by BWWM Club
Kizzy closed her eyes and slept like a baby.
Chapter 8
The bus ride went well, as well as such things could go. It was a tiring trip due to the fact that the vehicle was cramped and the air conditioner broke down for some time during the trip. However, once Kizzy got to where she was headed, her home town of Westfield, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
It had been so long since she had smelled the crisp, clean air of her home town. Living in Manhattan for so long had made her feel like the whole world had such dirty, smoke filled air. However, a single whiff of the crystal clear oxygen of her home town had made her feel like she was alive again.
Everything looked the same. It had been a year since she had stepped foot in this place, but everything still looked exactly the way it had when she had left this place, including her mother who had come to the bus terminal to pick her up.
“Mommy!” said Kizzy, reverting to a more childlike name for her mother as soon as she saw her. There was a very good reason for this. Westfield was where she had grown up. It was the city she had spent her entire childhood in. Being here made her feel like she was within the fantasy dream that her life as a kid had been once more, and she never wanted to leave again. Lucky for her, she had an entire month in which she could live that fantasy and pretend that it was real. She had an entire month before she would have to return to the real world once again.
Kendra hugged her daughter, and Kizzy lost herself in the delicious perfume her mother wore. Once again, she was immersed in the sensations of her youth, as her mother had been wearing the same perfume ever since she had been a little girl.
“My baby,” said Kendra, holding her daughter close. “Was the ride here okay? You look so tired.”
“I wasn’t able to get enough sleep last night,” said Kizzy, “but I’m fine otherwise. I mean, trips out of town always take a lot out of you, so I’m not surprised that I am tired. It’s okay, though. I’m home, and that’s all that matters.”
“Your father wanted to come to the bus terminal to pick you up as well,” said Kendra. “I had to force him to stay at home. I was starting to think that I might have to tie him to the bed to make sure that he didn’t force himself into the car with me!”
Kizzy laughed and said, “Poor Dad, he must be so frustrated about the fact that he can’t move around as much as he wants to.”
“You know your father,” said Kendra. “He needs to be up and about doing things and feeling useful otherwise he starts to go mad. He’ll be alright, though, all thanks to you.”
Kizzy felt a pang in her heart when her mother said this. The money that she was using to fund her father’s surgery was not money that she had earned herself. True, she had gotten it because she would be doing something in exchange, but that something did not feel like work to her, not to mention that it was the sort of thing that her parents would most certainly not approve of. She banished such thoughts from her head, however, because she knew that it would spoil her mood and she really wanted to be happy and peppy for her parents’ sake.
“Let’s go home,” said Kendra.
“Yes please,” said Kizzy.
They got into the car and spoke of many things as they traveled back to the quaint little cottage that her parents lived in. The houses in Westfield were very different from the houses in the city. Here in this small town, people lived in smaller dwellings if you compared them to the mansions you saw in the more expensive parts of the city. However, when you compared them to the tiny little apartments that normal people were forced to live in due to the insane rent that you were forced to pay, the houses here were palaces to say the least. Kizzy had missed the room and space that she had had in her childhood home when she moved into her first tiny studio apartment in Manhattan, and she was looking forward to having room to finally stretch her legs now that she was back.
When she got home, her father was so excited to see her that he came running outside.
“Dad!” said Kizzy. “Don’t run, it’s not good for your heart!”
“Oh to hell with that,” said James. “My baby girl is home and I’m excited. I didn’t want to waste a single second in that home while you were out here.”
He hugged Kizzy so hard that it seemed impossible that he was sick for a moment. How could anyone so strong be sick? It just didn’t seem possible. But sick he was, and the reality of his illness seemed to weigh down on Kizzy and make her feel like nothing would be okay.
“I love you Dad,” said Kizzy, softly. There seemed to be a primal passion flowing out from within her, the sort of love that a girl can only ever have for her father. It is often said that a woman that has a good father will find the qualities that she has seen in her primary male parental figure in the man that she eventually settles down with in life. This was definitely true for Kizzy. Her father was strong, bold and infinitely kind. These were qualities that she looked for in all of the men that she slept with or dated, even though the number of men that she had been involved with was not very high at all. In a way, it was because her father had set such high standards for her that she felt this way. No one seemed to measure up.
For some odd reason, though, she felt like Mike measured up. She was confused by this thought. Mike was strong and bold, to be sure, but she had never seen the sort of kindness that her father had gotten her used to in that man. Still, she felt like somewhere deep down he was a kind person, he had just never had the chance to show that kindness because of the life that he had lived. In the cutthroat world of business, kindness is often confused for weakness, so people in such circles rarely showed it.
“I love you my baby girl,” said James. “Are you hungry? I made something for you while your mother was at the bus terminal.”
Kizzy wrinkled her nose in annoyance but smiled as well in spite of herself. “You just couldn’t sit and relax could you? That was the whole reason Mom made you stay at home, if you are up and about cooking and doing god knows what else how are you ever going to keep your strength up?”
