Chapter Twenty: The Transition
Sam visited the next day after Themis rode the bus to school. I made some salad for lunch, and we talked at the table.
“So you’re new to town right?” I asked pushing my lettuce around the plate.
“Well, a little. I moved back about a year ago, I guess I’m not new.” he and I both laughed.
“I haven’t seen you in town before. Where do you work?”
“I don’t have a job. Since my rent for the trailer is so cheap, I’ve been able to live there for a while without financial problems, but I have been thinking about getting a job either in the military or at the Doo Peas Corporation.”
“Oh, yeah, I hear its good money. So where did you graduate from?”
“I actually lived here when I was younger, so at the Community School. I moved to Appaloosa Plains for a few years then came back.”
“Me too, I mean, I didn’t move away, but I did graduate from the same school.” I felt my head sweating from embarrassment. He laughed though, which made me feel better.
“Yeah, do you have a family?” he had been eyeing my family portrait on the wall.
“Well, I’m single, but I do have three boys and a girl.”
Sam stared at me as if I were an old woman.
“Oh, but the boys had just graduated, and Themis is still in middle school,” he didn’t look so nervous anymore, “Are you seeing anyone?”
“No, it’s just me and Sasha.” He awkwardly smiled at me.
“Nice dog, by the way.” I grinned.
“She’s a good dog, but she can get carried away when she smells something.”
“It happens.” We both laughed.
We talked for hours and hours, from 7AM to 3PM.
“I had a good time. You’re really interesting.” He shook my hand, but I hugged him instead.
“Listen, before you go, and I know we just met, but I feel like you’re my best friend already…”
“Yeah, me too.” He finally hugged me back, “We should hang out again some time.”
“Definitely, just give me a call when you want to.”
“I will.” And then he left.
I knew I should have felt overjoyed, but I just didn’t. I wanted things to move faster, I wanted to be done with dating; I wanted to get married and live out my days as a retired rock star. I remembered my vow to myself and to Chris and I knew I would have to be patient.
Themis came home from her first day of school and announced she signed up for scouting.
“Scouting? Don’t you want to do ballet, Themis?” I asked as I cleaned my guitar case.
“No. The tutus look stupid on me, Mom.” She frowned.
“Well, okay, sweetie, I want you to do what makes you happy.” I got up and kissed her on the head, “Now, go do your homework.”
When I walked into the living room, I noticed someone standing outside. I went to the window and peeped at the front lawn, Sam stood there with flowers and he looked as if he were rehearsing for a play.
I opened the door.
“Ahem. Can I help you, sir?” I bit my lip and tried not to laugh. He jumped and twirled around.
“OH! I—I didn’t see you there!” he sounded startled.
“What are you doing here?” I grinned, “And why do you have flowers in your hand?”
“Well, I uh…I was walking to your house and I saw them on the side of the road…and they were really…uhh, pretty, and I thought that, you know, maybe someone would want to have them, and I uh…” he looked at me, I had one eyebrow raised and a smirk smeared across my face, “They’re for you…” his cheeks went red as he handed out the crimson roses.
“That’s what I thought.” I graciously took them, they smelled wonderfully rosy and earthy, “They’re beautiful, thank you so much.”
“Also, I was wondering…and you know, I just really enjoyed talking to you yesterday, you’re really nice and a great listener and funny and sweet and I--" he stopped himself from further shame.
“And you wanted to ask me on a date?” I helped him out.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, I mean if you don’t, I’ll just head back to my place and we can forget all about this little embarrassment. I mean, I’ve never met someone quite like you--” he speedily said.
“I’d love too.” I stated.
“You do? Oh great! I don’t have a lot of cash on me, but we can head down to the diner and eat.” He opened the door to his car.
“Okay, just one minute.” I placed the flowers on the table, “Themis! I’m going to town!”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Will you be okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I love you.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
Sam and I talked just as Chris and I had talked. We chatted, we reminisced about our happy times, we joked, and we confessed to our personal lives.
“Sam, before I met you, I...well…” I had my finger on the rim of my coffee cup, tracing the circular porcelain.
“What is it, Rex?”
“I was engaged.” I quickly took a sip of my coffee.
