by Cee, DW
“Fuck. That was me.” I quickly took out my phone and started texting Delaney to apologize and explain what happened earlier today.
Delaney are you there?
It took a little while, but she responded.
Yes, I am here.
Were you the one who brought me the pastrami sandwich earlier today?
She didn’t answer. I got frustrated enough to threaten her.
Answer me now or I will find you and interrupt your date.
Yes. That was me. How did you know? I gave the sandwiches to Grandfather.
Your grandfather told me he had an extra sandwich and handed it to me during our meeting.
Oh. OK. Hope you enjoyed it. Goodbye.
I walked outside and called her. She didn’t pick up the phone on my first try. So I texted her again.
Pick up your damn phone!
I dialed again and she picked up, but didn’t say anything. “Hello? Hello?” I called out in frustration.
“I’m here.” She didn’t sound happy.
“If you came all the way to the office, why didn’t you come find me?”
“Because your assistant told me you were having lunch already. What would’ve been the point in finding you?”
“Well my assistant was wrong. I wasn’t having lunch.” I was not happy with her either, and I let her know.
“How the hell am I supposed to know whether or not you were eating lunch? If your assistant of all people tells me you are eating lunch, I will believe her. I am not going to go searching high and low all over Grandfather’s place of work to find you.”
“You are so damn stubborn sometimes. No erase that—all the time. I waited for you all morning. When a client showed up unexpectedly, I stepped out of my office for half an hour and you apparently came during that time, but didn’t let me know.”
“Why must you always spell out my humiliation? I brought you lunch, you weren’t there, I gave it to my grandfather, end of story. Can we just leave it at that?” She sounded more upset than I liked. Maybe I was too harsh on her.
“I’m sorry.” I hope she believed me that I truly was sorry for what happened today, as well as for the way I sounded just now. “I did wait for you.”
“I’m sorry too.” The way she said those three words made me wonder what she was exactly sorry about.
“What are you doing right now? Where are you?”
“I’m out,” was all she was going to give me.
“Bee told me you were out on a date tonight. Is that true? Are you out with someone?” I hated the thought of her being out on a date.
It took her a little while to answer my question, but when she finally did, I was damn relieved. “No. I’m just out at the local coffee shop trying to get some work done. I’m still very behind.”
“We are all at my parents’ having dinner. You want to come by?”
I put myself out there and she knew I was vulnerable. “I’d like to say yes, but I’m in a groove right now and would like to finish what I started.” She let me down easily.
“Have you had dinner?”
“Not yet. I’ll get something later.” I hated these conflicting feelings I had for this girl. I didn’t want to have feelings for her, because we were so wrong for each other, but she was easy to fall in...love with? Was love the word I was searching for, a word I was willing to use in the same sentence with her name?
“I’ll see you soon?”
“I’d like that,” she answered just loudly enough to make me smile. All was good now.
I walked into my parents’ home with a brighter smile than when I walked out. Everyone noticed.
“Is she coming?” Al laughed at me.
“No. She’s doing schoolwork, Bee. She’s not on a date.”
Bee cracked-up. “I knew that. She’s at the coffee shop right now.”
“Then why the hell did you tell me she was out on a date?”
“I told you she got asked out on a date tonight. I did not tell you she was on a date tonight. And I wanted to see if it would bother you to know that she was on a date whether tonight or any other night. I guess I succeeded.”
“Just admit that you have feelings for this girl.” Al was goading me.
“I don’t have feelings for her. But I will admit I am curious.”
“That’s marvelous, Donny.” Ma came over and hugged me as though I had just told her I was getting married. “Bring her over and let’s all spend some time getting to know her.”
“No.” I cut Ma off. “There’s someone else I’d like to explore a relationship with. Don’t ask me any other questions about either woman. I’m done with this conversation.”
Al shook his head at me and gave me a you’re-a-moron look. Al was probably right.
This never-ending Mother’s Day celebration continued with a softball tournament between the Reids and The Others as Jane called us. Jane had cleverly come up with a game plan, and we all got involved. The Reids were made up of Jake, Jane, Doug, Nick, the chief, Jake’s dad, Sam, and Uncle Dave. The Others included me, Bee, Al, Pa, Max, Josh, Garret, and Mr. Davis. Roland was our referee, Delaney was the pitcher for both teams, and everyone else was to fill the stands and cheer for us.
Our team practiced until late and while the men strategized positions and plays, the women came up with uniforms. As expected, Delaney and I got into an argument during the course of the day and she left with Bee to help her “model” some more clothes. I didn’t wait long to follow her so I could give her a lift back to her house.
Upon arriving at Bee’s, I found the door open and loud chatter and laughter between the two women. A smile automatically formed on my face when Delaney giggled away about something Bee had said. That smile quickly turned to shock when I saw what Delaney had on.
“What the fuck are you wearing?” My question came out louder than it should’ve but I was still shocked to see Delaney in lingerie. This was an image I couldn’t easily erase from my memory. She was sexy as hell.
“Ahhh!” she hollered, and ran into the changing screen.
