Page 4 of Coming Unraveled
He takes a moment to whisper something into the other cook’s ear and then steps from around the open grill area and heads in her direction. Instead of sitting down she continues to stand knowing that he’ll want to hug her, and she isn’t disappointed as he wraps his gigantic arms around her shoulders.
“Everleigh, long time no see. What have you been up to?”
Before she has a chance to answer, Sydney comes through the double swinging doors and wraps her arms around her husband’s neck, kissing him as if she didn’t stare at him all day.
Newlyweds.
“Sorry,” she apologizes, but Everleigh can tell by the twinkle in her eyes that she doesn’t mean it.
“Anyway, the pharmacy has been really busy recently. I’m looking at hiring some more staff, which is a good and bad thing.”
“How so?” Dylan asks innocently, as he pulls out a chair for Sydney to sit in.
“Control,” Sydney whispers loud enough for her to hear.
Dylan cocks an eyebrow, adding to his dark and smoldering looks, and looks at her while Sydney sighs dramatically.
Needing to change the subject Everleigh chimes in asking if Tamara had called in a lunch order for her earlier.
“She did, let me go grab it. And I’ll get something for you, Syd,” he answers as he spins on his heels and heads back towards his kitchen.
Grinning at her sister as she stares at her husband’s backside, Everleigh claims, “It seems like your still in the honeymoon phase.”
“Whew, I hope it stays like this forever. Getting married was the best thing I ever did. You should try it sometime,” she adds, her eyes never leaving her man.
If only she knew.
An hour later, and a fresh wardrobe change into the soft peach dress she wore for Avery and Nikki’s baby shower, Everleigh welcomes the representative from Pro RX Robotics into her small conference room used mainly for consultations with patients.
She was surprised when she found the man waiting for her to open the pharmacy doors as he appeared to be in his late thirties, with a maturity about him that oozed sex appeal. He is on the taller edge of average height, about as tall as Tamara, and his dark blond hair is slicked back with a signature wave running through it. Truthfully, he reminds her of a lighter version of Don Draper from Mad Men.
As Everleigh guides him to the conference room she watches as Tamara fans herself with a flyer she grabbed off of the rack by the register. If this is how Pro RX Robotics planned on sealing the deal to get her contract, then she has to applaud them on their follow through. Once they sit down and he shakes her hand introducing himself as Paul Miller, Everleigh forces herself to stay seated and not run to grab a flyer of her own to fan herself with.
The meeting is quick and she signs the contract she and her lawyer had already read through and they begin designing the automated dispensing machine for her facility.
“Would you like me to show you where I am thinking of placing it? That way you can get a feel for the size I need. Obviously, you know more about the machine than I do. I’m just hoping to get about 50 of my fastest moving medications into the device.”
“Absolutely, I’d like to get a feel for the placement. And a 50-cell holder should be an easy robot to customize for you.”
“Great. If you’ll follow me,” she directs as she opens the conference room door and steps through the locked barrier blocking customers from the filling area of the pharmacy.
Paul whistles as he takes in the area since she had ushered him into the conference room rather quickly upon his arrival.
“This is really neat. You don’t find many independent pharmacies like this any longer.”
“You’re right, the major retail chains are buying them up left and right, but we’re holding steady. Most of these buildings are on the National Historical Registry, so they’ll never be torn down unless it is absolutely necessary. And the town works hard to keep the big block stores from heading this way. Just last year they fought and won against a big department store trying to move in near the highway.”
“Well, that’s something you don’t see every day.”
Everleigh isn’t sure if he’s referring to the way the town holds on to its preservation or the man stomping towards her, his face reddening with each step.
The man that just so happens to be her husband.
***
BROOKS STEPS OUT FROM the small plane and takes a deep breath. His trip to Atlanta had been far from the vacation he probably needs, but it was worth every agonizing day of humidity to spend time with his grandmother. The woman that spent most of her elder years raising him and is now plagued with late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Her memories were so far gone that she didn’t recognize him during his month-long visit, but around him, she was calm and relaxed, the complete opposite of how she acted towards her stay-at-home nurse. He was shocked to see his gentle and sweet grandmother lashing out in a cruel manner towards others, but the nurse went about her duties, offering a peace of mind when she explained that mood changes were par for the course with the debilitating disease.
He didn’t know. He had been gone for so long, unable to witness the destruction that the illness was taking on her body. His trip home also helped solidify the fact that he needed to let the past go. He still holds bits of resentment towards his parents for the way they had dragged him through their divorce as if he was a pawn in their sadistic game. After witnessing the annihilation of their marriage Brooks vowed he would only marry when he knew for certain that the woman is the love of his life, his other half, his soul mate. He realizes it is corny, but his uninterested parents had decided to send him to live with his grandmother who spoke daily of the remarkable love she had with his late grandfather. That is what he wants. That love of the ages.