“I am fine,” said James. “My baby girl was coming home after so long, how can anyone expect me to just stay at home and do nothing at all? Come on in, I have pulled pork sandwiches waiting for you to gobble them up.”
“Mmm,” said Kizzy, remembering the taste of her father’s pulled pork sandwiches. It was his own special recipe and thinking about how delicious it was made Kizzy’s mouth water. She entered the house and followed the smell of food, leaving her luggage in the living room for the time being. There would be time to take all of her stuff up to her room later. For now, she was going to enjoy the company of her parents, the two most important people in her life.
“So,” said Kendra, ‘how is everything in the big city? How is work going?”
“It’s going great,” said Kizzy. “I am making so much progress, you won’t believe how good I am at my job.”
“We don’t have to think about it to believe it,” said James with a proud smile. “We know how much of a hard worker you are. And besides, you have gotten so many promotions in the three years you have been in the business, this is obviously happening because you have something to offer that other people do not. And getting that job assisting the man in the very top spot of the company! That must be something that no one else was able to do, that’s the only reason he could have possibly hired someone that doesn’t have all that much experience.”
Kizzy felt another twinge of unease at the mention of her new job. Mike was a part of her life in a way that her parents would never even think to fathom, and any thought of it made her feel like she was somehow lying or misleading her parents. She once again pushed this thought to the back of her head, however, and smiled.
“Yeah,” said Kizzy. “My boss is a very tough customer, he demands the very best from all of his employees. All of the people that were his assistants before me had over six years of experience. He hired me after a single interview, and from my very first day I have been able t
o satisfy his every need and make sure that he is able to go through his workday in the easiest way possible.”
“And after working for him for just over a week he agreed to give you a whole month off,” said Kendra. “From what you tell us about this man he is extremely demanding, and yet he gave you so much time off. It must be because you are so good at your job.”
“No doubt,” said James, the proud smile still firmly fixed upon his face. “We just know that you are going to go far in the world of business, baby. You have that fire in you, a fire that no one would ever be able to understand. We are so proud of you, you can’t even imagine.”
“Thanks you guys,” said Kizzy. “Hearing stuff like this from you really means a lot.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said James. “How are the sandwiches?”
“So damn good,” said Kizzy. “God, I missed your cooking Dad. And yours, Mom. In the city I work so much that I am never able to cook. I just end up getting takeout or something like that, and the food is good and cheap but it’s just not as good as the food that I used to eat over here.”
“That doesn’t sound very healthy,” said Kendra, a line of worry creasing her brow. “Are you sure you can’t cook? Maybe you can hire somebody now that you are earning more money.”
“No,” said Kizzy. “I mean, I might be able to hire someone for a short amount of time but I know that that would mean not saving as much as I do now. I really want to save up, Mom. I want to buy my own place, I want to buy a nicer car. I want to buy you guys a car too, how long are you going to keep that old Chevy going after all?”
“That old Chevy is going to last us the rest of our lives, girl,” said James with a good natured guffaw. “That’s the beauty of old cars, they are built to last a lifetime.”
“If you say so Dad,” said Kizzy, rolling her eyes.
“So how is everything else?” asked Kendra. “Are you seeing anyone? I know that your work is really important but you should put yourself out there too. Love is just as important as work. I’m sure you have friends, but apart from them you should have someone that’s there for you when we can’t be.”
Kizzy was silent for a moment. How could she tell her parents that she didn’t really have any friends? They assumed that she had a social life when there was nothing there. How could she find someone to be with when she never went out? Her work was everything for her, it was the only thing that gave her life meaning. She honestly was fine not having friends. She used to work ten or eleven hours a day, six days a week. On her single off day she would relax at home and watch a movie after cooking herself something nice, and that was the way she liked it.
Now that she was working for Mike, her workdays had started to exceed twelve hours on a regular basis and she honestly didn’t mind. She sometimes went out with her work buddies for a drink or two and that was all of the socialization that she needed. She knew that her parents wouldn’t understand, though, so she decided to pretend like their guess about her having an active social life was completely true.
“I’m not really looking for anyone right now, Mom,” said Kizzy. “Work keeps me so busy. I have friends and I enjoy myself with them, if I get myself a boyfriend it will end up becoming far too hectic for me to handle. Maybe later on when I am in a position of power and I can afford to have other people do my work for me so that I can enjoy myself I would end up getting a boyfriend, but for the moment I don’t think becoming romantically involved with anyone is the best move for me.”
“Whatever you think is right, honey,” said James.
“But Kizzy,” said Kendra, a look of genuine concern on her face. “People have needs. How do you expect to concentrate on your work when… you know… I mean doesn’t it get distracting when you haven’t done the deed in a while?”
