We were sitting on the sofa later that afternoon and the sky was starting to turn to evening. So far I’d had a perfect day. I was hoping it wouldn’t end. I could remember as a kid those special Sunday’s when my brother and I would leave the house after breakfast and play outside all day. One adventure after another. Games of baseball. Hide and seek. War. Road hockey. All the kids in the neighbourhood playing together. Mom wouldn’t even bother trying to get us to come in for lunch and she would leave food on the front porch. If we remembered, we’d eat at some point in the day. When she finally called us in for dinner, we went reluctantly. Those days were perfect and I smiled to myself as I thought about them. The games Jay and I had played today didn’t involve the neighbourhood kids but it had been just as much fun. I didn’t want the day to end. I smiled again when I remembered that some of those neighbourhood kids had been Jay and his sisters. History was definitely repeating itself.
"Well, Mr. Harmon. Should I go home? It’s time to be thinking about dinner and what to wear to work tomorrow. Not that you have to worry about what to wear tomorrow," I said.
"Oh sure. Rub it in. And I thought we’d agreed not to talk about work any more today," he said. "And no, you shouldn’t go home unless you want to. We can eat here or go out. Whatever you want."
I thought about staying over at Jay’s for another night and as appealing as that was, I knew I shouldn’t push my luck.
"Well, if we stay here, you’ll have to do the cooking. What’ve you got?"
"Do you care? Let me make dinner and you can see if there’s anything on the TV." He got up and handed me the remote control off the coffee table. "Don’t exert yourself," he laughed as he headed for the kitchen.
This man was definitely a catch. He cooked and I got to play with the remote. It doesn’t get any better than this, I thought. I stretched out on the sofa and flicked through the channels. I could hear Jay in the kitchen behind me opening cupboard doors and making cooking sounds. I surfed the channels and settled on a golf game from Pasadena. I wasn’t sure what was more exciting - watching golf on TV or watching paint dry. I flicked the remote a few more times and found some historical show about the castles of Germany. The scenery in the show was beautiful and some of the scenes looked vaguely familiar. My dad had been in the army and we had been posted to Germany for three years and I was sure some of what I was watching on the TV was on our home movies.
The smell of something interesting wafted in from the kitchen and my stomach growled. This was definitely not junk food.
"Let me know when you want me to set the table," I said over my shoulder to Jay. I don’t think he heard me because he had the radio on low in the kitchen. I pushed the mute button on the TV and just watched the picture. I could hear the radio now and Jay had the station set to soft rock. The whole situation was very homey and domestic. The only thing missing was a dog and two kids. With my luck it’d be a barking dog and two snot nosed kids. I shook my head to clear the thought.
I had dozed off by the time dinner was ready and I woke up when Jay shook my shoulder.
"Hey, sleepy-head. Wake up. Come on, dinner’s ready."
"How many times in the last few days have you had to wake me up?" I asked with a grin.
"A few. But who’s counting? Dinner’s served, madam. Let me show you to your table." He held out his hand and helped me off the sofa.
Not surprisingly, dinner was superb. Jay had prepared a pasta dish, the name of which I didn’t ask. I hadn’t seen it recently on the menu at McDonald’s. I took my time cleaning up after dinner because I was reluctant to go home.
"Well," I said to Jay as I hung the wet dishtowel on the hook beside the refrigerator, "that’s about it. I should be heading home."
"You can’t stay?" Jay asked.
"I could but I shouldn’t," I replied. "This has been a perfect day of domestic bliss, albeit in your home. And I don’t want to overstay my welcome. Besides, you don’t wear the same size underwear and pantyhose that I do and I’d have to leave early and go home to get ready for work."
Jay laughed. "You could call in sick and take the day off."
"I could. But Didrickson would probably fire me and then we’d both be out of jobs. Triple bypass surgery is the only excuse for missing work during a week when we’re having a board meeting. What are you going to do tomorrow?"
"I think I’m going to take your advice and call the Tower of Jell-O. I’ll plead and cry and see if Tom’ll talk some sense into someone. Basically, I’m going to beg for my job back."
"Do you want me to talk to him?" I offered. I thought I might be treading on thin ice here because I knew how proud Jay was. But - a job’s a job.
"No. I can handle it," he said.
"Will you promise me though that if you think I can help, you’ll swallow your pride and ask me? I can bully Tom into anything you know. I can have him whimpering in a corner in two seconds. All I have to do is tell him his tie doesn’t match his socks. The guy would be a basket case. Then I could swoop in and go for the kill. Make him promise to give you your job back for some fashion advice."
We both laughed. Jay stood up and put his arms around me.
"If it comes down to it and I think it’s necessary, I’ll ask for your help." He kissed me lightly on the forehead and then hugged me.
I looked up at him. "Walk a lady to her car?" I asked.
"Sure. But doesn’t that smack of male chauvinism?" he joked.
"Not at all. It’s polite and it shows manners. Your mom would be proud of you. Besides, I haven’t used my car all day and I want to make sure it starts."
"Then I’d be honoured to escort you. Hang on while I get my apartment keys."
My car started on the first try. Damn. I think I was secretly hoping it wouldn’t start and I’d have an excuse to stay. Jay leaned in the driver’s side window and gave me a kiss. "You’ll call me?" he asked.
"Sure," I said slowly. "When? When I get home? Later tonight? Tomorrow? You’ve gotta understand, I’m really rusty at this game and I’m not sure of the rules."
"Whenever. And I’m rusty too. If you want to call me when you get home, that’d be great. And then you could call me later tonight. And then again tomorrow. Let’s make up the rules as we go." He smiled at me.
"No problem coach. Thanks for a great time, Jay." I put the car in gear. "Now get your head out of my car before I drag you down the street."