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Gage saw she played a word worth thirty points, but he also saw that the number one was hovering over the message icon, he chose the latter. Thirty-eight, he was eight years older than her. He wondered in that brief second what she looked like.
Thank you! Thirty-eight, huh? Try just turning forty-six. Lol. How many kids? By the way, were you one of those people bussed in? :P
Gage tucked his phone in his console, deciding that sitting in the parking lot of the coffee shop on his birthday made him look sad. Add in it being a Friday night and playing Friendly Words just made it pathetic. He went home. To an empty house.
Tilly read his message and laughed out loud, loud enough to cause an echo. She turned her head toward the door wondering if she woke anyone, but when silence greeted her, she looked back at her phone. Forty-six. She felt forty-six sometimes. Again, she found herself curious as to why he was talking with her and not spending his birthday with his family. She grinned at the face he’d made at the end of his message. He liked to tease, too.
At forty-six, I think you’re the one being bussed in. ; ) Kidding, forty is the new thirty, or so they say. I have two kids, fifteen and fourteen. Sometimes, though, trying to keep up with them, I wouldn’t mind a weekend at the nursing home. How old is your daughter?
Gage rushed in the house and just about pushed Velvet outside to do her business all because his cell chimed almost five minutes ago. Yeah, he was pathetic. But it was nice to talk to someone. As he stood in the doorway, watching the dog, he pulled up her message and read it. He grinned at the screen and replied,
Nahh, too old for the bus, they just bring me my food now. The new thirty? I call bullshit on that, cause in no way do I feel like I’m thirty. I can think of better places to spend a weekend than a nursing home. ;) My daughter, Scarlett is 15. Married?
Tilly could think of better places to spend a weekend too, not that she had in a long time. The question about being married had a knot forming in her gut remembering earlier. She hated fighting with Luke, but lately it seemed to be happening more, and considering he was never home, it bothered her...a lot.
Too old? Yeah, at forty-six they must have to blend your food and administer it with a straw. Scarlett, that’s a great name. Not one you hear often. 15, now I understand the old person comment. My kids are Justin, he’s the fifteen-year-old, and Ashley who’s fourteen. Yes, I’m married, seventeen years. You?
Gage got Velvet inside and gave her a much-needed treat, since he all but kicked her outside the house. While she ate her small bone, her crunching filling up the silence in the house, he grabbed a beer from the fridge. Once she was done, he called for her to follow him. She did, prancing behind him into the living room. He toed his sneakers off and sat in the recliner. Before taking a pull from his beer, he patted his leg, Velvet jumped up and nestled her little body between him and the arm of the chair. He read Tilly’s message and smiled. She liked the name of his daughter, he picked it out. Then that grin turned into laughter, which caused Velvet to stir. Blend his food. Funny.
Ahhh, smartass you are. :P But a funny one. Yeah, married 16 years. I see you live in West Chester, that right? I’m in Yardley, about an hour from Philly. And if I’m correct, you’re about two hours from me.
Tilly moved to the refrigerator for a bottle of iced tea, reading his message while she did. He was married. She so wanted to know where his family was and why they weren’t all celebrating his special day. Birthdays for her kids lasted for a week...they got out of chores, had unlimited television watching. Even for her birthday, they made her breakfast in bed and did most of the work around the house. Once upon a time, Luke was part of the tradition, but over the years, it was just something she shared with her kids. Would there come a time when they no longer wanted to celebrate with her? The thought made her sad. Maybe Gage’s family didn’t make a big deal out of birthdays.
He lived only two hours from her. She gave herself a moment to roll that around in her head. Then she went ever further down that road and pondered what he looked like. All teasing aside, forty-six wasn’t old. He was funny and real...or at least she wanted to believe he was. He was also close enough to be considered a neighbor. She pulled herself from those thoughts.
I haven’t been called a smartass in a long time. It’s like riding a bike. ; ) Yes, I’m in West Chester, and yeah, we’re about two hours from you and an hour from Philly. Not that we get there as often as we’d like. Do you work in the city?
Gage had his head laying on the back of the recliner, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. She was married. Where was her husband? Was he in the city at the new jazz club with his friends while she sat at home alone? No, probably not. But as the day kept on, and there was no word from his wife, which was continuing into night, the whole situation was pissing him off. The chiming took him from his thoughts. Quickly, he tapped on the screen, thinking it was Tilly; instead, he found a text from his wife-The girls and I have been drinking. So, we’re going to grab a hotel room. Happy Birthday! Call you in the morning.He read it four times. He’d told her to go, but hoped deep down inside she’d back out. He thought about tossing his phone across the room in anger. But then he’d lose talking to his new friend, one who, apparently, had no life either if she was talking to him on a Friday night. Gage backed out of his wife’s text without sending one back. When it alerted him a second time, he had a glimmer of hope that Heather was texting him again, but when he saw that there was a new message from Tilly, that didn’t disappoint him.
No, I don’t. I own a local landscaping company. I don’t get into the city all that much either. Took my daughter a few months back to see Pink at the Wells Fargo Center, but other than that, I very rarely go into Philly. As a matter of fact, my wife is in the city right now with her friends.
He knew he shouldn’t have said anything, but the longer the thought sat in his head, he was too pissed to give a fuck.
Tilly read his message over a few times. His wife was in the city with friends on her husband’s birthday. Luke had done that to her, but it wasn’t friends who had kept him away; it had been work.
But it’s your birthday.
Gage read the words and breathed out a chuckle, typing back.
I know. But all is good. :)
Gage only threw in the last line to not let on how much the situation was really bothering him. Then he drained his beer, disturbing Velvet when he got up and went to the kitchen to grab another one.
Despite his words, she suspected he did feel the blow off of his birthday. She had. Not wanting to pry, she replied,
I’ve been there.
Gage was finding he was there more times than he could remember. It was getting late, he was tired, both physically and emotionally, even if he didn’t want to admit the latter.
It’s getting late. Have a good night, Tilly.
She suspected all wasn’t good. In his shoes, it wouldn’t be good for her either.
Happy birthday, Gage. Night.
Gage tossed his phone onto the counter, snatching another beer from the fridge and draining half of it in one pull. Taking a deep breath, he stretched his neck from side to side, trying to relieve the tension building there. It didn’t work. He thought of the woman he just chatted with, how easy the conversation had been. Why didn’t he have that with his own wife anymore? His lips tipped up when he remembered her saying,at forty-six they must have to blend your food and administer it with a straw.
Fuck it.
