My Hero

*******

It felt like a comedy sketch when I knocked on Cheryl's door. She opened it and looked me up and down. Then she looked up at the bright sunshine before looking at me again.

"I'm kinda tight for time so could you make this quick, Cheryl? Yes, I'm wet. I got caught in one of those thunderstorms that seems to sneak around this country."

She smirked. I had taken her steam away and spoilt her fun. Her body leaned back into the house and she called Libby. My daughter bounded up to the door and came to a screeching stop, her eyes like saucers.

"You're wet," was my daughter's only statement.

The smirk was once again on Cheryl's lips as our own daughter took on the mantle of inquisitor. I held out my hand and Libby placed her suitcase into it.

"I was having a splashing contest with the ducks in the pond, the ducks won."

"What pond? Mom and Derek took me to the nearest park that had a pond and that's four miles from here."

Cheryl's smirk just got bigger as she watched her daughter win that one. I walked to the car as Libby said goodbye to her mom and joined me in the car. She did her best all the way from Oxford to Heathrow to get an answer as to why I was wet. The only way I could think of to deflect her questions would have been to ask her about the wedding. I would much rather stay wet.

The car heating dried me to a point, now the smell came and Libby moved closer to the open window. I couldn't blame her; the good thing about airports is they sell everything in Duty Free. I took my new clothes, wash kit and towel up to the First Class lounge with us and, while Libby watched the television, I had a shower and put on some nice warm and dry clothes once again. The bin in the men's bathroom was full when I left there. We were on the plane less than an hour later and wheels up soon after.

Jet lag slowed down the inquisition for a couple of days, but Libby tipped off Mom and she took over. Everyone seemed to know something was up and I wasn't about to explain myself. Hell, even Toni got in on it.

"Ducks, huh?"

I gave her that 'not you as well' look. It didn't faze her in the least.

"Yep, big white ones."

She giggled. She sure had a sweet giggle. I enjoyed her company and didn't look forward to losing her when she went away to college.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, boss, but them things are called swans."

Shrugging my shoulders, I replied, "No wonder it wasn't a fair fight."

The day's work took over after that, so no mention of anything that lived, breathed or swam in anything water-related was mentioned. Being the only one in when I got home I turned on the TV, lowered the sound and guy-flicked across the channels. Some woman was standing with a microphone in her hand; the camera had the Oxford White Water Centre sign in the background. Just as my mind thought, "What the fuck?" the front door closed so I switched over to sports and watched yesterday's game with Libby sitting right alongside me.

I had meant to check the news channel later when Libby went to bed but I got involved in a conversation with my folks and it slipped my mind. Three days of peace reigned, mostly due to catching up for the time I had off getting Libby back.

*******

Toni and I were in the office. We had one of the designs up on the big screen and I was overlapping foreground onto the main picture. The door to the office opened behind me and Toni looked up and gasped. I was still concentrating on what I was doing, that is, until Toni spoke.

"Em... Boss... Melody Carlson has just walked into the office."

My concentration was still on the screen so all I could manage was, "That's nice."

It still took a moment longer before my brow creased in confusion. "Who's Melody Carlson?"

"That would be me," came the voice from the open door.

I turned towards the voice and looked at her, I'm sure "Wow!" was invented solely for her use. The only thought that managed to pull itself from the many stirring around in my head was that she would look stunning if she would only smile. Then facts and figures slowly came from the far recesses of my mind.

Our paths had crossed a couple of years back in a minor way. I was sub-contracted onto one of her companies during a promotion push for one of the perfumes her company made. I dealt with the company and never with her, but that didn't stop me finding out about her in the interest of curiosity and self-preservation.

Melody Carlson, founder and owner of Carlson's Cosmetics, two failed marriages and a cosmetics business that grossed the equivalent of a small country's expenditure. Her make-up was worn by most of the stars of screen and stage, who publicly swore by it. Not bad for a woman who was, in fact, only two years older than I.

