Raymond:<i>How’s practice going, Jake? You guys done yet?</i><br/><br/>Jakob:<i>Hey, Dad. Yeah, we finished a little earlier than normal. Coach liked our energy, I guess. lol</i><br/><br/>Raymond:<i>That’s great! Better get used to it, buddy. Academy’s gonna kick your butt. haha</i><br/><br/>Jakob:<i>I know. You keep telling me.</i><br/><br/>Raymond:<i>Cuz it’s true!</i><br/><br/>Jakob:<i>Dad, is it okay if I hang out with some of the guys for pizza? Stu’s mom was gonna drop us off and then pick us up later and then take us home.</i><br/><br/>Raymond:<i>Absolutely! Thanks for checking and have fun!</i><br/><br/>Jakob:<i>Hey, Dad? Stu’s mom is single, y’know. Pretty, too.</i><br/><br/>Raymond:<i>Oh, yeah? She’s, uh, slightly outta your age bracket, don’tcha think??? And what is it with you and older women these days??? They’d probably send her to prison, y’know!!!</i><br/><br/>Jakob:<i>I meant for you, Dad! Not me! Geez! haha</i><br/><br/>Raymond:<i>Hey, quit playing matchmaker! I’m perfectly fine. Already seeing someone, anyways.</i><br/><br/>Jakob:<i>Dad, Amara from Borderlands doesn’t count. lol</i><br/><br/>Raymond:<i>Sez you! baha Have fun, buddy. See ya when ya get home. </i>A thumbs up from Jakob ended their texting.<br/><br/>Shaking his head with a huge grin, he placed his phone on the countertop. Little bastard was trying to set me up with Madison Williams, he thought. Naturally, he then pictured the woman. Jakob was right, on both counts. She was single, alright, as well as pretty. Mother of two, with Stuart and his son being classmates, as well as teammates, with a younger daughter. Named Rebecca, if he remembered correctly.<br/><br/>Just another military widow, he sadly thought. So yeah, they had some stuff in common. No one had tried to set them up, though, prior to Jakob’s recent attempt. Although sincerely curious as to what mighta prompted his son to do so, Raymond would not be probing him for further information when he got home.<br/><br/>He was still smiling when the ringing doorbell shattered his attention on Madison. It was a UPS driver, though not his usual one. “Good afternoon, Mr. Sanheim,” he said. “If you could just sign here, please.”<br/><br/>Mildly frowning, Raymond said, “There are two books in there. Geez, you’d think I ordered a spare tire for my truck or something!”<br/><br/>The driver unsurprisingly laughed, as if he hadn’t heard that one before. “Y’know Amazon and their big-ass boxes,” he stated with a massive grin.<br/><br/>Chuckling along with him, Raymond confirmed, “Yeah, you got that right. Thank you.” Of course, he already knew what was inside the box, as the two men went their separate ways. Moments later, with the empty container on the floor of their family room, he reclined in the recliner so his legs were parallel to the carpeted floor. His left hand held<i>How To Raise Backyard Honeybees: The Complete Guide To Beekeeping From Setting Up Your Hive To Collecting Honey. </i>His attention slowly shifted toward his other hand, which grasped<i>Beekeeping For Beginners: How To Raise Your First Bee Colonies. </i>Even the books’ titles excited him to no end.<br/><br/>Yes, he needed to get a life. He was trying, okay?!<br/><br/>He looked upon them and held them like they were holier than The Holy Grail. The pictured honeybees on the covers didn’t exactly assist his level of adoration. Raymond did notice, however, that both of the precious insects gracing the covers lacked number plates on their sides. He smiled at the remembrance of the musical mixes he lovingly crafted for Olivia.<br/><br/>With Jakob leaving him soon, he realized he needed a hobby, other than the horses. After all, you could only blow up so much shit on Xbox and rack up a mega amount of headshots before it was time for something else. Luckily, he was also devoid of any allergies from bee stings, just in case. Raymond figured that was inevitable, almost a given with the hobby. Needless to say, he would return to blowing shit up and notching all those sweet headshots. Having alternatives could only be a good thing, he thought.<br/><br/>Notes excitedly taken, Raymond had lost track of the time, so engrossed he’d become in his new books. While a vehicle idled out front, a solitary door closed followed by lively male voices, then a woman’s. Madison’s family van drove off, and keys were jangling in the front door’s lock. “Hey, Dad!” an exuberant Jakob said, dropping his things off near the front door.<br/><br/>A marker placed in the book he’d been reading, Raymond met his son along the way, intercepting him near their dining room. “You guys had a good time?” he asked.<br/><br/>In response, Jakob placed a hand in front of his stomach and groaned a groan that any zombie would recognize, and smile at. Until its lower jaw fell off. “I don’t<i><u>ever</u></i>wanna see another pepperoni again for the next two months,” he announced. His father laughed, knowing the pies at<i>Piecora’s Pizza </i>always made it hard to stop eating. About to say something, Jakob glanced to the right, at the blinking red light. “Who called?” Raymond shrugged in answer.<br/><br/>The machine informed anyone who cared to listen that there were three new messages. The first two callers didn’t even bother doing what they were kindly instructed to do, that is, leave a freaking message! The third one, however, was the cat’s meow, relatively speaking. For this was no ordinary, domesticated house cat. By Zeus, it packed all the subtlety of a Bengal Tiger!<br/><br/><i>Hello, Ray. It's Lexi. Lexi McCallington. Dr. McCallington. I just wanted to say thank you. I'll be there on Friday, I'm looking forward to it, very much. I hope maybe I'll see you there? It would be nice to. Thank you, so much, for letting me know. Goodnight, Raymond.</i><br/><br/>So. Both of them had obviously heard her message at the same time. . . .