TANGLED HEARTS
- ROUTINE.
He is physically present in his office but mentally he is nowhere near the building. A stranger passing by and peeking through the blinds of his office window would mistake him for a man that’s engrossed in the design ideas that have been laid in front of him but that would be far from the truth because even with the highly important presentation that he has in less than two hours, his brain just isn’t present in this office.
He doesn’t remember the last time he felt like this, the last time his mind was filled with thoughts of a woman instead of his work, something he is overly familiar and comfortable with. Shane sits in his office and feels his brain lead him into a now unfarmilar territory. Not that he is a complete stranger to it, no. He just hasn’t allowed himself to fully explore it, he hasn’t had a woman capture his attention like this in the longest time and that is not counting the few short lived relationships that he has been through.
It’s been over a week but his mind refuses to let go of the memories of that young woman he rendered help to. He finds himself wondering about her, how she is doing, if her cheating boyfriend went after her and begged for her forgiveness, if she forgave him and they are okay now. And that last thought makes him feel a type of way that he knows he shouldn’t be feeling because she is nothing to him.
Nothing, except a beautiful stranger that his mind refuses to forget. He can’t be too sure if he really wants to forget her though because she is vastly becoming an important thought in his thoughts for each day, he will not loudly admit it but he secretly enjoys thinking about her and memorizing her facial features. She is a beautiful woman… Young woman, that is. The first thing that popped up on Shane’s head as he thought about Amerie the first time while laying on his bed was their obvious age difference. He is a forty-two year old man and she appears to be in her twenties. That alone should be a reason for him to stop thinking about her but he can’t help it, she didn’t ask for his permission to invade his thoughts.
He tries to put these thoughts at the back of his head when Frank, the junior partner, walks in. He wouldn’t go as far as as calling Frank a friend because he vowed never to call anyone that ever again, he had to learn the hard way that not all friends are to be trusted but he does make some effort with him because he does believes that no man is an island. It’s good to maintain some social life but to an extent that you can have full control over. He met Frank shortly after his architect firm took off. It wasn’t too big at that time and he focused on his specialty which is the residential field, he managed to get business that helped grow his business and then Frank joined with his interior expertise and they have been working together for years now. Shane has other businesses which includes renting out apartments, he has always known that his life would be centered around buildings and anything related to it and he can honestly say that he is living his dream career, becoming the founder and director of S.M Designs has always been a dream and he worked hard to turn it into a reality, a reality that allows him to live a comfortable and luxurious life. He truly has come far and is still going.
“Are you ready to win this?” Frank asks with much enthusiasm. He’s never been one to wallow in self doubt.
“Ready as ever, I’ve gone through our presentation over and over,”
“And we haven’t missed anything?”
“Nothing, we’ve got the best,now we just need to turn on our charm,” Shane smirks. He understands that when pitching an idea you need to pull all the stops and that includes knowing exactly what to say and how to say it, presentations are a thrill for him.
” I won’t lie, man. I’m a little nervous since researching our competition,” Frank tells him while taking a seat.
“Well, you can find comfort in knowing that they probably researched us too and are feeling just as nervous,” Shane chuckles, trying to get Frank to loosen up a bit “Look, I have faith in what we do. We live and breathe this and if we lose out on this then we keep looking until someone bets on us, take this as a learning curve,”
“How do you always manage to see the positive?”
“I wouldn’t be where I am if I chose to dwell on the negative,” Shane replies more seriously and it’s not a lie. It has taken a lot for him to be where he is today and this isn’t just referring to the business but him as a person and he had to endure from his teenage years and early twenties, it took a lot to pull him out of that dark place and he cannot afford to think negatively, having hope is what keeps him going.
“I guess we will see how it goes oh and before I forget, Judith is inviting you over for supper this evening,”
“A pre-celebratory supper?” he asks and Frank laughs a bit.
“She says the outcome will determine what kind of supper it is so we should let her know how we think it went, in time so she knows which mood to prepare for,” they continue joking around until they have to drive out to go meet their potential client in Randburg.
The presentation kicks off and goes according to how they both planned for it. If they win this, it will be their first commercial project which will only broaden the architect services that they can offer. Once they are finished, they leave their potential clients with a digital copy of their presentation and make their way out after being told they will be informed of the outcome via phonecall.
The two men go in their separate ways after Frank tells Shane not to forget about their dinner arrangements. Dinner with Frank and his wife is something that keeps Shane’s social presence alive so he confirms that he will indeed make it.
Deciding against going back to the office, he decides to make a stop at the mall of Africa to buy somethings he has been meaning to stock up on for his house. As he starts with his errands, his mind wanders off to Amerie again. He wonders if he will ever be afforded the chance to see her again, maybe he could try finding her, this makes him laugh at himself because how many women with the same name are there in Johannesburg? Okay, maybe it’s better because he knows where she stays but what could he possibly do? Go park outside and keep his eyes on the look out just incase she shows up? That wouldn’t be normal, it would be creepy and scary on her side and he does not have enough hours in his day to go camp outside her apartment building. Maybe she doesn’t even stay there and was going to see someone in her time of need. All this thinking is doing nothing except to leave him in a pool of frustration because he would really like to see her again.
He is approaching a grocery store near a pharmacy when something inside tells him to look at the entrance of the pharmacy shop and there she is. He cannot believe it, what are the chances? It’s like his thoughts summoned her, he quickly abandons the plan to go to the grocery shop and follows her in as she walks with another woman. He keeps a distance between them and watches as they move from the retail part of the shop and into the pharmacy part of it, Amerie goes in at the back and then she reappears wearing a white coat and she opens her till point over the self-medication area. He stands in the same position for a moment, just watching her and she starts helping customers and he cannot help but be captivated by her. She wouldn’t see him even if she looked up but he has a perfect view of her face, he sees her eyes and her smile as she assists people, how she focuses on the screen in front of her before going to take the medication that they are there for, she looks so gentle and has this kindness aura that he can feel from where she is to where he is hiding, he scolds himself of this stalker like tendency and that is when he he decides to walk out before someone catches him staring and decides to cause a scene, that is not how he would like them to meet again. Now he knows where to find her, what’s left is deciding if he really should be approaching her, he has never been one to shy away from situations but here he is, a fully grown man who is nervous about approaching the young woman who has captured his eyes and mind. Deciding not to do things impulsively, he walks out. He goes to run his errands and then he buys a bottle of liquor for Frank and a box of chocolates for Judith and then he goes to dine with the two of them. A routine he knows best.