Eve

WHAT THE HELL AM I doing?

What the hell have I done?

“Well, look at those rosy cheeks.”  Howard laughs as he comes around the corner to the medication station where I’m picking up meds for a couple residents on my hall.

“Well, look what Santa threw out of his sleigh.”  I banter back, making Sheila the pharmacy tech laugh.

“You mind your own business.”  He narrows an eye at her but she scoffs with a wave of her hand.

Sheila presses a fist into her hip and smacks back at him, “You know that was funny, so take your Grinchy behind and get on down the hall.”

As she turns to help the next care giver in line, I take the tray with the tiny cups filled with colorful pills and begin to walk down the hall toward the apartments of my residents for today.

But Howard is clearly in one of those moods.  He strides next to me with a stupid grin on his face.

“What?”  I snap, holding back my smile.

“What?”  He mocks.  “You know what!  Little hitch in your giddy-up there today, huh?” 

He glances down at my legs pointedly, before waving to some family members who greet us with ‘Merry Christmas’ as they head to their loved ones’ rooms.

“Shut it.”  I exclaim, pointing a finger up at him.  He’s six foot nine and I’m five-two, so looking up at him is a constant chore.  I sometimes joke that if he wasn’t a care home manager he could have played pro basketball.  “What did you do last night? Huh?  You gonna give me your gory details?”

“That would be totally inappropriate for a boss to share with a member of his staff.”  He intones with mock seriousness.

“Oh, but insinuating that I had some sort of carnal activities myself is above board?”  I get to room three-forty and softly knock on the door, turning toward the doorway and calling, “Mr. Gordon?  It’s Eve, time for medication.”  I reach down and open the door a crack then look back at Howard. “Are you done busting my chops?”

He snorts and spins on his heel.  “For now.”

One thing that does happen when you work somewhere that runs twenty-four seven, there’s a camaraderie, especially on holidays.  A different lightness to the way we talk to each other.  And clearly Howard is in rare form today.

I step into Mr. Gordon’s room.  He’s sitting in his recliner in just his pajama bottoms, wearing a Santa hat.

“Merry Christmas, Eve.”  He smiles and I look at his rumpled bed, today’s newspaper strewn all over.

I try to keep the consternation out of my face at seeing that.

“Merry Christmas yourself.”  I take his medication to him, go to the sink and get him a glass of water.

“You playing today?”  He asks and I smile, waiting for him to swallow the pills before answering.

“God willing and the creek don’t rise.” 

He chuckles and I take the pill cup and toss it into the small, overflowing garbage can in the little kitchenette area.  I make a mental note that it needs to be emptied and I wonder where Genisys is.  We are assigned to the same hall today; I’m on personal care duty and she’s on room duty, meaning she should be emptying garbage and making the beds.

“Sorry you have to work on Christmas.”

“It’s not work to me.  This is where I want to be.”

“That makes one of us.”  He says, rolling his eyes.  I know a lot of the residents here would rather be in their own homes, and I get it.  This place may be like a plush hotel, but it can still be overwhelming to have to leave the place you’ve lived in for years.  I do whatever I can to make being somewhere you don’t want to be as pleasant as possible, and just hope it helps.

“I know.”  I step back toward him, reach down and give his hand a squeeze.  “But just so you know, you’re one of my favorites. You make every day better when I’m here.” 

He laughs, running a hand over the mess of his gray hair.  “You’re the cutest liar I’ve ever met.”

I finish up and leave him with a quick hug, and then I’m back out in the hall on my way to my next room.

Myself, I’m hovering somewhere between walking on air and fighting off a sense of dread that would knock the black socks off Satan.

Talk about bad timing.

Don’t. Fall. In. Love.

It’s a simple mantra, but right now it is crumbling at my feet.

Ella Mae Vixon’s medications are next on my list and my stomach flutters as I wonder if Vix is still visiting with her.  When he dropped me off at the back door, I asked him to just walk in the front like it was any other day and please not let on to the staff that anything was going on with us.  Since then, I haven’t seen him.  He could have left already, although he did say he’d be here all day...

It’s bad karma in a place like this for someone to know you’ve got something going on with a family member.  It’s not against the rules, mind you—clearly Howard would take issue if it was.  But I’m already not the most popular chick on the block with some of my co-workers, and if it came out something was going on between Vix and me, even the next two days would be hell.

Two days.

You’re leaving in two days.

You need to call your dad, it’s Christmas.

I do have a way of pretending the other shoe is not about to drop.  One of my talents, especially back in my drinking days.

It’s like taking a nap on a sofa that’s on fire.  Short term gain, long term pain.

I take a deep breath and raise my fist to knock on Mrs. Vixon’s door, when it swings right open, making me jump.

“Haiii.”  Genisys smiles at me as I step back to let her by.  She’s carrying a plastic garbage bag, and I expect her to barge right past as she usually does.  Instead, she pulls the door shut behind her and runs her tongue over her lips.  “How’s things?”

I scrunch up my nose.  She rarely addresses me in any way other than to insult me or give me shit.

Something is clearly off.

“Fine. Things are fine.”  I keep it close to the vest, trying to get a read on whatever this is.

“Had a good Christmas Eve? Eve.”  She mocks my name and heat covers me.

She knows.

I don’t know how she knows, but she knows.

I’m so fucked.

