After Midnight

by Lacy Hart

  “Lizzie, do you have homework to do?” she asked.

  “I do have some, but I can do it after dinner,” Lizzie told her mother, looking back to me.

  “No, you can go do it now,” Denise ordered. “Besides, Sarah is trying to get dinner together before your father gets home, right Sarah?”

  I looked over at Lizzie with a resigned look on my face.

  “I do have to get dinner going,” I said to her. “We can talk later.”

  Lizzie sighed, picked up her backpack and trudged up the stairs to go do her homework.

  “Be careful about your conversations with her,” Denise hissed in my ear. “And don’t put anything weird on the chicken. I want a nice simple dinner from now on.”

  Denise brushed passed me and went towards her bedroom, and I set back to working on dinner. I kept things simple, just using salt and pepper, and made basic white rice and some broccoli and cauliflower for dinner. While everything was cooking, I went ahead and set the table and looked to see if the dishwasher needed emptying. It looked like since I hadn’t been home the family had been eating takeout every night and there was nothing in the dishwasher but some coffee mugs and bowls used for cereal in the morning.

  I had just got everything out of the oven and started to put everything out on the table when James walked through the door. He came over and smiled at me and gave me a hug.

  “Nice to have you home,” he said to me.

  I did all I could to keep from breaking into tears right then and there.

  “Thanks,” I said simply. “Dinner is ready if you want to gather everyone.”

  James called out for Lizzie and Denise, and both came to the kitchen so we could sit down and eat. It was mostly quiet at dinner, With Lizzie and James asking me questions about the last few days and me giving simple, one or two-word answers to try and keep conversations short. Denise sat at the end of the table opposite James with a sly grin on her face with each bite she took of dinner. Through the whole meal, my mind was churning about how I could extract myself from this predicament.

  While I no longer had my phone to communicate with Caleb or anyone else, I did still have my computer upstairs. I could easily send him a message that way. He was the one person who would understand what was going on and knew the truth. I decided after dinner I would go up and change for work and then get him a message.

  I couldn’t wait for dinner to end, and when everyone was finally finished, I started clearing the table. James and Lizzie both offered to help, but the look I got from Denise let me know I should decline the help and do it myself.

  “Sarah can handle it alone, right Sarah?” Denise said loudly. “I’m sure you have more homework or studying you could do Lizzie, and James, you worked hard all day, you can relax.”

  Both James and Lizzie looked at Denise and couldn’t quite figure out what was going on. When James got up to help me with the dishes, I had to intervene.

  “I’ve got it, James, it’s fine,” I said to him, trying to smile through it.

  I worked hard to get the dishes done, the dishwasher loaded, the leftovers put away, and the counters cleaned. When it was finally all done, I rushed up the stairs. I got into my room and locked the door and went straight to my backpack to get my computer. When I opened the backpack, I saw my computer was gone. Denise must have come up here at some point and taken it. I sat back on my bed and felt crushed. I quickly changed for work and decided I may as well go to work early and maybe I could work something out that I could do.

  I came downstairs after getting dressed and saw James and Denise sitting in the living room.

  “Has anyone seen my laptop?” I asked, pretty much knowing what had happened to it.

  “I thought it was always in your room,” James said to me.

  “It is… I mean it was, but it’s not there. I need it for my school work,” I said to him.

  “Maybe you left it at your friend’s house while you were there this week,” Denise chimed in. “You should probably ask him for it back.”

  “Did you leave it there?” James asked, looking at me.

  “I… I didn’t think I did, but I must have,” I said, looking at Denise the whole time.

  “Well just ask him for it back,” James said. “I’m sure he would bring it to you.”

  “Sarah told me they had something of a falling out, James,” Denise said to him. “That’s why she came back today so early, right Sarah?” Denise shot me another look.

  I just nodded, feeling myself choking up.

  “Oh, I’m sorry Sarah,” James said to me. “That’s too bad. He seemed like a nice guy. Do you want me to get the computer back for you?”

  “No, it’s fine,” I said, fighting back the tears. “I’ll… I’ll figure it out and get it back. I’m going to work.” I rushed out the door so James wouldn’t see me crying.

  I was nearly to the top of the driveway when Denise called to me. She sauntered up to meet me.

  “I’m not messing around Sarah,” she said to me sternly. “Don’t even think about doing anything. There’s no room for mistakes on your part. Steer clear of trouble and Caleb, don’t say anything to anyone, and everything will work out fine.”

  “How am I supposed to do my schoolwork without my computer?” I said to her.

  “I guess you’ll have to figure that out. You’re a smart girl. I’m sure you can come up with a solution. Enjoy your night at work,” she told me as she walked away.

