Clean Slate

by Heidi Champa

  “Ah, so we meet again,” he said, his voice like warm honey.

  “Yeah. I don’t mean to bother you, but Kelsey’s been in here awhile and I’m supposed to be getting her home for dinner.”

  He motioned me inside and shut the door behind me.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve called up there three times, but they keep putting me off.”

  “It’s fine. I thought maybe coming in would hurry them along. I’m not interrupting dinner or anything, am I?”

  I scanned the hall, looking for signs of a wife or any clue as to who Sam was. But there was nothing telling, just some nice, if slightly boring, art.

  “Nope. I haven’t even started on dinner yet. I’m a little behind schedule tonight. It’s Wes, right?”

  “Right.”

  He yelled up the stairs as I continued to survey the inside of the house. It was nice but lived-in. Not at all the museum I was expecting from the outside. He loosened his tie as he walked past me, heading toward the kitchen.

  “You thirsty, man? How about a soda?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  I followed him and stood by the counter, admiring his side-by-side refrigerator. It was the same one Nick had. Sam handed me a cola and smiled. His eyes swept over me again, and I tried not to care that, at the moment, I was a living version of Pigpen from the Peanuts cartoons.

  “You look like you’ve had a busy day today, Wes,” he said with no judgment in his voice.

  I glanced down at my filthy shirt and wished I’d taken the time to change. I hadn’t thought I’d be getting out of the car even though I’d secretly hoped to see Sam again. My decision to help Daniel wasn’t totally altruistic, after all. A little more eye candy seemed in order, after the few days I’d had.

  “Yeah. I’m helping Daniel and Tina clean out their garage and basement.”

  “Lucky you.”

  He drank more soda, and I took in his body while his eyes weren’t focused on me. The silence stretched out between us for a moment too long, and I brought myself back to reality to answer him.

  “It’s okay. It’s what I do.”

  He looked confused as he sipped, but I found my eyes focused on his lips curled around the rim of the can. Shaking more dirty thoughts out of my head, I decided to explain.

  “I’m a professional organizer. Being really dirty is just part of the job,” I said quickly.

  Sam raised his eyebrows and laughed, his cheeks tinting pink. I cringed at my words, the double meaning escaping me until I heard them out loud. They didn’t sound so bad in my head, but then again, I was hardly thinking straight. I hadn’t intended for them to come out provocative and tried to do a bit of damage control.

  “I just mean, you know, most people’s basements and garages are pretty dirty.”

  “Right,” he said, his eyes glinting as he grinned, setting his soda down on the counter. “Maybe I should hire you. Lord knows, I could use the help. And I promise you won’t have to get that dirty. Although, my garage isn’t the best.”

  I smiled at his polite offer. It was something I heard all the time when people found out what I did. But, much like the Jocelyn woman I’d met earlier, I was sure nothing would come of it.

  “Well, let me know. My rates are very reasonable,” I said, my words once again containing an unintended edge. It was like I couldn’t help but flirt, even though I knew it was the last thing on earth I should do. My face burned and I drank some soda to keep myself quiet. Sam chuckled and put his hands in his pockets.

  “In that case, you should definitely give me your number.”

  I reached for my wallet instinctively but stopped when I remembered the only cards I had in there were for my old job with Nick. I hesitated and tried to recover.

  “I’m out of cards at the moment. But if you’re serious, I can give you my cell number.”

  “Oh, I’m serious,” he said.

  This time, it was his words that seemed to drip with subtext, his eyes burning into me, my whole body registering the appraisal. Chalking it up to my overactive imagination, I tried to stay professional.

  “Okay, great.”

  We stood looking at each other for a long moment before he smiled.

  “I’ll get a pen.”

  Sam laughed, the sound of it taking my breath away. I looked down at my soda to distract myself with it, drinking the rest of it in one go. He took a step toward the kitchen before a rumble upstairs made him stop.

  “You know, I should see what’s keeping Kelsey. I don’t want to hold you up.”

  “Right,” I said, even though I couldn’t have cared less about being stuck there at the moment.

  He jogged up the steps, and I heard muffled voices coming through the floor. The faint music stopped, and a door slammed closed. Sam returned, the girls trailing behind him. I set the empty soda can by the sink.

  “Sorry for the delay. When these two get together, they form some sort of time-stealing vortex,” Sam said with a smile.

  “No problem. Thanks for the soda.”

  “Did you leave your phone number?” he asked. I looked at him, getting lost in his eyes for a long moment, until his next sentence brought me down to earth. “My basement really needs help.”

  I shoved my hands in my pockets, not knowing what else to do.

  “Um… I still need that pen.”

  “Right. Sorry, I got sidetracked with the girls. See what I mean?”

  Sam dug in his pocket and passed me a pen and a card.

  “Here, put your number on here,” he said.

  I scrawled down my cell number and handed it back to him. Maya leaned over and whispered in Kelsey’s ear, and they filled the silence with their laughter. They said their good-byes, and we headed toward the door.

