108:Tumble

October 22

The hustle and bustle of New York on a weekday morning was an experience like no other.  Armies of strangers crammed together more familiarly than most families would, and the sea of bodies flowed like the tide in and out of the train until most of the passengers disembarked in Grand Central Station.  Then, the sea pushed itself out of the city’s bowels and into the heart of it.

Charlie flowed along with her workforce compatriots on this Thursday morning, with the knowledge that this routine to which she was accustomed would soon be no more. 

The last three days in East Hampton with Jon had been nothing like that week in August.  Whereas then, they had been combative and fierce at every turn, these days were effortlessly comfortable, and Charlie fell more in love with both the man and the place with each passing hour. 

It wasn’t to say that they were frolicking through fields of wildflowers with butterflies in their hearts.  What she’d experienced with him in those few days of seclusion wasn’t part of a movie script featuring star-crossed lovers who oozed sugar and sweetness from every pore.  Far from it, in fact.  It had simply been two people reaching for one another in the midst of their separate lives.

He was crabby in the mornings before at least one cup of coffee, he was sometimes distant and lost in his own thoughts, and he was often engrossed in his phone, both talking and texting.  During those times, she left him alone and contentedly sketched, did a little laundry, made daily calls to the boys, and returned calls and texts to her suddenly clingy family.  

Even as she was leaving him alone, Charlie was pleased to note that Jon would seek to initiate physical contact, seemingly without thought.  Absent lips would dust hers as he left the house for a run.  He would blanket a warm palm over the small of her back as he reached over her to get a coffee mug from the cabinet.  That same palm would drape over her thigh while he was watching CNN or talking on the phone.

The rest of the time, they shared.  Maybe it was because of the accusations she’d once hurled at him about his lack of sharing, but Jon would talk easily about his job, what he was planning for the band’s future, his aspirations outside the band and the dreams that he was still working toward.  In return, Charlie used him as a sounding board to fantasize aloud what life might be like after she took the next step on the road to an art career.

She said “next step” because the first ones were already behind her.  A number of Jon’s phone calls on Monday had been about her artwork, and it seemed like he’d no more begun relaying her contact information when Charlie started receiving requests for her portfolio and meeting invitations to discuss projects that ranged from a family portrait to a tenth anniversary mural for the Prudential Center. 

It was still hard to believe and, as she thanked the barista, Charlie realized that she felt like a different person. 

All the times as she’d climbed the stairs of Grand Central like this, with two coffees and a bag of bagels, she’d considered herself to be content with what life had given her.  Now, though…  As Jon said back on Martha’s Vineyard, she was living life instead of letting it happen to her, and with that came happiness.  True happiness that she was experiencing for the first time in a very long time, thanks to him.

Emerging onto the street, she scanned the throng of people flowing through the area, hoping that Millie remembered their Thursday date this week. 

It had been a while since they’d done a Thursday, but with the weather turning cooler, Charlie wanted to see the older woman.  Vince said she looked fine on Monday, but since he didn’t see her on a regular basis, she was concerned that his definition of good and hers may differ.

“Charlie Girl!”

Immediately recognizing both the voice and the name, she smiled widely and spun around to greet her friend.  The smile waned, however, when seeing the other woman’s face.  Angry, red scrapes covered the left side of it from brow to cheekbone, and the underlying purple bruise swirled inward to tinge the delicate skin surrounding her eye.

“Mille!” she gasped, dashing the remaining few feet that separated them and put the coffee on the sidewalk before tossing the bagels on the cart and cupping the older woman’s face.  “What in the world happened?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”  She removed Charlie’s hands and gave them a frail squeeze.  “I got a bit lightheaded and took a little tumble on the sidewalk the other day.  That’s all.”

A thorough scrutiny found that, other than the fact that she looked like she had been in a fight, the rest of Millie looked remarkably normal.  Still yet, a tumble like that could be catastrophic for a woman of her age. 

“Looks like a pretty big tumble to me,” she countered with concern.  “Let’s take you to see a doctor just to be on the safe side.”

