Interlude (7 page)

Hey babe. U lose UR phone? When can I C U
again?

2 weeks hopefully : (

The days crawled by like cold molasses. Cal
busied himself with the new work, his wonder code doing most of the
heavy lifting as he moped around waiting for Karen to return. He
took the opportunity to spend more time at the gym. He noticed that
she had not even bothered to text him since the last cryptic
message from the odd phone number. Was she intent on ditching him?
What kind of insurance disaster requires someone to be on site for
two weeks straight? Cal never thought of himself as super smart,
but he at least knew when someone was trying to lie to him! The
passing days only served to make his feelings for Karen turn to
apprehension and doubt.

He was now resolved in the belief that she
had blown him off. Maybe she was tired of him? As two weeks came
and went, Cal spent his days and nights thinking of her. Even if
she had moved on, she was a siren song to his ailing ship of fools!
Her wonderful body, the way her long, brown hair hung down on him
as she rode him like a mechanical bull.... While he was on the
treadmill at the gym he passed the time watching the subtitled TV
on the front wall. He noticed that the standoff in Alabama was
becoming a big deal. The constant helicopter footage of the
separatist's compound the only thing on the new these days. Today
was a bigger deal, as the ATF was finally able to penetrate the
perimeter with some new robotic vehicle. They used this to help
move out the children being held hostage inside. The news was
basically doing a wrap up, as they has pulled out the hostages a
couple of days ago. As he finished up his shower, he left the gym
and sent Karen another one way text. He had come to see these as a
sort of therapy. He didn't even know if Karen would ever read them,
but it felt good to vent. He was probably blocked and out of her
life for good, for all he knew.

As he drove home, he noticed a familiar tone.
It was the text tone he assigned Karen's number! First one, then
another, and another. He struggled to find a place to pull over,
frantically grabbing his phone out of his pocket as it kept
plinging away happily. All of his messages from the last month were
being answered with insane speed! Some of them didn't even make
sense, they were just responses filled with mashed buttons and
text-speak.

The final one floored him
: We have to
talk, NOW.

That was never good.

Through the last texts, they decided to meet
up at a coffee shop in Santa Maria. She decided the location, as
she knew that area of the county better that he did. Cal still
withheld the fact that he was newly separated, and jobless, and
homeless. “Man, it's a good thing I didn't tell her!”, he thought
to himself as he drove down Highway 101. He would have looked like
a total loser compared to her confidence and wealth. His car was
making a distinct rattling noise that he didn't recognize. He
ignored it as he swung into the little boutique cafe that Karen had
chosen. Cal brushed a random piece of lint off his shirt. He
checked his tie to make sure he didn't get food on it from his
lunch earlier. He pondered the tie. Wearing these things regularly
was something that she had gotten him hooked on. He was wearing the
tie from their tryst at the hotel as he strolled in to the little
coffee shop. He attempted to look casual as he scanned the crowded
tables. The truth was that he was nervous and happy and confused
all at the same time. Dare he say it?

Just then, he saw her. She was seated at the
back, under an oddly hung bicycle. She was holding a large latte
cup close to her with her long delicate fingers. She looked
stunning! She had chosen to wear a green silk top and jeans. The
top made her eyes almost electric, as she gave him that same timid
look that was so uncharacteristic of her personality. He eyes
regarded him with a mix of happiness and confusion. Cal was already
on edge, but her demeanor was making him more defensive as he took
a seat across from her. Looking for a segue, he reached out to
squeeze her hand. If he wasn’t mistaken, he could have sworn she
had lost some weight. She half-smiled as she returned his squeeze
lightly.

“God I missed you!” Cal finally said, his
voice rose slightly to counter the noise of the evening crowd. “How
many insurance emergencies did you have to take care of?” He asked
lightheartedly.

“Cal, I need to break up with you.” She said
quietly, her face pointing down as she tried to sip her coffee
casually.

Cal felt his heart fall out of his body as
his brain tried to make sense of what he just heard. His hand
retracted and placed itself in his lap as he tried to come to grips
with what she had just said.

