A Life Less Ordinary
Page 22
Day 88
Zeke was the first to arrive in the hotel lobby, looking dapper in black slacks, crisp, white button down shirt and a black suit jacket that emphasized his broad shoulders and dark good looks. He had a tie tucked in his jacket pocket in case they decided to go somewhere where a tie was required.
As he found a place to sit where he could see both the elevators and the stairs, he thought ruefully that unless they’d made reservations, the only place they’d be able to get into would be a fast food joint. This was Los Angeles after all.
Zeke relaxed into his armchair with a grateful sigh. The three women had been keeping him on the run. If they weren’t shopping, they were sight-seeing, and if they weren’t sight-seeing, they were off on secret missions that none of them could be charmed into talking about. He could see that Manny came by her tourist tendencies honestly. But, he grudgingly and rather fondly admitted, he was enjoying himself.
A lot, if he was really honest with himself. Daisy, Rebecca and Manny were funny, witty and kind, and Zeke found himself caught up in the centre of their whirlwind and treated as if he’d always been there. That didn’t mean, though, he wasn’t glad for a few minutes respite after three days of being almost constantly in their presence. On the up side, he’d gotten used to Manny’s new hairstyle.
Finally.
Zeke settled more comfortably into the deep plush of the one armchair that was perfectly situated for him to watch both the elevators and the bottom half of the long, sweeping staircase that dominated the hotel lobby. He glanced at his watch and saw he had a few minutes before he could reasonably expect the others to arrive. He relaxed and proceeded to people watch, wondering what the couple in the corner was discussing so intently, and whether the other couple checking in were actually married to each other.
His idly roving attention was caught by a pair of killer high-heels and shapely legs carefully descending the staircase. The woman paused on the stairs, and Zeke hoped Daisy, Manny and Rebecca wouldn’t show up for another few minutes. If the face and the rest of the body lived up to the promise of those legs, he wanted to be able to enjoy the view without being teased unmercifully.
The feet took another step, then paused again and the woman half-turned to speak to someone coming down the stairs behind her. But that one extra step showed legs that went all the way up to a lusciously curvaceous ass covered in a vibrant blue skirt that hugged the curves of her hips and thighs until it flared into a flirtatious frill on the bottom of a skirt that brushed the tops of her knees.
The woman on the stairs was joined by a man, and they both continued their descent down the stairs just as an elevator arrived. Zeke glanced over and smiled in greeting as Daisy and Rebecca walked towards him with welcoming smiles, looking cool and elegant. He smiled back, then glanced back at the staircase to find the legs had morphed into Manny, listening intently to the man beside her as they came to the bottom of the stairs.
Zeke felt his mouth sag open. He was dimly aware of Daisy and Rebecca coming to a stop beside him, chatting about how they’d known that dress would bring out the colour of Manny’s eyes, and how glad they were to see her wearing something other than all that boring grey.
Zeke felt like he was watching from a great distance as Manny parted from the man who had joined her on the stairs and walked up to them, frowning. He blinked and realized she’d asked him something.
He shook his head, “I’m sorry – what?”
“Are you okay?” Manny repeated, her frown deepening.
Daisy and Rebecca looked at him with sudden, sharp interest.
Rebecca said, “Manny’s right. You look like you’ve just been hit between the eyes. Are you all right?”
Zeke continued to stare off into space, but he said faintly, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.” He shook his head again and looked wide-eyed at the three women. “I was just...surprised by something. That’s all.”
Manny’s frown didn’t ease. “Do you need a few minutes?” she asked, concerned.
“No – no.” With an effort, he forced a smile at the suddenly, profoundly unfamiliar woman standing in front of him. “I’m ready to go, Auntie Em.” He almost stumbled over the teasing nickname.
She rolled her eyes and tsk’d, then turned to lead the way out of the hotel. Zeke found his eyes involuntarily dropping to watch the sway of her ass as she walked in front of him. He pulled his eyes away, appalled.
