Life Resumed

"No, if anything, you're better off than Mark is. At least you weren't injured. You have the rest of your life ahead of you and no injuries to limit what you can do. I heard you were an Officer. You could have got your shit together and maybe done something about what those bastards did. At least you could have continued in your position and helped keep our country safe but you just quit and ran away to cry in your booze. Maybe next time you want to chew someone out you should look in the mirror and do it!"

Nicole turned and stomped down the boat to the brow and onto the pier. Carl sat in shock. Long after she was gone he remembered her words, her anger and even the tears he saw running down her cheeks. He was seething but Carl had always been an honest man. He was deeply moved and embarrassed by the contempt he saw in her eyes. What Nicole had said was true but...Dammit all he had ever wanted was wrenched from him. Charlotte was perfect, his soul mate and they were so happy. With a start he realized something else. Al Qaida had taken her from him but HE had taken the rest of his life from himself. HE had just quit and left the only career he had ever been interested in. He was a quitter. At least Mark had gone down fighting. Carl had just walked away from what was left of his life.

Dottie had been outside sitting around the pool when she saw Nicole go onto the boat. She had seen the young woman off and on for several months and remembered she lived nearby. Dottie smiled to herself. Perhaps Carl had met her and something was developing. Perhaps the young woman would succeed in pulling him from his despair and out of his grief.

Dottie was shocked and a little worried when she heard Nicole yelling at Carl. Dottie was about halfway to the boat when Nicole stormed off and almost ran down the beach path toward her home. Her face was red and her expression showed her anger. Dottie was worried about how Carl had taken what she heard Nicole say. Much of what Nicole said was what Dottie had been thinking but had been scared to say to Carl. He needed to hear those words but was he ready for them?

Dottie walked to the edge of the unkempt yard and stood watching Carl. He seemed upset, yet there was a different look on his face. He looked thoughtful. Dottie felt hope surge in her chest and turned back to her chair and the book she had been reading. She thought she had recognized the young woman and made a mental note to look her up in the next day or two to see how she had met Carl. Dottie felt a little guilty also because she recalled her brother was a disabled veteran and she had heard they were having trouble paying their rent. Maybe she could kill two or three birds with one stone. She would have to talk to Tolliver this evening to see what he thought about her idea.

Early the next morning Dottie was sitting poolside with her first cup of coffee when she once again saw Nicole walking along the path. She watched as she went onto the Catamaran and listened as she knocked on the door and asked if anyone was there. She knew Carl was sleeping in his apartment but Nicole did not know that. Dottie decided this would be a good opportunity to visit with the woman and rose to meet her at the Catamaran.

Nicole had already left the boat and was coming up the path when Dottie got to the head of it. She smiled and said, "Good morning. I saw you talking to Carl yesterday. Did you come back to see him or is there something I could do for you?"

Nicole blushed faintly and said, "Oh, I hope I didn't upset you. I'm afraid I lost my temper and said some things I shouldn't have said. I was hoping to find him and apologize. He helped me the day before and I stopped to thank him again when I saw him on the boat yesterday. He had been drinking and I'm afraid I said some things I shouldn't have..."

Dottie smiled and said, "I heard what you said and except for the reference to your brother you didn't say anything I hadn't wanted to say to him. He needed to hear what you had to say. I'm not sure he wanted to hear it but he needed to hear it. I'm afraid he's still in his apartment. Would you like to have some coffee with me while we wait for him to get up?"

"Oh, I couldn't. I don't want to impose. I can come back later but I'm afraid I didn't sleep well because of what I said and I wanted to apologize."

"Nonsense! I have plenty of coffee and it's a beautiful morning. Come on, have a cup and enjoy it with me. Besides I want to know how you met Carl."

The two women sat and began talking. Nicole explained how she and Carl met and Dottie told her more about Carl and her fears for him. Nicole finally said, "I really need to be going. Our landlord evicted Mark and me. Today is our last day here and I have to move on. I think we have enough money for gas to get us to Miami. I have a cousin there that has agreed to put us up for a week or so until we decide what we are going to do." She started crying and continued, "I really hate to leave. Living here was our parents dream. We kept their house after they died but lost it because even together we didn't make enough to pay the mortgage after Mark was injured. The man that bought it let us keep living there in the guest house and pay rent but after I lost my job we can't even afford that."

