Jake was waiting outside Lenny’s office when Charlie left. He let himself in and Lenny hung up the phone.

“I guess there’s no need to page you. Have you been snooping around my office, waiting for me to come in all morning?” Lenny said.

“It wasn’t as bad as that. You know I knew you would come in today. I trust in you implicitly. I have never questioned your judgment on when to skip out on work and when to work. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have made it past the junior year. How you were able to drink all day Saturday and still wake up early Sunday morning, drag me out of bed and to the studio, and actually convince me that it was in my best interest not to puke on our latest project—I have no idea how you accomplished that. That’s why I picked you to work with me. While I have the skill of Leonardo, you have his tenacity. We make a great duo,” Jake said.

“I don’t know about that skill question. I do remember having to show you more than once the proper way to hold a brush. But it’s good to see you as well. I know that’s why you came in here,” Lenny said.

Jake held his belly and laughed. Jake was a large man and instead of worrying about his largeness, he fully embraced. He had once told a gathering of clients that he was a fat man, and he couldn’t imagine being any happier as a skinny man. He wielded his weight as a woman used beauty or wealthy person money. With a comment, he could turn an obnoxious man into his best friend. Jake wore an oversized button down shirt. He did not tuck in his shirts into his pants, more for comfort reasons than because he was embarrassed to show his waistline. He happily stripped down to his skivvies for a dip in his pool, or splayed out on the beach, usually with a wooden sign that one of his schoolmates gave him that red, “Beached Whale.” He loved the reactions that the sign caused.

“I now think I’ve mastered the holding of a brush, and perhaps I should thank your tutelage. But there is some business I stopped in here to discuss. Mr. Tiereen has been calling about his account. We were supposed to deliver samples of the campaign to his office three days ago. I called him last Wednesday to explain the delay and he was willing to accept, with a mark-down, the new schedule. He called this morning and started having second thoughts. We might have to bring him something today,” Jake said.

Lenny chewed his cheek. Mr. Tiereen’s account was a large one, and Lenny was counting on that account to account for much of the billing this quarter. With everything that had gone on last week, he had not forgotten about the account. After Jake convinced Mr. Tiereen that the delay would not hurt his account, Jake put it aside to focus on his recovery. He now had to make good on his promises. “Okay. I’ll get to it right away. Did Charlie do any work on it while I was away?” Lenny said.

“What do you think—that boy is looking to make the jump this year. I’m almost sure of it, and I’m almost at the point of giving him a little push to get him started. He’s starting to create a toxic environment in the office. Perhaps you can have a talk with him?” Jake said.

“I’m not sure if you saw him on the way out, but Charlie and I already had a talk. Charlie will give his notice at the end of the week, but none of the clients he thinks will go with him will. He’s put a down payment on an office that he will lose in six months, and he will come crawling back to his old job with a new attitude. I see good things in Charlie’s future with this firm,” Lenny said. He did not know where the information came from, but he was sure that it was accurate as he said it.

“He told you all of that? I’m not sure how he knew that he would fail, but, yeah, I’ve spoken to three clients that expressed concerns when he called. All three are staying with us and haven’t told him their plans one way or the other. I was going to surprise you with this when you were feeling down—well, more down than now. How did you know?” Jake said.

The possible responses floated through Lenny’s head faster than he could process them. It was important that he appear knowledge to impress Jake, but not create any additional worries in him. Lenny realized he had gone too far with his description of Charlie’s predicament. He cursed himself for not thinking before he spoke, but the knowledge was there and it was hard not to share it. Lenny reflected momentarily on why impressing Jake was so important. Jake and Lenny were partners in the firm and he did not previously think that there was a risk to the partnership. That is when it occurred to him that Jake had spoken to Charlie about the partnership; particularly after he became worried about Lenny’s well-being over the past few weeks.

“I still have my ears in the office, Jake. Besides, Charlie is an open book. Listen, on Wednesday, why don’t you drag Tommy out and meet Samantha and me for dinner. I haven’t been out to dinner with anyone but Samantha’s friends for as long as I could remember,” Lenny said.

Jake studied Lenny for a moment. Lenny knew that Jake would accept. He needed to remind Jake during dinner of what they have invested in the partnership. Tommy would also be the perfect distraction for Samantha, who loved his charm and outrageous behavior. Lenny could never figure out what Tommy saw in Jake, but he was happy for him.

“We’ll be there. Now, don’t you have a proposal to finish up?” Jake said.

“That I do. I’ll stop by later and show you the final drafts to see if you have any comments,” Lenny said and looked down at his papers.

Jake remained in the room for another minute before turning around. “I love that new sweater of yours, Lenny. It gives you a very, what’s the word I’m looking for, cordial look,” Jake said as he left Lenny’s office.

