by Keeland, Vi
He yelled back. “The beef barley is all barley and not enough beef, if you ask me.”
Chicken dumpling it is.
While I heated two cans of soup, I finished straightening things in the kitchen and then set the table for two in the dining room. I buttered some white bread, like my mom used to do whenever she made me soup, and walked back to his chair.
“I hope you don’t mind joining me. I hate to eat alone.”
“Sure. Of course.”
I set him up at the table and then watched while he struggled. His hand was so shaky that the soup would splash off the spoon before he could bring it to his mouth.
“Would it be okay if…I helped you with that?”
His shoulders drooped, but he nodded.
We talked while I fed him.
“I haven’t seen that boyfriend of yours around in a while.”
“Warren? We split up about nine months ago.”
“Was that your doing?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it was.”
“Good. His shoes were too damn shiny.”
I laughed. “And that’s a bad thing? Having shiny shoes?”
“Don’t get me wrong. I liked to clean up for my Mary Jean every now and again, and that meant busting out the polish until I could see my ugly face in a wingtip. But the shoes on that man of yours sparkled every damn day. It ain’t normal for a man to not have a few scuff marks every once in a while.”
Warren definitely cared too much about his appearance. I’d never noticed, but I guess that did run from the top of his impeccably groomed hair to the shine of his shoes. I smiled. “He also used more hair products than me.”
Mr. Hanks shook his head. “These men today, they’re too soft. Is that why you dumped Shiny Shoes? He took longer than you to get all dolled up?”
I thought about making up something, like I did for almost everyone who asked what happened to my four-year relationship, but then I decided to be honest. “I went through a rough time, and he wasn’t really there for me. So I told him I needed a break to deal with some personal stuff I was going through. For the last year of our relationship, I’d suspected that he might be having an affair with his assistant. Two weeks after I asked for the break, I ran into him unexpectedly on the street. He was holding hands with his assistant. Needless to say, our break turned into a permanent separation.”
Mr. Hanks looked at me funny. “You suspected he was stepping out on you for a year and never said anything?”
I sighed. “Yeah. It’s funny, after the thing ended, I asked myself why I never called him out on it. I think the truth was, I didn’t really want the answer because down deep I knew it already. To be honest, neither of us loved each other the way we should’ve to spend four years together.”
“So why didn’t you kick him to the curb sooner?”
I spooned Mr. Hanks the last bit of noodles from the soup and sighed. “I think I just had my priorities wrong. Warren comes from a nice family. He’s well educated and was very generous to me. My life with him would have just been… easy.”
“My wife used to have a saying, what comes easy won’t last.”
I smiled. “Your wife sounded like a smart lady.” Mr. Hanks hadn’t even noticed that I’d fed him both his full bowl of soup and mine. I stood with the empty bowls in my hand and winked. “And something tells me that she was talking about you when she repeated that saying.”
I wound up hanging out with Mr. Hanks for three more hours. He told me story after story about his Mary Jean. Clearly she’d been the love of his life, and the five years since her death hadn’t dulled how much he missed her. Avril had lit my cell on fire texting to ask where I was, and she wasn’t happy when I responded hours later that I’d decided not to come because I developed a headache. But it was easier to tell a little white lie than to explain I’d been enjoying hanging out with my eighty-year-old neighbor more than I thought I’d enjoy her party.
When Mr. Hanks yawned, I took that as a signal that it was time to go. I grabbed my coat. “Would you like me to wheel you into the bedroom?”
He shook his head. “I’m a little rusty, but if you’re trying to make a pass at me, I’m afraid you’re a little too young.”
I laughed. “You sure, you’re okay?”
“I am.” He smiled. “I’m good, sweetheart. And thanks for tonight. Especially the soup.”
I ended up checking in on Mr. Hanks at least once a day after that. We’d become good friends fast.
And now it was Christmas Eve. I planned to stop over and see him with a pie I’d baked from one of my mom’s old recipes. I’d hang out with him for a bit and then leave to head to a family party in New Jersey.
With my pumpkin pie in hand, I knocked on Mr. Hanks’s door. Expecting that he was probably wheeling himself to greet me on the other side, I had a big smile on my face in anticipation of the reaction he’d have when he saw me standing here with this delicious-smelling pie.
But when the door opened, it wasn’t Mr. Hanks who answered. It was…him.
Him!
The gorgeous, not-homeless man who’d given me the bag of dicks. Except tonight he wasn’t dressed in a flannel work shirt and ripped jeans. He wore a blue fitted dress shirt and black trousers. He smelled like musky heaven, too.
He grinned mischievously. “You...”
“You,” I repeated, then looked beyond his broad shoulders. “Where is Mr. Hanks?”
“He’s just in the bathroom.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Before the guy could answer me, we were interrupted by the sight of Mr. Hanks cruising toward us.
He smiled. “I see you’ve met my son, Mason!”
Mason
I still had no idea what she was doing in my father’s apartment with a pie. They apparently know each other?
“This is my good friend, Piper,” he said.
