He moved into the room, his back towards me as he opened up a few of the cabinets to show me what went inside of them. ”Often people don't put things back in the right space, so you might get a complaint every once in awhile asking 'where did you put this?' when really they are the ones that screwed up. Don't take it to heart, some of the older folk here don't have very good memories. I just politely show them where I put it. Though, the bratty ones I just let try and find it on their own."
"Do they hold art classes here every night?" I asked as I picked up a paintbrush out of a tin full of them and stroked its soft bristles.
But he didn't answer. Looking over at him, I noticed he had moved on to a storage closet, showing how they kept extra easels and a few folding chairs in there and how it wasn't something I really needed to pay much attention to, but might have to reorganize every once in a while.
“Theseus?" I called.
Again, no answer.
Brows scrunched in confusion, I tried something out of pure instinct. I gently knocked over the tin full of brushes. It clattered to the floor with a racket, the brushes scattering everywhere.
He didn't even flinch. Finally, he turned away from the closet to look at me and noticed the mess I had just created. His own brow furrowed to match mine, his mouth turning downward as well.
"What happened?” he asked.
I noticed that the moment he asked the question his eyes went from to the floor to my face, specifically my lips.
My eyebrows shot up, and I gaped at him, feeling like a complete idiot in my epiphany. “You’re deaf, aren’t you?”
He gave a weary smile and ran his hands through his hair. “That I am.”
My mouth hung open in horror. “I’m so sorry! This whole time with the touching and the almost obsessive way you kept staring at my lips. I just thought you were…well.”
“A weirdo? Perhaps a creep? It’s okay; it’s partially my fault. I don’t tend to tell people right off. It makes things more awkward. Hi, I’m Theseus, by the way, I can't hear. And then I just get gift baskets of pity, and it really slows down the conversation like what I’m ordering for lunch.” He chuckled so light-heartedly it only made me feel worse.
“I mean, you speak so well. I thought deaf people couldn’t—” God, there I went again putting my foot in my mouth.
“Some of us can, some of us can’t.” He shrugged. “It’s harder for those who were born deaf. I wasn’t. Lost my hearing about seven years ago in an accident. So, a couple of speech therapy lessons, lots of lip reading practice, and boom! You hearing folk are often none the wiser.”
I couldn’t help but laugh despite how horrible I felt. He had a refreshing sense of humor.
“I’m sorry if the touching weirded you out. I try not to automatically assume someone’s following me. And with you not knowing your way around and me not being able to hear you…it was the easiest way…to, um.”
“So you hold lots of girls hands?” I teased, trying to hold back a smile.
He tilted his head. “Well, maybe I just wanted to hold yours.”
I nodded, bringing my sleeved hand up to cover my smile.
There was something about this guy that drew me in. I didn't know what, but for once I was looking forward to working.
After cleaning up my mess, we continued our tour of the facility. Over on the left side of the building, there was the sports center with the pool, a small gym, and a basketball court. Thesis showed me how to operate the pool vacuum and check the filter. Now that I knew he was deaf, I tried my hardest to remember to make sure we were looking directly at each other every time I asked a question. I had slipped up several times, luckily only embarrassing myself.
I was surprised to learn that the pool used a saltwater generator instead of the standard chlorine tablets. When I asked him why, he only shrugged it off, claiming that the town wanted a more natural pool. My father had done pool work for a while when we lived down south, and I knew the maintenance and cost to make a pool that large salt water had to be pretty expensive. For a town that struggled so much, I was surprised they would pour all their money into something like that rather than making the town look better for tourists.
I shook my head. Why would it matter to me where these people threw their money? I probably wouldn't be here for more than a few months anyway.
Finally done with my tour and subsequent teaching a couple of hours later, we ended up back in the front lobby. Dorris was typing away on her computer, but it was painstakingly obvious that she was spying on us. Every few moments or so, I would watch her out of the corner of my eye nonchalantly turn in our direction and pick up an empty glass, pretending to take a sip from it.
I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, bringing my attention back to the handsome man in front of me.
“So, I'll see you tomorrow? For work, I mean,” He asked.
I smiled and nodded. "After I get out of school I'll be right over, and you can put me to work."
He matched my smile. “I wouldn't be so eager. I'll probably have you scrubbing toilets.”
"Hey, money is money,” I replied with a shrug.
"I'm surprised, though. I would have figured you would go for the daycare. I doubt most girls your age would choose being a janitor over playing with kids."
I shook my head, confused. “But I thought that the position was filled. By the mayor's daughter. At least, that's what Dorris told me."
"I did hear Lidia got dragged into working here, but there were two positions open."
I looked over my shoulder to see Dorris happily whistling to herself, pretending to be none the wiser to our conversation. That little sneak. I believe she was playing matchmaker.
When I looked back at Theseus, I think he realized it as well because he was avoiding looking at me, the peaks of his cheeks a rosy red.
I tapped his chest to get him to look back at me. “I would have rather been a janitor than change some kid’s diapers anyway."
I watched as he read my lips. The smile he gave was infectious.
Looking out the window, I groaned when I saw that it was snowing pretty heavily now. I wouldn't be able to walk back. If I was lucky, Cal was still in town and hadn't reached the cabin yet.
"I need to call for my ride," I said before walking a few feet away and pulling the burner phone from my pocket.
"Snicker Doodles," came Cal's voice on the other end of the line.
"Fort Knox," I replied.
"Hey, little sis, what's up?"
"I wanted to know if you made it back to the cabin already. If not, you think you can give me a ride?" I asked hoping the answer was yes.
She hissed. "I'm sorry, hun. I got back to the cabin about an hour ago. But I can still come to get you."
“No, don't. It's snowing pretty hard right now. I'd rather hitch a ride than have you fling yourself off the road like last time."
"I did not fling myself off the road. I only skidded...a little."
"This is what we get for not having two cars. Do you know when we need to go get Dad from the fishing yard?” I asked, figuring I could stay here until she had to come back into town and hoped the weather was better by then.
She clicked her tongue. “He called me earlier to tell me he'd be out on some salmon run with this guy for a couple of days. Said the guy would give him seven hundred for helping him out."
"That's good that he found something, even if it is temporary."
"He mentioned seeing an old boat with a for-sale sign. Thought it might be a good idea to get it so he could go out on his own to catch instead of relying on someone's handout,” She said, sounding a little exasperated.