Nicole stood and smiled down at Dottie. She said, "Please tell Carl I'm sorry for what I said. I need to go now. Thanks for the coffee."

Dottie stood and reached for Nicole. She laid her hand on Nicole's arm and said, "Wait please. There are too many homeless people in this country and I hate for that to happen to you. Besides, the thought of turning a disabled veteran out in the streets just makes the thought worse to me. I have a proposition for you. This used to be a hotel as you know but when we got older we got tired of operating it. We quit taking guests almost three years ago and now just use it as our home. There are thirty four rooms just going to waste. Why don't you and Mark move into two of them? They are all still furnished and most have a refrigerator and microwave."

"Oh, we couldn't. We can barely buy food with his pension after he sneaks out money for his booze. I know we couldn't pay you enough rent to even live in one room for a month much less two."

Once again the two women sat and had another discussion. This time the discussion was somewhat spirited with Nicole refusing to let Dottie give her and Mark the rooms rent free and Dottie insisting she was going to do that. Finally Dottie had an idea Nicole could live with. Nicole agreed she would work around the motel doing yard work, cleaning both apartments and running errands as payment for their rooms. She finally left, still not seeing Carl, to get Mark and their belongings.

When Nicole returned to the motel with Mark Dottie met them in the office with a smile. She had her keys with her and led them up the stairs to the rooms. She explained legally Carl owned half and she and her husband Tolliver owned the other half. They had informally agreed to 'split' the building by wings. Carl's wing was the east one, theirs the west. Downstairs the lobby, restaurant and bar were in the center and were 'common ground'. Upstairs were rooms running the length of the front and down both ends of the "U" shaped building. The pool was in the courtyard between the wings of the building. They had kept it and the Hot Tub operating for their personal use. Mark and Nicole were welcome to use them also.

For some reason Nicole liked the room on the east wing near the bay and Mark the one on the west wing overlooking the bay. Both had balconies overlooking the garden and were bright and cheerful. Of course both were very dusty and musty smelling because they had not been used in almost three years but Nicole set to work correcting that problem. She even managed to get Mark to help some cleaning his room.

It was three days before Nicole saw Carl and then the meeting didn't go well. She had cleaned hers and Marks rooms the day they moved in. The next day she cleaned Dottie's and Tolliver's apartment. She was going to do Carl's that day. She waited until nearly eleven a.m. then gave up waiting on him. She knocked on his door until he finally answered. He was sleep tousled and bleary eyed when he opened the door.

Nicole could see clutter everywhere in the room behind him. She sighed to herself and thought 'at least it isn't the pigsty I expected'. Carl looked at her for a moment then snarled, "What do you want? Do you always just come barging in where you're not needed waking people up?"

Nicole felt another surge of anger and clenched her jaws, fighting the harsh words she wanted to speak down. She looked Carl in the eye and said, "I'm here to clean your apartment. Dottie hired me to clean and take care of the place and I intend to do just that. I'm supposed to clean and do the yard work in return for a room for myself and Mark. We were evicted from our house because we could not afford to pay the rent and Dottie let us live here and work for our rent."

Nicole pushed past Carl carrying her cleaning supplies. She sat them down in the kitchen and looked around her trying to decide where to start. Finally she decided to strip the beds and do the bedroom and bathroom first then move into the rest of the house. She turned to Carl and said, "I'm going to start on the Master Suite. If you want to dress do it now."

Carl stood glaring at her. He was so shocked at her actions and statement he was at a loss for further words. Finally he said, "I didn't need any help and Dottie had no right to send you here. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Nicole laughed and looked around once more then said, "Yeah, right. If that's the case why does your apartment look like this? Why do you look like death warmed over and why are you as skinny and weak as you are? I'd say you needed help and I'm here to give it. Besides, I have to do this to pay my rent and I intend to do it whether you want me to or not. If you won't let me do it now I'll just come back when you're gone and do it then."

