JC: Ed Biggers
Part 5: Stasis
Chapter 19
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Bob, furious, paced in front of the house waiting for Ed to arrive. 
The man had hurt his wife's feelings for no reason. When Ed came 
home, Bob was going to give Ed a piece of his mind before his 
wife had a chance to see him. His stomach churned at the thought 
of having to leave the house because Ed had been a bastard. Bob 
had listened to her vent her anger for almost twenty-four hours.

Marguerite was furious with Ed and was threatening to kill him 
when he arrived home. The day before, a package had arrived from 
one of the most prestigious cooking magazines in the country. 
Opening it, she had seen the silver trophy that featured an opened 
soup can on a marble base with an engraving that read, "Soup Can 
Award." Her name was engraved in large letters on the marble 
base. Inside was a note from the editor saying that no one deserved 
the award more than she did.

There wasn't any doubt in her mind that Ed had told everyone there 
that she cooked from cans. As far as she was concerned, this was a 
career killing disaster. She glared at the third place and three first 
place trophies from the Culinary Contest for private chefs. After 
receiving this trophy, those awards were worthless. She screeched, 
"How could he do that to me?"

George had never seen Marguerite so mad and couldn't believe 
what Ed had done. From the security center, he watched Bob 
pacing in front of the house. He was at a loss about what he should 
do in this circumstance. Walt sitting next to him shook his head 
and said, "This really sucks."

"Sure does," replied George. Scratching the side of his head, he 
added, "It's my job to protect Ed from them."

"Sarah is really pissed. She hasn't come out of her room all 
morning."

The two men shook their heads as they thought about what that 
meant. If Sarah and Cathy were both angry with Ed, then 
preventing Bob from beating Ed to a pulp would get them in 
trouble with the women. After several minutes of silence, George 
said, "Why in the hell did he do that?"

"It must be a joke that went awry," answered Walt. "It isn't like 
him. He's a stickler for the if it harms none, then do it rule."

The mail arrived and Bob carried it into the house to Cathy. The 
normal procedure was for George to check the mail for explosives 
and then give them to Cathy. Then she would deliver the mail to 
everyone. With a sigh, George said, "Watch the monitor for me 
and let me know if Ed shows up."

"Okay."

Once he had dropped off the mail, Bob returned to his position 
outside the house. Ed was running late and he wondered if Ed 
knew how angry Marguerite was with him. That would explain the 
delay in arriving at home. Outside, he resumed his angry pacing in 
front of the house knowing that the later Ed arrived, the angrier he 
would be.

Cathy sat in her office depressed at the current state of affairs in 
the house. The entire staff was well aware of Marguerite's fury. 
She announced it loudly and frequently. Everyone understood her 
anger, feeling that Ed had insulted them all by having a well 
known culinary magazine send Marguerite a Soup Can Award. 
Even in the office, she could hear the occasional shouts as 
Marguerite vented her anger.

George went through the mail with his normal dispatch until he 
noticed a magazine with Ed's picture on the cover. He set the 
magazine in front of Cathy and tapped the cover with a finger. It 
wasn't until she noticed the magazine with Ed's picture on the 
cover that she showed any interest in what he was trying to 
communicate. She opened the magazine and read the article. The 
article was about Marguerite and how she was the best private chef 
in the world. Her feelings underwent a complete turnabout, as she 
became jealous of Marguerite and the attention that Ed had given 
her. In hindsight, she wondered how she could have doubted Ed 
for even a minute.

In the dining room, Shauna was waiting for Marguerite to cool 
down a little. The kitchen was currently a very dangerous place to 
be and for the time being she preferred the dining room. She 
flinched as she heard the sounds coming from the kitchen. It hurt 
to listen as Marguerite threw pots and pans around the room with 
less than her normal care. The sounds coming from the kitchen 
were too similar to the sound of hitting canned food with a frying 
pan for Shauna to mistake it.

Cathy carried the mail for the kitchen into the dining room so that 
she could give it to Shauna rather than Marguerite. At the moment, 
she was a little afraid to face the woman. As she dropped off the 
mail, Cathy said, "You better read the magazine."

