Unfinished Business, Unresolved Feelings chapter 21
Lee sat silently beside his uncle as the older man drove towards the town where they would be having dinner. They had left the base nearly two hours later then they had originally planned because neither man had returned to the apartment during the time frame they had discussed earlier. Lee was replaying his phone conversation with Amanda over and over in his mind. He couldn't figure out why she seemed to be somewhat annoyed at him; after all she hadn't been annoyed at him when he saw her last. Lee decided that if he continued to dwell on these thoughts all the tension that his extended workout had helped him relieve would return. He concluded that his best course of action would be to engage his uncle in conversation.
"Sir, did you change your mind about our having pizza for dinner?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"When the guard at the gate asked you if we're going to Vegas for dinner you told him that we are going to Antonio's. I thought that you said that your friend, Meg, owns the place where we're going", Lee questioned.
"Meg is the owner, Antonio was her late husband, and she lost him weeks before the place was scheduled to open. They had moved here from New York City. Their dream had been to open a small place far from the stresses of the big city. They'd worked for months on finding the right location and then getting it set up and doing the hiring. One day Antonio, while out running errands, suffered a massive heart attack and died."
"Meg must have been devastated", Lee said as his thoughts moved from his own problems to consider someone else's.
"Yes, she was. Initially she wanted nothing more to do with the business; she blamed the pressures of getting it started for Antonio's death. Their family convinced her that his death would have occurred no matter where they were or what they were doing. It was better that he died pursuing their dream. Meg embraced that thought and she has committed herself to making Antonio's a success. She's quite a lady", the Colonel finished with a look of combined respect and fondness on his face.
They continued on in comfortable silence. Lee was surprised that his uncle had gotten to know Meg so well when he could only have met her six weeks ago or less. How much of himself the Colonel had shared was for now something that Lee was content to wonder about. Lee didn't want to jeopardize the rapport that he and his uncle were trying to establish by pushing him too far by asking a bunch of personal questions. The Colonel pulled into Antonio's parking lot, turned off the car's engine, and turned to face Lee.
"I need you to do something for me when we go inside."
"What is it?"
"Don't call me "Colonel" when we're in there. Meg knows I'm a career Air Force officer but she only knows me as Bob. I only wear civvies in there and I don't discuss what I do", the Colonel advised Lee.
"I haven't called you "Colonel" once since I arrived. I can see now that colonel is just a rank it isn't who you are. I have to admit that I'm not quite ready to call you Uncle Bob yet-"
"I'm not ready to hear it yet; but we're making progress. Let's go inside; I'm starving", the Colonel said as he opened his car door and got out.
They walked around to the front of the restaurant and smelled a mouth watering aroma before they had even gone inside. As soon as they went in they were greeted by a young woman who was standing behind the take out counter that was located at the front of the restaurant.
"Hi, thanks for coming in tonight. Are you here to pick up an order or would you like to be seated?"
"We'd like a -", the Colonel began to respond when he was interrupted by a woman's voice from across the room. The voice belonged to a pretty woman with graying blonde hair. Lee was struck by her sparkling blue eyes and warm smile as she rushed over to them.
"Bob, it's so good to see you", she greeted and then she noticed Lee standing just behind him. "You must be Lee", she said extending her hand to him.
"Yes, ma'am, I am. How did you know", Lee asked as he grasped her extended hand.
"Your uncle showed me an old snapshot of you that he keeps tucked in the back of his wallet. You're a lot taller now but otherwise you haven't changed that much over the years."
'He's actually changed more then I would have thought was possible if you'd asked me just yesterday', the Colonel thought to himself. "Oh, where are my manners? Lee, this is Meg", the Colonel said as he realized that he had failed to introduce his friend to his nephew.
"Let me get you two seated. Would you like your usual table by the kitchen door or would you like a better table since Lee is with you", Meg asked as she picked up two menus.
"The usual table is fine so you can visit with us later if you aren't too busy", the Colonel answered with a smile. Meg seated them, placed a basket of fresh bread sticks on the table, and excused herself so that they could look over the menus.
"I'm probably pushing my luck by asking this but I can't help myself. I know you took my advice about going to the gym; did you take my advice about calling Amanda", the Colonel asked while lowering his menu.
"Yeah, I called her", Lee answered while making a point of remaining hidden behind his menu.
"Didn't go well I take it", the Colonel responded sympathetically.
"I wish I knew for sure. I've loved her for a long time but there are times when she still confuses the hell out of me", Lee confessed. "I called her and let her know that I'm here with you but she still seemed kind of angry with me."
"Are you saying that you left a lady that you're in a serious relationship with a brief note or phone message to explain why you abruptly left town and you don't know why she's annoyed at you? I'm sorry; that's none of my business", Meg said as she placed two plates of antipasto salad on the table and began to walk away.
"Please don't go. I think I might need a lady's perspective on this situation. Do you mean to tell me that I should have called her BEFORE I left town? I thought about calling her but I was afraid that she might have talked me into waiting until I calmed down before I came here. I guess I could have left her a note but I'm used to picking up and just going whenever I feel like it."
"Your uncle mentioned that you've always played the field in the past. Is this your first long term relationship?"
"Yes", Lee answered with an embarrassed expression on his face.
"Lee, I think you definitely need a lady's point of view so that you don't blow your chance to be truly happy. When you find the right person you shouldn't expect that you two will live happily ever after if you don't work at the relationship every day."
"I figured that if I was getting things wrong Amanda would let me know it", Lee responded casually.
"I think she just did", the Colonel interjected.
Lee sighed and hung his head sadly. He was determined to do whatever he had to do to make Amanda as happy as she'd already made him.