First Class Stamp Page 2

  Rory laughed. “Maybe I’ll talk to Janie. She’ll have some ideas for us to try.”

  Janie, Matt’s wife, was the mother of four children and the best woman Ben knew. She could help with any problem. In fact, Ben had sought her advice just a few weeks ago. He’d met her for lunch and told her all about Maria, the woman that had been working for the company for almost five years now in Brazil. He’d hired her when MEL Holdings had purchased the Crystal Towers in Rio de Janeiro and she’d been a stellar employee ever since. When his manager, Len, had left for another job opportunity, Ben had insisted that Maria be promoted to the vacant position and she’d exceeded all expectations. Ben didn’t supervise her but had kept in contact with her and her son, Luca. He and Luca had been exchanging letters ever since he’d taken them to dinner years ago. Luca’s letters were a hoot to read. The boy was full of imagination and his view of life was fascinating to Ben, but there were also some underlying concerns he had about what Luca wasn’t saying in his letters. Ben feared he was being bullied at school and he asked Janie if there was a tactful way to bring it up to Maria. Janie had told him it wasn’t his place to say anything unless he knew something was going on. Why worry her if everything was fine? Ben had agreed and had made sure to include in his next letter a plea that if anything was ever bothering Luca, that he tell Ben immediately.

  Ben could remember being ten and knew that other boys could be mean if they felt they had reason. Maria and Luca were Catholic and her parents had disowned her when she told them she was pregnant and unmarried. They had insisted she marry the father immediately before their family was disgraced, but Luca’s father had insisted she get an abortion, that he wasn’t interested in having a baby with her and he definitely was not marrying her. She was horrified at the idea of ending the pregnancy and adamantly refused. He’d told her she was on her own…to not even list him as the father on the birth certificate. Maria had abided by his wishes and her parents had not spoken to her since. Ben was certain that if Luca was being targeted at school, his lack of a father could be the reason.

  As Rory headed off to talk to Janie, Ben reminded himself to send off another letter over the weekend to make sure his little buddy was doing okay. He’d tried to change their communication to email, but Luca had insisted on mail because he said it was exciting to get a letter with a stamp on it. He was saving all the first class stamps that Ben had sent, so Ben tried to use a different ones each time he mailed an envelope. The shipping department at the office stocked individual stamps just for Ben. The rest of the company’s mail went out by metered mail.

  Tim yelled that the meat was ready so the family converged on the patio to eat.

  *****

  In the solitude of his own home, Ben pulled paper and pen from his desk and sat at his dining table and wrote to Luca.

  Hey Bud,

  I haven’t heard from you for a while so I figured I’d better check on you. How’s school? Are you still playing soccer? Weren’t you going to try out for the club team?

  I was thinking that when your mom comes to New York for our conference in September that you could come with her. I talked to her about it and she thought you might want to come. What do you think? We could finally go to a Yankees game! Do you have a passport yet?

  Ben went on to tell him about his last trip to Germany and the soccer matches he’d gone to watch. Then he told him about Cleo, Tim and Beth’s dog. Luca had expressed a desire for a dog but his mom had said they didn’t have time for one. He signed the letter and folded it and placed it in an envelope he’d already addressed. All it needed was a stamp and it would be in the hands of the postal service.

  Ben took a hot shower, pulled on some pajama bottoms and slipped into the cool crisp sheets on his bed. He felt as though he could sleep for days. His eyes drifted closed and within seconds he’d fallen into a deep sleep.

  “Shit!” he exclaimed as the phone startled him awake. Ben looked at the alarm clock. “Damn it!” The caller I.D. elicited a groan as he answered the phone. “What the fuck, Jill? It’s one thirty.”

  Jill had been his girlfriend for six years until he’d broken it off once and for all a couple of years before, but out of the blue she would call and irritate the hell out of him. His mother, who had never liked Jill, had told him not to answer the phone, but if he didn’t, she just kept calling.

  “What do you want?”

