Chapter 73

Barbara Procasky picked up the enormous pile of papers before her on the table.  “I’m so glad we could expedite this process for you!” she smiled cheerfully as both John and Gennie rubbed their aching hands after having all but signed their lives away. She pushed the stack of official documents into a thick file sleeve and tucked it under her arm. Then with a beaming expression that neither of them realized was possible from someone who seemed to smile all the time, she held out a ring holding the house keys and dropped them into John’s hand. “Welcome back home to Buffalo.” She shook their hands and congratulated them once again, then quickly excused herself to dispatch the papers to the appropriate people, leaving the two new homeowners alone in the small conference room.

 “We own our own home, darlin’,” he said with a gleam in his eye.

 Gen nodded her head. “We do,” she smiled nervously. She was on that roller coaster again. Now that they held the keys, the next few days were going to be chaotic to say the least. She knew she was in for one wild ride. As if her life weren’t already in enough upheaval as it was, now she had this to think about too!

 “I say we start making some phone calls,” John uttered quietly. He took her hand and led her out the building and back to the car. “Do you feel all right? You don’t look so good.”

 “I’m fine,” she replied quietly, trying to hide her nerves, not letting him see her shaking hands. “I’m just a little…. overwhelmed, I guess.”

 “I know. It’s a big step, but we’ll be happy there. I really love the place.”

 Cruising down the road, she watched as he bobbed his head and drummed on the steering wheel to a song that only he could hear.  He was so contented right now that she felt confident that everything would be just fine.

 Instead of immediately heading to their new home, they returned to the apartment. Silently, they walked to the door, hand in hand. Once they stepped inside, they took a deep breath, smiled and walked in separate directions. Gen found a seat on the bed beside the phone, and John plopped down on the couch with his mobile phone. As he dialed up a string of sisters to tell them the news, Gen placed a call to her mother.

 “Mom? How’s it going?”

 “Fine sweetheart,” she answered, out of breath. “I was just outside doing some planting. We’re having beautiful weather, so I had to get some flowers in the beds, you know.”

 “That’s nice. Listen, Mom, I have some news… I, uh, we just bought a house.”

 “But you have a house! Why on earth do you need another one?” Helen sighed.  “He’s not going to be a star forever, you know. You should start investing that money instead of spending so frivolously. I don’t want you to have to worry about your retirement, dear.”

 “No, Mom, that’s not it…”

“I was just watching the news, Genevieve, and property values are at an all time high in California! What forever made you want to buy now? I thought you loved your home there!”

 Gennie rolled her eyes. “I do, Mom. But you’re not listening. We didn’t buy in California...”

 “Good heaven’s Gennie! Please tell me you didn’t go buying a ranch in Montana or Idaho or something crazy like that. I’ll never understand why celebrities feel the need to live in the boonies!”

 “No, Mom. We didn’t. We….”

 “Well, that’s a relief. I would hate to see you stuck out there with the cows and the potatoes!”

 Gen giggled. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that. We’re moving to New York.”

 “New York? I thought you hated New York?”

 “No, I don’t hate New York. But I’m not talking about the city; I’m talking about the state. We bought a house in Buffalo!”

 “Buffalo? Why?” Helen cried incredulously. “Isn’t it cold there? They get so much snow!”

 “Mother!” Gen groaned. “You know why. And it’s not that bad,” she said hopefully, trying to convince herself.

 “Well, I guess I can’t fault the boy for wanting to move back home. Everyone should go home eventually.”

 Gen puzzled over this last statement, wondering what it was supposed to mean. “So, anyway, Mom… We were wondering what you and Dad had planned for this weekend. We’re having a little… um… housewarming party. We’d love to show you our new home!”

 “That’s lovely, dear. But it’s rather short notice. Daddy and I are supposed to have dinner with the Allens on Saturday. Maybe we can try to come up sometime when the weather is a little nicer.”

“No!” Gen pleaded. “This is really important to us. Please, Mom?” She felt like a six year old reduced to begging as she was.

