Change Up

by Lacy Hart

  “What can I get you guys,” she asked us with a smile, leaning over the table a tad too far and giving Bill a view down her shirt. Bill smiled at her right away and ordered a beer. I asked her for an iced tea, and she went off to get the drinks.

  “Iced tea?” Bill said to me, shocked I didn’t get a drink. “Come on, man; it’s a day off. Relax a little.”

  “I’m trying to stay in good shape Bill,” I said to him. “You might want to think about it too. Those beers and eating out all the time starts to catch up with you.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Bill said, waving off my suggestion. Lisa returned quickly with our drinks and took our order. Bill ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, of course – a ribeye steak with all the trimmings. I kept it modest and got a chicken sandwich.

  “Here’s to being pro ball players,” Bill said loudly as he held up his beer mug. He quickly downed most of the beer and called out to Lisa, who was taking care of the people at the table next to us, for another one. I could see the direction this lunch was going to take from a mile away and already wished I had turned down the invitation.

  Bill kept checking his phone, taking selfies of himself and posting them on social media. It wasn’t long before a couple of women came over to the table, knowing who he was, to moon over him a bit. They both looked to be about Bill’s age, in their early twenties as well, and both were dressed in short skirts and revealing blouses. They introduced themselves as Tina and Beverly, college girls who were in the city for the day. Bill immediately invited them to sit down with us in the booth and snuck his arm around Tina as she cozied in next to him. Beverly sat closely to me, and I inched over as much as I could to give her more room, but she kept getting closer.

  “You ladies know who this is right?” Bill said as he pointed to me and then drank another beer, ordered another one and drinks for the girls.

  The girls looked over at me, not recognizing me, which I was completely fine with.

  “This is Wes Martin,” he said to them. “All-Star first baseman?”

  “You’re the guy who hit the home runs yesterday!” Beverly said to me. I just nodded in agreement, hoping this would end soon. She got closer to me, bringing her head right next to my shoulder and feeling my arm. “Boy, you’ve got some serious muscles,” she said to me.

  “Thanks,” I said quietly as I drank my iced tea.

  Bill kept up the show, doing what he could to impress anyone he could, ordering more drinks whenever the mood hit him. It was taking forever for the food to arrive, and I was starting to feel claustrophobic with Beverly pressing her body against me and with Bill on the other side of me, his hands all over Tina. Finally, I had enough.

  “I need to use the men’s room,” I said, asking Beverly to get out of the booth so I could get up. Beverly slid out of the booth, making her skirt hike up even more as she did. She stood up, giving me room to get out while she straightened and pulled her skirt back down, smiling at me. I walked over to the men’s room, which was down a small hallway to the side of the bar area. I walked into the restroom, washed my hands, and looked in the mirror and wondered what the heck I was doing here.

  I turned and walked out of the men’s room, and Beverly was standing there, right outside the door as if she was waiting for me.

  “Hey,” she said to me, with a glint in her eye.

  “Hi,” I said, starting to walk back towards the booth. She stepped in front of me to stop me.

  “I think Bill and Tina wanted to be alone for a second,” she said to me.

  “In a booth in a crowded restaurant?” I asked her.

  “I guess,” she said, putting her arms upon my shoulders. “Tina’s not very shy.” With that she kissed me, trying to push her tongue into my mouth as she did. I pushed her back down, and she looked at me and giggled. “I’m not really shy either,” she said slyly.

  “I gathered that,” I told her. “Look, Beverly, you seem like a sweet girl, but I think I’m heading out,” I said to her as I started to walk past her.

  “What the hell?” she said to me loudly. Beverly followed me as I walked over to the booth. There was Bill, brazenly kissing Tina in the booth, with his hands all over her.

  “Bill, I’m out of here,” I said to him. He looked up at me, finally noticing I was there.

  “What do you mean? The party is just starting,” he said with a laugh, looking at Tina. Beverly was now pushing past me so she could slide back into the booth.

  “The party’s over for me,” I told him. “Nice to meet you ladies,” I said to the girls.

  “You don’t know what you’re missing out on,” Beverly said to me with a huff.

  “I’m pretty sure I do,” I told her. I started walking out and saw Lisa, our waitress, walking towards the table with another round of drinks. I stopped her, reached into my wallet, and handed her a fifty-dollar bill.

  “Here, Lisa,” I said to her. “This should more than cover my drinks and lunch; the rest is for you. Thanks for your help.”

  “Thanks!” she yelled to me as I walked to get outside. I gave her a smile and wave and got out of there as fast as I could.

  Just walking outside, I felt the anxiety leave me, and I could breathe better. I walked up the block to get back to the hotel and went inside and straight up to my room. Once in my room, put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, and went to the bed.