Anybody but her.  I blow out a quick breath and square my shoulders, rapping softly on the door, trying not to play into her game.  Just act like nothing’s different.

“Yep.”  I answer her in a clipped tone, then call to Mrs. Vixon, clicking the door knob and opening the door per my usual routine.

“What a tangled web we weave...”  She chuckles as she turns to walk away.

“Mr. Gordon’s room needs your attention.”  I add and she lifts a hand and gives me the finger as she walks away.

I let out an incredulous gasp, looking around to make sure no residents or family members saw her gesture.  That is grounds for immediate dismissal and just plain bad conduct.  If Howard had seen, she wouldn’t even last the rest of her shift.

“Geez.”  I mumble as I step into Mrs. Vixon’s room.

My heart nearly seizes as I see Vix sitting next to her on the sofa.  She’s surrounded by torn wrapping paper and on her lap is the biggest box of cherry cordials I’ve ever seen.  There’s at least ten open spots where she’s devoured them already and her usual red lipstick is decorated with milk chocolate.

“Merry Christmas.”  She waves.  “You want a cordial?”

“No thanks.”  I do my best to control my smile, but lose the battle at controlling the wet spot that’s just introduced itself to my panties at the sight of Vix.

Ella Mae Vixon has a beautiful apartment, the largest available at Cedar Terrace.  In the corner of her living room there is a Christmas tree, and of course now that I look at it I realize it’s one of theirs.  I don’t know how I never noticed that before, but I do remember it had a bunch of gifts underneath that are now all opened and strewn over the coffee table and floor.

I look at Vix, who is smiling back at me, wearing this purple and yellow scarf with two mittens knitted onto it near each shoulder.

I choke back my laugh at the sight of him sitting there with a knowing smile.

“Mom made it for me. What do you think?”  He asks and Mrs. Vixon smiles at him then looks up at me.

“I think it’s perfect.  It really brings out your eyes.”  I walk to her kitchen shaking my head, and get her a glass of water.  Then I step back to the sofa where they sit and hand her the pill cup, watching as she swallows her pills with a sip of water.  “And your shoulder thumbs.”

Ella giggles and slaps Vix on his arm.

“I love her.  If you don’t take her, I will.”  She gives me a toothy grin.  Her make-up is complete, even in the morning, but she’s wearing a lavender satin robe with lime green trim.  Her signature pearls are dangled around her neck, the tag for the robe still hanging off one sleeve. She reaches over and pinches Vix on the cheek.  “He’s a handsome one, isn’t he, my son?  Looks so much like his father. Too bad he had to work today.  On Christmas, no less.”  She shakes her head and I change the subject.

“I love your robe.”  I add as Vix winks at me and my belly flutters.

He’s wearing a red and black flannel shirt, jeans and brown lace up boots, but he may as well be wearing a five-thousand-dollar suit because he looks so good I feel my knees giving out.  The flutter in my belly quickly lowers and settles between my legs as I look at his face, remembering the way his beard felt against me when he ate me out.  The orgasms that toppled one over the other thanks to his talented mouth.

Guilt rakes at me.  How did I get myself into this?  Is it just a fling?  Could it be just a fling?

No.

And no.

Maybe for him it is, but not for me.  Maybe he will step right into all my doubts and ghost me tomorrow.  It’s the holiday, he will keep up the charade until tomorrow.

My heart clutches in my chest at the thought.

I’m in deep guano.

I need to tell him I’ve leaving.

I am leaving.

God, am I leaving?

“Okay, I’ll be back to help you get dressed in an hour.”  I toss her empty pill cup into the garbage can and give them both my most professional smile.

“Oh, for shit’s sake.”  Ella responds, flipping her head back to Vix, then to me again. “You two aren’t fooling me. You went and got the tree last night, didn’t you?  You thought I forgot that, huh?”  She raises her eyebrows, looks at Vix who is holding a breath and shaking his head.  “Got you something more than a tree didn’t you? Huh?”  She elbows her son and my face turns hot.

There’s a knock on the door and I walk over to answer it, grateful to get away.

“Hello there.”  It’s Marjorie Fuller, one of the other residents that is friendly with Ella, along with her son, Mark.

“Hello!”  Mrs. Vixon waves.  “Merry Christmas.”

“Yes, Merry Christmas.”  Mark steps inside with Marjorie. “Can I steal your mother for an hour?  My mom has something she wants to give her.  That okay?”

“Sure.” Mrs. Vixon answers before Vix or I can get a word in.  “Take me away, you hunk a hunk a burning love.”

Mark shakes his head and steps forward as Vix stands and helps his mom into her wheelchair next to the sofa.

Then they retreat out the door, leaving me standing there with wet panties and nowhere to hide.

Vix doesn’t waste a second.  He comes over to the door, shoving a wingback chair against the knob without a word.  He know the staff all have keys to the apartments, so anyone can walk in at any time.

“You know what you look like?”  He steps next to me, running his fingertips down my arm and making my hair stand on end.

“What?”  I ask as he moves around to the front of me, taking my hand and pulling me into the bedroom, then into the large bathroom and closing the door.  My heart is racing like a thoroughbred fighting for the triple crown.

“You look like the roast beast on the table in Whoville.  And I’m starving.”

I bust out a laugh, but in the next second his mouth is on mine and my mind goes blank.