Cindy sighed as they approached the hostess at The Pizza Garden. She was – of course – a student they both had. “Hey Dr. Nicholas. Dr. Bonham. Table for two?”
“Please, Shelly,” Molly said, thankful to have remembered her name. There were only a few thousand students at the college, but Molly often had a hundred of them per semester, and this was her third year on the faculty.
Cindy smiled half-heartedly at the girl as she scooted into the cement bench across the table. “Your waiter will be right with y’all,” Shelly said and walked away.
Cindy jumped right back into their conversation, despite the brief interruption. “It’s hard not to take it personally, ya know? I mean, why take the class if you don’t care at least a little bit about Shakespeare?”
Molly cleared her throat as a young man approached the table. He didn’t seem familiar to her, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in Cindy’s Shakespeare class. He had dark, curly hair bordering on messy and wore a white apron over his t-shirt and jeans. He set a basket of garlic bread on the table and asked what they would like to drink. Both ordered Sprite, which he took down and hurried away.
Cindy smiled devilishly. “Do you know that kid?”
“No, do you? I thought he might be in your Shakespeare class.”
“No, he’s not. Probably some other lazy kid.”
“Well, now, that’s not quite fair. He’s working, isn’t he?”
They bantered back and forth about the waiter’s work ethic until he came back to take their order. They asked for a pepperoni pizza to share, and munched on the garlic bread while they waited.
“How are the kids? And Tom?” Molly asked between bites, debating about whether her breath would reach toxic levels before this meal was over.
“Good. Busy-busy, you know. Grace started soccer last weekend, so of course Melody wants to do it too- just because she has to do everything her big sister does, not because she has any genuine interest in soccer. Poor Malcolm is caught in the middle. He wants to do karate, so Tom and I are looking into it. I actually think Melody would be a pretty good dancer if she’d give it a chance, but Grace isn’t into it, so she doesn’t want to do it.”
“Well, that’s a phase. I mean really, Melody is only five, and Grace is what, eight or nine now?”
“Nine.”
“Yeah, so of course Melody thinks she’s super-cool and wants to do everything Grace does. It’s only natural. And Malcolm is the only boy sandwiched between two sisters, so he has to be independent.”
“I know you’re right, it’s just annoying. It’s not like Melody can play on the same team as Grace or anything. I’m not sure she understands that.”
Molly nodded. “Well, anything is possible to a five-year-old. Why not let her try it, and see how she likes it? She might hate it, and then you’ll be back to ballet.” She paused to take a drink of Sprite. “Honestly, I don’t know how you do it. How do you find time for three very different sets of activities with three very different kids, plus have a social life with Tom? I mean really, by the time I get home, walk the dog and read through the backlog of essays I’ve got, plus skim through reading for the next day’s classes, it’s ten o’clock and time for bed!”
“Well,” she smiled, “I’m amazing and that’s all there is to it.” She paused and raised her eyebrow. “Plus, I haven’t crawled into bed at ten o’clock…ever! What are you, like eighty-five?”
Molly laughed. Shifting the conversation had been a good move; Cindy was in a much better mood.
Cindy cleared her throat. “So, where is Gary tonight?”
“Oh, uh, Philadelphia I think.” Her voice lowered an octave as the joy went out of it.
“So, I guess he’ll be gone for the weekend?” Cindy was treading on thin ice, and she knew it. But Molly was the kind of person who needed something to look forward to when she was alone, so Cindy pushed forward.
Molly frowned into her Sprite as she stabbed at the ice with her straw. “Yup.”
“Maybe you want to come with me and get pedicures?”
Her face brightened. “That sounds great!”
Satisfied, Cindy picked up the last of bite her pizza. “Great.”
They finished dinner on a high note and walked happily back to the campus together.
When Molly got to her scooter, Cindy shook her head. “When are you going to get a real car?”
“We have a real car. Gary’s truck does just fine for regular stuff. This is perfect for getting me back and forth to school and for errands downtown. It’s easier to park!” Molly pulled her pink helmet out from under the seat and snapped it on. “Anyway, I don’t have a litter that I need to cart around from point A to point B.”
She laughed. “Point taken. Just be careful. I wouldn’t want you to get smooshed by some delivery truck trying to navigate these narrow streets.”
“I’m always careful. Have a great night at home, and tell everyone hi!”
“You too. How much longer until Gary comes home?”
“Five days!” Molly always knew exactly how much time was left on that clock.
Cindy laughed. “Not that you’re counting.”
Molly started the scooter’s engine. “Oh, I’m totally counting! You would too!”
“True. Alright, see ya tomorrow!”
Molly waved as she walked the scooter back out of the spot and drove away.
It was long past dark when Molly got home. Luckily she’d remembered to leave a hall light on in the house. She hated coming home to a dark house. They lived in a totally safe neighborhood, but she’d seen one too many Lifetime movies. You never knew who could be hiding in the shadows – unless you left the lights on and there weren’t any shadows to hide in.