  There was a time, many years ago, when I might have stayed and had lunch, had some drinks, and maybe stayed to see how things played out, but that life gets old. Nothing good comes of it besides a hangover and feelings of regret the next day. It was not a part of the lifestyle I relished or wanted to be part of anymore. At some point, Bill Thomas hopefully would realize that as well, at least if he wanted to have a long career.

  I looked at the clock on the nightstand and saw it was still early afternoon. Izzy wouldn’t be home from school yet, so I couldn’t even call her to see how her day was. Dad would be out on the farm, Mom was probably resting, and Kristin… well, Kristin was at the library, working, trying to forget about me. Kristin hadn’t answered any of my text messages, and I foolishly checked my phone again to see if I had heard from her. As expected, there was nothing there.

  I turned the TV on to see what was on, hoping to find something to pass the time. There was Humphrey Bogart on the screen, in one of his detective roles where he grilled the bad guys, solved the crime, and got the pretty girl in the end.

  “If only real life were that easy, Bogie,” I said to the screen as I put another pillow behind my head and watched.

  27

  Kristin

  Tuesday went by a little better than I thought it would. I focused hard on getting work done, not letting anything distract me along the way that might bring my mind back to Wes. I worked on setting up more spring programs for the library, booking some different readings and crafts programs for kids and adults that might bring some more people around to see what we were all about. I also started working on applying for some grant money and seeing what we could do about getting some extra funding or a budget increase so we could make some changes – add more computers, upgrade our technology, add some more space. It was a long shot, but I was determined to see it through and petition the library board at the next meeting.

  Karen could tell things were different for me on today. She left me to my own devices, only coming into the office if she had a question or issue I needed to address. Other than that, I didn’t see her much all day, from morning until closing time. The day roared by, and I felt good by the time I turned my computer off and was ready to head home for the night.

  We both locked up and headed out, moving out into the waning sunlight and into the cool air that still lingered around in early April. The cool air felt good on my face, and I felt invigorated for the day.

  “Boy, you really went at it today,” Karen said to me as we walked along. “You must have gotten a lot done.”

  “I did,” I said proudly. “I think I came up wit
h some good ideas for programs, and I was getting everything together for the board meeting in a few weeks to see if we can hit them up with expanding the budget a bit for next year so we can do some more things.”

  “Like get a raise for dedicated employees?” Karen chimed in with a hopeful smile.

  “You bet!” I said enthusiastically.

  “Awesome,” Karen answered as we got close to the diner.

  “Want to grab some dinner?” I asked her. “I never left the office today, and all I had was yogurt. I’m famished.”

  “I would love to Kris, I really would,” Karen said to me. “But… I have a date tonight.”

  I stopped walking, and Karen kept moving a few steps ahead of me before she stopped and turned around, smiling.

  “You have a date?” I said to her. “Why didn’t you say something earlier? Who is the date with?”

  “I didn’t want to bother you, you were working so hard. It seemed like a silly thing to interrupt you with, and… and well I felt guilty about it because of everything that has happened lately.” Karen looked down at the sidewalk before glancing back up at me.

  “Karen,” I said to her, “You weren’t going to bother me. And you shouldn’t feel guilty about getting to do something fun. I’m happy for you! So, who is it with? That cute guy who works the seafood department at Wally’s who’s always flirting with you?

  “No, it’s not Gene, though that would have been nice too,” she said with a smile. “Do you remember our waiter when we went to the restaurant on Sunday? “Brian?”

  “The waiter you left your phone number for on the table called you?”

  “Yes!” she said with a giddy scream. “Completely out of the blue, he called me last night. He was so cute, acting all bashful. He asked me to drive over and meet him tonight so we can go out for dinner over that way.” Karen looked at me and then said, “But I don’t have to go. If you want some company tonight, I can cancel.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous Karen,” I told her walking up towards the diner again. “Go on your date and have a great time. I’m a big girl; I can eat dinner by myself.”

  “Oh good,” she said, giving me a hug. “I didn’t really want to cancel with him. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. See ya!” Karen then picked up the pace to head home and get ready for her date.

  I’ll admit I was a little sad and jealous of her, and I almost decided to head for home, put on my pajamas and just eat ice cream for dinner while I watched a movie. However, I decided then and there that I was not going to be that girl. I walked over to the diner door, took a deep breath, and went inside.

  The diner wasn’t too busy at this time of day, and even the usual cronies who held court with Clyde Stuart at the table in the window weren’t there tonight. One of the waitresses looked up at me as I entered, smiled, and told me I could sit anywhere; so I slid into one of the booths just inside the door and picked up the menu that was on the table.

  The waitress came over, an older woman with brown and gray hair, to see what I wanted to drink and gave me a glass of water and some silverware. I ordered a diet soda and went back to reading the menu. There was more to choose from than I had imagined, including the daily specials, so I took my time reading over everything. My reading was interrupted by a deep voice standing next to me.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  I was surprised and put the menu down and looked over. There was Wyatt Martin, standing there smiling at me.

