Scrooged by Vi Keeland

Mason

I still had no idea what she was doing in my father’s apartment with a pie. They apparently know each other?

“This is my good friend, Piper,” he said.

“Good friend? You never mentioned her to me.”

“Sure I did! She’s the one who comes over and has soup with me.”

I nodded. “Ah, alright. You never said her name.”

Dad smirked. “You weren’t expecting her to be such a looker? Your old man can hang with the best of ’em, you know.”

Piper blushed and set her pie down on the counter. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a dress that was the color of cinnamon. Piper looked even more beautiful than the several times I’d fantasized about her since our first meeting. Each and every fantasy would end with us angry fucking. I never thought I’d actually see her again. I knew she lived here, but everyone generally kept to themselves.

My father wheeled himself over to the counter. “You brought your mom’s pumpkin pie.”

“You remembered.” She smiled. “It sure is.”

He rubbed his stomach. “I can’t wait to try it.”

It was like my elderly father had been living a double life that included hanging out with hot women who brought him food. And here I was feeling bad for him most days.

She flashed me a taunting look. “Mason and I have actually met before, Mr. Hanks.”

Shit. Here we go.

Dad turned to me. “No kidding? When?”

My body went rigid, and I said nothing as I braced for her explanation. I hoped she didn’t throw me under the bus and tell my father what an ass I acted like that day.

“Yeah. He was outside the building one afternoon. We got to talking, didn’t we, Mason?”

“Yes, we did.” I grinned. “Piper actually shared her lunch with me. Is that how the story went?”

“Something like that. You were extremely charming from what I remember.”

“I remember you being charming as well,” I teased.

She turned to Dad. “And to thank me for sharing lunch with him, your son left me a nice thank you gift at my apartment door later that day—which, by the way, I’ve gotten a ton of use out of.” Piper winked.

Fuck. Me.

She didn’t just say that.

My pants suddenly felt tighter.

I cleared my throat. “Good to know. I figured you might need something like that. You seemed a little wound up.”

“Indeed, I was that day.” She looked down at my father. “You’ve raised an amazingly polite and thoughtful son, Mr. Hanks. You should be very proud.”

My dad chuckled. “Well, whattya know. And here I was thinking he was a bit of a dick.”

Piper burst into laughter, and I followed suit. Her eyes twinkled with mischief. I was grateful that she hadn’t ratted me out. Truthfully, I’d regretted my knee-jerk reaction that day. The little gift I’d left her was my attempt at an apology, although it might not have come across that way. It pleased me that she was joking about it.

“Are you spending Christmas Eve here with your dad?” she asked.

“Yeah. It’s just the two of us, and he refuses to come to my place. So, I brought in some food from Bianco’s. You know that restaurant?”

She nodded. “Great Italian food.”

“It’s in the oven. I just need to heat it up.”

“Will you stay and have something to eat, Piper?” my dad asked.

Piper looked hesitant. “I probably shouldn’t. I’m supposed to be eating with my family in Jersey.”

The look of disappointment on my dad’s face was obvious. She caught it and so did I. Then Piper immediately changed her tune.

“But you know...” she said. “Bianco’s is really too good to pass up. My stomach is growling. So, maybe I can have a little appetizer with you guys?”

“That would be wonderful. And then stay for a piece of your mom’s pie before you hit the road.”

Dad fiddled with the joystick on the arm of his chair and maneuvered to the table.

She followed him and turned around to flash me a smile. I smiled back.

So much for an uneventful dinner.

Having Piper here made me tense and excited at the same time. It was an odd mix. I was still pretty baffled that she was the same friend Dad had been raving about for the past several days. Her keeping him company made me realize that she really was a genuinely good person. It hadn’t been an act.

During dinner, Piper and I snuck glances at each other. I knew there was probably so much she wanted to say to me, that she couldn’t in front of my father. Perhaps some of those things contained expletives.

Piper chewed on her seafood lasagna and asked, “So, what do you do, Mason?”

