Chapter 5
When Tyler came back to the apartment later that evening, Sandy had been working one of her crossword puzzles with the TV droning in the background.
"I thought you said that you would be back in a little bit," she said.
"Sorry, Mom," Tyler apologized. "But me and Paul got to talking for a good while and he was showing me some pictures and stuff."
"I don't think I've seen you like this with any of the other neighbors. There's a lot of nice people on this floor, but I noticed that you seem to have some special thing about him."
Tyler grinned at his mother. Wow, she is really clueless, he thought.
He went over to the computer, which was in the corner of the living room. "Here, I'll show you why he's kind of special."
Sandy walked over to where Tyler sat, wondering what on earth her son was doing.
Tyler had logged on to a wrestling website, pulling up Paul's profile. "There you go, Mom."
She looked at the screen for several minutes. "Oh my God, is that…."
"Yep," he nodded. "Our neighbor and dinner guest."
"Tyler, why didn't you say something?"
"You were already all nervous about having a guy over. Come on, Mom; you haven't even gone out with anyone since Dad died. Six years is a long time. And I kind of didn't want to embarrass Paul either."
"I can't believe we had him in our apartment, or even more so, how much he resembled your father. He's a bit younger than your dad, but you get the idea."
"Yeah, I noticed that too," Tyler agreed.
"So what were you two discussing for over three hours?" Sandy wondered.
"All kinds of shit. Wrestling, stuff about Dad, places he'd traveled, championships. And yeah, how cute he thinks you are."
"Tyler Michael!"
"Well, you asked. Might as well be honest."
"Did he honestly say something like that?"
"Yeah, it kind of threw me off too. So you like him?"
"He seems like a very nice man," Sandy replied. "But just don't be too much of a pest. He doesn't get a lot of down time and if he travels that much, he can use all the rest he can."
Tyler nodded. "I know. But I think it's really cool to have a neighbor like him."
"Yeah," Sandy said, still thinking about the 'cute' comment. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to get to know this man a little more. She had no idea of what Tyler was up to, but Paul seemed to be anything but a dull guy.