Empty Rooms

I looked over at Amy to see her with tears in her eyes, stroking the top of the pile of boxes on her lap. At the bottom of the pile was a long thin box that had my name on it. It said it was from Amy. In it was a native Indian carving of a Killer Whale with five little human carved in its belly.

"Well," said Bobby, "I think that is all." She glance back at the bottom of the tree, "no, wait, what are these?" She had uncovered five little presents carefully wrapped in dark green foil. Each girl had one last present from me.

Patty opened hers first. "Wow! Oh my god! Are these real?" She held up a necklace with a gold chain and a circular pendant with a fiery opal set in diamonds.

Marisa was next. "Holy shit!" She drew out a silver necklace with a wide semicircle of emeralds surrounded by diamonds.

Bobby ripped hers open and out tumbled another necklace. This one was a filigree of gold around a circular miniature porcelain painting of a bubbling brook with a tear drop pearl hanging below. She just gasped and rushed over to give me a great big hug and kiss.

"Careful, there should be a set of earrings in there to match. And, yes Patty, they are real."

There was a chorus of squeals and the girsl dug around to find the earrings and put them and the necklaces on.

I turned to Amy. She was still sitting with all her presents on her lap, still unopened. Tears ran down her face, past the biggest smile I have ever seen. She looked at me and whispered, "These are the first Christmas presents I have ever had."

I whispered back, "Are you going to open them, or shall we put them on a shelf for you to admire?"

"Oh, I suppose I should open them, but where do I start?" She reached out and put my present to the side. Then she took the top present and slowly peeled the tape off.

Half an hour later she had finally got to the bottom of the stack. The chair around her was littered with clothes and a book and a CD. She picked up the present I had given her and slowly opened it. She gave me a troubled look, but I urged her on. Inside was another jewelry box. She almost winced as she open it. Inside was a small wooden heart with a leather string to tie around her neck. Inside the heart was a small watch that ticked out the seconds.

"I made it just for you, no jewels."

She grabbed me around the neck and kissed me hard. The watch was clutched tightly in her hand. "Oh, how did you know..." She sobbed brokenly on my shoulder until the girls came back all dressed up in their new clothes, jewels flashing in the bright sun.

"Come on Amy," said Bobby, "come and try on your new clothes." The girls whisked her off to change.

I sat with a dumb smile on my face as I slowly went through my presents again. I hadn't really noticed them as I was opening them. The CD I saw was sung by Marisa. The book was a collection of poems and quotes by Bobby. Patty's gift was a cross-stitch of a lion rampant. Amy's gift was a pair of socks, until I tore off the wrapper and found a small gold key tucked inside with a tag that said, "To my heart."

Supper was awesome. The caterers arrived at 5:00. They set up in the kitchen, shooed us politely out and decorated the dining room. We gathered for a pre-dinner drink in the living room at 6:30. The two waitresses brought us champagne and hors d'oeuvres. The girls sat primly in there second best gowns with their jewels on. All three had done their hair up, the better to display their earrings.

We went in to dine at 7:00 and the eight course meal was not over until 10:30. I wasn't sure where the time had gone, but the conversation had been lively and the atmosphere charming. We retired to the living room to sip our after dinner drinks while the caterers finished cleaning up and left. At 11:30 I stood and said, "Group hug! Then to bed. Amy has you starting early tomorrow, I believe you have appointments starting at 9:00." After the hug, I took Amy by the hand and led her to my bed.

At 6:00 we gathered in the front hall. The limo I had ordered had just arrived.The ladies were stunning. Bobby wore a golden yellow sheath, her necklace and earrings on, her hair curled under and a light touch of makeup. Marisa wore her black sheath with black gloves, black purse and dark lipstick. Her diamond and emerald necklace set off the flashing green of her eyes. She stood tall and straight.

Patty had on a green sheath with green gloves and a matching clutch purse. Her hair was piled high, making her look taller. She had lost more weight and was quite able to wear the sheath she had on. Her necklace flashed in the bright hall light.

Amy wore brown. You had to look twice to realize how beautiful she was, but once you did, your eyes kept returning to her. She only wore the wooden heart necklace I had given her, no other jewelry.