  “Hi babe,” she purred through the receiver.

  “What. Do. You. Want?”

  “I thought maybe you’d like to see me?”

  Ben could hear her pout through the phone. “No. I don’t want to see you.”

  “Ben!” she whined. “I miss you.”

  “You’re drunk.”

  “Am not!” she insisted. “Well, maybe just a teeny bit,” she giggled.

  “Delete my number from your phone, Jill, and stop calling me.” He hung up the phone and fell back on the pillow. The first few times she’d called after they’d broken up, he’d been weak and lonely and had succumbed to her whining and amazing breasts. They’d hooked up a few times for sex and Ben finally realized after a few months that she assumed each time he’d slept with her that they’d get back together. He hadn’t seen her in over a year, but she still called every couple of months and each time he got sterner and less friendly, hoping she’d understand that they were really over. As he closed his eyes he hoped it wouldn’t take many more calls before she got the hint.

  *****

  When Ben opened his eyes on Saturday morning and looked at the clock next to his bed, he was surprised he’d slept ‘til almost eight. He must’ve been really tired. He’d dreamt of Jill, or recalled several memories was probably more accurate. The sex had always been great for him. Jill had a body that was supple and she did yoga, which was a plus. Those memories were fine. It was the memories of them trying to have any form of conversation that was unpleasant.

  After their fourth date, Jill was talking about marriage and children. Ben had made his feelings clear that he wasn’t looking for anything permanent like marriage, and he certainly wasn’t thinking about children. She’d smiled and said she was willing to wait until he was. After six years he still wasn’t ready so he’d broken it off. He was trying to do the right thing for Jill by giving her freedom to find the man who could, and would, fulfill her heart’s desire. He’d spent six years listening to her nag and complain and beg. She wanted to be married; her biological clock was ticking; her parents said he was afraid of commitment (that was partly true); he would make a great father if only he’d have a baby with her; why couldn’t she move in with him; why didn’t his mother like her? The list was never ending and Ben finally got tired of having to listen to it all. Mark had told him it wasn’t going to get any better; that she was one of those women who would never have enough. After a particularly difficult dinner where she started in on him before the appetizer came and didn’t stop until he dropped her off at her apartment and got back in the taxi alone, he decided he was done. She hadn’t taken it well.

  Ben threw back the sheet and changed into some shorts and running shoes. An hour or so at the gym would do him good. As he grabbed his wallet and keys from the console table in the foyer he picked up the letter to Luca. He’d mail that too while he was out.

  2.

  All the Lathem men worked out religiously. Peter, the Lathem patriarch, had instilled in his sons a love for sports and exercise. “A healthy body works in sync with a sharp mind,” is what he always said. Ben had played sports all through high school and had loved every minute of it. Now, at the ripe old age of thirty-seven, his activity was limited to the gym at MEL Holdings. It was state of the art and all of the company employees and their families had access to it twenty-four hours a day. Saturday morning however, the gym was practically deserted as it was a glorious summer day in New York City, humidity at a rare low, and everyone was probably out playing.

  Ben started on the treadmill, building up speed until he was running a seve
n minute mile. With ear buds in his ear, listening to The Smashing Pumpkins, his feet pounded in rhythm for sixty minutes. Breathless, heart pounding rapidly, and sweat pouring from his chiseled body, Ben switched to the weight machine and worked every toned muscle of his six foot two frame. For another hour he strengthened his core leaving him physically tired but mentally focused. After a cool shower he dressed in khaki shorts and a polo shirt with Nike flip flops on his feet and headed to his office, an envelope in his hand.

