Chapter Twelve : The Good Life
Melanie Chowdar tapped her cigarette against the ashtray on her table. She hated waiting. It made her apprehensive. The young lawyer was seated outside Reno’s Café on Upper 34th Street. It was her lunch break and she had agreed to meet an old college friend named Cynthia Vostov.
“Sorry I’m late,” the qualified Nurse apologised half-heartedly as she sat down and placed her handbag at her feet.
Cynthia had dark shoulder length hair with not a split end in sight. Although she rarely exercised she always seemed to be in shape. The only reason she went to the gym was to chat to an old friend named Dirk who she had always had a crush on. While Dirk was a reasonably nice guy, Cynthia had so far failed to reel him in. Melanie didn’t know what Cynthia saw in Dirk especially when her college friend never had any trouble attracting men. Cynthia had beautiful blue eyes, was rarely without make-up and always had an impeccable fashion sense.
Melanie was also quite attractive with dyed blonde hair and hardly an ounce of fat on her small and delicate frame. The thought of going to the gym however was abhorrent to her. She had never been one to exercise. She smoked to quell her appetite but otherwise hated smoking as much as not smoking. Whereas Cynthia had numerous ex boyfriends and one night stands, Melanie was only in her second relationship.
“It’s great to see you again Cints,” Melanie responded in an upbeat manner.
“I wish I could say the same about you,” the nurse replied with a hint of sarcasm and a smile on her face.
“It’s quite cold here isn’t it,” the nurse declared while leaving her red coat buttoned up.
“Well, the owner won’t let me smoke inside.”
“It’s a filthy habit. Ten billion people die from it a year you know.”
“Hypocrite. You only gave it up two years ago. Remember all those times we slipped out of the dorm to have a quick one?”
“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.”
A waitress approached their table and handed them two menus before returning inside.
They both examined the list and made their orders.
“So tell us, how is that hunk of yours” asked Cynthia leaning forward with a smile on her face.
“You mean Max?”
“Of course I mean Max. Who else is there?”
“There have been so many I’ve lost count,” she replied before pausing. “Everyday I try to find something imperfect about him but it’s a struggle. He just seems too good to be true.”
“How long has it been?”
“Thirteen months…and three days.”
“Who’s counting? Soon he’ll be proposing.”
Melanie blushed a little. “Ah now.”
It was then that a homeless man approached their table. He had longish dark greasy hair and was unshaven. He smelled like he hadn’t washed himself in months.
“Can you spare some change?” he asked.
“No sorry. I don’t have any,” Melanie responded falsely.
“Me neither,” Cynthia responded.
“God bless you,” the man said turning away.
Melanie carried on with her conversation. For the next half an hour, the two women discussed clothes, perfume and the latest gossip relating to mutual acquaintances. They then went their separate ways. Melanie, on her way back to the office, received a phone call from Max.
“Hi there,” she said with a relieved smile upon her face.
“Hi. Are you around tonight?”
“Let me check my hectic schedule. What time do you want me to fit you in at?”
“8:30”
“Well let’s see, I’m bunjee jumping at 7:30, white water rafting at 8pm and doing volunteer work at 9pm. Yes I think I can fit you in around then. My place or yours?”
“I’ll collect you. How is your day going?”
“Great. My boss said he wants to talk to me when I get back. Hopefully it’s a pay rise… or a Ferrari. I would like a Ferrari. Always wanted one. Comes a close second after an engagement ring.”
“Well you do have a better chance of getting a Ferrari.”
“I’d better go. My boss is a bit old fashioned. He doesn’t like mobile phones being used in the office. See you at 8:30.”
“See you then, bye.”
Melanie entered an eight storey high building and took the elevator to the fifth floor. Baddock and Beaufield were a highly reputable law film in the city of New York for more than one hundred years. Mr James Baddock had founded the firm in 1910 and his Grandson, the senior partner, was still working there. Arthur Baddock was seventy-nine years old. Physically, he looked like a man pushing eighty. He was small, delicate, bald on top with white hair on the back and sides of his head and his movements were slow and doddery. He was however still quite sharp mentally.
The two junior partners were Mr Reilly and Mr Beauchamp. Nobody ever called them by their first names.
