Resurrecting Phoenix

by Isabel Lucero

  When I’m with Evan, everything is perfect. I’m happy, I’m smiling and laughing, and everything else ceases to exist. He’s the medicine to my sickness.

  What I’m afraid of is that when he’s not with me, what other kind of medicine will I seek? I already know the answer, and unfortunately, that medicine is only poison.

  IT’S BEEN A tough morning. I drank a few glasses of vodka and juice last night, and while it didn’t get me completely plastered, my head has been killing me since I woke up. That could be a mixture of alcohol, no food, and some tears.

  I get off work in thirty minutes, and have been debating calling Max and Marissa and cancelling this whole lunch date thing that’s supposed to happen, but I don’t.

  At twelve-thirty on the dot, I’m sitting in my usual spot at the diner and waiting for both Marissa and Max to show up. I only order a Coke as I wait, and Max ends up being the first one to show up.

  “Hey, Nix,” he greets, sliding into the booth.

  “Hey,” I reply with a smile.

  “How ya been?” he asks.

  “Same ol’, I suppose.”

  “You talk to your parents lately?”

  I roll my eyes. “Yeah right. I haven’t seen them since the day they left six months ago. My mom called me a couple months ago, but only because she wondered if I had something of hers.”

  “You don’t think you guys will be able to patch things up?”

  “They left me, Max. They were more concerned with how my depression was portraying them as parents. They care more about how their friends look at them than how their daughter is coping. Even if they did apologize, which they haven’t, I’m not ready to forgive.”

  “Maybe you should tell them how you feel. That could help.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t know. They’re selfish people, Max. I’ve always thought they hated the fact that they had me in the first place. I was an accident. A bump in their smooth road. I’m sure they’re happy to not have to deal with me.”

  Max’s lips turn down and his brows furrow. He looks like he’s both sad for me and angry at my parents.

  “You’re a good person, Nix,” he says, patting my hand. “Don’t ever forget that.”

  I nod and squeeze his hand. “Thanks, Max. I sometimes wish Gordon’s parents were alive, because I know they’d understand my pain, but at the same time, I wouldn’t want them to experience the pain of losing a child.”

  “Just never forget that you’re not alone. I know you act like you are, but you have me. I know I’m just an old man, but I’m here for you.”

  “You’re not old,” I grin.

  He grunts and leans back into the cushion of the booth just as Marissa comes bursting through the doors.

  “Sorry I’m late!” She leans towards Max and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Hey, Good-lookin’” she says to him.

  I lift an eyebrow at him and he just shakes his head.

  “It’s okay,” I respond, scooting over so she can sit next to me.

  Marissa gives me a quick hug and drops her purse on the floor by her feet.

  “I didn’t know you were coming, Marissa,” Max says. “I haven’t seen you around lately.”

  “I know,” she groans. “Work has kept me busy and when I’m not there, I just want to be home being lazy.”

  Carol arrives to take our order. “Afternoon, girls,” Carol greets, but then she notices Max. “Oh. Hi Max,” she says, her tone turning flirtatious while she tucks some hair behind her ear. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

  Me and Marissa exchange surprised glances.

  “Hey, Carol,” Max replies politely. “Phoenix invited me.”

  “I want the usual, Carol,” I tell her.

  “I’ll take the BLT, hold the mayo, please,” Marissa says. “Oh, and an iced tea.”

  “What about you, Max?” Carol asks, almost ignoring us completely.

  Carol is one of those waitresses who doesn’t ever have to write down an order, but always gets it right. I don’t know how she manages that with the large groups, but she does. She stands there waiting for Max to look through the menu.

  “I’ll just take the buffalo wings with fries and a Sprite.”

  “Sounds great,” she says with a smile before leaving.

  Max seems to be oblivious to her flirting.

  “Wow, so Carol looks great,” Marissa exclaims.

  “Yeah, and she’s so sweet,” I reply.

