Mr. Imperfect

chapter 34



Not enough could be said about the importance of timing, and the consequences for having a lack of it.

On the surface it might seem like Mike had a charmed life, but it truth the one thing he’d always lacked was timing. The reason he was stuck in Utah shooting hoops at his parents’ house was because every time an opportunity came his way to take him to the next step, somehow he missed it. Either it came and went before he could get to it, or someone else got it while he wasn’t looking. Whatever the case, he was left wondering “What if?”

What if he had gone to Thailand with Luke? What if he had cancelled his work projects and just gone? Then he would have met Rori at the same time as Luke, and they would have had a chance.

Then again, maybe not. She seemed pretty attached to the idea of marrying a rich man and having that marriage arranged by a professional. Luke had let that much slip out while they’d been playing Halo. Rori was already practically engaged to some guy she had never met. Her days of dating based on personal attraction were done and Mike had missed the window. Rori was officially out of reach.

All because Mike had never found the timing.

I need to let it go, he thought as the ball swished through the net.

At least he had timing when it came to sports. Put him in a party with all the most influential film producers on the planet, and somehow he’d miss every one of them and end up talking to a sound guy all night. But put a ball in his hands and he could bring home a state championship.

Such was Mike’s luck. And at his rate he would be making wedding videos and dating flirty blondes until he died. It was all he had been able to accomplish to date, so why should he imagine that any of that would miraculously change in the future? If you kept doing what you’ve always done, you’d keep getting what you always got. And while Mike could get plenty of girls, it now seemed that rotten timing would keep him from getting the girl.

It sucked.

His next shot banked and went in. Of course. Such was his curse. Everything he cared about air-balled, while everything everyone else cared about was a synch.

“It’s easy to make shots when no one’s guarding you,” his dad said from the porch, pulling Mike from his thoughts. He hadn’t even known his father was home. “You up for some one-on-one?”

“Sure,” Mike said, lobbing the ball in one-handed. Swish. “First to twenty, and old dudes get spotted ten points.”

His dad shook his head. “I really did praise you too much as a child, didn’t I?”

Mike smiled and tossed his dad the rebound. “I dunno. Why don’t we find out?”

His dad didn’t hesitate, moving to the court and dribbling up the side for a layup. It was tempting to let his dad score, but at the last second Mike changed his mind, stuffing him and claiming the ball.

“Gosh, Dad. What do you do all day?” he asked, back courting it. “Sit at a desk?”

“Ha-ha,” his dad said. “Come talk to me in thirty years, son. We’ll see how spry you are then.”

“Excuses, excuses.”

That got his dad riled up a little bit more, and the game was on. It felt good to be good at something. But in the end, when he won 20-16, Mike felt even more empty than when they’d started.

“You ready to talk yet?” his dad said, tossing him the ball after a rebound.

Mike shrugged, catching the ball and immediately shooting.

“And what I mean when I ask you if you’re ready to talk is, what’s bothering you, Mike? You’re making your mom frown. And I don’t like it when your mom frowns. It makes my life harder.”

That got a smile out of Mike. “Yeah? Then why isn’t she out here?”

His dad grabbed the rebound, this time keeping it for himself and dribbling it out. “Oh, I’m sure that’s her next step. But for now she’s sending me out here as a scout. You know, in case it’s a guy thing.”

“She told you that?”

His dad shrugged, then shot. “Well, her exact words were ‘You should go out there and shoot some hoops with Mike’ but I’ve been married long enough to know what she really means.”

“I’ll bet,” Mike laughed, angling for the rebound.

“So say something meaningful, will you? Something I can report back to her that will make her give a meaningful nod of understanding.”

“Wow. So much pressure.” Shoot and swish. The rebound came Mike’s way, so he grabbed it.

“I know,” his dad sighed before getting a little serious. “Is it the whole Luke-Kris thing? You okay with that?”

Mike grimaced, spinning the ball in his hands as he considered them. “I’m getting used to it. They’re just so different.”

