Ren Miller
Hundreds of rows of jars marked the places where great trees would one day flourish again. Ellis shaded his eyes from the afternoon sun and looked over them proudly. Replanting after the fire had been his task, his obsession really. Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps he turned to greet his unexpected visitor.
"Hello Ellis." The tall blond woman who addressed him appeared woefully out of place in this rural area with her expensive well tailored suit, leather pumps and designer sunglasses.
"Hello Bridgette." Ellis replied dryly. Pointedly turning away from her he continued his pursual of the young trees.
Nonplused by his obvious disinterest Bridgette touched his arm and gently said, "You never even called your Mother back Ellis. You owed her that much."
He stiffened and turned to face her shaking her hand off of his arm, "You knew, you all knew that I couldn't go on that way. I didn't feel anything any more. I was dead inside, burnt and dead. This is where my life is now. This is what I need to do. I can't go back to that world, not now - maybe not ever." He was trembling as he finished, staring into her shaded eyes imploringly.
She decided to try once more to reason with him, "Ellis, this tragedy was not your fault. The fire was an accident . . ."
"An accident that I should have foreseen, that I could have prevented!" He interrupted her sharply. Then sighing deeply and gaining control of his emotions he added, "Don't you see that I need to do this? It's my way of healing myself along with the land."
She sighed and removed her glasses. Her blue eyes were sad and resigned. "All right then. You have a lot more information at your old office that needs to be gone over before we can finalize every thing." Almost as an afterthought she added, "Did you know that Remco has cut it's division because of your decision?"
Something very close to a smile briefly flitted across his face, "Now that's something that I can honestly say is not my fault. They would have cut that division whether I stayed or not. They're merely using me and my leaving as an excuse."
Pleased that he was finally talking about something other than the infernal trees Bridgette decided to bait him a little in an effort to get him to continue, . "Everyone at the office is at a loss as to what should be done with the rest of the capital. They wanted to reinvest but without your connections . . ."
Ellis snorted in disgust, "They're always thinking that they need a broker to pick stocks. A trained monkey could do as well!" Then realizing how close he was coming to sounding like the old Ellis he took a deep breath and said, "Bridgette, I know what you're trying to do and I know that you think that it's what is best for me. But, that part of me died along with these trees." Turning to her he took both of her hands gently in his and looked into her eyes. "I must do this. The man that allowed this to happen died when he first gazed upon the devastation that his ignorance caused. The man who was reborn from those ashes will see this through."
She stared up at him and saw, for the first time, the real determination there. She also saw a kind of peace and contentment that had never been there when he had been in the corporate jungle. With a smile she reached up and touched his face. "We've been friends for a long time Ellis. Long enough that I know when you need to be set free. Finish your re-birth Ellis. I'd like to come back if it's all right with you, see how things, progress."
He laughed out loud, it was a wonderful, free sound. "Sure Bridgette, any time."
He turned back to his trees and she slowly let go of his hand, feeling that as she did she was also letting him go. Putting her sunglasses back on she then turned and slowly walked away.