Serendipity

Andrew’s smartphone chirped “Camptown Races” at him. Another text message, who could that be? He was folding the coloreds and had to be out the door in fifteen minutes for therapy with Melinda.

Andrew sighed and went over to the kitchen counter and looked. He saw the picture of Lucy and Ethel, their two Chihuahuas – the icon he’d selected when setting up his Google contacts. It was Seth. Of course; who else would bother him when he had a million things to do?

He’d read it later. Why on earth should he interrupt his schedule to read a text message from his ex? He went back to the laundry and finished the jeans and the t-shirts. He looked at the clothing. He’d bought it after he and Seth broke up and he’d lost a few pounds and added some muscle. Free advertising, why not?

He was out the door with a few minutes to spare and made it through therapy. He heard his phone chirp again in the middle of therapy, and then again toward the end. But he and Melinda were talking about being co-dependent and the type of men that attracted Andrew – and how to break the cycle.

He’d be driving up I-280 to get back home, so he’d check Seth’s texts then. And then he’d call Liz about dinner at Café Noe this evening.

Just after he drove past the San Andreas fault, he read the texts. Bad news – Seth’s mother died. Lilly had a stroke. They found her on the floor of Seth’s kitchen. She’d been holding a jar of mayonnaise and there was relish on the countertop. A nice tartar sauce for the fish, apparently.

Andrew pulled over to the side of the road and stared at the brown grass in front of him. So pretty this time of year, and yet so empty. He stared at it for at least ten minutes, doing nothing. Seth was the sixth friend of his who’d lost a parent this year. What was it about 2014?

He picked up the phone and went to Seth’s contacts. Lucy and Desi were such fun dogs. At least their last years had been happy, living with Andrew and his mother. He touched the icon to call Seth.

“Hi, Seth,” Andrew said. “I got your message just now. I’d been folding the darks and having therapy when you texted me. I’m coming right over.”

Seth had always hated it when Andrew called it folding the coloreds.