CREATIVE EVENTS

 

Maddy walked in through the finger-smudged, automatic doors and into a world bursting with microbes and rudimentary filth. The aisle floors were encrusted with dust so thick it held footprints. And there always seemed to be that one check stand that was broken and making a ringing noise that echoed across the linoleum flooring. The air consumed the walkers’ breath and odors as they wrenched over each aisle top and cascaded down into her nasal passage.

            Maddy pursed her lips, “What a mess. What a fucking mess,” she murmured as she reached in her pocket for a neatly folded handkerchief to wipe down the cart handles. 

Maddy remained alert to infections and never reused her handkerchiefs. After each use, she would simply toss it in one of her on-the-go Ziplock bags, zip it tightly and throw it away, then return to her arranged piles of cloths and grab a new one.  Her weekly visit to the local grocery store aggravated her more than most people. The crowds and noise in the air consumed her, escalating to claustrophobia and then a feeling of suffocation. Their faces seemed to press against her pale, dry skin and their hands grasped on to her unstable body as she walked leisurely down each aisle. Her grocery trips had to remain at nineteen minutes; any longer and she would flee the store in a manic manner, leaving her groceries behind.

 After briskly but efficiently looking over every expiration date on every container, bag, and bottle, she would eventually make her way to the next aisle.

 “Aisle One, Aisle Two, Aisle Three, Aisle Four, Aisle….,” Maddy stopped and turned her cart around while relentlessly wiping down the cold, metal handle. “I missed Aisle Two!” Maddy gasped with horror.

The watch on her left wrist was set to tell the exact time, down to the second, according to satellite time. And the watch on her right wrist timed each minor and major event in her daily life. Maddy used this watch the most. She timed everything: her showers, how long she washed her hands, how long the dishes soaked in the 137-degree soapy water. But Maddy especially liked to use her right, wrist watch to dictate her exact time in the grocery store.

Maddy looked down at her right wrist, her eyes grew large and red as she began twisting her long, brittle hair around her index finger. “Sixteen minutes, thirty-four seconds.”  Maddy looked down into her cage on wheels; only three items lay spread out.

Gripping the handle, her clammy hands squeaked across the cracked plastic, “Not again. I can’t do this. I’m running out of time!”

            Maddy’s heart began to beat against her chest. Beads of sweat trickled down her flushed face and splashed in the crevices of her shoulder blades. Breathing heavier and faster she felt unequipped to continue with her routine. Leaving her cart behind, she fled from Aisle 4 tossing her handkerchief behind her.

Her lungs gasped for fresh air as she waited for the automatic doors to release their suctioned grasp from one another. The automated machine did not work and read “DUE FOR REPAIR.” Her tension increased as she began to pull at the loose buttons on her khakis.

 “PUSH TO EXIT?” Maddy read aloud in questioning fear. “I can’t! I’m running out of time!” She looked down at her right wristwatch again. “Will someone please, for the love of God, open these doors?!?”

Heads turned with eyes glued to Maddy as she danced in front of the broken door.  A small woman using a walking crutch on the other side of the broken doors pushed with little effort as the doors began to open up. Maddy jumped up and down in panic. She began to lose herself and slipped through the small opening of the doors pushing aside the crippled woman.

“Dear God, freedom!”

Maddy sat on the outside bench trying to catch her breath again. Her steam-pressed blouse now looked wrinkled and worn. “Hummmph,” Maddy grunted in disappointment. As she ran her pale fingers over her blouse, she attempted to straighten out all the wrinkles. She began to break down in tears. “I really don’t know what to do,” she blubbered to herself.

Maddy reached down grabbing her right wrist, the one with the timer on it. The watch was still running; “twenty-three minutes, I’ve been in that hell hole and I left with nothing” wiping the tear on her cheek.

The walkers passed by looking at Maddy in curiosity as she continued talking to herself. Each walker had the same alarmed facial expression: eyebrows lowered and a small opening in their mouths. She could feel their eyes piercing through her body with judgment. Maddy bit her bottom lip as she began rubbing on her fingers nervously.

Maddy looked up briefly and stared off across the parking lot full of cars and carts. “I shouldn’t have to constantly feel ashamed.” She paused and then looked back down at her feet crossed one over the other. But I can’t help but be who I am? She thought to herself in an attempt to raise her spirits.

Her breathing began to settle but Maddy appeared more anxious than ever. Her grasp on her fingers began to clench as she wrenched the skin on her bones back and forth.

A tall and slender, male approached Maddy, “Are you okay Miss?”

She looked up at him with disgust publicized all over her face; her brows lowered and her mouth puckered. “Did I ask you?”

