Synopsis: When Lucy’s neighbor Bill finds her waiting for the bus in rain he offers to take her home. She resists. After all, adults should be independent, right? Will Lucy learn to let him take care of her? Can Bill becomes the Daddy she never knew she needed?
The rain had been relentless all day. A dreary, depressing day where the palette of the world felt limited to lifeless shades of grey. Lucy pulled her scarf back up over her face, her warm breath offering little comfort against the seeing cold of her wet coat. After all, it was water-proof, but by this point she was so wet it was like she’d been submerged!
She rubbed her reddening fingers together vigorously and then plugged her hands deep into her damp pockets once more. She’d picked a terrible day to forget her gloves. She should have turned back the moment that she had left the house that morning, but she’d been running late for the bus. She’d just made it and so had barely had time to register the penetratingcold of the day. But now that the bus in turn was running late to take her home, she had already had fifteen long minutes to regret every decision that led to her current self-pitying huddle.
A car came around the corner and she took a hasty step back to avoid being splashed – as though it would make any difference at this point. The sudden movement caused her oversized hood to fall back. She gasped as icy rain dribbled down the back of her neck, her freezing fingers working frantically to pull her hood back into place. She was so preoccupied with what she was doing that she didn’t notice that the car had pulled over.
“Lucy?!” The voice from the window was incredulous. “I barely recognized you all in black and buried beneath your scarf!”
She peeked around her hood then retired back into it It was her new neighbor Bill. She’d never had any reason to be afraid of him – in fact, quite the opposite – he’d been the one who had helped her hobble home when she’d slipped on some ice when trying to take her bins out. But, even though he gave her the feeling of a friendly uncle, the fact of the matter was that he was still bigger and stronger than she was and that he was still a guy – and that means he intimidated the hell out of her!
She blushed slightly at his comment. She was far more at home in a brighter colour palette. “Well, er, it’s important to keep up a certain level of professional appearance at work.”
He smiled slightly. “Is it? What do other people wear?”
She squirmed, her sensible flat black shoes feeling like they were giving her frozen feet absolutely zero protection. “Well, er, to be honest, I don’t think anybody else really bothers with it. In summer some people don’t even cover their uniform! But that’s specifically against the hospital’s rules.” She couldn’t hide the shock in her voice. To her it was a big deal. She was proud to play some small part in such a big organization, and she definitely didn’t wantto let them down.
“Are you headed back after a shift now?”
She nodded, her big black hood bobbing up and down over her pale head.
She heard the doors of his sleep-looking car unlock. “I’m headed back myself – get in and I’ll give you a lift. The road’s flooded down by the river – I’m not sure any more busses will make it out again today.”
She could feel her breathing speed up in panic. After all, without the bus she couldn’t get back by herself, and that meant she’d have to depend on somebody else for once, and that was scary. It wasn’t so much that she didn’t want to, more that it didn’t feel right to her. After all, for as long as she could remember then she’d been as independent as she could be, and that had always been a trait that had been criticized through her childhood. It feel like going backwards to get caught out as an adult and to need help again.
She looked back down the road as though by some miracle the bus would appear, but nothing did. She bit her lip. “It’s, er, it’s okay – I haven’t been waiting here long. The busses have never let me down before.”
The car door opened and her heart-rate inexplicably sped up, like she felt like she was about to be told off. An umbrella appeared and then the man stepped out. He was far more sensitively dressed for the weather than she was. “In that case, mind if I wait with you?”
It didn’t really feel like a question. While Lucy wanted to say yes she did mind, she knew that that wasn’t really an option. The only chance she had now was for the bus to show up – and that seemed increasingly unlikely.
Bill walked over to her and held his large umbrella over both of them. It means he stood closer to her than felt wholly comfortable. She wanted to step away but, again, that didn’t feel like a socially acceptable thing to do, so instead she focused on keeping herself as small as possible, hugging her arms about herself as she looked out down the road, her reddened fingers gripping the sides of her wet coat tightly to her.
“What happened to your cute little gloves?”
