by Starr, Faith
“That’s fine, but what happens when you leave?”
“Remember we discussed the one day at a time thing?”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “We’ll take it one day at a time.”
I gave her a peck on the lips. I wanted to do more but refrained because of the kids around us.
“Do you still want to get coffee? Unless you’re hungry. Do you eat dinner before you go to the club?”
She shook her head. “I have no appetite today.”
“You still need to eat. Come.” I stood and reached my hand out toward her. I pulled her into a standing position. “Let me get you some food. It’ll have to be fast, though, because I have to be at the studio no later than six.”
“I’m fine. I’ll grab a protein bar and bring it with me in case I get hungry later.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Are you recording a new song?”
“We’re fine-tuning and mixing a new one. You should come with me to the studio sometime. I think you’d enjoy it.”
“I’m sure I would. The problem is I’m always working.”
“Call in sick.”
“Maybe I will.”
“Maybe you should.”
18
Lizzie
The club was relatively quiet. As much relief as I felt in my current frame of mind, it sucked because it meant I wouldn’t earn much in tips.
“Hey, spicy girl. What can I do to persuade you to join me in one of the back rooms?”
Not him again.
How quickly my mood worsened.
“Sorry. I don’t go in the back rooms.”
He held up a hundred-dollar bill and waved it in front of me.
“Still, no. Try one of the dancers.”
“I’m not interested in the dancers. I’m interested in you. You embarrassed me the other night in the parking lot by having one of your knights in shining armor rescue you from me. I don’t like being made a fool of. I think you owe me.”
“The only thing I owe you is to bring you your drinks when you order them. Now, do you want to order one or not? I have other customers waiting.”
“You are a feisty little bitch, aren’t you?”
He had friends with him. They laughed and patted his back, egging him on. I had no patience for his shit.
“Think what you will. Again, do you want to order a drink or not?”
“Cool it with the attitude. I’m a paying customer. Keep it up, and I might have to take it up with your manager.”
Screw this.
I left the table and went to the next one to take that party’s order instead. On the way to the bar, I gave Robert a heads-up about the guy harassing me, again, and gave him the abridged version of the history I’d had with him thus far.
“You’re a tough cookie. I’m sure you can hold your own.”
Grrr. He was such an ass!
“I am a tough cookie, but the guy is a nuisance and preventing me from giving my other customers quality service.”
“Fine. I’ll have Micki take that table but in the future deal with it.” He stormed off.
My God. What did Lee see in him?
The thing dangling between his legs.
While delivering drinks to one of my other tables, a hand grabbed my ass. I nearly spilled the contents on my tray. It was that same Bloody Maria jerk.
“Our new server sucks, and not in the way I like. I come here to see you, spicy girl.”
“I’m sorry. My manager reprimanded me for spending so much time at your table. He took it away from me.”
“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter.”
“If you’ll please excuse me, I have to deliver these drinks. And please don’t touch my ass again.”
“Oh, I’ll touch it again, but you can bet it won’t be in public, my feisty little bitch girl.”
“You’re delusional if you think I’d ever let you touch me and please stop calling me spicy girl and little bitch girl. I have a name. It’s Lizzie. If you want to address me, please use it.”
What a total dick.
I brushed past him and served the drinks to the table who had ordered them.
The rest of the night sped by. To be on the safe side, I asked one of the bouncers to escort me to my car.
The following morning, I woke up extra early so I could go for a run, meditate, hit an early meeting, then go to the center. I was functioning on about four hours of sleep. Rarely did I get more than that these days.
Hailey:What’s up, chickadee?
Lizzie:Crazy few days. I’m at the center. I’ll give you a call later.
The residents were mellow. It was the perfect opportunity to give some of the females manicures. They loved when I painted their nails. The center had a cart that I wheeled from patient to patient. I had bought a few cute colors to give them options. It was interesting that the same women always chose the same colors: pinks, peaches, or reds.
“What color do you want me to paint your nails today, Mimi?”
Red.
She pointed to the bottle. I knew her so well.
“I think it will look beautiful on you.”
Her frail hands rested on my cart as I colored her long nails. She had a few bruises on her wrists. I wished I could ask her where they had come from, but even if she knew, she wouldn’t be able to tell me. Skin became thin as people aged and they bruised easily, especially if they took aspirin, but my grandma’s arms had seen better days. Maybe something had happened between her and another staff member or one of the other residents during my off hours. I would inquire about it.
She held her hands up and inspected my artwork. She knew enough to rest them on her lap without touching them.
Before moving on to the next lady, I spoke with Rita, one of the nurses.
“Did something happen to Mimi last night? Her arms are bruised.”
“She argued with one of the aides and had to be restrained.”
My entire body went into protection mode. I remained calm, though. A verbal attack would get me nowhere.
