Louise let out an annoyed grunt as she tossed the top, she had just tried on back onto the bed. She had pretty much instantly regretted both of the choices she had made that morning. First agreeing to go with Rudy and Sylvester to look at a hospice facility, and secondly telling Gene she didn't know what she should wear. Gene had become the chief of the fashion police pretty much the second they started doing drag professionally. She really should have known that telling him she didn't have an outfit plan would turn into an all-day ordeal. Even though she only had like four things that would be even remotely appropriate for the occasion. Something nicer than her typical work outfit, consisting of an oversized neon green t-shirt that read "Bob's Burgers" on the front and a pair of chef's pants, but not near as fancy as the sparkling gown she would never forgive for forcing Gene to wear for their and Elliot's wedding.
"I don't know I think it's kind of romantic." Tina commented, Tina who had rushed over after receiving Gene's "Louise 911!" text. A dick move on two parts. One because he knew how severe Tina's anxiety was and two because the last time as "Louise 911" text had been sent was when… when. Louise shook her head hard; she could not think of that right now.
"Touring the medical facility where his father is going to die?" Louise questioned as she rolled her eyes.
"Maybe romantic isn't the best word but it is an intimate moment. You already know his parents. So, him trusting you to help him help his father transition to the other side is the next best thing." Tina explained.
"Tina, I am going with them to look around a building. It's not like I'm administering his assisted suicide shot or something." Louise sighed.
"OK but I mean he asked you of all people. That has to mean something." Tina insisted.
"His dad is dying, and he is the sole caretaker. He doesn't want to deal with stuff like this alone, Sylvie is way too young, and he can't exactly ask his mom or Paul." Louise explained.
"But he could ask one of his other friends." Tina pointed out.
"Except he hasn't talked to anyone from here in years." Louise remembered.
"You can explain all you want, Louise but you cannot deny the truth. He still loves you." Gene cooed.
"Guys! He is going through the divorce from hell with Lady Satan! He is NOT ready to date!" Louise snapped.
"Not yet but he will be." Gene insisted.
"I'm gonna put on clothes, so that you guys will leave now." Louise insisted grabbing a black and white blouse and pair of khaki slacks off the bed.
"We'll leave but you really need to stop denying your feelings." Tina sighed.
"Tina's right Louise. Us Belcher sisters are strong independent woman who don't need a man, but that doesn't mean we let Prince Charming ride away." Gene sang.
"GET OUT!" Louise ordered.
Rudy helped Sylvester into the backseat and loaded the wheelchair into the trunk. Sylvie hopped into the back beside her grandfather, careful not to upset his oxygen tank. After dropping Sylvie off with Joan and Paul, they were on their way to Louise's place. Rudy wondered if he had made a mistake in inviting Louise. He did need the moral support but what if Louise thought it was weird? Maybe he should have just asked Mandy? She had told him she would be there ASAP if he needed her, but he wanted Louise. She had always been the one to show up for them when they were kids, but maybe this was too much. What if she thought he just wanted her to be Sylvester's nurse maid? What if she thought he was trying to rush into another marriage? He definitely did still love Louise and he really did want to date her, but he still needed time. God, what if she was just being polite when she said she wasn't wanting to date either? What if she really did want to date him and thought he wanted the same? Which he did. Just not now.
Louise grimaced at herself in the mirror. She had completely forgotten that she had worn the khakis to work one day. When all her other pants were in the laundry and of course that was the day, she spilled bleach. It wasn't a bad stain, but it definitely was noticeable. She wanted to change but the jeans felt too casual and the black pants with a mostly black top felt too mournful. Showing up to a hospice dressed as if she were in mourning just seemed like a slap in the face to the residents. The red top would go better with the black, but it showed off her breasts. If you could call them that and she didn't want Rudy to think she was thirsty. Part of her wished she hadn't sent Tina and Gene away but by the end they were more interested in her love life than actually helping her. She was about to change for the tenth time. Then her phone buzzed. Rudy was downstairs. She grabbed a sweater and wrapped it around her waist in a vain attempt to cover the bleach stain. She ran downstairs and burst out of the apartment locking the door behind her. She swung open the door of Sylvester's car. Louise was certain it was the same one he had back when they were at Wagstaff. Sylvester was in the back seat. He looked absolutely awful.
