I came home to an empty house, as was expected. I wasn't sad, I wasn't surprised. When I walked through the kitchen though , I was surprised to find a note on the table. It was from my mother.
"Lily,
Had to go back for treatment for a couple of days. Should be home by Wednesday afternoon. There's macaroni salad in the refrigerator from Sunday afternoon. I don't know when you'll get this, so eat it at your own risk.
Love,
Mom"
I was alone. I was slightly relieved. There would be no tension like there always was between us. There was no schoolwork to worry about and no job to get to for today and I could just kick back and relax. I put my trunk in my room and headed into the living room. I looked through the dusty CD collection and made a selection. I put it in, pressed play and went in pursuit of a book. As I came back in I turned up the stereo and sang along to the Turtles "So Happy Together." A good hour passed before the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Lily? Is Lily there?"
"This is she. Mom?"
"Hi honey, I thought I would let you know that I was going to be coming home a little earlier than anticipated. They said I should be on my way tomorrow. So I'll see you then." With that she hung up. No 'how was your ride?' or 'how are you, I haven't spoken with you since the last time you paid my rent.' She just hung up. Ah well, what could I expect. It has to be a terribly embarrassing situation to have your daughter supporting you and you're not even fifty yet.
That's pretty much how the rest of the Christmas break went. We barely spoke. I worked all the time. Christmas day I only worked 8 hours instead of the ten I had been doing all week. It was double time so I could afford to miss the two hours. Unfortunately, my mother had been ill again and was back in the hospital. It looked like Christmas was going to be spent alone.
"Hello?"
"Hello, may speak with Lily Evans please."
"This is she, may I ask who's speaking?"
"Lily hi, this is Dr. Clabb's office."
"Is, is something wrong? Is my mother ok?" I couldn't think straight. The only other time the Dr. had actually called was when my mother had taken a turn for the worst last summer. I was frantic.
"Lily, whoa, calm down. It's me Sirius. I was only kidding with you. What do you mean going on about your mother? What's wrong? She in the hospital or something?" I sighed. I was so relieved and so furious with him, I didn't know how to respond. I decided to stay calm.
"Nothing's wrong, you just, I dunno, you call saying you're a doctor, the only explanation other than my being sick would be her, so that's why I asked. Now, what's up? Why'd you really call?" Sirius wasn't one to think too hard about things so he accepted my answer readily and continued with the real purpose behind his call.
"Well, I just wanted to wish you a Happy Christmas and ask what your plans for tonight were. I tried calling earlier, but no one answered." Good old Sirius, always has something to break the norm. If ever I needed a break from regular life I just had to ask Sirius what he was up to. It was usually something out-there.
"I haven't really got any plans for tonight. I er...my family stuff was yesterday. They do all of that on Christmas Eve. What did you have in mind?"
"I'm having some people over my house tonight. Some friends from school. Nothing too big, you know. But I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate Christmas. You up for it?" Was I ever. I figured that my next shift didn't start until 10 tomorrow anyway. I could stay a few hours, leave at 10 tonight, come home and sleep and be ready for work the next morning.
"Yeah, sure. I'd love to go. But, there are two problems. One is that I don't know where you live. The other is that I have no way to get there anyway." I laughed a little.
"Don't worry about that. Just give me your address and I'll have someone swing by and pick you up. How's ...half an hour sound? Is that enough time for you to get ready and everything?" I said that was fine and gave him my address. "That was pretty clever of me huh? Dr. Clabb? Black, Clabb? See anything there? Yeah it's my last name backwards. Anyway, I'll see you later." We hung up. Half an hour was definitely not enough time to get anything done, but I had to make do with what I was given. I raced into my room, grabbed some clothes and headed for the shower. I didn't want to smell like the nursing home that I worked in.
I thought I heard a knock on the door, but I disregarded it as my mind playing tricks on me. I checked the clock in the bathroom and I had only been in there for 10 minutes. As things like that do happen when you're in a rush, I grabbed the wrong clothes off of my dresser and had to venture back into my room. Upon crossing the living room I stopped dead in my tracks.
"How the hell did you get in here?" James was fiddling with my stereo. He stopped when he found a radio station playing The White Stripes "Fell In Love With A Girl." He turned around and smiled.