“There must have been a reason why Mimi was acting up. For the most part, she’s quiet and respectful of others. Why didn’t the aide give her a break to simmer down rather than put her hands on her? You know Mimi doesn’t like people touching her when she’s upset.”
“I wasn’t here, Lizzie. I can only tell you what was written in the report I read this morning.”
Damn aides. Even if they were in the wrong, no one would ever know. The worst part was they could justify their intolerable behaviors because the residents would never be able to dispute them and security cameras were an invasion of privacy in the unit, so said Maria, the center’s director.
“Which aide was on shift last night?”
“Laverna.”
Laverna?
I hadn’t met her yet. Maybe a chat with Maria was in order because my grandma wasn’t alone in sporting bruises.
The next resident for a manicure was Irma.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Irma. Which color do you want today?”
“Hello.”
Pink.
“Okay. Pink it is.”
I removed the chipped pink currently on her nails and gave them a fresh coat. As I was finishing up, the door to the dementia unit opened, and Ryan waltzed in. My insides tingled at the mere sight of him. The man had stage presence even when he wasn’t the center of attention. An aura of confidence surrounded him.
“Hello.” Irma acknowledged him when he approached us.
“Hello,” Ryan replied.
“Today the women are getting manicures,” I informed him.
“I can see that. How nice.” He smiled at Irma.
“Hello,” she repeated.
“I’m going to go say hi to my grandfather.”
He walked over to his grandpa and gave him a loving hug. I continued with Irma.
“All finished. They look lovely. Don’t touch them until they’re dry.”
“He
llo.”
She usually had no issue of not smudging them.
Next up was Lucy. It wasn’t uncommon for her to fall asleep during her manicure, with today being no different. At least when she woke up, she’d have pretty nails.
The other female patients were somewhat out of it or acting up, so I put the manicure cart back in the closet, shut off the TV, and played music for the entire group. The residents had been sitting long enough.
“I want to go home!” Ryan’s grandpa screamed.
“I understand, Gramps.” Ryan’s eyes sought mine for help.
“Hi, Morris,” I said to him.
“I want to go home!” He yelled again. “When can I go home?”
“Right now there’s too much traffic. How about we dance until it eases up?”
“Then can I go home to Carol?”
“Of course you can. After we dance, I will call her to come and pick you up. The traffic should lessen by then.”
Luckily, my words pacified him. With the residents, it was hit or miss when it came to distracting them from their rants.
Ryan mouthed, thank you.
“Who wants to dance with me?”
Of course, Seymour was my first volunteer.
“My Kind Of Town” began to play. Some of the residents moved their hands and tapped their feet while in their seats.
“Hello.”
Others sang along.
“Sing it, Irma,” I encouraged.
“Mildred, come join us.” I offered my hand to her. She stood in front of her seat and moved her upper body. Morris clapped his hands. One of our newer residents, Beatrice, joined Seymour and me.
When “I Get a Kick Out Of You” came on, I danced over to Ryan and offered him my hand. He rose and spun me around. The residents became animated watching the two of us. They cheered and clapped.
Ryan pulled me against his chest. He placed his free hand against my mid-back. I rested mine on his shoulder.
He sang the words to me.
If someone had offered me a napkin to wipe my drool, I’d have graciously accepted it. The word charmer didn’t describe him. He was a romantic. The most dangerous type of man. The kind to win you over and steal your heart.
My heart swelled. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.
Ryan raised his arm and twirled me underneath it. He pulled my back against his chest then rolled me out, only to pull me back in again. It was a blast. We were in our own bubble, dancing to Frank Sinatra and Natalie Cole, with our eyes locked on each other.
He dipped me. I kicked my leg up. I was breathless. He raised me and kissed me hard in front of the entire room, completely blowing me away.
We got applause from the crowd, the aides too.
My cheeks flushed as a result of being enamored, overheated, and somewhat embarrassed.
The two of us took well-deserved bows.
Ryan moved on and danced with Beatrice. I did the same with some of the others. Another song later and we were handing out apple juice. Ryan helped me serve. I assisted some of the residents with drinking through their straws.
“You’re getting good at this.” I winked at him.
We stood to the side, watching the aides prepare the tables for lunch.
“Are you working tonight?”
Frowning, I nodded. “Not tomorrow night, though.”
“Do you think you could manage to get two days off?”
Two days? That would be tough and more importantly, a loss of income.
“For what?”
“I’d like to take you on a staycation.”
“A staycation? What’s that?”
“You’ve never heard of a staycation?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“It’s a local vacation. We’ll go to a nearby resort and chill for a few days.”
Guilt consumed me. “Ryan, don’t let me hold you back from doing what you want on your break.”
He pulled me into his arms. “There’s no fun in going alone. It would be a nice opportunity for us to be alone together. Come on, it’ll be fun. The sun. The pool. Swimming lessons. Drinks by the ocean.”
