Reasons

A Tale of Romance

David Scott

Copyright © David Scott.

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, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.

ISBN: 978-1-64970-024-7 (Paperback Edition)

ISBN: 978-1-64970-025-4 (Hardcover Edition)

ISBN: 978-1-64970-022-3 (E-book Edition)

Some characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Book Ordering Information

Phone Number: 347-901-4929 or 347-901-4920

Email: info@globalsummithouse.com

Global Summit House

www.globalsummithouse.com

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Chapter 1: Laguna Beach Rendezvous

Chapter 2: Breakfast

Chapter 3: Lunch

Chapter 4: Dinner

Chapter 5: Closing Time

Chapter 6: C’est Si Bon

Chapter 7: Reasons

Chapter 1

Laguna Beach Rendezvous

Vic Fontaine

April 19, 2019 is a beautiful day as I am driving northbound on the South Pacific Coast Highway from my home in Laguna Niguel heading for the beach town of Laguna Beach, California.

I hope the sunscreen I generously applied to my face doesn’t start running into my eyes. Ever since I had skin cancer surgery on my nose a few years ago I’ve made sure I go outside with sunscreen on my face, especially when I will be outside on a sunny day for at least an hour. If things go well today longer than that.

My classic 1967 red Camaro is purring like a kitten. It’s my most prized possession. It costs me a small fortune to maintain and insure. It is worth every penny.

This drive was years in the making.

I am reviewing the sequence of events that are leading to my Laguna Beach rendezvous with Dulce Bravo.

I’ve been waiting twelve years since 2007 wondering what if. I haven’t seen Dulce in twelve years.

When did my attraction to Dulce first begin? In the mail room? What stands out are the mail room and the hallway and the perfume caper. It began in the mail room at Johnson Industrial Supply in Commerce, California fourteen years ago when I joined the company in mid-2005 for the first time.

Disoriented and mentally beat up after a long bout of unemployment and caring for my sick wife Lynn being hired at Johnson was a blessing.

Several days after being hired I was in the mail room checking my mail slot for mail when somebody walking up from behind asked me a question.

Were you in the Hitler Youth?

I turned and looked to my left and saw a woman removing mail from her mail slot. It not so much that she was attractive. She was attractive. But something else was at work transcending her looks, which were very good to be sure.

I detected a Mona Lisa smile on her face as she precipitously walked away leaving me astonished.

Dulce Bravo was the name on the placard underneath her mail slot.

At that moment in the mail room I fell for her. I’ve been falling for her ever since.

I feel happy anticipation building up within me. I have a smile on my face.

I was the Accounting Supervisor and Dulce worked in Order Entry. I saw her several times during those first weeks of my new employment.

When I was taken around being introduced to my new coworkers Dulce wasn’t present.

A month after Dulce asked me that odd question in the mail room another milestone was reached.

I remember that day clearly. It was almost quitting time. I had just returned to my office from a meeting with the owner.

My office door was open. I looked up and saw Dulce standing about fifteen feet from my office. She was having a conversation with a coworker. I could just barely make out what they were saying.

Earlier in the day I detected a cold sore beginning to form on my lower lip. I felt compelled to share this information with Dulce.

I put down the notes from a meeting with my boss that I was going to transcribe and urgently searched for Dulce’s company email address.

I began composing an email to Dulce as she and the other person walked away.

Because she was leaving for the day, Dulce wouldn’t read my email until tomorrow. I knew at the time she would consider it off the wall, but I couldn’t help myself. It was an impulsive spur of the moment act. I was compelled by forces I couldn’t control.

Hi Dulce,

I am beginning to have a cold sore. I am going to gargle with salt water tonight.

Vic

Driving home I recall being puzzled why I would send Dulce that email. My email to her was almost as odd as her question to me in the mail room. Then after being home for an hour it occurred to me.

I liked Dulce and I didn’t know why.

I like Dulce now and I still don’t know why.

If I am honest with myself, I love Dulce. I told her that I love her in some of my emails conveyed to her via our mutual acquaintance Marisol.

Do I love her? I mean for real?

What is love? Does anyone really know? Is that why most songs are about love?

I am crossing into Laguna Beach. My rendezvous with Dulce in Laguna Beach at the gazebo is scheduled for ten this morning. I feel a glow in my heart.

I am turning right onto Broadway Street. With luck I will find a parking spot.

There’s one!

I’m easing into my spot. I’m always excited when I find a parking spot.

I’m pumping the meter full of quarters.

It is nine-fifty.

After adjusting my hat for maximum protection against the sun I begin walking to the gazebo rendezvous point.

I cross Pacific Coast Highway, also known as PCH, and pivot right with the beach and basketball court on my left. Smell that ocean.

