A Will To Change (Hope) (10 page)

Before I knew it his bandage was replaced - by me. “Hey, did you try and keep me talking to get out of doing this?”

He lifted his arm and looked at the bandage. “Not at all, Gabby girl. You hungry?” he asked, flashing me that panty-dropping smile.

“Starving.” I smiled back.

“Then let’s go eat!”

Gabby picked the place for lunch and I was finding that she was very easy to please. She decided on Jimmy’s diner, which was a short walk from my apartment. “Hey, Will, welcome home!” Ralph shouted from behind the counter. We took one of the empty tables as Gabby looked over the menu before quickly closing it.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t see anything you like?”

“Oh no. I already know what I want. A double cowgirl burger, fries, and a black-and-white shake.”

I looked at her and laughed, wondering how a little girl like her was going to put all that away.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Nothing, but the burgers here are huge.”

“And what are you trying to say, Will? You don’t think I could handle it? The bigger the better.” She raised her eyebrow and smirked.

“You are too much, you know that?” She shrugged her shoulders and smiled. She was so different than any other chick that I knew. I actually enjoyed her company and was having a great time hanging out with her.

Ralph came over to take our order, making small talk with me while staring at Gabby like she didn’t have any clothes on. He didn’t care that she was sitting right there as he proceeded to tell me, in great detail, about his supposed sexual romp with a twenty-something last night. Ralph was a good guy, but a total pervert. He thought that, even at sixty, he could still have any girl that he wanted. His dark hair looked like it had been slicked back with the bacon grease from the grill. He had more gold chains around his neck than Mr. T, and always made sure that his clump of grey chest hair hung out of his V-neck tee’s that he would always wear. He made no attempt to hide that he was flirting and could sometimes be downright vulgar. I could tell Gabby picked up on it right away.

“Well, Will, I see that you are putting out fires
off
the job, as well,” he said, winking at Gabby. I smiled and intertwined my fingers behind my head, leaning back in my chair, just waiting for Gabby’s response.

“Really, Will? You put out fires even when you’re not working?” Gabby tried her best to feign naiveté. Ralph gave an uncomfortable laugh and looked at me. “Oh, wait… Now I get it! You’re talking about me! Well…Ralph? Is that your name?”

“Yes, it is, baby cakes. But it can be anything you want, if you know what I mean.” He winked at her again.

“Well, Will won’t be putting out any fires here.”

“Oh, why is that, doll face?”

“Because I’m a nun.”

I bit the inside of my lip to halt my laughter. The panicked look on Ralph’s face was priceless. “Is she shittin’ me?” He looked at me with a nervous laugh.

I shook my head, unable to speak because I knew I would bust with laughter if I did.

“Yes. I’m an old friend of Will’s from school. I’m in town for the weekend. Sister Gabby, of the Franciscan Order.” Gabby extended her hand to him. I was amazed by her ability to keep a straight face and sound so serious.

Ralph was speechless as he gently shook her hand. “Oh, well, I’m…um…I didn’t mean any disrespect. I’m really -.”

“No harm done. I will say an extra Hail Mary for you.”

“Yeah…okay.”

Ralph quickly took our order, trying his best to escape his embarrassment. “Bless you, Ralph,” Gabby said, making the sign of the cross.

“Thank you, Sister,” Ralph said, making the sign of the cross back. I quickly looked out the window and covered my mouth to hold in the laughter.

We both busted out with laugher once Ralph walked away. “Did you see the look on his face?”

Gabby nodded. “The only twenty-something he was with last night was a twenty-something blow up doll. He’s just -.” She cringed and shook her head. “Just gross! Yuk!”

“Oh, come on, Gabby. You know you want to run your fingers through the mass of chest hair.”

“Oh god, please stop! I’m seriously going to lose my appetite.” Gabby rambled on until our food came, only stopping when her eyes lit up at the size of her burger.

“Told ya!” I teased.

“Told me what?” she asked, taking a bite of her fry.

“I saw the look on your face when you saw the size of that burger.”

“This little thing?” she asked, looking down at her plate. I nodded. “Oh please, Will. I’ve had bigger ones than this in my mouth.” I almost spit my ice tea all over the place. “I meant burgers, pervert!”

“Mmm, hmmm. I bet you did!” She smirked as she smothered her burger in ketchup and relish. “Geez, Gabby. Why don’t you have some burger with your ketchup and relish?”

“I love ketchup!” she said, licking it off her fingers.

“I can see that!”

“Don’t you?” she asked, opening her mouth wide and taking a bite.

