A Fine Mess
Page 14
***
Three hours later, Kiley was starting to feel the weight of Harper leaning against her with her head heavily resting on Kiley’s shoulder. For an insomniac who claimed she wasn’t that tired, Harper sure had been sleeping like a champion for the past two and a half hours. All was quiet in the Foley household. The only cause for concern Kiley had was about an hour ago when she heard Emily get up to use the bathroom, then go straight back to her room. Kiley had hoped Emily would make at least a brief appearance in the living room seeing as how she hadn’t seen her face in so long. The only thing that was Kiley’s saving grace throughout the night and early morning was Nick at Nite. Though she wondered why they no longer showed classics like I Love Lucy, Green Acres, and Gilligan’s Island. She sure could have gone for at least an episode of Three’s Company. Instead, they replaced those iconic shows with questionable “modern classics.” Malcolm in the Middle? Really?
When the channel went from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air to a cartoon she had never heard of, Kiley changed the channel to an infomercial for the hits of the ‘70s. With the sounds of Supertramp, David Cassidy, Bread and Boston filling her ears, it was tempting to call and order the super collection. But she had to remind herself of the gardening claw she ordered that’s sitting in her hall closet because her apartment doesn’t have a garden. The same goes for the Slap Chop that was used only once when she attempted to make a homemade stew. And she didn’t even want to think about the Snuggie she used to sop up the water from a leak in her apartment ceiling. She really had to stop the splurging on items she would never use and start saving. Yes, the sounds of the ‘70s would have to be heard in thirty-second increments in the iTunes store.
Kiley could feel her ‘restless leg syndrome’ kicking in as fatigue swept over her body. Two yawns and a couple of eye-widenings later, she finally gave in and began to doze off. Before she could enter a full REM cycle, she was awakened by the sound of a spoon clanging against a glass bowl. She opened her eyes and looked over to see a young woman who looked vaguely familiar sitting on the floor in her t-shirt and underwear watching MTV.
Emily took a bite of her Golden Grahams cereal and felt someone’s eyes on her. She turned around to see Kiley sleepily staring at her.
“I was wondering when you’d show up. Didn’t take you long, did it?” whispered Emily.
“I came as soon as she called me.”
Emily glanced over at the front door. “I wasn’t gonna take off, or anything.”
“I know,” replied Kiley. She gestured toward Harper, whose weight was now causing Kiley’s entire right side to go numb. “I just don’t think she knew for sure.”
Emily looked at her sister, who was peacefully sleeping, then turned back to the TV. “I hope you don’t mind, I changed the channel.”
“It’s fine,” yawned Kiley, who tried to stifle her stretch. “What time is it?”
“About six. My hunger was outweighing my fatigue. Thank God there’s plenty of cereal.”
“Harper always kept it stocked…just in case.” At this point, Kiley was beginning to get annoyed. She began to wonder if Emily ever even thought about Harper at all while she was gone. It seemed like a pretty messed up situation seeing as how Harper agonized over Emily every single day.
Before Kiley could say anything more, Harper’s head popped up from Kiley’s shoulder. She looked around dazed, trying to take in where she was and what was happening. She looked at Kiley imploringly.
“Did I drool, snore, or do anything embarrassing?”
“You mumbled something at some point and then said ‘ah shit.’ Then, not another peep.”
Harper’s eyes were slowly coming back into focus in the dim room. “How long was I out?”
“About three hours.”
“Nice. This is good. I’m progressing.”
Kiley waited until Harper was fully off her shoulder and sitting up on her own accord before she got up from the couch and excused herself.
“Well, my bladder is about to give out, so if you’ll excuse me…”
“You could have just woke me up to go.”
“No, I couldn’t. But I’ll be right back. And then I think I’m gonna take off.”
Emily took another bite of her cereal. “Aww, so soon?” she asked, mockingly.
“I know. You’re devastated.” Kiley shook her head as she headed toward the bathroom. It was fascinating to her how sometimes things change, and sometimes things are exactly the same. She couldn’t believe how different and more grown up Emily looked, but really wasn’t surprised at the reception Emily gave her. Theirs was a rather tattered, love/hate-but-mostly-hate relationship and Kiley never really understood why. Emily just seemed to take an instant disliking to her from the start.
She walked out of the bathroom and back out to the living room to find Harper lying down on the couch and Emily still focused on the TV set. “I’m gonna go home and get some sleep. You two probably want to catch up, but call me if you need anything, okay?”
Harper nodded. “Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you for not hating me.” She looked over at Emily as she walked out the door. “Emily…always a pleasure. Welcome back.”
Emily held up her hand and made a slight waving movement without turning around. Once Kiley was gone, Harper continued to lie out on the couch as her sister’s back still faced her. After a few moments of what someone considered music ringing in her ears and a few awkward ‘booty’ videos infiltrated her eyes, Harper finally had enough.
“Emily?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you turn that off for a minute?”
Emily grabbed the remote and hit the power button. “Sure. Why?”