Surprised by the comment from Cathy, Shauna accepted the mail. 
As she picked up the magazine, she saw the picture of Ed on the 
cover. A sinking feeling crept into her stomach as she opened the 
magazine and searched for the article. She, like everyone else on 
the staff, knew that Ed did not give interviews. If his picture was 
on the cover of the magazine, then this was something very 
extraordinary.

Marguerite, in the kitchen, shouted, "I'm going to kill that man and 
can him for dog food. No, that won't do. It would be cruel to feed 
that to the dogs."

Shauna read the article, stunned at the content. The Soup Can 
Award was intended to be the greatest recognition that a private 
chef could receive. The award was to recognize private chefs who 
catered to the individual preferences of their clients regardless of 
how unsophisticated those preferences might be on occasion. The 
description of Marguerite in the article was extremely nice and 
demonstrated his regard for her skills as a chef. Even more 
importantly, it conveyed the depth of his love for her. Since the 
article brought tears to her eyes, she knew that Marguerite was 
going to be a weepy mess when she read the article.

Sticking her head through the door of the kitchen, she said, 
"Marguerite."

"What?" Marguerite screamed the question, giving free reign to her 
anger. Her arms were down by her sides with her hands curled into 
fists and her face was a mask of rage. Looking at the large woman, 
Shauna was happy that rage wasn't directed at her. 

Clearing her throat, Shauna replied, "There is something that you 
need to read."

Angry, Marguerite retorted, "What? He's firing me? He can't fire 
me. I already quit!"

"Ah, Marguerite. You really need to read this," said Shauna while 
she held out the magazine. It was opened to the article.

Marguerite stomped over to the door and grabbed the magazine out 
of her hand. With the magazine crumpled in her fist she carried it 
to the table and threw it down. Too angry to read, she turned to 
leave the table, but stopped when Shauna said, "Marguerite, you 
should really read the article. Now! It's about the Soup Can 
Award."

Livid at the idea that there was actually an article about the award 
in the magazine, her face changed from red with rage to white with 
a cold fury. Shauna, seeing the look on her friend's face, left the 
kitchen. She didn't go far, because she knew that Marguerite would 
need her once she read the article.

As Cathy spread the word about the article to the rest of the staff, 
George and Walt came down to the dining room to provide their 
support. The news that it was a real award and one that meant a lot 
had eased the tension considerably in the house. All that was left 
was for Marguerite to realize what an honor Ed had done for her.

From the kitchen, Marguerite screamed, "I'm going to kill that man 
and can him for dog food. No, that won't do. It would be cruel to 
the dogs."

Shauna smiled at the difference at how Marguerite had said it this 
time with how she had been saying it over the past few hours. 
Rather than enraged, it was frustration at her mistake. The staff 
chuckled at the change in tone. Finally, Marguerite yelled, "How 
could he do this to me?"

Shauna stood and said, "Time for me to get in there. The tears are 
about to begin."

As the others chuckled, Shauna went into the kitchen finding 
Marguerite at the table crying over the magazine. With tears 
running down her face, Marguerite read aloud, "The greatness of a 
private chef is measured in how well they serve their employers. It 
isn't the great recipes that matter, but the pleasure that the food 
brings. Her food always brings me great pleasure."

Marguerite sobbed, her shoulders rising and falling. Shauna went 
over to her and put an arm around the big woman. In response to 
the show of support, Marguerite grabbed Shauna to hug her back. 
She said, "Did you read the part about how only the best private 
chef will cook any dish, even canned soup, desired by her 
audience?"

Shauna laughed and nodded her head. Ed had put it better than 
that, but her friend was barely able to see the page through her 
tears. Marguerite cried out, "How could he do this to me? I was so 
mad at him and he went and did this to me."

It wasn't hard to understand the relationship between Ed and 
Marguerite. An external observer might easily mistake them for 
newlyweds based on the way they teased each other. The staff 
knew otherwise, Ed and Marguerite truly loved each other. 
Everyone should have known that Ed wouldn't do anything to hurt 
her, but like many couples in love there were times when 
misunderstandings arose.

