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“Thanks, man,” I said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “Basically, I just took all my anger out on an innocent and unexpected victim. You know, like real supervillain shit.”
I could hear Chase smirk through the phone. “Yeah? Tell me what happened.”
“It all started when this maid who works at the lodge asked if she could help out,” I explained. “Harry sent her to check on me, and at first I sent her away, but then realized how messy my place was and said she could clean it if she wanted.”
“That sounds like Harry, but I’m failing to see where this is a bad thing. I’d like to have a maid sent to my house and I don’t even have a baby to take care of.”
“It wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, she did a great job cleaning everything up, and even did all the laundry while I took Kenlee out for some fresh air. The only problem was, when I got back, to the room, I saw that she had washed one of Sarah’s shirts.”
“Uh, oh.”
“Yeah…And it wasn’t just that I was mad because she touched one of Sarah’s favorite clothing items…The real problem is that she washed the only thing I had left that still smelled like her.” I pushed back the anger that was once again threatening to boil over. “I feel like I have lost the last remaining thing I had of Sarah. And of course, I completely blew up at the maid and said some really nasty things. Like, really nasty. I’ve already called Harry and told him to add a ‘bonus’ on to her pay, but even I know that in no way makes up for my behavior.” I did feel a little lighter getting all that off my chest.
Chase paused a moment before responding. “Damn Man,” he said after a few seconds. “That is messed up, and it totally sucks that Sarah’s shirt no longer smells like her, but have you considered that you might not have exploded like Mount Vesuvius if you weren’t so tense? I can’t even begin to imagine what you have been through the last six months, but I do know staying cooped up in your room hasn’t done you any good. You need to get out and have a little fun. It would be good for you to get out and be around people.”
“I don’t know, Chase. It’s not like I can just leave Kenlee.”
“Yeah, Zane, you can. That’s what babysitters are for. Call Sloane and see if she can watch her for a few hours while you come and have some drinks. You need to let off some steam and I need to see my friend. What do you say?”
I wrestled with the idea for a moment and decided he was right. I couldn’t sit in this house for another night.
“Okay, I’m in. Let me call Sloane, take a shower, and I will meet you in an hour.”
Excited, Chase whooped into the phone. “Woo Hoo! All right, I can’t wait! I’ll meet you at McCalister’s Pub at 8:00.” We hung up and I nervously dialed Sloane’s number.
She answered after the second ring. “Hey, Zane, what’s up? Is everything ok? Harry told me what happened today. I’m really sorry about Sarah’s shirt.”
“Thanks, Sloane. Yeah, it was devastating and it is kind of what I am calling about. Chase thinks I need to get out of this room and let off some steam and I hate it when he’s right, but I think he might be about this,” I said. “So, I was wondering…”
Sloane cut me off mid-sentence. “You were wondering if my offer to watch Kenlee is still good. Duh! Of course, it is! I am thrilled you want to get out, and I love Kenlee so, yes, I will watch her for you.”
“Amazing. Thank you. Do you want me to bring her to you or would you be more comfortable watching her here? I want to make it as easy as possible for you.”
“Bring her over here,” she said. “That way you don’t have to worry about waking her up if you get home late. She can crash at our place, so you can relax and get some sleep when you get home. I will bring her back around 10 am tomorrow so you can sleep in. How does that sound?”
I was still nervous at the thought of leaving Kenlee, but I knew I had to rip the band-aid off sometime. “Ok. Thank you again. I’m jumping in the shower and then I will get her bag ready.
“Sure. Take your time,” she responded. “Your angel will be in good hands. Harry and I will take good care of her, but I can’t promise Harry won’t spoil her rotten.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I said, laughing.
We hung up and I took a quick shower. Back in the day, I met Chase for drinks all the time, but nowadays getting me out of the house was such a feat. I felt like Neal Armstrong when he first landed on the moon.
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” I said to myself as I slapped some aftershave on my face and ran my fingers through my hair. I chuckled, and this good feeling lasted all of about five minutes before the guilt started to crawl back in. It felt really strange, leaving Kenlee for the entire night, and when I went to pick her up and pack her bag, I worried I wouldn’t be able to let go of her. Then I remembered I was doing this, at least in partfor Kenlee.I didn’t want her to have a dad with anger issues, or who was so stressed out, he was like a volcano always on the verge of exploding. That wasn’t good for either of us.
I dropped Kenlee off with Sloan and Harry and made my way to McCalister’s Pub. Luckily, it was within walking distance of the lodge so there was no need for a cab. I heard the music from down the street and felt myself getting excited for a guy’s night out. It had been way too long. When Sarah was alive, Chase and I made it a point to get together once a month, but that changed after the accident. Everything changed after the accident.
Chase waved to me from the bar as I made my way to him. The bar was far from crowded but then again it was early. By 10:00 pm, it would be standing room only. “Hey, man, good to see you,” I gave Chase a big handshake which turned into a hug. And now that I had him standing in front of me, I realized just how much I had missed him.
Returning the hug, he asked me what I wanted to drink. “So, what’s your poison of the evening?”
“Whiskey, neat.”
Chase gave my order to Jake, the bartender, and said, “His tab is on me tonight so do not let him try and pay no matter how hard he tries.”
He turned back to me with a pointed look, and I held up my hands in surrender. “Okay, man I get it. Trust me, I am not going to argue with you about paying for my drinks. In fact, any time you want to pay for my drinks is fine by me.”
Jake set our drinks in front of us and the first taste of the aged Scotch whiskey had a smooth burn as it went down. “Damn that tastes good,” I said, turning back to Chase. “Thanks for convincing me to come out. I didn’t realize how much I needed it until I got here.”