When I found my voice, I asked the obvious. "What can I do for you, Ms. Carlson?"

Melody looked around the office, her eyes stopped at my desk and the picture of my daughter on it. She walked over, placed her ass on the corner and sat. Leaning over and picking up the framed picture, she looked at it for a moment before placing it back onto the desk. It was the only time I saw her smile that day. She was cute as a button, as well.

Her features hardened when she once again looked at me. "I sat by my daughter's hospital bedside, plotting ways to kill you. But that would have been too quick, so then I plotted ways to ruin you first and then kill you."

Wow, if ever there was an example of the term 'pause for effect' I believe Melody Carlson had mastered it. The gasp from Toni reminded me that she was still there; it reminded Ms. Carlson as well.

"I can clearly see you're a parent, Mr. Henderson, a part of me wishes to thank you for saving my daughter. The other part still stands in dismay at the fact that once you had, you failed to look after her until REAL help had arrived."

The anger within her looked real to me; she also seemed to think she had a point to prove, so I let her continue.

"Only my first husband caused me to have such thoughts and I've dealt with him. You, on the other hand, I can't deal with. I'm in your debt Mr. Henderson and that alone makes my skin crawl."

I saw Toni move from beside me and grabbed her arm, but that wasn't enough. The need to attack Ms. Carlson was sure strong in her and I had to grab her by the waist and lift her off her feet to stop her attacking our guest. Melody stood and slowly headed for the door. She paused before she joined her friend that stood in the hallway.

"A car will be here for you at six. Don't run away this time, Mr. Henderson, or I may have to come to your home and get you myself."

Melody Carlson left; her friend who had waited in the corridor followed behind her. It was only then that I could let Toni go. It was her youth that still made her want to strike out. She was feisty now, and she was sure going to be hell on wheels all through college, that was for sure.

As I was watching Melody Carlson climb into the back of a car from my office window, Toni reminded me that it was time for explanations.

"Why? Just explain to me why."

*******

She was still clenching and un-clenching her hands. Her body clearly wanted her to calm; her mind still refused to listen. I had pieced most of it together, but how to explain all this to Toni? She followed me back to my desk; her breathing was calmer now as I typed words into Google.

Toni sat and read the story that the Oxford local paper had; the national papers had a few more details but not much else: police reports, witness statements and a few 'un-named sources' added to the mystery of the unknown hero.

Daniela Carlson was at the Oxford White Water Centre with her coach; they were putting finishing touches to her training before the next weekend's inter-University competition. She was on her timed run when her canoe clipped one of the permanent structures. The speed she was going, along with the current, caused her to spin and lose control.

Her canoe capsized and she struck another obstacle on the way down the course, causing unconsciousness and the subsequent concussion. An unknown member of the public witnessed everything and jumped in to save her. He was still giving her mouth to mouth when the safety team arrived. In the ensuing chaos the unknown man disappeared. A member of the safety team gave a brief description of the man and said that he spoke with an American or Canadian accent.

Toni typed in a few more words into the computer but she couldn't glean anything else from Google or even the English national papers who, in their own desperation, had offered a reward for information leading to the discovery of this unknown man.

Toni looked at me, the gleam in her eyes a dead giveaway. "So, what's it worth for me not to pick up that phone for the reward?"

"My sincere gratitude, and if you didn't, then the loss of the job you love, not to mention your father putting you across his knee for betraying a confidence if you did."

She smiled at that thought; she may have been seventeen, but she could still see that happening. Toni glanced once again at the screen. She read the newspaper report one more time and then her face seemed to harden slightly. When she had finished, she turned to look at me. My own mind had already predicted her next question. Perhaps I worked with this young lady too much because I seemed to understand her thought process.

Her voice was so soft, even for her, when she asked, "Why did you leave?"

Toni leaned her elbows onto her legs as she watched me sit on the same spot Melody Carlson had only just vacated. I thought for a while on how to answer her. In the end, the brutal honesty of my answer came out.

