A Dream for Two
Authors: Kate Goldman
Published by Kate Goldman
Copyright © 2016 by Kate Goldman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews – without the permission in writing from its publisher, Kate Goldman.
Table of Contents
I want to dedicate this book
to my beloved husband, who makes every day in my life worthwhile. Thank you for believing in me when nobody else does, giving me encouragement when I need it the most, and loving me simply for being myself.
Elise Roberts tucked her dark bangs behind her ears and blinked her hazel eyes rapidly. Surely she had misheard? She was sitting in her boss’ office. Outside the sun was shining, the sky was a brilliant shade of blue. It was supposed to be a beautiful day yet here he was saying words like “downscaling.”
“It’s nothing personal, Elise,” Colin Sanders continued. He was a heavyset man with a quickly receding hairline which made him appear much older than his thirty-five years.
“I’ve worked here for five years,” Elise blurted. She tightened her hands which were neatly clasped together on her lap. She had thought she was the model employee. Ever since she’d graduated from high school she had worked for Curtis Cleaning Products. She was based in their offices, carrying out basic administrative duties. A couple of people she went to school with worked on the factory floor.
Elise was never late for work. She was courteous and kind and wasn’t adverse to working overtime when it was required. She was always well dressed with a friendly smile upon her pretty face. Like most girls raised in the South, Elise had been brought up to be graceful and well mannered, qualities which her grandmother had fiercely instilled in her.
“I know,” Colin nodded. “And here at Curtis Cleaning Products we are indebted to your loyal service over those years.”
“Then…why are you letting me go?”
“Like I said, downscaling,” Colin reiterated. “The company has had some tough months recently and we need to cut costs where we can.”
Elise held back tears. She was just a cost that could be cut? Did she not matter as a person? As a colleague?
“I’m really sorry,” Colin stood up and extended his hand across the desk towards Elise. Their meeting was drawing to a close. Still blindsided by everything, Elise numbly shook his hand. As she walked back to her small desk nothing felt real. She felt as though she were in a dream, or living someone else’s life. This wasn’t her life. She hadn’t just been fired. She had a good, stable job in a local company. She had her whole future mapped out.
But it started to feel real as Elise stepped out into the morning sunshine. The golden rays caressed her skin but the sun’s presence did little to alleviate her mood. Carrying her modest box full of personal belongings, Elise hurried over to her car. She just wanted to leave, to get away from there.
Once in her car Elise flicked on the stereo and the new Claire Parry song came on. Leaning back, she listened to the fast tempo of the melody, the natural brightness in the singer’s voice. Elise had always found solace in music. It was music which had helped her through some of the toughest times in her life. Turning up the volume she maneuvered out of the parking lot, away from Curtis Cleaning Products. Her life had been flipped in the space of just one morning but for the brief drive home she wouldn’t care. She’d just wind down the windows, let the wind whip her hair and sing along to her favorite artist as loudly as she could.
***
“What do you mean they let you go?” Elise’s grandmother paused with the jug of iced tea in her hand, poised to pour into her granddaughter’s glass.
“They just let me go,” Elise told her again. Since getting home she’d cast off the smart office wear she’d so carefully dressed in that morning and was now in sweatpants and a white t-shirt.
“But why?” her grandmother persisted. “You’re such a good little worker!”
“He said something about downscaling,” Elise shrugged.
“I’d like to downscale him!” her grandmother seethed, placing a free hand on her hip.
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do,” Elise sighed despairingly. “All I’ve known is working there.”
“You’ll figure it out,” her grandmother promised warmly as she finally poured the iced tea. The ice in the glass tinkled magically and swirled within the liquid.
***
Elise wasn’t so sure she would figure it out. She’d never been great at sorting her life out. Ever since her parents died in a car accident when she was eleven she had lived with her grandmother. As a little girl she’d had dreams of being a singer. She’d listen to her mother’s old albums and sing along at the top of her voice. Her parents would watch admiringly and tell her that she had the makings of a star. And Elise believed them. Each time they told her that she was special, that she had something, she believed them. And then they died and everything changed.
Idly Elise strummed the guitar she was holding. She was resting beneath a willow tree in her grandmother’s backyard. Normally she’d be taking inventory back at the factory but not today. Today she had nowhere to go and nowhere to be.
