Zlata

I awoke on Friday morning 15 October, 2010 while it was still dark.  Not daring to look at the display on my mobile phone, hoping to convince myself it was early enough that I could go back to sleep, my mind began to whir with incongruent thoughts of the past 10 days.  Replaying the conversation with Geoff's doctors, the entire ceremony at Our Lady of Fatima and the walk around Botany Bay with Robin did nothing more than make me fully alert.  Reluctantly I rolled over and took a look at the phone.  3:44AM glared back at me in fluorescent green from the tiny screen.  Knowing there was no chance for further slumber I climbed out of the bed and descended the stairway knowing I didn't need to make the extra effort toward quietness as I was alone in the townhouse.  Once I had the kettle boiling and poured the hot water into the espresso press I grabbed the remote control for the television in the living room.  I discovered the availability of no less than 6 movie channels on the FOX TEL system that was included with the rental of the unit.  Wondering to myself why I hadn't figured that out before now I started flipping through the movies currently being aired.  I don't remember exactly but I think I settled on some action flick that I most likely had seen before but probably 10 years earlier.

After two or three cups of coffee I phoned Mitzi in California and had the leisure of spending a good amount of time with her on the telephone discussing the happenings of the last few days, some business related questions she had and general dialogue about our home in Cathedral City such as how to operate the barbecue and the backyard spa and other domestic concerns that I was happy to talk about, appreciating the diversion.  Mitzi was incredibly supportive and strong in all of our communication while I was in Sydney and for that I was incredibly grateful.  Mitzi's mother died on New Year's Eve, 2008 and I had never appreciated how truly devastating the death of someone so close is until this nightmare with the death of my son.  I am not sure I was as valuable as her partner during that time as she had been to me during this trial but I certainly hoped so.

I occupied myself until 9:00 AM when I felt it was appropriate to ring the office of Zlata Creative Dezign.  Geoff had gone to work at the design firm in North Sydney right after he finished his radiation therapy which in turn followed his chemotherapy for his Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2008.  I remember well some conversations I had with Geoff while he was just to begin his radiation therapy.  Before Geoff was diagnosed he had worked as a shift manager at the Virgin Record store in downtown Sydney.  He loved music and I'm sure the thought of working somewhere outside the music industry created much conflict in his mind.  As one would expect, the experience of the cancer diagnosis and treatment made him question his priorities and sharpened his focus on his own life.  He had graduated from TAFE Sydney Institute some years before of a course in graphic design and was now of the belief that he needed to pursue a career in the design industry.  He had started to work on assembling a portfolio that would be needed for job interviews and was going to send resumes to a number of firms where he had an interest in working.  One of the companies he petitioned was the Zlata Creative Dezign Company (ZCD) (http://www.zlatacreative.com.au/) and after an interview and review of his portfolio he was offered a position which he assumed immediately after his final radiation treatment.  I'm sure he had his bad days but I never heard Geoff complain about the work or the training and supervision he received.  Typically, his only gripes were with co-workers that he didn't feel were as committed to the company's mission as they should be and those folks generally didn't last long at ZCD.  All in all he had thoroughly enjoyed his time at ZCD from my perspective.

The office number rang and was answered by Fay, Zlata's sister (to this day I have no knowledge of either of their surnames, they apparently feel they aren't necessary).  I was not a stranger to Fay or Zlata as I had visited the office in July, 2009 and occasionally spoke to Fay when I would call the office from time to time as she acted as the company receptionist among other duties.  When I identified myself I immediately recognized the now familiar sound of emotional upset in Fay's voice and determined that she was weeping.  She expressed to me her utter sorrow and shock about Geoff's death along with her sympathy.  I explained to her that I had a desire to visit with she and Zlata and pick up Geoff's things that may be at the company headquarters.  I inquired about the possibility of doing that within the next couple of business days and let her know that Robin, Melissa and Jo would likely accompany me.  Fay said she would discuss my wishes with Zlata and get back to me.  Within minutes she rang me back to let me know that Zlata would be available until 2 PM on that day if we felt we wanted to make the trip to North Sydney that quickly.  I was confident we could manage that and I let her know we would be there before the stated deadline.  I communicated the ability to make the trip to ZCD to Melissa by telephone and she said she would head over to Darlinghurst with whomever also wanted to come along and we could make the trip by train or perhaps we would drive over the harbour, depending on how many of us would attend the meeting.