She blushed. “I forget them. But the ones I wear to and from work are not cute – they’re just plain and practical.” She could feel her head drop a little as she spoke. The journey to and from work was always when she felt least like herself. After all, a uniform felt to make sense, but an uninspiring long black coat combined with long black socks and her ugly flat black shoes made her feel so far from the self that she knew. Combine that with the black scarf and gloves she usually wore and it was like she travelled to and from work wrapped in the misery of the weight of expectations – which she was currently feeling all the more keenly for how she’d never really noticed before that she was the only one who felt obliged to dress in such a way!
“Here – let me at least warm up your hands. You’re freezing.” His warm hand lightly brushed over hers. She wanted to dodge but felt almost trapped beneath the umbrella. She tried to be fine with it. But the reality was that, other than when he’d offered her an arm after she’d fallen, this was the most intimate-feeling thing she’d ever experienced.
She tried not to whimper as the warmth of his hand suffered hers. It felt good. A little painful as the circuit came back, but good. But the longer he held it, the more awkward she felt. Like she was a little kid in need of assistance, when, in reality she was an adult and should be able to manage on her own.
Suddenly she broke away, pressing her hands deep into her pockets as she started to worry away. Her hood fell down as she walked but it was like she didn’t dare move her hands from the safety of her pockets. She sped up her pace. “I, er, thanks but I just remembered I should really do some shopping.”
She heard the rain pitter pattern on an umbrella above her – he was back at her side. “Hey I’m sorry – I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”
She shook her head as though shaking it off. “Oh – it’s okay. I just-” She broke off with a stifled sob, the weight of her confused emotions overcoming her. She didn’t understand herself at all sometimes. Why was she running away from something that felt good? Why did she have such a hard time ever accepting help? And where on earth was she headed at this time of night?
She sped up her pace but he easily keep up, his longer strides no match her her little ones. She broke into a run. He paused, letting her go as she ran down the road. Her frozen feet throbbing with each thudded step. She grew at herself and pushed harder, sobbing as she ran blindly into the night, wanting to feel the pain, wanting to punish herself for her own skittish inexperience.
“Lucy, stop.” The authoritative words cut through her frenzy.
Without thinking she paused at his words. Her whole body was shaking. She could hear him walking towards her but didn’t dare look up. She was petrified he’d be angry.
She heard the rain once more start to fall on the umbrella – he was beside her again.
“Lucy, look at me.”
With great effort she turned her blotchy face towards him. To her surprise there was none of the anger she expected. Instead his expression was somewhere between sympathy and goal.
“Lucy, you’ve spent your day looking after other people, now it’s your turn to let somebody look after you. Come get in my car. You’ll feel much better when you get warmed up and get some food in you, I promise.”
She sniffled, shaking her head adamantly. “But that’s not right! I was going to catch the bus and, and-” she hit her hands against herself in frustration. “But I can take care of myself!”
He nodded gently. “I know you can. But everybody Needs a little help every now and again. Even me.”
She turned her eyes up to him in surprise. “But-“
He chuckled, slowly walking back to his car. She followed unthinkingly.
“Do you remember when you came and brought me a blanket when the heating went out because I’d just moved in and you were worried I’d be cold?”
She blushed. “Yeah – but if I’d realized you were a guy…” she trailed off, uncertain where she was headed with that thought. After all, she wouldn’t have wanted her neighbor to freeze either way, but she wouldn’t have blithely knocked on the door as though they were already friends if she’d realized her new neighbor was a man. Men were scary to her – she didn’t have much experience with men.
He just smiled. “Without that blanket I’d have been very cold indeed. Think of this as returning the favour.”
She made a slight face but sped up a little to match his pace. It felt better when it didn’t feel like he was giving her something for nothing.
When they reached his car he opened the door for her and she shuffled herself inside. She moaned slightly at how warm it felt, but then immediately began to shiver more. She fumbled with the seatbelt, her cold fingers not gripping very well. He leaned forwards and strapped her in, clearly careful not to touch her in the process. She blushed but felt inwardly grateful – especially as she wanted to get back as soon as possible, not spend ages trying to strap herself in!
He glanced at her shivering figure with concern as he stepped into the driver’s side. “We’d better get you back quickly – you’re not gonna warm up very well until we get you out of those wet things.”
She blushed slightly at his phrasing but just nodded, feeling all a bit intimidated to be in his car alone with him.
He nodded towards the radio. “I’m afraid it’s currently tuned to an old fuddy duddy station, so how about I tell you a story?”
