Chapter 4: Memories in Mitchell's Building

The morning sun was peeking through my pale pink curtains, and as usual I cursed myself for having that be my favorite color. Though they tied the room together nicely with the theme, a chic modern contemporary with whites, pinks and golds, they hardly allowed the sun to be shaded correctly. My shop was always closed on Friday through Sunday, Reece had another job on the weekends, and I wouldn’t do that to her. Heather, my other employee, only worked nights, and it wouldn’t make sense to open for such a short amount of time. I wanted to sleep in more, but I knew getting that man his phone as fast as possible would ensure that I would never have to see him again. I wanted to regret selling the company to him, truly, I did, but seeing as how he had made it one of his top companies, and kept it flourishing, I couldn’t say that I did. I constantly googled its progress the first few years and Carroll Publishing’s net worth doubled in the first year after he took over. Clearly he knew what he was doing.

As I got dressed, anxiety began to creep up to my surface, and I wondered how the building would look now. It had been seven years since I stepped foot in it, and was worried that it would look completely different. I wanted it to be different though. It would help convince me that it was a different building, and not the one my mother spent half her time in. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to remember, I did, too often honestly. I just felt that it would help me keep my composure. I loved my mother with my entire being, and my emotions would get the best of me if the building was kept how it was.

I decided to wear casual attire, a simple pair of light wash jeans, a white t-shirt, and a thick, navy blue peacoat. Once I was satisfied with my appearance, I put my navy blue jodhpur boots on and grabbed my purse and keys, heading out the door, locking it behind me. Kansas was at work, and she had left a note saying she would be back after her shift. I hadn’t told her I would be going to return Mitchell’s phone, but I would be back before she got home. I hurried down the streets of Seattle, my feet automatically knowing the route to take. It was one of the largest buildings, and sat nearly dead center in the city. The winds were howling, but I didn’t mind, considering I had the proper coat this time. The twenty five minutes it took to get there felt like an eternity with the whirlwind of emotions running through me. 

When I walked through the front doors, I saw that the original interior of the building had stayed the same, with slight modifications, and my heart immediately sank. Remnants of my mother were scattered about the main lobby, and a large portrait of her hung above the front desk with the words Founder written in gold letters under her name along with the critical dates of her life. My heart warmed at it, but when I saw that Felicia was at the front desk, I wanted to bolt out of there.

She was a nice woman, and one of my mother’s closest friends. She told it like it was, and I was afraid of the inevitable conversation that would ensue. She would reprimand me for not visiting sooner, and she would go into great detail about the changes made to the way the business was run, ultimately saying that my mother did it best. How she maintained a job here with Mr. Mitchell’s brooding ass was beyond me, but I was still happy for her nonetheless, it was just that she reminded me too much of my mother.

I quickly gathered what little courage that I had, and made my way over to her desk. She was too busy typing on her computer to notice me for the first few minutes, but eventually she lifted her head up. A look of shock, and bewilderment crossed her features, and she smiled brightly at me. The hardest part was about to come, and I braced myself for it.

“Oh, Alice! It’s been ages! How are you doing? We missed you here, things aren’t the same. It's such a shame really, you’re mother-” I cut her off as sweetly as I could, I couldn’t break down now. I had to remain composed if I was going to return this damn phone.

“I’m so sorry Felicia, I wish I could stay and chat, but I need to return Mr. Mitchell’s phone, it’s urgent.” I gave her the warmest smile I could muster, and realization crossed her face. I wanted to get out of here as fast as I could before someone else I used to know spotted me. 

They would undeniably question my return, and I was sure Mr. Mitchell didn’t want to deal with the press and their hounding questions about the founder of the company’s daughter. I saw her type a few things onto the computer, and when she returned my smile, I knew it meant that he was still in the building. 

“Mr. Mitchell has an appointment soon, but if you scurry fast enough, you can catch him, dear. I apologize. I know it must still be tough, you two were as thick as thieves.” I grimaced for a second at her words but found myself smiling sadly at the woman. 

“His office is on the thirteenth floor.”  I gave her a tight nod before heading into the elevator, the thirteenth floor was were my mother’s office stood, and I had a feeling which one might be his.

I could feel less than foreign emotions rumble inside me as the elevator’s loud dinging rang in my ears. This man was horrible, at least from my miniscule interactions with him, and knowing that he was the one running this company made me feel sick to my core. I felt like I betrayed my mother by signing those contracts, and my heart was throbbing the closer I got to his office. The doors were the same, but the name was different. It donned gold knobs, decorated with intricate designs, the same ones my mother opened every day, and closed every night at 8:00pm sharp. 

I didn’t bother to knock, considering Felicia had told me he was not in a meeting, but I regretted it as soon as I saw him on the sleek, obsidian office phone placed neatly on his desk. He lifted a single finger up, and continued his call with a glare.

 “No, I need those files today, not tomorrow, not in a week, today, is that understood, Arlo. I won’t say it again.” His voice was firm, but there was a level of exhaustion layered beneath the cold exterior, one that I knew all too well. I shook the memories of my mother out of my mind and fished his phone out of my purse. 

I walked up to his desk with a confidence that I didn’t know I had, and all but slammed it on the mahogany surface. He seemed to lose focus on his conversation, and stared at me with a confused expression. His eyebrow rose in curiosity and I turned around without a single word escaping from my lips. 

“How do you have my phone, Alice?” His voice was stern, but I could sense a bit of amusement in it. I froze just as my hand was about to turn the luxurious golden knob, and turned to face him.

“You left it at my register when you left yesterday. I didn’t realize until I was finished closing, but honestly, get a better ringtone, yours is rather annoying Mr. Mitchell.” I was seething, not because of him, he had every right to know why I had his phone, but the memories had kept trying to push their way to the surface, and I had spent more time in this building than I wanted to.

“Duly noted, Ms. Carroll, please do have a wonderful day, but I sincerely hope this is the last time we will see each other.” Was his professionally clipped response. That was all I needed to turn the knob and exit the building.

It was just my luck that as I left the building that snow had started to fall. The first snowfall, to be more specific. I hated snow, I know being in Seattle there was a lot of it, but it didn’t deter me from hating it altogether. I clutched my coat tighter to my body and headed back to the apartment. I wouldn’t allow myself to break down until I got there. I couldn’t.