Hayden's Timbre

by Thia Finn

  The only thing I could find fault in was his bossiness. He liked to tell me what to do. I’d lived on my own a long time and didn’t answer to anyone. It might be hot in the bedroom, but any other time, I didn’t know if I could take it. Besides, we floated in two different circles in life. I had a plan, and so did he. Those didn’t exactly mesh.

  “Okay, what about Superman vs. Batman?”

  “That’s great. I wanted to see this one.” I didn’t have money to waste going to movies when it came out.

  Crew looked at me. “You’ve never seen this? I can’t believe it. It’s a classic. Don’t you like superheroes?”

  “I love superhero movies, but I was too busy to see them.”

  “I’m never too busy to see one. My dad and I went like five times to see it. We love ‘em. What about X-men? We freaking love those. We own them all.”

  “Yeah, I like X-Men, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen one.”

  “What?” This time he pushed me. “You stick with me… we’ll see ‘em all.”

  I laughed out loud. The charm Crew oozed mimicked his dad’s in so many ways. “Okay, let’s see what you got.”

  He started the movie and just like a kid talked through most of it. He wanted to tell me every scene from his perspective. I was okay with it, though. I felt like it was a great way to get to know him. We could be friends, and it might be a good way for me to repay Hayden. I could get onboard with hanging out while Hayden had a life.

  I woke up when I heard the set door alarm go off. Hayden stood at the panel disengaging it. I glanced at the big wall clock to see it was 1:00 a.m. Eww, late night. I hoped he’d had fun, but when he turned and looked at me, all I saw was exhaustion.

  I stood and walked to him. “You look worn out.”

  “Yeah, it was a long night. We were the headliner band and didn’t go on until late.”

  “How’d it go?”

  “Good. They have a great sound, and their fan base is getting huge.”

  “Is this a band you’d like to join?”

  “Hell no. I don’t want to do the road thing ever again. I like being home, sleeping in my own bed.” He looked over to the couch to see Crew soundly sleeping. We’d both fallen asleep under the blanket on each end of the oversized, soft leather couch.

  “Looks like he’s sleeping pretty hard. Did everything go okay?”

  “Went fine. He’s a great kid. A lot like his dad.” I raised my eyebrows.

  “Oh, yeah. Did he try to put the moves on you?”

  I had to laugh at that. “Uh, no. More like he tried to help your love life along. Explained to me how much you needed a girlfriend at one point in the evening. He even told me he’d thought about setting you up on an online dating site. I told him that you wouldn’t like that at all and he agreed. He said after he got it all written up, he deleted it.”

  “He did, did he? I hope you told him I could take care of that all on my own, and I sure don’t want on any of those online things.” He wrapped his arm around my waist pulling me up to him.

  “Hayden,” I whispered, glancing over my shoulder. “He might wake up.”

  “At least he’d know you were spoken for.” He kissed me breathlessly.

  I looked hard at him when he let me go. “Oh, I’m not sure of that.”

  “I am.” He kissed me again moving his hands down to cup my ass and pull me into him, his hard erection pressing into me. I backed up when he started kissing across my jawline to my ear.

  “No, we better not get that started. Do you want me to get an Uber home?”

  Those damn eyes were smoldering with the gold streaks. “I actually could walk. They don’t live that far, and it’s a gated community so it should be safe.”

  “Have you lost your damn mind?” He said it loud causing Crew to sit up and look over at us. I was thankful I’d stepped back already.

  “What’s the matter, Pops? She turn you down?”

  Hayden turned and glared at his son, and Crew immediately knew he’d better not follow up that statement. “First off, that’s none of your business. Were you eavesdropping on a private conversation because you know that’s rude? We’ll talk about this tomorrow. Get in your bed. I’m going to run her home.”

  “Are you going to be gone long?” Crew asked as he stood not knowing I lived at Ryan and Peri’s.

  “No, son. I won’t. She’s living in the pool house at Peri’s.”