She looked at him curiously. A story sounded fun – and also sounded like something that wouldn’t require her to speak very much, which means no talk about what had just happened, and she liked that very much indeed.
He smiled. “Okay. Once upon a time there wasa little girl named Lucy.”
Lucy made a face. “Can’t she have another name? That’s my name!”
He chuckled. “It’s her name, too! But this Lucy doesn’t work at a hospital, she’s a vet.”
Lucy leaned forwards in surprise. “A vet?”
“Mm-hmm. That means that every day she gets to see lots of little animals who need her help to feel better. Anyhow, this particular Tuesday-“
“But it’s Tuesday today!”
He smiled. “True! And this particular Tuesday she was feeling poorly – very poorly indeed. But the trouble was that Lucy knew that if she didn’t go into work then there would be nobody to bandage up Big Doggy’s paw, or to settle the tummy of Flopsy Bunny or to sooth the itch of Little Miss Mouse.”
Lucy looked down sympathetically. “So what did she do?”
He laughed. “Why, she went to work of course! – with her pockets stuffed with tissues!”
Lucy giggled.
“So, first came Big Doggy with his hurty paw. Lucy carefully wrapped a fresh bandage around it, but just when she was about to fasten it off with a safety pin she started to sneakeze! And guess what happened?”
Lucy leaned forwards. “What?”
“She accidentally stuck the safety pin right into the sensitive pad of his other paw!”
Lucy buried her own hands in her lap. “Ouch!”
Bill laughed. “‘Ouch’ is right! So Big Doggy came in with one hurty paw but went away with two – and a cold!”
Lucy bit her lip. “He caught her cold?”
The man nodded. “He did indeed. Although every time he sneezed he made sure not to be holding any safety pins!”
Lucy giggled. “Smart!”
“Next to arrive was Flopsy Bunny. Her tummy had been very unsettled after eating something that wasn’t quite as fresh as it should be. But Flopsy Bunny was in a rush and Lucy couldn’t quite see properly because her eyes were all watery. Lucy accidentally gave her vitamin tablets instead. And we all know that rabbits don’t need any help in getting their five a day!”
“When did she find out?”
“Immediately! After all, Flopsy Bunny’s eyes were fine. So she marched straight back into Lucy’s office and thumbed her foot against the floor until Lucy brought her the right medicine.”
“But- but Lucy was only trying to help?”
Bill smiled. “True. And Flopsy Bunny knew that deep down. She was just a little impatient because it should have been a quick visit, and, if Lucy had stayed home sick and let somebody else take over, it would have been. Instead, it took her three times as long and she left with something she didn’t want.”
“Vitamin tablets?”
“A cold!”
Lucy looked down. “It does feel pretty irresponsible of her to have gone in to work when she was just going to make everybody else sick.”
Bill nodded. “Lucy’s last patient was Little Miss Mouse. Little Miss Mouse was very itchy – her brother had put itching powder down her top!”
Lucy made a face. “That wasn’t very nice of him.”
“Well, but Lucy was going to make itall better. So she had a nice fresh top waiting for Little Miss Mouse and a warm bowl of water for her to wash in.”
“Which Lucy accidentally spilt leaving the poor mouse all freezing cold?” Lucy rubbed her hands together, empathising with her imagined prediction.
Bill smiled and shook his head. “Worse – Little Miss Mouse wouldn’t get in!”
Lucy wrinkled her nose. “But that’s silly – she was all itchy. Why wouldn’t she let Lucy help her?”
“Because she just wanted some itching lotion that she could go away and put on herself. She didn’t want to be any both.”
Lucy tilted her head. “But…if the water was already ready then it was no both at all?”
Bill smiled and shrugged. “Sometimes you have to let people go at their own pace. However kind somebody may be, forcing kindness onto somebody is seldom the way. But anyhow, so Lucy sent Little Miss Mouse on her way with a tube of lotion and-“
“A cold!”
He laughed. “You got it! And the next dayBig Doggy, Flopsy Bunny and Little Miss Mouse were all back again for cold medicine! So the surgery told Lucy that she needed to go home and get better because they were paying her to make people better, not to generate more sick people!”
Lucy laughed. “Aw, yeah – but it still must have been hard for her, as, until people started getting *worse* because she was there then she must have felt like They’d get better?”