She’s Auntie Em, he told himself in horror. She’s not even supposed to have an ass!
His eyes met Rebecca’s, who was walking beside him with an amused and all-too-knowing smile.
“She cleans up nice, doesn’t she?” Rebecca murmured softly.
He stared at her for a moment, then quickly looked away.
Rebecca laughed a low, husky laugh but to his relief she let the subject drop.
~~~~~
Zeke gradually regained his equilibrium during dinner, although everything still had a touch of the surreal to it. But the ladies were in fine form, and uncharacteristically ignored his quiet aloofness while they ate. Zeke kept stealing glances at Manny, who looked and acted exactly the same as she always did.
He couldn’t understand why he had this sudden physical awareness of her.
It made no sense.
Zeke felt much more himself after they left the restaurant and wandered to the neighbourhood bar they’d discovered on Daisy and Rebecca’s first night in town. He was greatly relieved to discover that Manny, while still looking very nice in her blue dress, was no longer the sexy creature he’d seen back at the hotel. His first shot of whiskey burned away the last of the cobwebs, and when he let Rebecca out of the booth to go the bathroom, he was finally ready to take part in the conversation that had been going on without him.
His ears perked up when he realized Manny and Daisy were speaking more freely than they had up to this point in his presence. Perhaps, he thought, it paid to be distracted.
“Let’s face it, Manny,” Daisy was saying, her words slightly slurred, “you’re not known for your great relationship decisions. Who was that guy in university? B- B-”
“Bosco,” Manny sighed.
“Bosco. Who has a name like Bosco!”
“He was nice!”
“He tried to emotionally blackmail you!”
“He didn’t succeed!”
“Because you didn’t know what he was doing!” Daisy turned to Zeke. “Get this -”
“Daisy,” Manny warned. Daisy waved her off and continued.
“Bosco,” she stressed sarcastically, “starts dropping little snide hints about women who always let him pay for everything and never put out. Little Miss Genius here is all sympathy and understanding – and until he stopped calling, never figured out the ‘women’ he was talking about was her!”
“I never thought of him like that,” Manny groaned and covered her face with her hands. “I thought he was just being friendly.”
“Yeah - friendly.” Daisy shook her head and took another sip of her beer. She shared a rueful look with Zeke. They glanced up as Rebecca rejoined them, and Zeke let her back into the booth.
“What’d I miss? Why is Manny hiding her face?” She turned a stern look on Daisy. “Have you been telling tales out of school again?”
Zeke leaned over and said, “Bosco.”
“Oh - him.”
Manny dropped her hands, shaking her head. She grabbed her beer and took a big gulp. “How the hell people figure that stuff out I’ll never know.”
“You stopped trying,” Daisy scolded.
“Do you blame me?” Manny retorted.
Rebecca shook her head. “One not-so-good experience -”
“Three, actually,” Manny muttered.
Rebecca leaned over and conspiratorially pressed her shoulder against Zeke’s as she said, “That’s true – there were three.”
Zeke took a sip of his beer hiding a wicked grin. “Tell me more,” he invited and Manny glared at the laughter in his voice.
“Oh, come on -” Daisy said.
“Do you want me to tell him your stories?” Manny snapped.
“I have no stories,” Daisy protested. She straightened, put a hand to her chest and swayed slightly. She giggled as she caught herself and refocused on the conversation. “I was as pure as the driven snow -” She stopped abruptly as Rebecca and Manny hooted with gales of laughter. She rolled her eyes at Zeke. “It’s true,” she insisted. “I married Hub at the tender age of twenty-six after dating for a year and living together for two.”
“Off and on,” Manny said sarcastically.
“Please – don’t put that image in my head,” Rebecca groaned.
Manny stared blankly then realized what she’d said. “Ewwwww.”
“I’ve been with Hub for twenty-four years,” Daisy said with dignity, then drooped slightly, her mouth turning down at the corners. “Twenty-four years,” she repeated sadly.