 Helen let go of a long, audible sigh. “Genevieve, do you have any idea how expensive it is to fly last minute like this? We aren’t all supported by a rock star, dear.”

 “Mother.” Gen spoke deliberately. “I know that it’s expensive. If you’d stop and listen to me for just a minute, you’d know what I was going to say.” She paused for effect, making sure her mother was really listening.  “John and I will fly you in. It’s not a problem. Don’t think you’re imposing. We’ve got money, and I don’t think this is spending it foolishly. Please, just call Mrs. Allen and tell her that you can’t make it. You and Dad would have a great time here!”

 “Gennie, why is it so important for us to be there? Can’t it wait?”

 “No, Mom, it can’t. This is important to us. Besides, you and Dad never go anywhere. You’re due for a little getaway. Just let us do this for you. Please.”

 Helen met her daughter’s words with silence as she mulled it over. It would be a nice getaway, but why on earth did it have to be to Buffalo in the winter? Getting out of dinner with the Allens would be easy enough; heaven knows Beverly had cancelled on them a time or two. The thing that just seemed wrong was in letting John buy the airline tickets. Lord knows they would be expensive, and it wasn’t like he was really family… they weren’t even married, for Pete’s sake! It was asking too much, in her mind. Suddenly, she realized that time was money on this long distance call and she quickly snapped out of her reverie. “We’ll see Genevieve. I’ll talk to your father tonight.”

 “Oh, Mom. Please say you’ll do it! I know you have issues with the money thing. Really, though, it’s no big deal and I mean that. We’d like you to come in on Friday. Dad works half days then still, right? It won’t even be an inconvenience!”

 “Genevieve, I said we’ll see. I can’t make any promises.”

 Afraid that she was going to lose this battle of wills, she frantically sought to find something that her mother couldn’t say no to. “Mom,” she said solemnly, quietly. “I think it would mean a lot to Johnny. You know, seeing how his own parents….”

 Helen Redlin knew right then she’d been caught. There was no way she could say no now. That was one thing that had endeared him to her, despite the fact that he didn’t exactly look like the young man she imagined her daughter ending up with. She always felt responsible for mothering him when they were around and it seemed to be a symbiotic relationship- she needing a son to mother since hers was so far away and visited so seldom and he, a son lacking a mother. “I’ll speak to your father tonight, sweetie,” she replied finally, with a smile in her voice letting Gen know everything would be fine.

 “Thanks, Mom. You’re the greatest! So I’ll see you soon? I’ll go ahead and set up the tickets, Ok?”

 “That’ll be fine, Gennie. I love you, dear,” she smiled, “both of you.”

 Gen grinned enormously as she returned the phone to the receiver. She was relieved that she’d managed to convince her mother. Now, she just had a few more calls to make. The rest should be easy. Stacey was next on the list and she figured this might be a long chat. Phone calls with her best friend always lasted way longer than she expected them to.  She decided to pop into the kitchen to grab a quick drink of water before settling in for a lengthy conversation.  Passing through the living room, she spied John, eyes closed, sprawled out on the couch arguing into the phone.

 “No, I don’t care! That doesn’t matter.”

 She chuckled at the way his hands flew around as he talked. The more animated his voice, the more they moved. It was evident that he didn’t have any clue she was watching him.

 “Kate, I don’t care. Bring the kids with you. I want you to… Whaddaya mean- one of my parties?… Yeah, there’ll be some alcohol. But, shit! We’re not giving it to the kids!… Jesus, Katie, give me a fuckin’ break! You don’t need a baby sitter. Gladdy’s family is coming. Everybody’s coming.”  He paused to take a breath, opening his eyes. He smiled at Gen letting her know this was just another sibling debate and nothing more serious.

 Gen slipped into the kitchen to get that glass of water. She listened as John continued to deliberate with his sister.

 “It’s a family thing, y’know. And I know the timing sorta sucks. The thing is… Yeah, yeah, I know. But the thing is that we managed to close on the house inside of a week so everything just went faster than planned….  Oh it is! You should see it! So you’ll be there?… Of course you will…. Ok, see ya then.” He disconnected and sat up shaking his head at Gennie. “Man, you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to convince her!”