Before she even got the door open she could hear Dug panting and whining excitedly on the other side. He whacked the door once or twice with his tail as Molly fumbled with her keys and briefcase. When she finally (well, finally for him; in actuality it was only a few seconds) got the door open, he paused for half a breath to make sure it was in fact his owner at the door, then launched into the nightly excitement ritual. It basically consisted of hopping around in a circle, stopping to jump up on whoever was just arriving home, then running to get a drink of water and repeat.
Dug was a small longhaired terrier mix whom Molly always thought looked a bit like Benji. They’d rescued him almost four years ago now, and despite Molly’s best efforts to break him of jumping on people when they came in the house, everything always went right out the window when Gary came home. Mostly because Gary was just as excited to see Dug as Dug was to see him.
Molly set everything on the counter, the excitement ritual following her all the way to the kitchen, and then turned to face Dug. He immediately sat down, barely managing to contain himself. Of course, she petted him and rewarded him for his “restraint.”
“Where’s Sally?” she asked him. Sometimes, like on the weekends, the animals were the only ones she would talk to all day, so she always spoke to them like they were people.
Pretty soon Sally walked lazily around the corner and meowed, proclaiming her distaste at Molly’s absence. “Hey there, pretty girl.”
Molly allowed herself about five minutes of playing with them before she set her mind to the tasks at hand. She needed to finish grading essays, get ready for tomorrow’s classes, and still get into bed at a reasonable hour. It was already nearly seven o’clock.
When she walked through the living room, she was thrown by an odd splashing sound. It seemed to correspond with Dug’s movements. He was splashing…in the living room. She looked around, trying to find the source of the water. It was just a thin layer, but it was everywhere. Then, she found it. The fish tank was empty, with tiny corpses lying at the bottom.
Her shoulders fell. Dammit, she thought.
Dug was totally oblivious to her peril as she sloshed across the living room to the kitchen, searching for a safe place to put her briefcase and papers. Once she’d unloaded on the
kitchen table, she turned and stared at the mess.
Now what? she thought. This crap always happens when I’m alone. She frowned at the dark hardwood floors glistening at her through a thin layer of water, fighting tears. She took out her phone and snapped a picture of the mess.
This is what I came home to, she texted to Gary.
While she was going for the mop and bucket, he answered her. What happened?
Fish tank sprung a leak. All the fish are dead. :-(
Oh no! I’m so sorry I’m not there to help! That stinks honey! There were a lot of fish in there!
I know. She didn’t know what else to say to him. She was frustrated and upset. She had work to do, and didn’t have time to be cleaning water off the floor, let alone taking care of proper fish disposal.
It was slow work. Eventually, Dug settled down at the edge of the living room, after Molly repeatedly discouraged him from getting on the couch while he was wet. Sally simply watched from the safety of the stairs.
It took Molly all evening to get enough water off the floor to start drying it with towels. She just hoped the hardwood wasn’t ruined, not to mention the baseboards and drywall.
Once she had towels spread all over the floor, Gary texted her again. How’s it going?
She responded with another picture. It looked like a mess.
Gary, trying to be encouraging, said, It’s coming along!
Indeed.
By the time she turned her attention to the dripping tank, she was exhausted. She unceremoniously gathered the fish with the net into a plastic bowl and flushed them, feeling like she should have said a few words or something. But she was so irritated and tired by then she couldn’t come up with anything except, “thanks for ruining my night.”
It was nearly eleven o’clock by the time she went upstairs to get showered and ready for bed. Her entire evening was wasted. She didn’t get any of her papers read, and the students were expecting their grades tomorrow. Plus she had a headache from crying, which hadn’t even made her feel better. She rolled her eyes as she climbed into the shower, trying to wash the last four hours of irritation away. Steam filled the bathroom and she sat on the shower floor until the water turned cold.
It was midnight by the time she’d brushed her teeth, dried her hair and climbed into bed. Exhausted, she mustered the energy for a quick call to Gary.
“Hey,” he said when he answered.
“Hi.”
“So, you had an exciting evening.”
She ran her fingers through Dug’s fur absentmindedly. “Yup.”
“Didja get it all cleaned up?”
“For the most part. I can’t get the tank out of there though. You’ll have to help me with it.”
“I might be able to patch it.”
“Uh…” She hesitated. How could she express her feelings about cleaning up another mess without slighting her husband’s ability? “We’ll have to talk about that when you get home. How was your day?” She hoped a change in subject would mask the potential for insult.
“Fine. Uneventful. The passengers were late in Atlanta, so we missed lunch, thinking they were going to show up any minute. Then, because they were late, we didn’t get to eat dinner until like seven. It was obnoxious.” Gary often missed meals waiting for people. They had snacks on the airplane they could eat, so he wouldn’t starve, but peanut butter M&Ms are still a far cry from a meal when you’re hungry.
“Oh, I’m sorry, babe. Where to tomorrow?”
“Just Orlando. It’s a one-leg kind of day, which is fine by me.”
She yawned. “That sounds good.”
“OK, I’ll let you get some sleep. Meeting in the lobby at seven tomorrow morning, so I should start heading in that direction too.”
“OK, love you honey.”
“Love you too. Talk to you tomorrow, and see you in five days!”
She smiled. “Five days! Night babe.”
“Night.” He hung up.
