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Almost three weeks had passed since that exhausting day when Robby admitted to his neighbor that he was seeing a woman.
Dennis hadn't even stuck around to hear Florence call him a traitor and a jerk in every way she knew how, throwing in more than one Spanish word she'd picked up from Sylvia. One word stuck in Robby's head: malparido. He didn't even want to know what it meant. It had to be pretty bad.
Robby just let Florence get it all out, then rode out the silent treatment for the rest of the day. Was that something he should've called out and corrected in his daughter? Yes. Did he feel like he deserved the insults? Also yes.
He knew his daughter would come around eventually and explain what was bugging her like a civilized person. That happened the very next day, while Robby was checking his kids' notices on the school portal.
He noticed Hazel was supposed to wear a red shirt on Thursday... back in January. They were two weeks out from June. He didn't remember getting an emergency call from the kindergarten, so luck must've been on his side, because his daughter happened to wear that exact color that day anyway. He'd brought it up to Florence as a funny story. Instead, he got a look of disgust, followed by You broke Dennis's heart, you pathetic old man.
Robby didn't see it that way. His own neighbor was the one who'd told him to start dating women. And now he was the bad guy? He'd just taken the guy's advice.
According to Florence, that was a classic move to push away someone you like, so you don't have to deal with the humiliation of unrequited love.
"I don't like Dennis, and he doesn't like me either, Flo," he remembered telling her three days later, while cleaning her piercing.
"Are you blind, or are you just too Pisces for your own good?" she asked. The annoyance was gone from her voice, but she was still blunt as ever. It was his favorite thing about her.
"I'm a Gemini," he said, still focused on the clean gauze.
"That makes it even worse," the teenager shot back. After a few seconds, she spoke again. "So what's so special about this woman? Why didn't you tell me about her before?"
"Because it's not serious yet, and because I don't owe my teenage daughter a play-by-play of my love life." Robby took off his glasses and gently touched Florence's cheek.
"I could at least get a name."
Robby thought about it for a second, then, caving, said, "Jana."
"Jana, huh?" Florence's face said it all. Disgust, and nothing else.
"What about Zoe?" he shot back, a teasing little smile on his lips.
"Dad! Not funny." Florence stomped off to her room, grumbling.
It always worked to shut down awkward conversations. And it gave her a taste of her own medicine.
Things between him and Dennis didn't change much over the next few days. They kept running into each other in the hallway, at the hospital, at each other's apartments whenever they picked up their kids after homework or playdates.
Dennis didn't ask much, but Robby, without really meaning to, felt this constant need to mention when he was going out and what he was doing with Jana. His neighbor would just answer with That's great, buddy. I'm happy for you.
And just like that, more than two weeks went by until June fourth, when Robby's birthday finally arrived.
The day started out great. As always, his kids barged in at seven in the morning to sing him happy birthday, breakfast in hand. He got a pile of drawings, a macaroni necklace, a little clay figure, and a linen shirt they'd bought with his own credit card.
Unfortunately, he hadn't managed to get the day off, and to top it off, Sylvia had taken advantage of the weekend and the nice weather to skip town. So he'd asked his friend to watch his four kids.
By nine, both Dennis and Amelia had shown up at 4AB. The little girl gave him a sweet hello before disappearing into Oliver's room, and Dennis stuck around in the living room while he finished getting ready for the hospital.
"I brought you something, birthday boy." Dennis held out a bag covered in little balloon print. "Just a little gift."
Robby took it, totally caught off guard. He wasn't expecting anything from him. "Is this for me?" What a dumb question.
"No, it's for Pickles," Dennis deadpanned. "Of course it's for you. Open it."
Inside was a pretty thick book about the Roman Empire. Robby's face broke into a huge grin. "Hey, how'd you know I like history books?"
He really meant it, he loved them. He could barely stand to read anything that wasn't the same old facts about the past, told twenty different ways. He'd tried getting into a novel plenty of times, but none of them ever hooked him enough to get obsessed.
"Your shelf's full of the same kind of books." Dennis pointed toward a corner of the living room. "I figured the history ones were yours. Can't picture you owning any Heartstopper, but if I'm wrong, then I seriously underestimated you." Dennis let out a teasing little laugh.
Robby's chest tightened in a really nice way. It felt like such a Dennis gesture. He couldn't describe it any other way.
Since when had he started describing things as Dennis? And also, what the hell did that even mean?
He started running through everything else that gave him the same feeling. The smell of mint was very Dennis. Eating fruit in the morning, very Dennis. Drinking tea instead of coffee at night, very Dennis. Sleeping in fresh sheets felt good, warm, right, just very Dennis.
God, so Dennis was a good thing, then? Something comforting. Something nice. Something that just felt really, really good.
"Got any plans to celebrate your special day?" His neighbor's voice snapped him out of it.
