A Life Less Ordinary (42 page)

“Instead
of – I don’t know – just sending me a link?”

“Would
you have clicked it?”

“If
I’d known it was from you, yeah.  Probably.”

“
When?”

Manny
opened her mouth, then slowly closed it.  “Well, what’s done is done.  Although
the bail money thing is still an issue.”

Ted
shrugged.  “Ira’ll return the money as soon as I call him.”

Manny
huffed.  “So...we weren’t really under arrest, were we?”

Ted
chuckled.  “No.  Like I said, Ira wanted me to do a favour for him.”

Manny
frowned.  “But he -?”

“Well,
I asked for something first; now I’ll have to come through for him.”

“What
could he possibly want that would be worth risking his job?”

“He
likes my mom.”

Manny
gaped at him.  “You pimped out your
mother
?”

Ted
grinned.  “It’s okay; she likes Ira, too, but she’s too scared to do anything
about it.  This just gives me a reason to force the issue.  And if I help her
make progress with Ira, maybe she won’t be quite so pissed with me.”

“Well
– you
have
cost her two paying customers,” Manny reminded him.

“Oh,
not just that!  She reads Zeep’s blog, too.  She wanted his autograph.”

~~~~~

Cora
caught Manny as she left the dining room.

“I’m
sorry you found out this way,” she said, wringing her hands.

Manny
forced a smile.  “So am I.  It...wasn’t what I was expecting.”

Cora
bit her lip.  “Listen – I’ve been reading Zeep’s blog since it started – and I
have to tell you, I think you’ve done a number on him.”

“Not
yet,” Manny said drily, “but when I get through with him -”

Cora
chuckled, shaking her head.  “No, no – I mean...he sounds...I mean, his writing
– it’s like you’ve befuddled him.  He can’t seem to figure you out, and he’s -
well.  You should read it.  All of it, I mean, not just the first blog or two.”

Manny
smiled thinly and said, “Maybe someday.  But not today.”

~~~~~

Manny,
Rebecca and Daisy were flat on their backs on one of the beds, staring silently
at the ceiling until Rebecca muttered, “I’m just...heartbroken.  I really liked
him.”

“Me,
too,” Daisy sighed.

“But
his blog,” Rebecca continued.  “He seems to have some pretty harsh opinions
of...of...”

“‘Old’
women,” Daisy bit out.  “He needs to be careful.  He’s not that far away from
forty himself.  The son-of-a-bitch.”

“Well,”
Rebecca said grimly, “when I get over the shock, I’m going to make him sorry he
ever crossed our paths.”

“
And I’ll help you,”
Daisy said, equally grim.  “With pleasure.”

Rebecca
and Daisy fell silent and they glanced at Manny, lying stiff and silent between
them, staring fixedly at the ceiling.  They shared a worried look.  Daisy
opened her mouth just as Manny’s cell phone rang.  Rebecca and Daisy jerked in
surprise; Manny didn’t react at all.

They
lay in tense silence as the cell phone rang until it went to voice mail.  A few
moments later, the phone began ringing again.  Manny frowned slightly, but
otherwise refused to react.

Daisy
sighed, heaved herself out of bed and grabbed the phone.

“Manny’s
phone...This is her sister Daisy...um...she doesn’t want to speak to anyone
right now...Who is this again?...Hang on.”  Daisy pulled the phone away from
her ear and frowned at it.  “Is there a speaker on this thing?”

Manny
heaved an irritated sigh as she sat up, pressed a button on the proffered
phone, then got off the bed.

“I’m
not in the mood for anybody,” she snapped.

“Manny?”
a feminine voice said through the speaker.  “I’m Leah Huxley.  Zeke works for
me.”

Manny
froze, then said loudly, “I’m
really
not in the mood for this!”

Leah
said, “Please – I’d like to talk – maybe explain – and ask you to give Zeke a
second chance.”

“Why? 
So he can keep writing his precious blog at my expense?”

“Because
your friendship has been the best thing to ever happen to him.  Well, since he
met TJ – my husband – anyway.  And, of course, me.”

“At
this moment, I don’t give a damn.”  Manny glanced at Daisy.  “Shut it off.”

“Wait
-”

Daisy
ended the call and tossed the phone back on the second bed.

Manny
restlessly paced the room, then turned abruptly to face Daisy and Rebecca. 
“I’d like to be alone for a while,” she said.

Rebecca
stood and hesitantly put a hand on Manny’s shoulder.  “Are you sure?  I’m not –
you don’t have to go through this alone, you know.  We’re here for you.”

Manny
forced a smile that was a dim copy of her usual grin.  “I know,” she said, “and
it’s not forever – just – give me a little time to...process, you know?  Just
an hour.  Okay?”

“But
-”

“Okay,
okay,” Daisy interrupted.  “Come on, Rebecca.  Let’s give her some time.  Call
if you need us.”

Manny
shrugged.  “Come back in an hour.  I’m gonna take a bath – try to relax, get
some perspective.  And then...”

“And
then?” Daisy asked carefully.

“And
then I’m gonna murder the son-of-a-bitch, and I’ll need your help to hide the
body.”

“Sold,”
Rebecca said with a decisive nod.  “See you in an hour.”

~~~~~

Manny
leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and sighed.  She deliberately relaxed
her shoulders in the hot, soapy water, but stubbornly refused to let out the
tears that burned behind her closed lids.

Are
you gonna be okay?
Harvey
asked.

Aren’t
I always? 
Manny
winced at her bitter tone.  She opened her eyes and glanced at Harvey.  His
eyes were warm with sympathy.

It’s
gonna take a while
, she sighed,
and I need to figure out...

Was
any of it real?  The friendship?

Exactly. 
Or was everything as real as you are?

I
don’t know what to tell you -

Of
course not – you’re a figment of my imagination after all.

-
except you need to talk to him, and then cut your losses.

Or
cut
him
?

Harvey
slowly grinned. 
If I was real, I’d kill him for you.  But you know you
don’t really want him dead.  Although Rebecca might do it.

Manny
reluctantly grinned back. 
Maybe.  Probably.  Most likely.
 She
shook her head. 
Anyway.  Cut my losses.

Send
him home with Rebecca and Daisy.  Continue on your own. You don’t really
need
him, you know.

Because
I have you?

Because
you have yourself.