 “She didn’t want to come?”

 “She did, but her husband had some… I don’t know… hockey tickets or something. And she couldn’t find a babysitter. But it looks like they’re gonna be there.” He sighed. “So did you convince your parents to come?”

 “Yeah, it took some coaxing, but they’ll be there.”

 “Cool. Well, now I just have a few more calls to make.”

 “Robby, huh?”

 “Yeah. That’s one of ‘em.” He hoped he could convince him to drop everything at the last moment and be here in a couple of days. Rob could be an impulsive guy, but he was a really busy impulsive guy. This would be a hard sell at best. “I’m gonna see if I can reach Mike first though. That’ll be easier, I’m thinking.” He looked at her with an uneasy expression as she made her way around the couch and back into the bedroom to make more calls.

 Picking up the phone once again, Gen dialed the familiar work phone number that she’d been calling for years. Six months now she’d been gone, and still it seemed like just yesterday she was ringing Stacey’s desk to see if she could meet for lunch. She halfway wished that were the purpose behind this call as well. The number sputtered out its hesitant ring three times before it was finally picked up.

 “Uh, Stacey Taylor’s desk. This is Lynne speaking.”

 “Lynne? This is Gennie. Where’s Stace?”

 “She’s in a meeting…well, actually, she’s getting ready to go into one. Hold on, I’ll grab her. I’m sure she’ll want to say hi.”

 Gen waited, listening to the hold music, which at the moment wasn’t music at all, but a commercial for a dance club that was currently being broadcast over the airwaves as she waited.

 “Gen? What’s up? You staying warm up there in Buffalo?” Stace asked with a slight hurried tone in her voice.

 “Yeah, I am. Listen, I know you’re in a hurry, but I’ve got news for you. We bought a house up here.”

 “You’re kidding? I knew you guys were looking, but I thought you didn’t want to move!”

 Gen could tell by the creak she heard through the phone, that Stace was taking a seat in her squeaky office chair. It looked like she must be Ok with being a few minutes late to the meeting.  “I know. It surprised both of us that we found a house so fast. We, um, we even closed on it today. I mean, this whole thing has gone really quickly, y’know.”

 “No way! You closed already? That’s amazing!  Uh, well, congratulations!”

 In the background, Gen could hear voices calling Stace into her meeting. She knew she had to talk quickly. “Ok. You’re in a hurry. Look… the reason I called is that we’re having a… well… a housewarming party on Saturday. We want you and Josh and the kids to come. Ok?”

 “Well…”

“No, it’s all taken care of. I’ll have the tickets set up for you and everything on Friday. We’ll get you a room and all. No cost to you. This is going to be a lot of fun! Please say you can make it!” Gen hoped that she didn’t omit any crucial details. She felt very rushed at the moment.

 “Uh, well… uh. Oh, just a minute.” Gen could hear Stace holding the phone to her shoulder as she bellowed out frustratedly, “Hold your horses, I’ll be right there! Sheesh! This is a really important call, I can’t miss it.” She then returned the receiver to her ear. “Sorry about that. They’re just being such whiners today. Um, so anyway, I think Josh is working this weekend, but maybe I can come up. It’ll save you a little money, anyway.”

 “But Stace, we really want all of you to be there. It’s short notice, I know. But if he could just get out of it we would both be so grateful. Besides, you’ve never met his family or anything. This’ll be a blast! We’d really like all of you to be there.”

 “I’ll see what I can do. I really gotta go. But can I call you later? You’re at the apartment, right?”

 “Uh huh. Talk to you later. Now get to that meeting!”

 Gen sighed. This was supposed to be an easy sell. But desperate times call for desperate measures. She dialed information to get the number she needed. Reading her hasty scrawl off the back of the envelope she’d just written it on, she punched in the requisite numbers hating the fact that she couldn’t remember the direct line.

 “May I speak with Josh Taylor, please?”

