Authors: Al Sloane
"Going away?"
"Yeah. I decided Wednesday that I didn't want to take the chance driving to work everyday when it's so uncomfortable to drive. I told Ron I would work for two more weeks if he really needed me but it was getting to be a real problem. He said just to finish out the week and he'd put something in my employee file about not needing two weeks' notice."
"Why didn't you say anything last night?"
"I don't know. I felt weird about it. I thought you might try to talk me into staying and I didn't really want to."
"Well, I have to tell you it hurts that you think I'd try to force you to do something you don't want to do."
"That's not it. I worked right up to the last week with Randy. I guess I feel sort of guilty that I can't do the same thing with this one."
"So is that what you wanted to talk to me about tonight?"
"Partly. There's something else on my mind, too."
We were interrupted when our waitress and three helpers came up and started piling food on our table. After the food was all placed, she lifted the lids off the plates one at a time so we could see and smell what was on the plate as she described it. The were four different chicken dishes, two with pork and one with beef. Not to mention the two plates of rice and the Won Ton soup. Everything looked and smelled great. She put the lids back down after showing us each plate so the food stayed hot.
Wendy had an especially good appetite. She scarfed down a bowl of soup then grabbed a plate and scooped rice onto it, covering it with cashew chicken. That was gone shortly, then she skipped the rice for her next plate. She piled food from three different dishes on her plate and dug in. It was good to see her actually eating instead of picking at her food. Of course, I wasn't slacking off just because she was eating. We didn't finish everything but we did make a hell of a dent in it.
Our leftovers were boxed for the trip home, we had our fortune cookies and a fresh pot of tea and we were alone again.
"So, what else did you want to discuss? Are you moving back to Chicago?"
"Oh, Pete. I wouldn't do that. But I've been worried about something. I really don't know how to tell you."
"Well, I suggest you just blurt it out. It's not like I'm going to leave you here at the restaurant. We drove your car."
"I'm not worried about that. I just don't want to hurt your feelings."
"OK. You found out I'm not the father."
"Quit it. This is tough enough without you making it worse."
"I'm sorry. I'll just sit here quietly. Go ahead."
"Well, I was talking to June. I mean she lives here in Anaheim and you're up in Glendora and all and I'm going to have the baby down here. And it's just that I worry that the baby will be ready to come and you won't be able to make it on time and I won't be able to drive and I'll call a taxi and they won't come and I won't be able to make it to the hospital before the baby is born."
"And?"
"And... Well, like I said, I talked to June and she's OK with it and I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything but I want her to come with us to the classes and she said I could call her when the baby's ready to come if you can't make it."
"So you're just going to write me out of the picture. Is that it?"
"No. Damn it Pete, I want you to be there and you've been great but I know you work out in the field and if the baby was coming and you were in Encino or Palmdale, there's no way you could be here. What if she started to come in the morning and you had to fight traffic? It could take you hours to get here."
"I see. And what did June have to say about this?"
"She said you might be hurt but she understood. And she said she'd never do anything to get between us."
"OK. So, when did you talk with her?"
"Last week."
"So it took you over a week to tell me about it?"
"I was scared. And then yesterday when we went to the class and you took such good care of me and you came back and gave me that bath and then you cooked breakfast for me instead of my usual bowl of cereal, I felt real strange. I wouldn't do this if we didn't live so far apart. And before you say anything, I'm not ready to move in with you."
"When's the last time you talked to June?"
"A few days ago. Why?"
"So she hasn't had a chance to tell you what she and I talked about today."
"No. What?"
"I told her I was worried about being so far away from you and I asked her to come with us to the other two classes and to be on call if I couldn't make it in time to be there for the delivery. And that I was afraid you might think I was deserting you but having someone who could definitely make it on time was more important. And she told me she would be glad to and that you'd probably be OK with it. She was acting real weird the whole time I was asking her. She probably felt like she'd been caught when I started talking about something you guys arranged over a week ago."
"You mean it? You're not hurt?"
"Why should I be hurt? It's not like I'm some macho fool who says nobody's going to help deliver my baby if I'm not there. It's important to me that you have support during the delivery. That's why we're going to the classes together. And if I can't be there, I can't think of anyone I'd feel more comfortable about taking my place than June."
"Damn, you don't know how good that makes me feel. I wish I told you sooner. June said she wasn't going to go to class with us until you agreed with it. She could have come last night."
"That's OK. I told her I'd teach her what we went over. It's going to be fun massaging her all over."
"You just want to get into her pants."
"Hey, I've been there. And I don't think I'll need to use any tricks to get back there if I want. In fact, she'll probably be begging for it soon."
"Begging for it. You wish."
"You heard me right. Begging for it. Just like you do."
"Well, I don't actually beg."
"Let's just say you make your wants well known. And if I had the inclination to ignore you, you'd probably get pretty insistent about it."
"Yeah, I guess so. It's just that you're such a good lover."
"That's just what I was trying to say. You've proved my point."
By this time we'd been in the restaurant over two hours. I was full and wouldn't need to be fed till the next day.
"Ready to go?"
"Oh, yeah. Maybe I'll do some begging."
"You won't need to beg."
We got up and made our way to the cash register. The whole meal was under $50. As I was paying, all the relatives lined up and said goodbye to Wendy and me. Momma came running up with the vase and Wendy's flowers. Wendy tried to give the vase back but was soundly told that she needed to keep the flowers in water.
