"I need a handyman" Laura told Lolita as soon as she walked into the house. Lolita had invited her to dinner. Lolita smiled.
"That's no way to greet an elderly" she replied. "Come here" she added and drew Laura in for a hug. Laura stiffened. This was new, Lolita had never hugged her before. Laura didn't know how she felt. She had never been hugged this way before. Mostly the kind of hugs she gets are rough hugs from her mum and sometimes Don. Not like she cared a dime for their hugs anyways.
"I'm older than you are and yet I'm more free. Loosen up the chain girl" Lolita said, laughing.
"What!!! Ok, I don't know how this may sound but I feel weird talking to a 55 year old like that" Laura answered.
"Oh come on. I'm not that old. You know, when I was your age men from different countries flew in to see me. They all wanted to date me. I loosened the chains." Lolita joked.
"Oh goodness. I can't believe I'm talking to you about dating. It feels so weird" Laura returned. She remembered the shock on Lolita's face when she told her her age. Lolita had asked her and for some unknown reasons she didn't want to lie about that. She had lied about every other thing, she just wanted one thing about her to be true. She remembered the exact words Lolita told her. "My my, 23 is darn young for a person to start life afresh ain't that right". Laura couldn't agree more but she didn't choose this for herself.
"But then I chose Walter, the love of my life. He turned my life around you know. Made me believe in love. We would always go to church together, prayed together. Sometimes I miss him". Laura had heard the story before and she felt pity for Lolita. Walter had died of cancer and they didn't even have a child together. They had built the motel together and as soon as Walter had died she dedicated her life to making the motel a success. She had never found love again. Although Laura didn't believe in love and all she really felt pity for her.
"Have a sit Suzanne dinner will be ready in a minute. What did you say you wanted?" Lolita spoke in a hurry. Laura giggled.
"A handyman. I need some work done in the house. I can do those things but I don't really have the time with my new work and all. Do you know someone that can do it. Someone reliable?" She asked.
"Oh Suzanne. One thing you should know about me, I know everything. I actually have someone who does odd jobs for me. Nice boy" Lolita replied as she placed the dishes on the table.
"Ok great. Will you call him up for me or will I get his number?"
"I invited him over for dinner. You can ask him yourself"
"What, you invited someone else over without telling me?" Laura queried.
"Yes I did. I don't see anything wrong in doing that. You need a handyman, you've got one coming in five minutes. The universe has a way of coming to our aid" Lolita carried on like Laura's worry didn't affect her.
Holy crap, Laura thought. She wasn't ready to expand her circle of friends.
Just then a knock was heard on the door. Lolita excused herself and went to get it. When she returned, a young man was led in with her.
"Peter this is Suzanne. Suzanne meet Peter" Lolita introduced.
"Suzanne...I have heard so much about you" Peter said as he extended his hand for a handshake.
"Really?" Laura asked as she returned the handshake.
"It's all small town. People talk, especially Lolita here" he replied. Lolita laughed alongside Peter. She smiled. Oh well! this might not be bad after all, Laura thought.
***
Laura checked her watch as she took a sip of her coffee. She had been waiting for Peter for more than an hour and he still hadn't shown up. After their dinner at Lolita's place he had been coming over to do odd jobs for her. He had fixed the kitchen sink and fixed the cupboard and she had paid him generously for his work even though he had refused it initially. He had said Lolita was like family and he would do anything for the people she considered family but she still paid him otherwise. What he had said got to her. Did Lolita really see her as family? The word 'family' meant little or nothing to her anyway. Well...until she met Lolita.
She had called Peter earlier that morning to come fix her roof. He seemed shock that she was calling him. He had argued that it was Sunday and he wanted to go to church. Unfortunately for him she didn't care if it was a Sunday or if people had to go to church. She had always had to work her ass off everyday of the week. He told her he would come after church and she had been waiting but he hadn't come, neither had she called.
She checked her watch once again and sighed. She would do it herself. She went to her tool cabinet and got out the tools she needed. She got a ladder from her basement and set to work. As she started fixing the roof she realized that it needed more work that she thought. She didn't like doing odd jobs like this even though she was perfect at it. It reminded her so much of her past. She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn't hear the voice behind her until she felt something light hit her. She turned around and she saw the same guy she had met in the grocery store staring up at her. Turns out he threw a stone at her to get her attention.
"You" she drawled.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"What do you want?" She returned. He smirked.
"Do you always answer a question with another question?" He asked again.
"You just did the same thing. What do you want?" She really wasn't ready for an argument right now.
"Why are you doing that. Don't you have a handyman?"
"I do. He's not available so I decided to do it on my own"
"On a Sunday? Didn't you go to church?" He asked.
Goddamit!! Not another talk about church, she thought.
"No" she replied.
"You really are crazy aren't you?" He asked again.
"What!" Who the hell does he think he is!!
"Why didn't you go to church. Do you prefer to stay at home and work when you could be out there worshipping?" He went on.
For chrissake can't a person be alone in this town.
"It's none of your business" she retorted. She was getting angry.
"And why are you doing this by yourself. Just wait for your handyman. He probably went to church too"
"Oh well if your church is so important to you why aren't you there?" She asked angrily.
"I went. Was on my way back home" he replied.
Yeah right! Figures.
"You shouldn't do that on your own. You don't even look balanced. You could fall anytime" he continued like he didn't notice her anger.
"I don't care what you think. Just leave me the hell..." She started to say but was caught off as she shifted and lost balance. Before she knew what was happening she was falling off the ladder. Before she could hit the ground she felt strong hands hold her firmly. When she opened her eyes she saw the stranger holding her to himself. She was safe.
"I told you didn't I? You weren't balanced. Since you so badly want the roof fixed I'll do it myself" he whispered into her ears. The words brought shivers to her.
"I can..." She started to argue but he stopped her by placing a finger on her lips.
"You do like argue don't you? I'm doing it. You don't look good. No arguments" he stated. She closed up whatever argument she wanted to bring up. He had a point, she felt dizzy. And besides she couldn't fight it, he had his strong arms firmly wrapped around her.