Melissa was to ring me when they were leaving the house in Bexley North so I occupied myself until I heard from them a couple of hours later.  Melissa, Robin and Jo would all be in the car and they would pick me up and Robin would drive us over to North Sydney.  The ride from the townhouse to ZCD would only take about 20 minutes, or so.  I watched for Robin's silver sedan with the crumpled rear and heard the familiar vibration associated with the damaged boot before I actually saw the vehicle.  I jumped in the car as I met them at the curb in front of the unit so they would not have to find a parking place and we drove off toward the Harbour Bridge and North Sydney.  Miller Street in North Sydney, where ZCD is located in a mid-rise, contemporary office building, is only a few blocks after exiting the highway.  Robin grabbed a parking spot close to the office building and we loaded up the parking meter with enough coins to last 2 hours. I learned during the ride over that Robin had never been inside the office; she had dropped Geoff there occasionally but had only been as far as the street outside the building. 

We entered the foyer of the building on Miller St. and rode the elevator to Level 12, where ZCD occupies the entire floor.  Exiting the elevator to double glass doors one finds the reception area of ZCD exuding the aura of exactness and organization with clean lines and very contemporary furnishings.  We were met in the reception area by Fay and after introductions, hugs and tears she ushered us into an adjoining conference room that housed an over sized table with more than 12 chairs and a display case of consumer oriented packaging that had been designed by the firm for companies all over the world.  We were immediately joined by Zlata, a woman of small stature but with red hair as fiery as her personality.  Zlata spent the next few minutes in concert with Fay explaining to us their disappointment, sorrow and devastation over the death of our dear son, brother and boyfriend.  The words were heartfelt and comforting.  Zlata then presented Robin with a binder of photos and other memorabilia from Geoff's time at the design firm.  She also showed us a real sized mock up of packaging for a product known as "Tiffany Mango, Pineapple and Coconut Flavored Wafers".  She explained that his mock up was the most recent project upon which Geoff had been working, specifically for the Indian Market and the Dawali Festival and that she had given the assignment to design this packaging to both Geoff and another designer at ZCD to independently come up with a design, from concept to completion.  She further made sure we understood that this was the first time she had given such a complete responsibility to Geoff and that after reviewing his output and that of his co-worker the customer had chosen Geoff's design for the final version that would be used for the retail production.  Her regret was that she had not had the opportunity to let Geoff know of that decision before he died.  I looked around and everyone present had tears welling up in their eyes.  Zlata went on to tell us other stories about how she would try to motivate Geoff and others to generate creative ideas. "A great start Geoff...now let's bring it to life with more vibrant colours and visual energy... Make it come alive!" was one of her motivating phrases.  She gave us a tour of the area where Geoff's cubicle was located with his computer and various desktop items and introduced us to some of his co-workers.  Geoff's office mates had arranged an informal shrine at his desk which Zlata indicated she would leave in place, undisturbed, for at least 40 days and with significant emotion advised us there was a chance she would never allow another employee to use that cubicle again.  It was obvious Zlata and Fay both cared deeply about Geoff and appreciated his work while he was employed by ZCD.  They told us stories about his original interview as well as other memorable events and how they took pride in his progress while he was employed there.

We collected Geoff's personal property and the binder that Zlata had prepared as well as the rendition of the cookie package that was Geoff's work and bid Zlata and Fay good bye before we exited the building.  We collectively took a deep breath when we found ourselves back out on Miller Street and I suggested then we have lunch at a little sidewalk cafe, not for away, where I had lunch with Geoff when I visited him at the office in 2009.  The four of us found a nice table with a good perspective for people watching and as I perused the menu I recognized the "Portuguese Chicken Sandwich" as the selection I had made when I dined at this very cafe with Geoff before.  It was impossible for me to order anything else.