant, please tell me about it.”

She explained the plant and the woman paid and left.

Two days had passed since the phone call. She figured he must be too angry to trust her, the same way she felt about Scott, so Wendy understood. Passing into her bedroom she kicked the bottom of the door angry at herself for being such a fool.

She hadn’t been to Cat and Mouse since Scott’s outrageous behavior. She would apologize to the waiter if he was there, although it had been quite a while, but she needed to escape from her anguished thoughts about Elliott. She walked toward a table and Matt smiled at her. Maybe he didn’t know about Scott’s mouthing off. She listened to the music. He sang, “What the World Needs Now is Love.” What great timing for that song.

Matt visited with her at his break. After he walked away the waiter who served Scott and her came by. Wendy stopped him. “Sir, I don’t know if you remember but I was here with a guy who treated you rudely.”

He arched his eyebrows. “Oh, I remember.”

“I’m so sorry he treated you so mean. He’ll never be back.”

“Thank you, I appreciate your apology.”

She smiled as he moved away. She felt relief at having talked to him.

The next night was Sunday. She decided to stay home and read a book. She liked mystery stories. The one she was reading, Come See Her turned into a good read. She took it with her to the kitchen where she grabbed a mug and poured herself some coffee. She was about to go back to the living room when the phone rang. She thought it was Cindy because they hadn’t talked for a while.

“Hello.”

“Hi Wendy.”

She couldn’t believe it. “Hi Elliott,” She put the book and mug down.

“I’ve given your phone call a lot of thought. I would like to hear about what happened to you and how you think you’ve changed. You want to meet somewhere?”

Wendy held her excitement in abeyance. “Yes, I’d like to.”

“Okay, there’s Robin’s House on Westwood Blvd, north of Wilshire. What’s a good day and time?”

“With Carol at the nursery I can pretty much go anytime, I’m open.”

“How about tomorrow at 12:30?”

“Sure, thanks.”

“See you then, goodbye.”

Wendy didn’t know how to calm herself. She put her head on the table, then jumped up and went to the living room where she fell onto the sofa. All she could think about was how happy she felt that he wanted to talk everything out. The concern now, how to tell him what she needed to say.

At the nursery the next day she pulled dead leaves as usual and kept herself busy until noon. She went to the gazebo and sat. She tried to think of ways to start the conversation. Nothing came to mind.

“I’m really excited for you,” Carol said as Wendy grabbed her purse. “I hope everything goes the way you want.”

“Thanks, I hope so too.”

Wendy pulled into the parking lot next to the restaurant. Elliott waited in the entry. “Hi,” was all she could say.

“Hi. They’re holding a table for us.”

She followed him to the table where they sat across from each other.

As soon as they settled in. “I have to tell you, Wendy, I was very conflicted about meeting you, but I want to hear what you have to say.”

“I can understand your hesitancy.” She stopped when the waitress came over and set down the menus. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Want to look at the menus first?”

“Sure.” A nice gesture since he obviously knew she was nervous and not sure how to start. She didn’t look at the menu long…just decided on soup and a roll. Soon the waitress returned with water, and they ordered.

When she left, Wendy looked Elliott straight in the eyes. Her body stiffened, “What happened to me, I tried to forget the pain I was feeling about Scott, the failure of the Fireplace Grill, and my feelings toward you. At the time, I was also interested in Brad. My mind couldn’t seem to concentrate even after I visited Dr. Lewis. I got completely taken away by the bar scene and all the fun it offered me. But I changed so much and apparently couldn’t deal with the consequences of my behavior. I turned to drugs as an escape. I wanted to fit in with the new world I was experiencing. My conservative lifestyle was turned upside down when I made changes to myself, and men looked at me for the first time like I was…sexy and I finally felt appreciated. I’m so sorry about everything.”

“It’s ok. I want to hear the truth.”

She waited until the waitress set their dinners down.

“It all began with my dad…how critical he used to be to me and then Scott was too. I know I mentioned this a long time ago, their treatment of me really left me feeling unloved and uncared for. They destroyed my self-confidence. You made me feel the opposite. I loved being with you because you,” she shook her head and then refocused her eyes on him, “always showed you cared about me.” As her eyes continued to focus on him, she gulped some air. “I should have never turned to drugs, but at that point in my life, I needed an escape into a world I didn’t know how to deal with. I’ve been off drugs for over five months. I’ve learned to deal with problems in a more practical and sane way.” Her face flushed and beads of sweat ran down her face.

Elliott looked at her with admiring eyes. With a quick movement of his hands, he held hers. “For the most part I knew and understood what was happening. I just couldn’t stay around and watch you continue to fall apart. I couldn’t deal with what was happening to you and the changes that I found disturbing.”

Wendy looked down and tears dripped. Elliott lifted her chin and brushed them away. “I’m sorry you went through what you did, especially how your dad and husband treated you. But I appreciate your candor and I believe you have changed. I do want to remind you that some of your changes were good. You are very creative…look at your nursery and the House Retreats projects, a lot of hard work and great accomplishments. What I see in you is a woman who is smart, creative, and learned the hard way to deal with issues in a more practical way.”

“It helped that Cindy was there for me. She’s such a great friend.”

“And I know you feel the same about her.”

“Thank you. One of your traits that helped me was that you never criticized me until I made a fool of myself that night. I will always regret it.”

“There are things I regret too, but that’s how we learn, sometimes the hard way, but look at yourself now. You’ve obviously came to terms with everything that was bothering you and are ready to appreciate your new outlook. Groovy.”

Wendy laughed at the word he never used when they were together. He laughed too.

“I don’t know what to say. I embarrassed myself and you that night. Nothing like that will ever happen again.”

Elliott grinned. “I know. I can tell you have changed in a good way.”

Wendy’s forlorn look turned into an endearing smile.

Elliott stroked her hair. “I’d like to give us a chance to start over.”

“Oh Elliott, thank you for believing in me. I know I won’t screw up again.”

“Well, we all screw up, but now, maybe in less traumatic ways.” Elliott smiled.

Wendy looked at their plates and laughed.” What’s so funny?”

“Neither one of us has eaten anything.”

They both laughed.

“I want to tell you my nursery was nominated as one of five by the California Shade Plant Association.”

“That’s terrific!”

“Thanks. There’s an awards banquet where they will announce the winner. Can I interest you in joining me?”

He ran a hand down the side of her hair and took her hands in his, “I’d like that.”