  We both look at Max as he looks back at us with confusion etched all over his face.

  “Max, you seeing anybody?” Marissa asks bluntly.

  He squirms in the booth. “Uh. No. But if I’m not mistaken, you’re a married woman.”

  “That I am,” she replies, “Carol, however, is not.”

  Max looks over at me, and I just nod and smile.

  “What’re you girls up to?” he asks, crossing his arms.

  “What? Nothing!” I squeak. “Uh. I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick.”

  Marissa gets up, allowing me out of the booth while I go searching for Carol. I find her near the kitchen, which just so happens to be on the way to the bathroom and out of sight from the table.

  “Carol, hey. So, uhh . . . you like Max, huh?”

  She blushes. “I find him extremely attractive, yes.”

  She can’t seem to stop smiling, and it’s definitely infectious, because I find myself feeling giddy right along with her.

  “Okay, I have a confession. I brought him here to try to hook you two up, and now that I know you like him, we’re half way there!”

  She puts one hand on her curvy hip. “Phoenix Nightingale. I can’t believe you.”

  I bite my lip, readying myself to hear her scold me. “Well, I just know the both of you, and I really like you guys, and just thought. . . .”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t at least warn me! I would’ve made myself look a little decent. I have splattered soda on my shoes, grease on my shirt. Help a gal out, won’t ya?”

  I laugh. “Sorry. You look great, though.”

  And it’s true. She does look great. Her shoulder length, light blonde hair isn’t too thick or too stringy. She only wears a touch of makeup, but it’s only because she really doesn’t need it. She has a full figure on her five foot five frame, and she’s beautiful, inside and out.

  “Why’re you trying to play match maker, anyway?”

  “You’re one to talk, sending Evan to my job.”

  “That’s not the same. How is Evan?”

  “He’s fine. He saved me from the rain storm yesterday.”

  “Oh, yuck. I saw that. Glad I was in here for once. So, you got yourself a little knight in shining armor, huh?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Order up!” one of the cooks yells as he hits a bell.

  “Here, help me take these plates over to your table.” I grab my plate while she takes the other two, and we head back to the table. “Just live in the moment, Phoenix. Don’t worry about the future and all the what ifs, just enjoy having some friends around.”

  “Okay, I’ll try.”

  She takes the lead, maneuvering through some tables as I follow behind. “Oh, lookie here, it’s a party,” she announces.

  A few seconds later, I see what she’s talking about. Evan is sitting at the table with Max and Marissa, and for some reason, I kinda want to run and hide.

  “You get a job here that quick?” Max jokes as I put my plate down.

  “I was just helping Carol out,” I reply, sitting down next to Max since Evan took my spot.

  “Hey, Evan,” I say shyly, not even sure why. Maybe because I’m only used to being around him alone, and not with three pairs of eyes staring at us like we’re zoo animals.

  “Hey, Phoenix,” he replies with an amused grin.

  “Evan, we were just talking about you,” Carol announces, making my cheeks go red.

  “Oh yeah? Good things?” he asks.

  “I’ll never tel
l,” she whispers with a wink.

  Oh god.

  “We were talking about you too, Max,” I interrupt, sending the message that two can play this game.

  “Me? What do you have to say about me?” he questions.

  “Carol had plenty to say,” I say with a grin.

  Carol clears her throat. “Evan, can I get you anything, sweetie?”

  “Same as Phoenix.”

  “Aww, aren’t you two cute,” she says, giving me a sickeningly sweet smile that says checkmate.

  She’s gone before I can respond, but I’m already plotting my next move.

  “Anyway,” Marissa chimes in. “Evan walked in, so I thought it would be nice to invite him to join us. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not,” I say nonchalantly before eating a fry. “You’ve met Max, right?”

  “Briefly, at the bar on my second night in town.”

  “I didn’t know you guys lived on the same street,” Max says.

  “Well, yeah. We do.”

  I wonder how much they talked about while I was gone.