Robby glanced down at the book in his hands before looking straight into those piercing blue eyes. "Nothing. Tomorrow I'll probably order something good with the kids and watch whatever movies they pick."
"You should go out with Jana. Bet she wants to celebrate with you too," Dennis said, in a tone that wasn't quite teasing, but wasn't too excited either. "I'll take the kids off your hands. Maybe a picnic in the park, in your honor... and because they need some vitamin D."
He checked his watch. Already running late. He dropped the book on the coffee table, grabbed his bag, and headed for the door. "I'll take you up on that, then. Thanks for everything, buddy. I promise I'll tear through that book and tell you all about it."
"Oh, no thanks. That's what you have a girlfriend for. I'm sure she'd love to hear about it." Dennis let out another mocking little laugh. Of course he didn't want to hear about it.
Sure, they were a lot closer now, but Dennis still kept a weird distance with him. Especially since that talk in the kitchen. For a second, Robby wondered if maybe his new cologne smelled bad and Dennis was sensitive to scents, but he'd seen Dennis hug Oliver, and no offense to his son, but the kid could smell like a skunk sometimes. Plus everyone else had complimented the new cologne.
Maybe it was the heat. Summer was right around the corner, and Dennis didn't seem like someone who could handle other people's sweat. He ruled that out too, though. Their friendship wasn't exactly a physical one, and they'd never really had a moment where their bodies touched beyond a pat on the shoulder.
Or maybe Dennis just kept his distance because he didn't fully like Robby, and that was that. Maybe he'd only agreed to be his friend because their kids had become inseparable, which was fair enough too. Still, he really valued the relationship they had and hoped it would last.
"Text me if you need anything, okay?" he said before heading out the door.
"Say hi to Jana for me." That was the last thing he heard before walking down the hallway toward the elevator.
Something about the whole Dennis-and-Jana thing felt strange. They'd never met, and honestly, he hoped they never would. Not because he was embarrassed of either of them. Okay, maybe a little.
Jana was amazing. About Robby's age. Somewhere between platinum blonde and gray. A veteran, a nurse, and on top of that, a SWAT volunteer in her free time. A widow, and also married. Actually he knew her husband Benji really well. Usually right about things, but she'd lose it every once in a while too. Basically, two personalities, and she knew both Robby and Dennis inside out.
Because Jana wasn't anyone but Jack and Dana.
For almost three weeks now, he'd been dragging his two best friends from the hospital out to drink beer at a karaoke bar because he couldn't handle the butterflies he got hearing Dennis explain himself in the kitchen.
He felt so stupid. And he still felt just as miserable every single day since. Not that his friends made him feel any better.
"I don't see what's wrong with a sexual awakening at fifty," Dana said, glasses pushed way down her nose, scanning the menu for something close to a birthday cake. "Spicy wings?"
Jack and Robby both nodded, resigned. It wasn't like the place had much else to offer, and since he'd already blown out candles on a carrot cake at the hospital, the wings were more of an excuse to keep from getting wasted on their fourth beer.
"It's not a sexual awakening. Jesus, I swear I've got nothing against bi people, I'm just not one," he said, defensive. Same conversation they'd already had a lot of times.
Nobody had forced him to tell them what was going on, but Jana thought it was weird how often Robby was inviting them out for drinks with no reason at all. The first two times, his excuse was that he needed to talk to adults about something other than medical stuff, even if the three of them found that hard enough on its own. The times after that, he missed his friends from New Orleans. But by the fifth outing in two and a half weeks, both of them started to catch on, and he had no choice but to admit that things with someone had gotten complicated.
"I kissed a guy once, back when I was on duty," Jack admitted, more focused on the couple singing Don't Go Breaking My Heart on the little stage. "Does that make me bi?"
"I guess so." Dana, multitasking as always, answered while waving down the waiter and pointing at the huge photo of wings on the menu. He got the message loud and clear. "I think if the label's what's messing with you, Robby, just don't use one. You like a person, that's it."
Same advice he'd given his oldest daughter weeks ago. To an overwhelmed Florence who didn't know what she was feeling, and who he'd told in some way that labels don't matter. Easy to say to a fifteen-year-old. Not so easy for a man closer to a hundred than to zero.
"Well, if I were bi or whatever, it wouldn't even matter, because I don't like him." Because of course he didn't like Dennis. They weren't even compatible.
"If you don't like him, I don't get why you're so hung up on this, man." Jack looked straight at him, arms crossed, one hand holding his beer without a hint of worry about spilling it. "It's simple. You like someone, you go for it. You don't, you drop it. But you don't look like someone who wants to drop it, because this is the third time we've had this exact conversation."
Damn it, he was right. Same conversation as always, and it never went anywhere. Just one complaint after another, a few beers, a song, then home.
