Chapter Ten: Rain
It was just going to be like any other Sunday. I guess extraordinary things happen when you're only expecting the ordinary.
Victor set down the phone and let out a whoop of joy, exiting his uncle's office. "I got it!" he announced to the room, shuffling his feet and doing an awkward little dance. "I got it! I got it! I got it!"
Mae, the only one present at that moment, didn't even look up from her magazine. Instead she blew a bubble and it popped loudly.
"Mae!" said Victor, rushing over to her. "Are you listening? I got it!"
She looked up from the magazine and blew another bubble in his face. "Got what?" she asked.
"The apartment!" he exclaimed. "I got the apartment!"
Mae shrieked and leapt from the chair, throwing her arms around Victor. "You got it?" she said, stepping back for a moment to look at his face.
"I got it!"
She squealed again and Victor grinned broadly as she threw herself at him for another hug. He twirled her around once and then set her back on the floor.
"We need champagne or something," said Victor. "We're celebrating my freedom here, after all."
Mae rolled her eyes. "When you get engaged we'll get you some champagne. For this you get..." She turned and scaled her eyes over her desk. "Uh huh!" She picked something up and spun around to face Victor. "For your freedom, you get this box of paper clips."
"Gee, thanks," drawled Victor. "I'll treasure it."
Mae patted his arm and turned around, distracted by the phone ringing. "Hello, Logan's Used Cars. How may I help you?"
Victor did another celebratory dance, passing by the window as he went, and then his heart dropped. Outside, making her way toward the door with only an umbrella to shield herself from the torrent of rain, was Patty. He hadn't spoken to her since he saw her at the restaurant last weekend. He was still so angry with her. Still so jealous. He'd wanted to smash that guy's face into his soup, the fool. What could Patty possibly see in him? And what was she doing here? If she thought he was just going to be okay with this then she had another thing coming. He'd show her.
"Hey," she said upon entering. She closed the umbrella she had and set it against the wall by the door, leaning back against it and twisting her hands nervously. "I managed to avoid your uncle this time," she said timidly, trying to chuckle and lighten the obviously tense mood. Victor just stared at her.
"Michael's not here," he finally said, arms crossed, frown in place. She was not going to get to him. At all. He almost wished Michael was here; then there could be a repeat performance of the last time Patty was here, when his uncle had nearly talked her ear off trying to convince her to buy a car. But Michael wasn't coming in until the afternoon. He hadn't been feeling well, lately.
"So it's just you, then?" Patty asked.
"Me and Mae." Patty glanced over at Mae, who was still gabbing on the phone, and to his chagrin, she smiled and waved. "It's never too busy on Sundays," he added. "Even less so when it's raining." Now why did he add that? It was personal. Not the mood he was trying to create.
"Does that mean I can steal you for lunch?" she asked.
"I don't think so," he said, and inwardly congratulated himself. "I can't really leave this place alone."
"But you just said-"
"What do you want, Patty?" he asked, cutting her off. To her credit, she looked a little nervous. Good.
"I just...I..." she stuttered. "I guess I just-" Then she shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "I didn't want anything. Just forget it. Forget I even came by."
And with that she turned and ran out of the office, not even remembering to grab her umbrella.
"Shit," he said. From across the room, Mae said a quick goodbye, hung up the telephone and stared at him.
"Is that it?" she asked.
"Ah..." Victor glared at her. "Shit," he repeated. And he rushed out of the office, just as the phone rang again.
"Patty!" he called when he got outside. She was halfway across the lot already. "Patty!" Jeez, the rain was really coming down. Had she walked all the way here? "Patty!"
Finally she paused, but didn't turn around. It allowed him the opportunity to catch up, though.
"Patty, I...Well, what were you going to say?"
She turned around now, and looked at him, sighing. "Look, Victor," she said. "I'm sorry. You know, about the other night. I...It was just a favor for Mary Ann...and....Well, I'm sorry." She turned again and began to hurry away.
"Wait! Patty." She paused again, and he tugged on his ear lobe. "Why are you sorry?" he asked.
"What?" she said, spinning on her foot to face him again. "What do you mean 'why?'"
"I mean, why? It's exactly what it sounds like. Why are you apologizing?"
She shuffled her feet a little and pushed a lock of hair out of her face. "Just...because," she said. "You were upset."
"But-"
"Victor! Victor!" Victor turned away from Patty to see Mae running toward him. "Victor!" she shrieked again. Behind him he felt Patty edge closer, and he knew she could sense the urgency in Mae's voice too.
"Mae? What is it?"
"Victor," she said, coming up to him. He put his hands on his shoulders to steady her and she looked up at him, her face contorted in pain. "Victor, it's Michael. He's in the hospital. Heart attack."
"What?"
"Oh my God," said Patty softly.
Mae nodded and pushed some of her hair out of her face. "Your mom just called. He's at San Francisco Memorial."
"Is he okay? Mae?"
"I don't know, Victor. Your mom didn't say. Just, go. Get the hell out of here. I'll close up." She held out a hand; his car keys were in it.
Victor shook his head, shocked. He didn't know what to do. What was he supposed to do? Beside him Patty reached out and snatched the keys from Mae. "Come on," he heard he say. She put a hand on his arm and led him towards his car. "It's going to be okay," she said.
"No," he mumbled.
"Yes, it'll be okay. Come on." She opened the door on the passenger's side and urged him in, then ran to the driver's side, climbed in and started the car.
"Do you know how to drive?" he asked distantly.
"Yes," she said. "Susan taught me. It'll be okay, Victor. We'll get you to the hospital in no time."
He nodded tightly, leaned back, and closed his eyes.
Michael was practically a second father to him. He had trained him to do this job, taken him on fishing trips, camping, to baseball games. He didn't have any children of his own. Victor was practically his son. How could this have happened?
Patty's hand slipped into his and squeezed reassuringly. He cracked open an eye and glanced at her, but she was focused on the road, so he shut his eyes again and concentrated on the sound of the windshield wipers. Back and forth. Back and forth. Swish, swish, swish, swish.
They arrived at the emergency room after what seemed and eternity, and Victor didn't bother to shorten his stride to match Patty's. He burst in moments before she did and spotted his mom first, then his dad, and finally his aunt Angela.
"What's going on? Is he okay?" asked Victor, rushing up to his family.
His dad nodded slowly. "Yeah," he said, clearing his throat. "He's going to be okay. We just heard."
"Thank God," said Victor. He took a deep breath, tears forming in his eyes. "Thank God." He turned and saw Patty standing nearby, looking uncertain of the situation. She was ringing her hands again, but he just smiled at her.
"He's going to be okay," he said, and Patty nodded in return, wiping at her eyes, and giving him a relieved smile.
And it was at that moment Victor realized that one way or another, he had to make things work with Patty.