Marguerite, still sniffing, slowly pulled her self together and said, 
"I better cook something for him to eat."

Smiling at her friend, Shauna said, "I would suggest grilled cheese 
sandwiches and alphabet soup."

Laughing, Marguerite wiped the tears from her eyes, and said, 
"That would serve him right."

Ed rode up in a limousine curious why the staff couldn't come pick 
him up at the airport. All Cathy had told him was that the house 
was in an uproar and that no one could be spared. He rubbed his 
hands, hoping that he would beat the mail to the house. They had 
promised him that the trophy and the magazine would arrive today. 
He hoped to be there to watch the expression on her face when she 
saw the trophy and read the article.

The limousine pulled up in front of the house where Bob was 
pacing. Noticing the nervous energy of Bob, Ed got out with his 
saddlebag and went to talk to him. The limousine pulled away 
when Bob came running over to Ed. Without pausing to take a 
breath, he shouted, "You better get out of here before I beat the shit 
out of you."

Surprised by the unfriendly greeting, Ed asked, "Why would you 
want to do that?"

"I'm going to kill you for what you did to Marguerite," answered 
Bob confused that Ed might have expected any other kind of 
reception at the house.

"What did I do?" Ed was very confused by the angry reception and 
stood looking at Bob puzzled. 

"She got the trophy yesterday," replied Bob, his voice chill with 
accusation.

"Darn, I wanted to be here when they arrived."

The reaction of Ed was so odd, that it forced Bob to think about 
what had happened. Bob was about to reply that Ed had to be 
crazy. After thinking about it for a second, he realized that Ed had 
suggested more than one thing was supposed to have been 
delivered. Puzzled, he asked, "They?"

"Yea, the magazine and the trophy," answered Ed as though the 
answer should be clear.

"What magazine?" He got a sinking feeling in his stomach as he 
asked the question.

"The magazine with the article about the award," answered Ed. A 
very bad feeling came over him as the thought that she might not 
have gotten the magazine occurred to him. He asked, "She did get 
the magazine, didn't she?"

"No."

"She's gonna kill me." Ed groaned and looked at the house 
knowing exactly what the reaction would be of receiving the 
trophy alone. It would have been viewed as a major insult without 
the article that explained the significance of the award. They had 
promised him that both would be delivered at the same time. The 
message from Cathy that the house was in an uproar made sense to 
him. Dreading the answer, he asked, "Did the magazine show up 
today?"

At the question, Bob realized that the staff didn't have the full story 
about the trophy. Concerned about what Marguerite would do to 
Ed when he came in the house, he answered, "I took in the mail, 
but I didn't look at it."

As the men turned to go into the house, Marguerite came running 
out with tears streaming down her face. Running right past Bob, 
she tackled Ed forcing him onto the ground as she followed him 
down. Straddling him, she started covering him with kisses. 

Shocked, Bob stared at his wife wondering what had happened to 
cause that reaction. He realized that Ed was lucky, the magazine 
had arrived and she was happy. Sitting on his chest as she 
continued to cry tears of happiness, she shook her finger in Ed's 
face as she said, "I ought to kill you for this."

She bent down and kissed him again. This time she delivered her 
kisses with much more passion as her emotions went through 
another shift. The past few minutes had been a roller coaster of 
emotions. The rapid succession of emotions from anger to shame 
to happiness to gratitude to love left her with little control.

From beneath her, Ed struggled to catch his breath. She had 
knocked his breath away when she had landed on top of him. Bob, 
seeing him strain to breathe, bent down and pulled Marguerite off 
Ed saying, "Let him breath. You're going to kill him."

"He deserves it," replied Marguerite as she turned to hug Bob. It 
was his turn to be smothered by her in her enthusiasm. Very 
confused by the turn of events, Bob did his best to hold her up. 
Shauna came out and helped him with Marguerite while Cathy 
helped Ed stand once he started breathing normally. 

