A Life Less Ordinary (32 page)

Rebecca
shrugged as she waggled her hand.  “It lacked a certain amount of sincerity.”

“It
lacked any sincerity, you mean,” Manny said drily.

Zeke
closed his eyes and prayed for patience.

“I’m
sorry, Manny,” he said.  “Really.  I had no right to react the way I did, or
say the things I said.”  He opened his eyes and steadily met her gaze.  To his
surprise, he actually meant what he’d just said.  “I am sorry.”

Manny
considered him thoughtfully, then nodded.  “Thank you.”

Daisy
and Rebecca exchanged glances, then turned their attention back to Zeke.

“Well,”
Daisy said briskly, “now that that’s taken care of, let’s get out of here.”

Zeke
shrugged.  “Okay.  Where are we going?”

“Shopping!”
all three women cried.

Zeke’s
eyes widened with horror.  “Shit!”

* * * * *

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.

“Look,”
Manny said, “they were barely blips on the radar of my life.  The time it would
take to tell the stories would be longer than they were around.” 

“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.

* * * * *

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.