Both men were virtually devoid of humour and instead worked hard at their jobs. Mr Reilly had dark hair and glasses and appeared to be four stone overweight. He was however quite even tempered and while he had few friends, he made few enemies.
Mr Beauchamp was the older of the two, at sixty-three. He frowned on the existence of women in the workplace. Melanie never warmed to him. He was bald and grey also but relatively fit for his age. He worked incredibly long hours because he loved his job.
Melanie was called into the meeting in the main boardroom. She sat on one side of the table while the three partners sat together on the opposite side. The table was quite large and could comfortably seat eighteen people. Melanie was nervous. It was her first meeting with the partners of the firm since she had joined seven months earlier.
“Good afternoon, Miss Chowdar,” Mr Baddock greeted her formally
“Good afternoon,” Melanie responded nervously.
“We’ve been reviewing your performance. Mr Walters has informed us that you work hard, you are punctual, which is important and that you are talented. Mr Walters has proven to be a good judge based on his past assessments. Would you care to provide us with an insight of your seven months working here. ”
Melanie disliked being asked broad questions. It was sometimes hard to tell what the interviewer wanted to hear in response. Melanie also found it distracting that Mr Beauchamp was chewing on the top of his pen. She didn’t like this particular habit. He would probably eat it all if it didn’t mean that Baddock and Beaufield would have to fork out money for a new one.
“Well so far everyone at the firm has been quite helpful and I believe I have settled in very well.”
“Are there any improvements we could make to improve how the office is run?” Mr Baddock interrupted.
“Well there is nothing important that springs to mind.”
“Nothing then?”
Melanie was stumped. There were a dozen trivial things that sprung to mind all of which she would be embarrassed to mention. The one significant thing she noticed in her time at the firm was a favouritism towards men in the workplace. It appeared to her as if men were more likely to get promoted even though many of the women at the office were more intelligent and dedicated. She could think of two men who were not bright and also lazy who had progressed to senior positions at the firm.
“Nothing,” she responded hesitantly.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“When you started here you were on a salary of $50,000. We have agreed to offer you an increase to $64,000 starting from the start of next month. Does that meet your expectations?”
It was exactly what Melanie had predicted. Inwardly she hoped for more but was thankful that it was not less than what she had expected.
“Yes it does,” she responded with restrained enthusiasm.
“This is the point where normally we point out areas of improvement for our staff, but in your case Mr Walters has not provided us with any. Keep working hard Ms Chowdar and we will speak to you in a year’s time.”
Melanie left the review with a smile on her face. At least she would be able to pay off her credit card bill and maybe buy some new clothes.
Later that evening Max Masterson rang the doorbell of the Chowdar-Bing family home at 8:26pm. Mr Bing, Melanie’s stepfather answered the door.
“Max, it’s good to see you,” he said with a smile.
“Likewise Mr B.”
“Please. Call me Howard.”
Howard Bing was now retired. He was always well groomed and well dressed. He never looked unshaven and never had stains on his clothes. His shirts were impeccably ironed and his shoes perfectly polished. Mr Bing played golf twice a week and had a handicap of eight. He always appeared to be an approachable individual and very well mannered. To Max, he seemed like the perfect Father in Law.
Max was a young man of twenty-seven years with dark hair and blue eyes. He went to the gym at seven in the morning, five times a week. When Howard met him, Max was always wearing a suit. His hair was waxed into position and he too was always clean shaven. His father was a Doctor and his Mother was a teacher. Howard had been introduced to Max’s parents, a few weeks earlier. To Melanie’s Step Father they seemed quite down to earth.
“Ok Mr B. Is Melanie in?”
“If she’s related to her Mother, she’ll be doing her nails for the next half hour. Come in,” he said gesturing with his hand.
“Will you have a drink. I have an excellent bottle of whiskey here.”
“I am driving Howard.”
“Of course. I’d use any excuse to share a drink. I do have a ginger ale here. It’s not quite the same,” Howard said as he poured two separate drinks, one a whiskey and the other a ginger ale.
It was at this point that Mrs Bing entered the room. Melanie’s Mother was very trim and relatively attractive for her age. It was obvious that she watched what she ate and was very disciplined in her diet. She went walking every day with her best friend Gladice. This walk normally lasted at least an hour and they both did so at a relatively brisk pace.
“I hope you’re not corrupting that nice young man Howard,” she said with a hint of humour.
