Chapter Nine

Another hump day and Karla was more than ready to go home and call it a night. She already spilled three drinks, made four wrong, and bitched Charlie out just for showing up again. Paul was about as ready to send her home as she was wanting to go. “What in the world has gotten into you lately?” he asked in a fit of frustration. “And it’s not just tonight. Your mood has been sour all week. What has you in a tailspin?” He lifted the brown golfer’s hat he started wearing recently off his head and wiped his brow with the back of his hand before replacing the hat. Karla thought it silly. He just wanted to touch the hat.

“Nothing,” she snapped. “Charlie just annoys me.”

“Then you shouldn’t have spread your legs for him. What the hell did you think was going to happen? And that’s no excuse for your screw ups behind the bar. Get it together.” Paul shook his head as he walked away.

It wasn’t Charlie, she knew, who caused her mistakes. He happened to be the kitten she could kick when she couldn’t kick the real culprit. Then again, it wasn’t really Mitch’s fault, either. The only person she could really blame was herself. Mitch kept his word as well. He had not reached out to her or stopped by Sand Dune since he left her apartment Sunday morning. If she was honest with herself, which she usually was even when it pissed her off, his vanishing act annoyed her. It should make her happy. After all, she wanted him to leave her alone and stop making decisions for her. So, now that she had what she wanted, why was it getting under her skin?

Because he acted as if he knew something she didn’t about relationships; that he had a way of getting around her fears and views she hadn’t even contemplated, yet. It was all bullshit, of course. She heard it all before and not one of the ones spewing the rhetoric could keep up with her or handle her. No one handled Karla Harper. No, it always worked the other way around.

So, what did he mean when he said she didn’t need a traditional relationship? What other kind was there?

“Oh, Karla, hey. I forgot you were working today.”

Turning to the bar, Karla saw her mother standing there with a smile on her face that Karla knew wasn’t genuine. Her mother’s gaze kept darting around the bar, as if searching for someone. Who in the world that would be, Karla was afraid to even guess. The last time her mother came to the bar, she was with her friends, and Karla could have sworn there was some attraction between her mother and one of her female friends. They acted like college kids having their first drinks and crushes. It was sickening to watch.

“I work every Wednesday. You know that. What’s up?”

“Hey, Betty,” Paul said, as he walked out of the supply room. “How’s your hump day going?”

Did her mother just blush? Karla stared at Betty Harper with narrowed eyes, as she glanced back and forth between her mother and her boss. “It’s been pretty quiet, so far. I just thought I’d come by and see my daughter and maybe have a drink.”

Karla’s narrowed eyes popped wide open. “Come visit me? You just said…”

“I’d love to have a rum and Coke, Karla,” her mother said, patting her hand while her gaze stayed on Paul. “How about you, Paul? How has your Wednesday…wait, you called it hump day, right?...how is your hump day going?”

Paul walked over until he stood in front of Betty, and leaned down on the bar counter, his fingers intertwined. “Outside of Karla screwing up a few drinks and breaking some of my best glassware, it’s been pretty quiet.”

Karla just stood there, watching the two of them. Was what was going on what she thought was going on?

Betty smiled at her. “My drink, dear.”

Karla nodded. “Right. Rum and Coke.” She reached under the bar and pulled out a tall glass, filling it with ice. Paul stayed in place, chatting up her mother, as Betty stood there and smiled and… batted her eyelashes? Oh. My. God. “What the hell is going on here?” she demanded, setting the drink on the bar. She stared at her mother, who suddenly glanced down at her glass, her cheeks turning bright pink. Karla wouldn’t let her off the hook that easy, however. She continued to bounce her gaze between both of them, waiting for an answer.

Betty Harper didn’t seem ready to give her one, and Paul just smiled at Betty. “I like your hat, by the way,” Betty said, pointing to the top of his head, as if he wouldn’t know to which hat she referred. “Men in hats are always stylish.”

“You think so? Thanks. I worry that it looks silly on me.”

“It does look silly,” Karla said.

“Oh, my, no, not at all. I think it looks dashing,” Betty said, ignoring her daughter.

Karla placed her hands on her hips, standing there, waiting. Stylish? Dashing? What the hell?

Finally, Paul turned, winked at Karla as he tapped the top of the bar a couple of times, and walked off. “Good seeing you again, Betty…as always.” He then turned and sauntered out to the floor, chatting up the people at the tables, making sure everyone was doing great. Of course, every once in a while, he would turn back to Karla and smirk. He just smirked. Karla wanted to kill him.

But first, she would kill her mother. Turning back to the shy, bashful woman who gave birth to her, Karla leaned over the bar, her face just inches away from her mother’s, and snarled. “Please, tell me you are not screwing Paul.”

