First Class Stamp (3 page)

Two weeks had passed since Ben had mailed his latest letter
to Luca and still no reply. It was unusual for there to be such a long gap
between letters. He thought about it sporadically all day.

It was a typical Monday for Ben in the office. Matt and Mark
were both at home and Ryan Little was holed up at his computer going over the
previous month’s financial report. Ben sat at his desk perusing his emails when
Tyler, Matt’s stepson, rapped on his open door and sauntered in to sit in the
leather club chair in front of his desk.

Ben looked up to see his nephew yawn. He inwardly chuckled.
He knew that Tyler had a…a colorful life outside of the office. He and Tim,
Ben’s youngest brother, were joined in their quest to bed all the available
women in Manhattan. Well, not anymore since Tim had become entangled in love.
He was recently married, he’d drunk the kool-aid and had been brainwashed into
settling into a mundane existence like the rest of the Lathem men, although
both of Matt’s stepsons, Tyler and Adam, and Mark’s stepson Derek, were still
all single. Adam was finishing up his residency and would soon go into his
specialized field of pediatrics. He didn’t have time to date – he was too
wrapped up in his work being a doctor. Derek also worked at MEL Holdings. His
was in the engineering side of the business. Any renovation work that was done,
Derek had his hand in it. He was pretty quiet and lived a low key lifestyle. If
he dated much, Ben didn’t know about it.

And then there was Tyler. He was so like Matt that Ben found
it incredulous they were not biologically related. Tyler even looked a little
like his stepfather, and he certainly was following in his bachelor lifestyle.
Ben looked at the tired expression opposite him and wondered if it came from
one long date or several dates over the course of the weekend.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Tyler yawned again. “Didn’t get much sleep last
night.”

Ben’s eyebrows raised and his head tilted ever so slightly.

“I wish!” Tyler snickered at the question he knew was on the
tip of Ben’s tongue. “Christopher wanted to stay with me last night, so, being
the awesome big brother that I am, he slept at my house. Well, he didn’t sleep
much.”

“You had a sleepover with a three year old?”

“Yep! And I gladly returned him this morning when mom came
to pick him up. It was a once in a lifetime experience. Believe me! Once and
once
only
.”

Ben laughed. “That really was not even in the list of things
I imagined you to confessing this morning.”

Tyler shrugged. “I do love the little guy, but he’s not
staying over again!”

They proceeded to discuss the file that Tyler held in his
hand. He was headed off to Oklahoma City to negotiate the acquisition of a
portfolio trying to avoid bankruptcy. Tyler had found the deal and was trying to
see it through from beginning to end and had counseled with Matt on the best
way to proceed. He just had a couple more questions for Ben before he hopped
onto the plane that would fly him to the Midwest.

With Tyler satisfied and out of his office, Ben’s mind
wandered back to Luca. He picked up the phone and called his assistant to find
out what, if anything, was new with Crystal Towers, the skyscraper where Luca’s
mother worked. After a few minutes the reply came that all was well in Rio. Ben
opened a new word document on his laptop and wrote Luca a quick letter, asking
him why there had been no reply from his pen-pal. He scratched out the address
on a company envelope, printed the letter and stuffed it inside, licking the
fold and sealing it shut. He threw it in the pile on the corner of his desk for
his assistant to deal with and continued on with his work day.

By seven o’clock that evening, Ben had accomplished a great
deal. He stood from his executive leather chair and stretched. His assistant,
Emily, had left about an hour before and Ben looked out his window at the cars
crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. He’d skipped lunch in order to be more efficient
and his stomach was growling, demanding to be fed – soon!

Ben straightened his tie and pulled his suit coat from the
rack to the side of his desk and shoved his arms into the Italian-made sleeves.
He gathered his laptop and a couple of files he was planning on taking home
with him and shoved them into his leather briefcase. As he rounded the corner
of his desk, from the corner of his eye he saw the hand-written envelope still
on top of the dark wood. He frowned and picked up his letter to Luca. The mail
room would be empty by now and he really wanted it mailed. He wanted a reply to
eliminate his concern. He slid it into the pocket of his coat and slammed his
door behind him as he headed for the bank of elevators.