"Shit. Fuck," said Carl. He grabbed his bottle and walked angrily out the door. He lay in a hammock tied to trees near the pool, took a long pull on his scotch and lay back. Before long he drifted off to sleep once more. Nicole turned and began her task. Except for a fast lunch she worked until nearly six p.m. before fatigue forced her to stop. She was still not satisfied with the condition of the apartment but decided to finish it the next day.

It was well after dark before Carl came wandering back from wherever he had spent the day. He was not completely drunk but like most days he was well over the legal Blood Alcohol limit had he been driving. When he entered his apartment he stopped and stared. He could not believe how much better it looked. He felt yet another surge of sorrow and disgust at himself for letting it go as he had. Now he had made a really pretty nice woman wallow in his mess to make it better. Oh, well, he'd think about that more later. He stumbled into his bedroom and collapsed onto his bed. He fell to sleep almost immediately.

The next morning Nicole once more woke Carl about mid morning. She once again just walked past him and resumed cleaning where she had left off the night before. This time all Carl did was sigh in exasperation. He watched her for a moment then made a pot of coffee. When it finished he filled a large insulated cup and took it and a box of nearly hard donuts out to his hammock.

After lunch Carl was still sitting in the shade. Nicole came down from her room and began working in the courtyard. She was weeding, pruning and digging out dead vegetation. Carl watched as sweat ran down her face and her clothes became waterlogged. She was trying to dig out and uproot a small palm tree that had died. It would wiggle but not come out of its hole. She wrapped her hands around the tree once more and pulled. Carl could see the strain and effort she was exerting. All at once her hands slipped. Nicole let out a little squeak and rocked backward. She fell on her ass and then rolled to her back, her legs shooting up into the air. She had a shocked expression on her face, and then almost immediately it was followed by a look of chagrin and anger.

When Carl saw Nicole fall and the look on her face he couldn't help it. He broke out in a deep laugh. Nicole turned and glared at him. He was walking toward her and before she could say anything he held his hand out to help her up. He said, "Come on. Let me help you with that before you fall again and land on something without all that padding and really hurt yourself."

Nicole was shocked. Her face turned red and her mouth dropped open then the humor of the situation hit her and she laughed too. The two young people worked together for nearly a half hour before they got the tree out and the hole filled in. Both were muddy and sweaty when they finished.

Carl took her hand and led her over to the shower swimmers were supposed to use before entering the pool. He unceremoniously pushed her under the showerhead and turned on the water. He bent and rubbed down her feet and legs as the cool water sluiced over them. Nicole squealed at first when the cool water hit her but she acclimated and began rubbing the worst of the dirt off her upper body.

After Nicole was cleaner Carl stood and cleaned himself also. He smiled at Nicole once more and took a long run and dove into the pool. He swam a lap then turned on his back and just floated in the water in the deep end. Nicole watched as he seemed to go to sleep. Finally she walked into the pool also and relaxed draped over a pool noodle. The water was heavenly, just the right temperature to cool and relax.

Nicole floated a while then with reluctance she walked from the pool and climbed the stairs to her room and a hot shower. She decided she was done for the day. Carl was still floating the last time she looked out the window at the pool. He had been there for over an hour and it was dusk.

The next morning Nicole cleaned Dottie's apartment. She finished about eleven a.m. and went back to the courtyard to resume her labors there. Shortly after she started Carl came out with his coffee and a breakfast sandwich. He sat in his hammock and watched her as she labored away. After he finished his breakfast Carl stood and moved toward Nicole. Without saying anything he picked up the dead vegetation and pruned limbs and carried them to the refuse pile for her. They worked in silence until almost 1p.m. when Nicole stood, wiped her face and said, "Thank you Carl. I appreciate the help. I'm breaking for lunch now. See you later."