  “Oh, nice. I’ll see ya later, Timbre. Thanks for hanging out with me.” He headed up the stairs.

  “That was close, Hayden. I don’t think we can keep doing this. He’ll find out fast. You’re right about him being intuitive. He asked me first thing if we were dating.”

  “What’d you tell him?”

  “I said no, that we worked together.”

  “That’s what I told him, too. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. He’s not going to be flippant to you or me. I’m his dad, not his best buddy. I don’t share my love life with my kid.”

  “Right. You’re right to talk to him. He might get confused about us if he heard much tonight.” I picked up my purse from the island and slipped my hoodie back on ready to leave.

  Hayden let out a long sigh.

  “If you’re too tired, like I said, I can walk. I don’t mind. It’s not very cold out there at all.” I stopped before I opened the door. He came to me and picked up my hand.

  “You’ll never walk home in the dark, Timbre, and maybe not in the daylight. I don’t care if there is a gate. I just wish you could stay. I’d like you here with me.”

  So that was the reason for the sigh. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hayden.” He wrapped around me hugging me close to his body with his head resting on the top of mine.

  “I guess you’re right.”

  Was I happy or disappointed he gave in so easily?

  He let go but took my hand walking out the door.

  The night seemed to go on forever. With only a brief kiss at her door, I left Timbre at the pool house. If I kissed her like I’d wanted to, I might still be lying in her bed. I knew I’d never leave Crew like that, though. This arrangement became more complicated every single day. I liked Timbre, a lot, but she didn’t seem like she wanted to pursue a relationship other than the great sex we had had.

  The sex was hot, and I knew from our times together that we had some excellent chemistry between us, but that’s not all I wanted. It’s been so long since I’d had a real relationship with a beautiful woman, maybe I’d forgotten how.

  I wanted someone I could trust, someone who could be happy with Crew and me, someone who would fit in with us. I needed to talk to Crew about a lot of things today, like his little comment, but I wanted to feel him out about me having a relationship. I’d put him first for such a long time, how would he take me having someone I loved as much as him.

  Could I see myself in love with Timbre? I didn’t want Crew to get used to her and then us not make it. If she wasn’t feeling it, then maybe we needed to back away now. I’d helped her all I could. It would take no time at all for her to be on her own two feet. She could live at the Powell’s, and I might never see her.

  So much to think through. Love shouldn’t be complicated, but it seemed like my life always had complications.

  “Pops, you awake in there?” I rolled over and looked at the clock. Eleven already? Damn, I had to get up.

  “Yeah, you can come in, you know.” Weird, him talking through the door.

  He opened it slowly and looked around. “What are you doing, kid?”

  “Oh, you’re alone.”

  “Hell, yeah, I’m alone. What’d you think?”

  “Pops, she’s pretty. Why didn’t you ask her to stay?”

  I sat up and hung my head down. Not the way I wanted to start my day.

  “Crew, come here, kid.” I patted the bed next to me.

  “I’m sorry about what I said last night to y’all. It was wrong.”

  “Yeah, son, it was. It was disresp
ectful to both of us. What I choose to do in private with a woman isn’t open for discussion with you. Do you understand? I’ve talked to you already about what’s private between you and a girl. Well, it’s no different when you’re an adult. If I’m with a woman, I’m not going to discuss it with you for any reason. My love life’s no one’s business but hers and mine.”

  He nodded. “I know. Sorry.”

  “With that out of the way, I do want to talk to you about her, though. I do like her, a lot. What did you think about her?”

  “Pops, she loves X-men but hasn’t even seen the last movie. She hadn’t seen a lot of the best superhero movies. How can that be?” He looked at me puzzled. “The good thing is she really likes them. She likes football, too.”

  “So both of those things make her okay in your book?” I wanted to laugh at what he held as important in my possible relationship.

  “Heck, yeah. If she didn’t like football, she’d have to go.” He gave me a sheepish grin. “Just saying. Of course, I understand this is your decision.”