  I walked to work in a complete haze. I don’t even remember anything about the walk there and found myself in front of the diner, just standing there, staring at the front doors from the bottom step. Doug finally saw me standing out there and came out to meet me.

  “Sarah?” he asked as he stood in front of me. “Are you okay? You’ve just been standing here.”

  I snapped out of my fog to answer him.

  “I’m sorry,” I said to Doug. “I’m just a little out of it tonight.”

  I walked up the steps with Doug next to me and into the diner. Even though it was still not quite nine, the place was not very busy at all. I went to the back and to the break room to put my things away, still lost in my thoughts about how I was going to handle tonight and every day after this.

  I walked into the kitchen and saw Justin doing some prep work.

  “Howdy,” Justin said to me. “How was your time off?”

  “It was fine,” I said to him, though it had been awesome up until this afternoon.

  “Justin, do you think I can work back here with you tonight?” I asked him.

  “It’s okay with me,” he said to me. “As long as it’s okay with Doug… and Fran. She’ll be covering all the tables.”

  “I’ll check with Doug,” I said and walked out to talk with Doug.

  Doug was manning the register, ringing up a customer, so I waited until he was done. He looked up at me and smiled.

  “Is it okay if I work in the kitchen with Justin tonight?” I asked him.

  Doug looked around the diner. “I don’t see it as a problem. It looks like it will be a typical Wednesday. Fran will probably love getting all the tips anyway. Is everything okay with you?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I just feel like doing some cooking tonight.”

  I started walking back to the kitchen, glad I wouldn’t have to deal with the public, and specifically with Caleb.

  “Oh, Sarah,” Doug said to me, getting my attention. I turned back towards him.

  “I ran into Caleb today,” he told me. “I was at his sister’s law office for… for some business and he stopped in. He’s such a nice man.”

  “Yes… yes, he is,” I said, trying to move on from the subject. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Doug.”

  I went back into the kitchen and headed straight over to Justin. I grabbed a white apron and put it on and was ready for work.

  “Okay boss,” I said to him, “what do you need?”

  I spent the next several hours doing a little bit of everything, from
peeling potatoes and other vegetables to making chicken stock, carving turkey and ham into slices, cleaning workstations and grease traps, and countless other jobs. Fran was thrilled to take on the diner herself so she could get the tips for the night, and it never seemed to get so busy that she couldn’t take care of it all on her own. It wasn’t until later in the night that she came back into the kitchen with a question.

  “Hey Sarah,” Fran called out to me.

  “What do you need?” I yelled to her as I was cleaning out one of the refrigerators.

  “Caleb’s here looking for you,” she said to me with a smile.

  I froze and turned to her with a scared look on my face.

  “What’s wrong?” she said to me.

  “Can you just tell him I’m working in the kitchen tonight and can’t come out?” I said to Fran.

  “Sarah, you can take five minutes to go see the guy, I’m fine back here,” Justin said to me.

  “No,” I said firmly.

  Justin just looked at me and went back to his work at the flat top.

  “Fran, please, just tell him that for me?” I said, trying to remain calm.

  “Sure, no problem,” she said to me, shaking her head and backing out of the kitchen.

  I went back to work on the refrigerator, scrubbing the shelves. I backed off from the fridge and saw Justin standing next to me.

  “What’s going on?” Justin said to me.

  I am sure he could see that I had tears in my eyes, and I put my head on his shoulder and cried. I finally pulled back from Justin and looked at him.

  “It’s… it’s just not going to work out is all,” I told him, regaining my composure. “You were right, Justin. There’s just too much baggage.”

  “I’m sorry, Sarah,” he said to me.

  “It’s okay,” I said to him, straightening up. “I’m just trying to get my mind off it.”

  “No problem,” he said, leaving me to my work.

  I exhausted myself doing every chore and job that came along, getting myself caught up in a frenzy to help the time go by faster. When it got to be about five-thirty, I had pretty much reached my breaking point. Justin could see that my face was red and I was sweaty, and he told me to just stop for the day.

  “I think you did more than your fair share tonight,” he said to me, looking around at everything that was cleaned and prepared. “Thanks for the help. You probably saved me about two days’ worth of work back here.”

  “Not a problem,” I said as I took a deep breath and exhaled. “It was good for me, too.”

  I went into the breakroom and sat for a few minutes before I grabbed my stuff and figured I would try to get out of here before Caleb might show up to walk me home. I still wasn’t quite sure how to deal with all of that.

  I walked out into the diner just as Fran was finishing up with a customer.

  “Thanks for letting me take the room tonight,” she said to me with a smile. “it wasn’t super busy, but there were some really good tippers out here tonight. I did pretty well.”