"Oo, is that what you're wearing? Ha, count me in." The smiled took over his face and I grimaced. "Ok, ok. It was easy I just used one of those charms we learned in class. You know that one to unlock doors?" I nodded in understanding. "Meanwhile, I can't believe how unabashedly you can stand around in a towel. You're quite different than I had thought." It hadn't really occurred to me that I had practically nothing on, and when it did I shrugged.
"Well, I grabbed the wrong clothes. What if this wasn't my apartment? Huh? Did you ever think that you might find some big fat, warty, guy in the shower? What would you do if he came out here in a towel? Ah I don't want any smart-ass remarks, forget I said anything. As you can tell, I'm not quite ready. You're going to have to give me ten minutes or so."
"I didn't expect you to be. I'm rather early. I just wanted to make sure it was the right place. Take your time." With that I made for my room. I didn't take long since I never really was high maintenance.
"Is this going to be a formal thing? I mean, do I have to dress up or anything?" An innocent question.
"Well, I would prefer what you had on earlier, but I don't think that would do in many public situations. Anyway I think it's just like...normal attire. I never asked. It's always easier for guys though. Khaki pants and a button down pants can go either way." I could hear the grin on his face. It was easier for guys.
"Well call him and find out. I don't want to go there and make an ass of myself." James did so and reported back to me that it was in fact a semi formal event.
Ten minutes after the phone call, I came out to see James looking through my mother's CDs and mine. I took the opportunity to grab the portable phone and call my mother. I went back into my room for a second.
"Hey, mum?"
"Hello sweetheart, how are you? Happy Christmas dear." They must've just given her some medication. She never would've inquired about me otherwise.
"I'm fine mum. Happy Christmas to you too. How are you doing? Feeling any better?" She gave me a full report on every pain that she had encountered today and I found myself wishing I hadn't even bothered. Soon enough though, she was giving some excuse or other to get off the phone and back to whatever she was doing. Without even a goodbye, she hung up. It always hurt when she would just hang up like that. I wiped a tear that had slipped out and turned around to go out. I had been found out.
"Everything ok?" James was in the doorway. I guess I had taken a while on the phone. By the looks of it, he had heard a good amount of my end of the conversation. I nodded and forced a smile. It didn't convince him, but he decided not to push. Soon we were on our way.
"Lily,
Had to go back for treatment for a couple of days. Should be home by Wednesday afternoon. There's macaroni salad in the refrigerator from Sunday afternoon. I don't know when you'll get this, so eat it at your own risk.
Love,
Mom"
I was alone. I was slightly relieved. There would be no tension like there always was between us. There was no schoolwork to worry about and no job to get to for today and I could just kick back and relax. I put my trunk in my room and headed into the living room. I looked through the dusty CD collection and made a selection. I put it in, pressed play and went in pursuit of a book. As I came back in I turned up the stereo and sang along to the Turtles "So Happy Together." A good hour passed before the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Lily? Is Lily there?"
"This is she. Mom?"
"Hi honey, I thought I would let you know that I was going to be coming home a little earlier than anticipated. They said I should be on my way tomorrow. So I'll see you then." With that she hung up. No 'how was your ride?' or 'how are you, I haven't spoken with you since the last time you paid my rent.' She just hung up. Ah well, what could I expect. It has to be a terribly embarrassing situation to have your daughter supporting you and you're not even fifty yet.
That's pretty much how the rest of the Christmas break went. We barely spoke. I worked all the time. Christmas day I only worked 8 hours instead of the ten I had been doing all week. It was double time so I could afford to miss the two hours. Unfortunately, my mother had been ill again and was back in the hospital. It looked like Christmas was going to be spent alone.
"Hello?"
"Hello, may speak with Lily Evans please."
"This is she, may I ask who's speaking?"
"Lily hi, this is Dr. Clabb's office."
"Is, is something wrong? Is my mother ok?" I couldn't think straight. The only other time the Dr. had actually called was when my mother had taken a turn for the worst last summer. I was frantic.
"Lily, whoa, calm down. It's me Sirius. I was only kidding with you. What do you mean going on about your mother? What's wrong? She in the hospital or something?" I sighed. I was so relieved and so furious with him, I didn't know how to respond. I decided to stay calm.