My black tuxedo was killing me.

Our arrival caused a small stir. We were announced formally and then greeted by the Mayor. I introduced the ladies to him and then we were escorted to the head table. The ladies were puzzled. The kept shooting me questioning looks as we were seated. Eventually the Mayor came back and dinner started. After the dinner, he made a short speech about the need for more philanthropic endeavors in the city and finally he introduced me to the assembled diners as the host of this evenings ball.

I stood and tried to amuse the crowd of a few minutes. Then I appealed to their sense of shame to provide some more money for giving more help to the needy. As an example I introduced Bobby, Marisa and Patty to the crowd. I asked each of them to stand and curtsey, which they did with surprising ease.

After my little speech I sat and whispered to the girls, "Go with it, no need to tell them anything you don't want to, just agree that you were in need. The object is to get the money flowing over that table in the corner."

The speeches ended people came up to be introduced to the ladies. I held Amy's hand, not sure how she would react, as I introduced Bobby, Marisa and Patty. It wasn't long before I heard Bobby's laugh as she led a large man over to the donation table. She was quickly followed by Patty and Marisa each dragging a male with them. It wasn't long before the entire group had left Amy and I alone and had followed the ladies to the table. I noticed a second man had joined the other behind it. This could be a good year.

"You are a nasty man, Fred," said Amy, "you are wantonly using those girls as bait to drag money out of their wallets. I love it!"

"Yes, and they are doing their job with great skill and delight. It will also get them noticed so that they will have an easier time of beginning their careers."

The ballroom was opened then and we moved in to the dance floor. I took Amy in my arms for the first dance. I danced with each of the girls after that. They had each saved a position on their dance cards for me. When I danced with Bobby she explained that they were selling dances to the highest bidders and making sure they paid before the dance. She was glowing with excitement and happiness. I laughed heartily.

Just before the last dance, the mayor took the mike and announce that the total donations were up to $950,000. He was looking for some one more to push the total over the million dollar mark for the first time in the history of the city. He stopped for a moment and bent down to talk to Marisa. "Miss M_ has just announced that she has saved her last dance for anyone willing to put us over the top.

A very tall black haired gentleman at the back moved over to the table.

The mayor continued, "I believe, yes, I think we have our million." The man siting at the table raised his thumb. "Yes! We have reached one million dollars for charity! Thank you and thank you from all the citizens of our great city!"

I glanced at Marisa. She was standing perfectly still, her face was white as a ghost. I began to move toward her with Amy. The tall stranger reached her just as Amy and I did.

"Hello Marisa, you appear to be well."

"Hello father," she replied with a tremor in her voice.

"Shall we dance?" He held out his arms preparing to waltz with her.

Marisa gave a quick frightened glance at Amy and I. Amy touched her upper lip with her index finger and smiled at Marisa. Marisa took a deep breath, stepped into his embraced and he whirled her away.

We stood holding hands, watching them dance. As the last dance ended, Marisa and her father returned to where we stood.

"Thank you for a wonderful dance. You waltz very well. Until next time?" He bowed. Marisa curtsied. Then she nodded.

He turned to Amy and I, "I understand you had a hand in this... transformation. Thank you. Deeply." He bowed again and abruptly turned and left.

Bobby and Patty came up at that point and asked who that man was and why Marisa looked so pale. "He is my father," Marisa explained, "he wants to see me again..."

Bobby turned to me. "And you! You have some serious explaining to do!"

"I think the limo is waiting," I said, keep tight hold on Amy's hand and putting my arm around Marisa's waist. We walked slowly down the length of the ballroom listening quietly to Bobby and Patty trying to decide who had raised more money.

Sunday, at the meeting they finally trapped me. The four of them demanded an explanation for what had taken place at the ball. I tried to give them the skinny but they wouldn't accept it. I had never talked to anyone about my wife's death three years before.

