The Simplest Thing in the World

The next morning I awoke to a light prodding. I opened my eyes to see Harold standing above me. He wore a friendly smile, not that I really deserved one.

“Wake up, Celia. Time to get ready for school.”

“School?” I groaned.

He started toward the door, “Of course, school. Come along then. I’ve fixed you a bit of breakfast. Get dressed.”

I crawled out of bed as the door closed behind him and fished through my suitcase sleepily. I put my phone on speaker and listened to my one voicemail. It was from Sean.

“Hey, baby. I miss you. God, it’s only been what? A day or so since I last saw you. It feels like an eternity. I hope you’re getting around okay and everything is going well.” Going well, ha. As if it could go anyway but. “We’ve got school tomorrow. Obviously…I mean, it is Monday, but hey Spring Break isn’t too far away I guess, only about a month.” He sighed into the phone. “I’m sorry. I’m rambling. I was hoping you’d pick up the phone, but it’s probably about…two AM there right now, isn’t it. I just want to hear your voice. I love you, Cee. Call me when you get the chance. Bye.”

I pulled on a pair of nice blue jean along with a nice striped sweater and flats and headed to the bathroom to finish my hair and makeup. I hoped and prayed Ruth would still be in bed. She normally slept all day from what I could tell anyway. Why would today be any different? That would be my luck though. Once making myself presentable, I made my way to the kitchen where Harold stood at the stove scrambling some eggs. He noticed me standing in the doorway and gestured to the table.

“Sit. Sit.”

I did. I watched him go about the kitchen like a madman doing too many things at once. He watched the eggs, toasted a piece of bread, and fried some bacon. There was also a stack of pancakes on the back burner. I resisted the urge to let my jaw slack. There was so much food. Within minutes, Harold had made my plate up and tossed it in front of me. Before me was a stack of five silver dollar pancakes, scrambled eggs, a pile of bacon, and two slices of toast with jelly. He then managed to set down a glass of chocolate milk in front of me as well. I stared at him. He stared back expectantly, waiting for me to eat.

“Well, tuck in! Tuck in!”

Not wanting to be rude, I started eating on the eggs and nibbling on some toast. When all was said and done, my plate still had three pancakes and a few slices of bacon left on it.

“Did you not like it?” Harold asked.

“No, no!” I said defensively. “It’s just…I don’t normally eat that big of a breakfast.”

He looked confused as if he assumed every teenage girl ate like a fat man at Denny’s.

“Oh, well…what do you normally eat?”

I glanced down sheepishly, “Nothing.”

He looked appalled, “Nothing! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, missy! While you’re here, you will eat breakfast. I admit, I may have gone overboard since I don’t have knowledge of your appetite, but you’ll have to eat something.”

I almost laughed at his genuine concern for me, and then nodded my head.
“Alright, I promise I will,” I told him.

He smiled, cleaning up the dishes from his morning escapades. He then turned toward me, clapping his hands together, “Well now. Shall we get going?”