Going in after the canoeist was a given. When the she hadn't made any attempt to right herself along with her canoe, I just knew something was horribly wrong, I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I dived in. The water was so cold that I was fighting for my own breath as well as going after the capsized canoe and its occupant. By the time I had pulled her from her canoe and further away from the white water, her face was covered in blood from the nasty cut just above her left eye.

Getting her breathing was my priority; the cut could wait for now. When the woman from the safety team joined us and her only response was the worry about being in trouble over this, it caused me to get a little pissed at her. When the canoeist couched up water I breathed the biggest sigh of relief in my life. The pulse in her neck was getting stronger and she was going to live.

The wound on her head still needed to be addressed but I was sure something in the little medical box on the safety woman's belt could deal with that until real medical help would arrive. I had done all I could.

To anyone watching all this I'm sure what I did next would seem just a little heartless, but I had done my bit; the canoeist would live and I still had my daughter to get back to London and onto a plane. Even if I had stayed, what would it have accomplished, other than getting shit from Cheryl and missing my plane home?

Toni seemed to ponder my reasoning for a while. Her youth may have made her stay in the same situation, but all I was being was practical. I didn't know this woman; she was in a difficult situation and I had pulled her away from that situation.

Other than answer questions from the police and miss my plane, not to mention getting reams of crap from Cheryl, because I missed my pick up time for our daughter and thrown her own plans into chaos because she was due to leave for her honeymoon not long after I picked Libby up. What was there to gain?

I got a hug from Toni that afternoon. She was close to tears about something but left before I could ask her if she was okay. Google got worn out for the next hour; I had the name of the woman I pulled from the White Water Centre. A few minutes more yielded some history. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have given much thought to this. It was over and done with.

Unfortunately, Melody Carlson had strode into my life and into my face, and with it that small curiosity reached out from the humdrum of my life. Daniela Carlson had once again become real in my life. I even found a picture of her that the graphic designer in me went to work on.

*******

It was the knock on my office door that caused me to pause and look up. The same woman that was with Melody Carlson was now standing in the doorway rather than in the hall. I pushed a pen drive into my computer and downloaded the image I was working on and closed it down. She stood to one side while I locked the office door and let me go first down the corridor. The journey itself took almost an hour. The Chesterton Country Club was the other side of the city from me, and as we drove up the driveway I was well impressed.

She parked in a spot that had a sign saying 'Reserved'. I got out when she did and followed her through endless corridors and then a lift, only to stop at a door that had 'Private' nailed proudly in big letters at head height so no one could miss it. She knocked once and then entered. Once she ushered me in, she then went outside again, closing the door when she did.

"Ah, my hero."

A young woman's head peeked around a high-backed chair that was placed to look out the window and onto the manicured lawns. Daniela Carlson rose from the chair and walked towards me, her arms out and ready to give me a hug. We embraced and I had to admit she looked better this way than soaking wet and covered in blood. Her mother came into the room from some door behind me.

"Daniela, dear, there is no need to hug him to death."

I heard the sigh in my ear a second before she moved away and held out her hand. I took it in mine and we shook on it. The Steri Strips held the damaged skin together above her eye and the lack of cover over them made me think that opening that much to air would help it heal faster. The black eyes had also faded, but sure left me thinking about how that would have looked a few days ago. It was possibly the only reminder of what had happened to her.

"You're hard to find; most of England is still looking for you."

Feeling at a loss to say anything, I just shrugged my shoulders. Daniela pointed to a couch. She even held me by my arm until I sat down. She turned the chair she had been sitting on to face me.

"Well, I've always been here."

Daniela laughed. "Yes, and when Mom found that out she was so pissed. She'd spent thousands of dollars tracking you down and you actually live across the city from us."

"I didn't know you owned the country club."

"Oh, Mom doesn't want anyone to know. Uncle David runs it for her and she comes here to unwind; she plays golf. Do you play golf, Mr. Henderson? Or can I call you Martin, since we have French kissed already?"