"I grew up in a small town, quite happy. Went to school and then on to university. I got a teaching degree majoring in counselling. In my last year there I met Marianne. Within six months we were married. I graduated and we moved to a larger town where I was hired as a counsellor for the high school. We lived there for over 25 years. I thought we were happy. I worked twelve hours a day and most weekends, my wife brought up our two kids. Yes, I have a boy who is twenty seven and married and living in another big city. Yes, I have a daughter who is twenty six and lives on the other side of the country. She is also married and has two children I have never seen.

"Things went along well until my wife started drinking. The kids were in their teens then and were not impressed to come home and find their mother drunk. They tended to blame me because I was never there. And they were right."

"One day I took her to the doctor to see what they could do for her. After a lot of tests they found out she was in deep pain and had been for years. She had a rare form of bone cancer that slowly, painfully destroyed the bone matter until there was nothing left. The pain was due to the ligaments pulling away from the bone. By that time she was in a wheel chair and on massive doses of pain killers - mainly morphine. That's when I rebuilt the bathroom in the bedroom and widened the doors."

"She didn't want me to tell the kids and I guess I pushed them away as I watched her die. I didn't even notice as they went off to university and graduated. I only had time for my dying wife."

"Ever since my University days I have been playing the penny stocks. I didn't remember it then, but I had a number of share in a fledgling computer company that took off and split and split again and then offered new shares and then got bought out and the stock was transferred over to the new company. As it turned out, a few days before Marianne died, a lawyer for a bunch of rebel shareholders called and said I was a major shareholder and would I allow them to vote on my stock. I said whatever and hung up. The result was that there was a takeover and a new CEO who doubled the price of stock again."

"Then, thank god, my wife finally died. I was left with a mortgage on this house, hospital bills you wouldn't believe, fifty million dollars in stocks that I didn't even realize I had, an estranged family and a huge black hole where my heart had been. For two years I rarely left the house. I had quit my job to look after Marianne and had given up seeing any friends I might have had. The only thing I could do was try to relieve the suffering of other people so I started looking for a charity to fund. Turns out this city has one of the best in terms of service to admin spending ratios. I started donating. Last year the Mayor approached me to put on the fundraiser ball. I agreed."

"One night two years ago I got so lonely I phoned up Mrs. B's escort service. That's when I met Bobby." I lapsed into silence.

We sat there, thinking our own thoughts until Amy asked, "So you haven kept in touch with your daughter and son?"

"I have watched from afar. I sent Christmas cards one year and never heard back. He doesn't know it but my son's company would have gone broke without a contract I sent their way. My daughter's husband is an engineer who got his starting job from me and their house was such a good deal because I sold it to them."

I started to cry then. Great big gasping sobs for Marianne and the life we should have had. For the times I should have had with my son Doug and my daughter Alex. For my own stupidity and blindness.

I finally buried Marianne.

Epilogue

Four long years had gone by. I was walking down the aisle of the large church with Marisa on my arm. Her father was on the other side. At the alter stood her husband to be, Jason. A tall gawky skinny six foot six nerd with his cowlick already sticking out, but a great guy. He was head of the new computerized security system at the R_ Bank. He had met Marisa at the community choir.

Bobby stood as the maid of honour and Patty was a bridesmaid.The other two bridesmaids were Clarissa and Jo-anne. Bobby, in her new role as a Social Worker, was still filling my house with stray kittens. She had brought them by a few months ago.

At the first pew on the bride's side after two empty spaces for Marisa's father, Mike and I, stood my wife Amy with our new daughter in her arms. Beside her were our two newest borders - Eve and Sam. Yup, we had gone co-ed after we got married and the raunchy sex only happened between Amy and I.

At the end of the pew was Andrew, Bobby's new beau. I liked him, he was solid and dependable. A good foil for Bobby. And he cared for her deeply.

The biggest surprise was in the second pew. First my son Douglas and his wife and their child - my grandchild then my daughter Alex - short for Alexandra - her husband and their three children - more of my grandchildren. Amy had decided to throw a house party for out friends and had invited them without my knowledge before our wedding.

The third row was Patty's employees. All six of them. She now ran a Temp Agency for secretarial and clerk staff.

We placed Marisa's hand in Jason's and went to sit and watch the world unfold.