Chapter 14

Kay again:

O my! I thought Rob was gonna go ballistic over that frying pan thing; for a minute I thought I'd gone too far! But I couldn't resist – Dad has one, and he's very particular about who gets to use it, and even more so about who gets to clean it. No soap, and definitely no scrubbing! Won't even let Mom wash it! That reminds me, I have to call home and let them know how I'm doing. Couple months ago I forgot to check in with them for a few days, and they almost called out the Rangers to check up on me. Not that they try to run my life, not at all. They just love me, and I recognize that, and I love them right back. I wonder what they'll say about Rob. Now that should be interesting! I don't think I'll tell them over the phone, though, I want to be there, and I want him to be there so they can meet him. I mean, assuming this goes where I'm hoping it will. Hoping, yes, that's a good word right now!

Leeza and Donna still don't know what to think. I wonder what they'll say when I don't sleep at the apartment tonight? Serves 'em right, though. Come to think of it, I wonder what Rob will think when he realizes I'm serious -- I'm not leaving him all by himself tonight. But that doesn't mean were gonna,,, I mean, we're not,,, I'm just,,, we won't,,, Yikes! I mean, I trust him, but do I trust me? Guess I'll find out the answer to the first one right now.

"Kaitlyn! Where have you been? Don't you check your cell phone?"

"Hi, Leez, where's Donna?"

"Well, I ordered a pizza; was gonna have it delivered. But 'Chad-sweetie' works there, and he doesn't do deliveries. Need I say more?"

"Oh yeah – how's that working out? What is it, two weeks already?"

"You mean that loser? What do you think? Same as always. What she sees in these guys is beyond me. This one's either half stoned, or half hammered all the time, and I don't know how he even keeps a job."

Donna was never known for her discernment when it comes to the dating thing. Leeza and I have sat up with her several times, and she's had a couple of really close calls. We think she actually had an abortion once, but she won't talk about it. "Or what she sees in herself," I said.

"There is that," agreed Leeza. "She must have a stick-tight Guardian Angel on her shoulder."

"Yeah," I agreed, "One that's not easily embarrassed."

I dragged out a bag and started putting stuff into it – shampoo, clean undies, jeans, and so forth. Leeza just sat there watching for a few minutes, then, "Speaking of Guardian Angels, Sweetie, I hope you're not going to be needing one. Or maybe you figure you already got one?"

I smiled back at her, "I figure."

"Well, good for you! But from what I heard, he's old enough..."

"Leeza! For the last time, he's not old! He's only twelve years older than I am, and that doesn't make him old. Like I said, Rob is mature, sensitive, responsible,,, "

"And capable of sweet-talking a college gal into spending quality time with him at his place. That's responsible?"

"He didn't sweet-talk me into anything, girl," I said, "He fell and hit his head, and the ER doctor said he needs to take it slow for a few days. So I'm going to see that he does. I should be back here in a couple of days, nothing too drastic going on here."

"As long as it's him who hit his head. But the way you're acting, looks as if someone else fell, big time!" We both heard a rustle at the door. "Ooops! Here comes the other half of the interrogation team."

"Yeah," I said, "Ready or not."

We could hear Donna outside the door, then a rattle and thump as she tried to knock with her foot, I guess, and I opened it. Had her hands full of pizza box, trying to balance a couple of two liter bottles of coke and a bag of chips, along with her wallet, and she had her car keys in her teeth. I had to almost dive to catch the whole mess, because she spit out the keys and started in as soon as she saw who opened the door!

I won't repeat the whole thing, but let it suffice to say she covered roughly the same ground and Leeza and I had just stumbled over, but she did it in a little over a breath. And without moving from the doorway.

As soon as I got a chance I broke in: "Donna?" No pause. "Donna?" Kept on going. "DONNA!" That got her attention, so I started. "I'm moving out, shacking up with Rob, and dropping out of school, and Rob and I are going to open a combination Massage/Tattoo Parlor/Eastern Meditation salon for disenfranchised Lithuanian sailors. Going downtown tomorrow afternoon to apply for a business loan, and Leeza said you'd co-sign with us on it." And I picked up my overnight bag and headed for the door. Shouldn't have tried to catch the look on her face, but I did. Tried to keep a straight face myself, but I couldn't. Busted out laughing and tried to act innocent, couldn't do that either. "Hi, Donna! What's new?"

"Eastern? You said you'd never been east of the Mississippi – what do you know about Eastern Meditation?" She looked at Leeza, "Whaaat?"

"You tell her, Leez," and I got outta there before I peed my pants!"

And all the way back to Rob's place I kept switching back and forth between laughing at Donna, and trying to rationalize what I was doing, but on the last one I kept coming up with the same answer: "God, I do love this guy! Help me do it right!"

Back to Rob:

Okay, I was a good doobie. I called Ray, my primary dispatcher at the agency that handles half my client load. Customers call him, and he acts as a level one consultant. Anything he can't handle gets passed on to me or one of the other independents. Gave him a condensed version of what had happened to me. Told him to hold off on calls for the rest of the week, "Unless it's an emergency, buddy. I trust your judgment on that." I didn't say anything about Kay. Didn't want to stir that particular pot until it was ready to be stirred.

Ray's an excellent tech, and about as laid back as you can get. He just said "No sweat, Rob, just get better quick. Anything else you need?" I told him no, and he said "Just call when you're ready to pick it up again."

I hung up from talking to him, and turned on the news. Same old crap. Same old bad news. I don't know, maybe it was only me, but I couldn't get into anything on the tube, so I turned it off and grabbed my laptop to check my email. Looked at the same folder three times before I realized that I'd already read those. Switched to Facebook, nothing new there, either. Couple of memes got a vague chuckle, but after I scrolled them off the page I couldn't have told you what they were. And all this time I kept remembering soft curves, blue eyes. Mischievous twinkle in them. Long, soft blonde hair. Crooked little smile, every now and then punctuated by a giggle. And just a whiff of some kind of perfume – maybe just her shampoo, but it was her. Kaitlyn. Kay. Okay! What the hell am I gonna do about her? That lightning out in the bay must have struck me a direct hit, and now I'm just another Energizer Bunny, and it ain't running down a bit!

Found myself thinking about Jenna. Again. Felt guilty, wondering for the millionth time what our lives would have been like together, if only ... Felt that old pain, that darkness, starting to close in again. Not like before, but I could feel it was there. It's still there. Would she have liked Kay? I can almost hear her calling me but it can't be. She's...

"Rob? Rob! Wake up! I stopped for some subs on the way back. Hope you like meatba,,, What is it, Rob? Are you all right?"

"Sorry, Kay, guess I dozed off. Yeah, I'm okay, just a dream I guess." I saw the worry in her eyes, and swiveled the recliner back upright. Grabbed her hand and didn't have to pull too hard before she was in my lap, hugging me. So soft and warm, so close, so all right.

"Where were you, big guy? You were starting to scare me!"

"S'okay, sweetie. I'm okay. Just a bad dream, I guess." I kissed her on her forehead, then again on her cheek, then asked her "Did you say meatball?"