Her mother’s eyes went wide. “I’m not…” Realizing she was almost screaming, she leaned over and finished in a whisper. “I am not screwing anyone.” She straightened in her seat taking a deep breath for confidence. “And, even if I was, it’s none of your business.”

“None of my…” Karla leaned over the bar, doing her best to tamper down her frustration. “None of my business? My mother is banging my boss…someone I’ve already had sex with, mind you….and you’re telling me it’s none of my business? You have got to be kidding me.”

“Wait,” Betty reached out, clamping her hand down on Karla’s. “You had sex with Paul.”

Karla rolled her eyes. “You never pay attention.” Shaking her head, she continued. “I refuse to let my mother cling to someone I’ve already done the dirty deed with. You need to find someone else to help you with your pent-up frustration.”

“I do not have pent-up frustration.” Her mother released Karla’s hand, settling back, and picking up her drink. “And I can see who I want. Obviously, you don’t want him, or you’d be with him.” She turned her gaze to her drink as she held it in her lap.

“Don’t you think it’s weird chasing a man who has already been out with your daughter? Even a tiny bit?”

Betty didn’t answer. Instead, she just picked up her rum and Coke and sipped, choosing to ignore the disbelief in her daughter’s eyes.

Karla only growled, gripping the edge of the bar tight in lieu of strangling her mother. She glanced back out at the floor, just in time to see Paul smile at her and wave, as he ducked back into the supply room. If she couldn’t kill her mother, she would kill the suitor. She pushed off the bar, ready to confront Paul, when two college kids stepped up to the bar asking for rum runners. Sean was at a table, so that left her stuck at the bar. She glanced at the door Paul just passed through, groaning at the distraction. She would talk to him later, putting her mother off limits to his belt notches.

She made a rule with Aimee when they were in high school that no one would ever date both of them. However, she didn’t know she needed to make the same rule with her mother. The thought made her shiver.

As she fixed the kids’ drinks, she heard Mitch’s words once again. You, sweetheart, are definitely a challenge, but no, that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because I like you. A lot. We have fun together. I know you don’t do traditional relationships, but I’m not a traditional kind of guy. If you could get past your stubbornness just a little, you’d find that out. And maybe, just maybe, mind you, you’d see that not all relationships are the same. You’ve heard it dozens of times, I’m sure. Not all men are the same. The truth is, not all relationships are the same. The key is to find the one that fits you. I think we’d fit, because we both hate the rules. You proved that when you were ready to break the rule you had with your sister since high school. And then he left, leaving her with her thoughts, which were good up until now. Damn him.

She glanced over at her mother, who was twice her age, staring at the door Paul exited through, Paul, who was twenty years younger than her mother. Big age difference. Not traditional for sure. She needed to know what Mitch meant when he said he wasn’t a traditional guy. I’m so going to regret this; I just know it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mitch sipped his coffee on his way to his recliner. It was too late for coffee, he knew, but he couldn’t bring himself to sleep yet, and he didn’t need alcohol in his current mood. He couldn’t believe he had misjudged Karla so much. He thought for sure she would be at his place Monday night. He didn’t expect her Sunday night, of course. Not the stubborn Karla Harper. Even if she wanted to go to him then, she would have waited just to prove some point that existed only in her head. But he thought for sure she would have been here the next day, feeling that she made him suffer enough.

Had he misjudged her? Did she really not want a relationship? That disappointed him, because Mitch swore Karla was the perfect match to his tastes. She worried that he wanted a monogamous relationship, only promising her that he was different to give him a chance to change her. He didn’t want to change her, however. He didn’t want a monogamous relationship, either. He wanted Karla and everything she was. He wanted the chance to prove to her she could be who she was, without being judged, and still have a relationship. They were a perfect match for each other. If she would only give him a chance, that is.

Settling into his recliner, he stared at his empty television screen. He wasn’t in the mood for television, either. He even told Sandy not to come over. She could be a decent distraction, true enough, but she wasn’t what he wanted.

He took another sip of his coffee as opposed to sighing.

He was so lost in his thoughts that it took whoever was at his front door a second round of knocks before catching his attention. Glancing at his watch, he noticed it was well after midnight. If Sandy took it upon herself to ignore his wishes, he’d give her a spanking she would not soon forget.

Setting his coffee on the end table beside his chair, he heaved himself out of the recliner, and headed for the door, ready to scold Sandy for her intrusion. However, when he opened his door, he wasn’t given the chance to say anything as Karla barreled her way past him and into his living room. “You drive me absolutely fuckin’ crazy, you know that?” she asked, as she pushed her way into his house.