~~~~~

Manny
shifted slightly, her eyes firmly on her coffee cup rather than Zeke, who was
sitting across from her, his hazel eyes never wavering from her face, his hands
tight around his own cup.  With an effort, Manny unhunched her shoulders and
straightened.  With a slow, deep breath she met his gaze.

“We’ve
been here before,” she murmured. 

Zeke
frowned.

“Sitting
awkwardly in a coffee shop,” she clarified.

A
small smile curved Zeke’s lips.  “I remember.”

“Are
you going to apologize?” Manny asked, an ironic lilt to her voice.

“No.”

Manny
blinked, her eyes widening.  “That’s it?” she demanded incredulously.  “This is
going to be a short coffee.”

“I’m
not going to apologize,” Zeke said.  “This is what I do for a living.”

“What? 
Travelling with pathetic middle-aged women in search of their lost youth?  I
believe that was the phrase?  Where I come from, there’s a word for guys like
you.”

Zeke’s
eyes narrowed, the faint smile gone now from his lips.  “Blogging.  Sharing my
opinion about things and being a bastard about it.  My role – especially on
that site – is to stir up controversy.  To get people talking and, more
importantly, coming back.”

“But
you don’t think you should apologize for making my...my intensely personal
journey a subject of public mockery?  Without my knowledge or consent, by the
way!”

“No. 
I’m...more sorry than I can say that you were hurt by it – but no.  And you
should read all the blogs before you judge.”

Manny
barked out a hard strident sound that was almost laughter.  “Oh, because it
gets so much better!”

“You
should read them,” Zeke repeated.  “All of them.  And then we’ll talk.”

Manny
stared incredulously at him.  “You are such a fucking jerk!  I’m angry here! 
And hurt!”

“This
is you hurt and angry?  You showed more emotion after I found out about Brett!”

“Because
you called me a slut!”

The
other patrons in the small store turned and stared.  Manny flushed and met the
eyes of one of the young women sitting at the table next to them, and who had
been sliding appreciative glances Zeke’s way.

“Trust
me,” Manny snapped at her, “you
don’t
want what I’m having!”

“Jesus,
Manny!”

She
turned her glare on him.  “Angry enough for you?” she asked coldly.

Zeke
raked a hand through his hair.  “This still isn’t angry!  You’re so repressed –
no wonder you needed to run away in order to find yourself!”

Manny
gasped.  “Fuck you!  You have no idea what the hell you’re talking about – and
you need to leave!”

Zeke
stood up, his chair scraping loudly across the floor.  “Fine.  We’ll talk about
this later.”

“No,
you idiot!” Manny snarled, standing up just as violently.  “I mean you need to
leave me alone!  You can go back with Daisy and Rebecca, or you can get back on
your own, or you can go to hell – but we’re done!  You can find somebody else
to use as the butt of your blogs!”

Zeke
stared, his face stark as she stalked away.

~~~~~

“So,
that’s it, huh?” Leah asked sadly.

“Apparently,”
Zeke bit out.

TJ
began to cough, but managed to say, “What flight will you be on?”

“That
sounds really bad, TJ,” Zeke said.

“Ignore
me,” TJ rasped, still coughing.  “What flight will you be on?”  He took a sip
of water, then leaned back on his pillows to catch his breath.

“Leah? 
How bad is he?”

Leah
shot a look at TJ, who shook his head.

“Bad,”
Leah said, and stuck her tongue out at TJ, “but he’s holding his own.  We have
a new nurse coming at the end of the week.  I’m hoping whoever it is will make
him see sense.”

“I’m
fine; it’s just a bad cold,” TJ rasped.

Leah
rolled her eyes, then said, “What flight are you on, Zeke?”

“I
haven’t booked anything yet.  I’ll let you know.”

TJ
said, “I’m sorry, Zeke.  But you know – I didn’t expect you to actually grow to
like the woman.”

“Hey,”
Zeke said with patently false cheer, “I like her, yeah.  The Old Maiden Aunt
thing, you know?  But you know what?  Screw her if she can’t take a joke.”

“This
is all my fault,” Leah sighed.  “I should have let you tell her the truth when
you wanted to.  Or tell the truth right from the start.”

“No,
you were right.  She would have been self-conscious – and she never would have
shared the things she did with me.  Knowing she was being observed – recorded? 
You know what I mean – it would have changed everything.”

“But
it changed everything anyway,” TJ said.

Zeke
swallowed, then said lightly, “Well.  Too late now.  I’ve gotta go.  I need to
get the rest of my stuff from the van and book a flight home – all without
getting pulverized by Daisy or Rebecca.”

“Not
Manny?” Leah asked.

“She’s
made it clear she doesn’t want to see me again.”

“Zeke
-” Leah began.

“Gotta
go,” Zeke said, and disconnected the call.  He tossed the phone down on the
table and roughly rubbed his hands over his face.

* * * * *

Zeke
was almost relieved to see just Rebecca waiting for him by the van, but then he
frowned as he glanced around the rather seedy parking lot.  At least it was
aboveground he thought.

“You
haven’t been waiting out here by yourself, have you?” he demanded as he walked
up to her.