After a moment of silence, Rebecca said briskly, “Well, maybe you’ll be able to eventually work things out.”
Manny nodded and took another gulp of beer.
Daisy gaped at Rebecca. “You hate Hub,” Daisy said, shaking her head. “You, too, Manny.”
“But you love him,” Manny said gently, “and he treated you well enough...” she shrugged her shoulders, “relatively speaking, for most of your marriage. If he makes you happy...” she trailed off into silence.
Zeke shifted uncomfortably then said, “I’ve gotta ask.”
The three women refocused their attention on him, raising eyebrows in question.
“What’s your husband’s name,” Zeke asked curiously, “and doesn’t he object to just being called Hub?”
To Zeke’s confusion, the three women burst out laughing.
Finally, Daisy grinned, and said, “His name is Hubbard. Percy Hubbard. The poor man didn’t really have a choice.”
Zeke slowly grinned. “I guess not,” he agreed, and joined in their laughter. His eyes met Manny’s and he blinked as another jolt of awareness shot through him. He quickly glanced away, studiously ignoring the sensation.
Things would be back to normal in the morning, he assured himself, and settled in to enjoy the rest of the evening.
* * * * *
Day 89
Manny moaned at the loud knocking on her hotel door. She covered her head with the blanket as Rebecca stumbled out of bed.
“This had better be good,” Rebecca growled as she yanked open the door.
“Well, it is lunch time,” Zeke said cheerfully as he walked into the hotel room.
“Who cares?” Daisy muttered from her place beside Manny, only the top of her tousled blonde head visible from beneath the covers.
“My stomach, for one,” Zeke said drily as he opened the curtains. He walked back to the bed, lifted the edge of the blanket and tickled Manny’s foot. Manny sat up, shrieking in protest, then quickly covered her eyes.
“Mother of God, it’s bright!” she groaned.
Zeke laughed at her, his eyes warm and dancing as he took in her tousled hair and sleep-flushed face. But thankfully, he thought, he felt only an amused affection. Those disconcerting moments of awareness he’d experienced the night before were gone.
Like they had never been.
The world was back on its axis, Zeke thought smugly, and Manny was firmly back in the place he’d put her.
He glanced at Daisy, who was still stubbornly hiding beneath the blankets, and then at Rebecca, who had just returned from the bathroom and was now standing with her hands on her hips, mock-glaring at him.
Rebecca looked stunningly beautiful in her silk pajamas, her red hair framing her heart-shaped face. Zeke grinned appreciatively at her.
“Don’t give me that come hither look, young man,” Rebecca snapped. “I could use another couple hours of beauty sleep.”
“Oh, please,” Manny groaned, laughing, “like you’re not beautiful enough already!”
“Well,” Rebecca pouted, “the extra sleep doesn’t hurt.”
Manny laughed again, threw back the covers and stood with another groan. She closed her eyes, put her hands in the small of her back and arched backwards, stretching, before she straightened the t-shirt and boxer shorts she used as pajamas and sleepily shuffled past Zeke to the bathroom.
“We’ll just make Zeke pay for lunch as punishment,” she said and grinned at him as she closed the door.
Zeke barely heard her; he was too busy trying to catch his breath and desperately trying not to think how her legs seemed even more beautiful than they had in those shoes; how her ass seemed even curvier and sexier than the way it had looked in that blue dress.
But she was still just Manny, he told himself, stunned. She was still a bit too plump, a bit too plain, a bit too dull – Zeke couldn’t figure out where these moments were coming from – or why.
The only thing he knew for sure was that these moments had to stop. And stop now.
She was his Auntie Em – and by God, his Auntie Em she would stay.
* * * * *
Day 91
Manny watched Zeke with a puzzled frown. She wasn’t sure what, exactly, was going on in his head. He seemed to flip-flop more quickly between his normal, teasing, slightly aloof self, to darkly brooding, his black eyebrows lowered thunderously over his hazel eyes as he scowled at – as far as she could tell – nothing at all.