I took a sip of my wine to ponder how I wanted to answer that and finally said, “I’m an entrepreneur.”

My father was just about to open his big mouth when I diverted the conversation before he could start to tell her more about me.

Snapping my fingers, I said, “Hey, Dad. Did you tell Piper about your surgery?”

A look of concern crossed her face. “What surgery?”

My father downplayed it. “No big deal. Just gonna finally get my hip replaced. Been needing to for a long time, and I’m stuck in this chair until my leg gets stronger anyway.”

“Oh wow. When?”

“Next month.”

I broke apart a piece of bread. “I’ve been trying to convince him to let me move him in with me for a while, but he won’t budge.”

“I’m most comfortable in my apartment. It’s simple, and I know where everything is.”

She sighed. “Well, depending on how you feel, Mr. Hanks, it might be better to be where your son can look after you at night for a little while.”

My eyes locked with hers when I said, “Thank you. I agree.”

Well, that was a win. I’d somehow diverted the topic of my job and got Piper on my side when it came to my father’s post-op situation to boot.

After dinner, I poured some more wine for us as we devoured the pumpkin pie Piper had brought. True to form, after any amount of alcohol, my father literally conked out in his seat. His head bent back and he began to snore.

“Is he okay?” she asked.

“You do hear that, right? He’s more than breathing. He’s fine. It’s what he does when he has the slightest amount of alcohol.”

“Okay. Well, you would know.”

I took her empty pie plate over to the counter. “Can I cut you another slice?”

She held out her hand. “No. I’m done. Thank you.”

“The pie was delicious. Thank your mother for the recipe.”

Piper looked a little sad. “Oh...I wish I could. My mom is dead.”

Great. Good one, Mason.

“I’m sorry. I feel like an ass now.”

“Well, an ass would be your norm, wouldn’t it?” She winked.

I exhaled and stared at her in silence for a few moments. “I probably deserve that.” Returning to the table, I pulled out my chair and sat down. “How long has your mother been gone?”

“She died a decade ago of uterine cancer.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ve always been more diligent about my own health as a result. A year ago, I was actually diagnosed with an early stage of the same type of cancer.” She swallowed. “Because it was detected early, I was able to get it taken care of. But unfortunately, that means I can’t have kids.”

Her admission knocked the wind out of me. That was some pretty heavy stuff to tell a virtual stranger. And I felt awful that she had been through that. But I commended her for being so candid. What do I even say?

“I’m glad to hear you’ll be okay.”

“When you experience a health scare like that, it changes your entire outlook. At least for me it did. It’s why I’ve tried to do good for people, why I switched from a corporate job to interior design, which is my passion. I’m still trying to get on my feet in that arena…but I’m getting there. So, a lot of good came from my diagnosis, too.”

I felt like a million unsaid words were choking me. I really needed to somehow explain my actions that first day. I’d really wanted to address it from the moment she walked in the door, but there hadn’t been an appropriate time until now. Not to mention, she’d just opened up to me in a pretty big way. I could do the same.

“Piper…I need to apologize to you for my behavior that day. I honestly don’t know what came over me.”

“You don’t have to—”

“No. I need to. Hear me out.”

She nodded and let me speak.

“I’d been visiting dad, trying to get his sink to stop leaking—because I hate hiring anyone for something I can do myself. It’s not about the money. It’s just the way I’ve always been. I’d just gotten some bad news about a work-related issue and had gone outside for a breather and a cigarette. I shouldn’t have been smoking, because I’d quit.”

I continued, “Anyway, when you came over to me, I wasn’t in my right mind. I immediately put a label on you that wasn’t even correct. When you assumed I was homeless, in that moment, it was like I’d gone back in time for a second. You’d turned into every stuck-up rich kid in school who’d ever teased me growing up for coming in with ripped clothing. I came from the opposite side of the tracks, and I guess a part of me must still feel self-conscious about people’s perceptions of me. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a self-made success story now or not, that shit sticks with you. And unfortunately, Piper, you got caught up in my knee-jerk reaction. I’m very sorry.”

