Chapter 2

Late Saturday afternoon I was vacuuming the house when I felt the phone on my belt buzz. I killed the vacuum cleaner, causing the heads of two cats to peer out of the door of a room they deemed safe from the noisy monster I was shoving around.

I thought the number looked like one I should remember. I put the phone to my ear. "This is Barry. Can I help you?"

"You can come get me and do what we did yesterday, except I will forgo the restaurant meal for anything you can come up with, starting with a peanut butter sammich."

"Well, hi there yourself, Jessica."

She laughed. "Hi, Barry. I'm not really ordering you around, but if you want..."

"I think it's a brilliant idea. Car still broke?"

"Yeah."

"Any idea what's wrong with it?"

"I dunno. Not my thing. Won't start. I put the key in it, it makes clicky noises."

"Oh, you can talk technical."

"Don't be an ass."

"I just wanted some idea as to whether I could do anything to help it."

"It's an old piece of crap car."

"It's a Honda. They're usually pretty good."

"Well, if you wanna look at it..."

"I'll bring some tools."

"You don't have to, Barry."

"I don't mind. I'm not much of a mechanic, but a few simple things..."

"If you insist."

"I do."

I was there in less than half an hour. She came bouncing out, swinging a set of car keys.

"Show me," I said.

She inserted the key, turned it, and as reported, there was clicking.

"Pop the hood," I said. She did.

I looked at the battery. Might've found the problem. The positive post was a mass of corrosion.

"Turn the key off," I said. "Let me get some tools."

In a matter of minutes I had the rotten clamp loose and was cleaning it. I checked the battery voltage. Surprisingly, it was pretty good.

I had Jessica watching me closely. We were joined by another girl of similar age. She was a bit overweight, had a pierced nostril, an eyebrow piercing and about four or five earrings in each ear.

"Who's he?" she whispered to Jessica. "Your dad?"

Jessica's head shook. "Nope."

The girl looked at me. I returned a glance and went back to my task of tidying up the battery cable.

"Somebody's dad," the girl said.

"Megan's dad," Jessica said. She glanced at me and in a bit louder voice, "And my date."

Yes, I definitely heard 'date', so I thought I'd play along. I connected the cable to the battery. "Jess, baby? Could you try starting it now?"

Her eyes flashed a laugh. "Sure, baby!"

Sometimes it's that simple. The car cranked and fired right up.

"You can kill it, sweetie," I said, keeping the pet names going for the benefit of Jessica's friend.

Jessica poured gasoline on the conflagration when she bounded out of the car, threw her arms around my neck and kissed me on the lips.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" She grabbed my arm. "Come in and wash your hands, then we'll go!"

When I got out of the bathroom, the other girl was sitting there with Jessica. Her face was full of questions and I sincerely doubt that Jessica was providing helpful answers.

"Barry, this is Brittany. Brittany, this is Barry, Megan's dad."

"Hi, Mister Harris," Brittany said. "How's Megan?"

"Doing a good job of being Megan, mother of two."

"We gotta go, Brit," Jessica said.

"'Kay. See ya," Brit said, her mind obviously still turning over the facts as she knew them.

Out of the house, Jessica asked, "You want me to drive my car so you don't have to bring me back home?"

"Hardly," I said.

"Good! Brit gets to see me riding off with you and she knows MY car works now."

We got in my car. Yes, of course I opened the door for her. And I caught Brit peeking out of the window, watching.

In the car, we drove off.

"What sort of game are we playing here? With Brit, I mean. Date?"

"She needs to have her chain jerked. She's been in my business about me and this celibate thing I'm into right now."

"You're into a celibate thing?"

"I told you that yesterday. NO sex. NO partying. Sort of cleaning out my head, letting things find a natural balance."

"Sounds kinda hippie. So you want me to, like, make up some kombucha tea and brown rice for dinner?"

"Don't be silly!"

"Good! And just so you know, mechanic work kills my cooking instinct. Choose a restaurant."

"Uh, money's tight..."

I glanced sideways at her. "You told Brit that this was a date. It is customary among us old guys for the guy to buy the girl's meal on a date."

Okay, she's into this game. "And it is frequently customary for the guy to assume that by providing the girl with a meal, she is expected to provide HIM with something as well."

Another quick glance at her while I drove. Let's see where this goes. "Oh, but definitely yes."

Her eyes widened. "I ... Uh..."

"I expect in return for a meal, that I will have scintillating conversation and somebody to watch a movie with..."

Her face relaxed.

"Everything's not about sex, you know..."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not," I affirmed. "I live by myself with two cats. I could make an effort and find myself in bed with a woman every week if that's what I wished. I do not wish it. I will gladly trade sex for smiles and laughter and intelligent conversation."

"You might find a woman who provides all of that."

"Might. Might not. I've found several who provide the first but fall short of the second."

"Then why me?"

"Why you, what?"