<br/><br/>Ever have one of those instances where you wished you could<i><u>undo</u></i>, or<i><u>backspace</u></i>, or<i><u>delete</u></i>something you either just did or just said? Like that time you farted out loud in the school library, when you could damn well swear that you were being sneaky-sneaky? And everyone knew it was you? The freaking school library, for crying out loud! The wooden chair didn’t exactly help, making it sound like it was in Carnegie Effing Hall! Such acoustics! Yeah, we’ve all had those moments, ad infinitum. Well, Raymond was having one of those instances right now, having ignored their phone’s built-in answering machine from earlier. And, we know why. Let’s watch, shall we?<br/><br/>Eyeing each other, Jakob seemed more animated than usual, he suspiciously thought. What was he up to, cuz he was clearly up to something? “What’s up, Jake?” Raymond finally broke the ice, while also spreading a fair amount of chum into the water with that query. He needn’t have bothered. The Great White was already circling and assessing.<br/><br/>A shrug, and then, “Not much, Dad. Just hockey.”<br/><br/>Bullshit! Father knew it. Son knew it, too. Hell, Son was oozing it.<br/><br/>“Well, y’know, I was just thinking about you, about hockey, and about Dr. McCallington,” he admitted with a disconcerting smirk. Great, here it comes, his father thought. “And, uh, y’know all those popular phrases they use in hockey?” Oh, this is gonna be good, Raymond begrudgingly mused. “So, for you and the doctor, how about the classic,<i>He shoots, he scores!!!</i><br/><br/>Raymond snorted, despite himself. But it was perfectly clear to him that his son wasn’t quite yet done. “And, let’s not forget,<i>Biscuit in the basket!!!</i>”<br/><br/>Now laughing with him, Raymond stated, “That’s pretty good, Jake, but it ain’t like that with her, and. . . .<br/><br/>Jakob cut him off faster than a Guillotine to a French neckline. “But the best one, Dad?” he asked. Why was he backing up? Raymond pondered. “The best one has gotta be,<i>McCallington called for two minutes in the penalty box for holding his winky. </i>I mean,<i>McCallington called for two minutes in the penalty box for holding his stick.</i>”<br/><br/>Laughing out loud, now he knew why his son had been slowly retreating. “That’s it!” Raymond exclaimed. “C’mere, you!” Taking full advantage of his head-start, Jakob bolted out the back door, with his father in hot pursuit. Both were laughing their asses off as they sprinted past the flowers.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center">&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&lt; &lt; &lt; &lt; &lt; &lt;​</div><br/>Friday was tomorrow. Which explained his presence tonight at<i>The Cave. </i>As much as he adored<i>The Backstage</i>, Raymond found Vince and Vivian’s venue to be much more cozy, with acoustics to match. Their booked performers might not have “made it” yet, but like anything else, you gotta start somewhere. Plus, the couple were good friends of his, having been there to celebrate Jakob’s birth, as well as mourn Olivia’s death. He also couldn’t recall ever witnessing a dreadful concert here, no matter how many people were on stage. After all, he’d witnessed anywhere from one solitary soul to a dozen or more.<br/><br/>Perusing their menu, he waffled as to whether he’d order something to eat or not. Their sirloin sliders and cod tacos were absolute killers! And don’t get him started on those garlic fries! Introductions were in order, as Vince encouraged the crowd to give it up for Lexi McCallington. Raymond’s eyes slowly left the menu. Sure enough, it was<i><u>that</u></i>Lexi McCallington. Yeah, as if there could be another Lexi McCallington in their modest-sized town.<br/><br/>The doctor looked stunning, of course, the lights accentuating her auburn hair and white dress. She cited Suzanne Vega, and then performed a cover of her<i>Before Columbus </i>single<i>.</i>She was quite good, he thought, at both singing and tickling those ivories. Soon after the clapping subsided, she stood and picked up a guitar, launching into another Vega cover. It was<i>Gypsy</i>, she said by way of introduction. Raymond applauded with the rest of the audience after every one of her songs. When it was quite obvious that her set was indeed over, and following an encore, he subtly slipped out of the club and advanced toward his truck.<br/><br/>She was an MD<i>and </i>she could sing and play the piano?! Oh, and let’s not forget the guitar, too. Starting up his Raptor, Raymond realized just then, and also admitted, that she was way outta his league. Or, as Jules so eloquently pointed out to Vincent in<i>Pulp Fiction</i>, “It ain't the same league! It ain't even the same fucking sport!”<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center">&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&lt; &lt; &lt; &lt; &lt; &lt;​</div><br/>He arrived early at<i>The Backstage</i>, clearly intent on securing a table with the best possible view for them to enjoy the show. Although this concert would be his fourth time seeing the band live, it was also his first without Olivia.<br/><br/>The joint was filling up, and just as he expected, all the choice seats had been quickly snapped up. Luckily, no one’s view was obstructed, though Raymond had yet to spot Dr. McCallington anywhere in the crowd. With her dazzling red hair, she’d be real easy to spot. Even better was the fact that they weren’t packed in like sardines.<br/><br/>Perhaps she’d been called in for an urgent medical matter, he thought. Or was still stuck at the clinic completing paperwork. Doctors had such crazy hours anyway. As the lights dimmed, Raymond caught his breath in anticipation of seeing one of his favorite bands perform, already wondering which of his beloved songs he’d soon be listening to. He thought of Olivia, and then he thought of Dr. McCallington. The four members of BoDeans took the stage to a smattering of welcoming applause.<br/><br/>They kicked off their show with<i>Only Love. . . .</i>