"Hey" Louise greeted.
"Hi Louise" Rudy replied.
"Hello Louise" Sylvester added weakly.
The hospice wasn't bad, at least Louise assumed it wasn't bad. She had no experience with the matter. Sylvester wasn't sure when or if he would be moving there. He had just started a new cycle of chemo but if the cancer didn't respond this time there wasn't much more they could do. In his current state there was also a chance he could die before he even had a chance to officially go into hospice. The drive home was less than ideal. Rudy was pleasant and everything, but Sylvester had an "incident" as Rudy referred to it. About halfway through the drive. Poor Rudy had tried so hard to pull into a gas station, but the light would not change and there was no safe way for him to get over. Sylvester was crying and Louise was doing her best to pretend not to notice. She gave him her sweater to wrap around his waist when they got back to Rudy's. She had been wearing that sweater the day Benj died and hadn't been able to stand the sight of it since, but all her other winter clothes were put away and that seemed more appropriate than the "Grim Carolina Reaper" hoodie she had bought at a local food festival. She decided to clean the backseat. While Rudy got Sylvester cleaned up. She couldn't imagine having to bathe one of her parents. Especially not when they were this young. Bob and Linda were in their sixties and thankfully in good health for the most part, but Sylvester was ten years younger than Bob.
Rudy invited Louise for tea. While he waited for Sylvie to get home. Apparently, Joan and Paul had decided to take her to see a movie. In his room Sylvester was absent mindedly flipping through the channels. Before stopping on one of the borderline pornographic shows offered by HBO. Once again Louise found herself pretending not to notice.
"Thanks again for today." Rudy said.
"It was no trouble." Louise assured even though it had actually been awkward as hell.
"It wasn't weird for you, right? Because I didn't want it to be. It's just you're my best friend and I needed a friend." Rudy rambled.
"Trust me, Rudes I get that." Louise assured.
"Good because I was worried you would think that I wanted to date you or something." Rudy sighed.
"I know you aren't ready. Tina and Gene not so much but I swear I must have run over a Gypsy's husband in a past life. Because I am cursed with being sister to the two most hopeless romantics on the planet." Louise explained.
"Aw I think they are sweet." Rudy cooed.
"Because you don't have to live with them and you didn't have to endure the summer of them trying to Parent Trap, your aunt and Mr. Frond." Louise remembered.
"Tell me again what happened there?" Rudy questioned.
"Gene and I innocently broke my dad's antique spatula. That according to the shady ass eBay dude was used by the McDonald brothers to make their very first burger. Which is just total bullshit. I mean if that weren't in a landfill somewhere surely it would be in a museum or something, but my dad was sure it was the real deal. When hello it was just an old, rusted spatula. That would have broken and if you looked at it funny, and Gene and I were bored out of our minds. When I dared him to try and flip me with it. Which I know was a bad idea, but Teddy was talking about buying a new hammer and it had been pouring for five days straight. Oh, and we were children. So of course, we were bored. So, I let Gene flip me." Louise rambled.
"Anyway, about the Gayle/Frond Parent Trap." Rudy prodded.
"Well part of our punishment was helping Gayle clean her apartment, and of course Tina went to because she was the golden child. Well while we were cleaning the closet. Gene finds Gayle's documents from the animal shelter, and it turns out that one of her cats and one of Frond's cats were from the same litter. So somewhere between us finding the papers and me going to the bathroom. Tina and Gene decide to do a feline parent trap on Gayle and Frond. Thank God, Frond was engaged to Cassie and Gayle was dating that dude from the roller rink, or Frond would be my uncle now." Louise explained.
"Yeah, that would have sucked." Rudy laughed.
"It would have been the worst." Louise agreed.
"Maybe not the worst." Rudy commented.
"The absolute worst." Louise insisted.
"My mom just texted. They are heading home now." Rudy announced.
"In that case I will head out." Louise decided.
"I can give you a ride back to your place." Rudy insisted.
