My hand to the back of his neck, I pulled him in for a kiss. “Thank you, Len. I’ll grab you something too, okay?”
A second kiss, this one from Len, and he let me go. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him take a seat on the edge of the bed and pull my mom in for a hug. What I told him was true. She wouldn’t let go with me in the room. But what I neglected to mention was that I needed the space. So many emotions swirling around inside one little body.
I worried for my dad. The guilt I felt for staying away was probably giving me an ulcer as I walked to the elevator. Not to mention I’d fallen in love with Len and couldn’t bring myself to tell him becausehello? Chicken.
My phone picked that time to ping with another email. I pulled it from my pocket. Brian. Why wouldn’t he leave me alone? We’d broken up. He’d broken up with me. He’d just gotten engaged to another woman.
Well, Brian happened to be one thing I could avoid dealing with for the time being. Yet again, I swiped to delete his message just as I reached the elevators. One was just about to close when I threw my hand between to stop it. The doors pulled back open to the empty elevator car. I pressed and held thedoor closebutton just to make sure I didn’t have to share the ride with anyone.
On the first floor, I followed the smell of food to the cafeteria. Along with the regular cafeteria fare of burgers, pizza, fries, etc., they offered a spread of pretty credible Chinese food. I got mom a pint of the wonton soup. For me and Len, the Lo Mein noodles. And for all of us to share, fried pork wontons, crab-cheese rangoons, and eggrolls. What better for people waiting on a heart patient having a stent put in his clogged artery to eat than fried foods?
Some days comfort outweighed practicality. Today comfort won out.