Hector (36 page)

***

Hector was unbelievably thankful that Walter had
Natalie to distract him now, because having this discussion with him before
would’ve been even harder. This was way sooner than he anticipated having to
have this conversation, but Hector’s mind was made up. He wouldn’t deprive
himself of Charlee for even another day. He could already feel the blend of
excitement and anxiousness building.

Walter would just have to appreciate the fact that Hector did
think to come to him first before he did anything. He wouldn’t have to find out
any other way. Hector was manning up and telling him before anyone else did.

“You done?”
Hector asked as he walked up
to him in the locker room.

“Yeah,” Walter wiped off his sweaty face with a towel. “It’s
definitely getting easier, and I actually like the way I feel when I leave here
now, not like before when I’d be dragging my ass out of here in total pain.”

Hector patted Walter on the shoulder. “That means you’re getting
there. Eventually, you’ll be doing this just for
that
feeling, not because you need it.” Hector straddled the bench
and leaned against the wall. “I gotta talk to you.”

Walter turned to him and stopped mopping his face, letting the
towel drop on his shoulder. “What’s up?”

“The way you’ve been talking about Natalie this week, I get the
feeling that trying to get Charlee is a thing of the past.”

Hector kept a close eye on Walter. He was doing the honorable
thing here, asking for Walter’s blessings to go ahead and do what he’d wanted
to for what seemed like forever now. But he also needed to get one thing
straight. Once he did, he didn’t want Walter so much as daydreaming about her,
because after today, Hector wouldn’t be taking any steps back. He’d be going
forward with this full throttle, and if she was all for it, Charlee would be
his.

Walter was pensive for a moment before responding to Hector’s
statement. “All this time, even after you told me you thought maybe Natalie was
interested in me, I thought Charlee would still be the ultimate goal, if I
could ever get there.” He shrugged. “I almost feel guilty now that I saw
Natalie as a consolation prize, someone I’d be settling for. To tell the truth,
this whole week talking to Charlee was just as nerve-racking as always but
nowhere near as exciting and as easy as when I talk to Nat.” Walter seemed
almost embarrassed by that. “I was nervous at first, thinking that knowing
Natalie might be looking at me in a way I would’ve never imagined would change
things—that I wouldn’t feel at ease as I always have talking to her. But we’ve
had our moments this week, and things are still the same.”

“That’s a good thing.” Hector smiled. Walter had no idea how good
that was for Hector too.

“I see it now, Hector.” Walter smiled a smile Hector had only
seen the day he brought out the robot from his trunk and told Hector Charlee
had been impressed. “What you said you saw and I had such a hard time
believing. Every time Nat looks at me now, I see it.” He shook his head, but
the smile was still there. “It’s no different than how she looked at me before.
Now I have to wonder how long she’s been feeling this and I was too blind to
see it.”

“Which means,” Hector reminded him with a smile, “that what you
were thinking, that she only noticed you because you started making this
transformation isn’t true.”

Walter laughed full on now, and Hector was relieved to see him so
damn happy. “That’s the best part about it. I mean I still wanna lose weight
and all. And I’m gonna keep coming to the gym no matter what, but it’s nice to
know that, unlike with Charlee, that’s not the only thing Nat will appreciate
about me.” He stopped laughing and got a little serious. “That’s not to say I
think Charlee is shallow or anything, but you know what I mean.
Charlee’s
never been anything but nice to me, but obviously
my personality alone is not gonna cut it for her. And it’s just as well, because
after spending so much time with Nat this week and then trying again to feel
comfortable with Charlee, I think maybe she and I are just too different.” He
scrunched up his nose. “Plus her head is always somewhere else. I always get
the feeling she’s not really listening to me.” He laughed again. “I guess in a
way that’s a good thing because I always manage to say something stupid around
her.”

Hector laughed now too, and he’d like to think he knew just where
Charlee’s
head had been when Walter had been trying
to make a connection with her. “So you’re done with Charlee then, right?”

