The Things No One Else Sees

The National concert was only a day away. And Lucy was two days from leaving to return to Toronto. While he’d enjoyed quiet evenings with her, they really hadn’t done much together. He woke up the morning after finding her sneaking a peak at his Body Issue spread and decided he was going to talk her into spending the day with him.

He knew she liked tea because he found the cups sitting in the kitchen before she cleaned up after herself in the afternoons. So, he made her a cup and carefully cracked open her door. “Lucy? Are you awake?”

“I am now.” She sounded groggy and out-of-sorts.

“Get decent, I’m coming in.”

“Hold on, let me me hide my vibrator.” Her voice was dry and sarcastic and it made him smile.

She was sitting up in bed wearing an oversized band T-shirt. Her hair was sticking up on one side and flat on the other and her glasses were off, sitting on the edge of the nightstand. She squinted her eyes at him as he walked in and sat on the bed.

“What’s this?”

“Tea,” Joff said, handing it to her.

“Why do I get tea in bed?”

“Because we’re going to spend the day together. You finished all your books and you saw me naked, so you’ve done all you can do in this house.”

Lucy sipped the tea, watching him over the edge of the cup with her dark eyes. She was fresh-faced and leery of him. And she was beautiful. The way she was looking at him made his heart pound a little harder in his chest. “What’s on the agenda?”

“Jog on the beach.”

“You totally mean walk on the beach, right?”

Joff grinned. “Walk on the beach,” he corrected. “Breakfast at one of my favorite places. Sight-seeing. Maybe hit a couple record stores after lunch. Dinner at The Cannery. And we’ve got to listen to The National tonight since we’ll be seeing them tomorrow.”

Lucy looked at him and then busted out into laughter.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing. Get out of here so I can get dressed. I’ll walk briskly on the beach, but I’m not jogging.”

******************************

She was in a little pair of denim shorts and a red tank top. She’d gone barefoot on the beach that morning, dipping her toes into the morning surf, but when they left to get breakfast, she’d put on a pair of white tennis shoes. He had a hard time not staring. She wasn’t even trying to get his attention, but she had it nonetheless. Her hair was held back in a loose braid. She looked right at home with her indie-girl glasses and intelligent eyes in the tiny cafe. Local Natives were playing and she had a latte with a design of a leaf in the foam on top.

Lucy was talking, but he wasn’t listening. He was just staring at her lips. The song was hypnotic, even if it was barely discernible beneath the chatter of the cafe.

“Earth to Lupul,” she said, waving her hand in front of his face.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I asked you where we’re going after breakfast. You’re such a space cadet this morning.”

“This is a good song,” he admitted. It was a half truth. She was the other distraction. But she was a better choice than a Destiny, a healthier choice. The lyrics were talking about taking off clothes. He shook his head as if to clear it.

“It is,” she agreed. “Are you trying to dodge my question, though? Where are we going?”

“Newport Pier. And then maybe the Orange County Museum of Art if you’re game.”

“Oh, I’m definitely game. Tell the waiter to hurry up and bring our food. I’m ready to be a tourist. I just need to find a big camera to hang around my neck.”

As soon as they finished up breakfast, they visited the Pier. It was buzzing with fishermen, trying to nab a big catch. They saw a few who had coolers filled with mackerels. After browsing through the nearby shops and adding a T-shirt to his overwhelming collection, and secretly buying Lucy one so she wouldn’t bitch at him for spending money on her, they settled down on the slats of the pier near the end, looking off to the north where the shore curved inward.

“It’s gorgeous here,” Lucy said, swinging her feet in the open air below them. The water seemed like it was a mile away.

“I love Toronto, but I miss this. It’s warm year-round. Such a strange feeling to walk out the door for a game in the middle of February and it’s in the sixties.”

“That is strange. Who knew a Edmonton boy would fall in love with southern Cali? How did this place get in your blood?”

Joff shook his head. “I have no idea. It just feels like one of those places I can call home.”

He glanced over at her. She was still looking out across the water, showing him only her profile. Joff wanted to put her arm around her, but he knew she’d shrug him off. They weren’t there; they weren’t that kind of friends. Maybe someday.

“I grew up in Winnipeg,” she said softly. “Never really liked it much. I felt trapped. When I graduated, I decided to go to university in Toronto to get out. I loved Toronto, but right after I graduated, my mom got sick. I went home to help her out since she and my dad divorced when I was a kid.”

“I’m sorry,” he said when she paused.

Lucy’s eyes were far away, still looking out over the water. “I thought maybe I had just not appreciated Winnipeg when I was younger. Maybe I’d like it there when I moved back. But I didn’t. I hated it. I got a job as a teacher’s aid at a Catholic school and took care of my mom.”

“How is she?”

She shook her head. “She died eight months after her diagnosis. Cancer blows. So, I took over her house and stayed on at the school. But I was miserable.” Joff looked down at her hand resting on the pier, her fingers curled around the end of the wood right beside her leg. He almost slipped his hand over it to slide his fingers between hers and give her comfort. She sounded so far away. But he didn’t because this was Lucy, and she’d give him a dirty look if she thought he was getting fresh with her.

