Read Online How Sweet It Is by Alice Wisler - Free Book Online
Authors: Alice Wisler
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wrapping his lips around Ella Loloby.
The nurse had just given me one of my Toradol pills when Sally and Jeannie entered the room and told me this. They asked how I was, but I could tell that was not why they were glancing at each other, avoiding my eyes, and refusing to smile. They waited to tell me until after the nurse took my temperature, checked the bandage around my forehead, and left the room.
Sally bit her lower lip. I’ve noted her habit; it’s always the right side of her bottom lip she sinks her pearly whites into. “Lucas is seeing Ella Lolly.”
“Loboly,” corrected Jeannie with certainty.
“Lobolo,” said Sally as she reached for my bandaged arm.
I moved my arm away from Sally’s hand. “What do you mean seeing ?” I asked. My throat felt like someone was stuffing toast down it.
Sally moistened her lips, then bit her lower one. “Dating her,” she said. I could see the surge of pain in her eyes. I wanted to comfort her and tell her not to be so sad.
“They were out together Saturday at that new Italian restaurant.”
“The Mona Lisa,” I said. Lucas and I ate there often. I loved their portabella mushrooms served with creamy fettuccini. “She’s a wedding planner,” I told my friends. “Maybe he was asking her for tips about our wedding.”
Jeannie moved closer to my bed. “Honey,” she said, “the only tip he was getting was on how to make out with the wedding planner after dinner and before dessert.”
Suddenly, just like that, a cloud appeared in my hospital room. It must have entered from the vent right over the bobbing purple Get Well balloon. Lucas and Ella? “But… but she isn’t even a Braves fan!”
Sally looked at me like I had lost my mind, but Jeannie murmured, “I know, I know.”
I wanted to jump out of the bed, pull off the bandages, and run. Run to a place where things were still bright and perfect.
“You’re going to be just fine, honey,” Jeannie said, and this time I let Sally hold my hand as Jeannie stroked my other arm. “You’ll be okay.”
Jeannie should know about these things. She’s been divorced twice. She’s only thirty-two. She’s also prematurely gray.
I waited until they left to let what they had told me sink in.
When the nurse came in at midnight to check my vitals, I was sitting up in the bed crying into the bouquet of white lilies, red carnations, and baby’s breath my parents had brought the day before. The nurse sat on the edge of my bed and rubbed my back with slender fingers. At last she said, “It’s gonna get better.”
She didn’t say a word about the long-stemmed red roses that swam in the toilet bowl. Later that night she sent an aide to fish them out. He wore latex gloves and a funny grin. As he left, I wondered when Lucas had brought the roses for me. Was it before or after he went out with Ella? Did he call the florist and order them at the same time he called the Mona Lisa to make dinner reservations for himself and Ella?
Red roses were delivered to the restaurant where I worked when Lucas and I first got engaged. I felt so excited when I saw them in the tall narrow vase. Chef B grinned like a silly schoolboy. The whole restaurant staff couldn’t stop smiling. I was engaged to Lucas; we were going to be married within a year! Delight spilled out of me that night as I prepared and decorated a chiffon cream cake. Never was there a more joyfully decorated border on a cake. Anyone who looked closely could see that each dot had a smile; every pearl was as exquisite as a wedding bouquet.
I step back into the cabin, close the sliding door behind me, and lock it. I’m from the city, so I believe in locking things with as many deadbolts as possible. My apartment had three locks. Yolanda invested in four.
The moonlight shines on the sofa where my journal lies. I haven’t added a line to it since the morning I traveled here, and that seems like weeks ago. Out of consideration for my former boss, I feel obligated to
The nurse had just given me one of my Toradol pills when Sally and Jeannie entered the room and told me this. They asked how I was, but I could tell that was not why they were glancing at each other, avoiding my eyes, and refusing to smile. They waited to tell me until after the nurse took my temperature, checked the bandage around my forehead, and left the room.
Sally bit her lower lip. I’ve noted her habit; it’s always the right side of her bottom lip she sinks her pearly whites into. “Lucas is seeing Ella Lolly.”
“Loboly,” corrected Jeannie with certainty.
“Lobolo,” said Sally as she reached for my bandaged arm.
I moved my arm away from Sally’s hand. “What do you mean seeing ?” I asked. My throat felt like someone was stuffing toast down it.
Sally moistened her lips, then bit her lower one. “Dating her,” she said. I could see the surge of pain in her eyes. I wanted to comfort her and tell her not to be so sad.
“They were out together Saturday at that new Italian restaurant.”
“The Mona Lisa,” I said. Lucas and I ate there often. I loved their portabella mushrooms served with creamy fettuccini. “She’s a wedding planner,” I told my friends. “Maybe he was asking her for tips about our wedding.”
Jeannie moved closer to my bed. “Honey,” she said, “the only tip he was getting was on how to make out with the wedding planner after dinner and before dessert.”
Suddenly, just like that, a cloud appeared in my hospital room. It must have entered from the vent right over the bobbing purple Get Well balloon. Lucas and Ella? “But… but she isn’t even a Braves fan!”
Sally looked at me like I had lost my mind, but Jeannie murmured, “I know, I know.”
I wanted to jump out of the bed, pull off the bandages, and run. Run to a place where things were still bright and perfect.
“You’re going to be just fine, honey,” Jeannie said, and this time I let Sally hold my hand as Jeannie stroked my other arm. “You’ll be okay.”
Jeannie should know about these things. She’s been divorced twice. She’s only thirty-two. She’s also prematurely gray.
I waited until they left to let what they had told me sink in.
When the nurse came in at midnight to check my vitals, I was sitting up in the bed crying into the bouquet of white lilies, red carnations, and baby’s breath my parents had brought the day before. The nurse sat on the edge of my bed and rubbed my back with slender fingers. At last she said, “It’s gonna get better.”
She didn’t say a word about the long-stemmed red roses that swam in the toilet bowl. Later that night she sent an aide to fish them out. He wore latex gloves and a funny grin. As he left, I wondered when Lucas had brought the roses for me. Was it before or after he went out with Ella? Did he call the florist and order them at the same time he called the Mona Lisa to make dinner reservations for himself and Ella?
Red roses were delivered to the restaurant where I worked when Lucas and I first got engaged. I felt so excited when I saw them in the tall narrow vase. Chef B grinned like a silly schoolboy. The whole restaurant staff couldn’t stop smiling. I was engaged to Lucas; we were going to be married within a year! Delight spilled out of me that night as I prepared and decorated a chiffon cream cake. Never was there a more joyfully decorated border on a cake. Anyone who looked closely could see that each dot had a smile; every pearl was as exquisite as a wedding bouquet.
I step back into the cabin, close the sliding door behind me, and lock it. I’m from the city, so I believe in locking things with as many deadbolts as possible. My apartment had three locks. Yolanda invested in four.
The moonlight shines on the sofa where my journal lies. I haven’t added a line to it since the morning I traveled here, and that seems like weeks ago. Out of consideration for my former boss, I feel obligated to
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