  “Well, Evan, I’ve heard so much about you, yet I feel like I don’t really know you. Does that make sense?” Marissa asks.

  I pin her with a glare before Evan catches me, then I try to play it off.

  He laughs. “I’m not sure what all of you are hearing, but I certainly hope it’s good.”

  “Would she have anything bad to say?” Marissa interrogates.

  I groan.

  “I don’t think so, unless she was talking about my cooking.”

  “Oh, you’ve cooked for her? How sweet!”

  I slap my hand on my forehead. “So, Max. When’s your next day off?” I ask, ignoring the conversation between Marissa and Evan.

  “I’m off tomorrow, actually. Why?” he asks, licking the buffalo sauce from his fingers.

  “Just wondering.”

  “Okay,” he replies, sounding confused.

  “Well, seems like somebody has been holding out on me,” Marissa says loudly, sending me an intense glare.

  I pretend I don’t know what she’s talking about. I have no idea what Evan might have told her while I was tuning them out, but clearly it was something I didn’t tell her.

  Carol is back with refills and Evan’s food several minutes later.

  “Carol, do you have plans tomorrow night?” I ask.

  “I don’t. I’m off around three, so I guess I’ll be catching up on housework. Why, what’s up?”

  “Oh. I was talking to Max and he’s off tomorrow, too,” I say, laying a hand on Max’s shoulder. “I was just thinking . . .” I trail off, because I have no idea how to get them alone together. I look at Marissa with wide eyes, pleading for help.

  “There’s this town market that’s gonna be set up tomorrow,” Marissa chimes in. “Anthony told me about it earlier. There will be a ton of different kinds of foods, entertainment, and craft tables to buy some unique handmade items. Might be fun.”

  “Are you and Anthony going?” Max asks.

  Marissa’s eyes cut to me. “Anthony will be working, unfortunately.”

  “I just thought maybe you two could go,” I say, signaling between Max and Carol with my finger.

  I know Carol knows what I’m up to, but I’m not sure what Max is thinking. The poor man seems oblivious to everything.

  “You’re not gonna go?” he asks me. “You could go with Marissa so she’s not alone.”

  “Oh, no,” Marissa chimes in. “I wasn’t really planning on going, so it’s okay.”

  “Nonsense,” Max barks. “Phoenix needs to get out more, anyway, so why don’t we all go. Evan, you too.”

  I want to growl in frustration. He’s not making this easy. “Yeah, sure,” I concede, sending a defeated look to Marissa.

  “Sounds like fun to me,” Evan replies.

  “Well, all right. Guess I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Marissa says. “I gotta get back to work. It’s not fair all of you get the rest of this Saturday off,” she complains.

  She pulls her money out and puts it on the counter before sliding out of the booth. I get up and walk a few steps with her to the door.

  “So, tomorrow we can just ditch those two. Leave them alone to walk the market alone while we go do something else.”

  “Yeah, sounds good,” she replies, giving me a hug. “Chat ya up later.”

  When I return back to the table, I see Max paying his bill. “Hey, you leaving already?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I’ll leave you kids alone. Thanks for inviting me to lunch. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Max, let me pay for lunch. I invited you.”

  “Nope,” he says, wrapping an arm around me and kissing the top of my head. “Have fun.”

  I drop back into the booth and look over at Evan who’s staring back at me with a grin.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Nothing,” he says, grabbing a fry and dipping it into some ketchup, but the look on his face tells me it’s not nothing at all.

  “Tell me. Why do you have that look?”

  “What look?” he asks, feigning innocence.

  “I don’t like you.”

  He laughs. “Is that what you tell people when you talk about me?” he asks, one corner of his mouth turned up.

  “I don’t talk about you,” I lie.

  “Oh really? Two of your friends have told me different.”

  “I only talk about you because they ask me questions.”

  “Okay,” he resigns.

  “I’m serious.”

  “Okay,” he says with a shrug.