  “Hello, Wyatt,” I said with a hint of nervousness. “Please, sit.” Wyatt slid into the bench seat across from me, placing his customary cowboy hat on the seat next to him.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked. “Aren’t you only here in the mornings for Clyde’s court?”

  “I come down on Tuesday nights too,” Wyatt told me, picking up the menu. “Izzy and Jenny always have girls’ night on Tuesday. It’s usually a healthy dinner, a movie, or reading, or sometimes a board game, and then dessert. I am invited not to be home when it happens, and I’m okay with that,” he said with a smile.

  I let out a laugh and smiled back at him. “Well, I’m grateful for the company,” I told him.

  “Nice to see you smiling,” Wyatt said as he leafed through the menu as if he didn’t know every item listed on the pages already. Our waitress came over with my soda and saw Wyatt sitting there.

  “Wyatt are you bothering this nice girl?” she said to him, winking at me. “Just say the word honey, and I’ll toss him out of here.”

  “Now Rita,” Wyatt said to her, “I was just keeping her company, you know, to keep the vultures away.”

  “Clyde’s having dinner with his daughter tonight, so there’s no danger of that,” Rita said to me.

  Coffee for you, Wyatt? And your usual Tuesday night special for dinner?”

  “You know me too well, Rita,” Wyatt told her. “You’re going to scare poor Kristin away, thinking I’m here all the time.”

  Rita gave a laugh and turned back to me. “What can I get you, honey?”

  “I’ll have the Tuesday special as well,” I told her, putting the menu away.

  “You got it,” Rita said as she walked away.

  “Wyatt,” I said to him, “What’s the Tuesday special? Will I like it?”

  Wyatt laughed at my remark. “Meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, and green beans,” he said to me. “And you get a choice of dessert too.”

  “Sounds perfect,” I said to him. “I don’t get full meals like that too often when I’m cooking just for one.”

  Rita brought Wyatt’s coffee over, and he took a sip right away. We sat quietly for a few seconds, and I could feel my feet fidgeting under the table as I looked around at the decorations on the wall of the diner.

  “It’s okay if you ask about him, you know,” Wyatt said to me as he sipped his coffee.

  I blushed and took a sip of my soda through the straw. “I… I was trying not to bring it up,” I told him.

  “Not a problem,” Wyatt said to me. “We can talk about something else if you want.”

  We sat silently for what seemed like hours, but was probably about twenty seconds before I said: “Have you talked to him recently?” I said quietly.

  “Wes calls every day,” Wyatt replied. “He’s good that way. To be honest, he probably calls too much. We’re used to getting along fine when he’s not here, even if he doesn’t want to believe that’s true. I just talked to him before I came in here.”

  “Oh,” I said trying not to show too much interest. “So… how is Wes? I saw he did well that first game.”

  “He sure did,” Wyatt said proudly. “Unfortunately, it was against the Pirates. It will be tough rooting against them after all these years. Anyway, he’s doing okay. He’s pretty lonely though.”

  I looked over at Wyatt. ”Is he? Well, I’m sure he would love to have Izzy there with him if it were the right time of year.”

  “Yeah, I guess he would, but he’s never taken her on the road with him. He always thought she was too young. I think he was hoping for someone else.”

  “Wyatt,” I said to him seriously, “it wouldn’t have been right for me to go with him. Not with the way things were… or are. And why does everyone think I should have just gone off with him? What about me and my life?” People were turning around and staring at us as I realized I was getting louder.

  “Easy, Kristin,” Wyatt said, trying to calm me down. “I think you did the right thing. It was unreasonable of Wes to think that you would leave like that.”

  “Thank you,” I said, bringing the volume down.

  “That being said, he misses you… a lot. I know he’s tried to send you messages. He’s getting frustrated with that, I think.”

  “I can’t, Wyatt,” I told him, feeling myself getting choked up. “I miss him, too; but I can’t answer those messages. It’s just going to open things up again, and I don’t want to get hurt like that over and over. Or get hope for something that isn’t going to be there.”
<
br />   Wyatt just nodded at me. “I get it,” he told me.

  “Can we talk about something else now?” I asked him nicely.

  Rita appeared with our plates of food, big platters of meatloaf and potatoes smothered in brown gravy and onions, and a nice side of fresh green beans on the side. She also gave us a little basket of bread in case there weren’t enough carbs on the table.

  We both started eating without saying another word. The food was great, and I looked over at Wyatt occasionally as he dug into his meal. I must have been very hungry, and wanted to avoid more talk about Wes, so I ate dinner with fervor. Wyatt looked over, with his meal about three-quarters done, and saw my plate was empty.

  Rita appeared to give us refills of soda and coffee. “I guess you liked it,” she said with a smile as she took my empty plate.