  There were a few people scattered through the three floors that housed the head office of MEL Holdings. There always seemed to be a last minute glitch that needed to be sorted out and they always came on the weekends. Ben walked into the suite of executive offices and past Matt’s door. He was rarely in the office nowadays. If Matt came in for his scheduled two days a week, Ben was surprised. He’d settled into the role of doting husband and ever-present father very easily. When Ben had started working for his brother, Matt was a bachelor and didn’t intend to ever remarry after a disastrous five-month marriage in his twenties. But then he’d married a gold digger much to the chagrin of the family. That marriage didn’t last much longer than his first, and he was determined to avoid the trap for the third time. But then just a few years ago he’d met Janie and everything changed. Ben could honestly say that Matt was a different man now. His family was more important to him than any deal could ever be. He spent his days doting on his children and his nights making love to his wife and he was thriving. Ben was happy for him.

  Mark’s office was next to Matt’s. Mark had started coming in to the office less also. He didn’t have any children, but he and his wife, Katy, were gone a lot. Katy had recently left her job as a nurse and was focusing on her volunteer work for charities that helped and supported battered women. She and Mark donated large amounts of money to several organizations and Katy spent as much time as she could helping women with medical issues; examining and referring them to free clinics, and attending support groups when she had the chance. Mark was so proud of his wife and all she was accomplishing and was happy to fund her projects as well as supporting her in all she was doing.

  The next office he passed was Ryan’s. Ryan Little had come to the company a couple of years prior to Ben and on the corporate ladder, and was a rung higher, although his department was finance. Ryan was a CPA and an attorney and his title was Chief Financial Officer. He was very good at what he did and was a trusted employee and friend, although Matt and Mark still signed all checks by their own hand. On that, Matt would not make any exceptions.

  Finally, the fourth door belonged to Ben. He unlocked it and walked quickly to his desk. He didn’t plan on being long, as he didn’t want to get sucked in to spending the weekend working. He’d already put in sixty hours and needed the two days to unwind. He pulled out the small drawer of his desk and searched for the stamps that the shipping department supplied him with. He couldn’t find them. Frustrated, he slammed the drawer shut and left his office. With his backpack slung on his shoulder and his letter to Luca in hand, he exited the building for the four block walk home.

  Ben liked living in the financial district. He walked to and from work every day. His apartment was spacious and modern and his apartment building had all the amenities he could ever want. There was a gym there but he preferred the office gym, but his building did have a pool and he liked to use that sometimes. He usually worked out in the morning before he started work. It cleared his mind and gave him a fresh start to the day, and it was convenient to have the gym and his office on the same floor.

  Another reason he liked the financial district was because it was much quieter during non-office hours. On the weekends, some streets were almost void of humans and he didn’t have to fight with the crowds. He liked people but he had to deal with them all day long. The weekends were his and solitude was his friend.

  On the corner opposite his apartment building he stopped in at the small store that he frequented on occasion to get milk or a loaf of bread. His refrigerator was mostly bare but he liked to have milk and cereal on hand for breakfast, and peanut butter and bread for the occasional snack. The shop was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Manning and Ben knew them and they knew Ben. He’d been shopping there for the seven years he’d lived in the neighborhood.

  As he stepped inside, the smell of cinnamon rolls wafted into his nose. He walked to the counter and waited for someone to appear. After a couple of minutes a young boy, about twelve Ben guessed, came out from the back room.

  “Hi,” Ben said.

  “Hi,” the boy replied.

  “Do you work here?” Ben asked with a slight grin on his face.

  “Yep,” the boy smiled. “How can I help you?”

  “I was hoping you sold stamps,” Ben said.

  “Hold on,” he replied and disappeared back into the room at the rear of the shop.

  Ben heard some voices but couldn’t understand what was being said. After just a minute, the young man returned and pushed a couple of buttons on the cash register.

  “We sell books,” he said to Ben. “Would you like one?”

  “Yes please,” Ben smiled.

  The boy pulled a book of stamps from the till and placed it on the counter. “That’ll be…ummm…hold on.” He ran into the back room again leaving Ben with the book of stamps and the cash register drawer wide open exposing the cash inside. Ben smothered his chuckle and waited for the young man to return again.

  “Its nine dollars and twenty cents,” he said as he came jogging back to Ben.

