My grandmother is a strange person. She goes to funerals for entertainment. This funeral in particular was Tommy Manson's. No one liked him; he was a school bully and had never left our small rural town of Central City. He died in a car accident after leaving a bar in the next town over. His parents, girlfriend, and young son, Tommy Jr., were the only family he had, so local police officers and those of us who went to school with Tommy came to comfort them. I wasn't originally planning on being here, but Gran said it would be good for me to go because I had known him. We arrived late, but no one seemed to notice. The room was full of people, but there were few tears shed for the town drunkard.
My grandmother may have had a morbid fascination with funerals, but she is also the most empathetic person I know. "It's a shame he died so young. And with a toddler at home too."
"Gran, I'm pretty sure she was going to leave with the kid soon anyway. I heard from Zack that he was hitting her."
I should mention Zachary Holland is my best friend. Always has been, especially after everything that happened in middle school, but let's focus on the present for now. I noticed that he was across the room from us, standing with a few other police officers, including his partner, Samantha Garcia.
"Speaking of Zachary," my grandmother said quietly, "when are you going to go out with him?"
"Gran! We're just friends! Don't read into it just because he's a guy," I whispered back impatiently.
We quietly paid our respects to Tommy's family, and I noticed that his son looked like he did back in elementary school: wind-swept blonde hair and mischievous green eyes. I just hope he grows up to be a better classmate and a better man, now that the bad influence of his father is gone. I walked over to Zack and Sam to say hello, and Gran winked at me before heading toward the door.
"They drove separately tonight, so I'll go ahead and leave. You'll have a way home."
My thoughts briefly went into overdrive: WHAT! No, no, no. First, how did she know? Second, I am not going to mooch off Zack for a ride home. That's redic– oh great. She's gone.
"Hey, Alex!"
"Hi, Sam. Is he behaving himself?" Samantha and I became friends quickly when she moved here last year. She was the first female officer to be partnered up with Zack, and I honestly think they'd be good together outside of work too, but Zack never listens to me saying that it's against force rules to date your partner.
She laughed. "Yeah, most of the time. I still have to keep an eye on him sometimes, though."
"Unfortunately, my grandmother left me here, and I don't have a ride home."
"It's okay, we drove separately tonight. I'm sure Zack wouldn't mind giving you a lift."
*So, Gran was right, and Sam wanted me to go with Zack even though she lives closer to my apartment… odd…*
"I would help you out, but I've got a date after this, which is why we drove separately tonight."
*Oh, that makes sense. *
"In fact, I should be going. I need to change clothes, of course." She left with a twinge of pink in her cheeks, and I could tell she was overly excited, which I couldn't blame her for since both of us seemed to be terminally single.
"Hey, Lex! Did I hear that Gran left you behind tonight?" Zack is kind, too kind some days, and I could tell I didn't have to ask for a ride.
"Yeah, sorry to be a burden."
"Never. Want to go to the little café down the street from here? I hear they have great bubble tea with popping boba. My treat."
Damn. I'm a sucker for popping boba, and he knows it. "I suppose."
We walked down the street from the funeral home and entered the little café. I look up and find that the menu is vast. I finally settled on a classic: small mango green tea with mango-flavored popping boba. Zack gets the Tiramisu bubble tea with cream float, and I wonder how he's going to sleep tonight. We sat down at a little table for two next to the window. I noticed that the little café has a romantic vibe to it, and to make things more awkward, it was decorated for Valentine's Day a week early. As awkward as I felt being there with my friend, I suddenly felt bad for Tommy's girlfriend.
"It's a shame that Tommy had to die at such a young age. I mean, I know no one liked him, but it's sad that his son has to grow up without a father."
"Yeah, but now his mom doesn't have to go through the abuse anymore, and she has a chance to find real love, and then he has a better role model anyway. In some ways, Tommy's family might be better off without him. I'm not saying that his death was a good thing, because it's not, but maybe it was just part of God's plan."
"I guess you're right."
"Anyway, enough about depressing funerals. What's been going on in the world of Alexandra Kay?"
