Dancing Hours (21 page)

When
Leonard’s
wife
, Katherine,
began her struggle with cancer, Vanessa stepped in to keep track of the books and manage his businesses in his absence.  She was a stern, but fair manager.  In the evenings she stopped in at the restaurant and had the chef prepare a dinner for two and a breakfast and lunch that would be easy to warm up or could be eaten cold. 
The c
hef grumbled about the inconvenience: 
butter, cream and sauces were best eaten fresh
, but she thought the ingenuity improved his cooking. 
That same chef
later started a regional line of frozen foods that was quite popular
.

Katherine was grateful for the food and Vanessa’s determination.  She had accepted her fate early on, but for Leonard’s sake, Katherine underwent every test, procedure and treatment available.  “The treatments are as bad as the disease.” She confided to Vanessa one evening after Leonard had drunk himself into a stupor.
  It was on that late night that Vanessa made a hard promise to make sure Leonard would be okay.  She gave Katherine the reassurance she needed.
  Katherine fell asleep with a smile on her face that night.  She only survived another two days.

2

When
Katherine
passed away,
Leonard
was distraught.  Vanessa had seen a lot of people who were desperate and she knew the look of a man who had given up on life.  The loss of his Katherine nearly destroyed him.  He stopped checking in on his business ventures and by all accounts drank himself
numb
each day.  Vanessa felt sorry for Leonard, but didn’t know how to help.  She did the only thing she could do – she lied to everyone.

While dropping off his meals one day, Vanessa realized that Leonard had checked out, maybe for good.  Without his involvement and approval on business matters, he’d be destitute in no ti
me.  So, she drafted a memo to T
he
C
lub and restaurant managers, f
rom Leonard, appointing her as E
xecutive
O
fficer.  She didn’t really know what that meant, but it sounded important and she hoped that it would give her the authority to do what needed doing.  She forged the signature she’d seen hundreds of times and felt not the least bit proud of
herself
.

Her first act as Executive Officer was to hire a personal assistant for Leonard.  She chose carefully a sensible woman
with nursing experience
who seemed capable of dis
cretion and patience.  M
ost importantly, Dorothy was attractive enough to get her way when necessary.

On the way over to Leonard’s home to introduce Dorothy to him, Vanessa eyed Dorothy carefully, hoping she’d made the right choice.
“He won’t like it at all when we get there, but I need you to be persistent.  He lost his wife and he’s a surly cuss right now.  Your job is to keep him and the house cleaned up, make sure he’s fed, water down his drinks and whatever you do don’t let him do any business unless he’s in his right mind.  I’ll be by twice a week to check up on him and you can tell me how he’s doing.”

The introductions were brief.  Leonard didn’t seem angry.  He didn’t seem to care at all.  He barely answered the door and returned to bed before Vanessa left.
Dorothy reassured her that Leonard
would be just fine.

Vanessa went to work.  At first she was reluctant to make any changes and kept things pretty mu
ch the way Leona
rd had run them.  She knew how The C
lub and the restaurant operated, but Leonard had some other dealings with people who refused to speak with anyone but
him
. 
They had packages to pick up and deliver, packages that needed to go in the
safe
,
and large cash deliveries
. 
Even after Vanessa showed them the memo, they balked.  She volunteered that they could try calling him at home, but
she
didn’t know what he would say
if they did call
.  Eventually, the mysterious packages were dropped off wit
h and picked up from her.  The
money she was
given
was tucked away safely in
Leonard’s safe.  She kept a separate book regarding those transactions and never attempted to look behind the curtain for fear of what she might find. 

A
fter a year or so had g
one by and Leonard still had no
interes
t in how his business was going, Nessa started making some bold moves – mostly things that she had already mentioned to Leonard and gotten a favorable response.
  She stopped by Leonard’s home at least twice a week.  He had good days and bad days, but mostly he was doing the same.  Dorothy mentioned to Vanessa that Leonard had been receiving a number of calls from his accountant, a man named Samuel.  Samuel had also called Vanessa, but she was afraid to call him back and Leonard flatly refused. 

Making bank deposits and paying people their salaries was one thing, but signing financial papers on Leonard’s behalf was a little farther than Vanessa was prepared to go.  It had taken every minute of her incomplete education in math for her to understand the books well enough to know whether the busi
ness was doing well or not.  An
accountant might find her out as the masquerading fraud that she was.  When Samuel’s call
s
at The Club
became more urgent, Vanessa finally decided to go to Dorothy for help.  At Leonard’s home that night, Vanessa saw him sitting with a glazed look – drink in one hand and a sweater that belonged to his late wife in the other.  He looked like he’d been that way all day.

“Has he eaten anything?”
Nessa asked Dorothy.