“What are you doing wearing...that?” I bumbled through my words.
“Chill out, Nephew. Your friend here is helping me.”
“When did you start making lingerie? And why Delaney? She’s too young to be modeling lingerie.”
Both women laughed at me, and mocked my not-so-innocent past.
Bee told me to stand in the corner while she and Delaney finished, and it took an act of God not to turn around and stare at her luscious body.
Before they were done, Al and Becky arrived and I told Delaney to get ready so I could take her home. A few words I shouldn’t have uttered spewed out before I left for my car, and I knew Delaney wasn’t happy with me again. Well, I wasn’t happy with her when she told my family she was leaving (me) for London.
I sat in my car stewing about why Delaney wanted to live in London. How were we to explore anything if she wasn’t around to explore it with me? Did I now want to explore something? What about Jane? What was I to do about my interest in Jane? Did I even have an interest in Jane? Was I using Jane as an excuse every time I got scared about my feelings for Delaney? Why did I keep flip-flopping? Was it too late for me to become a monk? There were one too many questions I couldn’t answer. I was done with all these conflicting feelings. But...I had one last question. Where the hell was Delaney? Why wasn’t she in the car with me right now? What was taking her so long? She better not have been modeling more lingerie with Al in the loft. I had to find her.
“Where is she?” I asked the three adults who stared at me with no answer. “Well?” I asked again. “Why hasn’t Delaney come downstairs?”
“Why don’t you tell him,” Bee urged Al.
“Yeah, Honey. Why don’t you two go out for a drink and have a talk?”
Bee and Becky ran upstairs.
“What is it that you have to tell me?”
“She left.”<
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“What do you mean she left? Who took her? Did she take one of your cars?”
“Shit. Why didn’t any one of us think of that?” Al exclaimed.
“Al!” I was tired of the roundabout answers.
He eventually replied, “Against our advice, she took a cab home.”
“What the fuck!” I yelled. I could hear the women upstairs groan. “Bee, Becky, get your asses back down here.” Surprisingly, they did just that.
“How the hell...why the fuck...who in their right mind allows a woman to take a cab at this hour in LA?” I yelled even louder. “Why didn’t any of you stop her?”
“We tried, Donovan. We begged. Al offered to go with her. She wouldn’t hear of it.” Bee explained as I took out my phone to call Delaney. “Don’t bother. I just texted, and she got home safely. She said she was exhausted from practice and wanted to sleep.”
I scratched my head at what had just happened and left these three idiotic adults to go stew on my own.
Delaney? or Jane?
Our softball game was a huge success and we all had a great time with one another. I apologized to Delaney the first chance I got and after a long day, we parted ways knowing we’d be right back together in a few hours to babysit Jake’s kids. My buddy had a birthday surprise for his wife and had asked me, Delaney, Jane, and Max to watch the kids while they were gone.
By the time Jane and I got to Jake’s, Delaney had everything under control. It was Jane and myself who messed up the peace and order Delaney had created with the twins. We tried to help, but in the end, it was Delaney who ended up doing everything.
When everything appeared copacetic, I left Delaney and the kids to go home and grab my forgotten overnight bag. I returned to Jake’s and found Delaney and Max in deep conversation. Jane was nowhere to be seen and the sight of Delaney and Max spending time over cups of coffee and slices of cake didn’t sit well with me. Call me a hypocrite, but I hated watching their “relationship.”
“What are you still doing here?” I challenged.
“Taking care of someone who needed a little taking care of,” Max shot back.
“Don’t you have a girlfriend to tend to?”
“I surely do!” Max got up, tenderly embraced Delaney, and whispered something in her ear. Their intimacy was a slap in the face and a punch in my gut.
“What was that?” I questioned unhappily.
“What was what?” Did she really have no clue, or was she pretending she and Max didn’t share an affectionate exchange?
We walked upstairs and argued about a few more issues when Jake called to check up on his kids. I heard Delaney’s cryptic message with Jake, and knew it would take all night to get her to answer every question I had brewing in my mind. Deciding it was best to be prepared for this all-nighter; I changed and got ready for bed.
“What do you think you are doing, Mr. Taylor?” Delaney was flabbergasted when I walked into the room in my pajamas. She actually whooped when I got in bed with her. “This is not your bed,” she reprimanded, as if that was going to scare me.
“It’s not yours, either,” I pointed out. “I’m tired too so let me get in, let’s talk, and then let’s sleep.”
“We can’t sleep in the same bed.”
“Why the hell not?” was not what I asked, as much as I wanted to ask. I told her she could move to another bed, though I had no intention of letting her go, or she could share the bed with me and explain what was on her mind.
Explain she did! This genius told me she was accepted into med school and film school and couldn’t decide between the two. She also explained she was on the verge of graduating summa cum laude. I was so damn proud of her. Everyone knew Delaney was smart, but to what extent, I had no idea.
“So that’s why you’re going off to London for a year? You need to cool your Mensa-sized brain?”
“That, among other reasons.”
“And those reasons are...?”
“I just want a break before going back to school, especially med school, if that’s what I end up choosing.” It was obvious there was more to this story she wasn’t willing to share.
