Chapter Five
“Come on everybody, stay together!” Claudia called to
the children that followed her down the busy street. “Everyone has their
partner’s hand right?”
Two dozen little feet crunched through the thin layer
of snow that covered the sidewalk. The children at the orphanage were taking
a trip down the block to the retirement home, to sing carols for the elderly
and deliver Christmas cards. It was a nice holiday gesture that Claudia had
organized with the orphanage and the retirement home management a few years
ago. It was a good experience for the children and for the elderly as well,
and they all seemed to enjoy themselves.
“Okay, everybody inside. Stay in the lobby, and don’t
leave the group!”
The throng of children, along with a few chaperones, entered
the warm building, dusting the snow off of their coats and taking off their
mittens. The adults helped the kids take off their coats and hang up their
hats.
The group was led down the hallway to a large, open room
where a group of seniors sat at long tables, watching TV. Claudia rounded
the corner, not looking where she was going and ran into something hard.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, trying not to fall backwards.
“Ow! My nose!” A deeper voice cried.
A few children giggled at the two who had run straight
into one another.
“You’ve certainly got a hard nose!” Claudia said to the
person that she had run into, holding on to her throbbing forehead.
She looked up to find none other than Josh standing in
front of her, holding his nose. “Josh! What are you doing here?”
“Claudia? I was about to ask you the same thing!”
“I don’t know if I can remember…wait until the room stops
spinning!” she teased.
He actually laughed. It was music to her ears and the
sound of it ringing through the air sent a strange, tingling wave throughout
her body.
“You have an awfully hard head,” he said rubbing his nose.
“I hope it isn’t broken.”
“My head or your nose?” She joked. “Do you want some ice
for that?”
“No, don’t worry. I’m fine I think.”
Claudia and Josh were still on shaky terms. For the last
few weeks, she had been visiting Josh in his studio every once in a while.
She tried to talk to him, offered to help him with the song he was working
on, and asked if he would go eat lunch with her and their co-workers, but
he always turned down her offers. He had stopped being rude like he was the
first couple of times they had spoken, but he still hadn’t been very nice
to her…until now.
“I’m here visiting with a group from the orphanage down
the block. What about you?”
“I was just uh, visiting my grandmother,” he answered
somewhat shyly.
She smiled. She was glad to hear that he had some sort
of relative nearby that he spoke to.
“Nice hat,” he chuckled, flicking the little white ball
on the end of her Santa hat.
“Thanks. We’ve got a bunch more if you want to wear one.”
“Nah, no thanks. Well, it was nice running into you-literally,”
he joked.
Claudia couldn’t help but laugh. She also couldn’t help
but notice how nice he looked when he smiled; a true genuine smile. His eyes
seemed to smile all by themselves.
“But I was just leaving, so I guess I’ll uh, see you around,”
he said.
“No wait! Why don’t you stick around? The kids are about
to sing Christmas carols if you’re interested. Plus there’ll be cookies and
juice, lots of games and we’re going to decorate ginger bread men…it’ll be
fun!” she tried to encourage.
“Well, I don’t know…”
“We could use an extra hand anyway. You can even hand
out the cookies if you want to,” she teased.
Josh considered her offer. It wouldn’t be such a bad idea
to spend time with children, and he could spend time with the elderly as
well. It had been years since he had volunteered. After all, it was Christmastime,
and he was in a particularly good mood…a very rare mood for him.
“Did you say, cookies and juice? How could I pass that
up?”
Claudia’s smile was elated at his acceptance. Quickly,
she rounded up all the kids and organized them on the platforms that they
would be standing on and quieted them where they stood.
She turned back to Josh. “You can go ahead and take a
seat, the show’s about to begin,” she said with a little wink.
When the kids were settled and quiet, Claudia sat down
at the piano. She opened up her music book to the right page and played the
intro to “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”
The children sang “Frosty the Snow Man“, “Up on the Housetop“, and of course
“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.”
Throughout the short performance, the seniors looked amused,
laughing at the silly gestures that went along with the lyrics, and a few
clapped along. When the kids were finished, their audience applauded and
the kids hurried over to find tables to sit at.
“So, how was their performance?” Claudia asked Josh over
the chatter in the room.
“They were great,” Josh called back. “It was cute.”
“Considering they’ve only practiced for a few weeks I
think they did a pretty good job.”
“Now who set this whole thing up?” Josh wanted to know.