"Nothing's wrong, you just, I dunno, you call saying you're a doctor, the only explanation other than my being sick would be her, so that's why I asked. Now, what's up? Why'd you really call?" Sirius wasn't one to think too hard about things so he accepted my answer readily and continued with the real purpose behind his call.
"Well, I just wanted to wish you a Happy Christmas and ask what your plans for tonight were. I tried calling earlier, but no one answered." Good old Sirius, always has something to break the norm. If ever I needed a break from regular life I just had to ask Sirius what he was up to. It was usually something out-there.
"I haven't really got any plans for tonight. I er...my family stuff was yesterday. They do all of that on Christmas Eve. What did you have in mind?"
"I'm having some people over my house tonight. Some friends from school. Nothing too big, you know. But I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate Christmas. You up for it?" Was I ever. I figured that my next shift didn't start until 10 tomorrow anyway. I could stay a few hours, leave at 10 tonight, come home and sleep and be ready for work the next morning.
"Yeah, sure. I'd love to go. But, there are two problems. One is that I don't know where you live. The other is that I have no way to get there anyway." I laughed a little.
"Don't worry about that. Just give me your address and I'll have someone swing by and pick you up. How's ...half an hour sound? Is that enough time for you to get ready and everything?" I said that was fine and gave him my address. "That was pretty clever of me huh? Dr. Clabb? Black, Clabb? See anything there? Yeah it's my last name backwards. Anyway, I'll see you later." We hung up. Half an hour was definitely not enough time to get anything done, but I had to make do with what I was given. I raced into my room, grabbed some clothes and headed for the shower. I didn't want to smell like the nursing home that I worked in.
I thought I heard a knock on the door, but I disregarded it as my mind playing tricks on me. I checked the clock in the bathroom and I had only been in there for 10 minutes. As things like that do happen when you're in a rush, I grabbed the wrong clothes off of my dresser and had to venture back into my room. Upon crossing the living room I stopped dead in my tracks.
"How the hell did you get in here?" James was fiddling with my stereo. He stopped when he found a radio station playing The White Stripes "Fell In Love With A Girl." He turned around and smiled.
"Oo, is that what you're wearing? Ha, count me in." The smiled took over his face and I grimaced. "Ok, ok. It was easy I just used one of those charms we learned in class. You know that one to unlock doors?" I nodded in understanding. "Meanwhile, I can't believe how unabashedly you can stand around in a towel. You're quite different than I had thought." It hadn't really occurred to me that I had practically nothing on, and when it did I shrugged.
"Well, I grabbed the wrong clothes. What if this wasn't my apartment? Huh? Did you ever think that you might find some big fat, warty, guy in the shower? What would you do if he came out here in a towel? Ah I don't want any smart-ass remarks, forget I said anything. As you can tell, I'm not quite ready. You're going to have to give me ten minutes or so."
"I didn't expect you to be. I'm rather early. I just wanted to make sure it was the right place. Take your time." With that I made for my room. I didn't take long since I never really was high maintenance.
"Is this going to be a formal thing? I mean, do I have to dress up or anything?" An innocent question.
"Well, I would prefer what you had on earlier, but I don't think that would do in many public situations. Anyway I think it's just like...normal attire. I never asked. It's always easier for guys though. Khaki pants and a button down pants can go either way." I could hear the grin on his face. It was easier for guys.
"Well call him and find out. I don't want to go there and make an ass of myself." James did so and reported back to me that it was in fact a semi formal event.
Ten minutes after the phone call, I came out to see James looking through my mother's CDs and mine. I took the opportunity to grab the portable phone and call my mother. I went back into my room for a second.
"Hey, mum?"
"Hello sweetheart, how are you? Happy Christmas dear." They must've just given her some medication. She never would've inquired about me otherwise.
"I'm fine mum. Happy Christmas to you too. How are you doing? Feeling any better?" She gave me a full report on every pain that she had encountered today and I found myself wishing I hadn't even bothered. Soon enough though, she was giving some excuse or other to get off the phone and back to whatever she was doing. Without even a goodbye, she hung up. It always hurt when she would just hang up like that. I wiped a tear that had slipped out and turned around to go out. I had been found out.
"Everything ok?" James was in the doorway. I guess I had taken a while on the phone. By the looks of it, he had heard a good amount of my end of the conversation. I nodded and forced a smile. It didn't convince him, but he decided not to push. Soon we were on our way.