“Pish posh.  The paramedic that came along said I was a tough old nut.  I appreciate your concern, but I’m perfectly fine.”

That may be true, but there was also a very good chance that Millie was downplaying it as she did everything else.  Charlie’s skepticism bled through when saying, “I don’t know about that.  Did you really see a paramedic or are you just trying to appease me?”

“One does not fabricate a young man that fetching,” the older woman staunchly avowed.  “I believe his name was Brock, if that offers you any reassurance.  He was almost as handsome as your Jon, which reminds me.  How was your trip to the castle?”

From the ingenuous look on Millie’s face it was evident that badgering wasn’t going to get Charlie anywhere, so she smothered a sigh and bent to retrieve the coffee from the sidewalk.  Passing one cup into a frail hand, she relayed, “We ended up in the Hamptons instead of Florida, but It was wonderful.  Thank you for asking.  And Jon wanted me to let you know that he’ll be coming on Monday.  Said to tell you he’s missed you.”

“He has such a kind soul, visiting the elderly and forgiving multi-million dollar debts.  It pleases me to know you have such good people in your life.”

“Jon may have forgiven that debt, but I haven’t,” Charlie declared with a smile.  “As I told a friend of mine, he’s given me the world.  There’s no way to repay that, but I can right a wrong, even if it’s one nickel at a time.”

“Dear girl, don’t be silly.  Love is far more valuable than money.  Give him yours without reservation, and he’ll never feel slighted.”

The sentiment was beautiful, but Charlie just couldn’t see it.  There hadn’t been enough opportunity show him that she was as capable of giving as she was taking, and it left their relationship distinctly lopsided thus far. 

That wasn’t something she felt the need to discuss with Millie, so she did a little backtracking.  “Vince, my brother, said you two had a nice chat.  He enjoyed finally getting the chance to meet you.”

“I’m very well aware that you’ve just changed the subject, but since you’ve come bearing coffee in the middle of the week, I’ll feign ignorance just this once.  And yes, your brother is probably the kindest police officer I’ve had the pleasure of acquainting myself with.  Then again,” she offered a conspiratorial lift of her eyebrows.  “He also wasn’t trying to pin a vagrancy charge on me.  That tints things a different shade of blue.  How many siblings do you have, dear?”

Grinning vigorously enough to crinkle her eyes, Charlie chuckled.  “I have four brothers.”

“Oh, my.  No wonder your name is Charlie,” Millie justified with the decisive nod of her chin.  “Just one of the boys, as it were.”

“You’re not the first to make that assumption.”  Jon’s adamant declaration of something very similar at that pizza parlor was still a fresh memory, along with his refusal to use the name.  “That’s not the case, though.  It’s just a derivation of my given name, bestowed upon me originally by my oldest brother, Dominick, whom I would also like you to meet.”

“I’d be honored,” the sparkly-eyed senior accepted.

She’d actually talked to Dom about Millie a while back, and coerced him into helping to create a safety net for the willful woman.  It was a net that may never be used, but with the seasons changing, she needed to put it in place.

“He happens to own a restaurant under the Brooklyn Bridge,” Charlie eased into the proposal casually.  “If there’s ever a time when you’re in the mood for Brooklyn’s best pizza, Dominick and I would love it if you’d come by Juliana’s.  The cab ride and the meal would both be on us.  Just tell the hostess you’re a friend of mine.  They’ll take good care of you.”

The red beret bobbed as Millie’s head shook from side to side.  “Will there ever come a day when you aren’t trying to take care of me, although I’m competent enough to take care of myself?”

“It’s called being a friend,” she corrected with a gentle pat on the arm.  “And that’s what friends do, so no.  There won’t come a day.  Get used to it.”

With watery eyes and force much stronger than it appeared she was capable of, the woman who belonged to New York City as much as it belonged to her wrapped Charlie in a breath-stealing hug that caused time to stand still.  Traffic continued to zip by, taxi horns honked and the hum of the busy city droned ceaselessly droned around them, but it all faded to the background to highlight Millie’s next sweet words.

“God bless, you Charlie Girl.”