A Date For the Summer

Chapter 3: Claire

Even on my days off, I set an alarm on my phone. I hate myself even more on days when I have stayed up late chatting with Geillis and drinking whiskey, like I did last night. The whiskey had caused some seriously weird dreams about Frank. But while part of me would love nothing more than to steel until noon, these were the days I had to tackle the important and mundane things such as laundry and bills and my half of the chores.

God bless Geillis, I thought while stretching. She never complains on the weeks she had to pick up my slack.

I did some mental math as I yawned, rolling out of bed. I wasn't too sure where my uncle was these days, but it was early enough here that I shouldn't be risking waking him up. I was fairly certain he was on "vacation" in Greece, if not Croatia. Still, a text message was a safer bet. I reached for my phone and typed out a quick message as I walked to the kitchen.

UP FOR A VIDEO CHAT LATER? X

I sat my phone on the counter and filled up the kettle, then grabbed some eggs and lox. My phone buzzed as I finished up scrambling the eggs. I pushed the screen with my elbow to see my uncle's response.

SURE LOVE. I'LL RING YOU AT 3 PM YOUR TIME.

SOUNDS PERFECT. GOT SOME EXCITING NEWS! X

I smiled as I put my phone down, digging back into my eggs and toast. I hadn't seen my uncle in nearly a year, when he last swung through the United States. He didn't care for Boston, but did love the rest of the Northeast. We spent some time in Maine on the coast in a peaceful cottage while I studied for some finales and he worked on his latest book.

My uncle had, more or less, been my father figure since I was 6. During the summer, my parents died in a car crash while on holiday in Ireland without me. They had taken a late honeymoon — conceiving a child out of wedlock and a shotgun marriage would do that to you. Still, from what everyone told me, they were ridiculously, sickeningly in love, and had loved me too. Which is why they waited until I was 6 before taking their honeymoon...they finally felt like they could leave me without worry.

Even after twenty some odd years, I was still partially bitter that they had gone on vacation without me, even while I logically knew it could have meant my own early death. They had left me at my Uncle Lamb's house, the only sibling of either of my parents. He has always been an eternal bachelor. Part of me believe it was because of his career, and part of me believed he didn't want to complicate my life any further. Either way, he had given me the best childhood I could have. Until 5 years ago he had spent his life traveling as an archaeologist, working on proving a correlation between the similarities of two ancient cultures on two very different continents. I had traveled with him, technically home schooled through an online program that was exhaustively easy. I learned more out on the digs and talking to the people my uncle worked with more than I ever had online.

And yet, I had craved stability. I had wanted to get a proper college degree. And I was intrigued by American culture as it was one I had never experienced. At least, that's what I pretend.

Five years ago my uncle decided to technically retire and write Indiana Jones-like novels. They're bestselling novels despite the heavy lean on the archaeology terminology. I have all of them, in various languages even. I can't help but be his biggest fan.

Strangely enough, after a lifetime of traveling for work and passion, he cannot sit at home to write a novel. He must travel to a new country as he works on each book. I think it's just an excuse for him to not sit at home, but whatever it is it works for him.

I smile briefly at some fading memory as I put my plate in the dishwasher and pull my hair up, making a mental checklist in my head of what I needed to get done today. Laundry, some bills to pay, lunch with my best friend Joe, grocery run. Talk to Uncle Lamb. Clean the kitchen. Sleep as much as possible. I had a nagging feeling I was missing something, but after a few minutes of pacing and wiping down the counter, I couldn't figure out what it was. Nothing important, I guess.

After loading up our dishwasher and running a few loads through the washer and dryer, I showered and got dressed for lunch with Joe. We have had a standing lunch date for years now, since we met in undergrad and had been paired up as biology lab partners. Occasionally his now wife Gail would join us, when she wasn't busy with her law practice. Or incredibly pregnant, as she currently was.

As the weather was getting warmer, I decided to walk over to our regular spot, a decent Korean place. Which is also next door to a great pizza place, in case one of us wasn't feeling like some kimchi. There is also a wonderful bench that gets just enough sunlight that I've studied many days on.

As it was my day off, and I had promised Joe that I would not study or do anything intelligent on my days off (especially where he could see me) I pulled out a worn out copy of an abridged Count of Monte Cristo. It has been my favorite book since I was a kid, and while I did prefer it in unabridged, it wasn't worth carrying around that big of a book. Joe tapped me on my warmed shoulder just as I was getting lost in prison with Edmund. "Hey!" I stood up and hugged Joe.

"Good afternoon, L.J.!" Joe laughed as he hugged me back. "It is good to see you out of scrubs."

"You as well! Especially the bloody ones from yesterday. I don't think I'll be getting that image out of my mind anytime soon. Unless you want to pretend it was pizza sauce?" I pointed to the pizza shop for emphasis. He nodded and gestured for me to lead. "How is your ER rotation going?"

"It's going well. I think I still want to stick with surgery, but I am actually loving the energy in the ER. Minus the number of kids who are shoving things up their nose." We both waved at the owner as we took our favorite booth. Joe paused midway sitting down. "My... kid is going to stick something up his nose for every time I laugh at a kid right now, isn't he?"

I laughed at that. I had seen my fair share of nose marbles and beans. "Remind me not to have children if that's the karma pay out?"

We looked over the menu before settling on our normal meals - veggie lasagna for Joe, a small pepperoni and mushroom pizza for me. The waitress took our menus as I fidgeted with my watch band. Joe noticed and nodded at my arm. "What's up?"

"Any chance Gail can do without you for a week or so next month whilst you accompany me to a wedding?" I flashed a charming smile, hoping that he could tell I was teasing.

"Who's getting married?" Joe munched on some bread.

"Frank," I sighed. Joe's eyes got wider. "He and Sandy are tying the knot."

"Wow. I guess that is a long time coming. And he invited you?"

I nodded, picking up a piece of my own bread. "He invited Geillis too, so I can't bring her as my plus one. Want to go hang out in London with us slightly buzzed for days on end to get through this while your wife is home with your first child, the heir to your family fortune and all things?"

"Not even a little bit," Joe laughed. "You forget, I know Frank. And his asshole of a twin brother, Jack. After what went down between the two of us, I don't think Frank would want my drama at his wedding."

I tried to smile at that, but he wasn't wrong. Jack had caused so much chaos, his parents had held his trust fund hostage until he came back to England. I shook my head, not wanting to relive those memories. "Yeah I definitely don't want to go alone to this with Jack being there. And there's no way Frank is getting married without..." Joe was shaking his head before I could finish my question.

But then he gave me a quizzical look. "Aren't you dating someone, L.J.? For a couple of months now? Can't you just invite him? What's his name again?"