“And then one day one of the nuns at the school pulled me aside. She told me all about how she’d come back to Winnipeg five years ago to take care of her mother who was ill. She said she’d been living in Montana, but hurried home when the doctors said her mother had months to live. Fast forward five years and her mom was still alive and kicking.” Lucy looked over at Joff. “And she looked just as miserable as me. I felt for her. She told me that some places just call to our souls and there is nothing we can do to change that. And that if Winnipeg wasn’t calling to my soul, then... I shouldn’t feel obligated to stay.”

“What did you do?” he asked, eyes wide, surprised that she’d opened up to him.

Lucy looked away again. “Put my mom’s house on the market the next day. I sold it two months later and gave notice to the school that I’d be leaving. I took the money from the sale of the house, moved back to Toronto, and bought the place I have now.”

“Are you happy?”

She nodded. “Toronto is one of those places that fits with my soul. I’ll always have a spot for Winnipeg in my heart, but... I can’t live there.” Lucy shrugged and shook her head, smiling over at him. “So, I guess I get why you like this place. I hope you’re not miserable in Toronto, though.”

“No, I think Toronto and Newport Beach both agree with me. Cincinnati and Philly not so much. I guess it was easy to ignore that when I was busy playing hockey, but I was never all that happy outside the work.” He tilted his head to get a better look at her face. “Does Newport Beach call to you or is it just Toronto?”

Lucy darted a glance over at him before looking away again. “I could live here,” she replied. “It’s so different, but I feel... free. Does that make sense?”

“Definitely.” His desire to have some kind of physical contact with her was overwhelming. She was less than a foot away from him. It’d be so easy to throw his arm around her shoulders or lace his fingers with hers on the wooden pier. He’d started to have weird ideas about the future and Lucy. Winters in Toronto playing hockey, listening to music on Saturday afternoons on her couch. Summers in Newport Beach with her trailing behind him, barefoot on the beach, collecting seashells. She liked both cities. It wasn’t out of the question.

There wasn’t a nightstand on the other side of the bed at his place in Toronto. There hadn’t been room for one. He’d have to make room because she’d need a place to put her glasses at night. The thought turned his stomach over. What was he thinking? It took effort to actually get her to agree to be friends. What made him think there was ever going to be anything romantic? Besides, she wasn’t even his type.

************************************

They ate lunch in the cafe of the art museum and followed up with making the rounds of record stores. There weren't many left. When Joff first really started collecting music, there were so many little places in each bigger city that boasted old records or used CDs. Now they were few and far between with the number of people who downloaded songs. He liked to download music as well, but there was just something exciting about looking through the artwork of albums in a record store. Like you were searching for the next big thing, the next album that would steal your heart or change your mind.

Even though they didn't buy anything after visiting three different places, he still had fun talking about music with her. It was easy and pleasant and at times exhilarating to introduce her to a band he knew she would love. He couldn't wait to get her home and play every song for her. He wanted her opinion on everything in his collection she hadn't already heard.

As they left the last store, Lucy said, "So, this Cannery place. Casual dining?"

"Fancy pants dining," he replied.

Lucy's eyes widened as she pulled open the passenger door of his car. "Woah, woah, woah. I have no fancy pants clothes with me. I thought it was a week of beach bumming."

"Just wear a sundress or something," he told her as they got into the car.

Lucy was pulling up the restaurant on her phone. He merged into traffic, glancing over at her as she tapped her phone screen. "I am NOT wearing a sundress to this place. It's dressy. Drop me off at a mall and pick me up in two hours."

Joff laughed. "No way. I'll just go with you." All he could think about was her in a dressing room. He felt like a creep. Lucy was his friend. His friend and not his type.

"You will not. I've seen guys waiting outside dressing rooms. They look like they want to hang themselves."

"We're on vacation. I'll survive. There's a couple places I know that you might like."

He made a right and then turned the car around in a parking lot so he could reverse direction. The shop wasn't far, and he trailed after her as she walked in. She was all business, flipping through the clothing racks along the walls.

"Can I help you?" the girl in the shop asked.

"No. Just looking. Thanks." Lucy snapped the words off as an afterthought and continued flipping through the dresses.

The girl, who couldn't have been more than nineteen opened her mouth to insist on offering help, but Lucy was having none of it. Instead the girl looked at Joff, her eyes widening. He had that effect on women sometimes. It could be fun. He glanced at Lucy then back to the girl and shrugged as if to say, Don't look at me; she's the boss.

The girl wondered off to resume her post at the sales desk along the opposite wall.

"I feel stressed that you're here," Lucy said, never taking her eyes off the clothes.

Joff chuckled and stepped closer to look over her shoulder. "Why?"

She stopped to look him in the eye. "I hate shopping with people. I feel pressure to hurry up and find something. You're, like, waiting for me and shit. I hate it." She looked annoyed and stressed out.

Joff smiled and put his hands on her shoulders to turn her toward a rack of satin dresses behind her. "Relax, Lucy. I don't have anything else to do."

"I don't even make my boyfriends go shopping with me. I feel like this is unfair to you."

