--1--
Daniel and Brian were sitting at a table in the Desmond Tavern after they had looked at two properties for an idea of where Daniel could set up another practice. Like his current practice, he wanted something easily accessible to the people of Bersek that was aimed more toward those who were less fortunate. It made him think of the United Kingdom and how their universal healthcare system was established back in 1948 and why something like that couldn’t be adapted in the United States.
Brian sloshed the amber fluid around in his glass and took a drink. In a way, it reminded Daniel of Amanda when she suffered through dinners when she would rather be home reading. He felt a sudden pang as he wondered if she felt anything from being left out of their conversations and wondered if he was indirectly being cruel.
“And get this. Then she says she wants two rooms decorated. One for a boy and one for a girl.” Brian shook his head. “She’s driving me mad and she’s not even twelve weeks into her pregnancy.”
Daniel bit back his annoyance. If anything, he would rather be facing the same situation with Amanda. “Have you tried distracting her?”
Brian signaled a waitress and ordered another scotch. “Make it a double,” he called after her. His brain felt fuzzy as he turned back to Daniel. “Distract her with what?”
Instead of answering, Daniel frowned. “You need to ease up, Bri. You’re in no state to drive.”
Brian sat back with an air of pompousness. His head was heavy as he threw his keys on the table. “I’ll call a cab.”
Daniel eyed his friend warily and sipped his drink. It was after 8:00, making him wonder if he should call Amanda since he hadn’t mentioned he would be going out with Brian after work. “It’s getting late.”
“Are you serious? It’s not even nine, Danny.”
He thought about Amanda and Friday fast approaching. “Amanda has been under a lot of strain. I should at least call to see how her day was.”
Brian laughed. “And you call me henpecked.”
Daniel remained silent. Had his friend not been drunk, he would have punched him. Yet he couldn’t expect him to understand and wondered what Amanda would do if she was with Michelle in a similar situation. He smiled as he envisioned his wife getting up from the table and just leaving without saying a word. It was the way she handled a person when she felt there was no use for her being there and had gotten him a lot of complaints by phone.
He got up from the table, went to the payphone in the lobby, and called Amanda. On the seventh ring, she picked up. “Hello?”
“Hello, Amanda. How was your day?”
The line was quiet, making Daniel wonder if she was still there. “Eventful.”
“I’m glad you had a good day. I’m at the Desmond Tavern with Brian, but will probably be leaving shortly.”
Another pause. “I hope you stay long enough to see him get into a cab.”
“How do you know he’s drunk?”
“He’s married to Michelle and she’s pregnant.”
Daniel laughed at her matter-of-fact tone. “I’ll give the keys to the bartender with a note.”
“If that’s what you want to do instead.”
He rubbed his eyes. “I’m tired anyway. I’ll see you soon.”
Daniel hung up the phone and went back to the table. Brian was slouched in his seat, breathing deeply. He snorted and coughed, then went back to dozing. Daniel observed his friend’s unkempt appearance, the day of being a lawyer left behind. His blue silk tie was loosened and his gray suit jacket was draped over his overcoat on the back of his chair. His brown hair was disheveled and added character to his rumpled white button-down.
It was sobering to have the image engraved into his memory. He had a feeling this would become Brian’s natural state after Michelle had the baby, even if they hired a dozen nannies. He also hoped Michelle would spend more time at home attending to her marriage with Brian and less time entertaining other men. He glanced at his watch and was surprised to see the minute hand approaching the seven. Daniel walked over to the bar and asked for a piece of paper. As he was writing, he looked over at Brian and said, “Would you help me take him to his car?”
After Brian was secured in the passenger seat, Daniel called Amanda and told her he would be driving his friend home and taking a cab back to the bar. She said not to bother because she would meet him at Brian’s and take him back to it.
“Are you sure?”
“I can’t get into reading tonight.”
“OK. I’ll wait for you.”
Brian slid deeper into his state of drunkenness. His chin sagged on his chest and a small trickle of drool ran from the corner of his mouth and dropped on his tie. Daniel tried not to feel disgusted as he drove Brian’s Porche. It wasn’t so much as the man’s stupor as it was the car. The 1981 model screamed, 'Lawyer.' He remembered how excited Brian was when he drove it up to his practice and told him it was a gift from Mayor Bradford. Yet Daniel would be surprised to learn how many times his friend wanted to floor it into a tree.
Daniel pulled into the curving driveway of Brian’s residency and turned off the ignition. He took the keys and wondered for a moment about what to do with them. Not wanting to ring the doorbell, he pushed them through the front door’s mail slot and left Brian in the car.
The metal hinge sounded loud as he lifted the flap and shoved the keys through the hole. He only hoped nobody inside heard him. Brian could have the mess of explaining why he had to ring the doorbell to get in and Daniel wouldn’t have to worry about him driving. He paused once more beside the car and looked to make sure the sleeping man was alright. Brian snorted and mumbled something about a dog peeing on a fence. He shook his head and walked down to the sidewalk to wait for Amanda.
--2--
Pastor Richmond didn’t bother sorting through Katie’s clothes to see which were clean or dirty before dropping them in her hamper. To make it more challenging, his daughter wore perfume, so everything smelled more or less the same. He packed them in as tight as he could and still couldn’t get the lid shut. In the end, he took the excess and dropped it in the wash basket meant for towels in the bathroom.