“Good friend? You never mentioned her to me.”
“Sure I did! She’s the one who comes over and has soup with me.”
I nodded. “Ah, alright. You never said her name.”
Dad smirked. “You weren’t expecting her to be such a looker? Your old man can hang with the best of ’em, you know.”
Piper blushed and set her pie down on the counter. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a dress that was the color of cinnamon. Piper looked even more beautiful than the several times I’d fantasized about her since our first meeting. Each and every fantasy would end with us angry fucking. I never thought I’d actually see her again. I knew she lived here, but everyone generally kept to themselves.
My father wheeled himself over to the counter. “You brought your mom’s pumpkin pie.”
“You remembered.” She smiled. “It sure is.”
He rubbed his stomach. “I can’t wait to try it.”
It was like my elderly father had been living a double life that included hanging out with hot women who brought him food. And here I was feeling bad for him most days.
She flashed me a taunting look. “Mason and I have actually met before, Mr. Hanks.”
Shit. Here we go.
Dad turned to me. “No kidding? When?”
My body went rigid, and I said nothing as I braced for her explanation. I hoped she didn’t throw me under the bus and tell my father what an ass I acted like that day.
“Yeah. He was outside the building one afternoon. We got to talking, didn’t we, Mason?”
“Yes, we did.” I grinned. “Piper actually shared her lunch with me. Is that how the story went?”
“Something like that. You were extremely charming from what I remember.”
“I remember you being charming as well,” I teased.
She turned to Dad. “And to thank me for sharing lunch with him, your son left me a nice thank you gift at my apartment door later that day—which, by the way, I’ve gotten a ton of use out of.” Piper winked.
Fuck. Me.
She didn’t just say that.
My pants
suddenly felt tighter.
I cleared my throat. “Good to know. I figured you might need something like that. You seemed a little wound up.”
“Indeed, I was that day.” She looked down at my father. “You’ve raised an amazingly polite and thoughtful son, Mr. Hanks. You should be very proud.”
My dad chuckled. “Well, whattya know. And here I was thinking he was a bit of a dick.”
Piper burst into laughter, and I followed suit. Her eyes twinkled with mischief. I was grateful that she hadn’t ratted me out. Truthfully, I’d regretted my knee-jerk reaction that day. The little gift I’d left her was my attempt at an apology, although it might not have come across that way. It pleased me that she was joking about it.
“Are you spending Christmas Eve here with your dad?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s just the two of us, and he refuses to come to my place. So, I brought in some food from Bianco’s. You know that restaurant?”
She nodded. “Great Italian food.”
“It’s in the oven. I just need to heat it up.”
“Will you stay and have something to eat, Piper?” my dad asked.
Piper looked hesitant. “I probably shouldn’t. I’m supposed to be eating with my family in Jersey.”
The look of disappointment on my dad’s face was obvious. She caught it and so did I. Then Piper immediately changed her tune.
“But you know...” she said. “Bianco’s is really too good to pass up. My stomach is growling. So, maybe I can have a little appetizer with you guys?”
“That would be wonderful. And then stay for a piece of your mom’s pie before you hit the road.”
Dad fiddled with the joystick on the arm of his chair and maneuvered to the table.
She followed him and turned around to flash me a smile. I smiled back.
So much for an uneventful dinner.
Having Piper here made me tense and excited at the same time. It was an odd mix. I was still pretty baffled that she was the same friend Dad had been raving about for the past several days. Her keeping him company made me realize that she really was a genuinely good person. It hadn’t been an act.
During dinner, Piper and I snuck glances at each other. I knew there was probably so much she wanted to say to me, that she couldn’t in front of my father. Perhaps some of those things contained expletives.
Piper chewed on her seafood lasagna and asked, “So, what do you do, Mason?”
I took a sip of my wine to ponder how I wanted to answer that and finally said, “I’m an entrepreneur.”
My father was just about to open his big mouth when I diverted the conversation before he could start to tell her more about me.
Snapping my fingers, I said, “Hey, Dad. Did you tell Piper about your surgery?”
A look of concern crossed her face. “What surgery?”
My father downplayed it. “No big deal. Just gonna finally get my hip replaced. Been needing to for a long time, and I’m stuck in this chair until my leg gets stronger anyway.”
“Oh wow. When?”
“Next month.”
I broke apart a piece of bread. “I’ve been trying to convince him to let me move him in with me for a while, but he won’t budge.”
“I’m most comfortable in my apartment. It’s simple, and I know where everything is.”
She sighed. “Well, depending on how you feel, Mr. Hanks, it might be better to be where your son can look after you at night for a little while.”
My eyes locked with hers when I said, “Thank you. I agree.”
Well, that was a win. I’d somehow diverted the topic of my job and got Piper on my side when it came to my father’s post-op situation to boot.
After dinner, I poured some more wine for us as we devoured the pumpkin pie Piper had brought. True to form, after any amount of alcohol, my father literally conked out in his seat. His head bent back and he began to snore.
“Is he okay?” she asked.
