Waiting for You

I wake up the next morning with a sort of ache in my bones that I only get when I fall asleep on the couch. I look over at the TV that is just static. The cable box has shut off like it is supposed to. I run a hand through my mess of hair. I remember that I have to be at Karla's to mow her yard and to do other jobs around the house. Of course, that does not just mean yard work. It also means that if she asks me to do something else, it's in my job. I have to pick the weeds out of her garden, paint a room in her house, and the whole nine yards. I don't mind. She pays well.

I get up and walk to my bathroom and take a quick shower. I pull on some worn out pants that I wear only to work outside or to paint in. It has a hole placed perfectly at my knee. I pull on a lose shirt with a band logo of some rock band and head out the door. I know that I have to be there early if I don't want to be working out in the blaring summer heat.

I pull into her driveway ten minutes later. I live in the countryside of the town. I can tell that she isn't awake. Or rather not anyone is awake from the fact that there isn't a single light on in the house. I wonder if her sister knows that I am going to be here. I wonder if I should go up and tell them that I'm here. That would be weird though. I have never told Karla that I was here. She always woke up during the middle of the job, and she would let me take a break for a little bit with something to eat.

The only reason why I would want to go up to the door is because I want to meet Karla's sister. I guess I just want to meet 'the one'. I hate having to deal Kassie. I don't want to have an unstable relationship. I want something more stable, more sure.

I go to the back of her house to the shed that is almost fixed up. I have yet to paint the walls. I had to pull out a lot of the boards and place new ones in. The boards are still the color of the stain that I put on there. I have to come back with paint sometime to make it match the rest of the healthy boards that I didn't have to replace. I pull out the lawnmower and start to mow the front yard.

I get finished with the front yard when a woman steps on to the front porch. She has long brown hair with a light tan. She is drop dead gorgeous with her chocolate brown eyes. I look at her with a smile. I can feel the sweat dripping off my body. "Are you Karla's sister?" I ask turning off the machine, so I can hear what she is saying.

"Yeah, my name is Veronica," she says. She seems worn out and cautious. She has herself closed off. Her voice still has signs of sleep in it. I could tell that she had something on her mind. Quite possibly her daughter or her old home in the big city. "Do you have a name, lawn boy?"

"The name is Brian," I reply. "Nice to meet you." I can hear the enthusiasm in my own voice. I try not cringe because I hate how I sound when I get too enthusiastic.

"You can come in and take a break. Karla is making breakfast for all of us," she says before turning around and going back into the house. She holds the door open for me. I could tell that she was doing it out of good manners.

She is actually nothing like I would imagine her. I wonder what has her closed off, but it is really too soon for me to know or rather ask like I want to. Maybe I will get the chance to know her past. Maybe I will get the chance to get to know her more than Karla's sister, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't think I should get my hopes up just yet.

I wipe my face and follow her in. I head to the kitchen as she turns off into the hallway. I imagine she is going to get her daughter. I know that Karla has been excited to see her niece out here. I imagine she hated having to drive all the way to Los Angeles just to see her sister.

Karla didn't have any other family out in there. I believe she told me that the rest of her family is in upstate California, but they are just cousins who she only saw once or twice a year. She told me that she was only close to her sister other than her mother.

"Oh, Brian, you got here early," Karla says when noticing my presence.

"Yeah, I have to get things done. You know how I am. I am going to have to paint that shed. I am going to have to go in there and cut off some limbs out there," I answer.

"You always find something else to do, don't you?" she teases. "I think you just want my money."

"No, I just like to make this place look nice. We both know that this place is nice when it's fixed up. You know David couldn't take care of this place," I point out. "This house is old that needs some TLC. You just pay me for doing just that."

She laughs. "That's because you know exactly what to do to it. Adding to the fact that you are the only one who wants to help me out. I mean there are still a couple of guys out here who think that David is going to be coming back for me."

Her words make me come to a halt. It was the unspoken truth that we both knew that he was never coming back. Hearing her say that makes it that much more obvious that he is a fool. Everyone knows that he was a fool when he took the job. It became that much more obvious when we all realized how good of a person Karla is. I have never heard her say that isn't coming back to me. I also know that I can't say that he is coming back. We both know that I would be lying through my teeth.