Shaking his head, Ed said, "I take it you read the magazine article."

Marguerite spun and asked, "How could you do that to me? I've 
been so mad at you since the trophy arrived and then I find out 
about the magazine article. Now I feel horrible."

As Marguerite broke down in tears again, Ed said, "They promised 
that both of them would arrive today. I so wanted to be here when 
they were delivered, but I couldn't get a ride home. I had to wait 
for the limousine."

Shauna said, "You better be glad the mail got here before you did. 
You'd have been dead by now."

As Marguerite sniffled, Ed pulled out the ever-present 
handkerchief from his robe pocket and handed it to her. She 
accepted it and turned away as she blew her nose. Holding an arm 
around his wife, Bob led her back to the house knowing that she 
was tired and needed to be alone. Marguerite stopped and looked 
back at Ed. With a grin, she said, "I'm going to kill that man and 
can him for dog food. No, that won't do. It would be cruel to the 
dogs."

Everyone, Ed included, chuckled at the comment and watched as 
Bob led her into the house. Shauna said, "She was so mad at you. 
Then she read that article and hasn't stopped crying since."

"I didn't mean for that to happen. They assured me that they would 
both be delivered at the same time," replied Ed. The thought 
occurred to him that it was likely that the trophy had been broken 
in her anger. He asked, "Is the trophy in one piece?"

"Yes, she was waiting to break it over your head," answered 
Shauna, realizing for the first time that she probably would have 
done that. She smiled as she added, "Of course, she did dent a few 
pots and pans while she pretended to cook."

"Oh."

Shauna bent down and picked up the saddlebag. With an arm 
around him, she led him to the house. "Welcome home."

Laughing, Ed said, "Thanks. What's for lunch?"

"The menu underwent a major change about ten minutes ago. It 
was filet of Ed, but was changed to grilled cheese sandwiches and 
alphabet soup."

A huge smile spread across Ed's face at the thought of the simple 
lunch. Hugging Shauna, he said, "Made with store bought bread?"

"Yes. We'll make it with that horrible squishy bread that you love 
so much."

"That's great," replied Ed. It was exactly what he wanted to eat for 
lunch. He smiled down at Shauna as he hugged her. "It's great to be 
home."

Ed wandered down the street wearing his blue jeans and work 
shirt. The first house that he passed belonged to his in-laws, Dr. 
and Mrs. Hayes. Realizing that he hadn't seen them in a while, he 
went up to the door and knocked. It was several minutes before Dr. 
Hayes answered the door. For a moment, Ed was speechless as he 
looked at the doctor. The man seemed to have aged twenty years 
since the last time he had been home. He said, "Hi, Dr. Hayes. I 
thought I'd stop by and see how things are going."

"Come in, Ed. It's good to see you back in town," replied the 
doctor. 

Ed came in and looked around the living room. It wasn't dirty, but 
it was a lot messier than he ever recalled it looking. Dr. Hayes, 
using his cane, went over to the chair in the living room and sat 
down with a groan. Ed moved over to a chair and sat down. "How 
are things going?"

"Slow. We aren't as young as we used to be," replied the doctor 
with a sigh. 

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, you know how it is. You get to a certain age and things just 
aren't as easy as they used to be."

Concerned with the slowness of the doctor's speech, Ed asked, "So 
are you keeping busy?"

"I gave the clinic over to another doctor that was looking to retire 
to a country place. He's a good guy."

The news disturbed Ed and made him wonder just how bad things 
had gotten. The doctor sounded depressed and that was not like 
him. Even at the worst of times the man had managed to have a 
positive outlook on things. His tone today sounded like he had 
given up. He asked, "So, where's Mrs. Hayes? Out shopping?"

"No, she's taking a nap. She woke up this morning and didn't feel 
very good."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Did you check her out?"

The old man was quiet for a moment as if he hadn't heard the 
question. Ed was about to repeat the question when the doctor 
answered, "She's depressed."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Why don't you and her come over for a 
swim later?" asked Ed hoping that it would motivate both of them 
to get up and move around a little.

