Doctor's Orders

Here we go again

Chapter 6

Melissa

“Are we there yet?” I ask William while Jake is already running far ahead of me.

“Almost there, Melissa. It’ll be worth it,” William assures me.

“Last one there is a rotten egg, Mommy!” screams Jake vicariously as he runs up the slope.

The morning may be one of the most beautiful, but there’s just something different from the Napa Valley sunrise. For our first date, William takes me to Hall Wines vineyard.

As I begrudgingly walk up the slope and reach the top, I marvel at the gorgeous view in front of me. Vast swaths of grapevines stroll as far as the eye can see, with a large house in the middle, and strangely, a humongous metal sculpture of a rabbit in one of the fields as we enter the winery premises.

William casually enters the winery and meets with the owner. The owner laughs at us for tasting wine the old-fashioned way and likes us so much that he allows us to taste his recently fermented wine.

Jake, of course, is given grape juice, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Well, what do you think?” William whispers to me.

“If Jake was sleeping, and we were alone in this huge winery, I’d probably be all over you right now,” I tease him. Whatever this wine was, it inevitably brings out the animal in me.

William easily laughs it off and reminds me of his promise. I still can’t believe the arrogant hot-shot I met a few days ago is quite the gentleman of sorts.

After taking the train back home and getting a well-deserved nap, William treats us with a Karaoke date. He takes us to this vast Japanese Karaoke shop that he rented out for the entire day. Jake couldn’t be happier.

William naturally takes the first song. “This one’s for the only girl I have my eyes on,” he says as he takes the stage. The lights turn dim, and Katy Perry’s ‘Thinking of You’ starts to play.

William sings it magnificently, even though the song was meant to be sung by a girl. He hit the high notes with such passion and timing that my eyes water up.

“Boring!” Jake heckles, “But you have an amazing voice, Dr. Mallory!”

William thanks his imaginative audience, and passes on the mic to Jake, “Go get ‘em Jakey. Just like we practiced.”

“Just like we practiced?” I ask William. He shrugs as I see Jake run backstage. A few seconds later, he comes out of the stage curtains with a Victorian golden dress with a matching umbrella, his black wig rolling over his shoulders. Jake smiles as he stands in the middle of the stage. He is literally the prettiest 5-year-old boy I’ve ever seen in my life with all the makeup he’s wearing.

“Oh my god, Jake!” I shout, “You’re so pretty!”

“He’s Jessica right now,” says William.

“We love you, Jessica!” I scream at the top of my lungs as the song, “I Kissed A Girl” by Katy Perry starts to play.

After singing our hearts out, William, Jake, and I decide to walk back home, since the Karaoke shop wasn’t that far. Hand in hand, we walk the wasted father, the elated mother, and their happy little princess.

I stop before we reach the last block before we get home. “This has been the best date so far,” I compliment William, “Now, I’m really scared at the same time excited for date number 3.”

William is clearly out of it, but somehow he manages to recompose himself, “Well, what can I say besides that I am the frickin’ best?”

“Yes, you are,” I wrap my arms around him, “I’ve been thinking, maybe we don’t need the third date after all.”

“My word, Melissa, are you asking me to break my promise to you just so we can have s*x much sooner?” he mockingly reacts, “Because that’s all you needed to say.”

I lean in for a kiss, but Jake suddenly shouts, “Daddy!”

“Jake!” Bill shouts at Jake, “Jake?” I run towards back home to see my ex-husband mortified at Jake’s new look.

“Bill?” I ask him as I get closer.

“Melissa?” Bill replies.

“Billy?” William asks Bill.

“William Wanker?” Bill asks William, “What the hell are you doing here–– Jesus Christ, did you do this to Jake, Wanker?”

“Billy is your ex-husband?” William asks me.

I try to interject, “Bill, leave William out of this. Jessica­­––Jake gets inside the house. Now.”

“Melissa, for the love of God, of all the weirdos you had to f**k, it had to be my high school’s weirdest queerfuck of a dude. Look what he did to Jake.”

I snap back, “Oh, shut the f**k up, Bill. You don’t give a rat’s ass about your son. Why are you here?”

Bill turns to me, looking worried, “I got worried after you hung up the last time I called, and you haven’t called me back.”

A hot breath of alcohol envelopes my face, “Christ, go home, Bill. You’re drunk. Did one of your hoes kick you out again?” Before I knew it, Bill slaps me hard squarely on the face. All the repressed memories flood their way back into my mind.

“f*****g b***h,” Bill spits, “If only you’d keep that smart-ass mouth of your shut––“ William suddenly steps in and elbows Bill on the jaw. Bill goes down hard.

“Apologize,” William stares Bill down.

Bill spits on William’s shoes, “f**k y––“ but William soccer kicks Bill’s crotch.

Bill screams in agony. He rolls on the sidewalk clutching his loins, “I-I’m sorry, Melissa.”

William helps Bill up when a car suddenly parks in front of him, “Great timing, your Uber’s here, Bill.” William grabs his wallet and gives the driver a fat roll of cash, “Take him home, will you? He’s a bit drunk.”

“You’re still a faggot, Wanker,” Bill curses.

William takes a deep breath, “The correct term is metrosexual, Bill. I don’t want to f**k guys, especially guys like you. But I forgive you. Because unlike you, I want to be at least half the man your son is. Jake is a brave soul no matter what he wears, or who he wants to be with. And if I ever hear you calling him anything close to a derogatory remark about his sexuality, your testicles are flying off next time I kick them.”

William closes the door as the car drives away. He walks over to me with his hand on my sore cheek, “I’m sorry.”

“Not as much as I am,” I reply.