A couple of notes because I neglected to give the proper acknowledgements in the previous two installments:
Many thanks to my editor 'tigerssman' for his assistance.
Thanks to the individual who approached me with the idea.
*****
III
With Kurt on his stomach and snoring away beside her, Amie stared at the ceiling as hints of sunlight peeked through the window. She wasn't really thinking of anything, beyond whether she should continue to lie in bed or get up and do something. Kurt snorted again and she had her decision. Pushing her small frame off the mattress, she swung her plaid pyjama-clad legs off the side of the bed and dropped her feet onto the ground.
Walking into the en suite bathroom, she bent over the sink and splashed water on her face. Looking up, she shook her head and laughed at her reflection. Despite her best efforts with creams and moisturizers, her age showed in her skin. And in that moment, she gave herself a reality check about everything that went on yesterday.
What Erik would ever see in her? He had free pick of any 20 or even 30-something young vixens. Why would he even bother with her? She was convinced he had to be humouring her. No sensible young man would have an interest in an aging housewife. Drying off, she stepped into the quiet hallway and carefully made her way downstairs.
Even though it wasn't her house, she resolved to cook everyone breakfast. She reminded herself she liked doing this kind of stuff. She liked caring for her family. That was, after all, her duty, wasn't it? It took a bit of locating to find the mixing bowls and whisks, but she eventually had all the ingredients and utensils for a big breakfast.
Soon enough, the kitchen and the house filled with the aroma of eggs, pancakes, bacon, toast, and coffee. And naturally, the Schafer men found their ways to it.
Victor walked in and incredulously noted the stack of pancakes and the steaming cups of coffee on table, and then his mom toiling away putting strips of bacon on a plate. His Dad was less shocked. He sat down with a cup of coffee.
"Mom?"
Amie turned around just as she finished. "Oh! Morning! I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come down and fix some breakfast. Hope that's OK."
"Mom, you didn't have to do this. You're on vacation here."
"I know. But I really wanted to show my boys how much I like taking care of them, and show you my appreciation for letting us stay here," she sweetly said. "Where's Erik?"
"I think he had to go into work. He didn't say anything to me, though."
Victor's dad was already pouring syrup over his pancakes. Victor joined him while Amie turned off the stove. More toast popped out of the toaster and she added it to the stack on the table. "Bread? I've margarine here but I can get jam if you want."
Victor declined. "Just sit, Mom. This is great."
Amie did. Kurt was moving through his breakfast at a high pace.
"So, how do you like it here so far?" Victor asked, then addressing it to his father in particular. "Dad?"
"It's OK. A bit of a young neighbourhood, isn't it?"
As Amie was dressing a piece of toast, she wondered to herself how he knew that given his refusal to do anything yesterday. For the sake of her 'turning a new leaf' approach, she said nothing.
"Yeah, a little bit. We have a few families though, like the one across the street from us," he said. "How's the theatre centre doing?"
"We had to wash the walls last week, which was a challenge because the lobby has such a high ceiling. We couldn't use the scissor lifts because of the potential for ruining the protected stuff."
Amie crunched into her bread. Kurt worked in a still functioning century-old theatre that was attached to a modern community centre. Working the operations and cleaning of the place was difficult because there were so many heritage factors that couldn't be disturbed. She was annoyed, yet again, still silent that he didn't promote the difficulties and the gorgeous venue the other night. Only he called it a community centre!
"So what did you do?"
"We had to make makeshift mops out of extend-o-poles and mop heads."
Victor wolfed down his food. He was always a fast eater Amie remembered. She stood up, "More, Vic? There's a lot left." she said, picking up the stack of pancakes and sliding one on his empty plate. Her tiny body couldn't quite reach over the table so she had to really lean for it. "Bacon, too?
"No you don't have - " he started, but he already had a couple of pancakes and three strips of bacon in front of him, "Well, OK. But no more."
He liked this - his family breakfast together again. His mom was smiling, his dad was talking, and they could be a family. Best of all, there wasn't Erik around.
Kurt finished and left the kitchen, leaving Victor and Amie to lift the table. Amie told him she would handle everything, but her son insisted again that she didn't have to do so much work and that she should at least let him help her. She obliged. She rinsed the oily scraps off the plates and he loaded them in the dishwasher.
"So, how are you?" he asked, slotting a plate in the rack.
"Good!" she smiled. She meant it too.
"I didn't get to ask what you thought of yesterday."
"It was OK," she said, although she might have been downplaying. "That was a really nice part of town."
"Yeah, it's very tourist-y, but the people who live here also like it."
Amie nodded, "Mhm," and passed him a handful of forks and knives.
