Unravelled (8 page)

“I’m calling someone to pick me up. I will not get back into that...that...death trap!”

“How was I supposed to know that the door would fall off?”

“By looking at that car!” Ray seems more huffy than usual when he turns around and points an accusing finger at my mode of transport. “It looks like the whole thing will dismantle if breathed upon. I’m convinced that it is only your stubbornness that holds everything together.”

“May be.”

We’ve reached the building and I’m surprised to see Jeremy walking towards us from the big barn. His slow, measured pace is indicative of his nature and makes me think of the phone conversations we’ve had in the last week. Just listening to him speak in his quiet manner was enough to calm me down every time.

“Morning, Jeremy. I thought Jamie said you won’t be able to join us today.”

“Morning, Alex.” He gives Ray a warm handshake and walks with us into the building which used to be the horse stables. “I managed to postpone my meeting with the bank manager for an hour, so I can see what you have planned. I’m very curious to know what you have in mind here.” To his credit he doesn’t sound sceptical, only sincere and we walk deeper into the building. We are now in a large room and to the left is a corridor with twenty smaller rooms which used to be the stables.

“When we moved the dairy here, the horses went to the river-farm and we used this building as an infirmary. Most of our calves were born here.”

“This will be perfect for our visual artists. Some of them don’t have enough work for a single exhibition and those we will put together in this room.” I point around the room we’re in and then start walking to the stables. “Twenty other artists will have their work displayed in separate exhibitions in these rooms.”

I walk into the first stable to see how we’ll figure out the lighting, and my heart drops to the floor. I stand there for a few moments unable to breathe and then go from stable to stable with the three men silently following me. The next five stables I enter all look the same. Disgustingly dirty.

“This is more than a broom and a mop can fix.” I whisper into the bad smell that is especially strong in this room. I turn around from the room to face the men and catch Ray scratching at some unknown substance on the bottom of his shoe with a stick. The poor man actually looks like he’s going to cry.

“Are all the buildings in this condition?” My question gets Ray to straighten and stretch his eyes to tell me that I’ve been rude, but Jamie comes to my rescue.

“Yes, they are. I was here on Wednesday and have since given it some thought.” He’s got his uncle’s measured tone, but still lacks the confidence which makes him sound more hesitant than controlled. He’s only confident when he’s baiting me about my clothes. Unsurprisingly, he is dressed all in black again today and this combined with his light complexion make the colour that is now beginning to creep into his cheeks all the more visible. “One of the girls in our department’s aunt has a neighbour whose son has a cleaning company and she said that this man is open to negotiation.”

Ray immediately picks up on Jamie’s blush and discomfort and goes straight for the heart.

“Who is this girl?”

“Tariska Bloom. She’s the graphic designer.” He blushes some more and kicks with his oversized black boot at a rock which turns out to be dried cow manure. Gross.

“You’ve never talked about her.” Jeremy’s penetrating look makes his nephew blush even more and that’s when I step in.

“Jamie, why don’t you take us to the big barn and you can tell us about this somebody who knows somebody who has a cleaning company.”

For the smallest of moments I think that shy Jamie is going to hug me, but then he nods and starts walking to the door with me right next to him, still treading carefully. He waits until we are outside in the sun before he speaks again.

“I don’t know anything else about the cleaning company. Tariska only said that she spoke to her aunt who spoke to the neighbour who spoke to her son.” I laugh at the Chinese telegraph type communication and even Jamie smiles a little. “They all know about you and the festival and are quite interested in helping.”

Of course they know. Villsburg is a small town where everybody knows everything about everybody else. Oh, how I miss the anonymity of the city. Well, not really.

“It was great thinking, Jamie. Thank you.” The other two are behind us and have stopped by the enclosure where they kept the cows and are discussing parking. “You should ask her out.”

“Oh, she would never go out with me.” He actually sounds convinced.

“Why not? You’re smart, funny and interesting.”

“You’re forgetting my most obvious feature.” He points at his attire with an open hand and is about to continue his line of self-depreciating analysis when I stop dead in my tracks in front of the barn. I’m sure his uncle knows nothing of Jamie’s love interest and am equally sure Jamie doesn’t want him to know, and thus make sure that the other two are still out of earshot. They are still pointing in all directions and I assume they are still talking about parking. Any other topic and they would look silly the way they are waving their arms about. I focus my full attention on Jamie while he unlock the barn door.

“Take this from me: people who do not see who you are behind the outfit, does not deserve to know you. Don’t allow people to look down on you because of who you are, the type of music you listen to or the clothes you wear.” I want to continue imparting the wise life lessons Pam shared with me, but Jeremy and Ray have left the encampment and are walking towards us. I settle for a hand on his forearm to make sure he looks at me and sees my sincerity. “If ever you want to talk, I’m here.”

“Thank you,” is all he can say before the other two join us and we enter the cool barn. I feel unsettled with all the things that I want to tell Jamie. Being judged by looks, or in my case by boyfriends, and treated accordingly is a topic I am sadly familiar with. Maybe we’ll have another opportunity to chat, but for now we have a barn to inspect and see how much work this one will need before it will be fit to act as the main events hall. There are the other barns to look at as well and much, too much, to think about.

We have a good look at the barn after which Jeremy offers Ray a ride into town. The traitor accepts this without a second thought. I stay at the dairy farm for another forty minutes, getting a feel for the place and chatting to Jamie. Girls, looks and prejudices don’t come up again and I knew it is not the right time to raise the topic, so we stick to the topic at hand, the festival.

I begin to realise why he is so good at his job – he looks at a problem from different angles, troubleshoots and then goes in to find solutions. I am so glad that he chose to get involved in this project and also that he so good at his IT job that very few computers are giving problems at this moment, giving him time to help me. Which is exactly what he does before we leave the farm. He helps me manoeuvre the fallen door onto the back seat of my car before giving me a salute through the hole in the side of my car.

