The New Girl - a Man's Perspective

Chapter 15: A New Start

I don't remember much about Saturday night after we left the dealership in my new Mercedes. I was reeling from being able to purchase that amazing German engineered machine. Amy & I were out all night having fun driving around and showing off to strangers at different local establishments she had frequented since she moved here. We arrived back at my place about 5:30am.

I was so tired I collapsed on the couch and she apparently slept in my easy chair. We woke up around noon after a much needed nap, went and had brunch at Eddy's, in my new car, of course, and then went to Greg's to have Sunday dinner. He walked out on the porch looking confused. I guess he didn't think I'd actually go through with it. Boy, was he wrong!

"Holy shit, bro," he exclaimed, "you actually bought a car. An SLS! Fucking nice!"

"Yep, all thanks to my badass girlfriend!" I said, looking over at her with a huge grin on my face.

"I don't think I've seen you this happy, like, real happy, in a long damn time. I'm happy for you too, man," he said.

Greg wrapped his arm around my shoulder and gave me a fake noogie and laughed.

"Come on in! Mindy and dad made clam linguine, and pasta alla norma with fresh garlic bread. We still have the scotch, whiskey and white wine from Christmas too. Italian meatballs, bruschetta, marinated olives and prosciutto for appetizers. I'm freakin' starving," he said.

Greg was a star athlete in high school and it seemed he was still riding that horse. I grabbed Amy's hand and we walked inside. Dad was in the kitchen with Mindy finishing up dinner and it sounded like their boys playing parkour upstairs.

"Hi! Come on in! Would you two like a drink before we eat," Mindy asked. She's always been very hospitable.

"Sure, I never turn down a drink," Amy said enthusiastically.

"Scotch on the rocks for me, please," I added.

Greg took our coats and we went to investigate where the delicious smell was coming from. We found dad In Mindy's pink ruffled apron and wearing oven mitts as he stirred his dish and checked the bread. We both chuckled and commented on the lovely attire.

"Oh great! It's you two. Who invited you here? Come on, bring it in," he said, smiling as he walked over for a hug from both of us.

"I'm glad you guys could make it. This is one thing your mom wanted us to keep doing. I know she's looking down and smiling," he said with a smile and a tear in his eye.

We stood around the kitchen island for another 30 minutes while dad kept letting the heat out of the oven from opening it every 5 minutes. Then he looked up and asked if I bought a car.

"Oh, yeah, about that..." I sarcastically said and rubbed the back of my neck.

"See, the thing is..." I added, leaving everyone else, meaning dad and Mindy, hanging for a second.

"...I bought a car. It's not much. But it will do," I continued.

Dad looked confused, holding his wooden spoon in his oven mitt covered hand.

"It'll do... I see. So you went to a used car lot and picked up another junker. Uh huh, I figured as much," he said with a wink.

Amy looked at me awkwardly. I just smiled back at her and winked that said, watch this. She picked up on it pretty quick. Mindy put the spatula down and gave me a 'really' expression. I chuckled and kept leading them on. Greg just stood there smiling and sipping his second or third glass of whiskey not saying a word. He knew what I was doing because we played these games daily growing up.

"Well, dad, do you want to see it? Come on, I'll show it to you right now," I said agonizingly.

"You know what, if your mother was here she would have slapped you with a spatula by now," he said, eyeballing me with one raised brow, over his glasses.

"Yes, actually. I do want to see this death trap," he added, throwing the spoon down and yanking the oven mitts off and we walked outside, him still wearing the apron.

"Well, where is it? All I see is some jackass parked his Mercedes in your brother's driveway. That guy must be compensating for something, know what I mean," he said, looking at me and winking.

"Greg! Call the tow yard. Tell them some numbskull parked their little-dick car in your driveway and they need to haul it outta here," he yelled back into the house.

"Yessir, I agree, dad," Greg said, laughing, "what an asshole. I'm calling a wrecker now."

"Greg, you call and I promise I'll kick your ass in the front yard like I did when we were kids. Dad, that numbskull you're referring to happens to be me," I said, "that's my car."

"You're shitting me," dad said, confused.

"Uh, bro, I believe you have that reversed. I always kicked your ass, before mom came and saved you," he interjected.

"No, Amy's cousin works at the dealership and she got a really good deal on it. This is my dream car, ever since I was a kid," I said, ignoring Greg and confirming dad's confusion.

"Holy Christ, son," you'll kill yourself in that beautiful piece German engineered metal and rubber, "Congratulations!"

He hugged me, like he always does, and we went back inside to find the food on the table. Amy & Mindy had set the table as dad, Greg & I were outside drooling over my car.

As we ate, we talked, told stories and laughed. Dad brought up mom and teared up, as he always does and is to be expected. They were married for 50 years when she died. We all missed her terribly.

After dinner we all migrated to the living room where dad and Greg both fell into a food coma, Mindy and Amy were chatting it up like two old ladies at church and I just sat there flipping between football games and sipping my scotch. Amy brought up that her mom lives here and owns a yoga studio in town. Mindy had the idea that we should all get together when summer came and invite Donna.

I overheard this and leaned in a bit to listen without them noticing.

"Yes, that's a great idea," Amy said, "I don't know how long since my mom has been with a man her age, anyway. Maybe she and Bob will hit it off? They're around the same age, aren't they," Amy said.

"Well, Bob is 73. How old is your mom," Mindy asked in response.

"She's 68! That's perfect," Amy said, very excitedly.

'Oh shit,' I thought, pursing my lips and rolling my eyes.

"Great! Let's set it up," Mindy said.

A few hours later we left and went back to my apartment. My cat wanted to let me know how much he hated me, so he shit in my work shoe and tore up my couch. I fed him and he snuggled with Amy while we watched tv on the shredded couch. He approves of her but still thinks I belong to him.

"Babe," Amy said.

"Yeah," I responded.

"What do you think about having our parents meet?" she asked.

"I don't know. They're both single and around the same age, so maybe it would be a good idea," I questioned.

"Hmm, ok," she said, pursing her lips and mulling over my response.

"Hmm, ok, what," I asked.

"What I took from your answer is that you don't care either way, correct," she asked.

"Uh, well, it's not really my place to make that judgment call, nor is it yours," I said, backing up my claim.

"Damn it," she said, "got me there."

"We can have a cookout and invite your mom. Do you think she would come," I asked.

"I think so. She rarely goes anywhere other than the studio and grocery store. It would be good for her to socialize. But now the issue is convincing her to come," Amy said, pondering the situation.

"Honey, all you can do is ask, right? At that point you've put the cards on the table and it's up to her to pick them up," I advised her, "if she doesn't want to come then don't make her come."

"I guess you're right," she said, "I'll talk to Mindy about it more later. It's late and we have to work tomorrow. Let's go cuddle upstairs. I need skin-to-skin cuddles, right now."

She acted like a child when she said that, and I loved it. She was cute, especially when she was needy. With that we headed upstairs and went to bed. I snored and she laid on my chest, falling asleep to my heartbeat.