I hated that he not only used my full first name, but my middle name. "Not much. I'm doing well with my online classes, and I have quite a few more finished drawings. I finally got the landlord to send someone to fix the faucet in my apartment, so that's good. The Moran household seems to be doing well. I had dinner with my parents tonight, which is why I came with Gran."
"Good. I hope the faucet leak didn't do too much damage to that cabinet. Have you finished the remodel of your bedroom yet?"
I'm surprised he remembers. "Yeah. No more sleeping on the couch in the main room. What about you? How's work been?"
"Good. Crime has been down the last few weeks, but boring is good in my line of work." I chuckled at the comment, knowing how tough some of the days on the job can be for him. I wish I could do more to comfort him some days, but he likes to keep the deep, dark stuff out of our conversations. "So, Sam had a date tonight. You jealous?"
"Not of her date, no. Why?"
"Wait, so you're jealous of her? Interesting. A cute cop like you shouldn't have so much trouble getting a date."
"You'd be surprised by the number of girls that throw themselves at me, but they're just girls. I'm looking for a woman who has standards."
"Good luck with that," I said, partly mocking, but also commiserating. It had gotten hard to find someone out there who wasn't like Tommy.
We talked some more like this for a few minutes as we finished our drinks. It felt nice to talk to someone for a while. When I'm drawing new designs, I tend to hole up in my apartment and not come out for weeks, which happened yet again this month. I hadn't seen anyone in three weeks until tonight, and I didn't really count my parents, so talking with Zack felt good. Talking with Zack always feels good. I feel comfortable enough to be myself around him. No mask of happiness or the need for professionalism, just my authentic, no-holds-barred self. I sometimes wondered if he felt the same around me, though; lately it seems like he'd been keeping something from me.
We drove to my apartment in a comfortable silence, which was odd for a police cruiser. I got out, and he walked me to my door on the third floor. "You didn't have to come up. You could have dropped me off at the door."
"I know."
"Well, since you're here, come on in. I'll show you what I've been working on that's kept me cooped up all this time."
He followed me into the apartment, and we headed over to my workstation. I showed him the collection of sundresses and summer blouses I had been working on for the past few months. I was a bit embarrassed when we reached the last page, a formal gown with lace and fabric flowers that I spent a week perfecting.
"Wow."
"I know, right. I surprised myself this time."
"You have real talent. I don't understand why you keep doing this stuff freelance. Why not get a job at a larger company?"
"No credit. Large companies never give credit to the designers; it becomes a joint effort. Not to mention the fact that everything changes so many times before the final product that you hardly recognize your own design." There was a bit of a pause, and I could tell Zack was thinking what he was always telling me: 'You have the potential to do more; why stay cooped up in your little apartment when you should be sharing your work with the world.' But I'm just not ready yet.
"Hey, it's getting late. Don't you and Sam work an early shift tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Thanks for sharing these with me. Maybe we can get together sometime next week; I've got some vacation time."
"I've got an interior design job next week, if you wouldn't mind doing some heavy lifting."
"No problem. Anything to spend more time with you."
I snickered a bit at how cheesy that sounded, but he was right; we hadn't hung out just the two of us in a long while.
"I'll let you sleep. Let me know by the end of the week when you want to do this job. That way I can request the day off."
"Yep. See you soon."
As Zack left my apartment building, I started to get ready for bed, thinking about how I also envied Sam for having a date that night. On the other hand, it had been so long since I went on a date; it may have been more anxiety-filled than enjoyable at the moment.
Before stepping into the shower, I paused, seeing the reflection of my hazel eyes in the mirror, letting my gaze rest on my long strawberry blonde hair. I really needed a haircut but hadn't had time since I started on my latest summer design collection. I decided I would schedule one in the morning so it would look better by the time I got to the client appointment at the start of the next week.
The interior design job was set for the following Monday. I texted Zack the details and began to start the idea process for the job. The client wanted sleek black and white, but I hoped that he would like my idea of adding subtle blues to accent the spaces he'd asked me to design. Black and white could be too sharp and unwelcoming. Blue helps soften the space a bit, making it feel cozier.