Humiliation overcame the walker as his eyes glanced away for a moment, “Well, no..but--”

            “Then why do you feel it’s necessary to come barging on over here invading my privacy!?” She interrupted with an inquisitive bark.

“Miss,” he paused, “you’re on a public bench.”

His snappy reply surprised her, most of the walkers just kept on walking when she raised her voice.  “Be on your way,” as she pointed her finger towards the store entrance.

The wind began to blow motor oil all over the ground, leaving a sticky, rainbow substance smeared across the parking lot. Maddy figured this was her cue to leave before the motor oil damaged her new, white moccasins. She dashed to her car while insistently pressing the unlock button on her automatic key fob until she was close enough to hear the little click.

Maddy snapped in her seatbelt and reached for the dial to turn up the soft, spa-like music. After playing with her dashboard knobs for a few minutes, making sure all of the settings and mirrors were correctly adjusted, she then shifted into reverse and pulled out of the parking lot attempting to dodge all of the oil spots and potholes.

Maddy arrived home, pulling into her two-car garage with a smile of ease. She could feel her fingers relax their grip on the steering wheel and her toes began to uncurl from inside her shoes. Waiting until the garage door closed behind her, she sat in the car and began to unbuckle her seatbelt.

Her home was the only place she felt safe and comfortable because it was always clean and seemed to lack the majority of germs that inhabited the outside world. But Maddy thought to herself, maybe home is simply a getaway from reality, maybe it’s time for me to try new things and accept reality as it is. Minus the homeless people -she interjected- who smell and probably haven’t bathed in months!

Maddy sat alone at her dining room table that had been polished with a wax shine. She rubbed her knees together back and forth under the table as she tried to hold back her tears that had already blemished her porcelain cheeks.

“I want to die….” She sighed, “I just can’t live like this anymore. Not even a husband or child to give me something to live for. Not that I could even handle a filthy little tyke running around aimlessly, messing up my clean house.” Maddy rambled on to herself “Just someone…someone to give me something to look forward to every morning.”

She turned off the lights with a small wet wipe, hobbled her way to her bed, and fell asleep in her tears, leaving a wet water stain on her pillowcase.

            A knock on Maddy’s door, the next afternoon, got her attention seeing as how no one, other than the UPS guy, has ever knocked on her door. She has no friends or any co-workers that would have the slightest interest in showing up at her place, especially at these hours.

She peered through her window, pulling aside her draped curtain. “Who is it?”

“Oh, um hey, it’s me, from the store parking lot yesterday.”

             “What are you doing here, you stalker!?” Emotions flipped through her like a man with the tv remote. “Did you follow me home? I’m calling the police; you’d better get your ass off my property quick pal.”

The man hesitated to say another word, “Wait! My name is Gregg,” He yelled through her front door. “I was just worried about you and I didn’t mean to follow you, but when I left the store yesterday, I noticed you driving…” his voice faltered and grew quiet, “we live on the same street.”

            Maddy slowly reached for the doorknob. The door cracked open and she leaned forward to peer around in confirmation that he was really the guy she saw in the parking lot, yesterday afternoon. He had on a loose-fitted, gray sweatshirt that had the MIT logo printed across it in large font, baggy jeans that were slightly faded, and some thin-edged, black reading glasses.

“You went to MIT?”

            He chuckled, “That’s the first thing you have to say to me? And yes, I did,” he pinched and grabbed his sweatshirt, “how did you know?” He replied. “Can I come in?”

Maddy glanced down at his muddy boots that forcefully invited themselves on to her white carpeting. “No! Uh, I mean wait! Can you take your boots off please?”

            Gregg looked up in slight shock, “Wow, is that a please I hear?” He reached down to pull of his left boot. “I didn’t think that word was in your vocabulary seeing how you dismissed me from your presence yesterday with a simple flick of your finger and a “be on your way”, he attempted to mimic her tone in voice.

            Maddy stood flustered as she began to tighten her grip on the door handle. “Well, you don’t have to come in; you could always stay on the porch you know.”

Gregg lifted his hands in front himself and chuckled, “Whoa there, it was just a joke, okay?”

To ease the awkward tension between them, Gregg threw in a few comments here and there about how neat everything looked and how jealous he was that she even had the time to spend cleaning her house. And with a little complimenting, Maddy and Gregg began talking in a less sarcastic tone and moved on from topics about the weather and politics.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Maddy paused, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that…..I, I just figured, you know, it’s getting late and maybe you have a wife and kids to go home to?” She curiously questioned.

Gregg flashed a small grin, “No, I’m a single bachelor livin’ alone.”

