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or nurse, but…” She shrugged.
    “I don’t need anyone but you, Ollie.” I leaned down and kissed her on the temple.
    This time, she frowned. “You need someone, Mama. You know, for when I’m gone.” Then she rolled away.
    “Don’t talk like that. Ever. You’re not going anywhere.” I wrapped my arms around my chest and hugged myself tightly. It took everything in me not to show Ollie how much her words frightened me. Slowly, I backed out of the room. “See you in the morning. Sleep well.”  She didn’t respond, didn’t move. I hoped she was asleep.
    Rushing out to the living room, I picked up my cell phone and called my father’s cell, but he didn’t answer. Less than fifteen seconds later, my phone chimed. He’d sent a text.
     
    Dad: What do you need?
     
    Well, that made me feel terrible, even if it was true. I usually only reached out when I needed something. With a sigh, I typed my response.
     
    me: What time tomorrow will you know?
     
    Dad: Tomorrow at 10am. The film student will be at your place to start.
     
    Once more, tears filled my eyes. This time, it was a combination of happiness and relief that had them rolling down my face. I sniffled and tried to hold myself together. After all, I only had fourteen hours to prepare and this apartment needed at least sixteen hours of work.
     
    me: Thank you! This means everything to us.
     
    Then I set the phone down and danced around the room while I worked on cleaning up. It wasn’t that the place was dirty. On the contrary, it was practically sterile, but for the clutter. Ollie and I left our projects out. If she wanted to work on a scrapbook, we’d start it on the table. If she wanted to make a clay project, we’d paint it on the coffee table. There was a lot of half finished, organized chaos around. It had been just the two of us forever. We never even had visitors. Most of all, I was tired, so the place was more practical than pretty. Take the living room. The landlord had allowed me to paint. I bought everything. I managed to do a great job on one wall…and then I ran out of energy and time. Ollie ended up in the hospital with a cold. It never seemed the right time to finish so the ceiling and baseboards were still taped off, even though six months had passed. Even now, knowing we’d have company tomorrow, I couldn’t rally to finish painting the room.
    There was always something to do and me with never enough energy to do it all. The perfect example was the basket of laundry sitting beside the couch and the new freelance assignment I’d been emailed earlier. Collapsing onto the couch, I figured I should fold now. After all, I wouldn’t want the film student to see the place a mess. I had managed to start a nice neat stack of matched socks when my eyes started to burn. Maybe if I closed them for a minute, I’d feel better. At least, that’s what I told myself. Then there was a knock on the door, and I realized light was streaming in through the blinds.

Chapter Four
     
    Ben
     
    I slept badly. Maybe that’s an understatement. Never in my entire life have I had such a terrible time falling asleep and staying that way. Through the years, I’ve had a lot of cause for potential rough nights. This, however, worrying about being late and my need to see Charlie again seemed to be the formula for utter insomnia. It didn’t help that I tried to fall asleep in a foul mood brought on by the realization all my friends were leaving me behind. They didn’t mean to, but clearly our lives were going different directions and these guys who I thought would be lifelong brothers are now about to become fathers, while I couldn’t even get a date. Needless to say, at four thirty in the morning, I decided to give up and start my day.
    Desperate for something mindless yet necessary to accomplish, I chose laundry. Then while the machine was running, I opted to workout. I bought myself one of those Total Gym machines when I looked around the newsroom one