"I'd have dropped you off at a mall if I minded. Just ignore me. Do your thing." He paused, then said with a grin, "Do you want me to go sit in the corner?"

She laughed. "What? Like a dunce? No. But you can tell me if orange looks like shit with my skin tone." She held up a orange dress with ruffles along the neckline.

Joff made a face. It was a hideous dress.

"Okay, no orange," she agreed, putting the dress back.

After a few more minutes of following her around the store, but making sure to stay several paces away so she didn't snap at him, he saw that she'd picked out a few dresses to try on. The dressing rooms were in an alcove in the back of the shop, each stall covered by a dark blue curtain.

He settled down on a settee across from the rooms and waited, his arms thrown out casually across the back of the small sofa. After she'd been in there a couple minutes, he called out, "Hey, do I get to give my opinion on the dresses?"

"No, Lupul."

"Come on, Lucy. I'm knowledgable about fashion and shit." He tried to repress the grin on his face. Poking her was too much fun. It was like irritating a wild animal through the bars of a cage. She wouldn't tear him apart, but she would growl and snarl.

"Fuck you. Are you aware of how much I hate this?"

"So aware. Which is why I'm having a fantastic time. Now, get your ass out here and let me see the first dress. I know you have it on already."

"How do you know?" She was silent a moment before adding in a nearly panicked voice, "Are you peeking in here? I'll punch you in the balls if you are."

Joff bent over and laughed. "I'm not peeking. But it doesn't take that long to try on a dress. Come on. Let me see. Real quick."

She stuck her head out of the curtain. "I don't like this one. It's not me." And then she stepped out to reveal the dress. It was dark pink satin with a ruffle around the middle.

"Eww," he agreed. "Next."

"Good." She ducked back behind the curtain. "Don't you lie to me if it looks like hell."

"Promise," he said, smiling and shifting on the settee. This was fun. He had an excuse to look at her body, and she was completely off her game. It was refreshing.

The next dress was too long. The third dress was too short, although he thought it looked great since it showed off her legs. But, like Lucy had pointed out before she revealed it to him, it was a dress Destiny would wear. And he liked her because she was everything those other girls weren't.

"What about this one?" She pushed the curtain back and revealed a dark red dress that had a tight wide hem that hugged her thighs just a few inches above her knees. The rest of the cotton dress was loose and shapeless, just hinting at her figure, the shape of her ass and the dip of her waist. The collar draped loosely around her chest, letting him glimpse cleavage.

"Uh," he managed to say, running his eyes down her to take a look at her legs.

"I know it's not super dressy, but..." Lucy disappeared and came back with a box. She pulled out a pair of red sandals with four-inch heels. "I think it would work with these," she finished as she slipped on the shoes.

Her leg muscles flexed as she stood up and threw her arms out.

"Decent?" she asked.

"More than," Joff replied. "You look amazing."

"Are you bullshitting me?" she asked.

"No, I think you should go with that one. I'll pay for it."

She scowled at him. "Absolutely not. I'm paying for my own dress."

"Lucy, please. It's no big thing."

"Lupul, don't start with me. My threat to punch you in the balls still stands."

She disappeared back into the dressing room. She was high strung and aggressive when she was out of her element. Instead of arguing with her, he stood up and walked over to the counter. The girl's name tag said she was Tara.

"Hi, Tara," he said, leaning across the counter and smiling.

Her eyes were huge. "Hi," she squeaked.

"So, my friend found this great dress, and I want to pay for it."

"Oh, oh, um, okay. Which one is it? I can ring it up now."

"No, I have a better idea." He pulled out his credit card and handed it to her. "How about you take my card and hide it back there for a minute. When she comes out, you let her give you her card, but you use mine to pay. Just let her believe she paid. Okay?"

"Umm, sure. Okay. I can do that."

He flashed her a big smile. "Thanks, Tara."

Her cheeks reddened. "Oh, you're, like, totally welcome."

Joff mentally patted himself on the back. Women. Either he had a gift or they were easy to manipulate. Say their names and smile and they’d do pretty much anything.

He wandered back to the dressing rooms and waited for Lucy, his hands shoved in the pockets of his shorts, wishing he could take a quick peek behind the curtain. A couple minutes passed before she came back out in her shorts and tank top. The tennis shoes were back on her feet and the red dress was thrown over her arm underneath the shoe box with the heels.

“You should probably get matching underwear,” he said, trying to keep a straight face.

Lucy’s gaze shot daggers at him. “Fuck you, Lupul. It’s granny panties under this dress if I’m wearing the uncomfortable shoes.”

He laughed and followed her to the counter. Lucy was distracted and out-of-sorts enough to not even notice that Tara had swiped his card instead of hers to pay for the purchase. While she was putting the dress and shoes in a bag for Lucy, he reached over and snatched his card from beside the register, hiding it with a sale flyer. After giving it a once over, he put the flyer back down and slipped his card in his pocket. Lucy was none the wiser as she picked up her bag and thanked the clerk. As they were walking out, Joff turned around and gave Tara a thumbs up before following Lucy out the door.

Notes