  I loved how he went from twelve to twenty in a heartbeat. Is this how teenagers’ minds thought? I don’t remember being this wishy-washy on my thinking.

  “I don’t know if she’s here to stay is the thing, Crew. She’s had some hard times and is trying to get her life back together. I don’t know much about her life growing up, but I get the idea it wasn’t good. She’s not very trusting of others, and she’s got a stubborn streak a mile wide when it comes to taking help from others.”

  “Why? People always need others to help them out. That’s what friends are for—you help each other in all kinds of ways. It’s what makes friendships work.”

  How did I get such a smart kid?

  “True, and we know that because we have a lot of great friends that we love like family, but she doesn’t. The only real friend she had moved away to pursue his dream leaving her high and dry.”

  “Then she needs us, Pops. She needs to know what real friends are.”

  “That sounds good to us, but what if she turns us down after we do all we can? I don’t want us to get used to having her and then her up and leave. That’ll hurt, son.”

  “Yeah, Pops, it will, but won’t it hurt worse if we don’t try?” Damn, this kid kills me sometimes. “At least we’ll know if she doesn’t stay, that we gave it our best shot.”

  I scruffed his hair. “How’d you get so smart? Oh wait… you’re my kid. You had to be smart.” I smirked at him.

  “Pops, please. You know I’m a lot smarter. You’re just old and have more experience. Wait till I’m your age. I’ll be like the president of the recording company or something.”

  “Keep those ambitions high while you’re getting a good education.”

  “Besides, it’s Timbre’s loss if she doesn’t want us. Two hot guys, we’re a catch, Pops. A catch!” He bounced off the bed, and I just shook my head. Oh Lord, my work was so cut out for me.

  I had to talk to Timbre. I wanted to see her but didn’t want to push too hard yet. Texting would have to do for now. With a cup of coffee, I sat down on the patio and pulled my phone out.

  Me: Morning you awake over there?

  I expected an instant answer but got nothing. I didn’t think too much about it but thirty minutes went by and nothing. Where could she be? She never left her phone behind. The temperature was too cold to be out by the pool.

  I dialed her number this time. Maybe she was mad about the way the night ended. The phone rang and finally went to voice mail. “Hey. What’re you doing? I texted earlier and didn’t get you.”

  Back in the house, Crew worked at the table on his homework since he’d missed school on Friday. It made me happy I didn’t have to stay on him about that kind of thing. He wanted to do well. Maybe he would be the president of the company someday.

  “‘Sup, Pops?” He looked up from the book.

  “Nothing. Called Timbre and didn’t get her.”

  “Go over there if you’re worried about her. Didn’t you say they all took off for the weekend? She’s there alone.”

  “Yeah, I might.”

  “Pops, we just talked about this. You’ve gotta show her you care about her.”

  “Crew. Mind your own business. We just talked about this.” I gave him back his words.

  “Yes, sir.” He snickered when he said it. Two steps forward, three steps back.

  “I think I’ll put my running shoes on and go for a run.”

  “You haven’t run in forever.”

  “I know, but I need to get back to it. Now’s a good time to start.”

  “Yeah, if you’re gonna be running down the road, you might as well run by the Powell’s house.” He smiled and shook his head. Nothing’s going to get by him. “I can always go with you,” he offered.

  “Okay, if you want to.” I must have confused him with that comment because he stopped and looked at me.

  “Really? I’m sick, remember? Besides, the doctor said nothing strenuous if I wanted to get back to football soon.” I’m sure he counted the days before he could get back on the field.

  “I’ll be back in about thirty minutes, and I have my phone with me. Call if you need me.”

  “Don’t worry, Pops. I’ve got plenty to do right here.”

  I stretched a little before I took off down the street. A cab came through the neighborhood, which was unusual on a Sunday morning. People hardly used them anymore here with Uber and the other services. I couldn’t see who was in it as it passed me. It seemed as though it sped up the closer it got to me. I stopped and watched it pass me then headed in the direction of Timbre’s.

