After the hour-long conversation, Allen proceeded to return...

After the hour-long conversation, Allen proceeded to return calls in the order of their importance to him and the company. He looked through the messages and noticed there was one with a familiar name and a local contact number that had written in the memo log, call anytime. Allen sat for a moment and reminisced before responding to the message. He thought of the timing of the message and of all people, how could it be her. Allen wondered how she was doing and if she had ever gotten things straight in her life, while thinking if acting on impulse was the best thing to do. As seconds turned to minutes Allens curiosity forced himself to dial the number.

"Hello," Allen spoke hesitantly, "may I speak with Shawn please? Hi, this is Allen, how are you? That is good, I see that you are in the area."

Allen listened to Shawn tell him how she had done a lot of thinking over the last year and how their meeting brought hope back into her life. She explained how no one had ever seen the things that Allen saw in her and because of that she began to look at herself differently. She told him that she had been thinking of moving from Indianapolis to Los Angeles on several occasions but just recently made the decision final a week ago.

"So you have been here only a week? What made you call?"

Shawn told Allen that she had received the flowers and note that he left for her the day after they met and that she never forgot about him. She told Allen that she wanted to see him and asked if he would be able to fit lunch into his schedule. Allen accepted Shawns offer and told her to meet him at Houstons at 1:00pm. She agreed and told him that she had something special for him. Allen immediately began to think after hanging up the phone about Shawns motive for wanting to see him after all the time that had passed.

He wondered if she was trying to tell him that she got herself together and she was now ready to be more to him than just sex. Through the thoughts of his past, his phone rang. It was Gwen calling to tell him to have a good day. She told him that she tried calling him at home but when she got his answering machine, she thought to try him at work. After talking for a moment, Gwen asked Allen if he would be available for lunch today. He told her that he had lunch plans already but if she had time they could get together for dinner later that evening. Gwen accepted and again told him to have a good day.

Allen ended the call by telling Gwen that he had a lot to do and needed to get to it. She said that she understood and told him that she would get dinner and bring it over after work. Allen responded by telling her that he would be home by 6:00pm and he would see her then. Allen again began to return phone calls hoping this attempt was going to be a successful one. After the last call was made, Allen turned his attention to his financial statements for the Toronto and Orlando stores. He noticed several discrepancies in the reports from the Orlando store. He compared the numbers with the Toronto and LA stores for a more definitive conclusion.

Allen again looked over the Orlando store numbers and noticed that several items were marked Return To Stock. At first, Allen couldnt understand why so many items were being returned. Then he looked a little further to find that the items being returned were the same size outdated shoes and the same size clothing. All of which was being returned for store credit and the purchase of new clothing and shoes. Allen called Mary and instructed her to get Mitchell on the phone. Mary complied and within minutes Mitchell was on the line.

"Mitchell," Allen began angrily, "I am short of patience with you so before you begin to lie, understand that I dont have time for your bullshit."
"What are you talking about Mr. Anthony?"
"What is going on in your store?"
"Like I said before," Mitchell said with little concern, "what are you talking about?"
"I am going over the numbers for your store and you are more than twenty-five thousand dollars off of your projections for the quarter, yet I see that you have more than thirty thousand dollars in returns and store credit. Explain that one to me."
"I dont know what youre talking about."
"Ok, Ill take your word for it. Like I said I dont have time for this."