“Really? To whom, may I ask?” he had placed his coffee mug back on the table.
“Uh, his name was Chris Steel.”
“You say that like he died.” He laughed a little.
“…he did…” I looked up at Sam who had stopped and stared at me in disbelief.
“…I’m so sorry…how did he die?” he place his hand on top of mine.
“He was a firefighter. He died while on a call…” I held Sam’s hand.
“Did this happen recently?” he squeezed my hand; his were so much bigger than mine.
“Actually, it happened almost 4 years ago…” I let a slight grin slip, “I saw his ghost though…”
“You did?”
“Maybe, I mean, I think I did. He told me to not mourn for him…to find true love and live a happy life.”
After we ate, we took a stroll in the park. It had gotten real dark, and the stars shone brightly, dancing like flickering candles. The fountain in the park sparkled in the moonlight and fireflies bounced in the midnight air. A light breeze flowed through, rustling the loose leaves of the trees, and crickets played their music while cicadas kept the rhythm. Sam and I sat on the concrete wall around the fountain.
“I had a really nice time.” I admitted.
“I did too…”
When we leaned back, we put our hands behind our backs and then we touched. I glanced at him, blushing, but I knew it would be too dark for him to see. He smiled though, and grabbed my hand. We gazed up at the stars that night and I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
After we pointed out constellations for a couple of hours, we headed back to my house.
“We should go on another date soon…” he said.
“I was just about to say the same thing…” I looked down at my feet, “Well…good night.”
Just as Sam reached in for the kiss, I rushed inside and shut the door. I didn’t know what came over me, but I didn’t want the relationship to move too quickly. I mean, I wanted them to move faster, but I also didn't want to mess things up.
“….well, good night.” I saw Sam peek in one of the windows looking very disappointed.
I called Sam as soon as the sun rose in the morning.
“Sam…?”
“Hey, Rex, good morning!” he sounded chipper.
“I’m really sorry about last night…I just, I wanted things to go perfectly, and not to rush this.” I began to pace my bedroom floor.
“Rex, its fine. I totally understand, don’t worry about it! We do need to go on another date though.”
“Of course.” I had butterflies in my stomach when he spoke.
“How about tonight?”
“Sounds wonderful.”
“See you then.” And we hung up.
I met Sam later in the evening, Themis at school and scouting, I didn’t have to work. We met at the park, chatted for a while, had a small picnic, and then went to see a movie together. The popcorn at the theater had been quite filling, but the movie wasn’t all it had been made out to be.
“I had a good time with you, as usual.” Sam winked at me.
“Me too. I’ll call you when I get home.”
These kind of personal, chatty dates occurred whenever Sam and I had free time. We always had something to talk about when we met up. He didn’t complain, nor did I, we didn’t judge the people around us or grow impatient with slow waiters at the diner, no, we were too busy focused on learning more about each other, learning more about our history, our future, and our present. We gave each other time to speak and we both equally had something funny to say. We went on 6 or 7 dates to the diner, to the park, the movies, the art gallery, the pool, to his house, anywhere.
“Rex, I hope I’m not moving too quickly to ask this, and just ignore the question if you say ‘no’, but I’ve grown very close to you, you’re my best friend and I feel I can confide in you for anything. I know you won’t go off and tell all your friends about our fights and degrade me. I know I can trust you to only lift me up, so, will you be my girlfriend?”
I stood there flabbergasted; not that he had asked me to be his girlfriend, but that his reasoning for asking me out had been so similar to Chris’, so I knew him to be sincere in this question.
“Yes, Sam.” I hugged him around his neck.
Sam and I dated for around 2 years; he would come over almost every day. Some days he would aid Themis in her studies, watch an action movie with me, and sometimes even cook dinner for the three of us. Other days, I would bring Themis with me to his house, where we would spend the night. I would sleep in a sleeping bag I had bought and Themis would sleep on the couch, Sasha kept guard over us.
In the morning, we would eat breakfast together and Themis and I would head home after we thanked him for letting us stay. At nights, he would sometimes call me and we would talk for hours. Once, he even showed up with a teddy bear as a gift for Themis, which she didn’t let go of for months.