“I just…I think we should talk. Last night, we were both just an emotional wreck and I think maybe we should just…be normal for a minute. Have a nice, normal conversation.”
Emily scooted herself around to face the couch. “Okay.”
Harper sat up, crossed her legs and gave her sister a nervous smile. “Well…uh…”
She couldn’t believe it. Harper had rehearsed this a million times in her head. She knew what she would say, how she would say it and even imagined every possible setting, scenario, and response her sister might give. She would be tough, yet understanding. She would ask questions, but not be overbearing. She would bring up past memories that would make them laugh if there was an awkward silence. Now, after years of waiting, dreaming, hoping she’d come back and planning out their first real conversation after the reunion, she couldn’t even get a word out. After all, what was there really to talk about? How did one begin a conversation that would no doubt turn into an epic story neither of them was ready to discuss?
Emily decided to cut the awkwardness short. “Uh…I’m gonna go back to bed. I’m exhausted.”
“Oh, okay,” replied Harper. “Have fun.” Immediately she felt stupid for saying that. Have fun? Really, Harper? Smooth.
Once Emily disappeared into her room, Harper sank back into the couch, lying down flat and pulling the quilt resting above the couch over her head. Why was she so awkward? Why couldn’t she just say exactly what she’s thinking? She pulled the blanket off her head and used it as a pillow, spending the next couple hours rethinking the events that had played out in the last twenty-four hours. What more could she do? She didn’t work that day and was far from being able to fall asleep again.
She hated herself for not being able to muster up the words she wanted to say to Emily just because she felt it was important to walk on eggshells for the time being. Well, not anymore. Since when did she have such difficulty relating to her sister? Sure, they were different as night and day, but the sisterly bond was always there...at least it was until they were separated by years of distance and isolation. Harper lay there wondering if she could ever truly restore her fragile relationship with Emily.
CHAPTER 15
Dr. Harris tossed back her long, dark br
own hair. She wasn’t used to wearing her hair down, but today was different. Her hair clip had broken earlier, so her typical bun was non-existent today. As always her ever-present clipboard was being used as her favorite go-to prop. She quietly tapped the eraser-end of her pencil against it as Finn sat there with a rather obvious smirk on his face.
Dressed in board shorts and flip flops, Finn was much more casual today than he had been in the past. Usually, he came to his sessions straight from work, but today he decided to take the day off and go to the beach after his appointment.
“You seem more chipper than normal,” observed Dr. Harris.
“Chipper?”
“Would you prefer a more masculine term? How about less broody?”
“Do I?”
“Yes.”
“Well…Emily’s back.”
Dr. Harris nodded. “Emily is your ex-fiancée’s sister?”
“Yeah. She just showed up on my doorstep a couple weeks ago. Right after our last session, actually.”
“Wow. How is your ex handling it?”
“Harper’s fine. I mean, she’s ecstatic. I haven’t really gotten a chance to talk to her much since it happened, but I’m sure she’s happy.”
“Well good. That’s good for her. And what about you?” Dr. Harris felt some loose strands of her hair fall into her face. She quickly brushed them out of the way.
“With Emily back, everything is as it should be in Harper’s life, except for her parents of course.”
“Right. Her parents. Do you mind me asking about that? How did they die?”
“Car accident. They were on a weekend trip up north. They liked to take their little weekend getaways to keep their romance alive, I guess. Harper always said that grossed her out. But I think deep down she thought it was pretty cool that her parents were still in love and constantly making efforts to stay that way.”
“That’s always endearing.”
“Yeah. Anyway, this one night as they were leaving the hotel to go to dinner, some asshole in a Yukon decided to run a red light and plowed right into their car.” Finn paused for a moment, remembering the exact second he got that phone call from Harper telling him what happened. Even after all this time, it was still painful to think about it. “And then everything changed in that one instant.”
“And Harper hasn’t really been the same since?”
Finn shook his head. “No. I mean, how could she be? She lost both her parents at once and then just weeks after their funeral, her sister takes off leaving her in an empty house.”
“A house that used to be full and vibrant,” added Dr. Harris, who was finally beginning to realize the full magnitude of everything Finn had been through with Harper.
Finn nodded.
“I can’t even imagine living through a tragedy like that,” offered Dr. Harris. For a moment, she began to feel silly and even a little guilty dwelling on her own petty problems. After all, she was nearly twenty years older than Harper and couldn’t even imagine losing her parents now.
“It was six months after I proposed. The wedding plans sort of fell by the wayside for a while after that. Anyway,” continued Finn, “Emily’s back and Harper’s happy. Which means there might be a really good chance of us getting back together.”
Dr. Harris was slightly taken aback by this statement. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, I think her life was just in complete turmoil. And now it’s a little less complicated than it was.”
“Oh, I’m sure it’s still plenty complicated,” retorted Dr. Harris.
“Maybe so. But I just have this feeling something good is gonna happen.”