I’m climbing up the steep flight of stairs leading up to the path and the gazebo. I begin my ascent hoping I am not on a fool’s errand.

It would hurt beyond words to be stood up. It would be devastating to my self-esteem and so much more. I could be setting myself up for heartbreak.

Just as I am two stairs away from the top, I feel a twinge in my lower back. I stop and access the situation. I can still walk, but there is a localized discomfort. Why does something like this have to happen on this day of all days?

Dulce Bravo

I’m riding shotgun in my brother Joaquin’s car. We are driving along PCH. I am wondering why I agreed to this meeting with Vic Fontaine whom I haven’t seen since 2007. That’s twelve years ago.

At the time Fontaine didn’t seem to mean anything to me. Well, maybe that isn’t totally accurate. What about now? I suppose that is why I agreed to meet him.

What really surprised me were the emails and Valentine’s Day card Fontaine sent me care of my friend Marisol who still works at Johnson Industrial Supply where Fontaine and I once worked. What would cause him to send such emails and a Valentine’s Day card professing his love for me after such a long time? Has he been pining for me for twelve years?

In my view that email brought into question Fontaine’s mental health status. That is also the view of my brothers Joaquin and Gustavo.

His last email inviting me to this meeting intrigued me enough that in spite of my better judgement it tipped the balance in favor of my decision to meet with him.

We are in stop and go traffic in Huntington Beach. It is 9:20 am.

I am happy it is a beautiful day. A perfect Chamber of Commerce day.

I remember the email reply I gave Fontaine through Marisol:

Fontaine,

I agree to meet you on the date and time and place you indicated in Laguna Beach.

Bravo

I always called him by his last name Fontaine.

I remember the first time I noticed Fontaine. It was in the mail room fourteen years ago.

It’s not like he was good looking. Cute maybe. He was kind of good looking in a nerdy way. He was and is ten years older than me. For some reason I remember that factoid. I am now 43 years old and that would make him 53 years old now. Making matters worse at the time he was a married man.

Fontaine said he’s a widower in one of his emails. I didn’t tell him my marital status. Does he know I am divorced and single? Marisol told me she never actually spoke to Fontaine. It was all done by email and text.

Marisol also claimed I know everything she knows since she shared all of his emails and texts with me and her replies. No mention was made that I am now single. There is Jorge who likes me and he is a nice guy, but he is not boyfriend material. I am not saying Fontaine is mind you.

There was something about him that intrigued me. What was it? I didn’t have a clue then and I haven’t got a clue now. That’s untrue. I do know.

Whatever my feelings for Fontaine are, indifference is not one of them. I am not indifferent to Fontaine. I think this is why I agreed to meet with him. Not think, I know this is why I agreed to meet with him to answer the question of why I am not indifferent to him.

I recollect saying something admittedly peculiar to him in the mail room, but I can’t remember exactly what it was despite what he claims in his email.

He claims in one of his emails I asked him if he had been in the Hitler Youth.

Did I ask him that question?

I think I did.

Was I nervous when I said that, or if I said that?

‘The Sound of Music’. He mentioned that movie in one of his emails.

I had watched ‘The Sound of Music’ the night before.

What about that weird email Fontaine sent me something about his having a cold sore?

At the time I thought it was strange for him to do that. I still do.

Was he flirting with me? Oh yeah, he was flirting with me in an offbeat kind of way.

The biggest elephant in the room is the public trial last year that lasted two months in which Fontaine was acquitted of laundering drug money through a now bankrupt company called Genome Genetics.

I remember the headline in the Los Angeles Times.

Vic Fontaine Acquitted of Laundering Drug Money in Genome Genetics Scandal

Trial Lasted Two Months and Cost L.A. County Taxpayers $1.3 Million Dollars

I bite my lip as I feel my breathing increasing slightly thinking about meeting up with a guy I last knew and last saw in 2007 who only last year had been accused of being a big-time major player drug dealer. I try to ignore the obvious. The possibility this might be true excites me.

Are you awake? Joaquin asks me shaking my shoulder as I was dozing off. Why am I smiling?

We’re in Laguna Beach. I don’t understand why you are agreeing to meet this guy. I’ll ask you one more time. What if he is a nut job? What if he is still involved with dealing drugs? Joaquin is asking me these questions with genuine concern in his voice.

Then I’ll text you and you’ll come pick me up. You said you were going to hang around Laguna today anyway since you don’t get down here that often. Don’t forget he was found not guilty of laundering drug money.

How did he get involved with the Cartel to begin with? That is what I want to know. I saw the emails Vic Fontaine sent you. Looks like a nut job to me. He could be a stalker. Gustavo agrees with me. Why are you meeting him at a gazebo? I should tag along with you. He doesn’t know who I am. He might not remember what you look like.

"Fontaine might have