A Life Less Ordinary (47 page)

“Because
I didn’t want it to end like that,” he muttered.

“But
not to apologize,” she said drily.

His
lips twitched into a smile.  “Not to apologize,” he acknowledged.  “Look.  I’m
not a nice guy – you know that.”

“You’re
an arrogant guy – and pretty clueless.  But overall, you’d been...”

“Nice? 
Really?”

“Polite,
anyway.”  Manny shrugged at Zeke’s skeptical expression.  “Most of the time. 
After the first couple of weeks you actually looked out for me.  Sorta.  Okay,
you weren’t such a jerk all the time.”

“Look,”
he said again, crossing his arms, “I’m not always a nice guy.  My blog is meant
to provoke, to cause debate – to draw traffic and readers to the site, and yet
never go too far and alienate that audience.  One of the ways I do that is to
write truth.  I may be opinionated, cynical and sarcastic – but I share the
truth as I see it – and I don’t – I won’t – apologize for that.

“
I wrote – I write –
about you and your...your mid-life crisis as honestly as I can, while retaining
all those elements my readers love – or hate.  My readers also want me to write
about my feelings, what I’ve been learning, what’s changed for me.  They want
an emotional connection to my blog, and by extension, to me.

“
Think of me as a...a
tabloid reporter.  I’m pretty sure the people who write articles about a
celebrity don’t ask permission first, or apologize afterwards.”

“
Unless it’s libel.”

“
Unless it’s libel,” he
agreed solemnly.

“
I’m not a celebrity,
Zeke.”

“
You actually kinda
are.”

She
frowned.

“It’s
gone viral,” he said.

Her
frown deepened.  “What does that mean, exactly?”

“It
means my blogs about you are pretty much everywhere, and are being shared and
discussed all over the Internet.”

Manny
laughed.  “I get that!  How many hits?”

“We’ve
levelled off at about 250,000 a day.”

She
stared.  “Holy shit,” she breathed.

Zeke
shrugged sheepishly.

“And
they all think I’m prudish and repressed and – and – and why are you laughing?”

“Because
the majority of commenters are firmly on your side.  A couple have made some
rather nasty threats against me, and a few have even offered you marriage.”

“What?”
Manny said.  She plopped down on one of the beds and gaped at him.  “
Marriage
?”

“Well,
I’m not sure how serious they are,” Zeke acknowledged as he tentatively sat
beside her, “but some of them have included links to their pictures.”

“
Really?”  Manny asked,
intrigued in spite of herself.  “What do they look like?”

“
I’m too scared to find
out.”

Manny
dissolved into helpless giggles.  She clapped both hands over her mouth as she
slowly flopped back on the bed.

Zeke
grinned, laughing too, and laid back on the bed beside her.

She
finally stopped and wiped her eyes.  She sighed heavily.

“Those
blogs...really
hurt
, Zeke.”

“I’m
truly sorry about that,” Zeke said softly.  “I didn’t know you -”

“That
doesn’t make it okay.”

“I’m
not trying to make it okay, Manny.  You can’t un-ring a bell; all you can do
is...”

“
Yeah, where’s that
metaphor going, Mr. Writer Man?”

He
turned his head and gave her an exasperated glare.  “All you can do is live
with the memory of the sound.  Mr. Writer Man?”

She
shrugged and turned her eyes back towards the ceiling.

“Well,
you’re not a multimedia developer, are you?”

“Actually,
I am.  The writing is something I do on the side.”

“Really?” 
she asked skeptically.

He glanced at her.  “Really.  Manny,  everything I told you about
myself was true.  All of it.  The only thing I didn’t tell you was the fact I
was writing about our trip.  Everything else -
everything
- was – and is
– true.”

Manny
looked solemnly at him.

“It’s
a little tough to trust you right now,” she said.

“I
know.”  He turned his attention back to the ceiling.

The
ensuing silence was sad, but surprisingly companionable.

“Do
you want me to leave?” Zeke finally asked softly.

“It’s
your room,” Manny replied.

He
snorted.  “You know what I mean.”

“I
do.”  She blinked up at the ceiling.

Zeke
waited.

“I
don’t know,” she finally said.

“Okay.”

“That’s
it?”

“I’m
not sure what else to say.  I never meant to hurt you.  And I’m sorry you found
out the way you did.  I wanted to tell you myself.  Tell you
differently
.”

“
You wrote the blogs,
knowing they’d hurt me.”

“
I -” he paused,
scowling.

“
If you say it was your
job...”

“
Well, it’s why I was
being paid to travel with you.  But – yeah.  I could have done things
differently once I realized – once – well.  I could have done things differently.”

Manny
gave him a slight smile.  “Is that an apology?”

Zeke’s
scowl deepened.

Manny
laughed as she sat up and patted him on the knee.  “All right, don’t worry your
pretty little head about it,” she soothed.

He
stared.  “Did you just patronize me?”

“Yep.”

“That’s
supposed to be my attitude,” he pouted.

Manny
shrugged.  Zeke sat up and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his
hands loosely clasped in front of him.

“What
now?” he asked.

“Now
I could use a drink,” she said firmly and stood.  “Take me to the bar
downstairs and ply me with alcohol and maybe I’ll decide to let you stay.”

“Are
you saying I need to seduce you?” he teased, his voice low and husky, one
eyebrow raised in question.

“God
forbid,” she said drily.

“
Hey!”

“
Stop pouting and let’s
go.  I need a drink.”

Zeke
scowled as he stood, then laughed as he followed her from the room.

* * * * *

“So...all
is forgiven?” Daisy asked.

