Can't Get Next to You
Just You, Me and This Conversation.
“Alright, I’m here.” he says walking through Sutton’s front door. “You promised me if I came over tonight you’d tell me all about your family.” Duane says, with a half smile. Sutton gave a him a nervous laugh, “Geez, you just jump right in, you don’t even give a girl a minute to get warmed up!”
“No sense in wasting time.” he says, sitting down next to her on the couch. “Honestly, I don’t even know where to start.” she tells him, biting her lip; a nervous habit she’d picked up. Just then her phone notification beeped in the background, she looked up to gauge Duane’s reaction.
“No. No phones. Just you, me and this conversation.” he says sternly. She took a deep shaky breath and sighed again. The thought of telling anyone about her family made her nauseous. She never wanted anyone to pity her and she knew that Duane had a caring soul. Would he look at her differently after he knew?
“I was raised in a very wealthy family, my dad was a workaholic that was never home and my mom was a typical stay at home mom. My brother and I were very close, I would have called us best friends.”
Duane Lee nodded, urging her to continue. She bit her lip, not sure where to go from there. There... being the story she told most people when they asked about her family. Hawaiians were a very close knit, they loved their large families, everyone was an Auntie or an Uncle. That was hard for Sutton to come to terms with when she moved to the Island many years ago. She had no one.
“My dad James was and still is I guess, a corporate attorney. He never stops working, the man has worked Christmases and all the holidays in between for as long as I’ve been alive.” she tells him, a very solemn look coming over her face. “I really can’t remember spending a single Christmas morning with him. When I was a little girl I never understood why all my friends dad’s would be outside teaching them how to ride their new bikes and my dad was at his office... do you know that our neighbor taught me how to ride my bike? How sad is that?”
Duane puts an arm around her, pulling her closer to him. “I’m sorry baby.” he tells her as she takes a ragged breath and continues, “For years I would ask my mom every Christmas morning before we ever went downstairs to see what Santa had brought, if daddy would be home this time? I think I was more excited of the prospect of that than any gift I could have gotten.”
“Why do you think he worked all the time?” Duane asks. Sutton stared at her hands for a while as Duane sat by, wondering if she had even heard the question. “Babe?” he asked cautiously. “I couldn't really tell you. Maybe he hated my mom, maybe he hated his children. I truly don't know.”
“Do you have any happy memories with your dad?” he asks her. She thought back to all the time she spent with her dad and couldn’t remember a single fond memory. “We went to Disney World once...I think I had fun.” she says with a funny look on her face. Duane gives her a small laugh, “Life must have been pretty bad if you can’t remember having a good time at Disney World.”
Sutton stood up from the couch, “I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine, I think I might need it to tell the rest of this story.” Duane watched her from his seat on the couch, she moved with such grace that she reminded him of a breeze blowing through the curtains on a cool spring day. Could it be possible that he was falling for her?
“No sense in wasting time.” he says, sitting down next to her on the couch. “Honestly, I don’t even know where to start.” she tells him, biting her lip; a nervous habit she’d picked up. Just then her phone notification beeped in the background, she looked up to gauge Duane’s reaction.
“No. No phones. Just you, me and this conversation.” he says sternly. She took a deep shaky breath and sighed again. The thought of telling anyone about her family made her nauseous. She never wanted anyone to pity her and she knew that Duane had a caring soul. Would he look at her differently after he knew?
“I was raised in a very wealthy family, my dad was a workaholic that was never home and my mom was a typical stay at home mom. My brother and I were very close, I would have called us best friends.”
Duane Lee nodded, urging her to continue. She bit her lip, not sure where to go from there. There... being the story she told most people when they asked about her family. Hawaiians were a very close knit, they loved their large families, everyone was an Auntie or an Uncle. That was hard for Sutton to come to terms with when she moved to the Island many years ago. She had no one.
“My dad James was and still is I guess, a corporate attorney. He never stops working, the man has worked Christmases and all the holidays in between for as long as I’ve been alive.” she tells him, a very solemn look coming over her face. “I really can’t remember spending a single Christmas morning with him. When I was a little girl I never understood why all my friends dad’s would be outside teaching them how to ride their new bikes and my dad was at his office... do you know that our neighbor taught me how to ride my bike? How sad is that?”
Duane puts an arm around her, pulling her closer to him. “I’m sorry baby.” he tells her as she takes a ragged breath and continues, “For years I would ask my mom every Christmas morning before we ever went downstairs to see what Santa had brought, if daddy would be home this time? I think I was more excited of the prospect of that than any gift I could have gotten.”
“Why do you think he worked all the time?” Duane asks. Sutton stared at her hands for a while as Duane sat by, wondering if she had even heard the question. “Babe?” he asked cautiously. “I couldn't really tell you. Maybe he hated my mom, maybe he hated his children. I truly don't know.”
“Do you have any happy memories with your dad?” he asks her. She thought back to all the time she spent with her dad and couldn’t remember a single fond memory. “We went to Disney World once...I think I had fun.” she says with a funny look on her face. Duane gives her a small laugh, “Life must have been pretty bad if you can’t remember having a good time at Disney World.”
Sutton stood up from the couch, “I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine, I think I might need it to tell the rest of this story.” Duane watched her from his seat on the couch, she moved with such grace that she reminded him of a breeze blowing through the curtains on a cool spring day. Could it be possible that he was falling for her?