Page 124 of Untouchable

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The voicemail is waitingfor him on Monday afternoon, after Harp finishes walking the northern borders of the property. If he's going to get the place ready for winter, it needs to be now and not under several feet of snow when it's too late.

He presses play, expecting to hear a stupid robocall—and sure enough, it's a robotic voice on the answering machine, starting mid-sentence and emphasizing the oddest syllables.

"—eminder for Morton Harper. Your appointment at 4 p.m. on Thursday, November 23, through Rocky Mountain Bodywork Center has been cancelled. Please call (555) 704-9344 if you wish to schedule a new appointment... This is a reminder for Morton Harper. Your appointment at—"

What the fuck. What the fuck?

So that was it.

Well, he can’t blame Parker.

The answer is "no." Parker can’t stomach what Harp had done to Cherry and who he'd really turned out to be. It isn’t surprising. In fact, Harp is glad for it. Parker will be much better off with someone his age without so much damage.

And it’s definitely easier to let Harp know this way than any other. And it isn’t like Harp had exactly been warm at the end. He doesn’t deserve more than a robocall.

He's been preparing for this for two days. It's not the end of the world.

It's not—Harp decides—even a big deal.

But he does need to see a new massage therapist. Ignoring the fact that he knows Parker's extension, he dials the number for the main desk.

“Rocky Mountain Bodywork Center, Mindy speaking, how can we get you on the path to wellness?”

"Hi, I'm an existing patient and I just got a call about my appointment being cancelled. I think I need to find a new therapist?"

“Hm, okay, that doesn’t sound right. What’s your name? I’ll look up your account and figure out what’s going on.”

"Uh, it's Harper? Harp. Is this Mindy? I think we've met."

“Hm.” There’s a long pause from Mindy. When she speaks again, her voice is still professional, but significantly cooler. “Harp, you said? I don’t think I see you in our system. Can you spell that for me?”

"H-A-R-P-E-R..."

Another pause. “Oh.Morton?”

Harp cringes. "Yes. Yeah. Morton Harper."

“Oh. Yes, we have met. There you are.” Harp can hear her typing. “Are you referring to your appointment on Thursday, November 23rd?”

"That's correct," Harp says, sweating it and not knowing why she's drawing it out like this.

To punish you,he realizes. Because of what you did to Parker.

“I’m afraid it’s too late to schedule a house call for this week. House calls must be made at least a week in advance. But if you wanted to come in on Wednesday or Friday, I can see if any of our on-call therapists have openings.”

"Why not... just on Thursday? Is there no one else available thisweek?"

“The office is closed. The automated message left on your machine should have left the details. We’re back to normal hours on Friday.”

"The office—but..." Harp feels like he’s doing long division in his head as he tries to make sense of Mindy’s words. "Parker didn't cancel my appointment?"

“We don’t make our therapists work on Thanksgiving,” she says, her words clipped.

"Oh Jesus—it's f— damn it," Harp says, tripping over his own thoughts. He would've sworn up and down that Thanksgiving was next week. He'd just assumed that Parker would be coming up to see him on Thursday if he didn't hear from Parker sooner than then. And now... Oh, damn it.

Maybe not all hope is lost, he realizes with something approaching joy.

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