  “Here’s a ten. Keep the change,” Ben smiled as he handed the boy the money and picked up the stamps from the glass counter.

  “Thanks,” he replied.

  Ben walked out to the sidewalk, removed a stamp from the book and placed it in the top right corner of the envelope. As he walked into his apartment building, he handed the envelope to the door man who promised to get it in the mail immediately.

  *****

  Alex Grossman carefully put the crisp ten dollar bill into the cash register and counted out the eighty cent tip he’d been given. He put the three quarters and the nickel in his pocket and shut the till drawer. As his grandfather entered the store through the back door he asked if Alex had been able to take care of the customer.

  “Sure did!” Alex grinned. “Even got to keep the change! Eighty cents!”

  “Well you must be a charmer. I never get tips,” Mr. Manning chuckled. “Thanks for watching the store for me. You are officially relieved.”

  “Thanks Grandpa,” the boy yelled as he ran from the store, through the back room and up the stairs to the apartment he shared with his mother.

  Aldo, Mr. Manning, sat on the stool behind the counter and waited for the next customer. Saturdays weren’t exceptionally busy. He made his money during the work week when all the business people stopped in for this or that to or from work. He’d extended the store hours to accommodate the customers and his business had profited because of it. He’d opened the store over thirty years ago and had managed to support his small family relatively well. With the small insurance check he’d received when his parents died in a car accident, he and his wife, Gloria, very pregnant with their first, and only, child Sophia, had bought the building; a small grocery/convenience store on the ground floor with some basement storage, and three stories above, each holding one good sized apartment. As skyscrapers and modern high-rises had risen around them, he’d been made many offers over the years to sell. But Aldo was happy with the simple and comfortable life he’d made for his family. And in two more payments he’d have the mortgage paid off and be able to use the monthly expense for their retirement fund, which they hadn’t started yet. They’d rented out the top two apartments until just a few weeks ago when Sophia and Alex had moved back home. They still had renters on the top floor, but his daughter and grandson had taken the third floor apartment after the divorce and the scumbag attorney that her ex-husband had hired left her with nothing.

  Will
is Grossman had swept Sophia off her feet and convinced her to marry him. Then, after he’d secured her, like a possession, he’d made her quit college to help put him through school. Aldo knew that she was blindly in love with him and would do all he asked. She worked two jobs, barely sleeping, quickly became pregnant and continued to work up until her water broke in the middle of the eatery where she worked the evening shift. Four weeks after Alex was born, Willis had allowed her to quit one of her jobs and four years later, he’d finally gotten himself a job at a big advertising agency and Sophia was finally able to stay home and be a full-time mother to their son. Willis was gone a lot but by then the magic spell had been broken and Sophia didn’t mind being alone with Alex most of the time. She adored her boy and concentrated on being the best mother she could be.

  About a year ago, Sophia began seeing the signs of infidelity. She discovered a second cell phone in a suit pocket and a credit card statement with hotel expenses in the city, just a few blocks from their apartment in Tribeca. Instead of confronting him, she enrolled in community college, hoping to finish her education so she could eventually leave him on her terms and support her and her son.

  But Aldo knew his son-in-law was a bastard, and Willis filed for divorce first, hiring a pit-bull of an attorney and controlling all their joint assets leaving Sophia all but destitute. Fortunately, the tenants on the third floor had just given their notice to move and Sophia and Alex only had to be subjected to sharing a bathroom with her parents for two weeks.

  That had been seven weeks ago and only a week after they’d settled in to their new home, and Alex into his new school, Gloria had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She’d had a double mastectomy just a week ago and Sophia was now their angel. She once again dropped out of school, even though both he and Gloria insisted that she should continue, and was at her mothers’ bedside all day long. When Aldo locked up the store at nine o’clock every night, Sophia served him dinner, made sure her mother was comfortable for the night and ran up the flight of stairs to her apartment and slept eight hours only to come back in the morning and do it all over again.