“I’m just kidding, Mrs. Stern,” Finn said, his broad smile contagious even to Pearl. “If I was going to marry your daughter…” he paused and looked into Rachel’s eyes. “It would be completely up to her where and how to do it because all that would matter to me is that at the end of it all, she’d be my wife.”
Rachel swallowed, trying not to cry at her parents’ kitchen table. But it seemed that every time Finn spoke, she was falling for him even more. Apparently she wasn’t the only one affected by his romantic words.
“Oy, and he’s a doctor,” Pearl said, her hand clutching her sweater over her heart.
Rachel cleared her throat. “Um, Finn? Didn’t you promise me a skim milk latte?”
It only took Finn a half second to catch on. “I sure did, you ready to go?”
Rachel stood up and took his hand. “I am so ready. Let’s go.”
Chapter 37
Rachel knew she would hardly be missed this year on Christmas Eve. Normally she would have gone out with her parents: to a movie and Chinese food, but this year, Harry was still confined to home, and anyway, Chinese food was not on the diet his doctor had prescribed.
So when she told her mother she was going out with Finn, there was no argument. Pearl’s only comment was that she wished Rachel a good time. The lack of drama was also due in large part to the fact that Pearl approved of Finn, the Jewish doctor who would someday, God willing, propose to her Rachel.
Anyway, Aaron had become Pearl’s new pet project; not only could he not feed himself properly, but he was in desperate need of a matchmaker to help him find a new wife. Pearl was exactly what he needed.
So on Christmas Eve, Rachel, who was free of guilt for just about the first time in her life, got into Finn’s car and off they went to pick up Sheri and Brian on their way to the movie theater.
After much debate, they had finally decided on a movie with something for everyone. It was the new Leonardo DiCaprio film that had already gotten good reviews including words like ‘Oscar contender’ and ‘Two thumbs way up.’
“I feel so…I don’t know…naughty,” Sheri said from the back seat after her and Brian climbed into Finn’s Toyota. “I’m sure this is some sort of blasphemy, going to a movie on Christmas Eve.”
Brian laughed. “It will be a lovely opportunity for you to connect with the Jewish community. Going to movies on Christmas Eve is more popular for Jews than going to shul on the eve of Yom Kippur.”
“I think you’re right,” Finn chimed in. “I can’t remember the last time I went to synagogue, but I just saw a movie recently.” He smiled over at Rachel beside him. “Quite frankly, I prefer movies.”
“Definitely,” Rachel nodded.
“I still can’t believe you went to see that Scarlett Johansson movie without me,” Sheri said, pouting a little.
Rachel made no apology and wouldn’t. Nope, not anymore. It was about time Sheri found out what it was like when her best friend caught a big dose of NBS.
* * *
Once the men were planted firmly in their seats, Sheri and Rachel headed to the bathroom for one last pee before the trailers.
They were in their respective stalls when Sheri said, “Doc…er…Finn is so into you, you know.”
Rachel rolled her eyes, even though Sheri couldn’t see her through the stall wall. “How can you even know that? You were sitting in the back seat. You’ve seen us together for like eight minutes.”
“Uh, excuse me?” Sheri paused to flush and left the stall, the door squeaking as she did. “I could see the way he looks at you. And he brought you those counted out pistachios. I mean, come on. Guys don’t do stuff like that for girl’s they aren’t into. In fact, most guys don’t do stuff like that at all.”
Rachel smiled, thinking about how cute it was that Finn had counted out two points worth of pistachios and had put them in a little snack bag just for her. “You have to prepare for the movies. Otherwise you’re at the mercy of the snack bar, and there’s nothing good there,” he had said as Sheri and Brian made a beeline for the concession.
Rachel joined her friend at the sinks and leaned in close as she reached for the faucet. “He’s a good kisser, too.”
Sheri didn’t bother whispering, “So when are you going to sleep with him?”
It had been a long time since Rachel had been faced with a prospect to sleep with anyone, let alone someone she really liked (not to mention who liked her).