  The closer I got, I saw a car had stopped, and she climbed out of the back seat with a lot of bags. She spoke to the person driving when I saw the big U in the windshield. Why would she do this? I could’ve taken her anywhere she wanted to go.

  When I reached her, I started taking bags from her. “What the hell, Timbre? I would have taken you to the store.”

  “I know you could, but you were out late, and I needed to get things ready for tomorrow morning. I want the week to go smoothly.” She unlocked the door and let us both in.

  “That cost you to do that when I’d taken you for free.” I pulled her to me and kissed her. “Well, maybe not completely free.” I kissed her again.

  She pulled away and started unpacking the items. “It wasn’t so much. I took the bus on the way.”

  “Shit.” I spun her around, took the packaged items from her, and placed them on the counter. “Timbre, I’ve told you it’s dangerous to be riding the bus alone. Where did you even catch a bus out here?” I couldn’t think of a single bus stop.

  “I looked it up on my phone, and there’s one over on Mountain Grove. It didn’t take any time at all to walk over there.”

  “Timbre.” I wrapped her in my arms. The thought of her walking down the side of that busy street scared me. “That damn road is dangerous. There’s a lot of traffic on it and who knows what kind of weird fuckers might have stopped and snatched you up.”

  “It’s fine, Hayden. You have to stop worrying about me. You have more important things to worry about right now. How’s Crew this morning?” She pulled loose and went back to unpacking and stowing away her purchases.

  “He’s good. That shot got the recovery going quickly. That butt ugly rash is already starting to go away. The doc said it could be a light case called scarlatina and not full the blown scarlet fever shit.”

  “That’s great. I don’t know how you’d keep him down for too long.”

  “You’re not changing the subject, Timbre. You cannot walk your ass down to that bus stop. Please tell me you won’t do that again.”

  She stopped with a long box of spaghetti in her hand and turned to me pointing it. “You’re sure as hell are not going to tell me how to run my life, Hayden, so stop now. I’ve managed my life for a long time, and I’m not turning it over to you or anyone else. I’ll walk if I damn well want to.”

&n
bsp; In one stride, I stood over her, but she backed away before I could get a hold on her.

  “No, we are not discussing this, Hayden. You’re not going to bully me into getting your way.”

  I threw up my palms. “You’re right. I’m not. I’m not a bully, babe. I’m just worried about you. Please listen to reason. The road is fucking dangerous. They have wrecks all the time on that road. Hell, people have been killed on it. I don’t want something to happen to you that could be prevented if you’d only let me help you.”

  “I appreciate your offer. I really do, but I don’t want to be dependent on you for everything I do.” She turned her back and returned to her chore.

  I spun her around and hugged her to me again. She couldn’t see how important this was to me. She finally put her arms around my waist and hugged me back.

  “I know you want to keep me safe, Hayden. I do, but I can’t let you do it all. If we are going to have any friendship, I have to be able to make my own decisions.”

  “Friendship? Is that what you see this as, friendship?” I looked down at her. “I’m hoping for more than friendship, Timbre. I thought things were more than that already.”

  She pulled away from me again. “We’ll see.”

  What the fuck? We’ll see?

  “Please stop and talk to me.”

  She put the box down and looked up at me. “What?”

  “Babe, I’m not looking for a friend with benefits kinda thing with you. I thought you knew that already.”

  “I’m not so sure we can do that, Hayden.”

  “Why not?”

  “A lot of reasons. You and I don’t run in the same circles. You live a different life than I do. I don’t want to seem unappreciative for all you’ve done but let’s face it, once I get on my feet, I’ll be moving on from here. I want other things in my life than living in someone’s pool house as their charity case.”

  “You’re not their charity case. I told you others have lived here, too.”

  “Yes, and they were rich people between gigs or on the road. I’m a receptionist in an office building. I’m living in my boss’ pool house until I can get the money to get out. It’s very generous of them to let me, too. I’m so grateful to them for the opportunity. But as far as you and me, you need to find someone who fits into your place in life. I’m not it.”