            Maddy blushed. “Oh, yeah, me too…well not the bachelor part but yeah, I live alone too.” She smiled apprehensively and leaned forward as if to stand up, “Would you like some wine?”

Gregg could tell Maddy felt uncomfortable and possibly desperate for company, but he kept to himself. He knew if he denied her offer to share some drinks, she would probably never want to see him again, let alone talk to him. He shrugged his shoulders and boggled his head side to side, “Uh, sure, thanks.”

Within a few hours and several glasses of wine, their conversation dwindled into more petty questions related to his uninvited appearance.

            “Is there something wrong with me checking up on you?”

            “Well you gotta admit that checking up,” she made quotations with her fingers, “on someone you’ve only met once, is a little odd.”

            He smiled, “I guess, but this was a different situation.”

            “How so?” She questioned.

            He lifted his right leg and crossed it over his left, “Just cause you looked really depressed and upset out there.” He chuckled, “I mean it’s not every day that I come across a damsel in distress.”

            “Oh please, drop the sarcasm.”

            Gregg could see that she was trying to hold back her smile as the skin around her lips started to tighten.

The conversation had moved from the living room to the dining room table where Maddy spilled all of her doubts, worries, regrets, fears, and so forth. Gregg sat patiently in a trance and took in everything she said, without a yawn or bathroom break.

Maddy’s blubbering and complaining stopped when she realized that Gregg was not looking directly at her.

“What!? Am I not entertaining enough?”

Gregg sat up quickly in a more alert fashion, “Oh, no….it’s not that, I just hear and understand better when I am listening to the person instead of looking at them.”

            Her eyes rolled over in disbelief. “Yeah, okay.”

Maddy stood up, pushing her seat aside and slapped her hands down on her dining room table, “I need to get out of this hell hole. This place is too lively and crawling with unidentified specimens.” Maddy announced aloud. Gregg chuckled at her most verbose language.

What now?” she rolled her eyes back towards Gregg and glared.

“Oh, you were serious?”

Maddy crossed her arms and continued on her rant as she paced her kitchen floor. “I need a place that will get me out of my comfort zone but comfortably, you know; a place that will allow me to simply relax and enjoy life.”

“Well what about work, and friends, and…”

Maddy cut Gregg off, “I don’t need it right now, any of it. I just need a vacation. You know,” she paused, “some time on my own.” Maddy paced back and forth in her kitchen internally questioning whether this vacation was really a vacation at all. Or more of just an escape from life.

Gregg interrupted her panicked pacing. “You really don’t need to be so hasty in your decision making. I think it’d be best if you just took a day or two off work,” he stood up, “no need to leave.”

Maddy’s eyes flared open as she scowled up at him, “Who are you to be telling me what I should and shouldn’t be doing. I can do whatever I please thank you very much,” she snapped back slightly drunk. “And you’re the crazy, psycho stranger that followed me home and barged in uninvited!”

Gregg cleared his throat, “Ummm, remember? I live on this road too.”

            Maddy’s glare remained unchanged, feeling slightly defensive and uneasy. “I think I just need to lie down. Let’s call it a night okay?”

            “Yeah, okay.”

            Maddy attempted to stand up but lost her balance, fell back down on the couch, and passed out.

            Gregg cackled for a moment as he looked at her limp body draped along the couch. He turned around, found a blanket lying over the armrest of the chair, and placed it over her. “Sweet dreams Maddy,” Gregg said aloud knowing she could not hear him.

           

            Maddy woke up the next morning with a cotton-knit blanket laid over her and a glass full of fresh orange juice sitting on the lamp stand next to here.  She could not remember whether or not last night was a dream, why she was sleeping on the couch, and where the orange juice came from.  A pasty film blurred her vision as she began to sit up. Her hangover made it even harder for her to find her footing as she began to stand up and rub her eyes. She shuffled out to her kitchen as she sipped slowly on her cold glass of orange juice.

Walking around the corner, Maddy could hear some rustling behind her opened fridge door. “Who’s there?” she asked softly. Her microwave clock read, 7:58 and she could see her kitchen faucet dripping water into a small blue bowl filled with, what looked like, batter.

 “Good morning,” Gregg said softly trying to avoid startling her.

            Maddy’s drowsy expression quickly lifted to a more traumatized state. “Um, we didn’t….” she paused assuming he would catch on.

Gregg chuckled, “no, we didn’t. I made you breakfast. Do you like pancakes?” Maddy sat in silence most of the morning, afraid to say something that might reference last night.

Maddy lifted her fork “Um, thanks for the pancakes.”