“Mom!” said Kizzy. “Please stop commenting on my needs, that’s really inappropriate. Dad, tell her!”
James, however, was loudly laughing at his wife’s tactless inquiries into the state of Kizzy’s sex life.
“I can do just fine on my own,” said Kizzy, a smile that was half embarrassed and half mischievous crossing her face. “I don’t really need anything real when I have something that runs on batteries that gets the job done far better than any man could ever do. They’re all clueless anyway, what’s the point in wasting time with them?”
“I’m gonna have to agree with you there,” said Kendra, giving her husband a pointed look.
“Oh my God, that’s so gross,” said Kizzy. “Please, you guys, you need to stop.”
It was all in good fun, though. Kizzy’s parents had always been very open about sex and other such things because they knew that if they would not teach their own daughter she would end up learning these things from somewhere else, and most of these avenues of “learning” would not be very safe, and some would be downright dangerous.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a similar fashion. They didn’t discuss the surgery, for there would be time later to talk about such morbid things. For this first day that Kizzy was back home, she and her family chose to simply enjoy each other’s company and leave it at that. With everything that had happened over the past few months, everyone involved needed a break.
When the day was done, everyone headed up to their respective rooms. Once Kizzy took out her month’s worth of clothes and placed them in the closet, she laid down on her bed and sighed. She pulled out her phone to check it and saw that she had a couple of text messages. One of them was from a coworker who was wishing her luck with her father’s surgery coming up, and the other text was from Mike. He was asking her how she was and if she got home safe.
Kizzy smiled. He was concerned about her. It certainly made her feel good that such a handsome man, one that she was so compatible with, cared so much about her well being. She responded positively, telling him that she had gotten home very safely and that she had really enjoyed her day with her family. She got a response from him immediately and they started talking via text messages for a time.
And then, they decided to talk on a call. It was more convenient, they could talk more openly without having to interpret the vastly inferior shorthand of text messaging, and both of them really wanted to hear each other’s voices although they might not want to admit it.
“Hey,” said Kizzy when Mike called her.
“Hey there,” said Mike. “It’s really good to hear your voice. I missed you.”
Kizzy was taken aback. It was true that the two of them were close, even after he had asked her to do something like marry him so that he could sell his shares of the company off to his parents, and they craved each other’s company. However, something as direct as telling each other that they missed each other was… unexpected. She had not expected him to be so open about how he felt, but at the same time she was glad that this was the case. It made her feel better about her own feelings, like they were equally valid.
“I miss you too,” said Kizzy, emboldened by Mike’s directness.
“Work today was so difficult,” said Mike. “You were only with me for a week but I feel like you had been working for me for years. It’s so weird, I got used to you knowing just what I would need and when I would need it.”
“It’s okay,” said Kizzy with a laugh, “I’m really good at my job and I made sure that I would get you anything and everything that you needed before you even asked me for it, that’s my specialty. I know that you are going to manage somehow, you are good at making everything work out for you in the end.”
“It’s more than that, though,” said Mike. “I just miss having you around. The new assistant is fine, she is as good as anyone that’s not you possibly can be. But she’s not you in another way. She doesn’t brighten up my day or make me laugh, she doesn’t hear out any problems I’m having. And that made me realize something. You always heard me out and made me feel better, but did I ever do that for you? I highly doubt it, I am an extremely self obsessed person and I often don’t notice just how little I car
e about other people. It’s one of my biggest flaws and I’m working on it, but at the same time I feel like I don’t have it in me to do so. I hope that I can improve myself eventually. Can you help me?”
“You do listen to me,” said Kizzy. “Don’t sell yourself short. I mean, you do complain and talk about problems in your life and I do listen, but that’s just what friends do. And whenever it was my turn to talk about something that happened, you always listened too. I never felt like I was being a burden. You really need to start looking at yourself in a more positive light, you’re not as bad as all that. I mean you’re pretty bad, but I’ve seen worse.”
Mike laughed quite a bit at that. “That’s very good to hear. To know that you think so highly of me certainly does make me feel a lot better about myself.”
“Good,” said Kizzy. “You should feel good about yourself. You deserve to. Have you talked to Madeline?”
“I sent her flowers and gave her a call,” said Mike.
“That should do,” said Kizzy. “After all, you never wanted to marry her, you never even met her. She’ll be fine, don’t worry about that.”
“My parents really want to meet you, though,” said Mike. “I told them that you are usually busy and that you are going to need a month to finish one of your projects before you will be able to meet them properly.”
“I really appreciate that,” said Kizzy. “Thank you for giving me so much time.”
“Don’t be silly,” said Mike. “You are the one that’s doing me such a huge favor, you can take all the time you need.”
They spoke like this for a time. Kizzy talked about her father’s upcoming surgery and how worried she was and Mike listened like it was his own problems that were being discussed. They talked about other things as well, their likes and dislikes and passions and fears.