Changing Leaves Page 10

  Maybe my dedication to my work wasn't the most important thing. After seeing what had just happened to Mary, I suddenly felt so fucking lonely. I had just witnessed this traumatic event happen to someone I cared about and I had nobody to talk to about it.

  I wasn’t going to think on it any longer, though. My ten minutes had passed. I got up and forced myself to walk to my car.

  I wasn’t going to second guess my life anymore. I wasn’t even going to think about Mary until it was time to go visit her later.

  As usual, I was going to avoid all the negativity.

  11

  Heather

  The shrill alarm on my phone woke me up with a jolt. I groaned, rolled over, and pressed the button to put the damn thing on snooze.

  It was the weekend, and I didn’t have work or anything, but I still had a weekend alarm set for around noon because I simply couldn’t justify sleeping in past then.

  Usually, it wasn’t a problem. Even sleeping in, I rarely got up after 10am. But today I wanted nothing more than to continue sleeping past 2pm.

  I’d had kind of a rough night. A few of my friends insisted that I go out to this new gay bar with them. Well, friends was a pretty loose term… I didn’t hang out with them much, but we did do business together often and there was a lot of time for small talk in our line of work.

  We rarely ever went out together. But they insisted on dragging me with them last night. They didn’t say it, but I knew the reason.

  I rarely did anything just for the fun of it these days. Ever since I had taken over my company when the CEO retired, work had become my biggest priority. I couldn’t even remember the last time I went on an actual date.

  I think they were hoping that I’d actually meet someone last night. And, if I was being honest, I kind of was too.

  I’d been starting to get lonely in the last year. I loved my job and I enjoyed striving for success, but it didn’t exactly keep me warm at night.

  And, really, there was no reason for me to be single. Not to sound conceited, but I was quite the catch. I was good looking, I made great money, I was very committed in my relationships. You’d think I’d have no problem with dating.

  But I wasn’t as young as I used to be. In my 30s, it seemed harder to find someone. Whenever I did end up going out to clubs or bars, it was clear the crowd there was quite a bit younger than me.

  Not that that was a problem in itself. I wouldn’t mind dating someone a little younger than me, if they were mature and on the same page in life as me. But that was the problem—most young women weren’t.

  I had no interest in partying anymore; I had long outgrown that stage in my life. I wanted someone who also was deeply dedicated to their work and was interested in settling down with someone. When I dated someone, I wanted marriage to be on the horizon. I couldn’t wait for a twenty-five-year-old who still hadn’t gotten out of their drinking days to be ready to commit to a serious life with me.

  And I certainly wouldn’t settle for less. I’d done that before in the past, too many times. Things never worked out when you actively chose to be with someone who wasn’t on the same life path as you were. It was a waste of my time.

  But knowing that I didn’t want to settle didn’t make me any less frustrated with the fact that I couldn’t find anyone who fit into my life.

  I had everything going for me. My life was exactly as I hoped it would be when I was younger. The only thing missing was someone to share it with.

  But obviously, I wasn’t going to find that slumming it at bars. I really regretted going out last night; I should have known better. And after an hour with no reasonable prospects, I started to get very frustrated and a little depressed, which, of course, led to me seriously over drinking.

  And I was paying for it today. My head was still pounding with the mistakes of the previous night. I didn’t even like drinking, so why did I do this to myself? Why did I go out and let myself get all sad about being single?

  The sun was shining way too brightly through my window. I sank under the blankets and pulled my feather comforter up above my head. It was white, so while it did block out some of the light, it was still plenty bright. Which I didn’t appreciate.

  I closed my eyes and sighed. Maybe I could sleep in past two today. Just for the day, just because I was hungover and feeling sad as fuck. We all got to have days where we felt close to a mental break, right? Well, today was my day.

  Unfortunately, the option to dwell in my sorrows was snatched from me when my phone began ringing.

  The sound blared in my ears so I didn’t hesitate to answer it with a groggy, “Hello?”