It worried her, and as Daisy and Rebecca’s week sped to an end, Manny was beginning to wonder if Zeke was going to go back with them. She wondered if his mood changes were because he didn’t know how to tell her he wanted to cut his trip short. They were having fun, joking and laughing, but Manny could still feel a lingering tension between her and Zeke, and she didn’t like it. She wanted their easy-going relationship back; she didn’t want to believe it could be gone forever simply because she’d cut her hair.
If she’d known he’d react like this...
Oh, what? You wouldn’t have cut your hair? Really?
Well...I might have waited until I got home.
Seriously.
...maybe.
Harvey huffed a sigh and shook his head. Manny heaved a sigh as well, then looked at him in the bathroom mirror as she finished buttoning her shirt.
It doesn’t matter what I might or might not have done; I didn’t know, and I did cut my hair. I just...he’s been so moody – and tonight’s the premiere. I just want all of us to have fun.
And we will. Zeke’s moods aren’t your responsibility.
...I know.
And you didn’t do anything wrong. Even if you were lovers, he’d have no right to dictate what you do or don’t do.
I know. I know! I just wish I knew what was bothering him...
Well, when Daisy and Rebecca go back, you can ask him.
If he’s still here.
He’ll be here.
“Hey – what the hell are you doing in there?” Daisy yelled, pounding on the bathroom door. “There’s a red carpet to watch, and Robert Downey Jr. to see! Let’s move it!”
Harvey grinned at Manny, his eyes warm. You heard the lady – get a move on!
She grinned back.
“Hold your horses – I’m coming!” she called, and opened the bathroom door.
* * * * *
Day 92
“We made eye contact,” Daisy insisted, “there was a connection.”
“Daisy,” Rebecca said, laughing, “there were at least three rows of people in front of us. We barely saw him!”
“But what we saw...” she sighed dreamily.
“Down, girl,” Manny grinned, “I think you’re actually drooling.”
Daisy made a show of wiping her chin. “I think you’re right.”
Zeke watched them, fascinated.
“All this because you caught a glimpse of Robert Downey Jr.?
Really?” he asked skeptically.
“If you were gay, you’d understand,” Rebecca sighed dreamily.
Zeke snorted a laugh. “No doubt.”
“I never thought I’d ever even be in the same general area as him,” Daisy explained, “so, yes, I’m still very excited. I don’t care that I had to look over four rows of heads, and all I really saw was a quarter of his profile – it was still awesome! I’m so, so glad you met Lionel in Vegas, Manny.”
Manny nodded fervently. “Me, too.”
Zeke ruefully shook his head as the three women began again to chatter excitedly about the red carpet event and the subsequent movie, sounding more like twenty-somethings than forty-somethings. He couldn’t wait to write his blog about this.
~~~~~
TJ and Leah looked up as the doctor walked into TJ’s the office.
“Hey, doc,” TJ greeted cheerfully.
“Hi, TJ. How are you feeling today?”
TJ shrugged. “Just fine. If you weren’t so sure there’s something wrong with me, I’d think I was perfectly healthy.”
The doctor smiled thinly. “Well, hopefully that means we’ve caught it early.”
“Caught it early?” Leah pounced. “I thought you weren’t sure what it was. That makes it sound like – like you do know. For sure.”
The doctor’s smile faded and his face softened sympathetically as he looked from Leah’s wide, accusing eyes to TJ’s worried ones.
“There’s a chance the tumor is benign – but it’s a very slim chance. All the test results show me it’s cancerous – the only real question is how far along it is. There’s no evidence it’s anywhere other than the colon – which is a good sign. A very good sign. But – it’s still most likely cancer. And that means you may have a tough fight ahead of you.”
The doctor hesitated.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t intend to give you false hope.”
TJ shook his head, his face drawn and white. “Any false hope was my own fault, doc,” TJ said, “not yours.”
The doctor pulled up a chair beside the bed. “Well, let me tell you what’s going to happen between now and the day after tomorrow, when you’ll have your surgery.”