“Something good did happen. Harper is reunited with her sister. You should be happy for both of them. But Finn, as much as I’d like to see you content with everything you think has gone wrong in your life, please don’t get your hopes up about Harper coming back. You’ve made so much headway. Do you really want to return to that sad, beaten down guy you were when you first started coming here?”
Finn was appalled. He wasn’t quite sure how to react to that. “Wow. You really know how to deliver a low blow, don’t you?”
Dr. Harris shrugged, trying to remain as impartial and apathetic as possible. She had always tried her hardest to distance herself from her patients. Though her heart would break over certain patients and stories–molestation, abuse, death, and even the occasional coming out story would tug at her heartstrings-she still managed to remain unbiased and indifferent to most of them. However, Finn Lewis made it quite difficult for her. She couldn’t comprehend how a young, good looking, well-educated man could think so little of himself by insisting that the only way he can be happy is if he’s with a girl who rejected him. From what Dr. Harris could tell, she never really seemed all that interested in him in the first place. She really couldn’t figure out why Finn frustrated her so much, but the fact that her professionalism seemed to be wavering was really starting to piss her off. She tried to compose herself when Finn looked at her quizzically.
“You don’t think we’ll get back together?”
Before she could respond, she was silenced by a scuffle coming from her office lobby.
“You can’t go in there! She’s in the middle of…”
“Shut up!”
The door suddenly opened and then slammed shut. Finn looked over to see a man in his early forties, dressed like he was in his early twenties wearing a fitted Pink Floyd shirt and tight jeans and carrying a motorcycle helmet. Once he removed his sunglasses, Finn could tell this guy was obviously way too good looking for his own good. Finn started to think that maybe his appointment had run late and this guy was just impatiently waiting. Though, it soon became clear that he and Dr. Harris didn’t quite share a doctor/patient rapport.
“Man, that assistant of yours is a real bitch,” asserted the intruder.
Dr. Harris remained calm in her seat. “No, she’s just a good employee and knows who NOT to let in.”
“Well, I’m in.”
“What do you want, Steven?”
For some reason, that name sounded familiar to Finn.
“What do you think I want? You were supposed to drop Andrew off last night.”
Dr. Harris stood up and put her clipboard down on her desk. “The last two times I went to drop him off with you, you were nowhere to be found. You won’t return my calls. What was I supposed to do? Disappoint him again?”
“The custody agreement states that I get him the first and third weekend of every month,” challenged Steven.
“It also states that you are required to pay child support every month. You’re five months behind.”
Finn suddenly realized why Steven’s name sounded familiar. He was the one Dr. Harris was arguing with on the phone a few weeks ago.
“You can’t hold my son hostage just because I’m a little behind on payments.”
“And you can’t blow him off one weekend and expect to see him whenever you want. It doesn’t work like that.”
“Susan, I want him at my place by six o’clock tonight, or I’m calling my lawyer,” threatened Steven.
“So you can afford a lawyer, but you can’t afford to give your son money for new shoes?”
“Shut up!” Steven was now dangerously close to Susan. He angrily began to lunge at her, but before he did anything drastic, Finn jumped up and stood between them.
“Hey! That’s enough. It’s time for you to leave. Now. Or I’ll call the police.” Finn could feel his heartbeat accelerate as an adrenaline jolt shot through his entire body.
Steven retreated as his heavy, frustrated breathing quickly dissipated. “Six o’clock tonight.”
“And what if you’re not there?”
“I’ll be there.”
“He’s at school and I arranged for the babysitter to watch him until 5:30.”
“Good. Then six shouldn’t be a problem.” Steven slammed the door on his way out.
Finn’s heart rate was beginning to slow down. “It shouldn’t have happened at all. Does he always treat you like that?”
“Not always. I rarely even see or speak to him anymore except when it comes to our son.” She sat down in her chair, still slightly shocked over what had just transpired. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. We all have our baggage.”
“Yeah, but this was beyond unprofessional.”
“It’s fine. Really.” Finn leaned against the desk. “So, I’m assuming he’s your ex.”
“Ex-husband. We were married five years. Five very tumultuous years. And that unholiest of unions produced a pretty incredible kid.” She stood up and grabbed the picture on her desk to show Finn. “Andrew’s eight.”
“He’s cute.”
“Yeah. I’d like to say he gets it from me, but…well…you saw his father.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.” Finn handed the photo back to Dr. Harris.
Dr. Harris took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m just so frazzled right now. Look, I won’t charge you for today’s session and we’ll just reschedule for next week.”
“Okay. Whatever works for you.” Finn instantly took notice of how tense she was. He really wasn’t expecting such an action-packed session, but he was thankful he was at least there to help diffuse the situation. “Dr. Harris…do you want to come to the beach with me?”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. You look like you could use a break. Take the rest of the day off and come with me.”
“Oh…no, thank you. I appreciate the invite, but I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I have another patient coming in an hour.”
“Is that your last one?”
“Yes, but…”
“Then reschedule it. Come on, it’s the first really warm day we’ve had in a while.”
“I really can’t. It would be extremely inappropriate.”