“I don’t know. I’d like to take it slow.”
Sheri turned off the tap, shook her hands and looked at her friend in the mirror. “Bullshit, you’re scared to death.”
It was true. Rachel didn’t bother denying it to her best friend; what was the point? She took a deep breath and nodded.
Sheri shook her head as she dug into her purse for a lipstick. “Don’t worry, I bet he hasn’t gotten any in a while either.”
That was hardly the point. “I just don’t want to screw it up. I really like him.” Rachel looked around, hoping no one was within earshot. “Do you think it’s…you know…different?”
“What do you mean?”
“Because of what he does for a living? No jokes. I’m really serious.”
Sheri tossed the lipstick back into her purse. “I don’t know. Obviously, he knows where everything is. But as far as technique? I don’t know. I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
Rachel took a deep breath. “I guess. It’s just weird, you know. Maybe I didn’t care as much before when I was with other guys. It didn’t matter as much what I looked like…” her voice dropped to barely above a whisper, “You know, naked. And down there. But now it matters. He would have a really big frame of reference, you know?”
“Rachel? Don’t obsess. Just do what feels right. He likes you; that’s all you need to think about.”
Rachel nodded. “I know. You’re right. I’ll just take it as it comes.”
“Pun intended?”
Rachel smacked her friend’s arm. “Not helping! You’re horrible.”
“Yeah well, that’s what Brian likes about me. Oh, and by the way, most of my clothes are out of the apartment, so you can move your stuff in any time. I’ll make you a key once the stores are open again.”
A wave of panic washed over Rachel; Sheri was going to keep her own key? She had visions of Sheri having a tiny spat with Brian and returning to her apartment, kicking Rachel to the street or worse, back to her parents’. “You’re not going to give me your key?”
“It’s not like that.” Sheri rolled her eyes. “It’s just for emergencies. No, I’m not going to show up at all hours to interrupt you and your new boyfriend having sex.”
A senior citizen who had just emerged from a stall to wash her hands gave Rachel and Sheri a dirty look in the mirror.
Rachel was mortified. “Shut up,” she hissed. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know what you meant. And you don’t have to worry about it. But speaking of sex with your new boyfriend. I started back on the pill so I’ll leave the condoms in the nightstand.” She winked before she preceded Rachel out of the bathroom.
Afraid of what else Sheri might say if properly motivated, Rachel kept her mouth shut.
Not that it made a difference.
“Oh and by the way. No making out during the movie.”
Rachel let her friend tease her; there were much worse things she could be teased about than having a new boyfriend.
* * *
As they approached their seats, they noticed a woman standing there talking to Finn. In the dim light of the theater, Rachel couldn’t make out who it was.
“Who’s that?” Sheri asked, finally remembering how to whisper.
Rachel shook her head. “I don’t know.”
By the time they reached their aisle, Finn had noticed them and smiled. The woman he was talking to turned to see Rachel and Sheri. Rachel instantly remembered the woman from the Weight Watchers meeting. It was Finn’s Aunt Fran, also one of her libr
ary patrons.
“Hello, Rachel, how nice to see you again!” she took Rachel’s right hand, covering it with both of her own.
“Nice to see you,” Rachel smiled. “This is my friend Sheri.”
Fran didn’t make an attempt at reaching across Rachel to shake Sheri’s hand, but she did nod politely.
“I was just telling Finn about the New Year’s party his uncle and I are having. We would love it if you two came.”
Rachel glanced over Fran’s shoulder to look at Finn. His eyes were wide as he shook his head frantically.
“Oh, that sounds so nice, but my parents have already committed us to dinner with them. They made reservations a while ago. Finn, did I not tell you about that? Maybe with all the craziness around my Dad’s illness…”
Fran turned to look at her nephew who had just given a big thumbs up sign behind her back.
“You know, Rachel that sounds familiar. I’m sorry, I must have totally forgotten.”