“Yeah, no problem, it’s the least I could do…with everything that happened last night.”

            Maddy coughed and then choked on her mouthful of pancakes. “Uh, yeah.” Maddy glanced back down at her plate and swallowed hard. “And what exactly happened last night?”

He smiled, “You really don’t trust me do you?”

“Well you did decide to stay overnight in my house without asking.”

“I couldn’t just leave you alone in the state you were in.”

“And what state would that be?”

Gregg smiled and rolled his eyes, “You were just a little” Gregg paused and reopened the refrigerator door, “under the weather.”

Maddy sat at the table in embarrassment as she lowered her head and played with her fingers under the tablecloth. “What are you looking for?”

“Just the maple syrup.” Gregg closed the fridge and stood up, “You have some right?”

“Yeah,” Maddy points to the cupboard behind him, “it’s in that cupboard.”

Gregg walked back over to the table and poured Maddy and himself some syrup. And after a few awkward minutes of hearing the chewing and swallowing of the each other, Gregg stood up, grabbed his plate and walked over to her sink. Maddy sat at her table holding her fork and looking down at her half eaten plate of pancakes in silence. Her foot began to tap on the floor as she anxiously waited for him to say something, anything.

            “Well, I had fun last night. Thank you for having me over. Would you like me to wash the dishes in your sink too? I don’t mind.” Gregg insisted.

            “Oh no, it’s okay, I will do them, I have a certain way of washing them,” Maddy shrugged and bared a trifling smile, “I guess you could call me OCD about it” she joked hoping he would not take her seriously. “No but really, I’ll take care of the dishes.” She asserted.

Maddy’s recollection of last night started to become clearer and she replayed the events over in her head. She started to feel angst about her life as she clenched up her hands into tight, sweaty fists under the dining room table.

            “I need a damn vacation!” Maddy blurted out slightly startling Gregg as he dropped the dishes back down in the sink. 

            Gregg quickly backed away from the kitchen sink, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry; I’ll let you do the dishes.”

            Maddy could not tell if he was being a smart ass or if he was sincerely startled by her loud outburst of anger.

            “No, it’s not you, I just need to get out of here and go somewhere else.”

            Gregg sat back down at the dining room table and pulled out an old receipt and a pen from his shirt pocket.

Within a few hours, Maddy had called and left a message talking time off work, filled two matching duffle bags, and finished her daily cleaning rituals. “Alright, I packed two bottles of shampoo and conditioner, a week’s worth of underwear, five bathing suits, two toothbrushes, and about eleven different outfits.”

Maddy reached down and began to rub vigorously on the handles of her duffle bags that had no dirt on it.

Gregg turned and faced Maddy as she continued to rub on the two duffle bag handles, “What are you doing with that handle?”

Maddy glared over at Gregg, “There was dirt on it; it needed to be cleaned okay?”

            Gregg continued to stare at her two, giant duffle bags, “Exactly how many days are you going to be gone?”

Maddy stopped in front of her door and looked back at Gregg still sitting at her dining room table,  “Oh, and you can leave now.” She snobbishly remarked. Maddy set her bags by the front door and headed back to her bedroom. “I forgot my sunscreen, hang on.”

Gregg quickly got up from the table, folded the receipt in half and slipped it in her duffle bag. Maddy walked around the corner and Gregg stood up, “So, you’re really going?”

She looked at him as if he were dumb. “Yes. I’m still going.”

            Gregg opened the door, then trailed behind her like a yoyo on a loose string as Maddy locked up, and got in her car bringing along all of her baggage and duffle bags too.

             “Okay, well I guess I’ll see you sometime after your vacation then?”

Maddy began pulling out of her drive way and into the street acting as if she had never heard anything Gregg just said. She simply lifted her left hand, which was hardly visible through her tinted windows, acknowledged his ‘goodbye’, and sped off.

            Maddy’s arrival to Northshore Beach was only a three-hour drive away but she could not have arrived sooner. Her entire trip she spent thinking about Gregg and why he cared so damn much. He seemed sincerely concerned about her and she found it kind of sweet of him, or creepy; she was not really sure of which one. One thing she knew was that he needed to clean under his fingernails they were preposterous. How could someone let themselves go that much, she thought to herself. 

            As Maddy began to pull into her hastily reserved hotel suit, she felt rushed. Her breathing increased and grew heavy as she scampered up to the front lobby.

“Hello Ma’am, would you like one of our bell hops to assist you with your luggage this afternoon?” The young clerk at the front desk politely but impatiently asked while tapping his fingers on the counter.

 Scanning the young man with her eyes, she replied, “No, but thank you, I can manage.”