She smiled. “So…once you realized you were in the wrong, how did buying me a bag of dildos become the next logical step?”

“Fair question. Believe it or not, that was my attempt at an apology.”

She bent her head back in laughter. “I don’t know... saying ‘I’m sorry for overreacting’ might have worked just as well?”

“That wouldn’t have been as fun to execute.” I laughed. “It was my mother who actually taught me that humor was a cure-all for most things. That was my attempt at honoring her.”

“With a bag of dicks…”

I shrugged. “I suppose.”

She let out a deep sigh. “Well, apology accepted.”

My eyes stayed fixed on her smile. She had a beautiful smile, so comforting. Now wonder Dad liked her so much.

“Thank you for keeping my father company. I can’t be here all of the time. It’s nice to know he has good people around looking out for him.”

“Honestly, your father has given me a lot of practical advice. I’m just as lucky to have him.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of advice has the old geezer given you?”

“Just advice on life…men...”

I cackled. “You’re listening to dating advice from an eighty-year-old man?”

“He’s very wise. I recently ended a long-term relationship that wasn’t right for me. Your father pointed out something that I hadn’t even noticed, that Warren’s shoes were always perfectly shiny.”

“What was the significance of that?” I asked.

“In retrospect, there was a lot about that relationship that wasn’t right for me. If I’d noticed the shiny shoes earlier, maybe it would’ve tipped me off to the fact that Warren was very self-centered and materialistic and wouldn’t have been the right person for me. Your dad is very perceptive. He’s shared a lot of stories about his relationship with your mom, too. Just really precious stuff.”

That made me smile. Thinking about my parents’ love for each other always did. It was rare, and I’d honestly given up on ever finding that myself in this lifetime.

I wanted to know more about Piper.

“So, you said you’re an interior designer...but that wasn’t always your career?”

“No, I was a business analyst. I’d gone to school for business. But after my health scare, I decided it was time to do something I was passionate about. So I started attending interior design school at night and put all of my resources into a new business. I eventually left my old career. I have a couple of design clients who keep me afloat, but I’m still growing.”

“Good for you. Not many people have the balls to take the bull by the horns like that.”

She tilted her head. “What is it exactly that you do?”

Ugh.

“I...work in real estate.”

I wasn’t quite sure why I continued to feel the need to be vague. I guess since we were getting along so well, I didn’t want her developing any preconceived notions about me. The way we’d met was bad enough.

She waited a bit for me to elaborate, but then when I didn’t, she just said, “I see.”

My father suddenly jumped in his chair, waking himself up.

“Well, look who’s still alive!” I joked.

He blinked several times “How long was I out this time?”

“About a half-hour.”

“Piper still here?”

“I’m right here, Mr. H.” She smiled.

He finally turned and saw her.

“My son hasn’t scared you away yet, eh?”

“No. We’ve actually been having a pretty nice conversation.” She looked at the clock. “But actually, I should get going. My family is going to wonder where I am.”

I put my hands in my pockets, wishing I could have told her to stay. But it was Christmas Eve, and she needed to be with her family.

“Give them my love,” he said to her.

She bent down and gave him a hug before he took off to the bathroom.

I walked Piper to the door, and an awkward silence ensued as she lingered just outside the doorway.

“Thank you for dinner,” she said

“Thank you for—oh I don’t know—let’s see. Thank you for not ratting me out as a condescending asshole to my father. Thank you for looking out for said old man over the past several days...also for a nice conversation and a damn good pie to boot.”

She leaned in. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Yeah.”

Her breath brushed against my cheek as she said, “I still sort of think you’re an asshole.”

Shaking my head, I laughed. “You’re nothing if not honest, Piper.” I lifted my brow. “And you might be right.”

She said nothing else before taking off. Her ass wiggled as she walked down the hall. Damn if watching that wasn’t the best Christmas gift I could’ve asked for.