Fran deflated. “Oh, that’s too bad. Well, maybe next time.” The lights began to dim, signaling the start of the previews. “Still, Finn, I’d like you and Rachel to come for dinner. Call me after the holidays and we’ll pick a date.”
“Will do, Aunt Fran. Now go find Uncle Jack and enjoy the movie.”
Once Fran cleared the aisle, Sheri and Rachel took their seats, sitting next to each other, the men flanking them.
“Thank you so much,” Finn said as Rachel got herself comfortable in her chair. “You have no idea how horrible that party at Fran and Jack’s would have been.”
“It’s gonna cost you to make me lie like that to save your butt.”
Even in the near darkness, Rachel could see a twinkle in his eye. “Oh yeah? What’s it going to cost me?”
Rachel looked down at the Finn’s arm draped over the armrest between them. “Well for starters, I get the armrest for the entire movie.”
Finn lifted the offending arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze. “Done. Anything else?”
“And you need to take me on a real date,” she said, feeling flirty. “And on New Year’s, so that I’m only a partial liar by telling your aunt we had plans.”
Finn nodded just as the lights dimmed to black. “I was going to ask you anyway. I would love it if you would go out with me to celebrate New Year’s.”
The previews began and Finn faced forward so Rachel didn’t even have to try to hide her excitement; for the first time ever she was going to have a real date on New Year’s Eve. That had to be a sign it was going to be a really great year.
Chapter 38
Rachel wasn’t sure what woke her up, but as she tried to roll over to get back to sleep, she realized it might have been her very full bladder. It was early, well before time to get up, but there was no way she’d get back to sleep if she didn’t go to the bathroom first.
Hauling her heavy frame out of bed, she cursed Finn for suggesting the post-movie lattes. Her only consolation was knowing that he too was probably up and on his way to the bathroom since he had drunk a large one.
As Rachel grabbed her bedroom doorknob, she heard muffled voices. Turning the handle as slowly as she could so as not to make any noise, she opened the door to eavesdrop on her parents.
“I need her help. You’re not well, Harry, I can’t do everything all on my own and still take care of you.”
Rachel swallowed. What the hell were they doing talking about her at four in the morning? Were they still up from the night before? Just getting up?
She strained her ears to catch her father’s softer voice. “You are not mrhfhaa rmmmhff, Pearl.” It was so hard to hear what he was saying, but his definitive tone communicated his position.
“Harry, I think I know what I need to run this house and take care of you. And the last thing she needs to be doing with her life is running away and going and having sex and parties.”
Rachel couldn’t help it when her eyes headed toward the ceiling. Sex and parties. Right.
So this isn’t really about me staying to help as much as it is about me moving out and getting on with my life.
“Pearl, she’s a grown woman. I think you’re forgetting that. You were what, a mother of two when you were her age?”
“Times were different, then, Harry. They’re still kids at that age nowadays. Just look at your sons.”
Rachel had heard enough. She was tempted to confront her mother then and there but realized it was probably not her best option. She needed to be strategic and think about her best method of counterattack, which meant she’d have to sleep on it.
But she still couldn’t escape her bursting bladder. She turned and headed back into her room, quietly closing the door. And then with as much noise as she could, she exited her room and headed for the bathroom, not surprised at the silence beyond.
* * *
Hours later, she was halfway through her yogurt before Rachel drummed up the courage to broach the subject of her moving out.
“So, Mom,” she said, trying to seem nonchalant.
“Mmhmm?” Pearl didn’t take her eyes off her crossword as she brought her coffee mug to her lips.
“You know, I was thinking how awesome you are at taking care of Dad and keeping everything together.”
Pearl looked up at her daughter, peering over the rims of her glasses. “What do you mean?”
Rachel took another spoonful of yogurt before speaking, still trying to seem casual. “I just think that you’re like a superwoman the way you seem to do it all and never get ruffled feathers, you know?”
