Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Alexis, are you almost ready?” Claire stood by the door of her apartment in Los Angeles. “I can’t be late on my first day back.”
Running into the foyer, Alexis threw a few things into her gym bag, zipping it closed. “I’m ready.” She swung the bag over her shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Claire waved her through the door, before turning to lock up. They walked down the hallway to the elevator. “Do you remember how to catch the bus back home after your dance classes?”
“Yes,” Alexis groaned. Then she playfully slapped Claire on the arm. “Quit worrying. I’m going to be fine.”
“Huh?” Claire paused, studying her. “Last night you told me I ruined your life by making you move here.”
Alexis waved it off. “I know, but that was yesterday. Today I’m resolved. We’re here. There’s nothing I can do about it. I might as well make the most of it.” Nonchalantly, she shrugged.
Claire stopped in front of the elevator, pushing the down button. “I’m impressed. It’s all very mature of you.”
“That’s me,” Alexis gave a false smile while watching the floor number slowly inch closer to their floor, “Ms. Mature.”
“So, Ms. Mature, do you remember the bus number?” Claire’s stomach twisted in knots. Los Angeles wasn’t Pismo.
Claire wondered if Mom would let Alexis ride the bus from her dance studio to their apartment. But then she reminded herself, she didn’t have any other choice. Work was imperative at this point because Claire needed to replenish her dangerously low bank account. With Alexis as her responsibility now, Claire needed to better plan for their financial future.
Alexis scoffed. “We’ve been over this a thousand times. I’ll be fine.”
The elevator doors swung open. Both entered.
Gnawing on a fingernail, Claire forced her hand away to hit the garage button. “You’ll be fine.” She repeated it out loud, mostly to reassure herself.
After dropping Alexis off at her new dance studio, Claire drove the few miles to the hospital where she worked. Slowly, she walked through the familiar sliding glass doors into the hospital lobby. So much time had passed since she last worked, Claire wondered if she even remembered how to do her job anymore. But then the tension between her shoulder blades lessened with each step. For the first time, she realized how much she had missed this place, her co-workers, and the patients.
Riding the elevator up to the physical therapy gym, Claire wondered how much had changed since her abrupt departure. As she stepped off the elevator and entered the reception area, balloons and a huge sign saying welcome back greeted her. Claire smiled. And she knew she would be okay. With time, her mind would forget about Pismo and David. Her life might even start to feel like her life again.
“Claire!” shrieked Jennifer, Claire’s co-worker, and friend. Jennifer came around the reception desk. “You’re back!” Jennifer held her arms out.
“I’m back,” Claire hugged her. They broke their embrace. “I’m sorry I didn’t ever call you back.” Suddenly Claire realized how much she had isolated herself over the past months, pushing away the people who once mattered to her. The darkness of losing Mom and taking care of Alexis left her little room for anything else. She fiddled with loosened wisps of her hair, then reached up and retightened her ponytail. “I was in complete survival mode.”
Jennifer linked arms with hers, leading her to the break room to drop off her things. “I figured.” She patted the top of Claire’s arm. “I only wish I could’ve helped you in some way. I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through, but I’m glad you’re back.”
Her eyes stung, and Claire blinked rapidly to force the emotions away. “I know. I missed you too.” Her throat constricted. A whirling monsoon of thoughts wreaked havoc in her mind. “And, Jennifer…”
“Yeah,” replied Jennifer.
“If you don’t mind…” Claire forced herself to swallow. “I don’t want to talk about my time in Pismo. I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to rehash everything that happened while I was there. I’m here now, and I’m more than ready to be distracted with work.”
Glancing over at her, Jennifer gave a quick nod. “No problem. You bet.”
They entered the break room. Claire found her old locker, placing her things inside it. Once done, she peered around the familiar space. “It’s surreal to be back after so much time,” stated Claire.
With a hand on her hip, Jennifer grabbed the clipboard off the wall. It listed the schedule of appointments for the day. “You said you’re ready to be distracted by work.” She flipped through the pages, finding Claire’s name. Jennifer ran her finger across the paper until she located the line with Claire’s appointments. Claire took a step closer to view the clipboard. “You won’t have to worry about down time, because you have back-to-back to appointments the entire morning.”
“Welcome back, I guess,” Claire stated then she forced a smile. “Bring it on.”
With a warm smile, Jennifer said, “You were born ready.”