They were quiet for the next few moments while they emptied the sink. Victor was a bit anxious being next to her now. With everything Erik had said about his mom and the known charm he had on women, it scared him that his roommate would somehow move in on his own mom! He had to know what was happening from her perspective.
"So how has Erik been?"
Amie did not waver in responding, but she wasn't adamant one way or another in her delivery. "He's OK...seems nice enough..." she paused, making him a bit nervous, but then added with a smile, "Kind of brash though, no?"
Victor laughed, "Yeah, you could say that."
With that shared chuckle, the notion of Erik and his mom was put to rest. The more he thought about it, the more ludicrous it was: Erik and his mom...it didn't sound natural! He knew his mom wouldn't be into it. She was married, after all - for a long time at that. And Erik, he was probably joking around. Yes, his parents had marital problems, but he himself
had
to respect a married woman.
After finishing in the kitchen, Victor grabbed his stomach. He commented with a laugh that he was full and said he might need a nap after that. He went upstairs, and Amie retired to her room as well. Kurt was already passed out when she got there.
She stayed in bed for about ten minutes before she admitted to herself that she wasn't anywhere near tired. Sure, she was up an hour earlier than the other two, but she ate much less than them. She thought it would've been a foolish exercise to force sleep, thus she got up. Taking a final look at her heavy breathing, slumbering husband, she closed the door behind him.
Passing by Victor's room, he was out cold too. She carefully closed his door too.
An empty house where she was the only one present - or in this case, conscious - was all too familiar to her, so she turned to habit: she would tidy up. The kitchen was taken care of, so she started in the living room. There were some magazines scattered on the coffee table which she arranged into a neat pile to one side of the table.
Next, Amie wandered out to the patio. A chair - Erik's 'throne' as she cheekily named it - was displaced from the table. She pushed it back in and then worked at emptying the ashes that had accumulated in the crystal tray. She didn't know why he left them so long. It was kind of gross and dirty.
The main floor powder room needed some attending - not much, but some attention nonetheless - but otherwise she had the main floor covered. It only left the upper level bathroom. She wiped down the counter, cleaned the mirror, set the hand towels neatly back on their racks, and even gave the toilet and bathtub a little wipe.
Then, she was done. The house was clean.
She sighed as she wandered into the hallway. What was there to do now? That took thirty minutes at the most; it was barely noon now. She grazed her hand on the handrail to go find something to occupy her time. But then she stopped. She looked to the open room at the end of the hall. That was the master bedroom, Erik's chamber.
It was massive. It was highlighted by a king-sized bed which faced a giant TV mounted to the opposing wall. There was a walk-in closet to the side and bookshelf of varying titles. Amie's favourite part, though, was the walk out to a balcony overlooking the front of the house. There was a seat and tiny table. Expectedly, there was another ashtray with butts and soot. Returning to the room, she fixed the unmade bed, wondering to herself what his reaction would be.
From there the only corner left - although it was anything but tiny - was the en suite. The earthy coloured bathroom had a spacious glass shower and a tub that looked all too tempting to the mature woman. Her feet patting on the heated floor, she wandered to the luxurious double vanity sink, which was kept in neat condition.
She was about to circle out of there when she saw something that made her call out. "Oh wow."
There was a picture of a half-naked Erik Nolan on the wall. It wasn't a little picture either; this was a full length poster! Amie's first reaction was that the young man must've thought a lot of himself. Then she saw the coloured resistance bands nearby, and she thought it must've been part of some fitness thing.
She leaned against the counter and studied it. He was posed from the waist up. His arms flexed above his head for the shot. His chest was broad and defined; his biceps and forearms were on their way to being bulging and veiny. His hair was a bit shorter than real life in the image. He had a subtle grin.
Amie rubbed the front of her sleepwear. The more she looked, the more she kept returning to one idea; Erik wasn't Kurt. They were nothing alike. She couldn't even picture a flexing Kurt. It wasn't in him. In fact, it was a funny thought. Erik was athletic, buff, and cocky. Her husband was, well, none of that. She exhaled, continuing to stimulate herself through her clothes as she looked at the poster staring back at her.
With her arousal building, she curiously stopped herself from going further. She left the bathroom and Erik's bedroom, wandering to her room. Even before she could gingerly open the door, she could hear Kurt's snoring. She opened the door enough to confirm her husband was indeed far gone before shutting it again.
Next, she moved to Victor's room. There was no noise from inside, so she was a bit anxious in checking on him. Alas, she slowly pushed the door and stealthily peered inside. He was undisturbed and sleeping on his side, facing her. She shut the door.
