2. Day Two
Day Two
T he next gift turned out to be a set of exquisite honeys in diminutive glass jars.
“You. You are here again,” Leonard greeted me at the door. “Why are you here again?”
“On the second day of Christmas…?” I sang the next verse of the carol from the previous day.
“Please tell me he isn’t taking the title of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ literally?”
I stayed silent, blinking at him innocently until he thumped his head on the doorframe.
Not like I knew the plan from the beginning but, in the context, my being hired for twelve days of delivery was very telling, so I wasn’t surprised when Leonard unpacked his next gift and found not only the honey but a note with the full verse as well.
“On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.”
We shared a glance of commiseration at this insanity, but I couldn’t help my lips twitching upwards at the honey.
“He’s not afraid of your bee feelings,” I said. “I think it will take more than that to scare him away.”
“Stubborn bastard,” Leonard muttered, but his expression looked less murderous than before as he inspected each of the special honeys. Lavender honey, almonds in honey, cornflower honey, and more I couldn’t identify from my point of view. My mouth watered at the imagined taste of the sweet treat.
“I guess I will write a note. Will take a minute. Hey, what’s your name? If I’m going to see you every day we may as well get to know each other.”
“Raymond. RayRay for friends,” I shook his hand.
“Leo. For everyone.”
“Aren’t you Leonard for anyone?”
“Only my enemies.”
He left me pondering what it meant that Peter called him Raymond. He returned a few minutes later with a penned note… and one of the little jars.
“For your trouble,” Leo said, sneakily making it so that I had to pick the jar up if I wanted to take the note. The blond apparently did not miss the way I was eyeing the honeyed almonds.
I made some half-hearted protesting noises but in reality I was pleased to get a drop of what this man was getting. It would be so nice to get so much attention and be pampered a little. Alas, no one was sending priceless watches or teasing little in-jokes to me.
It was time to see what kind of response Peter got this time. Weaving through the traffic on my motorcycle, I made my way to the imposing high riser, got through the security, survived the journey to the thirtieth floor, and knocked on the lone door.
“Come in,” Peter invited, apparently deciding our previous conversation where I described all the details of Leo’s reactions to the first gift, took too long to just stand around.
“Another note,” I affirmed, seeing the slight widening of his eyes that denoted his eagerness. “Should I…?” I asked after I pulled out a scrap of paper and situated myself on the sofa.
“You may,” Peter nodded as if he was doing me a favor and not the other way around.
“Such honeyed words drip
Down the pages of our past
Don’t forget yourself.”
The man looked thoughtful after I read those words aloud, his fingers drumming against the edge of a nearby table.
“Hmm, maybe I should shift the order of the gifts to remind him of that past…” he thought out loud.
I had to bite my tongue to not ask: what past? What’s really between the two of you? I wanted all the tea! This was some Brazilian tv drama shit! But, at the same time, it was someone’s life. A life of my client. I didn’t want to destroy a good gig by being too presumptuous or rude. So, I kept my mouth shut and only answered the questions Peter asked, giving the standard debriefing about Leo’s reactions.
The important part was the fat cash transfer waiting for me in my account, with a hefty bonus on top.
I didn’t need to know everything.