"Can he be alone?" Louise whispered.
"For a few minutes" Rudy assured. "DAD! I am driving Louise home!" Rudy called.
"OK!" Sylvester called back.
"Thanks again for cleaning the car and I will pay to have your sweater dry cleaned or buy you a new one." Rudy said as he drove back towards Bob's Burgers.
"Like I said it was no trouble and don't worry about the sweater. I hated that thing." Louise assured.
"It's a nice sweater. Why would you hate it?" Rudy questioned.
"I was wearing it the day Benj died." Louise sighed.
"Oh. Man, that was tragic." Rudy commented.
"Yeah" Louise whispered.
"Sorry I missed the funeral. I wanted to go really bad, but Chloe had a gig in LA and our nanny had to have shoulder surgery. So, there was nobody to watch Sylvie and Chloe refused to even consider me bringing her. Even though I assured she would not be attending the actual funeral. My parents were all more than willing to watch her for a few hours, but Chloe wouldn't hear of it." Rudy apologized.
"You didn't miss much. It was your standard funeral Amazing Grace and the Twenty Thid Psalm, eulogies, all that sad stuff. They buried him with a bunch of his puppets, and his mom threw herself in the casket. I always thought that was over the top when it happened in the movies, but if anybody could come even close to capturing her grief. They deserve all the awards." Louise explained.
"Sounds rough" Rudy commented.
"It was hell." Louise confirmed.
Rudy dropped Louise back off at her place. She changed back into her work clothes and reopened the restaurant, ignoring the million texts from Tina and Gene. She wondered when older siblings finally butted out of their younger sibling's love life. Probably not until they were married. Which for Lousie was not going to be anytime soon. Though part of her desperately wished that weren't true. Her old feelings had come roaring back the day she learned Rudy was back in town and that he was single. She wondered if they had ever left. She knew she needed to shove them down. Rudy was not ready. The bell signaling a customer's arrival rang and she breathed a sigh of relief. Saved by the bell literally. The restaurant was pretty much nonstop after that first customer and the distraction was more than welcome.
That night things were different. She found herself all alone in the apartment. Tina and Zeke were at some function for the wrestling team, and Gene and Elliot were off being brand new parents. Bob and Linda were enjoying their retirement and Louise was reminded of how truly lonely she was. She was losing the battle to shove her feelings for Rudy down. Her phone buzzed it was a text from Rudy.
"Louise, hope it's not too late. My dad wants to pay for us to have dinner together. I guess to thank us. My mom can watch Sylvie next Thursday. You in?"
Talk about bad timing. Spending hours trying in vain to forget your feelings for somebody and they pick that exact moment to invite you to a purely platonic dinner. She wanted to decline but Sylvester was using his limited funds to treat them, and Rudy really did need a friend in town. A friend. That's all, she was a friend. No, she was more than a friend. She was his best friend, but absolutely NOTHING more than that. She really didn't want to do this, but she had to. Then she realized it. She had her out after all. Rudy had care for Sylvie but not Sylvester. Surely, he couldn't be alone that long.
"What about your dad?"
The phone buzzed again seconds after she hit send. She prayed for her out.
"He has nursing care on Thursdays. That's why I asked my mom about that night. He has it on Saturday too, but Saturday is when people go on dates, and this isn't a date. Plus, my mom and Paul go out on Saturdays and even though they are over the moon to have Sylvie back. I hate to ask for a Saturday.
Louise cussed under her breath. Looks like she had no choice.
"Sounds good. How about around eight?"
Maybe she would get lucky and around eight would be terrible for him. Maybe the nurse would only be there at seven, but she couldn't close early on a Thursday. Even though she closed early all the time. She may even be worse than Bob about it, but at least she tried to give ample notice.
"PERFECT! See you there!"
Shit! There were no more outs. Unless she got lucky, and her appendix burst or an asteroid collided with the Earth at just the right speed and ended all life in Seymour's Bay. OK maybe nothing that extreme but a rat pandemic or the president declaring it illegal to eat on Thursdays after eight PM if your last name began with an S or a B. Yeah that could work.