Daddy Next Door

by Tina Lee

  Luke drew closer. Amy didn’t exactly how to react. She was a nervous wreck.

  “I like the feeling of your presence. It reminds of something I once had,” Luke said. His mouth was so close to her that she felt his hot breath on her neck.

  “We make each other better.”

  “Yes, we do.” His lips met hers; an explosion of electric sensation surged through Amy’s whole body. Goosebumps awoke from their sleep as Luke’s lips sucked on hers. His tongue was massaging hers, and Amy was sure this was what bliss felt like.

  In their kiss, she found everything that was missing. The smell of him, taste of him, sound of him, sight of him and feel of him overwhelmed her senses.

  The stars had aligned and everything suddenly made sense.

  Chapter 9

  T he hot tub

  bubbled with Luke and Amy inside. They took a night off from working out and decided to relax together. The apartment hot tub, like the gym, was always empty. No one had the time or simply cared to use it. This meant more privacy for Luke and Amy.

  They didn’t talk about the kiss at all since it happened. Amy tried to decipher what exactly his kiss meant. To her, it was magical to taste the lips of Luke, but what did it mean for him? Could a kiss just be a kiss?

  No!

  Amy refused to believe that. A kiss could never be just a kiss. It had to mean something.

  Even on the lowly lit roof, Luke’s beauty challenged the darkness. The bubbling water caressed his hard pecks and abdomen. The steam made him all the more mysterious. Their legs made contact under water and her first instinct was to wrap hers around his.

  Luke moved closer to Amy and suddenly the hot tub became hotter, fiery hot like she was in the pit of a volcano. He put his muscular arms around her. It felt right. He had the perfect size arms for her, she thought.

  “What do you consider the perfect date?” Luke asked.

  “Why? You’re thinking of asking me out?”

  “Maybe,” Luke smirked.

  “Don’t raise a woman’s hope if you’re not serious about following through.”

  Luke leaned into her ear. “I don’t play games.”

  Amy blushed. It was the perfect answer. “I don’t know what my perfect date is but I do know what it’s not. My date and I are not sitting in some fancy restaurant looking at each other’s faces all night. We’re either dancing or doing something fun.”

  “And here I thought you were a hopeless romantic.”

  I am. Just not the type you see in old romance movies. I’m the type you find in quirky, Indie films.”

  “Okay. How about this. We go to the amusement park by the pier tomorrow night. We’ll go on rides and play games and walk the beach.”

  Amy grinned. “That sounds perfect.”

  The next day Amy checked up on Josh over at Mrs. Huckleberry. “So what happened with Lisa? Did she like the card?”

  Josh pulled Amy to the side and told her to be quiet. The matter was confidential. “She liked the card and the rose.” Josh giggled.

  “That’s great! I knew she would.”

  Amy and Josh sat in the corner of Mrs. Huckleberry living room discussing the dos and don’t of having a girlfriend. Josh wrote everything Amy said on a piece of paper so he wouldn’t forget. On the top of the list was ‘Always be nice.’

  “Can I ask you a question?” Josh asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Are you and my dad going steady?”

  Amy nearly choked. “What? Why would you ask that?”

  “He always smiles when he sees you and you always blush when he talks to you.”

  “I do not!”

  “Yes, you do!”

  “Well, maybe I just happen to blush when he’s around.”

  “You do like my dad.” Josh laughed. “It’s okay. I think you two would be great.”

  “You really think so?”

  “Yeah. This morning I heard him singing in the shower. He never does that. I think it’s because of you.”

  Amy’s cheeks reddened. It meant a lot to her that Josh was accepting of her. It was easier than she thought. She imagined kids who had lost a mother to rebel against someone filling the role of their mom. Mom. The word sounded so weird to Amy. She felt a pang in her belly. Who am I kidding? I can’t be anyone's mom, she thought.

  Brenda fell on the couch and stayed there. It had been a long day. Teaching kids how to code took a lot of patience (something Brenda thought she had), and the kids were putting her patience to the test. By the time Brenda got home in the evenings, she was mentally drained with no energy to watch her TV series or to read or to cook! All she wanted was to sleep.

