Brown Sugar Soulmate

Chapter 1

Caroline

“What? What happened? How’s Richard doing?” I shout over the phone.

The person on the other line explains it to me, but I can only get bits and pieces as it’s a little bit noisy.

“I’ll drop by as soon as I can.”

Quickly, I wrap up my current meeting. I inform the office that I won’t be back today because I’ll be going to Richard and see how he's doing.

I flag down a taxi and tell the driver to take me to the hospital. While we’re on our way, I make a quick check of my emails and answer some of them.

That’s how dedicated I am to my work. I don’t want anybody to think I’m slacking off or trying to get away by doing other things. I know that I’m a good filmmaker, and I’m going to prove that to everybody, especially Richard.

We arrive at the hospital. I go to the information booth and ask what room and floor my boss is. The attendant behind the desk directs me to the 10th floor. She points to the elevator lobby at the left.

I thank her and move in the direction she told me. I press the button and wait for the next elevator.

Of course, my boss is staying in one of the private rooms. I berate myself for not bringing anything, but I was in a hurry. I’ll just send something over in the next few days.

I open the door to his room and get shocked at what I see.

Richard is almost entirely covered in bandages. Both of his arms and legs are wrapped in white. His legs are in stirrups, and he’s got a neck brace. Only his face is free, but it has some wounds and bruises.

“Oh my gosh, Richard!” I exclaim. “What on earth happened to you? You look like a mummy!”

He tries to laugh, but I see him wince in pain.

“Okay, no more jokes in the meantime. But seriously, why did you end up like this?”

“I tried to be an action star?” he says.

I frown at him.

“Well, remember our current project? The one that we just wrapped up?”

I nod my head.

“I was discussing some post-production notes with the team when suddenly I went off balance. As luck would have it, I was near the edge of the stage, so I fell five meters below.”

“Ouch,” I wince.

“It’s a good thing I’m still alive. I think heaven or hell isn’t ready for me yet,” he chuckles.

“Richard, stop that. Your life is a serious matter. But I’m glad you survived. I’m not saying you’re okay, though. Just looking at you makes me want to scratch all those hard-to-reach places in my body.”

He sighs. “Yeah, it could’ve been worse. So, how’s your meeting?”

I shake my head. “No, we’re not talking about work right now. Just focus on getting well. The sooner you’re back on your feet, the better.”

Someone knocks at the door. It’s the doctor and a nurse. I assume they’re doing their rounds. I let them come in.

They do some checks on Richard and interview him on how he’s feeling.

“Doctor, can I ask a few questions?” I say.

The doctor defers to Richard, and he gives the go signal.

“How many bones did Richard break?” I ask.

“Good question. I’d say a lot. We’re still waiting on some of the x-ray images, but for now, we’re sure that he’s got a jaw fracture, a dislocated left shoulder, and broken bones on his foot.”

He continues, “We might also need to do further tests on him, especially to check the condition of his spine. But for now, he’s paralyzed and won’t be able to move. Once we’re certain of the extent of injuries, we can finalize the treatment and therapy.”

“How long would that be?” I inquire.

“It could take a few months up to several years. There are too many variables that need to be considered, but I can tell you that it won’t be quick and easy. Much of it depends on Richard here.”

Before leaving the room, the doctor gives Richard a few more instructions and reminders.

“I guess I’ll be filing for a medical leave then,” he sighs. “But as soon as I can sit up and use a laptop, maybe I can get involved with a few things.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll take care of the office,” I promise him.

“Speaking of work, there’s a project that I’m supposed to be personally handling. But now that I’m out of commission for the time being, I’m passing it to you. Talk to Tina, and she’ll give you all the details. This is important, Caroline. We can’t let another media company get their hands on it.”

“I’m on it.”

***

The next day, I set up a meeting with Tina. She works at our media department and assists Richard on some of his projects.

She hands over a flash drive and two brown envelopes with lots of documents inside.

“Here’s all the material that our researchers have gathered over the past weeks. In the flash drive are the summary and initial plan for the project. You can review it and let me know if there’s anything that we need to change or if you have additional inputs.”

I open one of the envelopes and skim through the documents. Wow, these are a lot to go through. I’ll probably start with the summary later.

“Would you mind giving me a brief overview of this project?” I ask her. “I really don’t have any idea.”

She smiles. She knows how Richard can be sometimes.

“Of course,” she answers. “This is for a documentary on a young and upcoming musician and composer, Matthew Edwards. He’s elusive to the media, that’s why Richard’s very elated when his agent agreed to do this with us.”

We talk a bit more and then I go back to my desk so that I can start working on this. The name sounds familiar, but I can’t put a face on it. I decide to do some quick search about him on the Internet.

I read a short biography and check out some pictures of Matthew Edwards.

Oh wow. He looks good!