He cleaned off her dresser and desk, dusted, and then matched the perfume bottle lids with their owners. A couple of them were missing so he looked under the dresser to see if they had made their way to the floor and didn’t see any. He figured if one did turn up it would be by chance and he wasn’t ready to go searching through her drawers. Like whatever was lurking under her bed, he was afraid of being bitten.
Tired of cleaning, David picked up the box of Bible verses. Katie had now been gone for over three weeks and he was beginning to wonder if he would hear from her before she came back. In any case, he hoped she was keeping some form of a diary. It made him think of his own which he had hidden under a loose floorboard in the attic. If she wasn’t traumatized by the experience, he thought maybe she would be willing to read some of her excepts to him and he could do the same.
The doorbell rang downstairs. David looked at his watch and was surprised to see it was almost noon. He had almost forgotten he had planned to go to lunch with Daniel. He shut the door to Katie’s room and went downstairs. “Hello, Daniel.”
“You ready?”
The pastor nodded. “I do appreciate this, yet will say I’ve been noticing some small changes in your wife.”
Daniel grew skeptical. “What changes?”
David heard a low, protective growl in Daniel’s voice. “Nothing bad. She just seems to be enjoying the project and learning how to work better with the patients.”
“I’ve noticed it too,” he admitted. “My question is, how can you tell when you hardly know her?”
To this, the pastor fell silent. How could he tell Daniel that after years of dealing with a congregation, reading people was almost as second nature to him as Amanda’s precise note-taking? He sighed. “The way she acts reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in The Terminator. Have you seen the movie?”
Daniel shook his head. Brian had seen and told him about it. Given its content, he was surprised Pastor Richmond watched it. “Amanda doesn’t like movies and we don’t have a TV.”
The pastor laughed. “I bet you do a lot of crossword puzzles.”
Daniel laughed with him. “I prefer cryptograms, search-a-words, and fill-ins. Amanda reads. God that woman devours books. When we were in college and after we were married, she would read to me. She hasn’t read aloud for a long time so I’m looking forward to tonight. I’ll be listening to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
“So she’s not just into topics of study?”
Daniel felt the pastor’s surprise which was similar to his own when he saw Amanda reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. He told David about that time when he had seen her sitting under the tree in the back of her dorm. “It took a lot to get up the nerve to ask her out. She is brilliant but has no personality, so most people think she’s cold. Amanda gets very animated if a topic of interest is being discussed.”
David nodded. “I tell you what, Daniel. Instead of going out, why don’t you come in? We can order a pizza and continue talking in the den.”
The rest of the afternoon passed smoothly. As they continued to discuss Amanda, Daniel found himself seeing Pastor Richmond in a different light. He felt a sense of relief being able to talk to someone about his wife who did not consider her a bitch. “I’m surprised you can work with her.”
“Dr. Blake,” Pastor Richmond said with a note of surprise. He took a drink of water and continued. “I won’t insult you by saying she’s one I would be willing to work with by choice. Yet, on a deeper level, she would be the first one I would ask to start a project with.”
Daniel nodded. “Surface wise, forget it. She doesn’t care about superficial things. She does like sophisticated entertainment though. She’d rather go to a museum or art exhibit and discuss that instead of what is going on in The Days of Our Lives.”
“I guess it must be refreshing when Brian fills you in on the latest football scores.”
Daniel laughed. “It is nice.”
“Do you think she understands how humorous she truly is?”
Daniel sobered and looked the pastor straight in the eyes. “No. And you don’t know how hard it is not to laugh in front of her.”
David nodded and told him about how she had burst out laughing and made a comment about blowing up a shipment of strawberries because they were the focal point in dealing with Samantha. “I was afraid to laugh,” he admitted.
Daniel gave him a wry smile. “Amanda’s smiles are far and few. I’m surprised you got to hear her laugh.”
The clock on the mantle struck 4:00. “Wow. Time sure does fly. Thank you, Daniel. I hope we can get together again. I invited Amanda to a Sunday service sometime, but she didn’t seem too keen on the idea. She did seem interested in listening to the choir practice though.”
Daniel gave it some thought as he rose and stretched. It would be a relaxing way to pass the evening a few times a month. “I’ll mention it to her at dinner. Sanford has been a drain on her.”
Pastor Richmond nodded. “I don’t know where your faith is and Amanda has made it clear her beliefs, yet would like to offer you a bit of scripture.”
He walked over to his bookshelf and took down a thick volume. Daniel watched as the pastor thumbed through the pages until he found what he was looking for. “I found this the other day in my daughter’s scripture box. It’s from the book of John, chapter 14, verse 27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
“I like that,” Daniel said as David closed the book and put it back on the shelf. “Do you mind if I write down the passage, so I can show it to Amanda? If she sees it from a word focus, she may be more open to it.”
The pastor nodded. “She would be able to naturally incorporate it into her day-to-day life if she did focus on it from that perspective and I believe it would help her deal with the trials at Sanford.”
They said their goodbyes and Daniel left. Richmond leaned in the doorframe and waited until his guest had backed down the driveway onto the street. He lifted his hand in a gesture of farewell and shut the door, wondering who benefitted more from their conversation.