“It’s a great idea for the children to visit the retirement home.”
“Actually, um, it was kind of my idea. I organized it
with the orphanage and retirement home management, and they agreed that it
would be a good experience.”
“Wow, that’s really nice. Do you visit these kids a lot?”
he asked.
Claudia wasn’t sure where this friendliness and his curiosity
about her came from, but she wasn’t about to ask and ruin this moment.
“Oh yes, all the time,” she answered. “I adore these kids.”
The two began watching the kids as they gave their hand-crafted
Christmas cards to the seniors and read them aloud.
“Where’s your grandmother? Do you think she’d like to
come out here with the kids?” Claudia asked.
Josh thought for a moment. “Yes, I think she might like
that. Let me go get her.” Once Josh had disappeared down the hallway, Nicole
approached her.
“Who was that fine young man you were talking to?” Nicole
wanted to know.
“That’s Josh, the guy from work that I told you about.”
“Didn’t you say he was a rude, jerk? He seems to be pretty
friendly now,” she noted.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into him, it’s like he totally
changed. Maybe it’s the Christmas spirit, maybe it’s from visiting his grandmother…”
“Maybe it’s the eggnog,” Nicole teased, tipping her hand
back towards her mouth in a drinking motion.
Claudia shook her head and laughed. “I knew he wasn’t
a complete jerk.”
“And I didn’t know that he was a complete hunk! Girl,
why didn’t you tell me how good looking this guy is?”
“I’m not guy-crazy like you are! I tend to notice a guy’s
personality more than his looks.”
“You must have gotten that backwards when you met Jacob!
He’s good looking and all, but I swear that man is duller than a box of rocks.”
“He is not dull!” Claudia cried in defense. “He’s very
intelligent… not a trait that you’d be compatible with,” she teased.
“Are you calling me dumb?”
“Hey, you said it, not me.”
“Here comes the hottie and his grandma,” she said, motioning
towards where Josh came down the hallway, pushing and old woman in a wheelchair.
“You’d better introduce me!”
“Claudia,” Josh said as he approached. “This is my grandmother,
Ruth. Grandma this is my-” he hesitated for moment. “My co-worker, Claudia.”
“Hi Ruth, it’s very nice to meet you,” Claudia said with
a smile. Nicole nudged Claudia with her elbow. “And this is my friend Nicole.”
Nicole smiled and batted her eyes flirtatiously then held
out her hand for Josh to shake. “Hello Josh, how are you?”
Josh just nodded, shook her hand and smiled uncomfortably.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Nicole said to Josh.
“Claudia speaks of you quite often.”
He raised an eyebrow and smiled at Claudia. “Oh really?”
Claudia shoved her elbow into Nicole’s side then smiled
innocently at Josh. “You can just ignore her.”
Nicole glared at Claudia for a moment, then turned back
to Josh to continue. “I’m a big fan of your music. I absolutely loved your
last solo album. Do you have any new songs coming out soon?”
Alarms went off in Claudia’s head, telling her that this
was a sensitive topic and to steer clear at all costs.
“Well, I---” Josh stuttered uncomfortably.
“Nicole, could you go help Anita over there?” Claudia
interrupted.
“Claude! I’m in the middle of a conversation! Could it
wait?”
“No, I think she really needs your help.”
“Help with what?” Nicole asked.
“With whatever she’s doing. Just go!” Claudia gave her
a prompting push, leaving Nicole confused as she walked over to Anita.
Phew, that was close. Now hopefully Josh will still
stick around.
Claudia smiled at Josh nervously. “Never mind her. Wanna
decorate some gingerbread men?” she asked hopefully. To Claudioa’s relief,
Josh agreed, and followed her to the long narrow tables.
After playing a few Christmas games, they watched Frosty
the Snowman and had their cookies and juice. Soon, the afternoon visit had
come to an end. The children began bundling up into their winter wear, preparing
to head back to the orphanage. Claudia went to say goodbye to Josh and his
grandmother.
“Thanks for helping us out today Josh, we all really appreciate
it.”
“It was no problem, I had fun today, and those gingerbread
men were delicious. Thanks for letting me join in.”
“What do you say we go out for ice cream, just to celebrate
the end of a nice day?” she offered. She was enjoying his company too much
to end the fun now.
He hesitated before he replied with a nod. “Ice cream
sounds good.”
“I’ve got to get these kids back to the orphanage. How
about I meet you at that little restaurant down the street in about 15 minutes.”