Cal whispered quietly in desperation. “I, I
don't understand. We were doing so well! You said so yourself at
the hotel. We clicked! I've never felt like this about anyone
before, ever. How could you do this to me? To us?” His exasperation
turned to hurt as Karen tried to maintain her emotions. He saw the
telltale welling in her big, beautiful eyes as she dashed at a tear
with her napkin. “Is this what you really want?” He finally
asked.

“Cal, I don't know what I want. The last two
week have reminded me that,” she paused, “that we aren't the same
people. We come from different worlds. There are so many parts of
my life that would make no sense to you at all.” She said, still
wringing her napkin in her hands as Cal struggled to find words for
a response.

“Wow. I wanted to tell you all of the things
you do for me! To me! You make, er, made me feel like a super hero!
The little time I spent with you inspired me to make so many
changes in my former life.” He was struggling to express himself as
Karen gave him a look of stark fear.

“You don't mean that you-”

“Yes, I split with Alice, and by default most
of my former life. I'm staying at a friend's until I can get a
place of my own.” Cal said. He was still proud of himself, in spite
of his very soul dying inside of him.

“What are you doing for money?” Karen asked,
her face a mask of confusion at this flood of information.

“I’m doing freelance work. It's not gonna
make me rich, but at least I can save up for a condo eventually.”
He said. Then he suddenly blurted, “Is this for real!”

“Cal, there's things about my life I can't
talk about, things you shouldn't have to subject yourself to for
the sake of me.” She said. her voice was tense as she fought back
more tears.

She got up from the table, her chair scraping
across the wood floor as Cal could only sit there. As she stepped
around toward the door, she bent over and gave him a slow kiss on
the cheek. Cal only managed to raise a hand to hold on to it
forever as she made her way out the door, and out of his life.
Forever.

Chapter 4

Cal sat at the table for another hour. He
ordered an espresso and sat there staring at the wall. He could
feel his insides growing dark and cold as her memories continued to
flood his thoughts. He wanted to stay here forever. If he got up
and left, than what had just happened would be real and final. All
he had to do was sit here and drink coffee. He could still smell
her scent, a mix of shampoo and perfume and so many other things.
If he got up, then those smells would vanish from his life also.
His mind ran through the last words she said. What about her life
was so hard? What was so difficult to deal with? Was she formerly a
guy? Did she like girls? Whips and chains? Was she a serial killer?
Cal didn't care. He meticulously ran through all the things that he
would still cherish her through. She could be standing in front of
a burning orphanage with a gas can and a lighter, and he would take
the fall for her! The cafe finally started winding down as the
manager scooted Cal out the door.

Cal made his way up the coast to his home
sweet trailer. The new life that he had regarded as fun and
adventurous just seemed like hell now. He felt inadequate in ways
that he never knew possible. His job was gone. His retirement was
gone. His spacious tract home was also gone. Through it all, he
still didn't regret the split. He knew that was one good thing that
this turn of events would never corrupt. As he pulled into the
alley behind Jeremy's house, he noticed a light on in the trailer.
He thought he had turned them all off. Before he could make sense
of what was happening, the door swung open with such force that it
jammed his hand and hit him in the forehead. He was reeling from
the blow when two men pulled him into the trailer. There were two
figures with ski masks standing over him, their eyes calm and
calculating as one of them kicked him in the side of the head. His
world went black.

As Cal slowly came to, his brain tried to
make sense of last few weeks. The hotel, the trailer. He couldn't
even remember what home looked like anymore. As his mind came back
to him, he noticed a big, blue ice pack on his head. There were so
many people in his trailer, in the front and side yard of his
friend's house, that nobody seemed too interested in him. Just then
a younger girl, probably no older that high school age, started
yelling to the others.

“Oh my god! He's awake he's awake! Her shrill
voice wrought havoc on Cal's head as her worded ricocheted around
the inside of the metal trailer. In her best efforts to be helpful,
she smashed the icepack down on his temple with youthful vigor.

