So Different (9 page)

* * *

Casper watched him leave, wondering if she should call Mariah to warn her. She was surprised to see Junior here, looking for Mariah—and after that ditch, too.

“Who was that?” Delusional asked, rolling to a stop next to her.

“The dentist,” Casper said.

“Looking for Mariah?” she asked, surprised.

“I know, right?”

“Thought she’d scared him off the other night, standing him up. Most guys don’t come back.”

“Yep,” Casper said.

“Give her time. She’ll get rid of him,” Delusional said.

Casper was silent, pondering Junior D.D.S. hoping maybe this would be more than wanting a screw—that it would lead to more, for Mariah’s sake. It would be nice to see her do something other than working and chipping in at her brother’s place. Derby
was
one source of fun, but it was nice to have someone to share it with.

She couldn’t remember the last time Mariah had let someone in, even if the in was driven by the quest for sex. She didn’t think Junior was up for much else, but so what; Mariah was the woman focused on taking care of her brother and her other projects. Mariah was always last on Mariah’s list, and as much as Mariah pretended otherwise, Casper knew she wanted more.

First week of April.

Tuesday night practice was at the old rink, the Skate-o-torium. Tonight it was all about endurance, which meant timed skating around the track. Endurance wasn’t a problem for her. She skated around the neighborhood regularly at this big run/walk/skate track the city owned, which she loved. She loved skating. She had grown up in the rink hanging out with Casper, two girls who hadn’t quite fit in with the others girls.

Casper had stuck out because she didn’t like boys, and girls were out of her reach then; Mariah hadn’t fit in because the high school boys hadn’t liked her all that much so she’d opted to remove herself from the dating pool. Except for class, she mostly avoided school.

She walked into the rink. The old rink had been around since she’d been in high school. She’d only skated here a few times in her younger days. Frayed red carpet covered the floor. The counter to pay was immediately to the left, where a window that slid open lay above a deserted counter. She pulled open the door and entered. Most of her team members were already there, warming up.

She waved, walked over to one of the benches that sat around the track and changed into her skates.

Miss Thang Sally rolled over to her. “I think you’ve got company,” she said, pointing to the doors that led from the foyer to the rink. Yep, there stood Adam, in his scrubs, which were rumpled and lower than they needed to be. He wasn’t supposed to show up here. He was supposed to move on.

“Is that the dentist?” Sally asked.

“It is,” she replied.

“Is he here to see you?” she asked.

Reagan had rolled up to stand next to Sally. “Is that the dentist?”

“It is,” Mariah said for the second time that night, and sighed as two of her other teammates rolled up.

“Who is that cutie with the glasses?” Alyse asked.

“It’s Mariah’s dentist,” Reagan said, smiling.

“He’s not my anything.”

“I thought you stood him up. He’s not your dentist?” Alyse asked, confused now.

“Yes, he is, but not in the way you mean,” she said.

“He’s the one who’s been trying to get you to go out with him?” Reagan asked.

“That’s not quite what he’s after, but we’ll go with that for now,” she said, squeezing through them and rolling onto the track, putting an end to that conversation.

Practice started, and they spent the first thirty minutes in a flat-out speed drill, pushing each other to go the fastest. Dee and AlterKayShawn, the co-captains, stood outside of the rink, stopwatch in hand, shouting their times out to each of them as they rolled by, their shouts equal parts encouragement and drill instructor.

Adam stood near the door, his shoulder against the wall, arms crossed, as he watched them skate hard around the rink again and again. Mariah was dressed in what looked like black tights that stopped at her ankles, skates, and a short t-shirt that stopped just below her breasts. She was really something to look at, lean slick muscle, her hair still red.

Why was he here? That was the question of the day. Even though he knew the answer, he was still surprised that she’d been on his mind enough to make him stop by. No doubt his motivation was purely sexual; the more he watched her skate, the more sexual it became. She was all grace and speed. The faster she skated the more his blood sizzled through his veins. He watched her move, all focused energy.

An hour later the skaters rolled off the track and she walked over to sit. No time like the present, so he pushed himself off the wall and headed over to her. He knew her teammates were watching. He’d seen and felt their glances throughout the hour of practice; all manner of looks, but mostly curious.

“You’re fun to watch,” he said, standing next to her.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Missed you at Pinky’s Place,” he said, walking around to sit down next to her, stretching his feet out in front.

