Full Circle (20 page)

 Things
changed while she was studying for her accounting degree. She didn’t know why
she hadn’t recognized the signs at the time; it was so clear to her now. While
she was at home studying – a built-in babysitter – Allan had been going out in
the evenings.

And then a
little over six months ago, he’d announced he was going to marry his late
wife’s sister.

The sun
slipped behind one of the tall buildings surrounding the plaza, and Maddie
shivered. Hearing Allan’s announcement had been the second lowest point of her
life. How could she have thought they were building a life together when
clearly he’d been heading in a different direction?

It had taken
her some time to realize it was partly her fault. After the deaths of her
parents, she’d ached to be part of a family again, and had convinced herself
that she’d found a family with Allan and Connor.

Not that Allan
was guiltless. He’d talked about a future as well, but in vague, unspecific
terms. She dabbed at a tear that had managed to escape. What hurt most was that
she’d come to love Connor. For the first few months after she’d left Vancouver,
she worried about him constantly, surprised that he’d become such a big part of
her life. The experience had left her shaken. Thank goodness for Lily, who had
encouraged her to come to Calgary to ‘start fresh’.

Everyone
should have a friend like Lily Hsu. Friends since high school, they were
opposite in almost every aspect. With encouragement from her friend, Maddie was
slowly regaining her confidence. She hadn’t dated yet, but that would come. In
the meantime, she wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

“You don’t
look very upset about it.” Lily had insisted on opening a bottle of wine when
she heard Maddie’s news. Her movements were quick and efficient as she screwed
in the corkscrew and drew out the cork. She sniffed the wine and splashed some
merlot in each of their glasses.

“I know.”
Maddie swirled the wine. “Does that make me a flake?”

Lily hopped up
onto the stool across from Maddie. “Hardly.”  She raised her glass in a
quasi-salute. “You’re the least flaky person I know. Look at it this way. You
were lucky to escape.”

“You never
were overly enthusiastic about me studying for my degree.” Maggie glanced
across at her friend, who didn’t deny it. “It looks like you were right.”

Lily made an
impatient gesture with her hand. “It’s not about who’s right. It’s about you
being stuck in a job that you didn’t really like. Now you’re free to get on
with the next phase of your life.”

Maddie gave a
rueful smile. “I thought I was doing that when I moved out here.” She glanced
around the spacious apartment. “I keep thinking that I’m cramping your style.”

Lily raised
one shapely eyebrow. “Don’t worry. The men aren’t exactly beating down my door
these days.” She didn’t look the slightest bit concerned.

“That’s
because none of them meet your exacting standards.” Maddie studied her friend
openly. Lily had done that thing with her hair again. That thing Maddie could
never figure out. She twisted it somehow with a flick of her wrist and shoved a
couple of chopsticks through the loose knot to hold it. Maddie’s hair was long
as well, but she’d never been able to achieve the same effect.

“You need
Asian hair to do this,” her friend would say, yanking at her long black
tresses. “You have the wrong genes.”

Lily was small
and stunningly beautiful. It wasn’t unusual for men to trip over their feet
when they walked past her in the street. Born of a Thai mother and a Taiwanese
father, she had grown up in Vancouver where her parents owned an import/export
business on the fringes of Chinatown.

Maddie stared
into her wine glass. She’d promised herself to take a day before thinking about
what to do next, but that was easier said than done. She’d always worked. Even
in high school she’d had a part-time job of some sort or the other.

“So what do
you think you’ll do?” Lily had always had an uncanny ability to sense what was
bothering her, and today was no different.

“I don’t
know.” Maddie took a sip of wine. “I was going to put off thinking about it,
but that’s not working. Trouble is, I honestly don’t know what I’d like to do
next.”

“You could
come to work for me.” Lily tilted her head to one side. “But somehow I don’t
see you working in a silk screening studio.” Lily owned the premiere textile
silk screening studio in Alberta, and had recently added fabric purses and
casual resort wear to her catalogue. The new items were selling so quickly she
was having trouble keeping up with demand.