  “Well, good night,” I said, trying to sound casual.

  “Good night. I’ll be in touch about the basement.”

  “Great.”

  I shuffled Kelsey outside, gave Sam a stiff wave, and practically jogged to the car. Once we were on the road, I turned to Kelsey.

  “So what was taking so long up there?”

  “Nothing,” she said, her eyes on her phone.

  “Did you get what you needed?”

  She looked confused, her phone beeping in her hand.

  “What?”

  “You went in there because Maya had something for you.”

  Her face slowly went from confused to normal, and I got the distinct impression that something was up.

  “Oh, right. It wasn’t important,” she said with a shrug.

  I wound through town back to Daniel’s, letting her obvious lie drop for the moment. She laughed at something on her phone and tapped her feet. I was surprised when she spoke to me again.

  “So, did you and Mr. Montgomery talk?” she asked, her voice dripping with sweetness. It unnerved me.

  “Yeah, for a minute,” I said, trying to sound noncommittal.

  “Cool. He’s, like, a nice guy.”

  I shrugged, acting as if I couldn’t care less. But there was one thing I was dying to know.

  “Seems like it. Is Maya’s mom in the picture or are they divorced?”

  I pulled up to a stoplight, and Kelsey glared at me.

  “Um, seriously, U Dub?”

  “What? I was just asking.”

  She rolled her eyes so hard, I feared she might hurt herself. Her thumbs danced over her phone screen before she replied.

  “Hello? He’s gay.”

  I barely noticed the light turn green, and my foot slipped off the pedal when I tried to accelerate. It was the last thing I expected her to say. I hadn’t even considered the possibility. I kept my voice calm and even when I spoke.

  “Oh. I didn’t realize.”

  “I thought all you guys had gaydar. It’s pretty obvi. I can’t believe you didn’t know.”

  Sam was gay. I could barely breathe, let alone process what she was saying. It was the last thing I thought she’d say.

  “I guess I
wasn’t expecting it. I mean, this is suburbia,” I said, my mind racing with the possibilities. The highly unlikely, and most likely fictional, possibilities. At least I wouldn’t be fantasizing about a straight guy after all.

  “Please. There are tons of kids at my school with two moms or two dads,” she said defiantly.

  I turned into the driveway and sat back in my seat. Now I knew she was lying.

  “Tons?”

  She sighed loudly and texted again before answering me.

  “Fine. Maybe not tons. But, like, a few. You know what I mean.”

  I couldn’t help but smile, her taste for hyperbole reminding me so much of myself at that age.

  “Well, sorry I didn’t know Maya’s dad was gay.”

  We got out of the car and strolled to the house.

  “He asked about you today,” she said casually.

  I nearly stopped dead in my tracks but recovered with just a small stumble. Taking a deep breath, I kept my voice even.

  “Who?”

  “Mr. Montgomery. Maya told me he asked about you when he called her this afternoon.”

  I knew I should ignore her comment and move on, but I couldn’t.

  “What did he ask?”

  “I don’t know. Basic stuff like how old you were and why you were here.”

  Harmless enough, and nothing that indicated anything more than an interest in someone who would be near his daughter.

  “Oh. What did she tell him?”

  “That you were twenty-eight and that your ex-boyfriend kicked you out after you broke up.”

  My stomach clenched, the thought of Sam hearing the real details of my life making me nauseous. Not that it mattered, really, but I didn’t want everyone in town knowing just how pathetic I was so soon. Better they find out months down the road, when I’d gotten things back on track and was on my way out of town.

  “She said that?”

  “Yup. Is that not okay? I mean, it’s the truth,” Kelsey said.

  I sighed and shook my head, trying to follow her teenage logic.

  “It’s fine. Not exactly the most flattering fact, but it’s no big deal. What else did he ask?”

  “Don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention. I was texting with Jonah and Jessica. She is such a drama queen, you would not believe.”

  Kelsey started rolling on about the high school antics of her so-called friends, and once we got into the kitchen, Tina and Daniel shuffled her to the dinner table before I could get a word in.

  “Dude, go change. You look disgusting. And wash your hands before you sit down,” Daniel said.

  I stared at Daniel, his hands full of bowls of spaghetti and garlic bread.

  “Okay, Dad. I will.”

  “Save it, Wes.”

  “Okay. Now, that’s really eerie. You said that just like Dad did. I mean, a spot-on imitation.”

  “If my hands weren’t full, I’d punch you so hard right now.”

  “Man, that is so creepy. Is it just a thing you pick up when you become a dad, or do you practice that?” I asked. I missed being able to bust Daniel’s balls. It had been far too long since we’d spent any time together.

  “Go wash up, you unemployed bum!”

  “Fine. I’m going,” I relented.

  Kelsey was giggling as I walked to the bathroom. I made myself presentable and returned to the table. After filling my plate, Daniel cleared his throat and looked at Kelsey.

  “So, Kels, how was school today?” he asked.

  She shrugged, twirling the pasta around her fork but not picking it up to eat it.

