A Life Less Ordinary (12 page)

Manny
chuckled slightly.  “We’re getting along just fine,” she said, perching on the
loveseat and leaning forward, her elbows on her knees, her eyes intent on
Leila’s face.

“I’m
glad to hear that.”  Leila reached over and tapped Manny gently on the back of
her hand.  “Now tell me everything you’ve been doing.”

Manny
tried to give her the short version, but Leila would have none of it.  She
asked questions about each tour, probing into everyone Manny had met and their
conversations, and what she had felt or thought about the people and sights and
sounds and scents.  Manny found herself remembering things about the last few
days she hadn’t even realized had impressed her at the time.

Finally
Leila sat back with a sigh and a smile.

“Thank
you, Rose.  I can’t get out as much anymore, so thank you for humoring an old
woman with her endless questions.”

“I
enjoyed it,” Manny said rather shyly, “I hope I didn’t bore you.”

“Not
at all,” Leila said as she cocked her head to one side and observed her
closely.  “And yet...you don’t seem happy.”

Manny
blinked at her in surprise.

“I
– I’m fine,” she protested half-heartedly, flushing with embarrassment.

“Are
you upset Zeke went off with this – what was the girl’s name?”

“I’m
not sure, actually.  It starts with an L, I think.  And no, I’m not upset about
it.”

“But
you look like a woman with something on her mind.  Is it another man?”

Manny
laughed, “No.”

“Ah. 
A woman, then?”

Manny
laughed again, even harder.  “No woman either,” she said.

“But
there’s something weighing on you,” Leila said shrewdly.

Manny
huffed and sat back on the loveseat. 

“Too
much,” she sighed, “and none of it’s of any importance.  It’s not like I have
any problems – not real ones, anyway.”  She shook her head with a grimace. 
“It’s stupid.”

“What’s
stupid?” Leila persisted gently.

“A
mid-life crisis.  Just...feeling like life has passed me by.”  She looked
half-pleadingly at Leila although she didn’t know what she really wanted from
the older woman.

Leila
smiled.  “What do you think I can tell you?”

Manny
hesitated, biting her lip as she stared off into space. 

“Tell
me it’s not over,” she finally blurted, meeting Leila’s patient gaze.

“What’s
not over?”

“Anything. 
Everything
.  Passion – passion to learn and do and know.  Life.  That
there are still things to do and think – that I can still make changes – still
make a difference in this world – still
matter
.  Tell me – tell me -” to
her shame, hot, stinging tears suddenly filled her eyes.  “Tell me I’ll – I’ll
- I’ll
feel
something again.”

Leila
tutted soothingly and opened her arms.  Manny slid from the loveseat to kneel
beside the wheelchair and lean into the offered hug.  To her horror, she burst
into tears against Leila’s shoulder.

“I’d
say you’ve already answered your own question,” Leila said and she gently
rubbed Manny’s back until the tears stopped as suddenly as they’d begun.

Manny
leaned back and frowned, sniffling, her nose running, her eyes sore and gritty.

Leila
smiled gently at her.  “You’re feeling something now, aren’t you?  Your tears
are a form of passion, too, you know.  You were angry, weren’t you, when you
didn’t get that promotion.  And you were afraid – horrified – and that’s why
you quit your job.  All of those are emotions.  I’d say you still feel things.”

“But
those are all negative!”

“But
you still
feel
them – and feel them deeply.  If you can feel the
negative emotions, then you can also feel the positive.” 

She
smiled a suddenly wicked smile, and gently tapped the back of Manny’s hand
where it rested on the arm of Leila’s wheelchair. 

“No,
it’s not over – not if you don’t want it to be.”  She leaned closer.  “You
know, I married my fourth husband just last month.”

Manny
stared.  “Really?” she breathed.

Leila
nodded.  She gestured towards her purse on the coffee table and Manny retrieved
it for her.  Leila opened her wallet and took out a picture of her standing
with a distinguished older man in a traditional post-wedding pose.

“James. 
He’s currently away on a business trip,” Leila explained and she sounded much
younger than her eighty-plus years.  She lowered her voice conspiratorially. 
“A much younger man – only sixty.  I feel like I’ve robbed the cradle.  That’s
why my son isn’t talking to me at the moment – although he did attend the
wedding.”

