Page 26 of Fragile Love (Fragile 3)
“You know me, I’ve got to have something to do. Not being able to move a lot is killing me. Before too long, I might pick up one of your encyclopedias and see how far into it I can get.”
Lillian pulled out a kitchen chair for him. “Leftovers?”
“Sounds good.” He leaned his crutches against the table. “Have you heard from my parents?”
“Your dad sent me a text when they were at the airport. Did they talk to you?”
“They sent me a photo of the toilet in their hotel room.” He snorted. “Can you believe it? They’re in Europe and that’s what they found fascinating enough to take a photo of.”
“It doesn’t surprise me. That’s very, well, it’s very them.” Lillian giggled, and took a bowl of leftover spaghetti out of the microwave. “Here. Eat up. I’m doing mine now, so don’t even ask.”
They made light conversation for a while until Lillian saw the time. “Oh, crap. It’s later than I thought.” She stretched her arms and took their bowls to the sink. “I have a little work to do, unfortunately.”
“Now?”
“Yeah. I was procrastinating earlier. It seems like the emails never stop.” She groaned, and put the dishes in the dishwasher. “I’ve got this one client here who is really into organizing. She always has a binder that’s literally full of new ideas to show me every time I go to her house. And she emails them to me as she finds them, too.”
“How do you handle that?”
“I respond the same every single time. Tell her they’re all great ideas and we’ll go over it when I see her next. Which thrills her, of course.”
“Can you tell her to stop?”
Lillian shook her head. “She’s really sweet, and I don’t want to crush her.”
“You’re too nice.”
“I give special privileges to clients who have been with me for a long time. There are a few—this woman included—who have known me since the week I moved here. They’re all great; I’m really lucky.”
“I hear this woman in Los Angeles loved you, too.”
“Ah, Katharina. She’s something else. She can come across as a little...” She looked for the word. “Maybe intimidating isn’t quite the right word. She has a really strong personality and is the type of person whose bad side you do not want to be on.”
“Sounds scary.”
“Not really. She’s a hoot. I hope I get to see her again one day. If she had her way, I would move over there right now.”
“Maybe you should let her have her way.”
“We’ll see.” She refilled Andrew’s water glass and handed it to him. “Oops. I’ll carry this for you.”
“Thanks.” He stood, and carefully positioned himself on his crutches. “You don’t realize how much you take for granted simple things, like carrying a glass of water and walking at the same time, until you can’t do it.”
“We take a lot for granted that we don’t even realize,” Lillian added, seeing him to the room. “I’m glad you’ve been resting so much. Tomorrow we’ll do something outrageous: go outside to the back porch for a while!”
Andrew gave a fake thrilled grin. “And touch sunlight? I can’t wait!”
“It’s going to be awesome!” Lillian lightly hit his shoulder. “The encyclopedias are waiting. Read yourself to sleep. Call for me anything, okay?”
“I have a feeling I’m about to be out for a few hours.”
“If you fall asleep now, you’re going to be awake for the entire night.”
“My sleep schedule is already screwed up, Lillian. I was unconscious for two days.”
“Good point. But we still need to get you back into a normal routine.”
“It’ll happen in time.”
