Claudia's lukewarm acceptance of the invitation to the Thanksgiving feast and to take Todd to karate manages to bolster my spirits throughout the rest of the day, which can only be described as chaotic.

I spend most of it at the community center, working with Bev, an army of caterers and other staff members in a flurry of uncoordinated activity to ready the center for tomorrow.

My preference for order and disciplined action is challenged among the civilians. Rather than stirring the pot, though, I help out where I can and support Bev's attempts at organizing the different groups managing separate tasks.

It's midnight before I arrive home, exhausted. My upper thigh aches from the extended time on my feet, and I drop onto my couch and begin to rub it. Sometimes, the muscles bunch up and cause inflammation and irritation with the prosthetic. A quick massage and a few pills help, and an hour later, I'm flipping channels on the television.

It dawns on me that I haven't checked my messages all day. I retrieve my cell from the nightstand. There are a couple texts from Brianna, a long one from my sister, reminders from Bev and a note from Todd. I open his first.

OMG thank you thank you thank you!! I'll see you tomorrow.

I'd nearly forgotten about today's exchange with his sister. Her gaze had grown clouded when I asked about her unexpected change of heart then flat out devastated when I mentioned Todd was troubled.

Whatever is haunting both of them, I can't help wanting to know more. At the very least, I think Todd's new hobby will help him. Maybe it'll be enough to take some of the strain off of Claudia, too. If she's less worried about her brother, it's possible she'll loosen up around me a little and instead of bringing me coffee, we can go out together for a cup.

Then again, I'm not entirely certain I'm ready for that opportunity to materialize, but I am interested in her, more so than I think is normal for a near stranger.

I check Bev's cheerful reminders, read Katya's text-novel and then move to Brianna's. More from her about wanting to give our on-off relationship a new try, that she's going away on business but in January will ask me again, and so on.

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Replacing the cell, I can't help but compare the two women. One I need to let go of and one I can't wrap my mind around.

My only determination: I have a penchant for difficult women, and I'm fairly certain it's not a good thing.

My leg is sorer than usual the next morning and my limp more pronounced. I arrive to the community center around six to find Bev's staff already busy working. The whole building smells of food: turkey, pies and baked goods. Brunch food items are being shuttled into the main auditorium. The center opens up at nine with the feast lasting until eight at night. Brunch runs until the official turkey dinner begins at one.




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