The sidewalks were still bustling with people. Just because
it was after five o’clock in the U.S.A. didn’t mean there weren’t parts of the
world still in the middle of their work day. Before Ben had been promoted to a
Vice President, there were many,
many
nights spent at the office calling
Hong Kong or Sydney at four in the morning. He was glad, however, that there
were others to take care of those calls now, at least for the most part.

Crossing the street and continuing down the sidewalk, he
approached Aldo’s Market. He could go home get a stamp and then mail the
letter, or he could just grab another stamp on his way, saving himself time and
energy. Making the most efficient decision, Ben entered the small grocery store
and headed for the counter. Aldo sat on a stool behind the cash register. He
looked extra tired this evening.

“Good evening, Mr. Manning,” Ben smiled.

“Hello Mr. Lathem,” Aldo replied. He had a knack for
remembering names and made a point to formally address Ben every time he
entered his establishment.

“Was that your grandson I met the other day when I was in
here?” Ben asked.

“Probably was,” Aldo smiled. “A twelve year old?”

“That would be him,” Ben smiled. “Good looking young man.
Very polite too.”

Aldo grinned with pride. “Looks just like his mother. And
he’d better be polite. He wasn’t raised to be a thug!”

“I don’t think you have any worries there,” Ben nodded.
“Seemed like a good kid to me.”

“We think so,” Aldo beamed. “What can I get for you?”

“Some stamps please.”

At that moment, the young man in question came bounding
through the back entrance bouncing a basketball up the aisle to his
grandfather.

“Oh, hi!” he exclaimed when he saw Ben.

“Hi,” Ben said as he extended his hand to the boy. “Your
grandfather and I were just talking about you.” Alex looked worried. Ben
chuckled. “All good stuff I assure you,” he eased the boy’s mind. “I’m Ben
Lathem. Nice to meet you.”

“Alex Grossman,” he said as he took Ben’s hand and shook it.

“You know a handshake says a lot about a man,” Ben’s tone
was serious. “You’ve got a good grip and a firm shake. No limp fish hands.
That’s good.”

“Thanks,” Alex grinned.

Aldo pulled a book of stamps from the drawer of the cash
register and Ben opened his wallet and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

“Do we get to keep the change this time too?” Alex asked,
wide-eyed and totally serious.

“Alex!” Aldo reprimanded.

Ben chuckled. “You can have the eighty cents but I want the
ten dollars.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alex replied.

Aldo handed Ben his change and Ben immediately dropped the
coins into Alex’s awaiting hand.

“Alexander Grossman? You shame me!” Aldo shook his head but
Ben only laughed.

“Enterprising if you ask me,” Ben slapped Alex on the back
as he lifted his stamps and turned for the door.

“Come back anytime!” Alex yelled after him.

Ben laughed as he crossed the street and entered his
apartment building. He stopped at the doorman’s desk and placed a stamp on his
letter and handed it off to be mailed then proceeded toward the elevator and up
to the thirty-fourth floor and home.

*****

On Wednesday Sophia Manning pushed the OFF button on the
cordless telephone and hurled it at the sofa. It bounced off the pillows and settled
on the cushion.

“Damn him!” she screamed into her hands as she covered her
face and shook her head.

Her ex-husband was a bastard extraordinaire. For the third
week in a row, he was cancelling his weeknight visit with his son. He claimed
to be stuck at the office but he called on his cell phone and if he was still
at the office he would’ve used his desk phone. She wasn’t an idiot, although he
would never be convinced of that. Once again, she would have to tell Alex that
he would be staying home…with her…again.

As Sophia retrieved the phone and placed it back on its base
on the side table, she knew she wouldn’t be so outraged if Willis hadn’t also
flaked on his weekend visitation as well. It had been four weeks since he’d
seen his son, but it didn’t seem to bother him or he would make an effort. She
could probably count on her two hands how many times he’d actually picked up
his son since the divorce. He occasionally called and talked to Alex mid-week,
and a couple of times had even sent a present – the latest video game and a
skate board, both of which made Sophia furious. A video game was going to rot
his brain and where the hell did Willis expect him to ride a skateboard in the
middle of the Financial District? They were better off without him in their
lives, but Sophia needed the child support to pay their expenses. Without it,
they’d be in big trouble.