  Except for tonight.

  Brenda had a date.

  Brenda ran a bath and took a book with her. She wasn’t going to let her students, no matter how adorable they were, stop her from enjoying this evening.

  She laid out her clothes on her bed. She would have liked Amy’s opinion on what she should wear but Amy had gone to the Amusement park with Luke. Brenda was happy to see her friend starting to live life again. Her friend was happier in general and she could tell. She was smiling more and she hummed non stop.

  There was a knock on the door. It was not the person Brenda was expecting. “Jack?”

  “Hey, Brenda.” He looked different. His beard and mustache were gone, leaving a younger and cleaner face behind. Jack had turned back the hands of time with a single trim.

  “Come in.”

  Jack took a seat on the couch where he once slept. “I was actually delivering some goods nearby and thought I’d stop and said hello.”

  Brenda just then noticed the company logo on the left breast of his shirt. “How has work been treating you?”

  “It’s good. It’s a start. It has allowed me to finally pay my phone bill. ”

  Brenda received the hint. “Great. What’s your number?”

  After exchanging numbers, Jack confessed that he had another reason for stopping by. “I just want to get it out. I really enjoyed that night we had together, and I know I made a terrible first impression; I was a mess. So I’m here begging for another chance. You won’t regret it”

  “Jack, I don’t know what you are expecting from me. We had a night I could barely remember.”

  “No expectations. Just let me take you out once. After that, You decide if you ever want to see me again.”

  “Okay, deal. Now I’m going to ask you to leave because I have to get ready for a date tonight.”

  “A date?” Jack paused at the door. “I hope your date goes bad so ours will be better.”

  Brenda laughed. “Goodnight, Jack.”

  “Goodnight, Brenda.”

  The winds from the Pacific made Amy shudder, but no worries, Luke was quick to offer his jacket. His jacket smelled of him. She did not know what cologne he was using but she wanted him to wear it always.

  Luke held her hand and together they walked through the amusement park. There were teenagers with drinks and cotton candy in their hands. “Do you want a cotton candy?” Luke asked.

  “No. I’ll skip diabetes for now.”

  Luke led her to their first game. It was simple basketball. Just throw the balls through the hoops. How hard could it be?

  It was very hard. Amy did not make one bucket while Luke scored all his baskets and won himself a stuffed bear. He then, of course, gave the bear to Amy.

  “I’ll name him Luke. He’ll sleep with me every night.”

  “Damn. That Luke is one lucky bear.”

  “Very lucky.”

  “Wait here, let me a take a picture of you. You’re looking really beautiful right now.”

  “Stooop. I’m just in a t-shirt, jeans and converse shoes.”

  “Be still. You look great, Amy.” Luke took several shots of her on his iPhone. She looked effortlessly beautiful in his eyes. That was the best kind of beauty.

  The next stop was the Ferris wheel. Amy freed her hand from Luke’s and stopped. “No. No. Anyth
ing but the Ferris Wheel.” Amy looked up at the big mechanics and felt insignificant. Just the thought of being so high made her leg wobble. The frightening wheel spun, and from above Amy heard terrifying screams.

  “Are you afraid of the Ferris Wheel?”

  “Yes! I’m very afraid!”

  Luke laughed.

  “Why are you laughing?!”

  “I’m sorry.” Luke laughed again.

  “It isn’t funny. Let’s do something else.”

  Luke held both of Amy's hands and kissed them. “I’ve never you seen this frightened. All the more reason why we need to go on that Ferris Wheel.”

  “Oh no, I’m not.”

  “Don’t let it defeat you.” Luke looked deep into her eyes. “We will do this together.”

  Amy shook her head. “Luke, I can’t. I can’t.”

  “You can. You are stronger than you think.”

  “I’m not strong.”

  “Yes, you are! I don’t want to hear you say that.”

  “But what if—”

  “There are a lot of ‘what ifs’ in this world. You cannot let it stop you.”

  Amy took a deep breath. “Okay. Promise you’ll hold my hand the entire time.”