“Alright, I’ll just get my grandma settled in her room
and I’ll be there.”
“Bye Ruth, I hope you had fun today.” The woman just sort
of smiled absently. “See you in a little bit Josh.”
“Who was that pretty girl?” Josh’s grandmother asked slowly
in a soft voice as he wheeled her down the hallway to her room.
“My co-worker Claudia,” he reminded her.
“I like her. She has a good heart,” Ruth insisted. “You
like her?”
“Yes, on a professional level…”
She chuckled to herself, interrupting him. “Oh, give it
time, my Joshua, I’m sure you’ll see things differently in good time.”
Almost twenty minutes later, Claudia found Josh sitting
at a booth by the window in the small restaurant, looking over the dessert
menu. She shrugged off her coat and sat across from him.
“Hey Josh.”
“Hey Claude. I got a menu for you,” he told her, nodding
towards the menu in front of her.
She stopped for a moment, and smiled, realizing that he
had called her ‘Claude’. “Thanks.
So, does your grandmother enjoy the retirement home? Have they been treating
her well there?” Claudia asked as she opened up her menu.
“Yes, things seem to be going pretty well for her. She’s
got her best friend there, Sophia, they’ve been friends since high school…that’s
why she refuses to go to a home down in Washington, where most of my family
is. She always says that she wants to stay with Sophia as long as she can
before her time comes. Those two are inseparable.”
“Well that’s great. It’s nice that they’ve been friends
for so long.”
Soon, the waitress came to take their order.
They both spoke at once: “I’ll have a banana split-” They
looked at each other, realizing they wanted to order the same thing.
“You go first,“ Josh said politely.
“I’ll have a banana split. Three scoops of ice cream,
one chocolate, one vanilla, one strawberry, with extra whipped cream, hot
fudge, caramel, rainbow sprinkles, no nuts and of course a cherry on top.”
The young girl smiled as she scribbled on her note pad.
“And you sir?” she asked looking to Josh.
He looked gave Claudia a funny look as he replied, “I’ll
have the same, thank you.”
The young waitress took their menus before walking away.
“What was that look for?“ Claudia asked.
“I just find it kind of strange that you order the same
exact thing I always order.”
She chuckled. “Well it’s not that strange.”
A few minutes later, their banana splits arrived, just
as they had ordered them. There was an awkward silence between them.
“So you volunteer a lot?” Josh asked, making an attempt
at small talk.
“I volunteer at a lot of places,” she told him.
“Oh yeah? Like where?” Josh wanted to know.
“A few different nursing homes, soup kitchens… I also
go to that teen crisis center quite a bit. I tutor some kids at that school
for handicapped children downtown, and there’s a great bunch of kids at the
adoption center in the city.”
His eyes widened. “You volunteer at all of those places?
On a regular basis you mean?”
She nodded, taking a bite of her ice cream. “I try to
volunteer at different places at least three, maybe four times a week,” she
told him.
His mouth fell open. “Three or four times every week?
Wow, that’s a lot.”
“Like I said, I want to do it. I love helping people out,
that’s all. I just make time in my schedule to do it as much as I can.” She
paused for a moment. “Sorry if Nicole came on a little strong when I introduced
you to her earlier. She’s a great girl, but when it comes to getting dates,
she doesn’t always go about it the right way.”
He chuckled. “I could kind of tell. But don’t worry about
it.”
They were quiet for a moment as they ate their ice cream.
“You know, my nose still hurts from earlier,” he said, breaking the silence.
“I’ve had a headache all afternoon” she cried. “I didn’t
know it was possible for a nose to be so hard!”
“Well, I have been working out lately,” he teased with
a smirk.
Claudia giggled and shook her head at him. This had come
as a big shock. Josh had done a complete 180 since the last time they had
spoken. He was being friendly, laughing and even making jokes. And after
all the times she had invited him to lunch he didn’t agree to go out until
today. She had no idea what changed him, but she was beginning to like this
side of him, and hoped that it was here to stay.
Suddenly, someone from the door called out Claudia’s name.
They both looked up quickly and saw a handsome, young man heading for their
table.
“Jacob, hi! What are you doing here?” Claudia asked, standing
to hug him.
“I thought that was your car parked outside, and then
I saw you through the window. Aren’t you supposed to be on some special trip
with those kids?”
“It’s over already, aren’t you supposed to be at a meeting?”