“Well, I guess I owe you an apology. I thought...”
“Oh, I know what you thought. There are so many thoughts you have about me that are incorrect. I’m not that little girl anymore; I don’t date every guy who crosses my path, and there is a purpose to my life. You just don’t care to see it. But that’s OK. I know I don’t mean much more to you than...” Once again, she left off in the middle of her statement. It truly would take the entire night and an act of God to get her to open her heart to me, wholly.
After we went a few rounds of he said, she said, and settled our differences, somewhat, I convinced Delaney to stay in bed and watch a movie with me. Still, I had that vision of us laying in bed, watching TV, talking about everything and nothing. Somewhere between laying on Delaney’s leg and her tracing her hand through my hair, I must have fallen asleep because when I got up in the middle of the night, she was nowhere to be seen. I hurried over to the one place she would be and found her curled up on the twins’ tiny couch.
I wasn’t content to sleep a room away from her so I picked her up with plans to bring her back into bed with me. If she woke up in the process, I decided that was my calling to explain my heart to her. With this resolve, I brought her into bed and without any encouragement she curled perfectly into my body. What am I to do with you, Delaney Reid? Do I love you? Can I let you go for a while and see where we are when you return? Why am I so confused when I’m around you?
After much internal debate, I chose to hold her close for one night and let her go find herself in London. If we were meant to be, it would happen even if we fought it. I’d let fate choose our destiny.
I woke up to a rude awakening this morning. I was alone in bed, again. Showering quickly, I ran downstairs to greet the little ones and to face Delaney. Once I thought it through, it was damn embarrassing that she knew I’d brought her back in bed with me. What kind of pervert was I to sleep with a woman who didn’t necessarily want to sleep with me?
“Did you sleep well?” she asked shyly.
“I did. Did you?” She nodded yes, and attempted to clean up the huge mess created by the kids.
Max and Jane walked in with our coffees and breakfast and started talking when I received a phone call from Kate.
“Hey, Kate.”
“Donovan. I leave for London today, and you forgot to sign one of the documents plus there’s a paragraph that’s not worded properly. I need to take this with me. Are you home? I’m nearby. Can I drop in?”
“I’m at Jake’s right now, but why don’t you meet me at my place and we’ll figure out what to do with the proposal. I can be there in fifteen minutes. If you get there before I do, just use your key and make yourself comfortable.” I’d have to ask for her to return that key before she left today. We were not that kind of friends anymore. I went off to gather my belongings and when I returned, Delaney had gone.
“Where’d she go?”
“Off.” Damn Max and his one-word answer.
“To where?”
He gave me a fuck-off look I didn’t appreciate. Rather than arguing with him, I went outside to find her.
She was sitting on Max’s motorcycle, ready to take off. Ripped jeans, black leather jacket, buckled motorcycle boots and a pink helmet—it was picture perfect! I couldn’t help but smile.
I tapped her on the shoulder and yelled, “Do you know how to ride this?”
She nodded yes. Of course she nodded yes. I feared for this girl’s safety.
“Where are you off to, and in such a hurry? You didn’t even say good-bye.”
“I have a lunch date.”
“With whom?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know!”
She revved up the bike so loudly I couldn’t respond. She left without hearing my comeback.
“I think this doe
s it.” My meeting with Kate was quick, and she handed back my keys even before I mentioned anything. She appeared to accept the death of us and handled it like a big girl. “Are you off to the airport now?”
“Yes.”
“Can I ask you for a lift somewhere?”
“Sure. Where do you need to be?”
“Becky and Al are in town and Ma wants all of us to have brunch. It’s not far from here and it’s on your way to LAX.”
“It’s not a problem, Donovan.”
“You’ve been in London quite a bit these days.” Regardless of our current status, Kate and I had a long history. I hoped we’d stay friends and colleagues.
“Yes. That’s where business always seems to land me. It must be nostalgia, but I love it there the most.” Even in her forties, Kate was a beautiful woman. She would have no problems meeting another man. “How’s it going with Laney?”
I laughed, but thought Kate deserved the truth. “Against what my heart is telling me, I don’t think I’ll pursue her.”
“Why?” Kate was very surprised.
“She’s not right for me.”
“Are you sure? Whenever I watch the both of you, there’s nothing but love in both your eyes.”
“I don’t know what she’s thinking, but I do know she has a lot more to live and experience before she gets to the stage I’m at right now. She’s moving away soon. We’ll separate and see what happens when she returns.”
“Awfully gallant of you. Have you considered that she might find another man?”
“I have, and if that happens, so be it.” I shrugged it off as if I didn’t care, but it pained me to think of her with another man.
“Well, all right,” was all Kate could say.
Brunch was a complete surprise when I saw Delaney sitting amidst all the Taylors. She fit right in with my family, and Ma and Pa were grinning from ear to ear, asking her all sorts of questions. Pa even asked her for golf lessons when his son, an almost golf pro, was ready and willing to help him. Delaney agreed to help his golf game and Pa called the chief to gloat.