  Luke kissed Amy’s trembling lips. “I’m here for you.”

  Amy stepped toward the gate and wondered if the ride would be her last. She tried to take the images of the Ferris Wheel malfunctioning and causing some freak accident out of her head. “What am I doing?” she asked herself. I should have never agreed to do this, she thought. The grinding of the gears of the wheel sent chills thought out her body. She gripped Luke’s hand so tight that it was blocking his blood flow.

  She took a seat in the car and held on to Luke. The wheel began to spin, taking her higher and higher in the night sky. “Breathe,” Luke whispered into her ear. “You are strong.”

  Amy closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She latched on to Lukes words. I am strong, she told herself. She repeated it until she was ready to open her eyes. When she opened her eyes, her first instinct was to look down, and she instantly regretted it. “Oh my God. We’re so high.” Her legs were shaking with fear. “Oh my God.”

  “Deep breathes, Amy.”

  “Yeah. You’re right.” Amy calmed herself as they descended, the sweet, safe ground was getting closer.

  “Okay, we’re going up again. Try to see the beauty below us instead.”

  At the peak of the Ferris Wheel, Amy saw what Luke was referring to. It was absolutely magical. Amy could see everything: The moonlit ocean crashing in the pier, the various games and rides below, the neon signs that lit the Amusement park in many different colors, the small people walking around, some with stuff animals. And that was only below! Above her, the clear starry sky absorbed Amy. She felt so close to the stars that she could almost touch it. The moon, her friend, bent in a crescent.

  She turned to Luke, kissed him under the infinite, twinkling stars, and said, “Thank you.”

  It was only then she realized that she wasn’t squeezing his hand anymore. The fear that was inside her had been replaced with wonder and awe. With Luke by her side, she could conquer anything.

  I Know What You Did Last Winter was a parody movie based on the classic thriller I Know What You Did Last Summer. “Two tickets please,” Brenda said. She offered to pay for the movie tickets and let her date, Brian, pay for pancakes after. It was the most talked-about movie that summer. ‘I laughed until my dentures fell out,’ revered movie critic, Evelyn Myers, wrote in The New York Times.

  Brenda met Brian in her college library last semester. They mostly studied in the library whenever they met. Since the school year ended, Brian had kept in contact with Brenda and they both got to see a different side of each other. Texts after texts and here they were, on their first date, about to watch a slasher movie—sort of. Brian was originally from Singapore. He came to the States for school and thought of opening a business hereafter.

  Brenda dating an Asian was something her mother would approve of. Her father, on the other hand, could care less what race she dated. Brian was also academically gifted. Brenda’s mother would conduct the marriage herself is she could. This was why Brenda was very selective of whom she introduce to her mother. Brian, so far, felt like the perfect candidate.

  The first thing Brenda noticed about Brian were the designer brands and expensive jewelry he was wearing. A bit too much for her taste. Anything Gucci was tacky and Brenda rolled her eyes at the sight. These, however, were small matters, and could easily be forgiven if he promised not to do it again.

  “Shall we go in my lady?” Brian joked as he held the door.

  “Yes, kind sir.”

  Evelyn Myers from The New York Times had told no lies. The movie was funnier than Brenda and Brian had anticipated. If she had dentures then it would have certainly come flying out. The credits had begun to roll and the audience were wiping tears of laughter from their eyes. The movie was so funny that Brian had forgotten about kissing Brenda mid-way the film.

  “Where shall we go next?” he asked.

  “Anywhere with pancakes.

  Luke and Amy took their shoes off and walked the shores. The night tides came in and submerged their ankles into the salty sea.

  “Let’s stop here,” Amy suggested. “I’m pretty sure if we go any further we’re going to find couples having sex.”

  “You don’t mind getting sand on you?”

  “I’m disappointed you think I’m that kind of girl” Amy fell into the sand with no regards for her white shirt.

  Luke chuckled. “My apologies. I should have known better.” Luke lay beside Amy, and together they looked into the summer night.

  “Something has been on my mind. It’s about Mrs. Huckleberry. Why do you hire her to babysit Josh? Why not one of those expensive nannies that teach your kid like 5 languages?”