He took his time closing his front door, doing his best to hide the smile that spread across his face. She did not need to feel mocked right then. “I haven’t spoken to you in about three days. How could I be driving you crazy?” He turned and walked back over to his recliner, gesturing for her to have a seat on the couch as he took his.

She crossed her arms over her chest, not ready to completely concede apparently, digging her heels in for the confrontation she must have envisioned in her mind. “You say half-ass shit with no real meaning, and then just disappear without explaining yourself.”

He lifted his coffee cup, sipping the hot liquid as a stalling tactic, letting her simmer just a tad more. She wasn’t in the mood to be mocked, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy her annoyance. “That was kind of the point,” he said, lowering his coffee cup to his lap, and holding it with both hands. “If you wanted to know what I meant, you were supposed to come to me and find out.”

She glared at him. “Well, I’m here. Explain it.”

He chuckled as he shook his head. Gesturing to the couch again, he said, “Please, sit. This is a lengthy conversation, not a simple definition by Webster.” He waited for her to sit down, almost afraid she would refuse, before she reluctantly dropped onto his couch, her arms still folded across her waist. Now, he allowed her to see his smile. “Before I begin, may I ask what made you decide you wanted to know?”

“My mother has the hots for Paul.” She shivered as she said it. “I started thinking about their age difference, and how the two of them together would definitely not be traditional. Then, I thought about what you said, and I grew curious. Now, are you going to do some big reveal or just blurt it out?”

Mitch laughed. He couldn’t help it. Betty Harper with Paul, Karla’s boss? “I bet that was fun to watch.”

“Yeah, not so much. The worst part is, I think Paul plays into it as opposed to nipping it in the bud.”

“Why would he want to nip it in the bud? Your mom is a pretty lady, barely fifty. She still has a lot to experience in life. Why does that surprise you?”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “It doesn’t surprise me. I just don’t want her doing it with my boss.”

“Is this another one of your rules?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact. No one screws my sister and me, and no one I know, or worse, have slept with, can sleep with my mother. That should be everyone’s rule. It’s just…gross.”

Mitch nodded. “I don’t think I knew that you slept with Paul. That’s not how you got your job is it?”

She shrugged. “I slept with him long before he hired me, but I’m sure he gave me a job because he had visions of after-hours romping around in the office.”

He chuckled some more. “That’s just too funny.”

“No, really, it’s not. Now, do I get to know what you meant or are you going to continue to laugh at my misery?”

He held his hand up, attempting to calm her down. “Relax. Do you want a drink or something?”

Karla growled, which only made him laugh harder.

“Okay, okay. I just figured you’d need it after your wonderful evening.” He shuffled in his chair, trying to turn so he faced her more. He took a deep breath, and then began. “You hate relationships because you only see them one way. Monogamous. Every man you’ve been with tried to convince you he would be enough for you, both physically and emotionally. I tend to think no one person can be everything to any other one person. We need others in our lives to help complete and fulfill us. Oh, there are those who thrive in monogamy, but they also have deep friendships that enhance their relationships. I’m saying you need someone who knows that about you and can help you navigate those waters and succeed.”

She stared at him, confusion on her face. “You’re saying you want to have a relationship with me, and you don’t care if I go out with other people at the same time? You expect me to believe that?”

“Pretty much. There will be rules, of course. Even relationships such as these need ground rules, but the rules are there to protect us, not hinder us. I’m all for exploring things with you. I think we can do this. You just have to want to really give it a shot.”

“I’m not good with rules.”

He grinned, winking at her. “Oh, I remember. But I truly think you can do this and be satisfied.”

She stared at him a moment, and he could tell she was at war within herself, doubting his words as if they were a trap to humiliate her somehow. “What rules?”

He shrugged. “They mostly deal with communication and honesty. We must agree on outside partners or adventures, friendships. This is our relationship, so we make the rules fit us. They can be whatever we think we need.”

“And if I break one of your rules?”

“Already preparing for failure?”

She shrugged. “I just know me.”

“First, they aren’t my rules; they’re ours. We make them together. As far as the consequences when one is broken, we’ll figure that out, but it won’t be a deal breaker.”

She sat there, quiet for a moment, and Mitch let her battle her doubts. He didn’t expect her to believe him. She would have to give him a chance to prove it, but he had no doubt that he would. She’d push the rules, purposefully breaking them, he knew, in order to get him to do the opposite of what he said, to run and abandon her. Knowing that going in, however, was most of the battle. Karla Harper begged to be tamed and he was the right person to do it.

With a deep breath, she turned her gaze up to him. “So, what rules did you have in mind?”