“Well. 
There’s a truce.  We’re going to Disneyworld once he gets moved into this
motel.”  Manny paused.  “You sound tired,” she said, concerned.

“I’m...I
feel beat down, you know?  There’s not a whole lot the banks or the cops can do
– and Max hasn’t found any trace of the bitch.  Yet.  In the meantime, I’m not
sure how I’m going to pay my credit card bills, and Hub’s suggesting he move
back in.”

“Say
what
now?”

“
He wants to reconcile.”

“
Because his mistress
stole all your money?  What the hell?”

“
He said he wanted to
suggest it before – when he brought the papers over for me to review.  Then you
called, and I went to Florida, and then all hell broke loose when I got back
and he didn’t know how to broach the subject.  But – yeah.  He wants to get
back together.”

“
What do
you
want, Daisy?” Manny asked.

Daisy
was silent for so long Manny checked to make sure the call hadn’t been dropped.

“I...don’t
know,” Daisy said softly.

“Well...I’ll
support you, no matter what you decide.  You know that,” Manny said.  “Do you
want me to come home?”

Daisy
laughed.  “No!  My life isn’t hanging in the balance.”

“How
much do you need for your credit card bills this month?”

“Manny...”

“Daisy,”
Manny said warningly.  “I have the money to help you.  Keep track and consider
it a loan.  I’ll help you – Rebecca will, too – until you figure out what you
need to do to get your head above water.  In fact, I can pay them all off for
you, and then you can pay me monthly payments you can afford.  How much do you
owe?”

“I...I
don’t really want to say...”

“
Daisy!  Come on.  If I
can help you -”

“
Almost a hundred
thousand dollars.”

“
Holy shit!”

“
I know.”

“
From your gambling?”
Manny asked, her voice squeaking.

“
Yeah.  Mostly.  But it
never really mattered before when I was with Hub because we shared the house
expenses, and the savings I accumulated over the years were there for me to dip
into when I needed to make up any shortfall.  Those savings are pretty much
gone now that Hub’s moved out and I’ve had lawyer fees to pay.  Anyway, I’d
planned to pay all the cards off and cancel all but one after the divorce was
settled and I got my share of the money.  Now...”

“
Wow.  Okay.  Wow. 
Look.  I’ll transfer whatever you need into your account; you pay off the cards
and make payments to me.”

“
Manny – I can’t do
that!  When you get back, you’ll need enough to live until you get a job.”

“
What – you wouldn’t
give me a room in your house?  You wouldn’t feed me if I was starving?”

Daisy
sputtered a laugh.  “Fair point.”

“Besides,
between my pension payout and what I got for the house, I’ll be okay – you know
that.  I can sleep on your couch, or Rebecca’s, until I find a job, so I don’t
need to worry about buying a house right away.  And you’ll pay me something
every month – it’ll be fine.”

Daisy
sniffed.  “You’re a good sister, Manny,” she said, her voice watery.

“It’s
what sisters are for, isn’t it?  To watch out for each other?”

“Yeah. 
Yeah.  And you have the floor in the living room whenever you want it.”

“Wait
– not the couch?”

“That
thing’s expensive!  I don’t want your dirty feet on there!”

“
Hey!”

“
Anytime.”

* * * * *

Rebecca
breathed in the aromatic steam rising from her teacup.  She closed her eyes and
sipped, then looked at Daisy and smiled ruefully.

“You
look like shit,” she said fondly.

Daisy
sputtered on her own sip of tea.  “Thanks,” she said drily, “so do you.”

Rebecca
gave her a half-smile and a shrug.

It
was true.  Daisy looked worn, her skin sallow, dark circles beneath her blue
eyes.  Rebecca knew she herself was almost a mirror image, her own eyes bright
with fatigue, her skin pale, her face drawn.

Daisy
sighed, put her cup down and leaned back.

“I
don’t get it,” she groaned, rubbing her eyes.  “I barely lost any sleep at all
when I found out about Hub’s affair.  I ended the marriage and slept like a
baby.  This?  Who knew money meant so much to me?”

“Not
to you,” Rebecca absently corrected, “to your kids’ future.”

Daisy
considered the point.  “Maybe you’re right.”  She stared hard at Rebecca. 
“What’s your excuse?  Are you that scared of possibly taking full
responsibility for Tris?”

Rebecca
snorted.  “Surprisingly enough – no.  Once I made that decision, I knew it was
the right one, and I haven’t felt a moment of doubt since.  Although Jaime
hasn’t picked up my calls or returned any of my messages or texts or e-mails. 
The letter I couriered there a couple of days ago was returned unopened.  If
she hadn’t actually called Tris yesterday, I would have called the cops to
report her as missing.  But even that’s not it.”

Daisy
frowned.  “Then is it your split with Jackson that’s keeping you up at night?”

Rebecca
shook her head, but her gaze dropped to the cup she still cradled in her
hands.  She smiled a brittle smile.  “You know me, Daisy.  I’ve loved ’em and
left ’em before and never thought twice about it.”

“Hmm,”
Daisy replied, her eyes shrewd, “and Jackson’s just another one in a long line
of discarded lovers, huh?”

Rebecca
shrugged, but her eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened.  “Of course,” she said
lightly.  “What else could he be?”

Daisy
let it go.  “Then what’s keeping you up at night?  Anger at Jaime?”

“I’m
beyond angry at Jaime.  She can turn her back on me all she wants – I’m used to
my family doing that, after all – but to turn her back on her child?”  Rebecca
pressed her lips tightly together.  “Maybe it’s genetic,” she muttered
bitterly, “this ability to turn your back on your children without a second
glance.”