She decided to take the stairs even though her suit was on the third floor, because who knows how many germs are on those elevator doors and buttons.

“Suite 321,” Maddy said aloud reassuring this was her room.

The curtains draped to the floor, covering the sliding door that lead out to the patio. The smooth and creamy, beige-colored walls resembled caramel melting off a maple bar. The lampshades were ruffled with an ombre-style wash that created a dark to light atmosphere in the room. And the queen sized mattress laid perfectly centered with the fancy down pillows placed according to size. Maddy plopped her stuff on the carpeted floor beside her bed, sat down, and attempted to catch her breath as her eyes scanned her suite, up and down.

Looking out the bathroom window that overlooked the ocean terrace, she noticed a small bonfire with a few college-aged kids gathered around it, drinking some beers and smoking hookah. She slumped down onto the plush, toilet seat cover and sighed. Maddy wanted to feel normal like the other people without obsessive-compulsive disorder.  She found herself unable to even walk into a room or meet someone without either being completely disgusted or offended by the overwhelming amount of bacteria inhabiting them or hiding under their nail beds.

            The beach is a place where I can sit and listen to the waves crash along the shore or watch the families build their sand castles, or smell the salty, fresh air, Maddy thought to herself. Why can’t I just relax? Put aside my oddities and quirks and just be normal?

            Before Maddy could slip on something comfortable and stylish, she began to notice how dark it was and how she would be unable to see what was on the door handles of restaurants or bars or where she was stepping and if that ground was linoleum or carpet, it made a difference. She grabbed a Kleenex off the desk in her room and used it to turn off the lights. She decided to set her alarm clock then resign to her bed and finish off her first night on vacation in peace, listening to the ambient noise of the ocean’s tides.

            As the sun began to rise and shine through the drapes in Maddy’s suite, her alarm went off waking her up at the same time Maddy always woke up, seven fifteen. She had no need for a snooze button; she just quickly flipped up the off switch and began making her bed. Maddy had underestimated her ability to move quickly, seeing as how everywhere she went had to be wiped down or disinfected with something. She rushed down the carpeted stairs to the main lobby of the hotel and asked the clerk for a brochure of the town to help pick out what activities she could participate in.

            “Ta-eye chi?” Maddy attempted to sound out one of the activities.

            The young, hotel clerk corrected her. “It’s pronounced Ty-Chee, ma’am”

            She chuckled, “Oh, ha, yeah. What is that again?”

            “It’s a class that teaches the art of defense,” She looked over at the brochure and pointed to a picture of people in yoga poses, “but a lot of people like to take the class because it teaches patience, peace and stillness as well.”

            “Would you recommend this class for people who have,” Maddy leaned in and whispered, “Social problems?”

            The clerk shrugged her shoulders and nodded, “uh, sure I guess. It’s a really good place to just relax and focus on your body, if that’s what you mean?”

            “Oh” Maddy glanced off to her right, “yeah that’s what I mean.” Maddy smiled, looked down at the brochure, and mentally documented the time she would allot herself while in the Tai Chi class. “Ten am to eleven fifteen, just an hour and fifteen minutes with people I don’t know. I can do it!” She reassured herself under her breath. She folded the brochure in half and stuck it into her pocket as she began setting her watch on her right wrist for an hour and sixteen minutes, giving herself time to enter and leave the class without rush.

            “Thanks again” Maddy blurted out across the main, hotel floor as she made her way back up to her suite to dress herself in the appropriate attire.

            “Welcome to Tai Chi, I’m you’re instructor Yupa.” Yupa stretched out her tan and well-oiled hand, “Is this your first time here with us?”

            Maddy looked down at Yupa’s palm and hesitated to shake hands. “Um, actually yes, this is my first time ever going to a Tai Chi class.” Maddy’s cheeks turned red as she smiled in embarrassment and whispered, “this is my first time going to any public class where people are allowed to meet up in the same room and work out together.”

            “Oh,” Yupa paused and brought her hand back down to her side, “well I’m sure you’ll feel very welcomed here. Most of our regulars are very nice and…”

            “And clean?” Maddy interrupted inquisitively.

            She chuckled, “Yes, I’m assuming they’re clean.” Pointing over to the back hallway, “We do provide showers here after each session and we clean our facility daily.”

            Maddy smiled and let a sigh of relief out. “Okay, good. I like clean places, even if I do have to share a room with….” Maddy paused “how many people are in each session again?”

            “It depends.” She smiled and put her hands in her loose-fitted pockets. “On a good day we can have up to thirty people in one session.”