“But in a good way,” his dad said, before holding his hands up defensively. “Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of freak outs about the two of them over the years, but your mom got me to see the light… or at least enough to get me to put down the lynching rope. Our Kris needs to calm down, and Luke needs someone to crack a whip on him every once in a while. He’s complacent and she’s an overachiever. If the two of them rub off on each other enough, they both might end up balanced people. Plus, Luke knows how to love, and that’s more than I can say for most the guys her age. Most of your generation are boys who have no idea how to be men and, hence, will forever be guys.”

Mike considered that as he ran a layup and missed. His dad caught it and watched him for a moment.

“You think Luke knows how to love?” Mike finally asked.

His dad nodded. “And don’t take this the wrong way, but I think he picked up from you a bit. If he’d had different friends, Luke would be the kind of guy who lived in a man cave and played role play games all day. He can be thoughtless. We both know that, but not because he has a bad heart. Because he has a clueless one. Hanging out with you and tagging along all those times your mom sent you out to deliver food, or mow a lawn, or take a shy girl to a dance, just showed Luke that he wasn’t the only person on the planet who wanted things. He learned how to give, and I have no doubt he’ll give everything he can to Kris. I’m sure of it.”

Mike considered that, then nodded. “So is that the difference between a guy and a man, do you think?”

“A man gives,” his dad said. “A man provides for others.”

“And a guy provides for himself?” Mike asked. “Does that mean I’m going through a guy phase right now?”

“You’re trying to get out of debt,” his father said. “You’ve never been in debt and you feel like you can’t truly give anything to anyone until you’re free of it. I know how your mind works.”

“Thanks.”

“That said, yes. You are definitely going through a ‘guy’ phase, son. Sun up to sun down all you’re thinking about is yourself. I think that’s one of the reasons your mom is worried. People who think only about themselves tend to get depressed.”

Ouch. Well that assessment was pretty much on the nose. “Three months and I’m out of debt. If I’m still acting like a guy then, feel free to yell at me.”

“Will do,” his dad said. “And just know that your mom will definitely be waiting for you to start dating again. She didn’t put all that effort into raising you so you could be a bachelor. She fully expects you to pamper a woman and make her some gorgeous grandkids.”

A face immediately came to mind. A face he would be much better off forgetting. “And if I find someone who doesn’t want me back?”

“Then you’re not being a man,” his dad said, dribbling the ball again.

Mike shook his head. “It’s different these days, Dad. Women get married for different reasons than they did fifty years ago. It’s all about love now. If a woman doesn’t love you, she’s not going to marry you because you’re a good, solid guy.”

His dad took a quick shot, banking the ball through the hoop and then catching it. “Your generation has it all backwards.” He tucked the ball under his arm and squared off with Mike. “You all seem to think that being in love is some over-the-top sensation that puts you in a constant state of euphoria. Then, as soon as the euphoria wears off, you all walk away and say you’re just not in love anymore so how can there be a marriage?” He tossed Mike the ball. “It’s a load of crap. Love is an action, not a state of being.”

Mike had heard his father’s words before. He’d been raised on them, for heaven’s sake. But for the first time he was having trouble believing them.

“But what if she doesn’t love you back?” Mike asked.

His father shook his head. “That’s the wrong question to ask. The question is, does the she feel your love, or are you just feeling it all by yourself? Love isn’t love if the other person doesn’t feel it, Mike. And it’s only when they feel your love that they can really make a choice of whether they want you in their life. The rest is just smoke and mirrors.”

Mike dribbled the ball, thinking not shooting.

His dad stood under the hoop and seemed to sense that his words hadn’t sunk in. “Ask yourself if you’re continuously showing this woman you love her, without demanding she meet you point for point.” He gestured to the house. “Like your mom loves you. That kind of love is work, son. Every night of your life, your mom has had dinner on the table for you. She held you when you were sick, and fixed you up when you got hurt. She’s gone to all your events and cheered for you—whether you won or lost. And when you did lose, she still made you feel like a winner. If you really want to make a relationship work, that’s how you’ve got to love. It’s just how it is. Everything else will fail.”

“Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re kind of smart sometimes.”

“Uh-huh. And I really did praise you too much as a kid. No question.”

Grinning, Mike moved to the hoop and made a slam dunk. “If you say so.”

“Smart ass.”