We pulled back into her quaint little neighborhood, this time I was behind the wheel. I was a little bit nervous. Usually, I handled parents pretty well but with such a fabricated back story I was scared of slipping up in front of them and exposing myself. Her parents were waiting at the door as we walked in. They introduced themselves as Daniel and Pam.
Each of them held a worldly aura similar to Lola's. Something about them screamed that we are entirely different people but work incredibly well together. Their body language, mannerisms, and speech spoke volumes about their relationship. I could tell that they had come together as one and genuinely lived life.
Daniel was around average height and unintimidating. He wore round-framed glasses that seemed appropriate for his face and sported a nicely groomed beard with the occasional grey streak. A Patagonia flannel was his top of choice and some grey cargo pants and wool socks completed his look. If Lola hadn't told me he worked for the Air Force I would have assumed he was a college professor or avid outdoorsman author.
Pam stood around the same height as her husband and had incredibly kind features. She struck me as the mom who was everybody's second mother. Her hair sat just above her shoulder and was tucked back by a sporty headband. She wore a Patagonia quarter zip and some hiking pants with similar wool socks to her husband. Dang either this family had a borderline unhealthy obsession with Patagonia or somebody was sponsored I thought to myself.
"Nice to meet you Lincoln, we were planning on making a cajun pot mix for supper with andouille sausage, shrimp, potatoes, corn and such. That sound good to you?" Pam asked.
"Sounds great" I responded.
"Great Dan, and I will get it going right away. Lola also told us that you need a place to stay for a couple of days. You're more than welcome to crash in the guest bedroom downstairs. Lola can show you the way and you can get all situated and cleaned up."
"That's so kind of you, thank you so much" I offered back, beyond surprised by their hospitality. After checking out of my hotel that morning
I was pretty much down to sleeping in my car if Lola's family hadn't offered to put me up for a couple of nights. The thought of sleeping in my Porsche was weird enough for a light chuckle - wouldn't that be something.
A cool shower on my sunburnt skin sounded magical as soon as we finished up formalities I practically sprinted downstairs to the shower. Lola tried to keep up, directing me to my room with voice commands from behind.
"Left, left, left. Second door on the right."
She finally caught up to me as I was already half-naked and on my way to the shower. She laughed.
"Ah so excited to get in the shower, you must be a dirty grimy little boy. Are you all good? Need anything else?" She asked.
"Nope, I should be all set, thanks again" I shot back.
"Of course." She smiled "Shower up and be upstairs by 6:45, that's when dinner always starts."
She gave me a quick kiss through the opening in the door, turned on her heels, and skipped up the stairs. I retreated to shower shedding my final layer of clothing. I turned the shower on and debated if I wanted a soothing cold shower or a scorching hot one. Each had their pros and cons and I eventually settled for both, starting with cold and gradually cranking up the heat.
Even though my hotel room the previous night had been the nicest room the hotel had to offer their showers still had wacky pressure. It was nice to take a shower and not get pelted by beads of water traveling at dangerously high speeds. I stood there like a statue letting the water fall over me, cascading down the outline of my body. The sand swirled around on the bottom of the tub before making its way down the drain in an entrancing pattern like manner.
I dried off and put on some athletic shorts and a t-shirt. Dinner wasn't for another ten minutes so I decided to wander around their basement a little bit.
Their house was cozy. It felt like home, they had family pictures everywhere and the cliche wall decals with quotes you see on Pinterest. All of their furnishings were warm colors and very inviting. It's almost like you could picture them having a family game night or movie night every week. You could tell they were wealthy but that they didn't go out and buy the newest and latest of everything. They didn't live beyond their means as my dad would have said to me.
My phone buzzed, reminding me that it was almost 6:45. Supper time. I felt like the cartoon characters following the scent of food with their noses turned upwards sniffing excessively. The scent had found its way downstairs and as I approached the kitchen it overwhelmed me. They don't mess around with their seasonings here I guess. I sat down at the kitchen island and was joined by Lola and her 13-year-old brother Louis who I was told went by Louie. Dan and Pam said a little prayer and then we all dug in. When we weren't stuffing our faces we were talking about life, our respective families, and the future.
Trying to keep the attention off of myself and my fabricated life I fired off questions at Lola's parents.
"How did you and Pam meet," I asked Dan.
"Interesting story actually" Dan started. "I am originally from Oregon but throughout high school, I hated everyone and just wanted to get as far away as possible. I was also pretty smart and a hard worker. By some miracle, I got into Oxford University and was on the first flight outta the states. Pam here was two grades younger than me and from North Dakota and she attended Harvard. During her sophomore year, my senior year, she studied abroad in England and we ended up meeting. We started dating that semester and I moved back after I graduated, joined the Air Force to make a healthy living and we got married. The rest is history and just sort of fell into place and now here we are today"
"Wow that's like something out of the movies isn't it," I said.
"Yeah I got pretty lucky I would say," Dan said as he looked admiringly at his wife.
Not only did she look good for her age but she was an excellent cook. The cajun pot mix has surpassed all expectations and next was dessert. Pam had prepared some cornbread muffins with honey butter. I'm usually not a cornbread person but these were phenomenal, they were so dense and flavorful it felt like a sweet and rich flavor bomb had exploded in my mouth and had done a little dance on my tongue.
"So what do you guys do for a living now," I asked after washing down the excess muffin that had stuck to the roof of my mouth.
"I've moved into a permanent part-time position for the Air Force doing managerial work. I do most of that from home and then I'm also a creative project manager for a local creative lab here in Miami where young entrepreneurs can meet, design, create, and invent getting support from fellow experienced entrepreneurs and investors in the area," explained Dan.
"I'm currently working as the CEO of a national advertising company based out of Miami. I also dedicate a lot of my time to the non-profit we created after we got married. It aims to give girls in underprivileged areas an opportunity at an education," Pam followed up.
Damn, I thought in my head, is there anything this family can't do. They were out here working for the people and investing in education and youth. They had awesome jobs, awesome kids, an awesome house, they seemed to have it all.
"I've seen some of the pictures you guys have hanging around. Do you travel a lot as a family?" I asked
"Oh, we love to travel!" Pam responded, not missing a beat. "Because we each pretty much create our own schedule we can travel as much or as little as we want. We try to take a family weekend trip once a month and a big vacation a couple of times a year."
We talked for another thirty minutes or so about their most recent travels and their favorite destinations. They had each been to every state and all seven continents. I could certainly see where Lola got her adventurous spirit. It would have been difficult to not turn out the way she did given her parent's personalities and experiences.
After we finished cleaning up Lola announced that she was going to take me to the thrift shop to get some Hawaiian clothes for tonight's themed basketball game. I had forgotten there was even a game tonight. We were running a little late but Lola said she usually didn't show up until halftime anyways and we would still be able to bully our way into some good seats given we were seniors.
I thanked Dan and Pam for the meal once again, freshened up downstairs, and was back in the car in a matter of minutes. Lola joined me decked out in some vintage Hawaiian clothes and an excessive amount of leis. It almost felt like I was back home again, getting ready for Friday night lights and standing in a giant crowd for hours on end. I was starting to realize that maybe our lives were so different when it came down to it.