BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME
AN: Okay, trying not to be whiny and needy here. It was a slow reading/review week for everyone. People have real lives. And I know the introduction of the SciFi factor to the story was a turn off to some people. And others don't like AUs at all. That's okay. Everyone's taste is individual. BUT... (I'm giving you a big but there;) When writers don't feel the love it makes it incredibly hard to work on a story. Don't make me write Walter singing or spouting poetry about the value of commenting when you want more of a story. That would be tragic. You have been warned. Seriously, just let me know you're still here and wanting to know how this story ends.
As always, thank you to the faithful reviewers. It means the world.
oxoxoxoxoxo
She hadn't meant to give him a hard time.
It was no wonder he was sensitive about it. Walter obviously considered his work important enough to have dedicated the last twenty years of his life to it.
To the exclusion of almost everything and everybody else. That was the part she couldn't endorse.
It made her so incredibly sad.
On some level it also made her feel guilty. Walter hadn't directly admitted as much, but she'd guessed this whole project had something to do with her. With something in their past he wanted to fix. She gathered he wanted another chance with her.
What he was failing to acknowledge was the chance he had with her now. It was as if he couldn't see the value of the present at all.
Paige watched as he took on that sulky, stubborn look of his. The one that was so familiar, even though this was the first time she'd seen it in what felt like an eternity. Case in point.
The shutters fell and she could tell he was withdrawing.
He probably would have walked away from her to bury himself in work again if the intercom hadn't signaled the arrival of the delivery driver with their meal.
Paige started to get up to go pay for dinner, but she suddenly remembered something that stopped her.
Her purse was back at Avery's. Along with her wallet. Her debit card. Her cash. Everything. They'd been moving and cleaning all day. Avery was driving. Why would she need her purse?
Why, indeed.
Sighing heavily, she turned to Walter and admitted contritely, "I'm such an idiot. I don't have any money or any way to pay. I apologize. I really didn't mean to make you spring for dinner. I just didn't think. Now I owe you big time."
"It's okay. I got it," he muttered. Without a backward glance, he left her on her own.
It was becoming obvious she needed to find a way to lighten the mood or it was going to be a very long, very uncomfortable meal. If Paige could get him to eat with her at all.
A silly idea took shape when she spied a milk crate under the desk. It only had a couple of binders in it, so she removed them and laid them on the counter, then turned the crate upside-down. Next she grabbed a towel from the bath and draped it over top. She pulled a couple of cushions off the couch and set them on the floor on opposite sides of her makeshift table. For the finishing touch, she nabbed a Bunsen burner and set it in the center. It took a few minutes of hunting, but she eventually found a lighter, lit the burner and turned the flame down low.
Voila! A fancy dinnertable worthy of any great science nerd. Paige only hoped Walter would see the humor.
When he entered the room a few minutes later, he didn't even look at the table. He was trying to balance the bags of food while talking on his phone and shutting the door. His face and voice suggested he was perturbed about something.
Paige hurried over and took the bags from him. She wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help overhearing his part of the conversation anyway.
"No. She's fine. I promise. We're good…."
"Do you want me to send an Uber for you?..."
"Are you sure?..."
"Or we could come and get you. It's no trouble…"
"No. Of course. I said I don't mind…"
"I guess we'll see you in the morning. Feel better."
Keeping herself busy dividing the food, she tried to act like she hadn't heard anything. However, Paige was almost positive she knew exactly who was on the other end of that call. She also had a sneaking suspicion her daughter was trying to play matchmaker. Having smart, conniving adult children had proven to be a huge pain in the ass more than once. This was about to be one of those times.
Without commenting about the setting, Walter sat down cross-legged on the cushion opposite Paige's.
"That was Avery," he said unnecessarily. He picked up a flimsy, plastic fork and poked at a morsel in one of the Styrofoam containers. He sniffed it suspiciously before transferring the bite to his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, then shrugged and resumed eating.
"Let me guess. She had a little too much to drink and can't drive. She's crashing at a friend's place til morning. Kymber's? Natalie's? Am I close?"
Walter took a swig of bottled water. "Kymber's. So you're saying it's true that mothers have a sixth sense?" He asked facetiously, then sobered before adding, "Wait. Does this kind of thing happen frequently?"