Claire couldn’t help but laugh. Clapping her hands together, Claire replied, “I guess I was.”
The day sped by. With each new appointment, Claire quickly found her rhythm again of coming up with a plan for each patient, leading them through the various strength training exercises, and giving them a list of things to do on their own. She had missed her work. And most importantly, it took her mind off her life. Plus, she didn’t think about David once.
After finishing her shift, Claire sang along to the radio driving home, finding herself in a better mood than she’d felt in ages. She even picked up some take-out Chinese food on the way home, in hopes Alexis’s first day was a good one too.
Unlocking the front door, Claire almost felt happy. “Alexis, I’m home,” she declared.
Claire removed her shoes by the door, dumping her purse and other things next to them. Wandering through the apartment back to the kitchen with food in hand, Claire called out for Alexis again. When she didn’t emerge immediately, her stomach clenched tight. She wondered if Alexis hadn’t made it home okay. Placing the food on her two-top dining table, Claire went in search of her sister. The door to her spare bedroom, now Alexis’s room, was closed.
Knocking lightly on the door, Claire asked if she could enter. When she didn’t hear a response, Claire opened it anyways.
Then lo and behold, Alexis was face planted on her twin bed fast asleep. Claire went over and shook her lightly. “Alexis,” whispered Claire. Alexis wasn’t an easy one to wake up. “Alexis. I’m home.” Claire shook her shoulder a second time.
Groggily, Alexis slowly opened her eyes. “You’re home.” She flipped to her back, stretching her arms high above her head. Claire sat down on the corner of the bed. Alexis swung her legs over the side, sitting next to her. “I’m so tired. The new dance studio is no joke. It’s twice as hard as the place in Pismo. I thought the instructor would never let us leave.” She swiped at her eyes. Her blinking returned to normal.
“Other than that,” Claire bit the inside of her cheek, “did it go okay? Were the other dancers nice? Did you get lost riding the bus?” Questions came in rapid succession, whirling around in her head.
“Whoa…” Alexis ran a hand over her head. Her hair was still in a tight bun. She started pulling out some of the bobby pins, loosening her hair. “I only just woke up. Give me a minute.”
Nervously, Claire laughed. It was amazing how much she worried about Alexis. Quickly, without noticing, she had transitioned from sister to parent. “Okay, I’ll try.” Claire waited.
Once Alexis removed the bobby pins from her hair, she vigorously shook her head. Placing the bobby pins on her bed stand, Alexis exchanged them for her phone and slid it into the pocket of her jogger pants.
Alexis stood and said, “David texted me.”
Claire froze. “He did?” She forced her expression to remain impartial. She tried to not let on that his very name made her stomach do funky things. “And what did he want?”
With shaky knees Claire stood, wandering out of Alexis’s room. Alexis followed her to the kitchen.
“Only to wish me luck on my first day at the new dance studio,” replied Alexis.
Once in the kitchen, Claire unloaded the cartons of take-out food from the plastic to-go bag, placing them on the counter. “How did he know you were starting dance today?”
Alexis went to the cupboard, taking out two plates. “Because I told him.”
With a carton in hand, Claire eyed Alexis suspiciously. “Since when have you been texting David, I thought you were mad at him, and on my side.”
Swiveling back around, Alexis placed the plates on the counter and opened the Chinese noodles, spooning some onto her plate. “He texted me after we left his orthodontist’s office.”
“Oh, did he?” Claire tried her to act nonchalant, focusing on opening each carton. “And what did he say then?”
Reaching for the orange chicken, Alexis opened it and spooned some onto her plate next to her noodles. “David apologized for hurting me and asked if we could stay in touch.” She shrugged. “I told him sure. But I won’t text him again if you don’t want me to.”
Claire wondered why he hadn’t bothered to contact her. Then she remembered David was doing exactly what she instructed him to do. “How about that,” stated Claire.
Alexis stopped spooning food onto her plate. “You’re not mad are you?”
“No,” Claire whipped her hair over her shoulder. “David’s a nice guy. He can ask about you. I’m glad he cares.” Claire dished herself out some food from the various cartons and took her plate to the table and sat. Alexis joined her. Claire ignored her impulse desire to ask for more information, to pry every detail out of Alexis, hoping David had asked about her.
Digging into her fried rice, Claire continued, “So, Alexis, tell me about this super hard dance studio.”
And the subject of David was dropped.