“It ended earlier than I expected,” he explained. Jacob
noticed Josh and gave Claudia a questioning look.
“Oh I’m sorry. Jacob, this is my friend from work, Josh.
Josh, this is my boyfriend Jacob.”
The two shook hands with a strange gleam in their eyes,
grumbling their hellos. They were quiet for a minute. “Well I should get
going,” Josh said, sliding out of the booth.
“So soon? But you didn’t even finish your sundae,” Claudia
objected.
“That’s alright, I’m full. I’ll get the bill on my way
out.” He grabbed his coat and stood up.
“Well here, let me give you my half,” she insisted reaching
for her purse.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s only a few bucks, I’ll cover
it.”
“Well at least take some money for the tax---”
He held up a hand. “Forget it, I’ve got it.” And with
that, he walked away from the table.
Claudia was puzzled by his sudden exit. He seemed to be
in a hurry to leave, I wonder if he’s okay?
“Who was that?” Jacob demanded, with slight anger in his
eyes after Josh was out of earshot.
“I told you, that was Josh from work.”
He lowered his voice and leaned close to her, staring
straight into her eyes. “Your ‘friend’, right, Claudia?”
Claudia’s eyes widened at what he was implying. “Of course
he’s just my friend, Jacob. We went out for some ice cream together, that’s
all.” She shook her head and went to sit back down in the booth, but he grabbed
her wrist and pulled her to his chest.
“I don’t like you going out with other guys behind my
back, Claude.” He spoke soft enough so that he didn’t attract attention from
the few people in the restaurant, but the anger in his voice was loud and
clear.
“I’m not going behind your back! We just went out for
ice cream after our day at the retirement home today,” she repeated.
“So now you bring your dates out to do your stupid volunteer
work for you?”
“Dates? What exactly are you trying to imply? We simply
ran into each other and he helped out with the kids!”
Jacob continued to glare at her, trying to find a hint
of deceit hidden in her eyes.
“Jacob, please let go of my arm, you’re hurting me.”
He didn’t release his grasp. “I don’t like the way you
look at him. All goo-goo eyed and giddy.” He paused for a moment. “You used
to look at me that way. Why don’t you look at me like that anymore?” he demanded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, he’s just my
colleague!”
“And it’s going to stay that way. I don’t want you with
him anymore.”
Jacob let go of her arm and took quick, long strides to
the door. Claudia grabbed her purse and coat, nearly having to run after
him.
She caught up to him in the parking lot. “Are you forbidding
me to see him?”
A couple walking by looked at them strangely as they entered
the restaurant. He turned around to face her, and held her chin in his hand,
completely changing his tone. “Baby, I’m just looking out for you,” he said
sweetly.
Anger began to stir in the pit of her stomach. Her face
burned crimson and her heart pounded loudly inside her chest. “Looking out
for me by forbidding me to see people of the opposite sex that I am only
friends with?”
“He’s a musician. People like him use beautiful, gullible
women like yourself, to get what they want and then throw them away. That’s
why I hate you working with musicians.”
“Josh isn’t like that,” Claudia defended in a low voice.
“Knowing you, you’d get caught up in your romantic world
of daydreams and run away with him or something, just like in all of those
foolish novels you read.”
He got serious and placed his hands gently on her shoulders.
She flinched at his motion, afraid he was going to grab her again. “He would
only hurt you, Claudia. He’s bad news, I know it and you know it. I wouldn’t
want to see that happen to you.”
“I’m not after him, Jacob!” she cried, shrugging his hands
away. “He’s not your competition. Don’t you see that you have no competition?”
“Either way, he’ll hurt you, Claudia. You are too vulnerable
to get involved with men like him.”
“‘Men like him?’ You just met him! Are you trying to say
that any man who isn’t you will hurt me and isn’t worth getting involved
with?”
“You just keep yourself away from men like him and stick
with me- a successful, intelligent, businessman- and you’ll be just fine.”
With that he swiftly kissed her cheek and got into his
car before she could say a word. He pulled out of the parking lot and drove
out of sight. Angry tears built up in Claudia’s eyes. She clenched her fists
at her sides then walker to her car and kicked the front tire as hard as
she could.
“DAMMIT!” she yelled.
It felt good to get that out of her system.
She sighed in effort to compose herself and walked around
to the driver’s side to get into her car. She sat in the car for a moment
taking deep breaths, but she finally gave in and let herself cry.