Bill nodded. “Yep. So, what’s the moral of the story?”
Lucy’s eyes lit up as she thought back over it, clearly enjoying the challenge of making sense of the lesson she hadn’t realized she was being taught. She looked up at the man, excited to share her answer but also shy of the focus feeling more like it was back on her. “I think the moral is that until Lucy looked after herself she wasn’t able to look after the animals very well – and that nobody wants to share your cold!”
Bill laughed heartily. “Very good! But that’s not a lesson you need to learnhey, Lucy – you’re very good at looking after yourself.”
Lucy bit her lip and looked down. “Yeah – I’m more like Little Miss Mouse – sometimes it’s hard for me to accept help. Even and especially when I most need it.”
Bill nodded in understanding. “But you’re gonna be a good girl and accept my help when we get back, aren’t you?”
Lucy looked up at him in surprise. “Your help? But- I don’t think I’ll need any help!”
Bill pulled into his parking space and applied the handbrake. “Then I guess you’ll have no trouble unbuckling?”
Lucy tried to depress the seatbelt, but her fingers were still too painfully cold to operate it properly.
He nodded almost grimly as he got out and walked around to the passenger side. He opened her door and leaned forwards, this time leaning in much closer to her. “You’re cold and wet and your fingers are still too numb to get your seatbelt unfasted. It seems to me like you very much need help.” He unfasted the seatbelt forher and then stepped back. “What do you say?”
She blushed and looked down. “Thank you, Bill, for helping me when I needed it.”
He smiled. “Good girl. Now let’s get you inside, because, unlike a certain Little Miss Mouse, you *will* be taking your bath.”
He reached down to her footwell and picked up her handbag, easily fishing out her keys from inside. “Time to get you warm and dry.”
She followed uncertainly behind him as he walked them to her door and unfasted it for her. While she knew that her fingers would have struggled with the task, she still wasn’t sure how she felt about it. He stepped inside.
“Your bathroom’s this way?”
Lucy stayed frozen to the spot, fear registering in her every feature.
Bill smiled slightly sadly but didn’t move. “Lucy, it’s okay that you’re inexperienced, but if left unchecked you’re only going to get more skittish around men, and that might cause you a problem.”
Lucy stayed frozen to the spot, her breathing coming in frightened gasps.
Bill stepped forwards slowly. “So I’m going to help you with that. For tonight I’m going to be like your Daddy. And does Daddy know what’s best for his little girl?”
Lucy nodded reluctantly. “Yes, but-“
“And will Daddy take no for an answer?”
Her eyes went wider and she started to shake her head.
He nodded. “That’s right. So would he leave his silly little girl freezing in her wet clothing?”
Lucy started to tremble again as she tried to shake her head. He gently rubbed a hand over her arm. “It’s okay, Lucy. You’ve just never done anything like this before. And that’s okay – I’m going to help you.”
With deft fingers he started to unfasten her wet coat. He then unlaced her sodden shoes and slipped them off her feet.
“Please, but I’m scared.” She was trembling hard, her eyes full of tears even at how intimate it had felt when he had removed her coat and shoes.
He looked at her sympathetically, clearly fightingting the urge to just hug her and carry her through to the bathroom, but he knew that would have been too much. Instead he held out his hand. “I’m going to go and run a bath for you, would you like to come watch?”
Lucy didn’t understand how she found herself nodding at his words. It was like he kept speaking to a part of her that trusted him implicitly. That wanted to be with him, even Though it was also his presence that was scaring her the most.
When they reached the bathroom he found a large towel and wrapped it around her like a hug before setting the bath running. She stood uncertainly, hugging the towel close around her.
Bill knelt down. “Can I take off your wet socks? Look – you can put your foot on my knee and then I’ll be able to take them off really fast. Whoosh – like that. You’ll barely have time to notice!”
She giggled slightly before tenatively raising a foot. She didn’t rest it against his leg and he didn’t force the issue, instead quickly and easily sliding off each sock in turn.
“Good girl! Now, can you slide yourself out of your wet trousers for me? Look at how hidden you’ll still be under your towel – and then the wettest parts of your clothes will be off.”
Lucy nodded a little uncertainly, waiting until he’d turned his back to wriggle herself out of her trousers before hugging her towel back tightly around her like it would defend her from all impropriety.
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