“Sorry about that. We changed our minds at the last minute. I couldn’t contact you,” she said, smiling a secretive smile. “Hope you didn’t wait too long,” she said, glancing over at him, her expression reflecting not the least bit of remorse.

“You surprised me.”

She shrugged again. “That’s good, I guess.”

“So where to now?” he asked.

“What do you want?”

“To go out with you.”

“No, there’s more you want, but I’ll let it go,” she said, bending over to lace up her tennis shoes.

“Do you have time now? Want to stop somewhere to talk, grab something to eat, drink?”

“We can talk now. What do you want to talk about?” she asked, putting the clothes and other stuff in her bag, zipping it up and turning to face him, her hands in her lap, her face clear of all expression.

“What do you do when you’re not with the derby?” He asked the first thing that came to mind.

“I work.”

“Work where?”

“Rehabilitation for the blind,” she said.

“What do you do exactly?”

“I’m an O&M instructor—occupation and mobility specialist.”

“And what is that exactly?” he asked. This was turning into work, this trying to get her into his bed, to get her to talk to him. And why was he doing this again? It wasn’t supposed to be this hard.

“I teach the visually impaired how to get around town.”

“Oh,” he said again. He didn’t know what he thought she did for a living, but it hadn’t been that.

“Yeah, again not what you expected,” she said, smiling.

“Honestly? No. But don’t hold another assumption gone wrong against me. You’re not still angry about the victim misconception are you? I did apologize to you. You said yourself it was an honest mistake.”

“I’m not angry, but it did—does—bother me that you were so quick to assume that I’d be the one with the boyfriend who beats her. And now the one that would fall into bed with you. So quick to assume that I didn’t have a job that you’d be impressed with, because you
are
impressed now.”

“You want to impress me?” he said, laughing at the look she gave him. “I don’t recall asking you to fall into bed with me. But if you’re interested, I could be talked into it.”

She gave him another look.

“So does that mean you want me to leave you alone? That you aren’t interested in hanging out with me?”

“Why are you here?”

“You’re interesting. I’m interested.”

“You have a newly ex fiancée. What exactly
are
you interested in?”

“Hanging with you, seeing where it goes.”

“
If
it goes anywhere,” she said.

“If it goes anywhere,” he replied, nodding and standing up with her. Most of her team members were making their way toward the exits, glancing back at them, but he didn’t think she had noticed.

“So, do you want to go somewhere for a beer or grab a bite to eat?” he asked, holding the door open for her as she preceded him into the foyer. He followed her out, and held the outer door open as they walked out into the night. It was cool and quiet out here.

“No, I’ve got to get home, but thanks for stopping by and for apologizing again,” she said, turning to walk to her car. He watched her as she reached a red Volkswagen, the old school kind. He didn’t think those were still around, and this one looked liked it was close to rolling over, wheels in the air. The back was covered with more bumper stickers than one person should have. His mother’s car came to mind, and he groaned.
Walk away and don’t look back
, he thought, but he stood and watched her throw her stuff into her car.

I march to the beat of a different accordion
.
All who wander are not lost. Don’t believe everything you think
. He read a few of her stickers and yes, he’d seen those before on his mother’s car. They even had that sticker, the one with all the symbols of the world’s religions spelling out the word
Coexist
. And of course there was the required
Keep Austin Weird
sticker
.

She waved before getting into her car, and then backed out and drove away, leaving him standing there looking at her rear lights as she faded into the night.

Mariah glanced at him standing behind her. She could have been nicer, but she wasn’t feeling it. She was surprised to see him, that was for sure—hadn’t expected to see him again. She was still hurt by the way he’d assumed she was the domestic abuse victim and didn’t trust his interest.

She felt a surge in pleasure that he’d put forth some effort. He must think she would be something special spread-eagled underneath him. Why else would he be here, working so hard to get her to go out with him? She knew she was nowhere near his ex. She’d heard the rumors of how blonde and beautiful his
Jamie
had been.

What to do? And no definitive answer came to her mind, so she’d shelve it until the direction she should take became clearer, taking her back to her original question. “To screw or not to screw?” she said out loud again. That was the question, still.

* * *

Second week in April

“I heard the dentist has been stopping by your practices,” Casper said.