  “Hello, is this Heather Clarke?” a voice I didn’t recognize asked. But I was used to this. I got a lot of random calls in my line of work.

  “Yes, this is she, may I ask who’s speaking?”

  “Hello, Ms. Clarke, my name is Doctor Anna Wright. I work at County Hospital and I’m calling on behalf of a patient of mine, Mary Clarke.”

  My heart sank when I heard my grandmother’s name.

  “Oh my God, is she okay?”

  “Right now, she’s stable,” the doctor answered. “But she had a cardiac episode earlier this morning and had to be resuscitated. We’re running some tests, so hopefully we’ll have more answers about her condition later today. But she wanted me to call you and let you know of her situation.”

  “Right, of course,” I said softly as I took this all in. “Where exactly is she located? Can I come see her now?”

  “Absolutely,” she said, before proceeding to give me directions to the floor and room number she was located in.

  “Okay, thank you, I’ll be right there,” I said before hanging up and jumping out of bed to get dressed.

  I didn’t even care about my pounding headache and nausea anymore. They had been replaced by much more pressing concerns.

  My grandmother was absolutely everything to me. I had lost my parents tragically when I was only fifteen years old and my Grandma Mary took me in. She was more than a grandma to me—she was a mother figure in my life.

  Even with my busy schedule, I made sure I saw her several times a month, if not weekly. One thing I would never sacrifice for my work was my time with her. She was the only family I had left, never having had any brothers or sisters growing up.

  My mind was racing with possibilities. What could be wrong with her? She had never had any signs of health problems before this. I mean, she was an older woman, I got that. It wasn’t like her body was in tip top shape or anything…

  But, still, even knowing her age, I never considered what it would be like if she had any serious health problems. That was just something that didn’t cross my mind. And now that I was faced with it, I was overwhelmed with the thought of losing her.

  I grabbed a button-down shirt and a pencil skirt from my closet. I didn’t even bother picking them out; I just grabbed the nearest shirt and skirt. Maybe it looked too formal, but this was how I dressed every day for work. It would’ve been more difficult for me to find casual clothes to wear. My closet was full of outfits exactly like this.

  I grabbed my phone, my wallet, and my keys, and headed straight to the hospital. It was only twenty minutes away, but of course, I hit the worst of LA traffic. The sun was beating down on my face as I drove, and despite the AC blowing on me, I was beginning to sweat. Maybe from the sun, maybe from the nervousness, or maybe a combination of the two.

  The entire drive there, I repeated the same mantra to myself over and over again.

  Please, God, let Grandma Mary be all right.

  12

  Lindsay

  I came to the hospital with flowers in hand. I considered adding some kind of ‘get well soon’ card, but since I didn’t even know what was wrong with Mary, I didn’t want to risk it. For all I knew, before I came to visit, she could have gotten news of some horrible terminal illness. And in that case, ‘get well soon’ seemed wildly inappropriate.

  I was worried that when I
arrived, Mary might be sleeping. Not that she shouldn’t get her rest; of course I wanted her to. But it was going to be awkward for me to sit there while I waited for her to wake up…

  Thankfully, she was wide awake when I arrived and even smiled at me as I walked through the doorway.

  “Lindsay, my dear, you came!” she cooed.

  The first thing I noticed after her smile was the fact that there was a woman sitting in a chair next to her.

  She was a good-looking lady. A very angular face, platinum hair that flowed off her shoulders. She too greeted me with a smile.

  “Come in, Lindsay dear, come meet my granddaughter!” She chimed.

  “Oh, hi, nice to meet you.” I smiled. “I’m Lindsay.”

  She nodded politely, though her smile was obviously forced. “My name is Heather.” Then she turned to Mary and gave her a kiss on the head. “I’m going to go grab a coffee, okay? I’ll let you guys catch up.”

