Ch 45: Farewell Face Masks

I texted Daniel from the hospital and made plans to visit him at his apartment the next day, one place I generally avoided. When I arrived, to my surprise, his apartment looked a little homey, a little less like the stark bachelor pad I knew. Daniel had always kept it pretty clean, but now there were actually a few pictures in frames sitting on a side table. And he had pillows on the couch, adding a nice decorative touch. I’d never seen his apartment so spruced up.
“What’s with the pillows?” I asked as I came in and sat down on the couch.
“Polly,” Daniel said, plopping down next me and putting one of the pillows in his lap.
I nodded. “She’s good for you.” He nodded too.
“What’s up?”
“Like I told you last night, old Mrs. Rosa hurt her hip. I can’t leave her, Daniel.”
“Stella, don’t worry. I can handle it.”
“You?” I looked at him, doubtful. “I love you, and you’re a badass trainer, but you can’t take care of an old woman.”
He looked at me skeptically. “What did the doctor say? What’s the problem with her hip?”
I cocked my head, thinking about how to respond. “Well, he said he thinks it’s just bruised. It’s just that old Mrs. Rosa doesn’t trust anyone else. She needs to take it slow, even if it is just a bruise. ”
“Easy,“ Daniel said. “Old ladies love me. Go. Stella, I got this.” He put his hands to his chest. “She’ll be fine.” I wanted so much to believe him.
“I can call her daughter-in-law to help too. They’ve suddenly been a little chummy.”
“See? There you go.” He sat with his palms up.
“I know, but she relies on me. I should be the one to help her.”
Daniel put his hand on my shoulder. “She’ll be fine. Go to Hawaii with Luke. You can’t save everyone.”
At Daniel’s words, I remembered my fight with Luke and how I blamed him for the same thing. I’d tell old Mrs. Rosa the truth and convince her to trust Daniel. And who could tell? Maybe the extra time with her daughter-in-law would bring them even closer.
I hugged him. “How can I ever repay you? You’ve been so good to me lately. What about you?”
He winked at me. “It’s not been so bad for me. I found Polly and…” He paused.
“What? What aren’t you telling me?” I glared at him.
“Luke wants me to house sit.” I laughed. Leave it up to Luke to take care of Daniel too.
I pointed at Daniel, warning him. “You better not have any big parties.” He laughed a sly laugh. I smiled too. “Just don’t trash the house.”
“I won’t. Promise.”
After I left Daniel’s apartment, I thought about how much Luke had changed my life. Not only was I moving to Hawaii with him, but he continued to help out the people I care about - Michelle and Daniel.
***
The next few days were frantic, preparing to move to another state. At the hospital, I brought Daniel to go over some exercises for old Mrs. Rosa in consultation with her doctor. When I told her the truth about my Hawaii plan, she reached out to hug me. “I told you getting naked would bring good things,” she winked at me. I blushed.
I asked her about her daughter-in-law coming to help more until her hip fully healed. Old Mrs. Rosa admitted that her Oscar already planned to send over his wife with dinner every night and had hired a cleaning lady to come once a week. I was surprised the busy accountant finally stepped up, and it relieved some of my stress about the situation. They even planned to introduce old Mrs. Rosa’s cats and the poodle.
Later that evening, Lyle came over to my apartment at Luke’s request to help me pack and make wardrobe selections.
“No,” he threw a blouse out of my closet. “No,” he threw another one. “No,” and another. “Take,” he said throwing a denim button down my way. Once Lyle was through, my suitcase only included a few items.
“I need more than that,” I said.
“You’re in luck, Darling,” he said. He wheeled in a suitcase full of summer dresses, skirts and tops that were just my size, along with cardigans and jackets for any cool nights.
“Wow,” I said. “Thank you.”
“No problem. These were just lying around with some designers I know. I did have to order you these things specially, though.” He brandished a large gym bag packed with new workout clothes. I smiled.
“You know me so well,” I said.
“Just promise me, you won’t where these all day. Change into some real clothes once in a while?” he asked.
“I promise.”
“And one more thing,” he went into the living room and came back with a garment bag. As he unzipped it, I gasped. He revealed another sea inspired dress in green and blue that shimmered with every movement.
“Lyle,” I said. “It’s gorgeous.”
“I know, Darling.” He smiled. “Somehow you’ve given me some inspiration. Just promise when you wear it to some big event, you drop my name.” He smiled and tilted his head.
“Absolutely. With dresses like this, you’ll be a top designer in no time,” I said.
“I’m designing a dress for a music awards show presenter for next month. Apparently your friend Michelle dropped my name at some recording she did?”
I beamed. “That’s great. I’m sure you’ll make whoever it is look stunning. If you can glamourize this ostrich, you can dress anyone.”
“That’s why I’m doing all this, Darling. You didn’t deserve those comments. I’m sorry.” He looked at me, waiting for an answer.
“I forgive you.” At the door on the way out, Lyle turned and hugged me.
“I thought you didn’t like germs?” I said.
“Oh, well. I’ve grown quite fond of you, Darling.” He leaned in closer. “Just don’t be caught dead in those shoes, OK?” He looked down at my black Nikes.
I nodded, sad to see Lyle leave. Despite our disputes, we had come to an understanding, even a friendship. I knew I’d miss seeing him around.
***
For my last night in the apartment with Michelle for a few months, I suggested we do a girls night with snacks, a movie, and some at-home spa treatments. We sat on the couch watching one of our favorite dramas, our faces covered in green goo, dipping spoons into our own personal pints of Ben and Jerry’s.
“I’m really going to miss this,” Michelle said.
“Yeah, well. Now you’ll have law school applications, and then law school, and oh, yeah, a recording contract on the side.” I smiled at her.
She dipped her spoon into the pint of ice cream and licked it with satisfaction. “It was pretty cool getting to record some back up tracks.”
“When can I hear it?”
“When the movie’s done,” she said. “The producer said he would keep me in mind if anything else came up.” She took another bite of ice cream.
“I love this part,” I waved my spoon at the TV screen. We watched in silence for a minute before Michelle spoke again.
“Seeing you and Luke together, I’m just so happy for you, Stella.” Her eyes started to well up, very uncharacteristic for Michelle.
“Don’t cry. Don’t cry,” I said, waving at her face. “You’ll ruin the mask.”
“I’ve been so busy preparing for the LSATs I haven’t really had time to date. I feel like I’ve lived vicariously through you.”
“I need to thank you for helping me with Luke.”
She hugged me. “I didn’t do anything but help you be yourself. It’s been all you, Stella. Don’t you forget that. ”She pulled away to look at me. Staring at each other with the green goo on our faces, trying to have a serious conversation, we laughed.
“What’s your arrangement with Luke, anyway?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I mean, he rented one house for both of us but if you’re asking if we’re exclusive and moving in together, we haven’t actually talked about it.”
“Just be careful,” she said. “Be honest. You won’t have me there to push you to ask the hard questions.” She looked at me knowingly.
“We can always FaceTime,” I said.
“And don’t worry, Luke already promised me a ticket to Hawaii. I’m coming to visit.” She threw up her arms in excitement. I embraced her, not caring if I messed up our masks.
“I can’t wait.”
Michelle’s question got me thinking about the situation with Luke. I wasn’t sure how to broach the subject with him. He’d been so generous, helping my friends, securing a place to live. I didn’t want to seem too clingy or needy. I just figured once we were there, we could work things out.
It made me feel better that Michelle planned to visit. After all, Hawaii was only a plane ride away. Michelle and I sat back and finished watching the movie, two old friends, looking forward to new adventures.