Crash Into Me

She texted Lucas that night to tell him that she won’t be taking the job after all. He was disappointed of course, but he was still hopeful. He told her that the position will always be open for her. Lucas was a divorcee who started his business in Bhorma five years earlier. They knew each other through Andrea who introduced them on a party one night, not long after he moved to the island. They were friends ever since, even though Lucas wanted the relationship to grow into something more, Sandy always had him at arm’s length.

Bhorma is a small island, they meet coincidentally every now and then. Sandy always managed to politely decline his approaches. Lucas was a decent-looking guy, sophisticated and successful, there was nothing wrong with him. But Sandy had gone through something traumatic five years earlier, including the fact that her fiancé left her without a word that she build up a wall so high that no man would be able to climb it.

Lucas never gave up, for years he was patient, there was something about Sandy that he really liked. He knew about Sandy’s tragedy from words of mouth, people who knew, talked about it. It made him compassionate about her and understood that she needed time to heal, to trust again. Some men would see it as baggage they don’t want to carry but Lucas was up for the challenge. It seems, the more she pushed him away, the more he wanted to get closer.

Sandy: I have to do a lot of maintenance and repairs for a new contract … I have a client coming in less than two months.

Lucas: Can I help? Which property are we talking about?

Sandy: (Hesitant to reply) The one I’m living in, I rented out the main cottage.

Lucas: So … you’re letting a stranger live in your compound? And you’re not even letting me know your address? (Smiley faces)

Sandy: (Frowning faces) I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude.

Lucas: It’s okay (smiling) I’m just teasing, so how about that help? I can call people, anything you need.

Sandy: That’s awfully nice of you, Lucas, I will definitely let you know if I need anything.

Lucas: Promise?

Sandy: (Hesitant to reply)

Lucas: Maybe we can go over it over dinner some time?

Sandy: (Rubbing her face in distress)

Lucas: Pleaseeee (hopeful emojis)

Sandy: (Smiley faces) That sounds lovely, but I will be very busy with the new client, I can’t promise you anything.

Lucas: That’s okay (sad face) I’ll wait.

Sandy: Okay (smiley face) I have to go, Lucas, it’s nice talking to you.

Lucas: Alright then, good night Sandy.

Lucas looked at his phone and smiled, he loved his conversations with Sandy, even though she has yet to let him through. She was always nice to him.

Sandy never let anyone know who her clients were, it’s part of the confidential agreement. As soon as the contract fell through, John Brady’s representations started contacting her to follow up on the setup before his arrival.

She almost never had any contact with the client directly, sometimes not even when they’ve already occupied the property. There were always people who took care of all the arrangements, all the client does was just come and go whenever they need to, with people laying stones in front of them to walk on. There was always someone else who answers their phones, conveyed messages, ordered stuff, made their appointments, everything.

She’s somewhat familiar with celebrity treatment after years of experience. It’s a life of luxuries and privileges, exclusivities and royalties. A kind of life that she cannot relate to and never dreamed of for herself. They’re usually very meticulous with their choices of things and very specific with their requests, just because they can.

It’s a lot different with John Brady, all his reps concerned was mainly security and privacy. He didn’t seem to have any other difficult demands.

“We have motion censors here, our garden light will turn on automatically when the censors are stimulated. We use security code for the locks, it’s updated regularly every end of the week … CCTV that can be monitored from the web, I will personally give the special password to Mr. Brady when he arrives,” she said on the phone.

“You can give that to us, we’ll be handling everything at our end,” his representative said.

“I’m sorry, but that’s our security policy, the only one who can access the CCTV is the client himself, it’s to prevent any leak of private videos that the client will not benefit from.”

“That’s very good … that’s actually what we need,” they were testing her.

“I will also be occupying a smaller cottage in the compound, I’m sure Mr. Brady had already been informed of this?”

“Yes … that’s no problem … but there won’t be anyone else?” they made sure.

“No, I live alone, no one else, we have a policy of no parties, no guests, no sleepover guests while the main cottage is occupied, no picture taking, no recordings, no press, no onlookers, a total privacy and confidentiality.”

“That sounds perfect!” they were happy with her answer.

“I’m glad you’re happy with that, we do have the best security plan in our property, that’s why it’s been trusted to house so many celebrities from around the world … is there anything else that Mr. Brady would like to be provided with?”

(Distant mumbling) “Yes … he would like to buy a motorcycle for his means of transportation while he stays there.”

“Do you have a specific model that we can look for?”

“Yes … he prefers the Norton Commando motorbike.”

(Taking notes) “I will look for a Norton Commando dealer on the island and get their contacts, would Mr. Brady prefer to do the purchase on his own upon arrival or should the bike be ready by then?”

(Distant mumbling) “He’d like to buy the piece himself if you could be so kind to ask the dealer to share his list with us.”

“Will do … no problem … anything else?”Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

They ended the call after that and no other phone calls were made again until the days approaching the arrival date. It was by far the simplest request she ever worked with a celebrity clientele. She started to feel bad for completely brushing off Lucas Morritz to deal with what she assumed to be a difficult client when she ended up just fixing the place and preparing it for a seemingly ordinary guest.