“That’sh no way to greet your mother.” She’s slurring, probably half in the bag.
“Whereareyou?” I stand and move away from the table.
“Could you put a little money in my account?”
Hell and damnation.Is it too much to ask she stay in the nice apartment I pay for? “What hotel? What city?”
She starts to cry. “It’sh not my fault. James s-said he would pay but skipped out and left me with the bill.”
God knows what else James left her with. Hopefully nothing a few antibiotics can’t cure. “I’ll pay. Just tell me where you are.”
“Rodeway Inn. I think I’m in Columbus. That’sh in Ohio, right?”
“Yeah, mom. Go back in and hand the phone to the manager. I’ll give him my credit card number. I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Thank you, dear.”
“Wait. Just one more thing. In the morning, you take the Uber I send for you, you get to the airport, take the flight I book and go home. If you don’t, I’m not paying for the apartment. Why should I? You’re never there.”
“I am. It just gets boring… only old people sitting around doing nothing.”
“We are not having this conversation again. You agreed to stay put.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.” I pay her bill, hang up, then look to the doctor eyeing me with curiosity. Probably, from my side of the conversation, I sound like a monster but she has no idea what my mother is like.
Sitting back down, I shrug. “Apologies.”
“Families.” She nods as if she gets it. “You can’t pick them.”
Over the years, I’ve tried many ways to explain my mother’s neurotic behaviors. I give the doctor the one that works best. “She’s a result of the sixties.”
“Drugs?”
“Oh, yeah.”Not enough to kill her but enough to make my life a living hell.
When I give her hand a squeeze, she responds with a breathtaking smile and my cock takes notice.
Down boy. This woman is way out of our league.She probably went to Harvard or some other Ivy League school. No doubt, she graduated with high honors with a lot of initials after her name. I got my GED and a degree online while I was in the Marines. I barely passed and not because I couldn’t do the work. It was damn hard to keep up between deployments. Some of my professors were hard-asses about handing the work in on time.
Still, there’s no harm in sitting here with a beautiful woman, her warm hand on mine, her eyes promising something more if I’d only ask, which I won’t.
I’m a fucking mess. I got issues from my childhood, my boss and his family are leaving the limelight, and I’m about to be out a job. Sure, I could go too, but how much protection does an ex-quarterback need in a small town just outside of Charlotte? I need to cut the cord and it’s killing me. This is not a good time to jump into a relationship. It wouldn’t be fair to this pretty lady.
“Is there a Mr. Doctor Smythe?” I have no idea why or how that came out of my mouth.
“No.” She laughs. “Is there a Mrs. Bodyguard?”
“Not even close.” I’m about to ask her out when Mel returns and taps me on the shoulder.
“Ready to go?”
“Sure.” I remove my hand from under the doctor’s and jump up with an apologetic shrug. “Will I see you around?”
She puts her hand in her purse, then hands me a card.
“What’s this? In case I need a shrink?” I laugh.
“Exactly.” She grins, stands, and we all walk out together.