“No.  Not today.”

“Oh Dorothy.
  What am I going to do?  The accountant has been hounding me to meet with him and to meet with Leonard.    Do you think you could get him cleaned up and sober enough to smile and shake hands?”

Dorothy looked sadly over at
Leonard  “
Is that the man that calls here looking to talk with him?  He’s very persistent.”

“Yes
,  Leonard’s
tax papers are overdue and I think I need to talk to him about some of the investments that are losing money.  I could use his help, but I need Leonard to tell him that he can trust me and talk to me about the businesses.”

“You know Leonard doesn’t want to talk about that stuff anymore.  He’d be out on the street by now if it weren’t for you and I think he knows it, but some days I can’t get him to get dressed.”

“I know and that’s why I need him to let me take care of things.  Maybe if you tell him he just needs to have one meeting and we’ll leave him alone, he’ll be able to shake it off for a bit.”

Dorothy sighed deeply.  She had come to know Leonard very well over the last year.  Vanessa sensed that she felt protective of him, which was a good thing.

“Can you give me a week?”

“Yes, I can do that.  I’m sure I can do that.  Can you get him a haircut and a shave too?”

“You bet.”

Vanessa wasn’t at all sure she could put Samuel off for another week, but she had no choice.  She called him and took the approach of setting up a meeting, a week away, without asking his availability.  She could hear the reluctance in his voice, but she reassured him that Leonard would be there.  In fact, they could meet at his home. 

When the day of the appointment arrived, she came early with her fingers crossed that it would all work out okay. 
She had an ache in the middle of her chest and felt like she couldn’t breathe.  It felt like her body was trying to constrict upon itself and shrink into
the center of her breastbone.  She wondered if this was what a panic attack felt like.

Vanessa rang the bell and tried to breathe deeply, but her lungs were too small.  Leonard answered the door and he looked quite dapper.  His hair had grayed a bit over the last year and his smile wasn’t quite as grand, but he looked very much like the old Leonard.  Dorothy had really come through.

“So good to see you my dear.”
Leonard said, giving
Vanessa a hug.  She fumbled and met Dorothy’s eyes with a questioning look.  Dorothy gave her
a thumbs
up.

“It’s wonderful to see you too.”  She meant it sincerely and wondered if Leonard might be ready to come back to work.  She supposed she would find out.  Dorothy had prepared one of the Leonard’s favorite meals
and
he abstained from drinking that night.

“I know I need to stay sharp.  You’re going to like Samuel, Nessa.  I’ve known him since he was a boy.  What you’ve got in street smarts, he’s got in book smarts.  And he’s saved my assets more than once.”

Dorothy began to relax a bit while she chatted with Leonard and Dorothy, but the tightness in her chest migrated to a knot in her stomach as the appointed hour crept upon them. 

Samuel arrived right on time and Leonard volunteered to answer the door again while Vanessa and Dorothy pretended not to be listening.  After the initial niceties wer
e exchanged, Leonard nearly shouted to the man “Come in!  I’d like to introduce you to a couple of beautiful ladies.”

As they rounded into the living room, Vanessa’s heart skipped a beat.  Here was the man whose calls she had been avoiding.  He was plainly dressed, but handsome with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes.  Dorothy was introduced first and Samuel bowed and kissed her hand, which made Dorothy giggle and slap his hand away.  He did the same to Vanessa, but she was too nervous to be playful.  She
said she
was pleased to meet him and he responded “The pleasure is all mine.”
  He smiled warmly and held her hand for a moment too long.  Leonard was the only one who didn’t seem to notice.

Leonard was ready to have dinner and even said he was famished, a miracle in itself; but Samuel declined saying he had so many accounts to go through that he just planned to grab a sandwich.

Leonard chided “Nonsense.  I was your first client and you have most of those accounts because I got them for you.  You can have dinner with us.”

His commanding tone was a flash of the old Leonard and a good sign.  Samuel was powerless to refuse and Vanessa knew it.  They ate at the kitchen table and Vanessa knew it was because the main dining room was a shrine to the late Katherine’s china and sewing supplies.

A small table could be delightful if you wanted to get to know someone, but now was not that time.  Vanessa’s stomach was in knots trying to figure out how t
o
steer the conversation to her involvement in the company,
when Leonard inadvertently assisted.
 

“You may have seen my notice regarding Miss Swift.  She has been handling my affairs for me while I take some time to myself.”
Leonard said to Samuel.

Vanessa had no idea he had seen the memo and was shocked he had any idea what she was doing.  Samuel regarded her and she wondered what he was thinking.  It was unconventional for a woman to exert any control over bus
iness decisions in those days, at least publicly. 
To her surprise, Mr. Moore called it a wise decision.