His last suggestion I could do without. The man was really fixated on the swimming lessons thing too.
He nudged me. “So, what do you think?”
“When were you planning for us to take this staycation?”
“The sooner, the better.”
“The problem I have is when I’m not here, the residents sit and do nothing. They barely get any mental and physical stimulation. And Sundays are the nights I make the most at the club.”
He grimaced. “What would happen if you were sick? You’d have to miss work then. Consider it a sick day, or two. Why don’t we go Friday and Saturday, and return Sunday morning?”
“I’d have to see if I could get someone to cover me at the club. I’m scheduled to work Saturday night. I don’t think it’ll be a problem, though, because the weekends are when it’s the busiest. Everyone wants those shifts.”
“You take care of that, and I’ll make the reservations.”
That meant I would have to cancel on Hailey too. One option would be to meet her for a quick bite late in the day, before going to the club.
A vacation.
Staycation.
Vacation. Staycation. Both sounded perfect.
Ryan had lunch then said goodbye. “I’m heading out. Can I see you tomorrow night?”
“I’d love it.”
“Excellent. Don’t forget to get coverage for the weekend. It will be fun for both of us.” He kissed my cheek and whispered, “In a variety of ways.”
Then off he went without giving me a chance to respond.
Nilda, one of the aides, rushed over to me once he left. “Looks like someone has a boyfriend. That is one attractive man.”
Yup. And for the next week, he was all mine. After that, he belonged to the entire female population. How depressing.
“He sure is.” I didn’t touch the boyfriend comment, not wanting to create gossip. Besides, a week of dating hardly constituted a relationship. Another somber thought.
My phone rang toward the end of my shift. My dad? What did he want? I shoved my phone back in my pocket. He could wait. And he did, until I left the center to drive home.
“Dad. You called?” We hadn’t spoken in months.
“Hello to you too.”
What a shocker, he slurred his words.
“What do you want? You only call when you want a favor.”
“I need you to spot me some cash for the rent.”
Unbelievable. God forbid he call to see how his child was doing. Ask how my grandmother was feeling. But he did neither. Cash. In his eyes that was all I counted for.
“I don’t have extra to spare. I live on a tight budget as it is.” Especially now that I was planning to take a few days off from work.
“You’re working two jobs. Things can’t be that tight.”
Son of a bitch! If he only knew the circumstances behind one of them.
“Sorry, Dad. I don’t have it to give.”
“It would be a shame for Nikki to find out about the club, don’t you think?”
OH MY GOD!
In a moment of insanity, I had opened up to him about my housing situation. And here he was, trying to use it against me.
I clenched my teeth to the point of pain. Telling that man anything about my private life made me the biggest fool of the century. Denial was such a powerful thing.
“How much?”
“Three hundred.”
“Three hundred dollars?” That was a lot to someone in my position. It meant fewer groceries and more flirting at the club.
“Yup. Three hundred big ones.”
“What happened to your job?”
“Got fired.”
Of course he did.
“This is a one-time deal. I’ll give you the cash but don’t ask again. You’ll have to find another banker.”
Enabler!
“Bye, Dad.” I disconnected the call, not wanting to hear another word out of his mouth.
My hands tensed on the steering wheel. I took a deep breath and relaxed my jaw to the best of my ability. This was bad in every respect. He could ruin everything I had worked so hard to achieve. The worst part was he knew he had me, which would prevent him from rushing out to find another job.
19
Ryan
The song sounded phenomenal. We were almost finished mixing it.
The four of us needed a break. We had been at it for hours. We ordered pizza and went to Nick’s place to chow down.
“What was with your weird-ass behavior at the club last night? You still haven’t told us.” Jonas bit into a thick slice of mushroom and pepper pizza, the cheese dripping off.
Nick guzzled some of his beer. “Yeah. Why did you take an Uber? You could have told us you wanted to leave if you were having a panic attack or something.”
I chucked my napkin at him.
“What? I, for one, had a blast. That hostess I hooked up with invited me to her place again. After ditching these two bozos”—Nick pointed at Mason and Jonas—“I went to her apartment.” He folded his pizza and swallowed half of it down.
“Better be careful. She might think there’s more to it than it is,” Jonas warned.
“Nah. She knows what I want from her. She’s game for it.”
“That’s what they all say until they see you in the arms of another woman. Then they become all fatal attraction on your ass.” Jonas took a swig of his beer.
Lizzie and that hostess Nick was fucking had nothing in common. I didn’t want the guys thinking otherwise.
“I had a bad night. We all have them.”
Nick shook his head. “No, man. Something happened. What are you keeping from your brothers?”
Mason’s eyes shot to mine.
“I met someone at the center where my grandfather is staying. We’ve been hanging out.”