“I’ll be hearing you use that same line twenty years from now Louise,” said Claire with a smile.
“I don’t know about that honey, but I hope to be saying it tomorrow; one day at a time at my age, you know?” She had a similar exchange with Louise on every call.
Truthfully Louise never seemed to age, she still looked the same today as she did when Claire had first met her. “I was going to come over for dinner. Can I bring anything?” inquired Claire.
“Honey I don’t need anything; I’ve everything I need to make the homemade spaghetti you love.”
“Oh Louise, you don’t have to do that, but I would be more than happy to eat it! How is mom doing today?” Hearing the pause in Louise’s voice, Claire knew this was not a good day for her mother.
“She’s fine honey, I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you. Give her time today; she’s been a bit confused.”
Sighing, Claire said, “That happens so often now, maybe I should talk to the doctor again about possibly changing some of her medications. The last one he added seems to be making her worse.”
“I don’t know if that will help honey, I think the good lord above controls most everything for us down below,” replied Louise. She said her goodbyes to Louise and started back on the road wanting to stop at her apartment for a shower and a quick nap before going to her mother’s for dinner.
Chapter Nine
When she finally arrived home, Claire pulled into her parking spot and turned to retrieve her suitcase from the back seat. As she was straightening up she heard a voice that made her inwardly cringe. “Claire, you’re back! Old Billy has scored those Neil Diamond tickets that I told you about.” No, No, NO! Please lord haven’t I been through enough this weekend? Please, if you make him go away I promise I’ll go to church every Sunday, be kind to old people and donate something to charity that I’m not counting on my taxes.
As Billy smiled down at her Claire wondered why the universe seemed to be against her this weekend. She’d not made it to her apartment in weeks without being accosted by Billy as she was leaving the car. Could he actually be in his apartment waiting for her every day? No, surely even he had more to do than spend hours watching for her arrival.
“Hey Billy, how’s it going?” asked Claire with a tight smile.
“Did you hear what I said about the Neil Diamond tickets?”
“Er... Yes, I heard that but I’m sure there’s someone you’d rather take than me Billy, maybe Melissa in 4B; she loves concerts,” supplied Claire hopefully.
“Oh no babe, Billy got these tickets especially for you.”
“Um… My mother is expecting me any moment at her house for dinner; we will talk about this later,” replied Claire as she slowly made her way around him and towards her apartment.
Billy looked down at his watch and said in obvious confusion, “It’s only after three, why would you have dinner this early?”
Claire tried to stick as close to the truth as possible, “she has a medical condition and has to eat several times per day, so we’re eating earlier today.”
Luckily, this seemed to occupy Billy’s thought process enough for her to make her way around him and close to her apartment door. With a wave, Claire said, “I’ll talk to you later," and practically ran into her front door wincing at how loud the door slammed in her haste to escape. Claire wondered how much longer she would be able to live with this daily aggravation before she either hurt his feelings or just gave up and moved.
After a weekend of looking at and drooling over the hot body of Jason, being pursued by Billy was a real reality check. It’s like having to settle for sirloin after having the prime rib. You can’t win 'em all girl, for every hot guy you’re looking for five creepy weird guys are looking for you.
Claire walked to the bedroom and sat her suitcase on the floor. The light was blinking on her answering machine, and she pondered not even bothering to check the messages. Hadn’t she had enough bad news this weekend? Curiosity got the better of her though and she pushed the button and was informed she had one new message.
“Claire, it’s me, Suzy, I um… oh Claire, Jeff and I broke up!” Hearing what was plainly a sob Claire walked closer to the machine as if she could see Suzy. “He has been cheating on me; the bastard has been cheating on me with his dentist, can you freaking believe that?!” Now openly sobbing, “I… I’m ok; I just didn’t have anyone to tell, shit!” When the beep signaled the end of the recording, Claire stood rooted to her spot, completely stunned.