The Past Follows, Chapter Seven

Moving day

Chapter Seven

Monday morning I returned to work. The apartment was now mine, and I could start moving my things as soon as I wanted. When I got home from work, I looked around, feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’d be moving this coming Sunday. I put on some music and marched into the kitchen. Choices here would be much easier than culling my clothing. I began pulling things out of the cabinets. As I clattered about, my phone rang and it was James. I explained what I was doing and he offered to come over, as he had the night off. 

“Do me a favor? Can you pick up some boxes from the grocery store on your way over here?” 

“Yes, ma’am, will do.”

He arrived with stacks of boxes, just the right size. “Here you go. I picked up some newspapers on the way over, too.”

“You think of everything.” I gave him a kiss when he put his burdens down. Reluctantly I pulled away. Getting side tracked. 

Back in the kitchen, I selected the things that could go, and James wrapped them in newspaper as I stacked them up. 

“How did I ever get so much stuff?” I asked. “I came to Milton with everything I owned packed into my car. Now I need a truck to move just the big things. I don’t know how many trips I’m going to have to make on my own.”

“I can help out with my station wagon,” James offered. 

By 8 o’clock, I had half of the cupboards cleared out. I began wiping down the shelves of the empty cupboards. As I stretched up to reach the back of a top shelf, James came up behind me and slid his hands around my waist. 

“It’s getting late, we can’t work all night,” he said, as he pulled me closer. “We need a break.” 

I leaned back against his warmth and put my hands over his. Packing suddenly seemed unimportant. He nuzzled in my hair, kissed the corner of my ear, and I turned in his arms. It came to me that we were entirely alone. My heart jumped and I pressed closer. Once again, he waited for me, but I pulled him even closer and led the way, pouring all my desire into our kiss. We ended up on the couch, James pushing boxes and newspapers onto the floor. When one lone box, perched on the back of the couch, was dislodged and landed in our laps, we finally pulled apart. Laughing, I batted it onto the floor. 

“James, that was wonderful.” 

“You’re a wonderful woman.” 

I snuggled close under his arm, resting my head on his chest. How a kiss could move me so, I didn’t know, but I liked it. Liked it very much. 

After a while, James murmured, “We need to eat sometime.” Lunch now seemed a long time ago. “Let’s hit the Med,” he suggested.

“What’s that?”

“The Mediterranean. A little Greek restaurant, but they have amazing pizzas, too. And they’re open til eleven.”  

The Mediterranean was small, indeed. Claiming a booth, I looked around. The white walls were covered with travel posters showing Greece in all its beauty. We ordered a specialty pizza, with tomato, spinach and feta.

“We don’t have anything like this in Green Hollow,” I said, after my first bite of pizza. “This is delicious.”

“What do you have in Green Hollow?” 

“The best they can do for pizza is Little Caesar’s. Nothing as good as this.”

“Little Caesar’s? That’s deplorable.”

I laughed. “I thought I didn’t like pizza until Keith ordered us some Domino’s. But even that can’t compare with this.” I took another bite. 

“So Green Hollow doesn’t have any decent pizza. What does it have?”

“There’s the Best Western bar and grill. A dive bar by the railroad tracks. And Kathy’s diner on Main Street. That’s about it for food and drink. If you want something really good, you have to cook it yourself.” 

Milton wasn’t a big city, but it showed me how small my hometown was. How limited I had been there. With Keith out of my life, I found myself opening up, feeling freedom at last. 

“It’s so good to go somewhere and not see anyone you know, no one there to gossip about who you are with, and how much you drink, and what you are wearing. My mother was a gossip clearing house, I couldn’t do anything without her finding out.”

“Except your rowdy high school adventures?”

“True,” I said. “She never knew about that stuff. I had my cover story of staying at Abby’s house. I think my mother thought we spent our time painting our toenails, listening to the radio, and talking about clothes.”

“I never had the nerve to cut up in high school. My big brother would sneak out at night and party with his friends. He got away with it, but I was sure I’d be caught and I was terrified of my father.” James laughed. “I’ve always been a terrible liar.” 

“So what did you do, being the obedient son?”

“I played games with my friends. We’d have marathon games, from morning to after midnight. Risk, Twilight Imperium, Settlers of Catan, things like that.” 

“What are those?”

“Games of strategy, mainly war games trying to conquer the entire map.” 

My phone rang. I looked down and saw “anonymous” in the caller ID. 

‘You need to take that?” James asked.

Probably some kind of spam. I shook my head and rejected the call.

“Where were we?” I asked.

“I was about to confess that I had toy soldiers, too.”

“GI Joes?” I stifled a giggle.

“No, fancy metal ones my grandfather gave us. Doug, Ian and I played with them when we were kids. Scotts against the Englishmen.”

I leaned across the table and confided, “I had paper dolls. I would make paper dresses for them.”

My phone rang, anonymous again. I rejected it. “Hang on, let me turn off my phone.” This was annoying. I found the setting and muted the phone. 

“What’s up with your phone?” James asked.

“Oh, I don’t know, some telemarketer or something. Nothing important.” 

“It’s not that guy again? Your ex?” 

“No,” I assured him. “He can’t have my new number. It’s just some kind of spam.”  