Walter nodded then slipped a dry t-shirt on. “Good,” Hector said,
standing up but lost the courage to look Walter straight in the face when he
said it, so he smiled at one of the trainers walking out of the locker room and
waved, “because I think I’m gonna ask her out.”

Hector held his breath, still not looking in Walter’s direction,
but after the silence went on for too long, he had no choice. To his surprise, Walter
was smirking. “Funny, it never even dawned on me that Nat might be looking at
me as more than just her only patient’s grandson, who she had no choice but to
be nice to. It’s not surprising really since I’m usually pretty lame about picking
up on those kinds of things. But I’ve seen the way you look at Charlee. I was
beginning to think I was just paranoid since, obviously, you weren’t doing
anything about it. I thought maybe you just liked what you saw but she wasn’t
really your type.”

“I don’t have a type, Walter.” Hector smiled, feeling a little
stupid that here he thought all this time Walter hadn’t noticed his fascination
with Charlee. “I only recently found this out. And the only reason I hadn’t
done anything,” he crossed his fingers behind his back. Walter seemed happy enough
now. Hector didn’t have to tell him just how weak he’d been about staying
completely away from Charlee, “was because I knew you had a thing for her. But
you’re cool with this now.”

Hector purposely made his last comment a statement not a
question. He didn’t want to give Walter any room to say no because regardless
of what Walter said now, Hector was not about to chance Charlee leaving.

Walter nodded. “We’re cool. Just don’t ever tell her I was pining
for her all this time. That’s embarrassing.”

Not sure how he’d explain to Charlee why he fought this thing all
this time without mentioning that, Hector agreed. At this point, he’d agree to
anything.

“Well, I got a date to the aquarium I need to go get ready for.”
Walter said, grabbing his gym bag.

And Hector had a phone call to make. As much as he knew Charlee
wanted this—she’d told him she did and so had Drew—Hector wanted this too. So
why the hell
was he
suddenly scared out of his mind?

Chapter 22

Flipping back to what she was supposed to have been
doing, Charlee chewed the inside of her cheek and pretended to be looking up
show times on her laptop. Drew had suggested they go catch a movie tonight. She
was leaving to meet with her dad and his new girlfriend in Seattle the next
morning and needed to get her mind off it. Drew had actually wanted Charlee to
come with her, but Charlee had a presentation she had to make that Monday in
school. Even though Charlee hadn’t brought it up in a while, she was still
considering going back home. She had to keep up with the big stuff in her
classes like this presentation to make up for whatever she might miss while she
was gone.

Drew would be gone overnight and wouldn’t be back until Monday
afternoon. As much as Charlee wasn’t looking forward to being alone, she just
couldn’t miss class Monday. All this time while Drew had been on the phone
finalizing her arrangements for her trip then jumped in the shower, Charlee
should’ve been deciding what movie they would see, but as usual she’d veered
off to read a website she’d recently come across.

Of course it had everything to do with 5
^th
Street, but
it wasn’t just the stuff about Hector that had drawn her back to the site time
and time again. The wife of Hector’s partner Noah had put a blog together
chronicling the history of the gym. Charlee was sure Drew would find it hard to
believe, but she really was visiting the website for the articles and story about
the gym. The photos of Hector that went back to when he was much younger until
now were just an added bonus. Charlee really found the story behind the making
of 5
^th
Street by one man alone to what it had now become, extraordinary.

Drew walked in with a towel on her head. By now, Charlee
should’ve had the show times memorized for her, but she hadn’t even looked them
up yet.

“Anything good playing?”

“Umm,” Charlee said, typing quickly. “There’s that baseball one
with
DiCaprio
.”

It was the first thing that popped up. She started reading off
the others as soon as the list came up.

Drew made a face, plopping down on
Charlee’s
bed. “Don’t they make any good movies anymore?”

Actually, a few of the ones Charlee read off did sound good. She
had a feeling this might be Drew’s way of starting up on her talk of going to a
club again tonight—something Charlee refused to do. After last week, she’d just
as soon lay low for the next
forever
weekends.