“Ugh, do you mind? What the hell happened?
Who are all these people?” Cal's voice still sounded distant and
funny to him as he continued to come to. He started to panic as he
realized his arms and legs didn't seem to be working. The
realization that he was strapped to a gurney become evident as he
felt himself being rolled out of the trailer and down the driveway.
The EMT seemed to aim for every crack and pebble as his aching head
bounced and swirled about.

“Relax. You're going to be okay. We're taking
you to the hospital to get your head looked at.” An older man with
a gray mustache and round-framed glasses said. The man shined a
flashlight in his eyes while he explained his actions to the girl
holding the ice pack.

“You see, I'm checking for a concussion by
observing his pupil's response to light.” The man said in a
fatherly tone as the girl watched intently, continuing to put way
too much pressure on the ice pack!

Cal moved his head about to try and get the
girl to take a hint. “You mind, it hurts already.” He groaned, as
the girl stood back timidly. The instructor gave Cal an appraising
look as they loaded him onto the ambulance, banging the gurney on
everything they could in the process.

Cal was admitted to the hospital for a week
to monitor his brain swelling and his other injuries. He was
bruised like a banana that had been tossed down a flight of stairs.
Getting knocked out in real life is nothing like the movies. Cal's
balance was still shaky, and he couldn't remember details leading
right up to the point where he went unconscious. There were two
guys and they both had masks on, that was all he could muster for
the cops. He'd received a lecture from the neurologist regarding
head trauma and could only manage a confused stare. “Yeah Doc, I'll
try harder not to get the shit kicked out of me by random thugs.”
He thought to himself as the nurse came in to give him his meds. He
received a vase full of flowers, but he didn't know who would have
sent them. Jeremy and his family were still pissed at him for
attracting the criminal element to their quiet neighborhood, and
the only other visitor he had seen was from HR at Weatherly-Park
telling him about his insurance coverage. Looking as the card:

I saw on the news what happened. I'm so
sorry! I had hoped to keep this away from you, but it seems I was
too late. I'll be up to visit soon. It'll be good to see you
again!

-Karen

As Cal rushed frantically to find some kind
of date or time on the delivery slip, he heard a lilting female
voice at the door to his room. He looked up with a sense of dread
as the recognition hit him.

“Hi Alice,” Cal muttered in a fake, jovial
tone. She made her way over to his hospital bed, sliding the side
rail down so she could sit at the foot of the bed. She regarded him
with a look that said she didn't want to be there, but she hid it
with amazing skill as she spoke through a fake smile.

“How have you been?” She asked finally, her
question punctuated by placing her hand on his thigh.

“How have I been?” Cal responded in whispered
astonishment, adding, “I got robbed and knocked unconscious! How do
you think I've been!?” His noticed his voice rising in the quiet
room. He lowered his tone as Alice observed him cautiously. “What
are you doing here anyway?” He said finally. She moved to console
him, but he held his hand out. As he touched her advancing
shoulder, he noticed the sticky residue on his arm left by the IV
needle that was taken out. Somehow that held his attention as Alice
continued her attempt to communicate with him.

“I'm here because I'm still your wife.” she
managed to say. She moved his hand from her shoulder, placing it in
between hers as she squirmed on the bed.

“I don't need you here.” Cal said flatly.

“Oh yes you do! Jeremy and Sarah don't want
you living with them anymore. Their whole neighborhood blames you
for all the commotion you caused. You have no home, no job, and no
place to stay.” She said triumphantly. Her little eyes held a mix
of self-righteousness and desperation.

“Actually, he's going to be staying with me.”
A familiar voice came from the entryway as the hospital noises
faded out. Cal recognized that voice! That beautiful, breathy voice
that was so calm and controlled. Alice turned slightly to glace at
this unfamiliar woman. She burned with visible envy as her eyes
looked Karen up and down, from her tan high heels, to her gray
skirt and maroon top. Karen made her way over to the bed, her heels
clicking quietly on the tile floor as Alice fumed. She swished her
hair over her shoulder as she stuck out her hand.