 The forwarding connection rang a few times before being answered. “Sports desk, this is Steve.”

 “This is Genevieve Redlin, calling for Josh Taylor,” she said in her most official business sounding voice.  “May I speak with him please?” 

Without a further word, the call clicked and Josh picked up. “Hey Gen! What’s up? What could possibly be the occasion for calling me here?” 

“I gotta know about this game on Saturday. How important is it?” she said without hesitation.

 “What game?” he asked her curiously.

 “Your game. What is it? Basketball?” 

“Yup, sure is! And I don’t know. It’s not a huge game because I don’t think they’re gonna get much further to tell you the truth. But you didn’t hear that from me. Why do you want to know?”

“I want you guys to come to Buffalo this weekend. We’re having a party. You need to be there.” She said it very matter-of-factly; there was no room for argument.

“Oh c’mon, I can’t skip out on work for a party.”

 “Yes you can. You’ve gotta. Josh, have I ever asked something of you that I didn’t mean?”

 He sat ilently thinking for a moment. “Well, no, I can’t say that you have. This is really that important? Have you talked to Stace?”

 “Yeah, but you know her. I think she’ll find a way to get you out of it. She said she’d come… but I really want all of you there.”

 “For a party? Why is this so critical?”

 “It just is. Trust me.” She switched the phone from one ear to the other. “Look, Josh, we just bought a house today. We’re having people over on Saturday night. You’ve just gotta believe me.”

 Again, he met her words with silence. She really wasn’t one to insist if it weren’t for a good reason. “So, you’re telling me that this is that urgent that we really must be there. All of us. Not just Stace.”

 “Right.”

 He sighed. He was going against every bit of reason in his head, but he was going to trust her. “Ok, Gen. We’ll be there. I can get out of it somehow. There are some guys here who owe me a favor or two.”

 “Oh Josh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she squealed with delight. “I’ll have the ticket information forwarded to you. You don’t have to worry about a thing! It’s all on us!” she said with a big smile.

 “Yeah. I guess you’re good for it,” he said with mock disparagement. He wrapped up the phone call as quickly as he could in an effort to find a replacement for Saturday right away. “Oh, and Gen… congratulations on the new house,” he added before hanging up.

 Gen was thrilled. Everything was coming together perfectly. She hopped off the bed, excited to share her good news with John, but upon entering the living room, she found him on the phone, apparently with Robby. And it didn’t look good.

 “Dude, how long has it been since you’ve been home? You need a break, I’m tellin’ ya.”

 “Look, man, I’d love to go home this weekend. You know I would. But I’m too damn busy. I’ve got shit lined up everyday. You know how that is!”

“I know. But fuck that! I’m havin’ a party and you need to be here.”

 “Are you high? Listen to me! It’s a damn party. Why the hell do I have to be there? I’ll see your house soon enough.”

 John took a slow, deep breath. His own best friend wasn’t playing along and it was frustrating to no end. “Rob, look, I’m asking you to be there. No…. Make that I’m telling you to be there. Your, um, presence is sorta required.”

 “Johnny, I’m telling you that I can’t.”

 “And I’m telling you that you can. You will. I don’t demand shit like this from you ordinarily, do I?”

 “Yeah, you do.”

 “No I don’t!”

 “Yes, you do. Why is this any different?”

 “Dude, it’s different this time because, because…” He stopped and looked at Gennie sitting in the chair, a worried look on her face. He was well aware that it was essential to her to have all the right people there. She truly wanted Robby’s presence as much as she wanted Stacey to be there. It would seem that Gen had delivered on her promise to assemble her people, now all he had to do was secure this one last vital person. “Rob, it’s different because… well, shit Rob, it just is. So you’re coming, right?”

 Robby let a sound escape from his lungs that was half yawn, half groan. “Jesus, Johnny, it’s eight in the morning here. I’ve been up all night. You do this to me because you know you’ll win, don’t you?”

“So you’ll be here?” John replied hopefully.

 “Yeah, dammit, I’ll be there. God knows why, but I’ll be there.”

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