She heard Alex bounding up the stairs. He’d been with his
grandfather in the store for the past hour helping to stock shelves. Aldo paid
him for his time and Sophia knew that her father was a good influence on Alex,
something Willis had never been, nor would
ever
be.

“I’ve made fifteen dollars and eighty cents already this
week,” he grinned as he walked into the kitchen, finding his mother unloading
the dishwasher.

“Great! Put it in your bank before you blow it on something
stupid.”

“Okay,” he sighed and marched down the hall to his bedroom.

Sophia couldn’t put it off any longer so she followed him.
Leaning on the door frame, she watched as her son pulled the large jar from the
corner of his closet, unscrewed the lid, threw his money inside and then put
the lid back on.

“Have you decided what you want to buy yet?” she asked
nodding at the half-full jar.

Alex shook his head. “I want to go to a Yankees game but I’d
have to have enough for two tickets because you wouldn’t let me go alone.”

“Darn right I wouldn’t,” Sophia chuckled. She cleared her
throat and took a deep breath. “Your dad called a little bit ago and…”

“And he’s not coming. Figures.”

Sophia hated Willis but her heart broke as she watched the
small shoulders on her son slump and his head fall forward, his chin resting on
his chest. She was used to him canceling but Alex would never understand why
his dad couldn’t seem to make him a priority in his life.

“Tell you what,” Sophia perked up. “Let’s you and me go to
dinner and then to a movie. Want to see the new Star Trek movie?”

“Really?” Alex’s eyes shot up to hers, a sparkle in them
that made her smile.

“Really. Who wants to have leftover hamburger casserole
again anyway?”

“Not me!” Alex grinned.

*****

When Ben returned to his apartment after a long day at work,
he was relieved to see in his mailbox a letter from Luca. While still in the
elevator, he ripped open the envelope and quickly read the contents of the
letter. Luca’s mother, Maria, had told him he was not allowed to write any
letters to Ben until he had completed his school assignments that were
delinquent. Luca called her mean but Ben just chuckled. His own mother had
threatened him more times than he could count to get his homework done timely.
He commiserated with his buddy but also knew Maria was completely in the right.

With all assignments completed and turned in, Luca now had a
few weeks holiday from school and would be able to write as often as he could.
Ben was happy to get the news that Luca was well and so all worst case
scenarios were scrubbed clean from his mind. He hadn’t realized how worried
he’d become until he knew he had no reason to be.

Ben shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the back of
the dining chair. He loosened his tie and walked to the fridge and pulled a
bottle of Mountain Dew from the door. He chugged several gulps, burped loudly
and then went to get changed. He’d been invited to Matt and Janie’s for dinner.
Actually, Ella, his niece, had invited him and Janie had agreed.

In jeans, a Yankee’s t-shirt and Nike flip flops he headed
back down the elevator and out into the warm summer evening to walk the few
blocks to his brother’s apartment.

*****

Alex all but skipped on the sidewalk, hurrying his mother
along, pleading with her to move faster because he was “staaaarving!” Sophia
grinned and shook her head and just half a block later entered the pizzeria to
grab a couple of slices to eat on the way to the cinema. Alex ordered two
cheese and Sophia one pepperoni and in a couple of minutes, pizza and drinks in
hand, they were back out on the street and headed for popcorn at the theater.

Sadly, Sophia couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to
the movies with her son. She needed to make sure that he received the attention
he needed from her, as apparently her ex would remain an ass and end up being
an absentee father. She had several friends who’d divorced their husbands for
one reason or another, but most of them were attempting to make it work where
the kids were involved. Child support, custody, visitation, new partners,
health insurance, parent-teacher conferences, little league games, new
half-siblings, step siblings and the list went on forever. On the rare
occasions she got together with her girlfriends the topic of conversation
always ended up on how to navigate post-divorce existence. It wasn’t easy and
it sure as hell wasn’t pleasant...for Sophia anyway.