Manny
blinked in stunned silence as she looked from the picture to Leila’s sparkling
grin, and began to laugh.

~~~~~

Zeke
opened the front gate as quietly as he could, wincing slightly as it creaked. 
It was late, after midnight, and he wondered if Manny was going to take him to
task for deserting her not only for the day, but for the night as well.  As he
carefully closed the gate and soft-footed it up the walk, he decided the day
and night had been worth it, even if Manny pulled out her most severe
disapproving maiden aunt look – a look she’d already levelled on him several
times, and which had been the topic of his last blog.

Yes,
he mused, Luciana was a beautiful and charming young woman, and even though
she’d been somewhat disconcerted by his refusal to go back to her place, she’d
seemed to enjoy their time together as much as he had. 
Definitely
worth
suffering through that look.

TJ
and Leah would never believe him if he told them there’d been no sex, though. 
Hell, he could barely believe it himself.  He shook his head.  Maybe Manny’s
prudish ways were starting to rub off on him.  He shuddered at the thought even
as he filed it away to pull out for a future blog.

Zeke
winced again as the doorknob rattled under his hand and he ruefully realized he
hadn’t been this worried about sneaking into the house since he was sixteen and
trying to slip past his dad’s far-too-sharp ears. 

His
efforts were wasted; he was hit with what felt like a wall of noise the moment
he cracked the door open.

He
quickly entered the house and shut the door behind him, his eyebrows lowered
dangerously over his eyes.  There was a mix of loud music and voices, and even
louder laughter exploding from the living room located at the back of the
house, and he knew there was no way in hell Manny was sleeping through this
racket.  He shuddered at the realization that this would only make her prudish
maiden aunt face all that more severe in the morning.

He
walked into the room with a questioning frown that quickly turned into stunned
surprise as he took in the scene in front of him. 

Leila
was holding court at the head of the table with her three grandchildren, three
unknown people who Zeke assumed were her grandchildren’s significant others –
and Manny, sitting between Leila’s two grandsons.  Everyone was talking and
laughing as they played cards, with the stereo blasting an old rock song.  As
Zeke watched, a concerted howl of protest went up as Leila laid down her cards
with a falsely innocent smile, obviously winning the hand.

In
the hubbub of people calculating their scores and calling out the results to
the scorekeeper, Leila glanced at the doorway and grinned.

“Zeke!”
she called in welcome, clearly delighted.  “Come in!  Help yourself to a drink
and if you’re hungry, there’s some food over on the sideboard.  I’m afraid
we’re in the middle of a game, but you can join the next one.”

Zeke
wasn’t sure how to react to the general chaos and he gave Leila a slightly
stunned nod at her words.

“Sounds
like fun,” he said uncertainly and walked over to the sideboard to check out
the food.  He poured himself a drink, filled a plate with snacks and turned his
attention back to the raucous group sitting at the table who were joking and
laughing as the next hand was dealt.

“I
gotta warn you, Zeke – she’s a real shark,” Manny laughed, picking up her
cards, “she hasn’t lost a game yet!”

“I’ll
keep that in mind,” he replied, bemused, and settled in to watch the rest of
the game.

~~~~~

As
midnight changed into the early hours of the morning, Zeke covertly observed
Manny from his position beside Leila and thought this was the most relaxed he’d
ever seen her, even though her hair was still in that damn bun.  He watched her
from beneath his lowered dark brows and wondered what it was about this
particular group of people that was bringing out this side of her and whether
he could pinpoint it enough to write about it in his blog.

As
the final game of the night wrapped up and people began to rise from the table
and prepare to leave, Zeke leaned back in his chair and watched as Manny stood
to say good-bye to Leila’s family.

Leila
gently tapped the back of his hand and he started, glancing at her quizzically.

“She’ll
be all right,” she said softly.

Zeke
frowned.  “I’m sure she will be,” he replied slowly.

Leila
simply tapped the back of his hand again and sat back with knowing eyes and an
enigmatic smile.

Manny
shifted in the passenger seat, trying to find a comfortable spot.  It felt like
they’d been driving forever, which felt even longer since Zeke was once more
behind the wheel, driving silently and looking thunderous.

With
those eyebrows, not hard to do.

Manny
bit back a grin at Harvey’s words.  He was sitting beside her dressed in jeans
and wearing a t-shirt that clung to his well-muscled chest and emphasized his
arms.

Jealous?
she
teased.

Well,
you have to admit they have a personality all their own.

True. 
Would you like me to give you similar ones?

She
imagined him with Zeke’s thick, arched eyebrows and they both winced.

Doesn’t
work.

Not
even close.

She
glanced at Zeke who was glowering at the road in front of him.  He’d refused to
so much as glance at her ever since they’d pulled out the next destination from
the bag, and discovered they needed to retrace almost the entire route they’d
taken a week earlier.  To say he was displeased was like saying Death Valley
got a little warm during the summer.

“All
right,” Manny sighed breaking the heavy silence, “you win.”

He
glanced at her from the corner of his eyes although his expression didn’t
lighten.

“Pulling
locations randomly out of a hat – or baggie – while pretty fun in theory –
isn’t very practical,” she conceded grudgingly.

“
Thank
you!” Zeke said, smacking the steering wheel in triumph.

“If
you start singing
We are the Champions
, I’ll hurt you,” she warned
drily.

“I’m
sure I can find something more recent to use in tormenting you.”

She
rolled her eyes.

“So,”
she continued after another moment of silence, “are you going to start talking
to me again or should I go to the back and have a nap?”

Zeke
shrugged carelessly.  “I suppose I could grace you with my wit and charm for at
least -” he glanced at the fuel gauge - “the next twenty miles.”

“Or
whenever we get to the next town,” Manny agreed.

“Whichever
comes first,” he nodded, and flashed her a grin.

Now
I’m jealous.

Manny
glanced affectionately at Harvey.

You’re
still number one in my heart.

...that
may not necessarily be a good thing.

“So,
what did you want to talk about?” Zeke said.

“Anything.”

“Want
to play Ask Me Anything?”

Manny
laughed.  “At the rate you’re going, you’ll be paying for the whole damn trip
if you’re not careful.”

“Hah! 
I’ll find something you’ll refuse to answer one of these times!”

“And
I might find something you
will
answer one of these times!”

Zeke
shrugged.  “Fair point.”

~~~~~

Half
an hour later, Manny was considering Zeke with a thoughtful frown.  He’d once
again had to buy the gas, and Manny was sipping on a coffee while he stood
waiting for his turn to pay.

“What?” 
he asked as they walked back to the van.

“I
was just thinking,” she said.

“I
could tell,” he said drily, shaking his head at Manny’s outstretched hand and
walking to the driver’s side.