Page 5 of Picking Pismo

Slowly nodding, David pondered on the tragedy of the situation and the unfairness of it. Though his life held challenges, nothing compared to the pain Claire and Alexis experienced. He was grateful to help them in a small way, hoping it relieved a bit of the burden for them.

“Geez, that’s definitely a lot to take in,” David eventually replied. “But it makes sense why Claire was bringing Alexis to her appointment and not her dad.”

A silence lingered, and he focused on the crashing of the waves against the shore. It was calm and soothing, and David happily remembered the evenings he spent with his parents over the years on this patio, watching the waves. David became acutely aware of how lucky he was to have not one, but two parents in his life.

David stood. “I need to go get something real to eat, besides popcorn. I only wanted to stop by to say hi. Do you want me to take Jasper back in?”

“Yes, thank you, that would be great.” Stephen picked up his glasses and e-book and tapped the screen, making it light up again. He put back on his reading glasses. “Have a nice evening.”

Kelly bid him goodbye too.

Scooping Jasper back up, David took the yorkie back inside and placed him in his kennel, making his exit for home. David lived only a mile away in a small two-bedroom bungalow, not on the beach like his parents. But he was grateful he’d found something he could afford in Pismo, too. Though it was tiny, it was his.

With his loans from dental school and opening his own practice, David had only recently started to inch his way out of debt. The divorce hadn’t helped either. Lauren, his ex-wife, wiped him clean out. He shook the memory of Lauren from his mind. If he lingered too long on her, his heart ached, and shoulders became tense.

Since his divorce three years ago, David had just occasionally dipped his toes back into the dating pool. The experience of having his heart ripped out of his chest wasn’t one he was eager to repeat. The only thing pushing him forward was his hope to get remarried and eventually have children of his own. But today, something had happened, a shifting of sorts. When David saw Claire in the waiting room, his heart nearly stopped on sight. His stomach did a weird somersault. Since his divorce, David didn’t notice women, but he had noticed Claire. And he didn’t want to unpack what it meant.

David picked up some takeout on his way home. Entering his house, he tossed his keys onto the kitchen counter. After removing his pad Thai from the plastic bag, he plopped himself on his couch, relaxing to watch a basketball game while he ate. With a full belly, David cheered his team onto victory, before he dozed off to sleep without ever making it to his bed.

Several hours later, David awoke to the ringing of his cell phone.

With one eye open, half asleep, he patted the top of the couch, looking for his phone. Once David located it, he clicked accept without checking the number. “Hello?” David rubbed at his sleepy eyes.

Yawning, David double checked the clock on the wall. He hoped he hadn’t overslept for work, but then he quickly remembered it was Saturday. His office was closed. Relief washed over him.

“Dr. Clark?” Sarah questioned.

Stretching, David rose, taking his empty to-go container with him. He tossed it into the trash. “Hey, Sarah,” leaning against his kitchen counter with his forearms, David asked, “What’s up?”

“You sound, out of it,” replied Sarah.

“You woke me up,” countered David, “and, it’s Saturday.”

“True…” Sarah’s voice faded off. She cleared her throat then continued, “I can see you don’t want to be disturbed. I’ll tell the patient to go to the dentist. Sorry I bothered you.”

“Wait! Sorry…” David rubbed his eyes. More fully wake, he knew he wasn’t being as gracious as he should be. Sarah wouldn’t call unless it was urgent. She was the one responsible for checking the voicemails for any emergencies that might occur over the weekend. “Who’s the patient? And what happened?”

Sarah replied, “Apparently, Alexis… remember she came in with her sister yesterday?” She waited.

His ears perked up a bit. “Yes, of course… go on,” said David.

“Alexis fell this morning in dance class, slipped, knocking her teeth on the ballet barre. Her braces slid up and into her top lip and are stuck. Claire said she could try and take her to a dentist if you can’t see her today. Do you want me to tell her to do that?”

A second chance to see Claire.

“Let her know I’ll meet her and Alexis at the office in a half hour,” replied David.

David ended the call and ran to take a shower and change.

Exactly twenty-seven minutes later, David pulled into his office parking lot, parking next to Claire’s car. Both were still in it, waiting for him to arrive. Through his window, David waved at the sisters. Claire smiled and waved back, opening her door. His heart rate picked up to a steady staccato beat. Simmer down. He partly blamed the adrenaline pulsating through him from the last frantic twenty minutes of showering and changing. The other part—well that was all due to Claire.

Exiting his car, Claire and Alexis lingered by the back of his truck. Claire was in black form-fitting yoga pants and a tank top. Her hair was pulled up into a messy knot. David gulped, forcing himself to concentrate on Alexis, who held a blood-soaked rag to her mouth.

“Oh boy,” David motioned for them to follow him to the office’s front door. He walked toward the entrance. Over his shoulder, he said, “It looks like the ballet barre won again.”

He caught Claire’s smirk. The feeling invigorated him. David made her smile, and he wanted to do everything he could to make it happen again. Fumbling with his keys, he forced himself to pull back his shoulders and focus on getting Alexis the help she needed.

Alexis scoffed, “I didn’t know it was a fight,” she mumbled through the rag.

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