“Not at all Sherrie. I wouldn’t dream of it,” Mr Bing said before turning to Max. “What do you think of my new painting, Max.”
Max observed Mr Bing’s pride and joy above the mantelpiece. It was a little dull for his liking. He didn’t know who painted it. It looked like an original oil painting but knew nothing of its value.
“It’s got a quality to it,” Max said hesitantly.
“Are you sure it’s not too dull, Max? Sherrie doesn’t like it at all. I have to stop her from taking it down. I do like it though. I think it has a quality to it.”
“Do you know who painted it, Howard?” Max asked. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing he said all day.
“Not a clue,” Mr Bing replied.
“Howard is going away on a male bonding trip at the weekend and when he’s gone I’m going to burn that painting and put up a nice photo and get it framed,” Sherrie declared frankly.
“Now Sherrie, you wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t you prefer to look at a picture of our beautiful daughter than that monstrosity.”
It was at this point that Melanie entered the room.
“I hope that Dad didn’t get you drunk already,” she said playfully. “Did he mention the painting to you?”
Max was reluctant to comment. “We better go. We wouldn’t want to keep the Restaurant waiting. You look lovely by the way. It’s been a pleasure Mrs Bing and Mr Bing,” he said as he headed towards the door.
“Just don’t forget to propose,” Sherrie said jokingly as the man she most wanted to marry her daughter made his way out of the house.
Half an hour later, Melanie and Max were seated in the corner of a restaurant at a table for two. It was an Italian Restaurant called Fredo’s on Darlington Avenue. Max knew well, that this was Melanie’s favourite restaurant. Even the waiter she most liked talking to was on duty. His name was Fernando. He had a young wife and child and had only come to America from Italy four years earlier. Both Melanie and the waiter shared a passion for Italy. She had travelled there on three occasions and always wanted to go back. She enjoyed listening to Fernando’s recommendations and warmed to his stories about his home country. He only came to America because of his wife who was from Colorado.
The young couple skipped the appetisers and chose duck and hake respectively. After they had finished the main course Max asked a question that had been playing on his mind. “Do you know what happened to your biological Father?”
If the question had come from almost anyone else, Melanie might have been insulted.
“My Mother always told me that he left her when I was three and that he was an alcoholic. She never saw him since. To be honest I don’t think about him too much particularly because Howard has been so good to me. My biological Father never even called or came by. I’ve never met him in my entire life and to be quite frank I think that it is all his fault.”
“You never felt curious to find out about him. Even now.”
“Are you questioning my Mother’s version of events?”
“Not at all. If it was me I’d just be curious. Maybe he was a total asshole? Maybe he still is?”
Inwardly it was like a spark had been lit in Melanie’s mind. For the first time since she was a child she started to think about her Father and to wonder what happened to him. She started to care about him again. Maybe, just maybe, she should try and find out about him.
“Maybe I’ll change the subject again,” Max said “About that Ferrari…I couldn’t afford it. So I got you this instead,” he said as he removed a ring from his pocket and placed it on the table.
“Oh,” Melanie said, trying to remain calm.
“Will you marry me, Melanie Chowdar?” Max asked
“Well.” Melanie hesitated.
“What is it?”
“I was hoping for a Cary Grant to sweep me off my feet.”
“You do know that he died before you were born.”
“Oh darn it. Well you could at least get down on your knees.”
Max did as he was told and proposed once more on a bended knee.
“Anything else?” Max asked.
“No that’s perfect,” she said with a smile, “but just stay there and I’ll take a picture.” Melanie removed a phone from her handbag and took a photo of Max bending down with the ring in one hand. She then put the phone back in her bag, accepted the ring from Max and placed it on her finger. She never felt happier.
“Is it ok?” Max kept asking. “It can be returned you know.” Melanie didn’t respond most of the time and spent most of the next ten minutes admiring it.
Fernando congratulated her and got some musicians to play music in front of her. While Melanie wasn’t a lover of the music she did appreciate the effort.
“When Mr Masterson told me that he was going to propose,” Fernando said, “I rounded up my three cousins. They’re very good aren’t they? They always put smiles on peoples faces.”
Melanie nodded. She really didn’t care how good or bad they were. It was a night to celebrate. The happy and contented couple ordered champagne and both went home in good spirits.