“Thanks for
the offer, but you’re right.” Maddie ran her fingers up and down the stem of
her wineglass. “I suppose with Christmas around the corner I could get
something temporary. All the stores will probably be hiring.”

“Retail
clerk?” Lily’s perfectly shaped nose wrinkled in distaste. “At Christmas? You’d
hate it after five minutes.”

“You’re
probably right, but speaking of Christmas, you’ll never guess who I met today.”

“Come on,
Maddie. You know I don’t like guessing games.”

“Okay, okay. I
met Chase Drummond.”

Lily sat up a
little straighter. “Chase Drummond as in Drummond Exploration?”

“And the
Drummond Building.”

“That’s
right.” Lily tapped her lips. “He owns the building you were working in. What’s
he like?”

Maddie thought
for a moment. “Tall, dark brown hair, greenish gold eyes. Quite handsome,
actually. And nice.”

“Nice? No guy
wants to be called nice.” Lily wrinkled her perfect little nose.

“Well, I only
talked to him for a couple of minutes.” Maddie thought back to the scene in the
elevator. “I butted in on his conversation. He was talking about buying a
Christmas gift for a ten year old girl, and I put in my two cents worth.”

Lily frowned.
“I didn’t think he was married. His picture is in the paper a lot, and he
always seems to have an attractive woman on his arm.”

“The same
one?”

Lily lifted
her shoulders. “I’ve never paid that much attention. So what about the girl?
Who is she?”

Maddie looked
into her empty glass. She didn’t remember drinking the wine. “I got the
impression that she’s a relative but he didn’t actually say that. He said
something about it being her first year without her parents.”

“And he
doesn’t know what to get her for Christmas, and you offered to help.”

Lost in
thought, Maddie did not reply.

“Well, did
you?” Lily was becoming impatient.

“Did I what?”

“Did you offer
to help?”

Maddie shook
her head. “Sorry, no. But you’ve got me thinking. How many people are there
downtown who have no idea what to get their loved ones for Christmas? And if
they do know what they want, they have no idea where to get it.”

Lily caught on
right away. “Not to mention the gift wrapping. Most men I know would rather eat
worms than wrap a gift. And for the ones who have already bought a gift, you
could offer a gift-wrapping service.” Her dark eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
“You have such creative ideas when it comes to gift wrapping.”

“It’s
something I’ve always enjoyed doing...” Maddie’s words trailed off. “What am I
thinking? I’d need somewhere to set up a little shop. There’s not likely to be
anything available at this time of year. And even if there was, they’d want top
rates for it.”

Lily splashed
some more wine into their glasses, her brow furrowed in concentration. “You’d
need somewhere downtown. I think that’s where your business would come from,
agreed? Men mostly, who either hate the idea of Christmas shopping or don’t
have the time.” Her gaze turned inward and she tapped a finger against her lips,
the way she always did when she was trying to remember something. “Wasn’t there
one of those little shops in the lobby of the Drummond Building? You know, the
ones that used to sell cigarettes and chocolate bars and magazines?” She looked
across the counter. “That would be perfect for you.”

Maddie
brightened. “You’re right. That would be an ideal spot. It was closed up before
I started working there. Something about the new building owners not wanting to
sell cigarettes. It’s been well camouflaged. They put down an area rug with
some comfy seating and massive plants. You don’t even notice that it’s there. I
suppose if they were willing to move things around, it could work.” She nodded
to herself. “It could work very nicely.”

“So. You’ll go
and look into it tomorrow, right?”

Maddie
sometimes wondered if Lily made up for her small size by being so pushy. And
yet she was right...there was no time to waste.

“I have to go
back to pick up my cheque tomorrow. I suppose I could ask David about it. He’ll
know where to direct me.”

“David?” Lily
gave her a puzzled look. “Do I know him?”

“No. David is
the concierge. He has a desk just to the right of the entrance.” She nodded to
herself. “He knows everything that goes on in the building.”

“Then he’s
your man.” Lily toyed with her wineglass. “I have a good feeling about this.
You’ll go in the morning, right?”

