Chapter 9
Corey hung up his cell phone and turned to his brother. They had been having a quiet evening at home, watching television after they had gone out to dinner again. In the middle of watching the evening news, Derek’s phone had rung. When Derek went to answer, his face lighted up and stayed excited till the end of the phone call. Now, Corey was anxious as hell to know who had been on the other end, but did not really need to guess for few people would make Derek that happy.
“That was Dad!” Derek said, his face still cracked into a wide smile. “He’s coming home this weekend. He has someone coming to look over the house for some remodeling, but he is coming home. Isn’t that great?”
Corey smiled for Derek, glad that someone still had high expectations of their father. “I’m glad.”
Derek caught himself and looked into his brother’s eyes. “He WILL come.”
Corey shrugged, “I’m sure he will.” He encouraged himself to expect the best and put up the front Derek needed to see. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me too.” Derek turned off the television with the remote and started to head out the room. “Let’s plan something to do.”
“O.K. But, let’s sleep on it first. Can we talk about it tomorrow?”
Derek nodded and headed to bed as Corey sank back into the warm leather of the sofa. Staring at the ceiling, he hoped to God that their father did come that weekend. After so many disappointments, didn’t his brother realize that their father was a flake and didn’t care for them? Corey hated what it did to Derek. He could not understand why his brother would take so much. Had their father been that much different? If only he could remember more. Whatever happened, somehow, he needed to be ready should their father not come.

 
Chapter 8

To Elisa Rockmoor:

Your plans for the library have both impressed and humbled our client. He wishes to meet with you personally to finalize the initial direction of the project. If you are able to do this, please respond immediately. He is not a man to mince time.

Respectfully,

Felix Blake

Elisa read the message over and over again, not believing what she was seeing. It had only been two days since she had first devised the plans for the library and sent them to her boss. Maybe it was a mistake? In college, she was not one to impress that often; her teachers barely recognizing half of her work with comments, much less respect. Definitely a mistake. How could someone who saw her work immediately admire it and want to meet her? She read the message again and still, the implications it presented would not settle within her. She would not get excited over this. The last time she had gotten excited, her boyfriend of five years had proposed to her. Two weeks later, he had found someone at the club they frequented together and had fallen “instantly in love” as he had said. That was the end of that. Elisa had never again let her expectations get ahead of her. So, seeing this only as a momentary lapse in their reason, she wrote back with as much poise and humility she could muster.

Mr. Blake:

I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with our client. I have since revised some of the initial plans. I will bring these along with me when we meet. What will be the most convenient time for our client?

Sincerely,
Elisa Rockmoor

As she pressed send her heart leapt and she cursed at herself for letting the excitement get to her. She knew what she had to do. In minutes, she was out the door, headed for the downtown shops to pick out a new outfit for her meeting.