            “Wow, um okay.” Maddy smiled, grabbed her towel, and made her way into the classroom.

            The room was all hardwood flooring and the ceilings were equipped with fans about five feet apart from each other. The back wall was made up of mirrors from top to bottom. Maddy found a spot she thought was the furthest from everyone else and laid her towel down on the floor attempting to keep her bare feet off the hardwood.

            Yupa entered the classroom and made her way to the front so her back was to the mirrored wall. “Namaste class.”

             “Namaste Yupa.” The entire class chanted in unison.

            “For those of you who are new today, I would like to welcome you and congratulate you for taking the first step into a peaceful and better state of life.” Yupa sat down with her legs crossed over the other and inhaled. “Let’s begin with floating the spine.”

            Maddy watched the rest of the class, from the back of the room, simultaneously sit up straight in an attempt to align and straighten their backs. After a few minutes of watching then copying each move, Maddy raised her hand. “Excuse me, Yupa?”

            Yupa looked up in surprise. “Uh, yes Maddy? Oh and class, this is Maddy, she is one of our new comers.”

            “Namaste Maddy,” The class chanted again.

            Maddy nodded and flashed a nervous smile, “Namaste. Yupa? Maybe you already explained this to everyone but I feel a little lost.” Maddy looked down and adjusted her towel at the corners. “What is the point of this class?” She looked back up to Yupa, “I mean, what does Tai Chi do that betters our life?”

            “Well, that’s a good question.” Yupa relaxed her pose and slouched her chest, “Tai chi allows us to focus on our bodies and minds instead of the crazy world around us. It’s like a medicine that keeps us from getting too stressed or anxious in our daily lives.” Yupa made eye contact with Maddy. “Does that make sense?”

            “Yes, sort of.” Maddy rolled her eyes, “I mean, no.” Maddy sat there on her towel hoping Yupa or someone would jump in and give a better explanation. The strangers around her continued their stretches, completely ignorant and uninvolved in the conversation.

            Yupa leaned forward and smiled, “can I ask you something Maddy?”

            Maddy shrugged her shoulders and nodded.

            “Why did you come here?”

            “I came here because I’m on vacation and…” Maddy stopped and took a deep breath. “Well, you see,” she started on her long rant and rave, “I don’t like people. I mean I do, but they are different from me and maybe they are who I really want to be.” Maddy lowered her head in acceptance of her last statement. “Or maybe I’m just lonely.”

            Yupa nodded with encouragement as she signaled for Maddy to continue with her reasoning. And the class began to pay more attention to Maddy as she blubbered on about her life.

            Maddy sat up on her knees and adjusted her towel corners again. “I just need to learn how to be more social and less picky about the things around me I guess.” Maddy avoided telling the truth about her phobia of germs and people who have them. “I just want to be able to accept my life how it is without nit-picking at every little thing.” She took another deep breath and began slowly enunciating her words, “I. Want. To. Be. Normal.”

            “Well you’ve come to the right place.” Yupa folded her lotioned hands together and smiled. She stood up and signaled for the class to join her by raising her hands. “Let’s continue on our journey to accepting life.” Yupa flashed a quick smile back at Maddy as she continued with the rest of their poses.

            Class got out a few minutes late due to the many questions Maddy asked during the session so Maddy silenced her wristwatch once it went off at the hour and sixteen-minute mark.        After class, Maddy followed Yupa out to the main desk, “Do you have any advice on how to take on the world without having any type of panic attack or hyperventilating.” Maddy giggled awkwardly while rubbing her hands together behind the desk.

            “Try to be more spontaneous.” Yupa raised her arms above her head and laughed. “Sorry that was a little over exaggerated but you know what I mean.”

            Maddy boggled her head back and forth and stood there without saying anything.

            “What I mean is, try to do things you wouldn’t usually do. Have some fun with it and you will see,” she pointed her finger at Maddy, “you will enjoy life more and become more social.”

           

            Maddy returned to her suite and reached into her duffle bag to grab her swim suite. She heard the Northshore Hotel hot tub was magnificent with its hundred and ten-degree water and jets that were guaranteed to fix any sore muscle.

            “What’s this?” Maddy said to herself as she pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper entangled in her bikini top. Maddy fondled the little piece of paper between her fingers as she read the numbers aloud, “Seven. Seven. Five. Two. One. Four. Three?” Maddy’s cell phone began to ring. She stood up and reached for it, looking down at the unknown number on the screen. Maddy bent down and grabbed the piece of paper, “This must be Gregg’s number!”