  I don’t say anything else for a little while. I just pick at the rest of my food while he devours his.

  “You have any plans for today?” he asks.

  “None at all. You?”

  “I was just gonna drive around and check out the area. Wanna come with?”

  I pretend to think about it. “I guess,” I say with a shrug.

  He laughs. “Great. I have a few things to do first. Wanna meet up at four-thirty?”

  “Okay.”

  Carol comes back to the table. “You two need anything else?”

  “No, we’re done, Carol,” I say. “Can I get the check?”

  “Max already paid for you. You too, Evan,” she replies with a smile.

  “I’ll have to bake him some cookies or something,” I say.

  “So, I guess I’ll see you two tomorrow?” Carol questions.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Evan replies.

  She smiles and gives us a little wave with her fingers before getting back to work. When me and Evan get up to leave, he waits for me to stand and then places his hand on my lower back, and we walk outside like that.

  He walks me to my jeep and waits for me to open the door. As soon as I get it open, I toss in my purse and start it up to get the AC going. When I turn around, he leans in real quick and kisses my cheek.

  “See you soon.”

  “Oh,” I say, taken off guard. “Yeah. Four-thirty.”

  He smiles and then walks to his shiny, black truck. I watch him until he gets in, and then snap out of it and climb into my own vehicle.

  When I pull into the driveway, I notice the note taped to my front door and can’t get to it quick enough. I pull the note off and rush inside to read it.

  I got your note after dropping you off last night. Luckily, the rain didn’t ruin it. So, you want us to revert back to the “old fashioned days” of writing notes? What kind of 21st century woman are you? Let me guess. You don’t have a Facebook either? What a weirdo. Well, I’m off to saddle up the horses and hit The Oregon Trail. I’ll be waiting patiently for your snail mail, unless of course I die of dysentery before then.

  “Oh god!” I exclaim out loud before I burst into a fit of giggles. He’s right, though. I don’t have a Facebook. He’ll get a kick out of that. He must’ve left this note before finding me at the diner.

  I find a pen and a bright orange post-it note and write
a response.

  Evan,

  So glad to know you have survived. I’m assuming you didn’t ford the river. Good choice. For your information, I have no need to be on Facebook. It’s a SOCIAL site. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not exactly social. Plus, on the internet nobody gets to see my beautiful penmanship.

  -Phoenix

  I fold the note and slip it into my pocket. With two more hours to waste until Evan shows up, I sit on the couch and turn the TV on. At some point, I must’ve fallen asleep, because a loud knocking startles me awake, causing me to drop the remote onto the floor.

  “Shit.”

  I instantly start running my fingers through my hair, and stop by the mirror on my wall to make sure I don’t look too crazy.

  When I open the door, Evan gives me his typical, lopsided, adorable grin. His hands slip into the back pockets of his dark denim jeans.

  “You ready?” he asks.

  “Um. Yeah, just give me a couple minutes. Wanna come in?”

  He steps in as I hold the door open for him. After closing the door, I turn around and run right into him.

  “Oh.”

  “Sorry,” he replies, his hands reaching out to make sure I don’t fall.

  I look up at him and his brown eyes sparkle as the sun coming in from the window shines perfectly on his face.

  We’re standing toe to toe with his hands on my upper arms, and I can’t seem to stop staring at him. God, he’s beautiful. He looks at me like he likes what he sees, and for the life of me, I can’t imagine why. Evan doesn’t look at me like I’m broken or fragile, he looks at me like he admires me.

  “It’s okay,” I respond breathily.

  He smiles. “I’ll just wait on the couch.”

  Snapping out of my Evan trance, I say, “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

  I run up the stairs and into my bathroom to run a brush through my hair. I decide to touch up my makeup as well, and change out of my shorts into some ripped jeans. I make sure to remove the note from the shorts and slip it into my jeans pocket. With a pair of white Chucks to match my white T-shirt, I run back downstairs.

  “Okay, I’m ready.”