Centuries

“What do you mean, he got out?” Winnie held the phone between her ear and shoulder, her footsteps quick along the carpeted flooring.

“We were unloading some stuff from the car and he just took off.” Keziah’s words were frantic. “Winnie, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t fucking apologize. Go outside and find him!” Throwing open the door to her office she barely glanced at the empty desk of her assistant before barreling into her sanctuary. She felt her heart jump to her throat and the phone fell from her hand to the floor. Balloons were tied to her desk that was littered with boxes decorated in paper. A giant cake sat on the coffee table between the two leather chairs she got for the clients that visited. Gatsby charged toward her and stood on his hind legs, his pink tongue happily licking her face as she stood in shock.

“Surprise! Happy Birthday!” Keziah bounced on her toes clapping. Lucas stood on the other side of the desk blowing into a streamer, a pointed hat secured on his head. Winnie took a few seconds to absorb the scene. “You should’ve seen your face.”

“I was going to kill you,” Winnie answered. Gatsby dropped to all fours and trotted back to Keziah’s feet. “Literally, suffocation in your sleep.”

“Like I would ever lose track of my bestest buddy in the whole wide world.” Keziah rubbed the dog between his ears talking in her baby voice, Gatsby responding by wagging his tail furiously.

“You were in on this?” Her skeptical glance only made Lucas shrug.

“She barged in demanding I aid her in this conquest.” He gestured with his arm to the room. “Mission accomplished.”

“How did you even find out today was my birthday?” Grabbing her phone from the floor she walked to the table where the pink cake sat. Counting 27 candles silently she dipped a finger into the icing and tasted the whipped topping. “Oh, my favorite.”

“Well I remembered you told me your birthday was in April way back in the day when your parents sent you those tickets. I had Lucas here do some digging and would you believe the luck fate has bestowed on you?” Keziah put her hands on her hips. “Sharing a birthday with the man of your dreams.”

“Ok, first of all, this whole, fate bestowed and conquest nonsense has to stop. You’re giving me a headache,” Winnie plopped down in her chair. “Second, well, I have no second. I just wish he was actually in town to celebrate.”

“They’ll be back tomorrow,” Keziah said smiling. “But they left your gifts here so you can open them in front of me. I have to take pictures, Patrick’s orders.”

“I’m sure,” Winnie scoffed rolling her eyes. “You didn’t have to get me anything.” She pulled the ribbon off a small, flat box, and gently tugged at the lid.

“That one is from me,” Lucas replied. “Just a token of my appreciation.”

“Socks.” Winnie made a face at him removing the pair of white socks from the box. “Thanks?”

“You’re always saying how you wish you had socks to wear around your office when your shoes start to hurt your feet. These can be the office socks.” He blew into the streamer again.

“You listen to me,” Winnie laughed. “Thoughtful.”

“That’s my job.”

“Way to brown nose, overly gorgeous assistant.” Keziah stuck her tongue out at Lucas.

“You don’t have to be jealous, extremely annoying yet stunningly beautiful best friend of my boss.”

“Don’t suck up to me!” She felt heat rising in her neck. “You don’t play fair.”

“I was raised to treat women right.”

“Open this one next!” Keziah made another face at Lucas before she shoved the medium sized box toward her friend. Winnie ripped the paper, fingers tearing the tape holding the box shut, and peered at the contents. Picture frames, desk ornaments, and a calendar were pulled out one by one. “You don’t really have any signs of life outside of the office in here. I thought it would be a good reminder that you have friends beyond these walls.” Keziah exaggerated her movements and Winnie chuckled.

“Thanks.” She flipped through a couple pages of the calendar seeing the pictures Keziah had picked for each month. “This is really nice.”

“I had to melt your heart before you burst into a fit of giggles with Patrick’s gift.” Biting her lower lip Keziah pointed at the red bag.

“Should I be scared?” Winnie lifted the bag and pressed her ear to it. “Not ticking. Can’t be a bomb.”

“Just open it!” Keziah had her phone at the ready with the camera recording.

The brunette pushed the tissue paper out of the way and pulled out the thickest chunk. Unrolling it on her desk she stared at the writing for a few seconds. She snorted, then leaned back in the chair and erupted in laughter. Lucas glanced over the mass of paper and tilted his head to read the sign.

”I’m in the shower, yell at me when I’m out. Do not under any circumstance barge in and pull me by the ear.” Lucas read aloud. “I don’t get it.”

“This is something I should’ve gotten for him!” Winnie held the sign up and smiled next to it letting Keziah snap a picture. “Blondie’s got some tricks up his sleeve.”

“He’s a five year old,” Keziah muttered. “Now for Jon’s.”

The last box was a little bigger than Keziah’s, wrapped in grey paper with blue polka dots. Taking a deep breath she started removing the paper, the nerves in her stomach swirling rapidly. Glancing at Keziah she bit her lip and opened the box.

For the nights I’m gone and Gatsby sleeps at your feet,
I got you this bear to think about me.
Hold it close when you’re feeling sad,
Or throw it across the room when you’re mad.
I made this bear to express to you
The love inside I have is true.

(p.s. I wrote this all by myself. And you said I wasn’t poetic.)
(p.s.s If you throw away Kaner’s gift, I wouldn’t blame you. In fact, I encourage it. Because I'll be the only one barging into your bathroom)

Yours only,
Jon

The bear was dark brown with a blue bow-tie secured around its neck. There was nothing special about it, no markings, no voice box on the inside, but Winnie couldn’t stop the tears. She wiped at them quickly and laughed at herself. Squeezing the bear to her chest she finally looked up to Keziah. Her eyes were brimming as well.