I blushed.

The warning sounds of, "Daniela," came from across the other side of the room.

Daniela leaned around me to look at her mother. "You're right, Mom, he is so cute."

I didn't get a chance to blush this time, the voice of Melody Carlson cut right across the room. "DANIELA LOUISE CARLSON, that's enough."

The feisty young lady in front of me raised her good eyebrow, leaned in and pretended to whisper. "Oh, she's mad. Mom only calls me by that many names when I'm in trouble."

The shadow came first; I felt her presence soon after. "I think it's time you should leave, Mr. Henderson. My daughter is obviously still concussed and requires her medication, not to mention putting across someone's knee."

I tried oh so hard to hide my smile. Daniela noticed and winked at me. We stood, and I hugged her once again before pulling the pen drive from my pocket and handing it to her, telling her it was a gift from me. I wished this young lady a speedy recovery and left.

The same woman who collected me was still waiting outside. The trip home was both thoughtful and comical, if nothing else. I suppose I was too busy being a guy: to me, meeting Melody and Daniela Carlson at the country club and even the hug from Daniela was the end to all this. How stupid was I?

*******

My meeting with Brendan took longer than even I had anticipated. Martin Brendan was one of my very first clients and he was looking to bring his company's image up to date. I flew out to see him a week after my meeting with the Carlson ladies. It was as I left his office to return to my hotel that I turned my cell back on; it rang almost immediately. The recorded message was from Toni asking me to call her back.

Toni didn't even bother with the formalities; she recognized my number on the screen of the office phone and picked up before the third ring.

"There's a woman here, claims to be a lawyer, and she won't leave without seeing you."

My first thoughts were concern for Toni; I dumped any other thoughts.

"Phone down to your father and have him come up and keep you company. Then phone the police and state that the woman in the office is refusing to leave despite you asking her to do so. Also, while you're at it, tell them your age and that you're alone in the office with this woman."

The pause was longer this time, even for Toni. "Is this warranted?"

I didn't bother with yes, I went straight to, "Hell yes."

The woman lawyer must have been listening to Toni's portion of the conversation, more so when she phoned down to her father, and had a change of heart. She stood while Toni still had the phone in her hand, dropped her card onto the table and walked out without saying a word.

I even phoned back twice more that afternoon, and Toni started to get annoyed with me that she had to stop working to answer the damn phone. I got the message after that and left her alone. I still woke three times that night and checked my cell before going back to sleep.

My easy nature took a hit when I entered the main hall of the airport; I had mentally christened her the silent woman, since she hadn't said a word to me when she chauffeured me to the country club and back again. The damn woman was waiting for me at the barrier; she held up a sign with my name on it as I carried my overnight bag towards the exit of the airport. Feeling just a bit pissed, I walked up to her. I was about to speak when she lowered the sign and handed me an envelope. Instinctively I took it and then she turned and walked away.

It all had that air of waiting for someone to finish those last few eventful seconds of my life with the words, "You've been served". With the envelope in my hand, my only thought was that I have yet to hear this woman actually speak. I dropped the envelope into the trash on the way to collect my car.

*******

My first stop was the office. Toni beat me there from school by twenty minutes and had the coffee pot on the go as I walked in. She couldn't add anything other than what she had told me on the phone. The lawyer's card hit the trash without even reading it. In my mind things were getting out of control. I left Toni working on her project and went home. Libby wasn't due back for another hour; she was at a friend's three houses down from us.

I sat my folks down and told them what happened when I was in England. I didn't want to but I just couldn't risk them finding out from someone else first. Their questions wandered all over before they asked the one they had really wanted to ask. Why did I walk away?

My answers were always the same. I'm sure to someone on the outside looking in, my action could be seen as callous but I truly believed I could do no more for the young lady I had just pulled out of the water. Her pulse was strong; we had both placed her into the recovery position and the safety girl and I both knew that help would soon be on its way. I still had Libby to collect from her mother's and to get down to London in time for our return flight.