"We'll see," replied the doctor in a tone that suggested that the 
answer was actually no. His hand, covered with liver spots, 
trembled on the cane. 

The lie hung heavy in the air as Ed heard the truth. He asked, 
"How long have things been like this?"

"A couple of months," replied the doctor. 

The doctor looked, acted, and spoke like an old man waiting to die. 
Since Mrs. Hayes was still in bed, it seemed to Ed that she must be 
in worse shape. "What happened?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the doctor answered, "The normal aches 
and pains of being old finally caught up to us. Her back started 
acting up as osteoporosis finally ate away enough of her bones for 
her spine to stop supporting her. My injuries have come back to 
haunt me."

"Is there anything that I can do?" asked Ed.

"No. We're beyond medical science," replied the doctor. He looked 
out the window of the living room unable to look directly at Ed. It 
hurt to admit that aloud, but he knew that lying to Ed was a waste 
of time.

Sitting across the room, Ed watched as the old man settled into 
himself a little more. It was more like a collapsing into depression, 
the relaxing into his chair. Ed said, "You can't give up."

For the first time since Ed had come, the doctor answered the 
question with fire, "Why the hell not?"

Ed didn't know how to answer that question and sat there staring at 
the doctor. Licking his lips, he said, "We need you still. The kids 
will be coming home in the summer and want to see you."

"I guess." The doctor closed his eyes for a moment and then said, 
"I'm feeling tired. Would you mind showing yourself out?"

"I don't mind. Can I hire someone to help out around the house?"

"I'll think about it."

Ed left the house worried about the elderly couple. In the street, he 
pulled out his cell phone and called the Druid College. When the 
receptionist answered, Ed said, "This is Ed Biggers. Could you get 
me in touch with Kelly?"

It took several minutes before Kelly picked up a phone and 
answered, "Hello?"

"Kelly, this is Ed."

Surprised to hear from Ed so soon after getting home, she asked, 
"What's going on?"

"I'm worried about Dr. and Mrs. Hayes. I think they need some of 
your healing magic."

There was a long moment of silence as Kelly considered how to 
answer the request. Finally, she asked, "Were they injured?"

"No. She's suffering from osteoporosis and his old injuries are 
acting up," answered Ed. If the elderly couple were beyond the 
help of medicine, perhaps they weren't beyond the help of magic. 
At least he hoped that would be the case.

"There are limits to my gift. I can heal injury, but not age. I'm sorry 
Ed," replied Kelly.

"I didn't realize that," said Ed as he looked up at the house. 

"I'm really sorry, Ed. They are getting old. My gift can't turn back 
the hands of time. It can only speed up healing."

Ed squatted down finding it hard to remain standing as he 
processed the implications of her answer. Dr. and Mrs. Hayes were 
only going to suffer more as time went by. That was the last thing 
that he wanted for anyone. 

"Ed? Ed, are you there?" The long silence worried Kelly.

"Yes, I'm here."

"What's that matter?"

"Sorry, I was just hoping that you could help them." He sighed as 
he thought about what he could do to make the last years of their 
lives happy. Tomorrow, he would go to the employment agency 
and interview caretakers. 

"I'll come out in a week or so to see them."

"Thanks, that will make me feel a little better. I'm going to 
interview caretakers for them tomorrow."

The conversation ended with a recap of the episode with 
Marguerite. Kelly laughed as she said that he was going to have to 
be a lot more careful about his jokes. Of course, she had heard the 
whole story from Cathy already. Cathy had provided a lot more 
details about the twenty-four hours when Marguerite was angry 
with Ed. 

The discussion had taken the edge off the feeling of depression that 
had settled over Ed. After returning the phone to his robe pocket, 
he headed on down the street. The office was his next stop. It was 
time for him to get caught up on business and see how it was 
doing. 

