Standard disclaimer applies: Anything you recognize belongs to JE
Chapter 2
Leaving my parent's house, I glanced at my watch to check the time. It was only a little after 8 o'clock so I decided to drive by Joe's to see if he was home. He had been working long hours lately and I hadn't seen much of him. I pulled up behind his green SUV and grabbed the bag of leftovers off the seat beside me. Bob greeted me at the door with happy Bob kisses, but I could tell he was more interested in what was in the bag. I told him he was a good boy and held the bag high over my head as I made my way past the empty living room and into the kitchen. Joe was standing at the counter finishing a meatball sub and a beer.
"Hey, Cupcake. I was going to call you. Bob really missed you and was hoping you'd stop by," he said with a sexy grin. "The game is about to start. Maybe we can catch a couple of innings and then see how fast we can make it around the bases ourselves." His voice dropped an octave. "I've got the bat and the balls, and I'm looking forward to hitting a grand slam tonight."
Here's the thing about Joe. I always know what's going to happen when I stop by his house. Being in a relationship with Joe was simple. It was either food, sports or sex with Joe. Almost always at least two of those, and sometimes all three. We had a long history and our shared history was comforting. Joe was predictable and steady. He was the kind of hazy future my mother had in mind for me, although I think this vision was much clearer in her mind than it was in mine.
We made it through five innings before we moved our game to the bedroom. Sex with Joe was much like our relationship. Joe knew what I liked, and I knew how to please him. Both of us were left satisfied when we finished, but I couldn't help thinking that even our sex life was predictable and steady.
As I lay in bed listening to Joe's soft snores and steady breathing, I thought back to my conversation with Mary Alice. My mother was blatant in her efforts to conform me to the 'Burg standards. It felt as if every conversation included mention of someone else's daughter and their 'normal' job or their life as a wife and mother. No matter what I said, she wouldn't understand why that wasn't what I wanted. My normal was something different than her friend's daughters. Just like MA's normal was being a horse.
I was surprised Mary Alice had included Joe, though. Sure, he gave me crap about my job and blowing up cars, but it wasn't like he was really trying to change me. I know he would feel better about things if I had a different job and he really didn't like me working with Ranger, but it wasn't like he tried to stop me. He didn't even pressure me about marriage and starting a family anymore. It was like he had finally given up on the idea. It occurred to me that he probably didn't think I was worth the effort anymore. With that disturbing thought, I finally drifted off into a restless sleep.
Joe was gone by the time I woke up. There was a note leaning against the coffee machine that let me know Bob had been walked and fed. I grabbed the box of frozen waffles out of the freezer and toasted a couple for my breakfast. I stood in the kitchen eating my breakfast and contemplating my day. I needed to stop by the office and see if anything new had come in, and I needed to make rent money. I rinsed my coffee mug and put it in the dishwasher before sweeping the few waffle crumbs off the counter and into the garbage. I gave Bob a pat on the head and told him to be a good dog. There were clean clothes in the laundry basket in my car, but I decided to go home and shower so I could check on Rex. Mrs. Bestler was playing elevator operator and announced "Second floor. Ladies shoes and accessories," when the doors opened. Giving her a smile and wishing her a good day, I stepped out into the hallway.
Seated on the floor leaning against my door with her eyes closed was my grandmother. "Grandma, are you okay?" I called, rushing down the hall to check on her.
Her eyes snapped open and she grinned up at me from her seat. "I'm fine. Give me a hand up, will ya? I've had quite a night and I don't have a whole lot of get up and go in me right now."
I pulled her to standing and unlocked my door as she adjusted her dress and picked her black handbag up off the floor. "Have you been there all night?" I asked, surprised none of my neighbors had seen her and either let her into my apartment or called me.
"Oh goodness, no! I was with my honey all night. I've got myself a live one this time. He got himself some pirated male enhancement pills and we were doing the horizontal mambo into the wee hours of the morning. I had him drop me off here this morning so I could take a nap before going home to your mother. You know how she'd get if I came waltzing in to breakfast wearing the same dress I left the house in yesterday. She'd never let me get any rest with all her cryin' and complaining about what the neighbors will think."
"So, where does she think you are?" I knew from past experience if my grandmother didn't come home as expected my mother would be calling me and telling me to go find her. My phone didn't ring last night, and I had no missed calls or text messages this morning.
"I sent her a text to tell her the bus broke down and we were staying the night in Atlantic City. I figured that way she isn't expecting me til later and it would buy me some time for a nap this morning while you were at work. I hadn't counted on you not being home, but I guess you were busy getting some like me last night," Grandma said with a grin.
I cringed to think about my grandmother and her latest "honey" getting busy and I really didn't want to think about it in the same context as what Joe and I were doing last night. "Sure, you can crash here for a while. I just need to take a shower and get ready for work. Make yourself comfortable and I'll be out of your hair shortly."
I tapped on Rex's cage to say good morning and dropped a baby carrot and a couple of grapes into his food dish. The pine shavings rustled, and Rex scurried out of his soup can and stuffed a grape into his cheek. His whiskers twitched as if to thank me, and he scurried away with his breakfast. Two more trips and the food was stashed and our morning interaction was complete.
By the time I was out of the shower and dressed, my grandmother was asleep on the couch with the TV tuned to a morning news program. The announcer was talking about an explosion at a suspected drug lab in Colombia. Details were sketchy, but it sounded as if this was going to cause a major disruption in the flow of drugs into the United States, at least for a while. I briefly wondered if Ranger was involved and if he was okay.
Ranger and I have a complicated relationship. Ranger says his life doesn't lend itself to relationships, but I really don't know of any other way to describe our interactions. Initially, I went to Ranger looking for a mentor. Instead, I found a person whom I immediately trusted and quickly came to think of as more than just a mentor. Calling Ranger a friend seems too tame for what he is to me. He is a mentor, a counselor, a confidant, and, on occasion, my own personal superhero. My Batman. He is also hot enough to spark a forest fire, which explains the sexual attraction, at least on my part. I'm still not sure what he sees in me, and I'm not going to ask.
Ranger also doesn't lie to me. He may not always tell me the whole truth, but I can trust whatever he does choose to share. So, when Ranger tells me he loves me in his own way, or that he doesn't do stupid things like marriage and pregnancy, or that I should fix things with Morelli, I believe him. That doesn't stop me from loving him, but I have no expectation of some sort of happily ever after with Batman.
Ranger had been in the wind for the last three weeks. I didn't know exactly what Ranger did when he went into the wind, but this news story seemed like something he would be involved with. Ranger always told me to call Tank if I needed anything when he was gone, but I didn't think this included calling to ask if Ranger was okay after a drug lab in Colombia blew up. Besides, it really wasn't my place to do that. It wasn't like I was Ranger's girlfriend or something. Honestly, I was more like a pet that he looked after and cared for. I was his entertainment. Talk about a depressing thought.
I wrapped the afghan from the back of the couch around Grandma's shoulders before quietly letting myself out of my apartment. Things had been slow at the bonds office and rent was due next week, so I bypassed the bakery and hoped someone else had picked up donuts.