“That is the single, most romantic thing, I can’t even,” Keziah took a deep breath and turned away to collect herself. “He loves you!”

Lucas blew into the streamer again surprising them both. The room filled with laughter and Winnie stood from her chair. He did love her, the thought blaring in her mind as she lit and blew out the candles to her cake. For the first time in forever she finally felt whole, felt happy, and nothing could ruin her good mood.


Winnie stared at the computer screen.

Her eyes were bloodshot, dark circles emphasizing her lack of sleep, and her stomach made a very unearthly noise. Letting out a deep breath she rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. Grabbing the coffee cup on the edge of the desk she brought it to her lips and frowned. Empty.

Pushing away from the desk Winnie walked over to the coffee pot and heaved a sigh. The liquid warmed the cup and she lifted it with both hands. Glancing to the clock on the night stand she could feel defeat washing over her. In an hour her alarm would be going off for her to get up and ready for a meeting. Lucas would be knocking on her door thirty minutes after and they would venture out into the new city. Plopping down into the desk chair her eyes zeroed in on the contract she was editing.

’Why do you have to go?’
‘It’s my job. If I don’t go I lose a multi-million dollar contract and investors.’
‘But for two weeks? I just got back from a trip.’
‘And you didn’t see me complain to you about it.’
‘That’s not fair.’
‘What you’re doing isn’t fair either. We both knew things like this would happen.’
‘I’m sorry me wanting to spend time with you is such a burden.’
‘You don’t want to spend time with me, you want to whine to me about how bad you guys played.’
‘So now I’m projecting work onto you?’
‘I just, I can’t deal with this right now.’
‘Maybe you going is a good thing.’
‘Maybe it is.’

She couldn’t stop replaying the last conversation she had shared with Jon a week ago in her mind. Him standing in her bedroom while she packed, his hard stare, set jaw, it all made her feel sick to her stomach. He hadn't been home for 24 hours when she had gotten the call. His birthday present had been wrapped and tucked away in one of her dresser drawers. The bear he had gotten her sat perched on her pillow in her Chicago home waiting to be hugged. Absently she spun in the chair. Once the momentum stopped she faced the floor to ceiling window overlooking the wakening city. Moving away from the computer again she stood in front of the glass and sipped at the straight black beverage.

People were already zipping through the streets on their Vespa’s and hurrying into buildings for their morning breakfasts. The Eiffel Tower lights were fading with the rising sun, the shadows creeping along the ground. Twelve blocks from where they were staying was the office building she would have to go to. The contract she needed to get back to would be presented with new parameters in hopes of sealing the partnership. Her father had called her babbling about saving the agreement and had sent her the information minutes later.

Paris, France, the most romantic place in the world, and she was here on business. Her boyfriend was in America sulking their loss in the playoffs and probably getting ready to head home for a few weeks. Her best friend was planning a month trip with her boyfriend to New York. It would be Winnie and Gatsby, summer buddies, until someone came back.

Shaking the thoughts from her mind she chugged the coffee. Two hours later she had her messenger bag on her shoulder and Lucas reading a few emails from his phone as they walked out of the hotel. Bringing her fingers to her lips she whistled loudly, a cab swerving out of the line of traffic and squeaking to a stop in front of them. Lucas opened the door for her and she slid into the backseat. He had barely shut the door behind him when the driver sped off. He continued to read through another email and Winnie checked her phone for any missed messages.

“Are you even listening to me?” Winnie glanced to Lucas with a soft grin.

“Yes, sorry. Reply telling Larry that we will return on Sunday and meet with him on Tuesday for further discussion. Shepard is a trolling fiend and will go for any excuse to throw a stick in the middle of a dog fight. Ignore him. As for my father, tell him we are just dandy.”

“Do you think we can save this deal?” Lucas was typing away on the phone. Letting out a breath she shrugged.

“I hope so. This can staple us on international waters.” Winnie gazed out the window.

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

“When am I not thinking about him?” She looked at the dark haired boy on her right. “I have never once ridiculed him for his job because I understand it, I understand the importance. I knew getting into this it would be hard. I just never imagined he would throw it in my face. I don’t know.”

“You’re both stressed and overworked. He’ll come around.” Lucas touched her arm gently and Winnie sighed.

“No more talking about it,” she said rubbing her face. “Let’s go over the points for the presentation.”

“Alright,” Lucas opened something on his phone, “the first thing you have highlighted is th-“

“Hold that thought,” Winnie blurted. Keziah’s name flashed on her screen and she quickly swiped to pick up the call. “Hello?”

“Winnie?” She heard the small crack in her voice.

“Kezzie what’s wrong?” Winnie could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

“It’s Jonathan,” her friend took a breath, “he was in a car accident.”

“Is he okay? Is anyone hurt?” Blood rushed to her ears making it hard to hear.

“He is banged up pretty bad. He’s still being looked at.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” Winnie could sense something was off.

“He was,” Keziah took a deep breath to choke on a sob, “he was with another girl, Winnie. They were leaving a bar together. Patrick is trying to find out what the hell was going on but she’s really messed up too.”

“Just find out whatever you can. I’ll be there as soon as possible.” Ending the call Winnie knocked on the glass partition. “I need you to take us back to the hotel.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’m going home.” Winnie started typing furiously. “You’re going to stay here and give the presentation.”

“I’m not ready to do this alone.” Lucas watched her dig through her bag. Pulling out the contract she handed it to him and had her hand on the door the second the cab stopped. “Winnie.”

“You can do this, okay? You’ve seen me do it a hundred times. Be confident and you’ll do fine. I’ll be in touch.” She was out of the vehicle before he could get in another word.