            Maddy stood up, grabbed the little mint on her pillow, and laid across the bed. She laid there replaying the Tai Chi class in her head and how Yupa had that suggested Maddy be more spontaneous. Maddy picked up her phone again and dialed the handwritten number on the back of the receipt.

            “Hello?”

            “Um, hey, is this Gregg?”

            “This is he.”

            Maddy did not say anything because she was unsure of what to say to him and how she would say it.

            “Who is this? Are you still there?”

            “Yeah, I’m still here. Sorry, dropped the phone.” Maddy lied.

            “Okay? Who is this? Wait, this wouldn’t be Maddy. The girl who shooed me off at the parking lot and pretty much forced me out her front door, would it?”

            Maddy lightly chuckled. “Yes, it’s that girl.”

            “So I see you found my number huh?”

            “Why did you hide the paper in my duffle bag? You know you could’ve just given me your number in person?”

            “Well I didn’t feel I had that option when you were blaming me of sleeping with you on the first night we met and how forceful you were to get me out of your presence.”

            “Whatever. I’m not starting something over this. I just wanted to call cause I think I’m coming home early from vacation.” Maddy sat up on the bed and clenched the phone accidentally pushing a button.

            “What was that?”

            “What?”

            “That beep? Do you have another call waiting?”

            Maddy pulled the phone from her ear and looked at the screen, “Nope….oh I must’ve pushed a button on accident. Sorry.” Maddy released her tight grasp and laid back down on the bed. “I was just wondering if you were interested in joining me for dinner late tonight. I won’t be home till nine or so but I think I’m ready to take on the world.” Maddy bit her lip in embarrassment. She did not mean for that to come out.

            “What was that?”

            “I’m just ready to come home.”

            Gregg chuckled, “Okay sounds good, see you then.”

            Maddy laid on the bed wondering whether or not coming home would be the best idea but she knew she had to do something spontaneous and leaving vacation to join the world again was pretty spontaneous for her, especially inviting a man she has met only twice over for a late-night dinner.

            Maddy checked out with all of her baggage and made the three-hour trip back home. The entire drive Maddy sat in silence, no radio or cd playing. Sweat beaded up but stayed pooled in her matted hair she had reluctantly forgotten to style on her way out of the hotel. Her right hand laid on the base of the steering wheel while her left hand rested, hanging out the window. Her body was giving her mixed signals. Her mind running with plans and ideas of how to handle tonight’s dinner with Gregg while her body seemed at peace with things.

            Maddy pulled up into her driveway to find that Gregg’s car was already there but he was not in in it. Maddy pulled her phone out of her pocket, as she stayed nestled in her driver’s seat, disinclined to get out until she knew where he was.

            “Hey”

            “Hey, where are you?”

            “You told me that you wouldn’t be home till nine tonight, it’s only seven thirty. Are you okay?”

            “Yeah, it’s just that I see your car parked outside my garage and you’re not here.”

            “Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you that I had my friend pick me up from your place so I could grab some food from dinner while catching up with him. Is that okay?”

            Maddy unbuckled her seatbelt and switched the phone from her left ear to her right, “Oh, yeah, that’s fine I guess.” She opened her driver’s side door and got out, “Wait, you’re getting stuff for dinner?”

            “Yeah, I thought I could make you dinner tonight.”

            “At my house?”

            “Is there something wrong with that?”

            “Uh, well, I’ve never had someone make me dinner at my own house.”

            “Then I’ll be your first. It’ll be fun. I promise. See you at nine.”

            “Oh, okay. Bye.”

            Maddy ran inside in a panic ignoring her two duffle bags she threw off to the side of the front door. Her first instinct was to scramble around wiping down the counter and stovetops to give a cleaner and more spacious environment for him to cook but as she grabbed a wet rag and rang it out in the sink, she stopped herself and remembered to be more spontaneous. Maddy had never really achieved spontaneity but she was going to try, whatever that meant. She made herself set down the rag, and sit down on the couch, and just wait for Gregg to knock on the door.

            Maddy could hear a car pull into her driveway and two men start talking.

            “Thanks man.” A car door shut. “Catch ya later.”

            Maddy stood up from her couch and reached for the door handle to open the door before Gregg could even knock. She watched Gregg’s friend speed off in a green pick up.

            “You just gonna stand there or are you gonna help me out?” Gregg chuckled and bent down to grab the last bag of groceries off the pavement.

            “Oh, I’m sorry.” Maddy left her front door open and ran over to help Gregg. “So, what’s for dinner?”

            Gregg stood by the front door and motioned Maddy to go first, “I thought we’d enjoy lovely lobster bisque tonight.” He stepped inside her living and followed her to the kitchen. “How does that sound?”