She put the phone on the nightstand and snuggled down into the covers. Five days, she thought as she drifted off to sleep with Dug by her side, and Sally purring softly on her pillow.
3
After he hung up the phone with Molly, Gary went about getting a shower. The hotel he was in was not as nice as some, but better than others. The bathroom was small, the kind you could just about shit, shower and shave in while standing in the same spot. That took its rating down a notch or two. But it was just for a night, and it seemed fairly clean.
He got out his UV wand and sanitized the bed before climbing in. He’d watched one of those specials about how dirty hotels were and was horrified. Molly had warned him not to watch it. She said what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, but it was like a train wreck, and once he’d started watching it he couldn’t stop. After that Gary had invested in a UV wand, and so had several of his friends when they were told about the horrors of the “organic substances” that could be found on a hotel comforter.
It took him forever to fall asleep, as it usually did when he was away from home. He missed his own bed. He missed feeling Dug at his feet. Most of all, though, he missed having Molly by his side. Even though Gary spent a lot of nights alone, he’d never gotten used to it.
He glanced at the clock and realized he only had a few hours left to get some sleep, and a long duty day ahead. So he redoubled his efforts and was soon dreaming about Molly.
He was back at home, standing at the front gate, looking at their house. It was a very cute little house. That is, cute as defined by Molly. She’d always wanted a house like this, and it suited the neighborhood they lived in. So, Gary had compromised with her. It wasn’t something he would’ve picked out, but the inside of it was immaculate, just like he wanted. It was the perfect blend of the two of them.
The outside was a sunny yellow color with white trim. It had a porch in the front with a white banister, and white shutters surrounded the windows. It also had a white picket fence that circled the entire yard. Molly wanted Dug to have as much space as possible to run around in, and that yard did the trick.
Gary approached the house and went inside. He scanned the living room for Molly or Dug, but didn’t find them. Dug always greeted Gary with such excitement when he came through the door – whether he’d been gone ten minutes or ten days. Where were they?
He crossed the dark hardwood floors to the kitchen and searched there. He found it just how he’d left it – dark granite countertops, cherry cabinetry, light stone floors, stainless steel appliances. But it seemed cold to him without Molly.
Gary went upstairs and rounded the corner, searching for his family. He padded softly to the master bedroom. Molly never closed the door when he was gone. She wanted the animals to be able to come and go as they pleased.
He found Molly curled up with Dug and Sally, indulging in an afternoon nap – one of his favorite things to do. It surprised him, because Molly didn’t nap. She said she always woke up more tired than when she lay down. But he didn’t question it in his dream. He simply slipped out of his pants and shirt and sidled up next to her.
She didn’t wake all the way up, but she stirred and snuggled into Gary’s chest as he spooned her. Dug didn’t even raise his head, and of course Sally didn’t acknowledge Gary at all.
He buried his face in Molly’s hair and breathed in her glorious scent. His life was perfect. He had his dream job, flying to exotic locations, he had a dream wife, who was always there when he got home, and he had a dream house. What more could a guy want?
Gary dreamed about Molly all night long. He dreamed about taking her to The Pizza Garden. He dreamed about dropping in on her classes one day. He dreamed about cleaning up the fish tank.
When he woke up in the morning, he realized he’d spent the entire night with her, and smiled. Gary often wondered how normal couples felt, getting to spend every night together. He was gone six months of the year, so their nights together were precious.
He glanced at the clock and saw that it wa
s only six-thirty. He opted not to text Molly yet, because he knew she wouldn’t be up. She liked to sleep as long as possible, and was occasionally grouchy if woken up.
He got dressed and went downstairs to see what the hotel had to offer in the way of breakfast. It wasn’t much: a bowl of apples and a variety of cereals – variety being a choice between Honey Nut Cheerios and Frosted Flakes – along with some hot coffee and run-of-the-mill creamers. It was enough, though. It was early, and Gary didn’t often like to eat breakfast. He knew it might be awhile before he had the opportunity to eat lunch, so he swiped an extra apple for the road.
While he ate, CNN played on the closest TV.
“Scientists warn of an apocalyptic solar flare that could destroy life on Earth as we know it.”
Gary choked on his cereal, laughing at the sensationalism coming from the television so early in the morning. The media was really getting out of control. They’d lived through Y2K, and even survived the end of the Mayan calendar. Much to the dismay of some of the more radical Christians, the end wasn’t in fact as near as the reporter would have them believe.
“Scientists say the flare could cause a catastrophic electromagnetic pulse that would shut down all electronics and electricity for anywhere between a few months and several years,” the anchorwoman proclaimed.
Gary spied the remote on the next table and retrieved it. He changed the channel while the anchorwoman was speculating about the outright chaos that would follow such an event. It was too early for that kind of propaganda, if you asked him. Gary switched the TV to something a little more palatable at seven in the morning. SpongeBob SquarePants fit the bill. Gary chuckled at the cartoon as he finished off his cereal and prepared to face the day.
The Captain came in just as Gary was finishing up. “Oh, hey Clint,” Gary said.
The Dead World (The Dead Room Trilogy Book 2) Page 17