Charlee’s
phone buzzed next to her
laptop. She picked up the phone, frowning when she didn’t recognize the number.
With one tap she sent it to voicemail. She was in no mood for student surveys
or telemarketers.

“Who was that?” Drew asked.

“I dunno,” Charlee said, staring at her laptop screen. “Maybe we
can just go grab some grilled-cheese sandwiches instead.”

“
Again
?”
Drew asked.

“But it’s so good!” Charlee turned to her with a pleading smile.

Her phone buzzed again. Glancing at it, she saw the same number
she hadn’t recognized the first time. Because of the area code, she knew it was
a local number. So she knew it wasn’t anybody from back home. It had to be one
of those never ending surveys she’d been suckered into before. She hit the
ignore button once again and looked up at Drew who was staring at her wide-eyed.
“What?”

“Nothing,” Drew cleared her throat. “I was just wondering why
you’re not answering your phone.”

“Because it’s no one I know.” Charlee shrugged, bringing her
attention back to her laptop screen. “Or we can go to Hollywood.” Charlee
glanced up at Drew whose expression was a strange one. “But not to any clubs. I
mean we can go sightsee. We can check the Mann’s Chinese Theater, or I know . .
.”

She started typing when her phone buzzed again. This time it was
a text from that same number that had called twice. Curiously, she clicked on
the envelope.

Are you busy?

Certain whoever it was had the wrong person, she almost put the
phone down, ready to just ignore it, but then it buzzed again.

This is Hector by the way.

Feeling her eyes widen as her heart started thumping, she read it
again then looked up at Drew who was chewing on her pinky fingernail and
staring at her. Her stomach immediately did that funny thing it did every time
she was around him, and for whatever reason, Charlee felt the need to whisper.
“It’s Hector, and it’s the same number that called twice.”

“Really?”
Drew smiled. “What does he
want?”

“He’s asking if I’m busy.”

Her initial reaction was to respond to ask him how he’d gotten
her number. Her pessimistic side wanted to be sure it was actually him. But he
wouldn’t have called her first if it were anyone else. She’d know immediately
by his voice that it wasn’t him. Plus he might think it rude or that maybe she
was mad that he had her number.

“Well, respond!” Drew urged.

Her insides were already doing all kinds of crazy things as she
typed in her response.

Chess Hector from 5
^th
Street, right?

Okay, so she couldn’t help giving into her pessimistic side. Before
she got too worked up over this, she
had
to make sure. But this was less rude sounding. His response was immediate.

How many Hectors do you know?

That made her smile silly.

“What?” Drew scooted closer to her. “What did he say?”

Charlee showed her then wrote back.

Only one, but I wasn’t aware he had my number.

Drew wiggled next to her, seemingly as excited as Charlee felt.
She hit send. “Where do you think he got it?” Charlee asked, turning to Drew.

Drew stopped smiling and the wiggling ceased. She shook her head.
“I don’t know, but it’s pretty easy nowadays to get anyone’s number.”

Charlee was just beginning to think about that when her phone
buzzed in her hand again. She and Drew read it together.

He does. And he wants to talk to you. If he calls you
again, will you answer this time?

Charlee brought her hand to her mouth. She and Drew stared at
each other. “What do you think he wants?” she was whispering again.

“I don’t know,” Drew whispered back then giggled. “But say yes
and find out.”

Charlee did, and less than a minute later, her phone buzzed with
Hector’s call. She stood up, not sure what to do with herself. For a second,
she thought of going and sitting in her closet to take the call then had a
flashback of doing the same thing when Danny had called her last year a few
times. So she decided she’d just answer right there in the middle of the room.
To her surprise, Drew smiled, waved, and then walked out of the room, giving Charlee
the privacy she didn’t even realize until that moment she wanted.

With a deep breath, she answered. “Hello?”

“Hey.” The tone alone in that one word gave her visions of the
beautiful smile he must’ve been wearing. “It’s Saturday night. What are you up
to?”