A Life Less Ordinary (13 page)

She
settled into the passenger seat again and watched him in silence as they pulled
out of the gas station and back on the road.

“What
were you thinking about?” Zeke asked when she showed no sign of speaking.

“That
you seem to have an awful lot of secrets,” she replied.

Zeke
shot her a startled glance and opened his mouth to protest.

“Come
on,” she said, “you always lose the Ask Me Anything game.”

He
frowned, staring resolutely at the road in front of them.

“You
just ask the questions first,” he grumbled.  “I don’t really have that many
secrets.”

“No?”
she asked skeptically.

He
shook his head.  “No.  It’s just -”

“It’s
just you don’t want to answer
my
questions – especially when I ask about
your personal life.”

Zeke
glanced at her.  She’d sounded almost...hurt.

“I
don’t answer anyone’s questions about my personal life,” he admitted
grudgingly.  “I’m not interested in well-meaning but useless advice.”

She
cocked her head and steadily met his gaze.  “I don’t give advice,” she assured
him quietly.

Zeke
stared at her for a moment then turned his attention back to his driving.  He
swallowed as he shifted in his seat, flexing his hands on the wheel.  She’d
looked sincere, he thought grudgingly, her eyes clear and blue and honest.  He
glanced at her again from the corner of his eye, wondering what was different
before he realized some strands of her mousy hair had escaped and were hanging
beside her face, softening her appearance.

He
frowned, wondering if that was all that was different.

“Are
you wearing your hair differently or something?” he blurted.

She
turned to him, her jaw dropping in surprise.  She closed her mouth with a
snap.  “Uh, no.  No, I’m not,” she replied.

“Well,
something’s different,” he insisted.

“I’m
wearing new clothes,” she offered with a puzzled frown, trying to think what
she might have changed.

He
glanced over at her, and realized that yes, she was in something other than her
shapeless sweats and t-shirt.  In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d
seen her wearing them.

He
shrugged off his confusion.

“What
were we talking about?” he asked.

“Your
secrets.”

“I
don’t have any,” he said again.

“Which
is why I always win the Ask Me Anything game.”

“
You just have no
shame,” he sniffed.

“Well,
it’s not like I’ve ever done anything to be ashamed about,” Manny replied
drily, a slightly wistful hint in her voice.

He
glanced sharply at her, sensing he was on the trail of something he might be
able to use for his blog.

“Come
on,” he coaxed, “you must have done something!”

“I’ve
lived a very sheltered life,” she replied, shaking her head.

“Good
God – you’re not a virgin!  Are you?”

She
burst into laughter.  “I’m not sure if you’re more appalled at the thought of
me being a forty-five-year-old virgin, or at the thought that I’ve actually had
sex!”

He
grimaced ruefully.  “I have to admit, both scenarios are rather disturbing.  No
offense,” he added quickly when she glared at him.

“Anyway,”
Manny said pointedly, “the bottom line is:  I have nothing to hide.  I have to
admit, the more you refuse to answer any questions about your personal life,
the more curious I get.”

Zeke
hesitated, his hands tightening even more on the wheel.

“I
don’t really have anything to hide,” he said slowly, “but I’ve left people
behind me for a reason.”

She
considered him thoughtfully.  “And once you’ve left them behind, you never –
what? Think or see or speak of them again?  You never wonder about the girl you
left behind?”

“I
– no.  No.  I walk away and I never look back.  Oh, I’ll talk about them.  Just
– not with people I don’t know well.”

Manny
gave him a glimmer of a smile.  “Fair enough,” she conceded.  “Besides, I guess
we need to leave ourselves something to talk about later.  We still have over
five months to spend together.”

Zeke
gave her a rueful grin.  He continued driving in thoughtful silence for a few
minutes before he said, “What about you?”

Manny
gave him a puzzled frown.  “Me?  What about me?”

“Don’t
you – don’t you have somebody – anybody – you’ve left behind?  Somebody you’ve
walked away from without a backwards glance?”

Manny
carefully considered the question.

“I
have people I’ve left behind, yes,” she replied slowly, “but I’ve never managed
to walk away without a backwards glance.  Or two.”  She gave him a glimmer of a
smile.  “I do have some who got away...although, to be honest, I never actually
had them in the first place.  I’ve also had a couple who I should have run away
from, but didn’t.  But nobody recently.”

“So,”
Zeke drawled, trying to lighten her somber mood, “you’re looking for some
old-fashioned romance on this trip?”

Manny
shrugged, leaning her elbow on the passenger door, her head propped on her hand
as she looked at him. 

“Not
really.  I’ve been around that block a few too many times.  For whatever reason,
I don’t attract single men.  Or men older than twelve or younger than
sixty-five.  Or sober men, come to think of it.”

Zeke
sighed dramatically.  “Poor thing,” he said sarcastically.

“Your
sympathy is overwhelming,” she said drily, “and unnecessary.  I’m used to it. 
Anyway, no, I’m not looking for romance on this trip.  I just want to have some
fun.  That’s it.  See things, do things – just...have a good time.”

“Like
sex?”

Manny
laughed and shook her head.  “Honestly?  Sex just screws everything up.  No,
thank you.  Mind you, if I should get an offer -” she shrugged.

Zeke
grimaced.

“Yeah,
thanks, asshole,” Manny snapped, suddenly angry.

“No,
no, no,” he protested, flushing guiltily.  “I didn’t mean -”

“Whatever. 
You know what?  I think I’ll go take a nap.”  She unbuckled her seatbelt and
made her way to the back of the van where she toed off her shoes and slid under
the covers on the bed.

