Lora’s Favorite Passage…
In the bright kitchen nook, sitting with his little girl—all grown up...it astonished him sometimes how he could shut it all out. The job. The home. The blood and the breakfast. It was a handy skill set, being able to compartmentalize.
He admired Calissa as she sat stirring her cereal across the table. She smiled, self-conscious of his attention. “What?”
“I met someone.” His eyes twinkled with the news and the reaction he knew it would get from her.
“What!” she put down her spoon, beaming. In her best newscaster’s impersonation, she said, “Headline News: Rory Reed meets the love of his life. Go!”
“That’s not a bad Larry King, you know.”
“Larry who? What?” Calissa popped into the seat closest to him. “Tell me!”
“And I wouldn’t say love of my life.”
“But you’re not not saying it either, right?”
“She’s easily the most interesting woman I can remember. Bright. Different.”
“Different?” Calissa was more animated than Rory had seen her in a long while. He smiled and shrugged. “Different how, dad? Is she pretty? How’d she get your eye?”
“She’s no bigger than you. Blonde...no... white haired.”
“White hair? How old is she? Are you after gramma’s now?”
“She has white hair, and it’s really…. I don’t know…. vibrant? Stark white. Not gray. Not silver. And she’s nobody’s grandmother.”
“Platinum. So, then. How old is she?”
“We didn’t get that far, but I’d say I got a good ten years on her.”
“Younger lady!” She smiled like a fox. “Way to go, dad!”
“She is.” Rory smiled just thinking about her. “And she’s smart. Like really smart. I think she’s at the University.”
“Wow. Doing what?”
Rory remembered the diplomas in her house, not what was on them. He remembered something about a lab in their small talk, something…. “Biology. No. Biomimicry.”
“Well. I guess that’s different for you, huh? A scientist. Not your usual type.”
“Who’s my type?” Rory asked, “I don’t even remember the last woman--”
“I was in eighth grade, and you brought me to a strip club to meet--”
“Daphne?” Rory laughed aloud. “Wow, that was a long time ago, kid. And it wasn’t a strip club. And she was not my type. It was a work thing.”
“And how about the one before that? The cheerleader.”
Rory shook his head, astonished. “You keeping notes on me or what? I don’t even remember her name.”
“Point is, daddy, you’re moving up. A biologist!” Calissa patted his arm, “but what’s she look like?”
“I told you, she’s pretty.”
“C’mon!”
“She’s...petite. White haired. Darker complexion than you’d think with the hair. But she’s so graceful. When she moves through a crowd, she’s like...water. When she smiles, she’s always got this glow to her.” He thought for a second, then added, “For example, when she plays piano, she’s just...radiant.”
“Plays piano?”
“Yeah.”
“Where’d you see her play piano?”
Where indeed? He wanted to say they’d visited a music store, or casually dropped by a vacant piano at the food court...or maybe one just lowered from the heavens and a spotlight snapped on over it. How could he tell her he’d spied on Ashley from her balcony?
“Did you spend the night with her?”
“Oh no. No way.” Rory sat bolt upright. “We just met. Had coffee. Right by her place, you know, and she invited me to her place to listen for a while.”
Calissa clearly wasn’t believing much of what he was saying, but she saved him with a new turn of conversation, an even harder one: “Tell me more about her being ‘pretty’.”
“Impish. Funny…. spritely.”
“Ugh. You’re describing a puppy or something.”
“Okay,” Rory said, digging deeper. “She makes me do cartwheels inside. When I look her in the eyes, I just want to never look away. She’s got these big dark eyes you just get lost in.”
“And?”
“And... I don’t know. Her face is on the lean side, but when she smiles it all just works, you know, like her smile is all of her. Like she lights up her face and the whole room, too. I can’t get enough of that smile.”
“Dad! That’s pretty good. I think you’re smitten.”
“Well...I don’t know. I just thought she was...remarkable...and I thought I should tell you, in case, you know, you hear things.”
“Hear things?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t know where to take it. What if Combs was right?
“What am I going to hear, dad?”
“Well...there’s a chance she’s kind of a big deal. Rich, you know. Out of my league.”
“Oh. My. God! When can I meet her? Tonight?”
“No. I mean...well…. we really only had coffee and--”
“But you’ve been to her place,” Calissa smiled, raising her eyebrows, “Why not bring her over?”
“Honey, she’s not going to go for a guy like me, especially after she--”
Outside, the bus was honking.
“Bye,” she jumped up, kissed his forehead gently, and on her way out the door said, “I’m really happy for you! For us!”