  “Mrs. Huckleberry reminds me of my grandmother, and I wanted to give Josh that feeling. I like her. Her apartment feels and smells like home.“

  “Yeah, I get that feeling when I am there. She is always trying to stuff me up with food.”

  “To be honest, I wouldn’t mind some of her cooking right now.”

  “We should go knock on Mrs. Huckleberry’s door and have her whip us up some food.

  “Our guts would be too full to move.”

  Amy buried her nose in the crook of his neck. “You know what Josh asked me earlier? He asked if we are going steady.”

  Luke laughed. “What? Why would he ask that?”

  “He said you smile when you see me. You were even singing in the shower this morning.”

  “You two are closer than I thought.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  “No. That’s actually great. I’m happy that you two were able to bond.”

  “Josh is a wonderful kid. I adore him.”

  “What was your answer to his question?”

  Amy whispered in his ear and Luke made a deep, throaty laugh.

  Brenda and Brian sat at the diner counter and ate pancakes and milkshakes after midnight. Brian and Brenda stroke up a conversation with the man dressed in bunny costume who was sitting beside her, couple minutes later the diner was filled with people in furry costumes. A raging furry party was only couple blocks ahead, and after dancing up a sweat under their furry fabric, they came to cool off and replenish. An elderly couple dressed as foxes sat beside Brian. “We’ve been doing this for 20 years,” he said as he caught Brian staring.

  “Can I take a pic with you guys? This is so awesome.” Brenda shoved her phone to Brian and got in the middle of the elderly furry couple and all their furry friends. That picture would be going on Instagram.

  Brian and Brenda race down the sidewalk at top speed, the loser had to give the other a horseback ride. Brenda won the quick sprint, though she was suspicious that Brian had lost on purpose. Brenda hopped on Brian’s back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Where should I take you?�
�� Brian asked.

  “Anywhere.”

  They walked the long stretch of sidewalk where entertainers appeared at night, all looking for some change. A big black man with dreads and a Bob Marley t-shirt beat the bottom of his bucket like a drum. With his skill on display, it attracted a crowd, mainly tourist with their camera phones out recording. Brian stopped for a while and watched as his hands hit the drum with incredible speed and rhythm. Along with the other entertainers down the stretch, the drummer filled the air with festivity. It was after one in the morning and they felt like the night had only just begun.

  Brenda took five dollars from her pocket and dropped it in the man’s cookie tin. Brian followed with another five dollar bill. “Thank you!” the man shouted over his heavy drumming.

  They sat on the sidewalk and ate a hot-dog. It was Brenda’s second hot-dog of the day. Brian wasn’t so bad, after all. He was actually funny and a gentleman, and maybe Brenda had judged him too early. They discussed Black Mirror, one of Brenda’ favorite TV shows. They argued about which was the best episode and which was the worst. Brenda’s favorite episode was San Junipero. Brian thought it was weak and didn’t truly reflect what Black Mirror was all about. Brenda disagreed. Black mirror wasn’t about dark, gut-wrenching endings, it was about high concept storytelling, and San Junipero did just that.

  Their final stop was a tattoo artist in a small run-down shop sandwiched between a hair salon and a barber shop. Brenda’s mother would kill her if she got a tattoo, and she wasn’t interested in getting a tattoo—at least not a permanent one. She was fine with a temporary tattoo.

  Brenda got a lotus flower on her wrist. It was a sign of purity and rebirth. Brian got a bull on his chest. It was the sign of his birth; Taurus, lover of excesses.

  “I can’t believe I got a tattoo,” she said

  “It’s only temporary.”

  I know, but I feel like such a badass.”

  “Your lotus is beautiful.” Brian pulled Brenda closer. He wanted to make his move for the kiss and now felt like the right time. Before he could make his move, Brenda leaned forward and kissed him. He was waiting too long and Brenda was already waiting all night for his kiss. Boys were clueless when it came reading hints, Brenda thought. The way how she laughed at his silly jokes and stared at him should have told him everything he needed to know. Do I have to hold up a big Kiss Me sign?