The following week seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye. Sitting in his hotel room, true to his word, David called Sophie on Monday. He told her about his negotiations finally producing the results that he and Joe could live with. So now it seemed that their “baby” The Toxic Avenger the Musical was finally headed to an Off Broadway theater. They chatted for about half an hour. As he hung up, he realized that this also meant that it was time for him to go home.
As he drove his truck to Colts Neck that night, he could not stop thinking about Sophie. Her gentle smile, her soft touch, her shy kisses, her smell, her taste…
Ok Lemma! Snap out of it and concentrate on driving! He told himself after hearing an impatient driver’s honk and receiving a “Jersey Salute” for lingering at the intersection after the traffic light has changed from red to green. Since his divorce from April, he had been with many of women. He even managed to sustain a relationship with one of them for almost a year. But none of them had touched him so fast and so deeply as Sophie has managed to do.
He got home in one piece, and after locking up and re setting the alarm he made his way to the kitchen. Raiding the fridge, David threw together a sandwich and settled to eat. The first bite of his roast beef sandwich immediately brought back the memory of last night’s brisket dinner. Well, not as much as the dinner itself but the company. What was it about that brown eyed sparrow that got so deeply under his skin…? He glanced at his watch Damn after ten ! Too late to call her again. Guess I’ll have to wait till tomorrow to hear her voice again… Although Not too late to bother Kidd!
He dialed Jon’s cell and updated him on his “Broadway Quest”, laughed at Jon’s tales of woe about keeping Jake and Romeo out of the Christmas gift stash and the headache and triumph of finally getting something special for his “girls”. With a promise to stop by on Christmas Day, David said goodbye and finally went upstairs to try to sleep.
Thursday morning found David at Jon’s , wrestling with his honorary nephews and opening gifts in his family room. When all the gifts were finally opened and appropriately responded to, he helped Jesse clean up the mess. Later, after lunch, he joined Jon and Dot for a cup of “adult” Eggnog and a chat.
“Soooo David, what you been up to?” Dot asked him. “You’ve been unusually quiet lately”
David shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
“You know, same old… same old. I guess I miss the kids a bit more around this time of the year”
Dorothea nodded, reached out and squeezed his shoulder.
“So Bro, do you have any plans for New Year’s Eve?” Asked Jon. “Got anything or anyone special stashed up your sleeve?”
Noticing the dreamy look that came over David’s face, he cocked an eyebrow and pressed on “Spill Lemma!”
“Well, I sort of met someone over the weekend.” He said, smiling at his two friends whose eyes immediately focused on him. “So, no plans so far… but I’m working on it.”
Suddenly, they were interrupted by Romeo and Jake, who pulled their uncle David away to play.
David stayed around the Bongiovi house for few more hours, playing with the kids, chatting with the adults that came and went through out the day, enjoying the family atmosphere.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sophie’s Christmas was entirely different. She spent most of her day at the hospital working. Spending most of her time at Mrs. Gaskin’s bedside. The elderly woman had end stage of colon cancer and was receiving palliative care to keep her remaining days as comfortable as possible. On this morning, it seemed that no amount of pain medication or sedatives could keep Mrs. Gaskin comfortable. She became so restless that she was in danger of dislodging her IV’s and other catheters. In a last ditch effort, her nurse called Sophie in for a consult. In the first few hours Sophie tried almost every possible relaxation method that she knew without any effect. Even her favorite tool, the “M” technique, was not working. Exasperated, Sophie looked at her equipment cart that she brought with her. Her eyes came to rest on the CD boom box sitting on top of the cart. Smiling, she pressed the “Play” button and gasped as the sweet sound of “Kissed By An Angel” intro came thru the speakers. She has totally forgotten that she left her “Lunar Eclipse” CD in the player. Glancing back at her patient, Sophie was struck by the change that came over the aged face. Even though she still looked dazed and confused, Mrs. Gaskin stopped thrashing in her bed. Moving closer to the bed, Sophie reached for woman’s hand and restarted the “M” technique massage. Ten minutes later, by the time that “Lullaby for Two Moons” was coming to an end, Mrs. Gaskin was sleeping peacefully.
Driving home that afternoon, Sophie could not keep her thoughts off David. His evening phone call was becoming a very welcomed routine. She still could not shake off that surreal feeling that the last seven days were just a dream. Entering her house, Sophie got an enthusiastic greeting from Sasha. After petting him, she took care of his needs. She spent the next couple of hours on routine house chores. At seven o’clock her phone rang. Looking at the caller id and recognizing the now familiar “609” area code, she smiled and picked it up.