  Mary nodded and squeezed her hand as she walked out of the room.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said to Mary after Heather left. “I hope I didn’t awkwardly intrude on your guys’ time together,” I said as I took her seat.

  “Oh, no, honey. Not at all. I can tell Lindsay has been wanting to leave to grab some coffee, but didn’t want to leave me alone. She just took the opportunity to leave while I had someone else nearby.”

  That was actually a big relief.

  “Oh, good, she seems like a nice woman,” I told her.

  “Oh, she is such a doll. I’m so lucky to have her for a grandchild.” Her eyes lit up when she spoke of her.

  “And where is your grandson?” I asked.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Grandson?”

  “Yeah… Don’t you have a Grandson?”

  “No dear, only Heather. She is the only child of my only son. It’s just me and her.”

  “Wait…” I said softly. “But you always told me that you wanted to hook me up with your Grandson…”

  “No I didn’t!” She laughed. “I said grandchild! And I meant Heather!”

  My jaw dropped. “Mary?! This entire time you’ve thought I was gay?” I asked, completely shocked and now feeling considerably more awkward. Did she tell Heather that I was gay?!

  She shrugged. “I never even thought about whether you were gay or straight, dear. I only thought of the kind of person that you are. And the beautiful person that you are would be a wonderful match for my Heather. And I’m not just saying that! I have come to know you both very well and I can just picture you two together.”

  “Well, Mary, you kind of have to consider little things like orientation when you try to match people up.” I laughed.

  Now that the surprise had worn off, it was pretty hilarious. She was such a quirky lady.

  “Or maybe you don’t,” she pressed. “I used to think like that too, when I was your age. I only ever looked at men. It wasn’t until I got a little older that I realized love can be found anywhere, with anyone. You just have to be open to it. And if you’re not open to it then, well, you could be missing out.”

  “Wait a second, are you telling me that you’re bisexual?” I asked. She had never mentioned anything like this before.

  “Not at all. I would never label myself… I’m just a woman that loves love. Yes, I’ve fallen for women when I was younger. But it had nothing to do with them being women. I just loved who they were as people. Which is the same thing that happens when I fall in love with a man. If I’m being honest, I don’t believe in any orientations. I think we all are just stuck in our traditional ways and don’t realize that love is everywhere if you look for it.”

  I laughed again. “Well, I think I’m going to stick to my traditional ways if that’s all right with you,” I told her.

  She shrugged again. “Like I said, you’re the one missing out.”

  Just then, Heather walked back in the room with a coffee in hand. She looked even more frazzled than before she left.

  “I’m so sorry, I forgot my manners. I didn’t even ask if you wanted coffee before I left,” she said to me.

  “Oh, no, not a coffee drinker, but thank you.”

  She nodded. “Good, I didn’t realize until I had already grabbed myself a cup. You’ll have to excuse me, I’m not usually this rude. But it’s been quite the day.”

  “Oh, Heather!” Mary suddenly chirped out of nowhere. “This is the woman who saved me!”

  Both of Heather’s eyebrows raised. “What?!”

  “Yes, this is her. This is the server I was telling you about. She gave me CPR until the ambulance arrived.”

  To my surprise, Heather set her coffee down on the table next to Mary and walked over to embrace me in a big, tight hug.

  I admit, I was a little thrown off. I wasn’t a very touchy-feely person and rarely gave out hugs. But I understood this was an emotional time and allowed her to embrace me.

  “Thank you!” She said loudly as she pulled away. “Thank you so much. You have no idea what this woman means to me. If I’d lost her today… I don’t know what I would have done.”

  “Oh… It’s fine. I mean, I used to be a lifeguard so instinct just kicked in for me,” I said sheepishly.

  “And she’s a musician!” Mary chimed again.

  I blushed. It was now immediately obvious to me she was doing her best to get us interested in each other. I was hoping that Heather didn’t realize what she was doing. I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.

