A Life Less Ordinary (46 page)

I
know enough.  I read the first few.  I know what he really thought of me.

Prudish. 
Repressed.  Timid.

Don’t
remind me.

To
be fair – really, what did you think your image was like?

Professional. 
Competent.  Composed.

You
say potato -

Shut
up.

Look,
you could at least give him the benefit of the doubt – at least until you read
all of the blogs.

He
used me!  He
used
me!

And
you thought he liked you.

Yes. 
Yes!  I thought we were starting to be
friends
.  I thought...God – I’m
so pathetic.  No wonder I hid from the world for the last fifteen years.  I
can’t figure anything out.

What
did you think?

Just...there
was the possibility of a little excitement in my life when I got back to
reality.  You know?  Zeke’s – Zeke
was
interesting and mysterious and
different.  And it would have been...
fun
to have a friend like him when
I’m once again immersed in work and...and I’m back in my world made of grey.

Maybe
he’ll still be a friend like that.

Look
around – he’s gone.  And good riddance.

Are
you ever going to read his blogs? 
All
of them?

I
don’t know.  Now go to sleep.

* * * * *

Max
shoved a cup of coffee in front of Daisy’s face and she jumped.

“Jesus!”
she yelped.  “You’re as silent as a cat!”

He
smirked his crooked smirk, the deep grooves in his cheeks that weren’t quite
dimples on full display.

“I’ll
put on a bell,” he promised in his quiet voice that still held an edge of
danger no matter how gently he spoke.  Maybe it was the bald head, she
thought.  “Come on,” he urged, “you haven’t done anything but stare at that
computer screen for the last ten minutes.  Come talk to me.”

Daisy
blinked, and glared at him.  He raised one eyebrow, his green eyes intent on
hers, and her shoulders slumped.  She nodded as she took the coffee and
followed him to the armchairs by the office doors.

They
sipped their coffee in silence for a moment, then Max said, very gently, “Just
how much trouble are you in?”

Daisy’s
eyes slid away from his, and she shifted uncomfortably.  She shrugged.

“Daisy,”
he snapped, and she jumped guiltily.  His voice was no longer gentle.  Instead
he was in full investigative mode, putting the suspect on the run and getting
answers.  It wasn’t a tone he used often with her, and Daisy realized she liked
it better when he used it on other people.

She
rallied and glared at him.  “It’s not your concern,” she said with as much dignity
as she could muster.

They
were in a standoff of wills, and Daisy wondered why she’d never noticed just
how green and piercing his eyes could be. 

Max
finally relaxed and sighed.  “I’m asking as your friend, Daisy.  I want to help
– I mean more than just tracking down who took your money and where it’s at
now.  Do you need a loan?  Are you okay to pay your bills?”

Daisy’s
anger melted.  “You can’t help me, Max.  You can barely afford to pay me – I
know!  I do your books, remember?  I owe more on my credit cards than you make
in a year.”  She had a sudden, horrifying thought as she considered his dropped
jaw and staring eyes.  “And if you think for even one minute that I’m going to
start embezzling, well, you can just kiss my lily-white ass!”

“Huh? 
What -?  Now you’re just being stupid,” he scoffed.

Daisy
began to puff up, eyes glinting dangerously as she opened her mouth to tell him
where to go.

“For
God’s sake,” he snarled, “just
shut up
!”

She
snapped her mouth closed, and sat back with a huff, her arms crossed tightly
across her chest.

He
leaned forward, his eyes intent on her face.

“You’re
not angry with me, Daisy.  I didn’t put you in this situation.”

She
looked away, chagrined.  “I know.  I’m sorry.  I just...” she shrugged. 
“Besides the sheer devastation of having our entire life’s savings stolen
practically overnight, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be worried about paying
my bills.  I don’t like feeling this vulnerable.  I don’t like feeling like my
children are vulnerable.  At least Hub’s still making his big bucks, so I know
– logically – the kids are secure – even though my heart is still terrified for
all of us.  One thing I do know for sure:  I’ll be damned if I’m going to ask
him for alimony!”

Max
nodded.  “I can understand that.”  He paused.  “You don’t know everything about
me, Daisy.  If you need help, you’ll let me know – right?”

She
nodded, then frowned.  “What don’t I know?” she asked.

He
simply smirked and sipped his coffee.

~~~~~

Manny
sighed as her cell phone rang and Zeke’s name and picture appear on the screen.

Again.

You
may as well answer that.

She
glared at Harvey, looking handsome and smugly amused.

Why?

If
nothing else, to get him to stop calling.

She
scowled at the phone until the call went to voice mail.

Every
hour on the hour,
Harvey noted. 
The boy’s persistent if nothing else.

Manny
shrugged. 
I don’t care.  Now, I’m at Disneyworld – let’s have some fun.

~~~~~

Manny
walked tiredly into her motel room and flopped face down on the bed.

“I’m
wiped,” she groaned out loud.

Me
too,
Harvey
sighed, flopping on the bed beside her.

Considering
you’re not real, I’m not feeling a lot of sympathy for you.

Thanks.

Anytime.

Manny’s
cell phone range and she groaned again, burying her face into the pillow.

