Through Thick And Thin

“Hey, you are here and I see your bike, but no pizza,” Amelia said when she opened the door for him.

“It’s on the house,” the delivery guy said.

“Whoa…that’s generous. Thanks,” Amelia said and then looked around. “Do you have a partner or something?” she asked.

“Why?” the delivery guy asked.

“The pizza. Where is it?” she asked again.

“I told you, it’s on the house.”

“Fine.” Amelia stiffed the bills in her hand in her pocket. “Thank you for that but I still kind of need it. To eat it, I mean, that was the plan after all,” she said matter of factly.

“Jesus lady. I told you IT IS ON THE HOUSE!”

Amelia raised an eyebrow.

“THANK YOU FOR THAT, SIR. NOW WHERE THE HELL IS MY PIZZA?” It was now her turn to yell.

This was going nowhere fast. By that time, her grandmother, Amanda and Mark had already walked up to the door.

“What is happening? Why are you all shouting?” Leila asked.

“Yeah, what’s with the yelling?” Amanda asked.

“The delivery guy is here without my pizza and he keeps telling me it is on the house,” Amelia said crossing her arms over her chest.

“That is so nice of you young man,” Leila said with a smile.

“The problem is that every time I ask for the pizza, he yells that it is on the house,” Amelia said. The delivery guy was trying to say something but suddenly, everyone was speaking all at once.

“Maybe he doesn’t speak English,” Mark said. “Amanda, you took Spanish in high school right?” he asked nodding in Amanda’s direction.

“Okay, I’ll try,” Amanda started. “Habla Ingles?” she asked as she looked at the delivery guy. “Donde esta et pizza?”

“It. Is. On. The. House.” The delivery guy said again.

“On the house?” Amanda asked. “Ahem…en la casa?”

“For God’s sake,” the delivery guy started as he grabbed Amelia’s hand making her gasp. He pulled her outside and pointed up.

“Holy sh*t,” Amelia said as she looked up. “The pizza is literally on the house.”

“How the hell did that happen?” Amanda asked.

“Watch your language young lady,” Leila said as she walked out.

“Your neighbor has a couple of pretty fierce Dobermans and long story short, the box slipped out of my hand,” the delivery guy said.

“All the way to the roof?” Mark asked as he looked up.

Just then, Chad’s metallic brown corolla pulled up in front of Leila’s house.

“Hey…what’s going on?” Chad asked as he made his way towards the house. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“You are just in time, actually,” Amelia said pointing at the roof.

“Is that a pizza box on the roof?” Chad asked and Amelia nodded.

“Yeah, that was supposed to be our dinner,” she said.

“Someone better get it down before it rains,” Leila said.

“I’ll get the ladder,” Mark said as he walked back into the house.

Amelia looked at the delivery guy and shrugged.

“I guess it is not on the house after all,” she said as she pulled out the bills from her pocket.

*****

Amelia suddenly laughed and Chad looked at her briefly before he turned his attention back on the road.

“Mind sharing the joke?” he asked. She looked at him and then at her sister in the rear view mirror.

“Remember that time when you were bringing Mark to family dinner for the first time?” she asked as she looked at a smiling Amanda.

“It’s kind of hard to forget,” she said. Mark burst out laughing.

“That was a very confusing evening,” he said.

“Was that the whole pizza on the house day?” Chad asked and Amelia nodded.

“And to make it worse, it rained before we could get the pizza off the roof,” Amelia said, still laughing. “Forty bucks I will never get back.”

“Guess there was always something interesting happening at your grandmother’s,” Chad said as he pulled up in front of Antonio’s Grill. “Well, here we are.” He looked at Amanda and Mark in the rearview mirror.

“Remember, dude. No drinks tonight. You are the designated driver,” Mark said as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Yeah, yeah. You don’t have to tell me twice…or four hundred times.” He got out of the car and looked at Amanda as Amelia got out of the car.

“He is just trying to make sure we get home safe, tonight,” she said.

“Yeah, because I plan on getting fucked up tonight,” Mark said with a smile.

“Language mister,” Amanda said as he playfully punched his arm. Amelia looked at Chad and smiled.

“Don’t worry baby, I will make sure to have an extra tequila just for you,” Amelia said as she walked up to where Chad was. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him softly. Chad smiled at her and slipped an arm around her waist.

“There will be plenty of time to do that later,” Amanda called out. She and Mark were already walking towards the entrance.

“We better go join them,” Amelia said.

“I would much rather spend my time out here with you,” Chad said. His arm was strongly secured around her waist. Amelia ran her fingers through his hair.

“I know. I feel the same way.”

*****

If Leila would have been still alive, she would have loved the celebration of life party her grandchildren threw for her. It was definitely her kind of party right down to the music. Amelia had suggested they have a red velvet cake because it was her grandmother’s favorite cake and they had even gone the extra mile to ensure the caterer made Leila’s cheese stuffed meatballs exactly the way she would have made it. And after the party, even though Amanda and Mark were a little too tipsy, they all made their way to Mr. and Mrs. Gold’s graves and sprinkled Leila’s ashes just as she wanted.

By the time Chad got to Amelia’s apartment, it was a little after two in the morning. He looked at her and forced out an exhausted smile.

“Come on. I’ll walk you up,” he said. She climbed out of the car and followed him in. She was relatively quiet as they slowly walked up the stairs. When they got to her door, Amelia opened it and Chad pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately.

“Stay over,” Amelia said in a soft voice. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

He held the side of her face and took a step inside.

“I could never say no to you,” he said in a whisper. He closed the door and bolted it before he followed her into the living room. “Shouldn’t we go to bed?” he asked as he tossed his jacket and tie on the couch. She looked at him shaking her head.

“Can we just stay here for a while? I don’t want to go to bed yet,” she said. He sighed and walked up to where she was. He sat down next to her and she shifted her weight before she laid back on the couch with her head on the arm rest. Chad took her legs and gently got them on his lap. He took off her heels one after the other before he began rubbing her right foot. Amelia exhaled loudly and closed her eyes.

“That feels heavenly,” she said in a low voice.

“Just close your eyes and relax.”