Not even five kilometres later and I realise that I’m definitely not going to have the styled, windswept look that I work so hard at achieving every morning when I get out to the car. It’s going to be a real windswept look. The dirt road is no fun to be on. Apart from being bumpy, I’m convinced that Bomb is sucking in half the dirt on the road which is why I can’t bite on my teeth without hearing a crunch. I’m going to be coughing up mud for days. I try to keep my mind off the uncomfortable ride and recall my conversation with Jamie.

Chatting to him was enlightening. His earlier mention of Tariska has me very curious about her and my thoughts of how to get her into my office for a chat is interrupted by an almighty sneeze, no doubt brought on by the dust. I will have to develop a need for a graphic designer to get her into my office and it will have to be done without Ray there. His proven insensitivity to young love won’t be needed for that particular meeting. It is my past experiences in the love department that makes me feel a kinship with Jamie and also feeds my curiosity.

Fifteen minutes later, I turn into the company parking lot convinced that I breathed in at least three flying insects on the way from the farm.

“What happened here, Ms Fields?” It’s only the second time that I see Roger leave his security booth. The first time was to help me get fuel for Bomb a few days ago. He slowly walks around the car until he reaches the door, or the lack thereof. He folds his ample body until he looks at me through the gaping hole in the side of my car.

“Old age and a farm road.” I hope to sound unfazed, whereas I am rather worried about getting Bomb repaired. Hopefully someone in this one-horse town will be able to fix Bomb. I still have Al’s card somewhere from the roadside incident on my first day here and if he can’t help me, maybe he would be able to recommend somebody. If not, my mother and Erin would be so pleased when I’m forced to buy a new car. As if on cue, the thought also hits Roger.

“Maybe it is time for a new car, Ms Fields.”

“Maybe it is time for you to open the gate for me, Roger.” I really don’t want to have this conversation. Erin and my mom have been nagging me for years to buy a new car, and none of my reasons for keeping Bomb convinced them, and I don’t think Roger will be convinced either, so I look at him and then pointedly at the security gate.

“As you wish.” He gives the hole a last look before he walks over to his booth and opens the gate for me. No sooner have I gone through the gate, that I see Roger pick up the phone to share my latest mishap with Rose and everyone else with one functioning ear and a phone. I park Bomb and hope to blazers that it doesn’t rain today.

Ray’s reaction when I step into my office does not surprise me. “You look...um...interesting.”

Interesting. This is the word everyone uses when there is no diplomatic way of telling you exactly how bad you look. I give Ray a dirty look and throw myself down in the chair behind my desk. He’s sitting at his desk looking decidedly fresh and ‘designed’.

“I’m going home to change before the meeting, don’t worry. And I’ll do my hair,” I add when I notice the focus of his Ray’s obvious concern. So much for dressing with such great care this morning. I especially spent extra time on my hair and now it looks like the dust monster sneezed on it.

“Have you seen it?” He talks about my hair as if it is an alien life form.

“As a matter of fact, I have and I’ve tried to flatten it, but this,” I point at my head, “is the result and since I don’t have to look at it, I don’t care.” Not totally the truth, but it sounded good when I said it to my reflection in the mirror in the lady’s wash room. I desperately need to change this topic and choose another just as annoying topic. “Have you seen Mr Wall...um... Mr Montgomery?” Blast! I need to keep that name only in my head and never let that slip again. See what happens when a city girl gets too much fresh air. Ray looks at me strangely for a moment and then decides that it is not worth pursuing.

“No, he’s not back yet, but Agatha says he’ll be back in time for tonight’s meeting.”

“Well, he’d better.” I swear, if that man leaves me alone tonight to run the meeting, I will paint his bedroom walls with the glue they use for flypaper. I give myself a moment to think up other ways of executing revenge on
Mr Wall Street
if he does not show up tonight, but then turn my attention back to my desk. I double check the agenda for tonight on-screen before I print it out and then print enough copies of the current progress report, so that we can go through it and discuss it at length tonight. Hopefully with Mr Wall Street present.

Chapter 7

I look fantastic. I know it, because I am wearing an outfit that had Juan gasp for air and
Erin
frown the first time I wore it. Apparently it is the perfect mixture of sexy, feminine and professional wear. I did as I promised and went home to clean up before the meeting. I donned this little power suit, put my feet in the appropriate shoes and carefully did my hair and make-up. I even refused to drink any of the juices on the conference table in fear that I might spill on my still pristine look.

Ray and I arrived early to set the conference up. Not that there is much to set up. In small towns like Villsburg, the conference room in the municipal building seems to take us back to the time warp so many of its citizens seem to be caught in. I am sure that not a single piece of furniture in this room had been put together in this century. I brought my laptop for the presentation and that is the only piece of technology in the whole room. I find such simplicity rather quaint. Since the committee exists of only four members, Mr Wall Street and myself, I am not worried that my laptop screen would be too small for the presentation and place it at the head of the table where I will be sitting.

What I am worried about is that the buttons of my suit-jacket will pop off. I can’t remember this particular suit sitting so tight the last time I wore it. Maybe that is why Juan gasped for air and
Erin
frowned. A flood of doubts wash through my head. Is this outfit too sexy for this meeting? Should I go home and change? Why is the jacket so tight? Have I gained weight since I arrived five days ago? I can’t afford to gain a single gram – as it is, my body is ‘curvaceous’ and I don’t want to cross the line into being a blob. Fortunately this very unproductive line of thought gets interrupted when Earl walks in and spoils my chances of rushing home to change.