  Mary was sweet and her heart was in the right place but she was also old. There was no sense in trying to reason with her that you just can’t force two people together. I didn't like women—that was all there was to it. Heather could be the best woman in the world and I’d never be interested in her.

  “You’re a musician, wow. What kind of music do you play?” Heather asked.

  “Oh, all kinds. Lately I’ve just been doing a lot of acoustic covers of popular songs, though.” I didn’t say it, but I did this because that was what seemed to get me the most views on my videos.

  “Can I hear something?” She asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know…” I said hesitantly, slightly embarrassed.

  But of course, Mary interrupted again. “I have some videos on my phone, here, look!”

  By now, I was beet red.

  She played my latest video, smiling as it reached the chorus of a song that was hot on the radio right now.

  “Wow.” She nodded. “You have an amazing voice. Have you been picked up by anyone yet?” she asked.

  “No, but I’ve got my fingers crossed.” I smiled softly, pretty embarrassed.

  I wasn’t embarrassed by my music. I was actually pretty proud of what I’d created. The embarrassing part was the fact that I was just another waiter craving fame who’d hit twenty-five and still not done anything with her life.

  “How would you feel about—” Heather began. But as she did, the doctor walked in and all our focus turned toward her.

  “Is this an okay time?” the doctor asked. “We have some test results.”

  “Oh, perfect!” Heather completely diverted her attention from me.

  “Oh, I better get going, then,” I said, excusing myself. I didn’t want to intrude on such private information. “You guys probably want to hear this information alone.”

  “Don’t be silly!” Mary insisted. “Stay. You’re one of my closest friends.” She smiled, reaching her hand out to grip mine.

  I was actually thrilled she asked me to stay. I wanted so badly to know if there was anything seriously wrong with her. If I left now before finding out, I'd be stressed about it the rest of the night.

  “Well,” the doctor began, “most of your tests are normal, which is good. It was a heart attack, but we can’t find any underlying health condition that caused it.”

  “So, she’s not sick?” Heather questioned.

  “No, she doesn’t appear to be sick.” She turned to Mary and continued. “Obviously, a heart attack is very hard on t
he body and she’ll need time to recover, but there is no reason to suspect she won’t recover fully, and we’ll start her on some medication that will hopefully prevent future attacks.”

  “Oh!” Heather sighed. “That’s such great news. Thank you, thank you so much.”

  “Of course.” The doctor smiled at her. “But we’re going to keep you for observation for a few days. Then you can go home, Mary.”

  Mary nodded. “Thank you, Doctor.”

  “Absolutely. But please let us know if you start feeling odd at all, okay?”

  “Will do.” She nodded.

  As the doctor left, the air of awkwardness returned. Mary was looking back and forth to me and Heather, clearly waiting to see a spark happen between us that absolutely was not going to happen.

  I clumsily diverted the conversation to something else. “So it looks like you’ll be back to visiting me at the restaurant in no time.”

  “Sounds like.” She grinned. “And maybe you could also visit, Heather!”

  Well, that wasn’t subtle at all.

  “Uh…” I laughed awkwardly, “I’m thinking Heather doesn’t want that.”

  “Actually, I was going to ask you if you have time to see me Saturday.”

  “What?” I asked, my mouth hanging open.

  She raised an eyebrow, clearly thrown off by my hesitance. “Oh, I’m sorry, if you don’t want to… I thought you’d be happy for the opportunity.”

  The opportunity? Wasn’t that a little conceited of her? To call a date with her an opportunity? That threw me off. It was weird, because up until now, she hadn’t seemed arrogant in the slightest.

  “It’s just, I’m not a lesbian, so…”

  She laughed out loud. “Not a lesbian? I’m not asking you out on a date, I’m… wait.” She turned to Mary. “Have you not told her what I do?”

  She shook her head, a sly smile on her face.

  “Oh, God.” She turned to me and laughed again. “You must be so confused! I meant, would you like to come by my studio? I’m the owner of a recording studio and I was offering you a business meeting.”