Keeping track of something

Ralph put on his glasses and his golf visor from the Marlborough Country Club, and the he sat at the bar with his receipts stacked on the left, his calculator on the right, and his Macbook Pro in front of him. He pushed the stool into the bar as far as it would go, until it squeezed his fat tummy toward his back. And he placed his hands on the keyboard as if getting ready to play a Rachmaninoff piano concerto. Yes, number 3 – let it be the Rach 3.

Kay walked by, wrapped in nothing but a towel, ready to shower. She’d be going to her pilates class, and after that, she and Tiffany would have an afternoon by the pool at the club. Ralph wished he could keep slim and trim like Kay always had been, but age had caught up with him.

“Honey, will you get salmon for dinner this afternoon when you come back from the hardware store?” Kay said. “And be sure to get a shrimp appetizer. Oh – and I’d like you to stop at Whole Foods and pick up my special organic drinks for me. And don’t forget to call the plumber. He needs to come next week to unstop the bathroom drain …”

“It wouldn’t have stopped up if you cleaned your hair out of the sink occasionally,” Ralph replied, his attention divided between his wife and their monthly receipts. He wondered what this $275.00 at Dr. Sanjay’s office was for – ah, yes. Botox for Kay.

“Ralph, we’ve talked about this before. It isn’t healthy for us if you make me feel bad. Please don’t speak to me with that tone of voice. Oh – and after you call the plumber, be sure to call the electrician on your way home. And don’t forget vacuum cleaner bags at the store. When I come home from the club, it’d be really nice to have clean floors. You might consider doing that for me …”

Ralph chose to ignore this. “Just to warn you, Kay,” he said. “This month will be fairly expensive for us. Your share may be more than $2,500 again.”

“Not again. It must all those books you buy.”

Why didn’t he just send Kay back to her mother? Life would be so much simpler. And then Kay’s bath towel fell off her shoulders, and he saw once again the soft curves from her shoulders to her ankles. What was he asking himself?