What Vanny Wants

CHAPTER 3

A week later, Vanessa had finally learnt why the receptionist looked at her with pity on her first day, Mrs. Woodsworth was relentless. The woman was never satisfied with anything she did and Vanessa began to avoid her.

The patients were very friendly though and Vanessa loved to spend time with some of them, especially Mrs. Blake who felt more comfortable with her first name, Sasha. Sasha had taken one look at Vanessa and deemed her worthy of her son, trying her very best to get them married immediately. She claimed Vanessa had finesse and she knew it from the moment she spotted her walking with Mrs. Woodworth. Vanessa laughed about it every single time but Sasha was quite serious. She claimed her son, Ethan, was indeed looking for a wife but Vanessa doubted he’d want a woman with student loan debts.

During one of their conversations, as she was helping Sasha settle in for the night, the older woman mentioned how advantageous it would be for her financial status if Vanessa married her son.

“Did you know child, that if you marry Ethan you could move out of that dreadful apartment you are squatting at and pay off your student loans?,” Sasha stated.

“Yes Sasha, I’m well aware of those facts,” Vanessa chuckled, “but I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself,” she bid Sasha goodnight and headed home, having finished her shift.

Vanessa cringed on the bus ride to 33rd street, thinking about going back to Mary’s apartment and putting up with Bob’s low jabs and snide comments.

By the time she got to the apartment complex, it was already dark and she expected the two to be asleep.

Stepping into the apartment, Vanessa took off her slip-ons and walked quietly into the house. She wanted to get to the spare room where she stayed without alerting anyone of her presence. On getting to their door, she heard angry whispers coming from inside the room. Against her better judgment, Vanessa pressed her right ear softly into the door to listen better.

“… and she barely makes any contribution to this household,” came Bob’s angry voice, “I don’t care that she’s in a financial ditch Mary, I want her out! It has been six f*****g months and I have been accommodating enough.”

Vanessa winced and rolled her eyes. Mary technically owned the apartment; he just loved to make noise.

“Hush now Bob, you’re so loud she could come in and hear you” came her friend’s soft reply.

“Oh I don’t care if she f*****g hears me; I just want her gone for good.”

“But she just got a new job and I’m sure she’ll be out soon with what they pay her. Just give her a little time to-” Mary tried appealing to her husband.

“No!” he growled, “no more time. I absolutely refuse to-”

Vanessa quietly stepped away from the door and went to her room; she had listened to more than enough of the conversation.Pacing the room, she began to think through her options.

I can’t stay here anymore, she thought to herself, I need to leave as soon as possible but … where could I go that would be worse than this? I haven’t had the time to be convincing enough.

You could move out of that dreadful apartment … pay off student loans, Sasha’s voice swam through her thoughts and Vanessa sat up immediately. That was the perfect opportunity.

She hurriedly picked up her phone and dialed Sasha’s personal line. She knew the older woman would still be awake, watching the show with Jimmy Fallon in it, Vanessa couldn’t remember the name. Sasha picked up on the 3rd ring, “What reason do you have to be interrupting my show young lady?”

Schooling her voice, Vanessa smiled, “I just … well I wanted to know if you were serious about the whole marriage thing …”

“What happened to being a big girl?” came Sasha’s dry reply.

“I’m still a big girl,” Vanessa sniffed defensively, “I just have bigger problems.”

“Well you sound like you have been crying, wipe those tears immediately, a Blake does not cry unnecessarily.”

“I haven’t even married Ethan yet,” Vanessa rolled her eyes.

“I can feel you rolling your eyes through the phone,” Sasha tsked, “I will have you know it is bad etiquette. 10:30 am tomorrow, do not be late.” The line went dead.

Vanessa wondered just what she had gotten herself into as she got ready for bed.

*********************

Tying her long brown hair up in a ponytail the next morning, Vanessa decided to opt for her scrubs. No point dressing to impress and showing the man a part of her that died in her high school days.

A little lipstick won’t hurt though, she thought to herself as she searched through her purse for a tube. Finally satisfied with her appearance, she headed out of the apartment. The bus ride down to 14th street felt very short, Vanessa was lost in thought the entire time. She wondered what Ethan looked like, probably stiff as hell if he’s anything like his mother, she mused and smiled to herself.

Getting to the retirement home, Vanessa said hello to Jenny at the reception and chatted briefly with her. Realizing she was better off getting to Sasha’s room before Ethan arrived, she hurried off to the living quarters. Sasha was watching one of her TV shows when Vanessa stepped into her room.

“Hi there Sasha,” she alerted the older woman to her presence, “I know I’m a bit early but I figured I could say a few things to you before Ethan got here.”

Sasha sighed and turned the screen off. “I imagine you want to express how grateful you are and all that.”

“Well …” Vanessa started while settling into the couch adjacent to Sasha, “that and also what I need to know about Ethan. I really-”

A tall man stepped into the room cutting her off mid speech. He had hair as dark as the night and clear blue eyes. Well manicured hands, deep set eyebrows, sinful lips formed in a permanent frown, and the face of a Greek god. Vanessa breathed in sharply as the man pinned her with a sharp stare.

“Why don’t you ask me yourself?” he pecked Sasha's cheek and sat down on the recliner, never taking his eyes off her. “You must be Vanessa.”

Vanessa shook her head as if coming out of a trance; she could swear his voice held her captive. “Yes, I am,” came her breathless reply, “you must be Ethan. It’s very nice to meet you.” She stood up and extended her hand to shake his.

Ethan stood up to shake her hands and grudgingly nodded his acknowledgement. He was surprised she knew to do that to establish that they were equals; few women were aware of the gesture and they were certainly not struggling to pay off their college debts. Dropping her slim, delicate fingers, Ethan took a step back and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Something was not right; her grip was firm. Not that there was anything wrong with the action in itself, but he had expected that she would be unnerved by his presence. Her confidence irked him. The woman smiled at him as his mother gave introductions and that irked him even more.

Maybe he was just being unnecessary; it had been a while since he had s*x anyway, and Vanessa more than appealed to him. Ethan had a feeling he was going to regret listening to his mother.