  “That’s not an answer,” he sighed.

  “It was boring. Nothing happened,” she whined.

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  “Well, it’s true,” she said, before shoving food in her mouth to get out of saying more.

  Silence returned until Tina piped up.

  “So, Wes, I guess you were busy today. The garage looks great.”

  “Thanks. Glad to be of service. Not that the two of you make it easy. You have so much stuff.”

  Daniel shot me a dirty look, but Tina jumped in before he could berate me anymore.

  “And I also got a call from Jocelyn from down the street. She said she wants to hire you?” she asked, grinning.

  I was caught midchew, all eyes at the table on me. I swallowed and wiped my mouth.

  “Right. That. She walked by when I was cleaning. We got to talking, and she mentioned a few projects she might need help with.”

  Daniel and Tina laughed while Kelsey snuck her phone into her lap to read a text.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “Nothing. Jocelyn is a trip. I’m sure you’ll have fun with that,” Tina said.

  “You know, this is a great idea, Wes. You could really clean up around here, no pun intended,” Daniel said.

  I looked at Kelsey, and we both rolled our eyes at my brother’s attempt at humor. But his words intrigued me.

  “What do you mean, man?”

  “I mean, there are tons of people around here who would hire you to clean out their houses. And if Jocelyn is happy with what you do, she’ll tell literally everyone. You might actually be able to move out before the summer,” Daniel said, and I could see the wheels in his mind already turning.

  He smirked at me before taking a bite of bread.

  “Very funny, big brother. I’ve been here two days, and you’re already keen to get rid of me? After all I’ve done for you.”

  Tina put her hand on Daniel’s and jumped in.

  “We’re happy to have you. But this really could be something good for you. You could start your own company.”

  I considered what she said but quickly shook it off.

  “I have no idea how to do that. I’m really a glorified cleaner. I don’t know anything about business. That was Nick’s area.”

  Just saying Nick’s name made me hate myself a little bit more. Daniel smiled and set his fork down, bringing me back to the conversation.

  “That, my dear brother, is what you have Tina and me for. We can help you with all that stuff,” Daniel said, as if it was nothing.

  “This all sounds good, but I think we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves,” I said, trying to downplay their growing excitement.

  Daniel put his hands up in mock surrender.

  “Fine. Just think about it. Jocelyn left the information about what she wants done and her number. Do with that what you will.”

  After dinner and my second shower of the day, I retired to my dungeon. I was watching a crappy old movie and pretending not to look at the message Jocelyn left when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number. I thought of not answering, but boredom led me to take a chance.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, is this Wes?”

  I’d only heard Sam’s voice a few times, but I immediately knew it was him.

  “Uh, yeah. Is this Sam?”

  “Yup. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  “No, not at all,” I said, muting the television.

  “Great. I was hoping we could talk,” he replied.

  I reached for a piece of paper so I could write down the details for his cleaning job and tried to ignore the flash of his perfect lips that went through my mind as I scribbled a few circles to make sure my pen worked.

  “Sure. What’s up?” I cleared my throat.

  There was a moment of hesitation and I waited—and wondered, just for a split second, if Sam was calling for some other reason. That tiny ember was doused quickly by his words.

  “I’m, well, I was actually calling to let you know that Kelsey left her cardigan here. I’ll send it with Maya in the morning. I just didn’t want her to worry about it,” he said, his voice smooth and soothing.

  My moment of delirium cleared quickly as the banality of his words sunk in. I smiled and reminded myself that not everyone thought like me. Not everyone wanted to bang every cute guy they came across. Weird,
but true.

  “Oh, okay. I don’t even think she noticed. She’s a little scattered like that sometimes.”

  He laughed and the line crackled with static.

  “Maya’s the same.”

  “Well, thanks for that. I’ll tell her,” I said, ready to hang up.

  “Great. Great.”

  I expected silence, but I could still hear him breathing. I was ready to cut the conversation off, but he kept going.

  “So, Maya says you’re staying with Daniel and Tina for a while. That you used to live in the city.” The interest was evident in his voice.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and finger, not wanting to reinforce what Maya had already told him. I thought for a moment I could spin it all so I wouldn’t sound so pathetic, but there seemed little chance of that.

  “Yeah. I, uh, I had been dating someone, and we broke up. It was his place, so I needed to leave in a hurry. Daniel stepped up to help.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear about the breakup,” Sam said.

  “Don’t be. It was well past time he and I parted ways.”

  There was quiet on the line before Sam cleared his throat and went on.

  “Still, though. It’s always tough when things end. Not that I would know, really. I haven’t dated in a while.”

  I pictured him, his gorgeous eyes and smile, trying to imagine no one wanting to date a guy like that. I was surprised he wasn’t de facto married with a surrogate baby on the way. He seemed the type. Mature and grown up, all settled down with his family.

  “Ugh, I envy you. It’s no picnic out there, believe me. You should consider yourself lucky to be avoiding the madness,” I said, trying to make him feel better.