Daddy Issues

9 - Great job

Though the prospect of fixing the fence got me suddenly excited, I start to feel a little self-conscious again, now that I'm alone in the car with Dan. I wouldn't normally do this. Not with my mom, and definitely not with some guy I don't know.

Maybe this was all a mistake. I bet it's going to be awkward. It's a 15 minute drive to the hardware store and already the silence in the car is broken only by the vaguely familiar tune Dan's whistling. I mean, what would we even talk about? All I know about him is that he likes to screw my mom and that he's bad at handiwork and good at cooking and all he knows about me is... well, whatever mom told him.

I'm the worst with awkward silences. Even if it doesn't seem to be awkward for Dan, because he taps his fingers unbothered on the steering wheel, in beat with his whistling. For lack of a better subject, I decide to ask him about it.

'What's that song you're whistling?'

'Don't tell me you've never heard of the Rolling Stones', he says, immediately offended.

'The Rolling what now?' I ask innocently, to taunt him some more.

'Oh, come on', he says, throwing me an exasperated look before returning his attention to the road. 'Sympathy for the Devil, Paint it Black, Satisfaction...'

'Doesn't ring a bell. Think you could sing it for me?'

He's about to throw me another look full of disbelief when he catches the look on my face.

'You're messing with me.'

'Obviously I've heard of the Rolling Stones, Dan.'

'I was about to get worried.'

He flashes me a grin that's surprisingly bright, so I can't help but smile back. Even after all the embarrassment of last night, somehow this man is still easier to be around than my own mother.

'So what kind of music are you into?' he asks me.

'Oh, a little bit of everything, I guess. Though preferably things that came out in the current century.'

'This again? You really gotta stop calling me old, I have feelings, you know.'

'I never called you old before', I protest.

'No? How 'bout last night? Remember you asked me if I get my senior discount yet?'

I cringe internally, thinking back to last night. I was just starting to feel at ease with him, I don't need to be reminded of the things I said last night.

'I thought you said you'd forget about everything that happened last night.'

'Oh, I did say that, didn't I?'

He throws me another short glance. The twinkling in his eyes tells me that despite his promise to forget, I haven't heard the last of it after all. Something in my eyes must be telling him that I really take no pleasure in it, because his tune has changed when he opens his mouth again.

'Don't be too embarrassed', he says earnestly. 'We all say stupid shit when we've had too much. And I gotta say, you're a pretty funny drunk. Beats your mom, she just gets very sentimental.'

'You've seen my mom drunk?' I ask him disbelievingly. I remember the last time I saw her drunk. It was just after dad had left and it wasn't a fun experience. I didn't think she ever allowed herself to let go like that ever again.

'Of course I've seen your mom drunk', he says adamantly. 'Haven't you?'

'Not in a long time.'

Dan has his eyes on the road, so I dare to steal a glance at him and study him a little closer. He seems different than mom's usual boyfriends. Though I really can't say for certain because I didn't get to know them. Not any of the ones that came after I left the house, anyway. But there's something easy-going about him that I just can't really match up with my mother. But they say opposite's attract. Maybe that's why they seem to work.