Carl's expression could, perhaps, have been called a smile even if it did look more like a grimace. He didn't say anything, just walked to the shower, cleaned off and once again dove into the pool. Nicole watched him dive in and glanced up at Mark's room. She was going to clean it in the afternoon. She was surprised to see him still sitting watching the courtyard. She had seen him there several times while she was working and expected to see him collapsed in his chair half drunk once more but he looked almost sober.

Over the course of the next two weeks Nicole worked her way around the grounds. She first did all she could to make the courtyard neat then worked toward the front of the building cleaning and pruning the rest of the flower beds too. Many days Carl would help her and once even Mark helped for a short time. Carl still drank more than she would like but at least he was only drinking in the evenings after they quit work. He would sit in the courtyard and look around with a pleased expression while he sipped from his bottle. She hadn't seen him drunk now for several days.

Finally she had done all she could do for the grounds and she began cleaning the office, lobby, restaurant and bar areas. To her surprise one day both Mark and Carl showed up and began helping her move the heavier furniture. They carried the heavy items to the dumpster, fetched her clean water and generally made themselves useful. At lunch Carl disappeared for a short time and returned with a bag of sandwiches from the local deli. He placed them on a table and walked into the bar. He opened one of the coolers and pulled a six pack from it.

The three young people sat and began eating and enjoying their beer. Nicole was almost afraid to say anything but finally she spoke. "Thank you both but...Why are you doing this. It's MY job."

Carl and Mark looked at each other and they both began to talk. Mark said, "Sis I can't let you pay for all my room with your work and besides, you needed the help. I'm sorry I've been such a shit."

Nicole was already tearing up when she heard Carl speaking. He said, "It's my home too and my building partly. You and Dottie and Tolliver have been doing all the work. You were right. I need to Man Up and do my share too. Besides, like Mark said, you needed the help. You would have never gotten that tree out by yourself." He laughed and continued, "Besides, you put on a good show when you fall on your ass."

"Well, never mind. Thank you both." Nicole was quiet during the rest of the meal. She was thinking about the past couple of weeks. She realized not only had Carl been helping more and drinking less but that Mark also was drinking less. He still mostly sat and stared into space but he was not drunk as much or as badly. He had also taken to keeping his apartment cleaner than he had in the past. She felt her spirit soar as she contemplated the improvements the two men had made in their lives.

It took four more days to get the public area of the building cleaned to Nicole's satisfaction. It sparkled now. On two of the days Mark or Carl or both of them showed up sometime during the day to help. On the final day both of the men were helping her carry and arrange the furniture once more. They finished mid afternoon. Nicole was smiling, her face glowing while she stood in the door to the restaurant, hands on her hips and looked around with pride. She could almost see guests filling the tables, laughing and enjoying their meals and drinks. She sighed and turned from the completed rooms thinking she would clean the unused rooms next even though Dottie told her she didn't have to.

Over the course of the next week Nicole began using the kitchen to prepare meals for her and Mark. They only used their rooms' refrigerators for cool drinks and the microwaves to heat snacks. Shortly after she had moved in she had realized the bar cooler and one of the restaurant freezers and refrigerators were kept in use for Tolliver, Dottie and Carl's overflow food and drink. They still used the business discount to purchase much of their food and drink in large quantities.

One evening Nicole invited Tolliver, Dottie and Carl to dine with her and Mark. She went all out on the meal preparing Scallops New Brunswick, rice pilaf and asparagus with Béarnaise sauce. They also had a nice garden salad and hot homemade French bread to go with it.

All were eating and enjoying the meal when Nicole sat back and looked around the table. She bit her lip, took a deep breath and said, "Dottie I know you decided not to run the hotel any longer because you wanted to retire but I wonder if you had given any thought to turning it into apartments? We could get ten or fifteen two bedroom apartments upstairs similar to the two you guys are living in down here. I would be willing to do the work and help rent them and"

Nicole glanced at Mark, licked her lips and continued, "And Mark could help around the office and maybe even with some of the maintenance...we could even offer cleaning service and even simple meals in the restaurant and maybe even reopen the bar. I would work all I could and I have some friends that might be willing to operate the dining and drinking establishment. We could open those to the public and make a go of it I'm sure."