AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He looked up at Simon and saw that while his face wasn’t smiling, he wasn’t angry, either. Something inside him unclenched. Simon wasn’t mad, or at least not mad at him. Still, he couldn’t help saying, “I’m sorry.”
Simon sighed, closed his eyes for a second, then looked down at Ben. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I went to eat. I should have left you a note or something. I was going to tell you about the clothes. You needed something warm to go home in. That’s all it was. And it’s the very least I can do for you.”
Ben said the first thing that came into his head then cringed when he heard the words. “But why?” He sounded like a lost child, not an adult. He could take care of himself. He’d been doing it for a long time.
Simon opened his mouth, as if to speak, then closed it. “Hmm,” he eventually said. “You don’t ask easy questions, do you? Well, it’s like I told you earlier. I feel responsible for you. Look, Ben, if any of this makes you uncomfortable or you want me to stop, all you have to do is tell me. I’ll make sure you get home safe and then you’ll never have to see me ever again. I can take you, or Hudson can—he’s my driver and he helped me take you to the hospital—or I can pay for a taxi that you’ll take all by yourself. It’s your choice, Ben. I just want to make sure that one way or another, you get home safe. Okay?”
That was a lot for Ben to take in. Nothing was ever that simple. Nothing was ever free. But at the same time, the idea of being taken home in comfort was a luxurious thought that was hard to deny. He knew what Momma would’ve said, but she wasn’t here, was she? And she’d said—Ben clamped down on that thought. That was a path that led nowhere good. Maybe, just this once, he could accept kindness from a stranger. “Okay,” he agreed. “You can drop me off where I live.”
“Good. That’s good. I’ve already called for Hudson. He’s just outside. Are you ready?”
That was an extremely good question. No, Ben wasn’t ready to go back to his cold and often damp basement room. On the other hand, life had rarely waited on him to be ready for anything, so why start now? “Sure,” Ben said. “Take me home.”
8
Simon Is Appalled
Friday, December 15
A disreputable-looking house
Chinatown
Ben lived in Chinatown. Simon hadn’t expected that, although if pressed, he wasn’t sure what neighborhood he’d have imagined Ben lived in.
“You probably know at least ten great places to get Chinese take-out,” Simon said.
Ben looked slightly alarmed. “I… I don’t… do take-out.” This was said like take-out was an allergy to a beloved type of food. “But I’ve heard Moon Palace Is good.”
“I’ll have to try it sometime, then.”
Ben gave Simon a look of such disbelief that it was amusing.
“What? I’m not allowed to eat in Chinatown?”
Ben shook his head. “No, not that. It’s just… I can tell you’re rich. You have a driver and great suits and so many different coats. People like you eat at fancy restaurants.”
“I’ve been to Chinatown before, although I’ll admit it’s been a while since I last came,” Simon said absently. Most of his brain was puzzling over the remark about suits and coats. Simon did have several. He was vain enough to want them to coordinate with whatever suit he was wearing that particular day. He was currently in the rumpled remains of a gray suit with a spotted blue tie that he’d paired with a long navy woolen coat. No one looking at him currently, however, would’ve thought him fashionable. His trousers were badly creased, his shirt limp, and he’d removed his tie and shoved it into his pocket shortly after settling into the reclining chair in Benny’s hospital room. “I am curious, though.”
“Yes?” Ben asked. He nibbled on his upper lip. It made his lower lip stick out in a way that Simon thought delicious.
Delicious? Where on earth had that thought come from?Ben looked endearing or adorable. Not delicious. That thought was… strange.
Simon brushed away the odd and fanciful notion. “Benny, what do you mean about me having so many coats?”
Ben blushed a deep crimson and looked like he wanted to sink through the Rover’s upholstery and right down onto the slushy pavement beneath them.
“No,” Simon rushed to assure him. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way. Like I said, I’m curious. Not upset.”
“Oh—okay. It’s just that I see you a lot. At work, I mean. Coming in through the doors a quarter of an hour before seven. For years. I mean for as long as I’ve worked for the building. I… notice people.” Ben cringed a little as he said it. “Not like in a creepy, stalkery way. I think. I mean I just notice the people who come in on a regular basis, that’s all. Most people have one winter coat, or maybe two, but you have dozens, I think.”
Simon was surprised and amused and even slightly flattered that him walking through a revolving door five days a week had made an impression on the boy. “There were more you noticed? I mean other people besides me.”
Having been given some encouragement, Ben warmed to his subject. “Oh, yes! There’s Frizzy Bun. She reminds me of a chicken. The white poofy coat doesn’t help. And Auburn Ponytail has this great hat she wears and the prettiest skin. It’s all freckles and just beautiful. Then there’s Old Businessman. He's got a Burberry coat and glasses that fog up every time he walks in from the cold.”
Simon laughed. “That last one sounds like my cousin Clarence. Although he’s more distant than a cousin, but still family in one way or another. He does work in the same building I do. Or did.”
“Did?” Ben asked. “Did you quit?” He looked concerned. “Were you fired?”