Themis loved Sam, he became her best friend and I would often see both of them watching cartoons together on the sofa. He even helped her with schoolwork on some occasions and played with her. Themis had been doing well in school, but when Sam came into the picture, she started to over achieve. She made A’s and always did her homework, and she never disobeyed her teacher or stayed out after curfew. When Sam would pull up in the driveway, she would squeal with delight and run out to meet him, often jumping on him. I knew if I broke up with Sam, not only would he and I be devastated with the decision, but Themis would be as well.
Another year went by and Themis’ birthday had arrived with it. I invited Sam over to the personal party and we celebrated together.
“Themis, I have a present for you.” He pulled out a blindfold, “But you have to follow me to get it.” He winked at me and I mouthed “what did you do?” but he ignored my question as he tied the blindfold which covered her eyes.
We all walked outside, Sam guiding Themis' steps, and to my amaze, a brand new SUV sat on the lot. He took the blindfold off and Themis shrieked so piercingly, I thought the neighbors would call the cops saying a murder had occurred.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you!!! You’re the best Sam!” she hopped in the car and started it up.
“Hold on, missy.” I walked over to the car, “You don’t even have your permit yet.” She looked at me with puppy dog eyes.
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you. We can start first thing in the morning.” I said killing the engine.
“Yay! Thank you so much, Sam!” she hugged his neck and went back inside to eat cake. After she had gone in the house, I went to Sam with the car keys in my hand.
“You didn’t have to buy her a new car.” Sam had known I had been running just $1000 short to buy her the car she wanted.
“I know, but you told me you were worried about not having enough money in time, so I thought I would buy it for her.”
“I have to pay you back.” I started to reach for my checkbook.
“Save your money.”
“Then how can I repay you?”
He grabbed my hips and pulled me toward him, then grabbed the underside of my face and kissed me, this kiss, unlike all the others in my life, felt special. I felt it meant something and wasn’t just to be wasted away, but cherished for its marvelous timing and unexpected arrival.
“That’s how. I had never known a woman to go so long without even wanting to be kissed.” He told me. I felt kind of ashamed for withdrawing him.
“No no, it’s not a bad thing, on the contrary, I’ve been able to bond with you emotionally and mentally.” He kept holding onto me, “I love you.”
I stood there, appalled at his statement, but I didn’t have to think about my answer, I knew I loved him. Yes, we bickered sometimes, but we had fun too, and he, after all, couldn’t be a better friend.
“I love you too.” I placed my head on his chest and we hugged there for a while.
In a few seconds though, we heard a shrill beeping from inside the house, I looked up at Sam who immediately let go of me and peered inside the house.
“FIRE!” he yelled and ran inside.
“Themis!” I raced after him.
The kitchen had been engulfed in flames, smoke filled the room like gray clouds and the birthday cake had already started to burn to a crisp. I looked around the blinding fog for Themis and suddenly she appeared from the gray.
“Mom! I don’t know what happened, but the stove just burst into flames!” she ran to me and I took her outside.
We coughed to try to get the excess smoke out of our lungs. Then the fire department showed up, but by the time they went inside, the fire had surprisingly stopped. Sam emerged from the house coughing and covered in soot.
I ran to him and hugged him as hard as I could manage.
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Themis ran to him as well and squeezed him tight.
“I put out the fire.” he coughed.
“Thank you so much!” I grabbed his neck and kissed him on the lips.
The firefighters emerged and explained that it had been a gas leak that caused the fire, it could have happened to anybody.
“Thanks to this young man, though, your house is safe.” He patted Sam on the back and they drove off on the truck.
I knew I would have to do better if an emergency like that happened again, what if it had been a burglar or a murderer, Themis could have gotten hurt. I knew I couldn’t live out the rest of my days rebelling against everyone and only trying to do the best for myself. I would have to step up to the plate and take responsibility, for the sake of my child’s life.
Number of Traits Changed: 5/5
Trait Transformation:
Party Animal --> Family-Oriented
Heavy Sleeper --> Nurturing
Flirty --> Natural Cook
Good Kisser --> Neat
Rebellious --> Brave