Wendy had quite a pile on her lap with the bag full of leftovers and the flowers. After I'd gone through the gears and didn't need to shift, she leaned over and rested her head against my side. I bent down and kissed her on the top of the head.
"So, did you get any loot at your going away party?"
Just some gag gifts. They're in the trunk. I'll show you when we get home. You get to help carry them up."
"Oh, I do, Huh? What if I don't want to come up?"
"Then you won't get any. And I'll be cranky. And I'll never let you forget it."
"OK. I guess I can come up."
We pulled in to the parking lot and I held the food and her flowers and helped yank her out of the seat. She wasn't to the point where she'd get stuck sitting down in a chair, but she appreciated the help getting out of the bucket seat.
She took the keys and opened the trunk.
"You can carry that stuff and I'll get the stuff out of the trunk."
She pulled out a large clothing box and a good size bag from Macy's.
Once we got to her front door I put the bag down and got the keys from her. She took her goodies inside and put the bag on the coffee table.
"I'm going to change. I'll be right out."
She took the clothing box in with her.
I put the flowers on the coffee table, then went into the kitchen and tried to make room in the refrigerator for all the leftovers. There were six of those little white boxes they put Chinese take out in. It took some shuffling around but I was able to get everything in. I got back to the living room in time to see Wendy smelling her flowers. I sat in the chair.
Wendy was wearing a robe I hadn't seen before. It was made of flannel and would have fit my mother if she was alive. You could hardly tell that Wendy was pregnant because the thing was so big it didn't show any of her curves. The best way to describe it is as a "Not tonight, I've got a headache" robe.
She stood up and twirled around. The thing just hung on her, it didn't move at all. I could just barely see the tops of her feet. She reached into the Macy's bag and pulled out a box of Bon Bons.
"They told me now that I'm retired I'm supposed to sit around all day in my robe, eating Bon Bons and watching soap operas. What do you think?"
"Whatever turns you on. Just don't expect me to watch them with you."
"Oh, Pete. You're no fun."
She also had a blow-up rubber pillow for sitting on, some Preparation H and some support hose. Just in case she got hemorrhoids or varicose veins.
"So, was that your baby shower, too?"
"No. Beth told me they were going to have one closer to the date. Probably sometime in August."
She walked over to me and took my hand. I got out of the chair and she led me down the hallway to the bedroom.
"Go brush your teeth."
I went in the bathroom, took a leak and fired up the toothbrush. As soon as I got into it, Wendy came in and pushed me out of the way so she could brush her own teeth. I had to wait till she was done before I could rinse my mouth. If there was anything I'd have wanted to see in the mirror I would have been out of luck. It had been a while since she'd pulled that shit. It was good to have my Wendy back. I gave her a good swat on the rump as she was leaving the bathroom.
I walked out to see her standing outside the bathroom door, next to the bed. She looked at me and raised her hands over her head. I undid the top two buttons of her robe and just pulled it over her head.
Underneath it was all Wendy.
I woke up Sunday just before 8:00, alone in my bed. It was the first holiday in memory that I didn't have company in my bed.
I went into the bathroom. As I was standing in front of the toilet, I realized I hadn't gotten up all night.
I made it into the office and checked my story page. My latest story was doing OK. The voting was up a bit. There's an interesting pattern there. I have a core of die hard readers who absolutely love each story I post. They read the first chapter as soon as it comes out and they vote 10 right away. The latest one got 9 tens in a row. Then the not-so-faithful started voting 9. It had been down to 9.27, was now up to 9.38.
I checked my email. One reader wished me a happy Father's Day. Another wrote to tell me that she knew what was going to happen before I posted the chapter. And then there were a couple of suggestions of how I could make the story better.
I decided I needed to throw on some coffee before I wrote back. I took a couple of minutes to start the coffee, then answered my emails and checked for new stories. There was a long one that had been going on for a while. I checked the author's page to see if there was anything in his blog about the end being near. He kept mentioning an editor who used the same initials as one of my readers. I made a note to ask him if he was the same person next time he wrote.
The coffee was ready and I made myself a cup. Why is it that that first cup out of the pot is so perfect? And another cup even a minute later is just OK? I don't know. Maybe the taste buds go on overload or something.
So, it was 8:45. Wendy was going to come over at noon and then we were going over to Beth's house for our pool party and barbecue. Wendy had done a lousy job of steering me away when I asked who was going to be there so I let it slide. I knew June was going. Poor June. She couldn't lie when I asked her a direct question, even though she wanted to keep the secret. It was practically a given that Kathi would be there.
I had three and a quarter hours and nothing to do. I started up the washer and threw in a load of clothes. Went in the bathroom and took a dump. Took a shower. 9:30
I looked in the mirror. There was a lonely old man looking back at me. One who was feeling sorry for himself right now. Sure, there would be friends and lovers over at Beth's in a few hours, but there wasn't anyone to wake up to.
I'd missed it when Robin left and eventually gotten used to it. And then Wendy came into my life and I got used to being with someone again. My life turned around. There was a reason to wake up every day other than work. I enjoy my work, don't get me wrong. But there has to be more to life than work. I'd even tried writing as a way to try to communicate but for the most part it was one way - out. I needed someone I could turn around and talk to. Someone who cared about me. Who had some reality about me and knew where I was coming from. Someone who would talk back. And my readers and my employees just didn't fit that bill.