"Why am I here?"

"Because you called ME. And because I found last evening to be entertaining and delightful. Did you not like it?"

"I did. I felt like I was at home. Well, not MY home, because living with two girls is full of drama, and not when I lived with Mom when I was a teen, because there was always drama, well, there were a few times where she and I actually sort of connected and we had an evening where things were quiet and happy and thoughtful. That's what I think I enjoyed last night."

"Oh," I said. I felt like part of me collapsed inside. "It was like staying at home with your mom."

Emphatically came her response. "No. Not at all. The tranquility – that was nice. The intelligent conversation..."

"You did most of the talking..."

"I guess I did, didn't I? Sorry."

"Don't be. I enjoyed listening. You're an intelligent girl and I'm thinking you've suppressed that for a long time."

"I tire of being the weird one. Being uppity with my language. Tired of having to soft-pedal being intelligent and educated and having to fake being – I dunno – amoral."

"Okay, young friend, I can do this. You're welcome just like last night, just like today. You be you and I'll be me and we don't pressure each other."

"Barry?" she said softly, a question implied in her inflection.

"Yes, Jessica?"

"That sounds committal."

"Nope. Just saying that if I gave you something you enjoyed and I enjoyed, we could keep on sharing it. You're kinda young, in case you didn't notice."

"Oh, okay then..."

"But before I take you out to eat, I need to change clothes. I got a bit of grime on me."

"Sorry."

"Don't even worry about it. People help each other."

We drove back to my house. She sat and got abused by the cats while I changed into nothing special.

We went out for dinner, came back, watched a movie, pretty much mirroring the previous night. She was home before ten-thirty.

Sunday we didn't get together. I did get a little email note.

I took that quickly and went about a normal Sunday, laundry, housework, other domestic issues, then took a drive up familiar roads just for the sake of seeing the marshes where I'd grown up.

Monday? Well, Monday is work. Staff meeting. A couple of vendors dropped by to talk about things. By early afternoon I had a chance to lean back in my chair and close my eyes. I replayed some of the conversations I'd had with Jessica. And that line of her email. 'I look forward to more.'

I assume she meant more evenings.

I got home a bit after four-thirty. At five I got a phone call. By this time I had her number tagged, so it said 'Jessica'.

"Hey, Jess," I said. "Working?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "I asked for evenings because I thought it would help me stay away from unprofitable behaviors. Didn't plan on having a refuge. How was your day?"

"A veritable symphony of jokes and giggles," I said.

"Yeah, mine, too. One of my staff didn't show up. I had to run the fries until I got a replacement for him. Then the first guy showed up two hours late with a lame excuse. I sent him home. Now he's pissed and his friend is pissed and god, I love this job."

I laughed. "I actually DO love MY job."

"You're sort of like an engineer. Megan told me."

"That part she got right."

"Oh. Gotta go. Talk to you later."

"Okay."

"I get off at ten. Too late to call?"

"Nope."

"I'll call you."

I handled the ten PM phone call. Actually nice to hear a pleasant female voice before bedtime. Jessica's voice. It's a sweet one in the crossing of woman with happy young girl.

Happy?

Sunday through Thursday was her schedule.

We were already talking about what to do on the weekend. Just like that – planning for the weekend. I pondered the impact of that fact on my life. Ended up with an internalized shrug. It felt good. It was harmless to both of us. And I could afford it.

Nice weekend. No, and it bothers me just a little, but no nookie. I'm beginning to look at Jessica and think that maybe ... But no. Dinner. Movies. Just hanging out. She acts like she needs a friend more than she needs a bed partner. I'm of the same mind.

The next week went almost exactly the same as far as Jessica and I were concerned.

That still doesn't explain exactly why I was so much looking forward to getting off work on Friday. She knew I left the office at four. At four-ten my cellphone rang. I looked. Jessica.

"Hi, Jessie," I said.

"Hi, Barry," she replied softly. "Do you mind if I come over?"

"No, actually I'm looking forward to it."

"Okay ... Is it too soon? Should I wait?"

"I'll beat you there. You can sit and watch TV for a bit. I need to shower and stuff."

"I shall try to restrain myself at the thought of you naked in the same house," she laughed.

"Oh, sure," I picked. "Bust my bubble. I thought you'd find my crusty exterior irresistible."

"I prefer my exteriors without crusts, thank you. I'll be there."

There! Cause for me to smile on the way home.

I pulled into the driveway, went inside. She's coming over. I was sitting there petting one cat, the other eying him with jealousy when the knock came at the door.

I didn't give it a second thought. I was expecting Jessica. That would be Jessica. "Come in," I said. "It's unlocked."

You can't imagine my letdown when Megan pushed through the door.

"Uh, oh, H-hi, Megan."

"Well hello, Dad," she said. "How's things going?"

"Not bad."

"Let me ask again. How's THINGS going?"