A smile crept across Pearl’s face the way a chocolate sauce drizzles down a mound of ice cream. “Well, thank you, Rachel. I take pride in keeping a good house. My mother used to say that it was a testament to a woman how well she kept her house.”
“I just hope that someday I can do it all like you and still manage to make it look easy.” Rachel stopped. Maybe she was laying it on too thick. She looked at her mother, waiting for her to speak, afraid Pearl was going to be onto her.
Apparently not.
“Well someday you’ll have a husband and I’d be happy to teach you the finer points of keeping a proper home.”
Rachel smiled. “That would be really nice. So, um, you know, I was going to stick around for a while longer to help out with Dad, but since you’ve obviously got everything totally under control, I don’t see any reason not to move out on schedule.”
Pearl’s face dropped. She hadn’t even seen the bear trap lying in the woods; she’d just walked right into it.
Harry came shuffling into the kitchen in his slippers and bathrobe. He looked from wife to daughter and back again. “What? What’s going on in here?”
Pearl was still speechless so it was Rachel who answered. “I was just telling Mom how great it is that she is managing everything, like the house and working and taking care of you. I’m feeling kind of superfluous around here, so I think I’ll still move out as planned. Sheri’s stuff is mostly out of the apartment so I can move in any time.”
Harry slid into his regular kitchen chair and smiled at Rachel, even turning his head to give her a wink out of Pearl’s field of vision. “Well we’ll be sad to see you go, but we understand. Don’t we, Pearl?”
It was like the most perfect two-pronged attack ever orchestrated. Rachel couldn’t have planned it better if she’d tried. She and her Dad definitely made a good team.
Pearl turned and glared at her husband. “No, but what am I going to say?”
Rachel finished her yogurt and got up to put her spoon in the dishwasher and the container into the recycle bin. “I think I’m going to go start packing,” she said as she leaned over and gave her dad a kiss on the cheek.
Score one for Rachel.
Chapter 39
For someone who didn’t have any furniture, Rachel was astounded at how much stuff she had to move. As she trudged up the stairs to the second-floor apartment balancing an awkward box in her quivering arms, she w
ished she’d accepted Finn’s offer to help.
But she had been adamant: she had to do this on her own. It was the same reason she refused Pearl’s offer of a care package of home-cooked food. She was moving out on her own and she would do it on her own.
She stopped on the landing for a breather and realized maybe she’d been a bit stubborn. Even independent, self-sufficient women had been known to ask for a little assistance now and then. Rachel was sure neither Jennifer Lawrence or Taylor Swift moved their own crap into a new place, nor would they turn down a home-cooked meal if it were offered.
“Well, I’m certainly neither of them,” Rachel laughed as she picked the box back up and continued up the stairs for what had been about her tenth trip. And there were still several boxes left in her trunk.
Her clothes alone had ended up filling three huge boxes and two suitcases. Then there was her computer and desk equipment, DVDs, toiletries, etcetera, etcetera.
By the time everything was out of her car, Rachel was starving and exhausted. Her hair was sweaty under her baseball cap and she was in desperate need of a shower. But first she needed some dinner.
She opened the fridge. Yikes; there was not one thing in it. Well, except the note from Sheri and an open box of baking soda.
Rach: bet you didn’t think I’d clean out the fridge. Well, I did!
S.
With a sigh, Rachel closed the refrigerator door. A big care package from Pearl sounded perfect about now.
The little diet devil that always had a front row seat on Rachel’s shoulder whispered in her ear: “There’s always pizza delivery…you’re alone, no one will know.”
Alone. She was living alone for the first time in her life and it surprised her that she was already very lonely.
There would be no more Pearl cooking her dinner or doing her laundry. No more winks across the dinner table from her dad when she told him about her day at the library. And if she had no plans on a Saturday night, she would be spending it alone on Sheri’s hand-me-down couch.
Maybe if she had a little dog like Sunny to keep her company. Or maybe some chocolate would make her feel better. No, wait, Chinese food. Rachel looked around the kitchen to see if Sheri had left a phone book.
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