  “I’m glad Franny,” I said to her. I was starting to feel the physical and mental exhaustion and was ready to get out of here.

  “If you want to wait around, I’ll give you a ride home,” she said to me. “You look beat.”

  “Thanks, but I’ll walk,” I told Fran. “The fresh air will do me good. See you tonight.”

  I made my way outside and could see just the hint of the sunrise beginning off in the distance. Some of the street lights had already shut off, and the morning traffic in town was just getting started as my day was ending. I took a quick look around to make sure Caleb was nowhere to be seen and started my walk home.

  Even though the walk itself was never that long, it seemed quite a distance this morning. My legs were achy and tired, and my mind was spent. I felt myself shuffling along the sidewalk, barely lifting my feet up to move along. I had turned off Oak Street and was headed down the street towards home when I heard a voice call out to me. I stood straight up because I knew it was Caleb.

  I turned slowly to see him dressed in his t-shirt and running shorts, running towards me.

  “Hey,” he said, a bit out of breath. “How come you didn’t wait for me at the diner? Fran said you already left when I stopped there.”

  “I just want to get home, Caleb,” I said to him, starting up my walk again.

  “Are you okay? What happened last night? How come you wouldn’t come out to see me? Or return any of my messages? How did things go with your sister-in-law?”

  “Caleb, please,” I shouted. “Enough with the interrogation. I left my phone at home. I just… just didn’t want to deal with… with everything.” I looked over at him and then kept walking.

  “Did I do something wrong?” he said to me. “Because when I left you yesterday, I thought we were in a pretty good place and now today…”

  “Caleb, my life is… very complicated right now. I am trying to sort out everything with school, my family, my parents… and then everything with you just happened so fast. Maybe it was happening too fast. I think I just need to take a step back and figure things out.” I wanted to get to my house faster, but my legs didn’t want to cooperate with me.

  “What do you mean take a step back?” Caleb said, sounding concerned. I just tried to keep walking, getting closer to my driveway.

  “Sarah!” Caleb yelled, grabbing my arm. “What the hell is going on?”

  I looked at Caleb and was already crying again.

  “Caleb, it’s just not the right time for this. I’m… I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. You have things you need to straighten out with your son, feelings you still have for your wife, and I’m just a complication for you, just like you are for me. We each need to solve our own lives first.”

  “Sarah,” Caleb said to me sincerely, “Don’t do this. If something is wrong, we can work it out together, please. You… you told me you loved me. You don’t just give that up in a day.”

  “Caleb, just let me go, please. Please don’t come to the diner to see me again. It’s… it’s too hard for me.”

  I broke free from Caleb and ran down the driveway and into the house, closing the door quickly behind me. I took a quick peek out the window from behind the curtains and could see he was still standing there, stunned. He stood there for a minute before he started walking off in the direction of his house.

  I wept as I started walking up the steps, my head down. When I got to the top of the steps, I saw Denise standing there in her nightshirt.

  “That seemed quite dramatic from my window,” Denise said to me. “I hope everything is okay.”

  “I ended it with him,” I said curtly. “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” I brushed past her and went towards my room, by Denise came up from behind me and grabbed me.

  “Don’t get testy with me,” Denise whispered strongly. “You’re already treading a fine line with me. Just keep listening to me, and you will still have a place to live, a job, and a good reputation.”

  Denise let go of me, and I stepped back towards my room, fumbling for the doorknob.

  “Sleep well,” she said to me snidely and walked back towards her room.

  I slipped into my room and locked the door quickly behind me. I was so drained from today that all I did was kick my shoes off and climb onto my bed and under the covers. I hoped that sleep would come quickly to me so that maybe I could wake up later and this would all have turned out to be a nightmare.

  27

  Caleb

  The whole walk home from Sarah’s place I kept trying to go over and over in my mind what was happening. Less than twenty-four hours before, everything was fine. It was all even better than fine – it was great. Now she didn’t want to see me anymore. All I could figure is that something had happened with her sister-in-law, something unpleasant, and Sarah was unsure of how to deal with it.

  I wracked my brain trying to figure it out and was completely distracted, once so distracted
that I almost got hit by a car backing out of a driveway. By the time I got back to the house, I had found myself walking into the main house rather than going up to my apartment. I needed to talk to someone that might give me some insight into what was going on.

  Adam and Linda were both still upstairs, so I made a pot of coffee and found myself unconsciously making bacon and eggs. I put some English muffins in the toaster, lightly toasted everything, and made breakfast sandwiches for everyone, nicely wrapped in aluminum foil before Linda showed her face downstairs.