Chapter Four: Lucky Charm

Working at The Bishop was very fulfilling for me. I see people at their best. My residents are wise, witty and pretty damn awesome. It gave me aspirations and I learned so much about what was truly important in life.

You know what's important? Lucky Charms. If we didn't have enough Lucky Charms cereal for breakfast, all hell was going to break loose.

"I want my Lucky Charms."

"We're all out, Miss Audrey. How about Cheerios?"

"Cheerios is full of cyanide. I ain't eating that."

I had to blink at that. Cyanide? "How do you know?"

"Says so on the label."

Okay, my blink was turning into a twitch. "On the label?"

"Yep. Read it for yourself. Right there in black and white."

I must admit, later I did sneak a peek at the ingredients label and Cheerios does contain something called niacinamide but it's actually a form of Vitamin B not a poison, but I could see where Miss Audrey got her idea. I knew from experience, though, I couldn't change her mind.

"Well anyway, I only eat Lucky Charms for breakfast. It's the little bitty marshmallows that make it. Orange Stars. Pink Hearts. Blue Moons. Green Clovers. Deeeelish!"

"And plenty of food coloring, too," I thought. I definitely wasn't going to show her the Lucky Charms label. That would just be courting trouble.

"How about a scrambled egg and some bacon."

"I'll take the bacon, Sweetness, but you can shove that egg right up your…"

Just then, there was a loud crash across the dining room. Fearing the worse—a resident falling—I looked up only to see that our class clown, Jasper, had dropped his cane and was now carefully bending over to pick it up.

I sprang to my feet and said, "No, Mr. Jasper, I'll get that for you!" I dashed over to help him right himself, then bent to pick up his cane.

"Sorry to make such a pretty little thing go to so much trouble," he smiled and winked. He was dressed impeccably, wearing crisp blue jeans, a starched buttoned up shirt with a bolero tie. We had finally convinced him to switch his boots for sneakers. Cowboy boots don't do well on tile floors, but it was a fight. His belt buckle could choke a horse and probably had once. He is from Texas, after all.

"It's no trouble, Mr. Jasper. Easier to pick up your cane than you!"

"I suppose you're right about that, but I'd certainly enjoy it more." He chuckled wickedly as I helped him to his chair. The man must be nearing 90 and was an inveterate flirt. His grandniece could tell you stories that would curl your toes. Seemed he was on the rodeo circuit back in the day and had had his own groupies. He'd never gotten married and when asked about it would only sadly say, "I missed that stagecoach."

I left the caregivers to finish serving breakfast, so I could review doctor's orders and make sure we had the supplies that we needed. I was neck deep in pharmacy requisitions when I heard a commotion out on the floor. Now, a commotion was the normal way of life with our residents, but this one was a little bit more so than usual and so, I looked up to see what was happening. I was just in time to see Miss Audrey being pushed by my doorway. She was giggling and smiling delightedly as the man who was pushing her leaned over and whispered something in her ear.

"Now what could they be up to?" I wondered. I got to my feet and got to my door just in time to see them disappear into the open elevator. Once inside, the man turned the chair around so they'd be facing outwards when the doors opened again. As he straightened, I realized exactly who he was. The boy/man I'd run into on the beach the other day. It was the same wild, dark hair, the same broad shoulders, the same lean features and sparkling eyes. The minute those eyes met mine, I saw that he recognized me, too, and just as the elevator doors closed, a slow, sweet smile drifted across his lips, and he winked.

What was that man doing with Miss Audrey? Then, the tumblers clicked into place.

So, this must be Miss Audrey's Sugar—who was also the Cooterdog namer, devastatingly handsome, magnetically charming man/boy who thought a smile and a wink would get him wherever he wanted to go.

He had the ability to instantly piss me off.

And perversely, he also had the ability to leave me completely breathless.

Notes:

The real Miss Audrey was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week and so I've been busy seeing to her, hence the lateness of this chapter. She's doing fine, never really got terribly sick, just enough to complain about everything. Hopefully, she'll test negative today and can be a free woman again. I am thankful.

Miss Audrey above was quoting a Lucky Charms commercial from the 60s. (It's the one I know, as old as I am.) The marshmallows that are now in Lucky Charms are not as described for some reason. Probably, the government made them take the cyanide out of them, or something.