“Yeah, but not half the bottle. Definitely not relish, though.”

“Mmmm….you don’t know what you’re missing!” she said, taking another huge bite. “Here, taste.” She held the burger up to my mouth.

“Gabby, it’s drenched in -.”

“Come on, Will. Don’t be afraid to try new things.” I opened my mouth and took a bite. It wasn’t half bad. “Not bad, is it?” she asked with her adorable grin as she picked up the napkin and wiped the ketchup off my face.

I took the top bun from my burger. “Lay it on me, Gabby girl!”

She held her hand up to give me a high five before picking up the bottle of relish and ketchup. “Woohoo! Sister Gabby has made you see the error of your ways. Bless you, Will,” she giggled.

She squirted on the ketchup and relish, and lifted her burger up to her mouth. “Come on, Will. Let’s do it together,” she teased in an overly sexy voice.

“You are a piece of work, you know that?” I chuckled.

She took a bite of her burger at the same time as me. I never thought that someone could actually look adorable chewing food, but Gabby proved that theory wrong. She swallowed it down and took a sip of her milkshake. “Was it good for you?” she asked. Neither one of us were able to control our laughter. It didn’t get any better than being here with her.

After lunch, we took advantage of the beautiful September day. Will used his “connections” to get us past security and into the Pratt Sculpture Garden. The beautiful grounds and the chirping birds made me feel like the hustle and bustle of the city and my mess of a life was a million miles away. Afterwards, Will talked me into going back to watch a movie at his place. We were just sitting down to pick something on Netflix when his doorbell buzzed. “Ah fuck,” he whispered as he got up and looked out the peep hole.

“What's the matter?” I asked.

“Remember that chick, Delia, that you helped get out of my hospital room?” He titled his head to the door, indicating that she was on the other side.

“Oh, Will, you are so popular,” I giggled.

“She's like a fuckin’ stalker.”

“Would you like Sister Gabby to handle this situation?”

“Go for it!” he said before opening the door.  

“Hey, handsome. Welcome home!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and wasted no time getting her lips on his. I quickly removed my grandmother’s engagement ring from my right hand and put it on my left while she was distracted with her tongue down his throat.

Abruptly, he pushed her away. “What's your problem, Will?” He looked over at me on the couch. She slowly turned her head in my direction and narrowed her eyes.

“Hi there!” I said, waving at her and plastering a huge smile on my face.

“Oh, I see she makes house calls,” she said, sarcastically.

“And I see that you do, as well.” I just couldn't resist.

“If you’re done, Will and I would really like some privacy.”

“Umm, no. Gabby isn't going anywhere. She was invited over,” Will interrupted.

“What are you talking about, Will? Don't even tell me -.”

“Will, just tell her and get it over with,” I said.

“Tell me what?” she demanded.

He looked totally perplexed, obviously not knowing where I was going with this. I stood up and wrapped my arms around him. “Will and I are in love and we're engaged.” I held my hand out to her, proudly displaying my grandmother’s engagement ring. I grabbed on to him tighter as he tried to hold back his laughter.

“What?! Oh, that is total bullshit! Will doesn't fall in love with anyone. And you've only known him for what? A month?”

“As much as it pains me to think of Will with another woman, I'm fairly certain that you've seen the beautiful package that he's got going on down there. Well, imagine having to look at that while you're helping him shower and not being able to
do
anything with it. Last night, we finally gave in to a long month of sexual tension and he proposed right after. It was so wonderful, wasn’t it, sweetie?” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

“Will, is this true?”

He nodded.

“You’re really getting married?” She looked shocked.

“Yeah, I am. I love Gabby.” He pulled me close and kissed me on the head as she stood there, speechless.

“So there you have it. I love him and he loves me so, out of respect for our impending marriage, could you please just leave us alone and allow us to start our life together?”

She stared at us for a little longer. “Well, I never thought I'd see the day. You know that he’s not husband material.”

“And you should be an expert on that because you are such a great wife,” Will snapped.

“I have all the faith in the world in my sweet little Willy. Well, actually, not little. I can hardly walk after last night.” I looked up at Will as he held in his smirk.

“Well, I'm glad somebody has faith in him,” she said, looking at Will one last time before turning around and storming out the door.

“You are fuckin’ awesome!” Will said, giving me a high five.

“I know!”

“You could be an award winning actress. Thank you, Gabby girl.”

“Don't thank me. Thank my grandmother,” I said, placing the ring back on its proper finger. “Just a friendly little question. Do you ever stop to think of the repercussions of sleeping with these women?”