Zeke
shook his head as he swore under his breath.

~~~~~

Well,
what did you expect?

Not
disgust
!

Harvey
settled on his side on the bed with a sympathetic sigh.  He leaned over her,
his head propped on his hand.

You’re
his Auntie Em,
he reminded her gently. 
Nobody wants to think of their aunt getting laid. 
Not even by their uncle!

...doesn’t
really make me feel any better.

I
know.  I’m sorry.

Me
too.

With
a soft sigh, Manny turned on her side.  She resolutely closed her eyes, and
concentrated on the sound of the tires on the pavement.

~~~~~

That
evening, Manny settled on the bar stool beside Zeke and took a swig of her beer. 
She closed her eyes in appreciation as the cold liquid slid down her throat and
hit her stomach.

“God,
that tastes good,” she sighed.

Zeke
slanted a glance at her and smiled slightly at her look of total satisfaction. 
She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

“So,
you’re talking to me again?” he asked.

“Obviously,”
she said drily.  “Of course, I’ll talk to almost anyone who buys me a beer.”

He
raised one expressive eyebrow and she chuckled slightly as she shook her head
to forestall whatever comment he was about to make.

He
leaned closer and said in a low voice, “Look, I’m sorry about earlier.  I
didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

Manny
considered him thoughtfully.  “I know you didn’t,” she assured him.

“I
just – you’re my Auntie Em, you know?  I don’t really want to think about you
and...you know...” he leaned even closer and lowered his voice, “
sex
.”

Manny
blinked at him.

“You
do realize you just whispered the word sex, right?”

Zeke
flushed and ducked his head as he abruptly straightened in his chair.  “Yeah, I
know,” he groaned.

Manny
laughed.  “As much as I enjoy watching your discomfort, I’ll tell you what.  I
promise not to ask you about your personal life anymore – just to give you a
fair shot at winning the Ask Me Anything game - and I’ll also try not to
embarrass you by talking about me having sex.  Okay?”

Zeke
gave her a half-smile.  “Of course, that first one kind of defeats the whole
purpose of the game, doesn’t it?”

Manny
shrugged as she took another sip of beer.  “I’ve already discovered your
Achilles’ heel; I know all I need to do to win is pull out a question about
past loves or the girl you left behind.  While I like never paying for gas,
it’s not really a fair game, is it?  I’m just trying to level the playing
field.”

Zeke
considered her somberly then turned his attention back to his own beer, taking
a sip with a thoughtful frown.

“Look,”
he shifted uncomfortably, “okay.  All right.  Her name is Dixie.”

He
met Manny’s puzzled gaze.  “The girl I left behind,” he clarified.

He
hesitated, turning his beer bottle between his hands.  Manny watched him and
waited in silence.

“We
lived together for just over six months, although we’d dated for almost two
years before we moved in together.  Things were...
good
.  I thought we
were happy enough.  She’s a sweet kid – but there was always some underlying
tension, some level of distrust...for many reasons.”

“On
both sides?” Manny asked.

“Mostly
hers.  She never seemed to believe I...
cared
...for her.  Things improved
once we started living together, but she never seemed able to truly trust me. 
The end came because I’d called her from – from a friend’s house and Dixie saw
a woman’s name pop up on the phone.  She automatically assumed the worst and
when I got home that night, all my stuff was outside, waiting for me.”  He
shrugged, deliberately casual as he said, “I decided it would be best to get
away for a while.”

Zeke
kept his eyes on his hands as he idly played with his beer bottle. 

“Did
you talk to her at all before you left?” Manny asked, her mouth twisted in
sympathy.

He
shook his head with a self-deprecating grimace.  “There wasn’t anything to
say,” he said.

“Not
even you’re sorry?  Or to explain?  Or to try and work things out?”

“No. 
She’d made up her mind, and I wasn’t about to go crawling to her for
forgiveness – especially when I hadn’t done anything wrong.”

Manny
subsided into thoughtful silence, her own eyes dropping to her hands on her
beer bottle.  She quietly picked at the label as she considered Zeke’s words.

“What?”
he finally demanded, his formidable brows lowered over wary eyes.

She
glanced at him and shrugged.  “I’m sorry about what happened, and I’m wondering
if you’re regretting the fact you just walked away?  I mean, without another
word and without – without trying to – I don’t know – understand?”

He
gave her a twisted smile.  “Get closure, you mean?  Isn’t that the word of the
day?”

Manny
shrugged.  “Call it what you want.  I just wonder if you have unanswered
questions – or lingering guilt.  Maybe giving her a call wouldn’t be such a bad
idea.”

She
took a sip of her beer and steadily met his glower.

He
finally snorted and shook his head.  “I thought you said you don’t give
advice,” he growled.

She
smiled sweetly.  “I lied.”

* * * * *

TJ
and Leah walked wearily into their house.

“That
was incredibly helpful,” TJ sighed as he threw his keys on the side table in
the hall.

“She
was good, wasn’t she?” Leah agreed, toeing off her shoes and hanging up her
coat.

“You
know, we could have saved ourselves a lot of time and effort if we’d just
signed up for the counselling right away.”

Leah
laughed.  “Yes, but you know we would have just done the work afterwards.”  She
walked to him, slid her arms around his neck, and leaned in to him as she
kissed him.  “We both like to do our own research and make our own decisions.”

TJ
chuckled.  “And we both understand knowledge is power.”  He kissed her again
before leading her into the living room, their hands loosely linked.

“True,”
she agreed, once they were snuggled comfortably on the couch.  Leah thoughtfully
stared into space and bit her lip.