Lenny could not think of a comeback fast enough, but knew that the insights the sweater gave him to his situation at work made Jake’s ridicule acceptable. Lenny tried to think back to when he knew that the insights he had been having related to the sweater, but his thoughts became cloudy. He must have always known where his insights came from. He worried that his insights about his insights might also come from the sweater, but he felt it was different. Before he could follow the line of thought, the pang in his gut reminded him that he had a deadline rapidly approaching and little thought or sketching done to meet that deadline. He buzzed Charlie for assistance, and sat down at the drafting board. His mind cleared as his pencil took over with a mind of its own, and the advertising layout for pepper mills began to take shape.

Lenny met Samantha at the hospital to visit his aunt. Samantha carried a basket of fruit. She looked incredible. She wore a short business skirt and a tightly-fitted silk blouse. Lenny kissed her before she could say a word.

“You look wonderful,” Lenny said, running his hand up Samantha’s back over her smooth blouse.

Samantha studied Lenny through squinted eyes, leaning her head forward to get a closer look at him. The basket she carried was piled high with fruit and sticking up from the middle of the basket was a box of chocolates. The box was almost too large for the basket, but Samantha had rearranged the fruit and probably removed a few fruits to ensure that the chocolates fit. She handed the basket to Lenny.

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” Samantha said. She was wary of Lenny’s compliments. While she, like all females Lenny had ever met, would happily trade her left arm for the guarantee of a lifetime of compliments, Lenny was not skilled in the art. Over the last two years that he had known Samantha, Lenny had begun experimenting with compliments as a way of moving their relationship to the next level. He was still not good at them, but he used them more freely. Today, however, Lenny’s compliments were the genuine issue. He felt an upsurge of gratitude and love toward Samantha. She had kept him sane over the last two weeks when his head and body had rebelled.

“I’m wonderful thanks to you, Samantha,” Lenny said.

“Now I know something is wrong. Did you crash into my car or kill my cat,” Samantha said.

“First off, you don’t have a cat, but if you did, yes, I would have killed it a long time ago. And, second, nothing is wrong. I’m just really grateful for everything you’ve done for me over the last few weeks. I really mean that,” Lenny said.

“You better be. I was this close to calling you a lost cause after all the bitching and complaining you put me through. But that’s all behind us, and your aunt is waiting. I’m glad that you’re wearing her sweater today. It’ll make her very happy,” Samantha said.

They rode the elevator up to the third floor where his aunt was being housed. Lenny did not like to think of this as her house, or that they were housing her here. His aunt had always been an independent woman who would not even dream of letting anyone do anything for her—at least nobody whom she was not paying. She was a lady of means and had always used those means to make herself comfortable. If she chose, this is probably the hospital she would have selected. The hospital was a converted three-star hotel. Major renovations were needed to create the atmosphere that promoted healing and would cater to the tastes of its clients. The fluorescent lights were replaced with more natural lights, and the white-washed walls were replaced with calming peaches, yellows, and blues. Hundreds of plants were scattered on each floor and a small cadre of cats wandered from room to room, herded by a small nurse.

His aunt’s room looked over the ocean, with a large balcony populated with white chairs and a table. Outside of the bedroom there was a small sitting room with a couch, love seat, rocking chair, and a large television. Lenny grinned grimly at the rocking chair. As if it was not bad enough that these people were in this place, they were also being told that they were old enough to need a rocking chair. They found his aunt in the bedroom, sitting at the edge of bed staring out the window into the ocean.

“Pretty view,” Lenny said by way of greeting. His aunt did not turn around.

Samantha placed the fruit basket on the table by her bed. “We brought you fruits and chocolate, Elaine. Something to take the bite away from the food here,” Samantha said.

“I don’t think the food is that bad here, Samantha. For what we pay, it better not be,” Lenny said and regretted it before the words left his mouth. The one thing his aunt could never stand was discussing money. To her, money was a subject that cultured people did not discuss. Lenny always thought it was particular that people with wealth would never discuss money, while people with little, such as Lenny and his family, discussed it endlessly. He watched his aunt for a reaction, but she did not move.

“Let me open the window. The breeze will do us all some good,” Samantha said. She opened the porch door and the salty smell of the ocean entered the room. His aunt remained seated and did not turn, continuing to stare out the window.

“Samantha brought your favorite chocolates, Aunt Elaine,” Lenny said.

“I even removed the labels so you can try and guess which chocolate is which,” Samantha said.

Lenny took the chocolates out of the basket and knelt besides his aunt. When she caught site of him, she reached out and grabbed the sweater. Her grip was tight and she began pulling at it, as if she was trying to rip it off his body. Lenny placed both his hands over her hand and gently pulled the sweater back.

Word count: 2,131

Words left: 32,234

Caffeination: Vanilla Coke

Feeling: Better. After receiving a nice pep-talk e-mail from Chuck, I realized that however bad my story is, I'm at least writing it. That's saying something--I'm still trying to figure out what it is saying, though.