            “Great! I love lobster!

            “Good to hear” Gregg smiled and walked towards the front door. “Could you start boiling a pot of water on the stove for me?” Gregg pushed the front door shut.

            “I thought you were cooking me dinner tonight?” Maddy smiled and placed her hands on her hips.

            “Well excuse me for asking for a little help.”

            They both laughed and joined each other in the kitchen. Maddy bent down, grabbed one the larger iron pots from her cabinet, and filled it up with water.

            “I’m glad you came over.”

            “I’m glad you invited me.” Gregg placed the lobster in the boiling pot of water and added some salt. “Didn’t think I’d ever be seeing or hearing from you again.”

            “Why’s that? You left your number on a piece of paper for me. You had to think I would call sooner or later?”

            Gregg glanced back at Maddy with a smile and shrugged. “I guess I just hoped you’d call.”

            While Gregg began draining the water from the lobster pot Maddy excused herself for a minute as she headed into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She sat down on side of her bed and pulled out Gregg’s number on the wrinkled receipt. She stared at it for a minute and then smiled. “Be spontaneous.” Maddy said under her breath. “You can do it.” She stood up and walked back out to join Gregg in the kitchen.

            “I’m going to set the table okay?”

            “Sure, dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”

            Maddy began to set the table for two. “Would you like something to drink?” She walked over to her wine cabinet and lifted a bottle of Château Léoville Barton. “I’ve been saving this for a special occasion.”

            Gregg smiled and nodded, “Of course, I would love to share some with you.”

            Maddy walked into her living room and set up her old record player and placed Lionel Richie’s 1982 record of Truly. Maddy could not help but smile and start to sway back and forth.

            “Is that Lionel Richie?”

            “I use to play this song over and over again when I was in high school and dreamt that I was all dressed up in fancy ball gown, dancing with Eric Green, our football quarterback, while this song echoed over the entire football field.

            Gregg laughed and walked around the corner into her living room. “Is that so?”

            Maddy smiled back at Gregg and then closed her eyes and started swaying back and forth again. “Shh, I love this part.”

            Gregg came up behind Maddy, placed his hands on her shoulders, and began to sway with her. She turned around and looked up at him.

            “Are you going to be my Eric Green?”

            Gregg lowered his hands and set them on her waist. “I can be whatever you want me to be.”

            “Be spontaneous.”

            Gregg smiled, “What was that?”

            “Oh, nothing.” Maddy lifted his hands from her waist and intertwined her fingers with his.”

            The song began to dim down but Gregg and Maddy continued dancing in her living room. She unbuttoned the top two buttons on his dress shirt and rested her head on his chest.

            Maddy looked up at Gregg and smiled “They were in the way.”

            Gregg stepped back, “We better serve dinner before it gets cold.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Maddy said nothing. “I’m sorry, was that too quick?”

            She bit her bottom lip and twisted her hair around her index finger. “No.”

            “C’mon, let’s go sit down and enjoy our lobster dinner.”

            Gregg grabbed Maddy’s hand that was entangled in her hair and lead her towards the dining room table. He pulled the chair out for her and she sat down readjusting her seating after he walked away.

            “Dinner was delicious,” Maddy set her fork down. “Where did you learn to cook like this? I mean seriously, this was fantastic!” Maddy fiddled with her fork until it was straight.

            “Thanks. My mom use to make me cook dinner for the family every Thursday night. I guess I just got good at it.” He smiled and stood up holding his plate in his left hand. “Can I take your plate for you?”

            Maddy scoot back in her chair and lifted the napkin from her lap, “Sure, thank you.”

            “Is there something wrong?”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Well you’re just sitting there playing with you fork and napkin. Did I miss something?”

            “Oh, no. I’m sorry I just do those things out of habit. It’s not you.” Maddy forced a reassuring smile and stood up from her chair. “I’m just going to freshen up in the bathroom,” She pushed in her chair and aligned it with the others. “I’ll be right back.”

            She stared at herself in the mirror. “What are you doing?” She whispered to herself as she watched her lips move in the reflection. “Be spontaneous!” Maddy stood up straight and brushed out the wrinkles in her blouse then left the bathroom with a smile.

            “Gregg?”

            Gregg turned around from washing the dishes. “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot. You like to do the dishes your own way.” He backed away from the sink. “Here ya go.”

            “No, it’s not that.” Maddy looked down at her feet that seemed unsteady, “Would you like to spend the night?”

            Gregg looked back at the dishes in the sink, “So I’m guessing you want me to do the dishes then?”

            She chuckled, “Sure Gregg, if that’s what you want.”