Shaking her head, half amused, half annoyed, Paige answered, "This never happens. Avery doesn't drink. She isn't even legal until next month. Plus, she says she can't let anything interfere with school or work. As for that sixth sense? In this case it's called experience. She may not drink, but my adorable child has been known to be manipulative."
"I have to admit. This food isn't too bad," Walter said, taking a little more Tikka Masala. For the first time, he seemed to notice the décor. Frowning in confusion, he asked, "Did you light the burner to keep the food warm?"
"I was going for scientific ambiance."
He blinked, giving her a stony expression.
"It was a joke. I was just trying to lighten things up a little."
Walter nodded and they ate silently for a few minutes while they both stewed in their own thoughts.
"How?" He finally asked.
"Oh, the tubing on the burner was long enough to reach the table. I thought it would be funny. You know, like a candlelight dinner only…"
"No. I meant how is Avery manipulating you?"
Paige decided to be straight up, but she still couldn't look at him, so she concentrated on her plate and replied, "Oh, um. I'm guessing she wanted me to stay over here tonight. It's her way of saying you and I need to spend more time together."
"Why would she want that?" Walter continued the questioning.
Frustration crept into her voice because she suspected the genius was being deliberately obtuse. "Avery is clever and observant. She picked up on some… vibes and some ancient history between us that's never been addressed. She has asked me about it directly and indirectly several times."
"Mmm. Me as well," Walter murmured to himself.
Shifting nervously, he completely switched the subject. "If you don't mind my asking, why doesn't Avery have much to do with her father?"
Paige took a bite so she could pause to think about how to respond. What did she have to lose? She decided to give him the unvarnished truth again. Rattle that tree and see what fell out. Taking a sip of water, she said, "Other than the fact he lives three thousand miles away? What exactly does that say about me that my exes always end up as far away from me as possible without actually leaving the country?"
"That's not technically true. Sometimes they do leave the country. Tim was in Jordan when he broke up with you the first time…"
"Yes. He was. Thanks for the reminder." Paige lobbed back sarcastically.
"…and you can't really count Drew because he wanted you and Ralph to move to Maine with him."
She spoke over him before they could rehash all of her failed relationships. "Tim and Avery did bond, at first. But he always suspected… How do I put this? He's not convinced she's his biological daughter. That has strained things between them over the years."
The look of disgusted contempt on Walter's face spoke volumes. "That's hardly Avery's fault. Caring for a child shouldn't be contingent on DNA."
Paige's gave him a melting look. Walter should know.
"He tried to insist I get a paternity test. But there was no need. There was no other possibility. I found his insistence insulting to say the least. Unfortunately, my refusal to have it done also gave him a loophole when it came to financial support. After the divorce, he paid the minimum child support until the instant she turned eighteen. In the middle of her senior year of high school, nada. Not another dime. Since then, it's pretty much been twenty bucks in a birthday card and fifty at Christmas."
Paige sat back, unable to eat any more. The subject of Tim's mistrust effectively stole her appetite. She stared out the rain-streaked window, trying to restore her balance. Tim wasn't worth a minute's thought. He belonged to the past.
"I'm sorry." Walter's compassion had her softening up until he followed with, "Who did Tim think was the father?"
Paige coughed, choking on the loaded answer to that question. She'd already made the decision to stick with facts, however. So she looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "You."
"Me?! B-but we-we, uh... You and I never... Did we?"
The hair stood up on Paige's arms and she had that same overpowering deja vu sensation she had before.
Beside them, the instrument panel lit up like a Christmas tree as several warning alarms sounded.
The two of them stared at each other, eyes locked together. Paige's mind was suddenly inundated with a torrent of images, the intense accompanying emotions nearly overwhelming her.
Dim, blue lighting. A discussion about the physics of love. A slow dance to a song that shouldn't have been romantic but was. A soft, tentative kiss, just a brushing of lips quickly morphing into a passionate embrace. A wild, frantic, seemingly unstoppable joining of bodies. A sweet kind of relief.
Without breaking eye contact, Walter methodically turned the burner between them off. He shoved the crate out of his way, then prowling toward her, he seized Paige by the upper arms and claimed her mouth in a fierce kiss.