“You can still play a nice tune on that,” her grandmother said, squinting into the sunlight as she wandered slowly into the garden.
“At least I can do something,” Elise muttered, feeling melancholy.
“Don’t be so defeatist,” her grandmother chastised her. Annabelle Roberts was a strong woman, she’d had to be. She raised her daughter as a single mother, then lost her and had to repeat everything all over again with her only granddaughter. She was warm and kind but could be formidable when she had to be.
“I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do with my life,” Elise sighed. Then she repeated the sentence, but this time she sang it along with a tune she’d just made up. She strummed along on her guitar and it actually made her feel better.
“You always had a talent for music,” Annabelle smiled fondly. “Your parents saw that in you. That’s why they bought you that guitar.”
Elise looked down at the instrument she was holding. She remembered the Christmas her parents had presented her with it, the Christmas right before they died. For almost a year after that she refused to play it, refused to connect with the memory. But then something happened. Elise realized that music could heal her. Through the guitar she could unleash all her sadness, all her anger, in the medium of song.
“Maybe that’s what you should be doing with your life,” Annabelle nodded at the guitar.
“What, Grandma? Busk for small change down by the mall?” Elise asked sarcastically. Her mood was still extremely sour thanks to the morning’s events.
“No,” Annabelle shook her head and her old eyes glistened with the arrival of a great idea.
“You should be like those singers on the radio.”
Elise shook her head dismissively.
“I’m not good enough, and even if I were, I’m too old now.”
“Too old!” Annabelle almost choked on her words. “Sweet girl, you’re only twenty-three. You’ve got the rest of your life ahead of you. Don’t get jaded now. See losing your job as the push you needed to get you in the right direction. You should be a star, Elise Roberts, everyone knows it but you.”
Elise continued to strum her guitar as her grandmother’s words slowly sank in. She had always dreamed of playing her own music to an audience, of having her own album, even a tour. But she thought that those dreams belonged to other people, to people who had their parents around to support and encourage them.
“Think about it,” Annabelle advised before heading back into the house. The afternoon heat was always too much for her.
***
Elise had been thinking about what her grandmother had said but it all seemed so abstract. How did anybody go about becoming a pop star? You could hardly walk into somewhere with a résumé and ask to be made famous. Or was that exactly how it happened? Elise had no idea. Where she came from, it wasn’t exactly the norm to go chasing big dreams. Most people were content with regular jobs and regular dreams.
“What’s that?” Elise spotted the bus ticket on the table as she sat down for breakfast. It was strategically placed in the center of the plaid tablecloth so that she wouldn’t miss it.
“That’s for you,” her grandmother called from by the stove where she was making fresh blueberry pancakes. Elise reached forward and picked up the ticket. As she scrutinized its details she saw that it was a ticket to New York, leaving the following day.
Still holding the ticket, she asked her grandmother, “Are you going on a trip?”
“Nope,” Annabelle shook her head of curled grey hair. “You are.”
“What?” Elise’s voice rose in surprise.
Her grandmother approached the table with the fresh pancakes.
“You are going to New York,” she told her granddaughter. “You’re going to take that old six-string and you’re going to follow your dreams.”
“But Grandma–”
“I won’t hear any objections,” Annabelle warned, pointing her spatula at Elise. “It’s what your folks would have wanted.”
“I can’t just pack up and leave you!” Elise insisted. “Besides, this is just a one-way ticket.”
“You can and you will,” Annabelle said sternly, dishing out the pancakes onto Elise’s plate.
“I will be just fine, I can take care of myself, I’ve been doing it all my life and I’ve gotten pretty good at it! And there is no ticket home, honey, because when you come back it won’t be on some bus, it will be flying first class like the star you are.”
“I don’t know,” Elise eyed the ticket dubiously. Butterflies had already begun to flutter in her stomach at the thought of going to New York.
“Me and your parents, we always saw you as the brightest star,” Annabelle said as she sat down across from her, a warm smile pulled across her plump cheeks.
“And then you lost them and you forgot how special you were. Which is understandable. But if I don’t help you find your way again, I’ll know I failed you. You have a gift, Elise. A gift you should share with the world. The songs you write are beautiful and moving. It would be a shame if I was the only one to ever hear them.”
Elise was still staring at the ticket.
“Okay,” she nodded slowly. “I’ll go. After all, I’ve got nothing to lose.”