28. Gatorades, Anyone?
Chapter twenty-eight
Gatorades, Anyone?
Stanley
A week later…
“Edward, you look like shit.”
He glares at me from above the edge of his coffee mug, steam rolling off the hot liquid. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days.
Ever since Maria left, he’s been a ball of angry nerves, poking and prodding at anything and anyone who comes close or offers to help.
Without her around, Ed’s had to cut his hours to accommodate his son and ensure that he’s getting the care he needs until he finds an adequate replacement.
I don’t blame him; being a single dad with no help all of a sudden is a shock that he’s not used to.
“You know, I wouldn’t mind babysitting while you’re at work. I can move my schedule around to help you out. I really don’t mind.”
Ed grunts and presses his forehead against the table. Neither he nor Maria will share with me what led to this happening. I don’t think I want to be involved in the drama anyway. All I really want is for everything to go back to normal.
“Heck, I’ll even help too, if you want. It might do me some good to be around the little guy.” Drake shoves half of a burrito into his mouth before he starts chewing. At least he’s looking a lot better and he hasn’t had any more incidents. I guess therapy is working out pretty well for him.
“What you guys could do is help me vet all these applicants so I can find someone to do the job before I lose my mind.” He blindly shoves a manila folder into the center of the table. It’s thick with applications.
“Have you looked at any of these yet?” I flip the folder open and start pulling out a few sheets to look over.
“No. Don’t have the heart to.”
Pity City, much?
“Waiting isn’t going to fix anything, Ed. The longer it takes you to find someone, the more you and Alexander are going to suffer.” I take out another stack of sheets and slide them over to Drake to look through.
“Oo! I know her,” Drake mutters around a mouthful of food. “She was interning as a nurse at the hospital about two years ago. Good bedside manners, terrible with reading medical charts. The sight of blood made her faint. No idea why she thought working in a hospital would be a good idea.”
“I think we should add that to the ‘no’ pile,” I suggest. There’s no reason to take a risk on someone like that who isn’t sure about the details of a job.
“I’d prefer doing it myself,” Ed grumbles. “Neither of you have kids, you don’t know what you’re looking for.”
“No. We don’t. But if you’re not going to start, we have to sit here and listen to you complain, and we’re trying to make less of that happen.”
Ed reluctantly agrees by not lifting a finger to help us go through more of the stack.
Nor does he say a word as Drake and I discuss the applicants and separate them into piles.
Thankfully, the no pile grows larger than the yes pile so that it can be an easier job for Ed once he finally finds the drive.
It’s almost an hour before the exhaustion finally starts to kick in. We don’t have many files left, and I’d like to finish it before I have to go home for the night.
“I’m going to go out and grab us a few drinks. Anyone want anything?”
“A couple of Red Bulls wouldn’t be a bad idea. If we’re going to go through this whole stack of applications.”
“How about we just stick with coffee, Drake? None of us need all that sugar. I’ll grab a few iced coffees, some bottles of Gatorade, and some chips and salsa. We can make a night out of it.”
Ed only gives me a dismissive wave as he drags himself out of the chair and onto the couch.
I can’t tell what’s sadder: seeing him like this or him acting like this because Maria left. Did he really expect her to continue working for him forever?
I take the elevator down and skip down the few steps in front of the building, glad to get out into some fresh air.
Even without all the work Drake and I have been doing in there, the air feels heavy and depressive.
If I’d never come over, I would have thought everything was alright, especially with how he’s appeared at work.
I guess it’s been a brave face this whole time.
I saunter down a few blocks to the nearest convenience store, pay for the requested items (and a few extras), and start making the journey back to Ed’s.
That’s when I spot Maria in the window of the restaurant across the street, looking as happy as a clam.
Sitting across from some guy I’ve never seen before. Is he the reason Ed’s so bent out of shape?
I catch myself standing on the sidewalk, frozen and staring.
I have three options here: I can go talk to her, I can do nothing and head back, or I can head back and tell Ed what I’ve seen.
Annoyingly, none of them feel like the right choice.
So I pick the one that might repair all of this. Or at least give me an explanation.
I dart across the street, trying to look casual as I walk right up to the window. I lean to one side, hoping that she’ll notice before then and save me from having to be awkward. But she seems attentive to her conversation partner. Which means I’m going to have to be rude.
I rap lightly on the window, hoping that I don’t startle her. Maria whirls around in her seat and recoils from the window. Fright tugs at her brows before they eventually melt into recognition.
I point to the door, hoping she’ll get the hint.
She looks at the guy for a second, and I see her lips forming the word “sorry” before she gets up from her seat.
This was easier than I thought.
“I’m in the middle of dinner, Stanley. Is something wrong?”
Crap. I hadn’t thought this part through.
“Haven’t seen you in a while and wanted to make sure everything’s okay. Uh, I heard you’re not working for Ed anymore...?”
Her expression sours slightly; it’s an obvious sore spot with her.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“And that’s fine! I don’t want to know the reason why. It’s none of my business. But... he’s been doing poorly since you left. Barely sleeping, maybe showering? He knows he needs a new nanny to help him out but he can’t even bring himself to look through the applications.”
“Well, if he didn’t want to miss out on a good thing, then he should’ve thought about it sooner before...” Maria clams up and folds her arms.
“I’m just asking, as a favor to me, to just give him a call or something.”
“Did he send you out here to harass me?”
“Ed? He doesn’t even know where you are. I just happened to be walking by.” I hold up the two plastic bags filled with drinks and snacks. “Just more coincidences.”
This town is pretty small too, so it was bound to happen.
“But hey, that means he’s respecting your space, at least? Not searching for you?”
That offer of a silver lining doesn’t seem to sit well with her either. I’m grabbing at loose straws here.
“As a favor to yourself, Stanley, don’t speak on Ed’s behalf. You’re not his middleman. You’re better than that. If he really needs my help, he still has my phone number. I don’t even have him blocked. If he can apologize and get over himself, I’d be happy to come back and take care of Alexander.”
I’m taken aback by her comment. Me? The middleman? Is she calling me a pushover?
My hopes of repairing anything quickly go down the drain.
“I don’t know what went on between you two, but I’ve never pegged you as a spiteful person,” I say calmly. Reacting to her prickly attitude isn’t going to improve things.
“When you’re feeling better about this, consider giving him a call. For my sake. Or don’t. I’m not going to beg you to do something you don’t want to do. Have a great rest of your evening.”
I turn away and cross the street back to the other side. My heart is racing in my chest. I’m surprised she would speak to me like that. This isn’t the kind and gentle Maria I first met. The one who lights up the hospital hallways and makes everything feel better.
I can’t help but wonder if the three of us did this to her somehow. Is this all a defense mechanism because of that night?
I want to ask Ed but I get the feeling he’s not going to be straight with me either. It’s best I just shut up about it and focus on getting him a new nanny as soon as possible.