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Kali rolled over and reached for her alarm. She'd forgotten to reset it. No seven a.m. shift today, but a nine o'clock interview. She squeezed her eyelids tight and pressed a hand to her forehead. Hammers? No. More like one hard hammer or mallet pressing against her skull, or like her brain had become that mallet and was trying to explode.
Kali pressed her hand harder, trying to push the pain away. She let out a soft moan and reset the clock. She should get up, take a long shower, prep for the interview. But perhaps another hour of sleep would take the pain away.
She'd been waking up with headaches off and on for a week now, and yesterday nausea accompanied it, but nothing like this. Not even close to this.
When the alarm sounded again Kali rolled over. Had she even slept? Her head throbbed, her stomach roiled. It made sense, the stress of the last few weeks, the move, the uncertainty of life constantly pushing in on her—no wonder her mind and body would try to push back.
Kali squeezed Theo into her, kissed his head, then crawled out of bed. The old, gnarled hardwood was cool on her feet. She stopped a moment to enjoy it. Her home growing up had sticky linoleum. Her last apartment—well, it had old hardwood too, but with the consistent fear of rat droppings, she never went barefoot. Kali stepped into the hall. Her vision blurred and her head spun. She put a hand to the wall to steady herself and took several breaths, her other hand rubbing up and down over the side of her face. Everything seemed covered in lace. She blinked the haze away and stepped from the wall. Coffee could wait. She needed a shower—hot, then cold water to force her awake.
The water felt good. Amazing. Kali rotated under the stream. As she stood, the headache eased and her thoughts wandered. A tree house in the woods. Not to visit. Not as a retreat. But to live. What had happened to that man? She could get wanting to be alone, a place to escape to, but this was why he studied those books? Why his living room looked more like a workshop than a home? Why he had no job? And as he had no job, where was the money coming from? Three hundred a month wasn't a lot, but it was something—plus food, plus utilities.
Kali worked the conditioner through her hair. She didn't want to think about it. She shouldn't think about it. Obviously, he was still in the planning phases. He wouldn't be abandoning this place for a shelter in the woods any time soon. And that's all she needed. Time. Just a bit of time. His business was his business, and hers was hers.
Kali wrapped a towel around her. The shower had worked. That mallet pressing into her skull had subsided to a mere touch. Tension. Annoying, but nothing to ruin her day. Nothing to distract. She stood in the mirror. Should she pin her hair back, try to make it smooth and un-intimidating? No. She wanted the job, but she wanted it as her. And this hair, this unruly afro, it was her. She rubbed a second towel through her hair and added some product. She faced the mirror again.
She could do this. She would do this. And today would change her life for the good.
Kali pulled on her clothes then made her way to the bedroom to awaken Theo. Only rumpled sheets lay on the mattress. She switched on the light, scanned the room, then passed through the living room to the kitchen. Theo sat in his chair, legs swinging.
“What you got there?”
Theo tipped up his plate. French toast? Kali turned to Lincoln, who stood at the stove. “Our roles reversed?”
Lincoln shrugged and flipped a piece of toast. “Thought you might be sick or something. You slept later than usual.” He gestured his head toward Theo. “And this guy came knocking on my door, rubbing his belly.
Kali went to Theo. “I told you not to disturb—”
“It's okay.” Lincoln cut her off and held out a plate with two pieces of French toast.
“These look good.”
“Fresh baked bread. Makes all the difference. A fluff factor sliced can never get.”
“Fluff factor?”
Kali sat at the table, staring at her food. “Don't think you have to start making meals now. I mean, we're not your guests.”
“I don't.” Lincoln faced the stove as he talked. Had he always been this tall? She supposed she wouldn't know. From the first moment she saw him he'd been limping, curved over. And in every moment since then he'd had crutches under his arms. She could tell he had good posture before, just from the way he worked the crutches, from the way he stood when only leaning on one, but his posture now ... it was the posture of a man who knew his place in the world. But did he?
Kali watched him move. Despite the state of his pantry when she'd moved in, he clearly wasn't a novice in the kitchen. What had he done before ... this?
He turned, a smile on his face, and stepped to the table. Kali took her first bite.
“Shift change?”