Talk
to him – even if it’s just to tell him to fuck off.

I’ve
already told him to fuck off.  Besides, he should be home by now. 
Why
is he
calling
?

You’re
whining.

I
know.

The
phone fell silent, and Manny sighed then heaved herself off the bed and headed
to the bathroom.

I
need a bath.  Then food.

Better
hurry – he’ll be calling again in an hour.

Only
he didn’t.  He didn’t phone in the next hour, either, or by the time Manny
trudged back to her motel room, changed into her boxers and t-shirt and crawled
into bed.  She tried to read, the words swimming in front of her eyes, and even
when she could make out the words, she couldn’t focus on the story.

She
tossed the book aside with an irritated huff, then hunched under the blanket
and resolutely closed her eyes.

Well,
I guess you’ve done it.  He’s given up.

Manny
frowned. 
I
want
him to give up.

Do
you?

...yes.

Harvey
sighed and sadly shook his head.

You
almost believe it, too.

Go
to sleep.

* * * * *

Manny
started when her phone rang at ten in the morning.  She fumbled for it, and
cursed the rush of relief that turned her knees to water when she saw Zeke’s
picture on the screen.

She
glared at Harvey, who simply smirked and raised a knowing eyebrow as he nodded
at the phone, urging her to answer.

She
hesitated, biting her lip, then took a deep breath and picked up the call.

“Hello,
Zeke,” she said.

There
was a moment of silence, then, “Manny?” Zeke said, stunned.

“Were
you calling someone else?” she asked drily.

“No. 
No!  I just wasn’t expecting you to pick up the call.”

“Why
were you calling then?”

“I...wanted
to talk.”

“
We’ve already talked.”

“
Manny,” Zeke groaned
helplessly, “look.  Could we get together?”

Manny
frowned.  “Well – I won’t be home for a while yet.  So if you still want to by
the time I get back – why are you laughing?”

And what a laugh!
Harvey sighed.

Shut. 
Up
!

The shitty part was Harvey was right.  Zeke was chuckling a low,
husky sound that Manny was positive she’d never heard from him before.  It
was...
intimate
, that was the word, and it was doing strange things to
her nerve endings.

Hormones. 
I keep telling you -

Oh,
sweet mother of God...

“I’m
not at home,” Zeke told her.

Manny
blinked and refocused on the conversation.

“Then...where
are you?” she asked, confused.

“Orlando.”

Manny’s jaw dropped.  “Did you
follow
me?” she said, her
voice dipping into dangerous territory.

“Well,
I’d intended to,” Zeke admitted, “then I had to get to Orlando as fast as
possible.  TJ was rushed to the hospital two – three days ago now.”

“Oh,
my God!  What happened?”

“Massive
lung infection.  The idiot thought it was just the flu and downplayed
everything to everybody.  Anyway, it was a bit nip and tuck there the first
night.  I talked to him very briefly yesterday.  He’s nicely stabilized now and
once he’s more with it, he’ll be appropriately apologetic to both me and Leah
for scaring the crap out of us.”

“I’m
glad,” Manny murmured softly, then paused, frowning.  “So – wait – you followed
me?”

“
Only part of the way,”
Zeke protested weakly.

“
That’s...a little
creepy,” Manny said.

“
So I’ve been told,”
Zeke sighed.  “Apparently it’s not considered romantic anymore.”

Romantic
? 
Harvey
blurted.

“
Romantic
?”
Manny squeaked.

“In
the broad sense of the term,” Zeke hastened to assure her, “not in any
feelings
sense of the word.”

Oh,
Harvey pouted.

“Oh,
of course,” Manny said, relieved and disappointed all at once.

“Anyway. 
Can we get together?”

“Are
you going to apologize?”

“About
the blog?”

“
Of course about the
blog!”

Zeke
paused, and Manny held her breath.

“I
don’t know, Manny.”

Now
it was Manny’s turn to think.

Harvey
shook his head and refused to say anything.

She
sighed.  “Okay.  Okay.  Where are you staying?”

Zeke
told her.

“How
about I meet you in the lobby at six?”

“Okay,”
Zeke agreed.  “See you then.”

Manny
disconnected the call and shook her head.

Are you going to forgive him, even if he doesn’t apologize? 
Harvey
asked with interest as they continued on their way.

What do you think? 
Manny sighed.

Harvey
was ominously silent and she glanced at him to find him frowning darkly at
nothing, his dark brown eyes thoughtful.

What? 
she demanded.

...you’re
really going to miss him when he’s really gone.

...I
know.

~~~~~

Manny
and Zeke rode the elevator in silence.  They stared straight ahead and said
nothing until the door to Zeke’s hotel room closed behind them.

“Do
you want a drink?” Zeke asked, hazel eyes intent on her face.

“Not
right now.”

She
shook her head as she wandered restlessly around the small room.

“Why
did you follow me?” she blurted, not looking at him.

“Because...I
was worried about you on your own.  Because I didn’t want you to think I just
used you.  Because...”

She
glanced at him from the corner of her eyes.  She raised an eyebrow in question
as he scowled at her, his brows lowered.