I began doubting that when I got home. There were 5 more calls, all anonymous. How could Keith have my new number? No messages, though. Just hang ups. Would Keith do something like this, multiple hang ups? He always liked the sound of his own voice. It could be something else, not everything had to be related to Keith. I couldn’t imagine what else, though. Troubled, I got ready for bed, but did not fall asleep for a while. 

The rest of the week passed quietly. Work at the toy shop, and work at home packing things up. No more hang up calls. Sunday morning at 9 am, I had neat stacks of boxes ready to go. Bruce, Heidi and Tom showed up right on time and James arrived just a few minutes later. Bruce, James and Tom moved the furniture while Heidi and I carried boxes out to James’ Subaru wagon. 

I took one last box from Heidi and squeezed it into the Subaru. The men were still maneuvering my couch into the truck, so Hiedi and I leaned against the car and rested. 

“Heidi, thank you for your help. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Sweat was cooling on my face quickly in the cold. I put on the sweater I’d tied around my waist. 

“It’s no problem. You’re lucky to have James. I knew he was a good one from the first time we met. Better than Keith, for sure. I’m glad he’s out of your life. He hasn’t been bothering you since you changed your number?”

“Well…” I didn’t want to worry Heidi unnecessarily.

Heidi’s face darkened. “What is that jerk up to now?”

I explained the hang up calls. “But I’m not even sure it was him. No message.”

“C’mon Karen, who else would it be? You need to be careful. If he’s thinking about you, it’s not good.” 

“We don’t even know if it was him. He’s never missed an opportunity to hear himself talk before. I can’t imagine him hanging up without saying something.” I was sorry I’d said anything. “Anyway, how would he get my number?”

“Just be careful, girl. You’ve got pepper spray?” 

“On my keychain, like you told me.” I displayed the canister. I hated thinking about Keith and I hated having to fear him even after our relationship was over. Heidi was right, I needed to be careful. Damn, I hated the whole thing.

Bruce signaled us. Most of my furniture was loaded and we caravanned to my new place. My car, James’ car and Heidi’s car were full to the brim as well. We unloaded and when we got back to my old apartment to pick up the last load, we found Abby sitting on the porch.

She hurried forward to hug me, saying, “Karen! I’m here to help!” sounding as if I couldn’t do it without her. 

I hugged her back and said, “You’re just in time for the last load.” 

“Put me to work! I’ll do whatever you say!”

“We have nearly everything that is packed. You can help me and Heidi load up the station wagon.”

Together we ferried boxes out. The truck was only half filled when we had the Subaru full. There was nothing else to go. Abby rode with me to my new home. 

“This is a great place,” Abby said as she wandered around. “You still don’t have a roommate?” 

“I’ve been looking and it’s hard, sorting out weirdos and party girls. I just want someone remotely normal who isn’t going to be throwing parties twice a week.” 

“I could live here,” Abby said. Was she serious? I looked at her face. For once, she was.

I thought about this idea and said, “Well, I guess that solves my roommate problem.” 

“It’ll be so much fun living together!”

“You’ll need to move your stuff in. You want to do that this week?”

“I’ve got an air mattress in the car. I’ve got everything I own with me. No need to move anything.”

She was prepared. How long had she been planning this? Was she that sure I’d say Yes? 

“What made you decide to move here?” I asked.

“I couldn’t stand being around my mom 24-7. You know how she drinks. Anyway, there was no work for me in Green Hollow. I got a job at the ElectroMatic distribution center. They needed an extra IT person.”

“Wow, you already have a job? You scored a good job there, ElectroMatic pays well.” 

“The job was the big factor, but you are also my favorite person in the world. I’d do anything to be near you. And now we’re roommates! It’s perfect.” 

I had missed Abby’s enthusiasm and zest for life. It lifted my spirits to be around her, and reminded me of the time, after my father’s death and before Keith, when I had nothing to fear. I missed the carefree person I used to be. I was determined to take that back. I wouldn’t let Keith rob me of a happy life. And I knew Abby could help me with that. Her joyful spirit was infectious. 

Author's Note

I gladly accept any comments, critical or otherwise. Large or small, it is all appreciated. Thank you for reading so far.

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

This is very clean and correct. I didn't spot a single error. We see the relationship slowly developing with James, who in my view, is exercising a lot of patience and restraint. Indicative of this is when the two begin kissing, then end up on the couch. (The most exciting part of the chapter) I thought surely it would lead to sex, or at the least, him being swatted back for being too feisty. With no nooky in sight, his hormones subside and are replaced by thoughts of food. (Number two on a man's most desired list) The unknown caller adds a bit of tension, which is good. What a pain it is to move! You find long lost things while losing other things.

[SweetNutmeg]

Once again, thank you Sam. You're a real trooper. James might be showing restraint, or he might just like to savor the beginning. Or maybe he's the kind of person who needs deep emotional attachment to enjoy doing the dirty. There are a number of reasons he might be that way. Believe it or not, I know a couple of men like that. I was always in a rush to get it on, with my various partners, and some expressed that going that fast didn't create the suspense and anticipation we would have had on a slower track. But never fear, James will eventually get some nooky.

I really appreciate your feedback. I value your opinions.