“Let me guess, Reagan told you,” Mariah said, sitting at a table with Casper, watching Reagan at the counter with her brother. Joshua seemed to be in a good mood. Actually he was always in one, especially when women sat and listened to him talk; who knew when he’d stop, but that wasn’t Mariah’s problem.

“Don’t you wonder what he wants from me?” Mariah asked.

“You know what he wants,” Casper said, giving Mariah a what-a-dumb-question look. “The better question is what do you want from him? What are you after?”

“I’m not after anything.”

“Sure you’re not. That’s why you and I are sitting here discussing him, and not for the first time, either. The man appears to be attracted to you,” Casper added.

“Attracted to what?”

“What do you think? You’re a big girl. What are you interested in?”

“All right…all right, I’m there,” she admitted, giving in. He’d been on her mind more than was healthy, and she was past trying to talk herself out of him.

“So what are you going to do about it?” Casper asked.

“I don’t have to do anything about it.”

“But you want to.”

“I’m busy with work, Joshua, the derby,” she said.

“But you want to,” Casper said.

“I want to,” she said. She had been giving it way too much thought. He was different from her, and she had run through the reasons against sleeping with him. He had just gotten out of an engagement, not likely to be interested in finding another fiancée, and even if he was, it wasn’t with some woman with multi-colored hair. She didn’t fit into anybody’s ideal of the suburban wife and mother.

But did that mean he had to be off-limits? She could do this as long as she knew what she was signing up for, right?

* * *

Third week in April

Friday morning Adam sat at his father’s desk in his father’s dental office, reviewing the financials, preparing for his standard monthly meeting with his pops to discuss any and all issues that might have cropped up during the month. Of all the places he’d thought to end up, working for his pops and living in Austin had not been among them.

Papers covered his desk. Who worked with paper anymore? His I-don’t-know-about-this-technology-stuff-that’s-taking-over-our-lives pops, that’s who.

In Houston he had been employed by one of the largest chain of dental clinics in the country, which, oddly enough, was named Grins. All the paperwork at Grins had been computerized.

His job at Grins had come courtesy of his future father-in-law, a perk for marrying the daughter. He should have known something was up. The gifts and assistance he had received from her parents should have been his first big clue of trouble.

Paperwork notwithstanding, he didn’t miss Grins much. Not at all. Didn’t miss the sales quotas; the push to sell brighter, whiter teeth; the push for more cosmetic dentistry, where the real money was. He was also coming to realize that that whole life hadn’t ever really held an appeal to him. But he’d been willing to throw what he wanted aside for Jamie, in search of the glamorous lifestyle that she’d wanted. He wouldn’t be doing that again.

He heard the door open and looked up. Maggie stood in his doorway.

“You’ve got two teeth to fill for Jenny. She’s sixteen and in room one, but her mother insists on talking to you before you see her daughter. And Mr. Johnson wants to talk about dentures in room two. He’s just done his semi-annual cleaning. Can you see Ms. Garcia now?” she asked.

“Mrs. Garcia?” he asked, lost in Maggie’s words.

“Jenny’s mother,” she replied impatiently.

“Sure,” he said, gathering his papers and setting them aside. In walked an short, round, older Latino woman, a tentative smile on her face. Her well-worn, rather large purse was clutched tightly in her hand. She seemed nervous.

He smiled, stood up, and watched as she relaxed a little. He was confident in his ability to soothe and charm the opposite sex.

“You wanted to see me about your daughter?” he asked.

“Yes. My name is Elsa Garcia. I wanted to see you about me. Jenny needs work, yes, she has cavities. Too much candy,” she said, smiling shyly again. “We don’t have a lot of money and I can’t wait anymore.”

“Oh,” Adam replied, pulling out her paperwork, skimming over the costs listed at the bottom of the page.

“Do you have insurance?”

“No.”

“Okay, we could work out some type of payment plan. Is there an amount you think you could pay?” he asked.

“I can maybe pay about $20 a month,” she said.

“Okay,” he said. It would take forever to pay off her balance, given the scope of her cavities, he thought, scanning her chart.

“I have an idea,” she said shyly. “I am cleaner, a good cleaner. I could come clean for you.”

“I’m sorry, but we have a cleaning service,” he said.

“Do you need cleaning?” she asked.

“Me?”

She smiled at that. “No, not you, but your house. My daughter needs her teeth. It is black right here,” she said, pointing to her front teeth. “It’s no good for girl to have bad teeth,
si
?”