She chewed longer than she needed. The truth? Some lie? Or just as much truth as he needed to know? “Uh, no. Well, kind of. Doing a half shift today.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“So, you have the morning off?”
“Well—” She glanced at Theo.
“I'm heading to the lot soon so you won't be in my way.”
“These are really good.” Kali took another bite. “Thanks. I see what you mean about fluff factor.”
Lincoln laughed. He never laughed with her, only Theo. Sometimes Romper. “Thank you. I'd forgotten how much I liked food. How much I liked preparing it too.”
Kali nodded. Forgotten?
“So, that apartment work out? If you need help moving I can help you, though I don't know if the two of us could handle that bed or dresser. You have someone else?”
“Uh ...”
“Or planning to hire? If it's not too far, a few trips in my truck may mean you don't need a van.”
Kali stared at him.
Lincoln lowered his fork, tapped it on the ridge of his plate. “If you want. Maybe you have it all figured out already, but if you don’t, I don't mind helping. Just glad to be behind the wheel again. Get my freedom back.”
Kali bit her lip.
“Not that I used the truck a ton. I take it to the lot. On hikes. But when you can't do something ...” His words trailed off. “Are you okay? Did I? What's—?”
Kali swallowed, the bite she'd taken a lump in her throat. She reached for Theo's glass of milk, wishing she'd thought to get her own. “I'm, uh, actually, going to an interview this morning.”
“Oh, yeah?” Lincoln's brow rose. “Well, that's good.”
“Yeah.” Kali took another bite. Lincoln's fork remained at the edge of his plate. He watched her.
“You nervous?”
Kali swallowed again. “A bit. It's a good job. A dream position.” Again, how much to tell? Would he forget about the move? Could she just not leave? Better to say sorry than please, right? That's what she was betting on. Betting he wouldn't kick her out. He'd made them breakfast. Kali smiled. He couldn't be that desperate for them to leave.
Lincoln leaned back in his chair. “And this interview, it affects you taking that apartment? It in another location or ...”
That was true. The apartment she'd liked, the one she couldn't realistically afford but had seen anyway, was near the hospital. Her interview was across the harbour in Dartmouth, though she could be at any of the three main Westwood Manor locations. With no internet, she hadn't looked up which location had the staff childcare.
“Yeah. Exactly.” The lies came smoothly. “I wasn't sure about the job, whether I'd even get the interview, and didn't want to lock myself into a one-year lease that would mean a crazy commute.” Kali glanced at Theo, who ate slowly, his gaze travelling between her and Lincoln. Her throat tightened. She hated lying in front of him. Not that she hadn't done it before. “I should have told you. I was holding off, trying to figure things out, and that apartment's taken now.”
Lincoln nodded. “So?”
Kali kept her face even, casual. Did she go into it all, say she couldn't pay him if he wanted her gone sooner than later? Couldn't pay him yet, at least. He didn't need details. And if she didn't get the job? Worse, if she got it conditional to the two weeks training and then failed to live up to their expectations? With no bump in pay and two weeks of no work, who knew how long she'd have to rely on his charity?
“So,” Kali set her fork down, “if it's all right,” she looked at Theo again, offered him a little smile, “if we could stay another month.”
“Another full—”
“Two at the most. At the absolute most.” She swallowed, this time nothing but tension blocking her throat. “I know it's an inconvenience. I know—” Her breath came short. Why? Why was she here? Begging to a stranger. Why had this happened? She pushed back the anger, the resentment that threatened to leak out and pour all over Lincoln. This wasn't about her. Wasn't about her pride. She looked at Theo again. It was about Theo, keeping Theo safe. And for now, at least, Lincoln's place was safe.
“It would really help.” Her voice wavered. “I'm not sure what else—” She let out a thin stream of air. “I just—” She raised her hands, palms up. Don't cry. Do not cry. “We're in a bad situation here. But I'm trying to make it better.”
Lincoln made a sound deep in his throat, then nodded. “Another month. Two at the most.”
Kali inhaled sharply, relieved she'd held back her tears. It was okay. She wouldn't be sent to the street, or some homeless shelter, or worse—throw herself upon the mercy of some past friend, now barely more than an old acquaintance. For now, it'd be okay.
Kali looked from her plate back to Lincoln. “Thanks. That's, uh, that's great.”