“You do hear that, right? He’s more than breathing. He’s fine. It’s what he does when he has the slightest amount of alcohol.”
“Okay. Well, you would know.”
I took her empty pie plate over to the counter. “Can I cut you another slice?”
She held out her hand. “No. I’m done. Thank you.”
“The pie was delicious. Thank your mother for the recipe.”
Piper looked a little sad. “Oh...I wish I could. My mom is dead.”
Great. Good one, Mason.
“I’m sorry. I feel like an ass now.”
“Well, an ass would be your norm, wouldn’t it?” She winked.
I exhaled and stared at her in silence for a few moments. “I probably deserve that.” Returning to the table, I pulled out my chair and sat down. “How long has your mother been gone?”
“She died a decade ago of uterine cancer.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ve always been more diligent about my own health as a result. A year ago, I was actually diagnosed with an early stage of the same type of cancer.” She swallowed. “Because it was detected early, I was able to get it taken care of. But unfortunately, that means I can’t have kids.”
Her admission knocked the wind out of me. That was some pretty heavy stuff to tell a virtual stranger. And I felt awful that she had been through that. But I commended her for being so candid. What do I even say?
“I’m glad to hear you’ll be okay.”
“When you experience a health scare like that, it changes your entire outlook. At least for me it did. It’s why I’ve tried to do good for people, why I switched from a corporate job to interior design, which is my passion. I’m still trying to get on my feet in that arena…but I’m getting there. So, a lot of good came from my diagnosis, too.”
I felt like a million unsaid words were choking me. I really needed to somehow explain my actions that first day. I’d really wanted to address it from the moment she walked in the door, but there hadn’t been an appropriate time until now. Not to mention, she’d just opened up to me in a pretty big way. I could do the same.
“Piper…I need to apologize to you for my behavior that day. I honestly don’t know what came over me.”
“You don’t have to—”
“No. I need to. Hear me out.”
She nodded and let me speak.
“I’d been visiting dad, trying to get his sink to stop leaking—because I hate hiring anyone for something I can do myself. It’s not about the money. It’s just the way I’ve always been. I’d just gotten some bad news about a work-related issue and had gone outside for a breather and a cigarette. I shouldn’t have been smoking, because I’d quit.”
I continued, “Anyway, when you came over to me, I wasn’t in my right mind. I immediately put a label on you that wasn’t even correct. When you assumed I was homeless, in that moment, it was like I’d gone back in time for a second. You’d turned into every stuck-up rich kid in school who’d ever teased me growing up for coming in with ripped clothing. I came from the opposite side of the tracks, and I guess a part of me must still feel self-conscious about people’s perceptions of me. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a self-made success story now or not, that shit sticks with you. And unfortunately, Piper, you got caught up in my knee-jerk reaction. I’m very sorry.”
She smiled. “So…once you realized you were in the wrong, how did buying me a bag of dildos become the next logical step?”
“Fair question. Believe it or not, that was my attempt at an apology.”
She bent her head back in laughter. “I don’t know... saying ‘I’m sorry for overreacting’ might have worked just as well?”
“That wouldn’t have been as fun to execute.” I laughed. “It was my mother who actually taught me that humor was a cure-all for most things. That was my attempt at honoring her.”
“With a bag of dicks…”
I shrugged. “I suppose.”
She let out a deep sigh. “Well, apology accepted.”
My eyes stayed fixed on her smile. She had a beautiful smile, so comforting. Now wonder Dad liked her so much.
“Thank you for keeping my father company. I can’t be here all of the time. It’s nice to know he has good people around looking out for him.”
“Honestly, your father has given me a lot of practical advice. I’m just as lucky to have him.”
“Oh yeah? What kind of advice has the old geezer given you?”
“Just advice on life…men...”
I cackled. “You’re listening to dating advice from an eighty-year-old man?”
“He’s very wise. I recently ended a long-term relationship that wasn’t right for me. Your father pointed out something that I hadn’t even noticed, that Warren’s shoes were always perfectly shiny.”
“What was the significance of that?” I asked.
“In retrospect, there was a lot about that relationship that wasn’t right for me. If I’d noticed the shiny shoes earlier, maybe it would’ve tipped me off to the fact that Warren was very self-centered and materialistic and wouldn’t have been the right person for me. Your dad is very perceptive. He’s shared a lot of stories about his relationship with your mom, too. Just really precious stuff.”
That made me smile. Thinking about my parents’ love for each other always did. It was rare, and I’d honestly given up on ever finding that myself in this lifetime.
I wanted to know more about Piper.
“So, you said you’re an interior designer...but that wasn’t always your career?”
“No, I was a business analyst. I’d gone to school for business. But after my health scare, I decided it was time to do something I was passionate about. So I started attending interior design school at night and put all of my resources into a new business. I eventually left my old career. I have a couple of design clients who keep me afloat, but I’m still growing.”
“Good for you. Not many people have the balls to take the bull by the horns like that.”
She tilted her head. “What is it exactly that you do?”
Ugh.