There were two cars parked in the driveway and another two cars 
parked at the curb. Things must be going well if they had two 
customers. Entering, he found a woman at the desk. Two aspects of 
her appearance struck Ed, she was very pregnant and she was 
wearing large round glasses that made her look like an owl. Taken 
by surprised, he said, "Ah, is Lynn here?"

In a very soft breathy voice that was incredibly sexy, the woman 
answered, "Yes, may I know who is calling?"

"Ed," he replied wondering who the woman was. 

She got on the phone and talked to Lynn. Even before she had 
disconnected, Lynn had burst through the door to greet Ed. On 
reaching him, she threw her arms around him saying, "You're back. 
We've missed you."

The receptionist stared at Lynn, not understanding her reaction to 
this man. She had been temping here for a week and had not seen 
Lynn act in anything other than a professional manner. 

Hearing the noise, Terry came out of the computer room and 
spotted Ed. Coming over to him, he extended a hand saying, 
"You're back. It's good to see you."

Looking around the office, it was hard to miss the minor 
improvements. It was also a little crowded as the needs of the 
business had grown beyond the space of the house. Ed replied, "It's 
great to be back."

A young man came out of the back room. Again, Ed didn't 
recognize him and asked, "Are you in a meeting?"

Terry answered, "No. We were just preparing for a survey in New 
Mexico."

"Ah, so I take it the young man behind you is your new assistant." 
Although Ed had told Terry and Lynn to hire assistants, he 
suddenly didn't feel comfortable about the fact that they had hired 
people without allowing him a chance to interview them. Of 
course, he hadn't told the pair that he wanted to interview them.

Turning to look at the young man, Terry said, "Allow me to 
introduce Stan Winslow. He was recommended to me by Calvin."

The news that Calvin had been involved in hiring the kid was a 
major relief. As a Druid, Calvin wouldn't recommend someone that 
would cause harm. He faced the kid directly and said, "Hello, Stan. 
I'm Ed."

"Nice to meet you Ed," replied Stan still not realizing that it was 
Ed Biggers, owner of the business, with whom he was talking. 

Lynn said, "Ed, this is Mary Gold."

"Ah. It is nice to meet you Mary." Ed tipped his hat in her 
direction.

In that same soft sexy voice, she replied, "It's nice to meet you."

Although tempted to say it aloud, Ed wondered how Terry or Stan 
managed to get any work done around that voice. Instead, he 
asked, "When are you due?"

"In three weeks," replied the woman as she ran her hand over her 
swollen belly. 

"Wow," remarked Ed amazed that she still had three weeks. She 
looked very pregnant as though she was ready to give birth 
anytime. He asked, "Twins?"

"How did you know?" asked Mary. 

"I have a little experience with pregnant women," replied Ed 
thinking about having been on hand for three women going 
through the greatest miracle. Turning to Lynn, he asked, "Shouldn't 
she be on medical leave? She's going to give birth to twins soon 
and should be conserving her strength."

Realizing that Ed thought that Mary Gold was a permanent 
employee answered, "She's the temp they sent over this week."

"Oh," replied Ed, not knowing what to make of the news. 

Lynn put a hand on his arm and said, "Don't worry. We aren't 
working her too hard. She's just answering phones, sorting the 
mail, and keeping track of our calendars."

Mary replied, "I don't mind working. It beats staying at home."

It was well known how much Ed liked to spoil pregnant women. 
Lynn said, "Don't worry about him, Mary. He treats pregnant 
women like they are fragile."

"It is the greatest miracle that anyone can participate in," replied 
Ed as though that explained everything. 

After that, Ed met with Jerry and Lynn to establish how his 
business interests were performing. The mine was bringing in an 
obscene amount of money and Ed didn't feel right about that. The 
businesses that he had invested in were successes and returning 
much more than he had invested. Even though he was donating 
money for computers in public schools, his balance sheets were 
still growing.

After business had been completed, Ed took everyone down to 
Shirley's Bar for tea and conversation in a more relaxing 
atmosphere. In the course of the conversations, he found that Stan 
had been a classmate of Nora Turner. While Nora's education was 
held back by her film career, Stan had graduated with reasonable 
grades. 