Maddie knew
better than to argue. “Yes, I’ll get right on it.”

“Good. I could
eat something. How about you?”

Maddie was
surprised to realize that she was hungry. “Yes, but I’m not sure what we have.”
She slid off the stool.

“It’s my turn
to cook.” Lily pulled open a drawer and pulled out a handful of takeout menus.
“How about some Thai food? It won’t be as good as my mother’s but it will do.”
She picked up her cell phone, scrolled through her numbers and was soon
ordering.

*
* *

Maddie studied
her reflection in the mirror the next morning. Her eyes sparkled with an
enthusiasm that had been missing for some time now. She turned sideways,
studied her profile, then turned back to face the mirror. Confident. That’s the
image she wanted to project. She had no doubt that the requirements for renting
space in the Drummond Building were fairly stringent. It might be an older
building, but it was in a prime location, and commanded some of the highest
rates in the city.

Her long
auburn hair hung down her back in a single braid. Lily had assured her that her
hair was perfect for this style, and had encouraged her to leave a few strands
loose. She fussed with them now, a sure sign that she was nervous.

The truth was,
Maddie didn’t need to work. Her parents had died suddenly while on a river
cruise in Europe, victims of a virulent strain of food poisoning that had
affected everyone on the boat. Her parents and three others had died. In an
effort to minimize publicity, the cruise line had paid a large amount to the
estates of the victims. Shortly thereafter, Maddie had realized that she
couldn’t live in the family home. Memories of happy times spent there with her
parents haunted her in every room. Each time she entered the kitchen, she
expected to see her mother, and she couldn’t bring herself to go into her
father’s office, where the scent of his cigars still lingered. Real estate had
been at an all-time high, and her father’s financial consultant advised her to
sell the home. As a result, she had more money than she ever dreamed she would
have, but being rich was no consolation. No amount of money could replace her
parents, and it became a matter of pride to be self-supporting. Irrational
perhaps, but she felt strongly about it, and this recent setback had done
nothing to change her mind. She checked her appearance one last time and headed
downtown.

*
* *

“Good morning,
David.”

The concierge
smiled when he spotted Maddie. “There you are, my girl. I heard about CCA.” He
glanced up at the clock above the elevators. It was well past her usual arrival
time. “I take it you were caught up in that.”

Maddie was
touched at his concern. “I was, yes. But after the initial shock wore off, I
realized that accounting wasn’t really for me.” She stepped aside as someone
asked him for directions.

“So tell me,
what are you going to do now?” The observant eyes didn’t miss much. She wore a
flared cape over slim slacks that were tucked into tall boots.

“That’s partly
why I’m here.” She gestured to the corner of the lobby where the smoke shop
used to be. “I’m hoping to rent that little shop for a couple of months.” She
raised an eyebrow in question. “Do you think the powers that be would consider
it?”

The concierge
frowned. “The smoke shop? I don’t know. All I know is that the Drummonds didn’t
want the tenant to sell cigarettes, and when his lease was up, he refused to
stop selling them, so they countered by refusing to renew the lease.” He gave a
wry smile. “It made the papers.”

“Huh. That was
just before I moved to Calgary.” She tapped her fingers on the desk and looked
thoughtfully in the direction of the former shop. “Who should I see about
renting it?”

“That would be
Mr. Drummond.”

Maddie
couldn’t contain her surprise. “Are you serious? Surely he doesn’t take care of
the rentals. He must have someone who does that.”

David
shrugged. “Those are my instructions. Hey, didn’t I see you talking to him
yesterday?”

“Yes, but I
didn’t know it was him at the time. I was making some silly comment about
liking the revolving door.”

David grinned.
“He’ll have enjoyed that. He fought to keep the door in place.”

“Did he?”
Maddie glanced at the door and then back at the concierge. “Maybe he’ll
remember me.”

David wiggled his
eyebrows. “Oh I don’t think there’s any question about that.”

Maddie
laughed. “Thanks, David. You know how to make a girl feel special.” She turned
to walk away, then turned back. “I’ll let you know how I make out, okay?”