"We could help you more if, I don't know, you told us who it is." Dana gave him a mischievous smile. "For God's sake, you can't hide it forever. At least give us a face to put with the mystery man."
Robby hadn't even told them it was his neighbor. Way too risky, considering it was pretty much public knowledge that Dr. Whitaker and Dr. Robinavitch lived in the same building.
"Don't think that'd help much," he said quickly, taking a sip of his beer. "All that matters is he's a guy, a single dad, young, and he told me, in a very friendly way, that I was attractive."
"Sounds like quite the catch." Dana nodded along with Jack's comment. "Someone finding you attractive is basically a miracle."
"Don't listen to him, you're doing just fine," Dana added quickly, like she needed to boost his ego. "And if a young guy's telling you that, it's gotta be true."
"He's not, like, some gold digger, right? You know, one of those guys looking for a sugar daddy?"
Robby was about to answer Jack, but Dana let out a loud laugh and cut in. "Oh, if he were a gold digger, he'd go after someone better. A dad with three little kids and a teenager isn't exactly a catch."
She had a point. But also, Dennis was the total opposite of that. Always independent, put together, capable, and incredibly proud, except when he had to justify his own slip-ups, though Robby had to admit he found that endearing. Very Dennis.
Fuck. There he went again, using it as an adjective.
"Let me ask you something one last time, and this time, don't dodge it like you always do." Jack pointed a finger at him. Robby swallowed hard, because he knew what was coming. "Since when has he been acting weirder than usual?"
Robby waited a few seconds, pressed his lips together, and tried to find an answer that didn't sound like a mess.
"Come on, answer," Dana pushed, a wing already between her fingers.
"Since I told him I was seeing a woman," he finally admitted.
"He likes you." They said it at the exact same time, and together, they sounded just like Jana.
"And that's exactly why you made up a fake girlfriend, you pathetic old man," Jack said.
God, if he had a dollar for every time he'd heard pathetic old man in the last three weeks, he'd have enough for a lollipop. Maybe. Point was, it had happened more than once, and that was already too much.
But hearing it from someone else, someone who had no idea who the mystery guy even was, made it worse, because his friends had landed on the exact same conclusion as his oldest daughter, with nothing to go on.
It felt awful to confirm a possibility that, in his head, had always seemed so far off. Especially because he did not like Dennis. Not his hostile attitude, not his wide smile, not his light curls, not his flawless professionalism, not the way he was so gentle with his kids, not the little bags under his eyes. Nothing about him should've made his chest feel that warm.
Because, obviously, the heat he was feeling was from the spicy wings. Not from thinking about his neighbor.
"What if what's really bugging you is having a new partner after everything with your wife?" Dana asked, looking at him now with almost pitying eyes.
The thing with Lauren really wasn't much of an issue. They'd talked about it years back, when she was still pregnant with Hazel, about what to do if one of them wasn't around anymore. Robby remembered clearly they'd both said the same thing at once: live your life again. But then, every couple says that, thinking they'll grow old together. Unfortunately, that hadn't been the case, and Robby hadn't even thought about starting a new life with someone else. Not until now.
"Lauren would've wanted me to be with another woman," he admitted without any trouble. Suddenly the karaoke song list seemed way more interesting. "Summer Nights, from Grease? This time we can let you be Sandy, Jack."
Jack flipped him off with a laugh and took a long swig of what was left of his beer.
"He probably just said woman to mean any person in general." Robby couldn't figure out why Dana kept pushing this, but he let it slide. He was the one who'd gotten them into this mess in the first place. "Besides, just try it, and if it doesn't work out, well, you stop seeing each other. It's not like you have to see him every single day, right?"
Robby just stared at Dana for a couple of seconds, an uncomfortable smile on his face. Both she and Jack frowned, not quite sure what he was about to say.
"Fuck, Robby. We know him." Dana said it with so much certainty it actually gave him chills. "Is he from PTMC?"
Jack's mouth dropped open, loving every second of this. Robby could feel all the blood rushing to his face, giving him away in the worst possible way.
"You absolute piece of shit." That was the most affection Jack could possibly show him right now. "You're into a coworker."
"A guy, young, single dad," Dana listed off, way too excited about all this. "There aren't that many options."
"So, Summer Nights?" he said quickly, adding his name to the app they used to get in line at the bar.
"Is Pratt from finance a single dad?" Jack asked, making it clear they weren't dropping this anytime soon.
"No, no, he's been with Shayla for years." Dana gave him a little nudge on the shoulder. "But I think Kieran from geriatrics has a kid too."
"Kieran's basically my age, Dana. And much as I'd like to think otherwise, I'm not exactly young anymore." With that, Jack raised his arm for another beer. The waiter nodded, Jack shot him a quick thumbs-up.
"Young, single dad," Dana kept repeating. "I'm running out of options here."
The Grease song kicked in. Robby shot up out of his seat. "That's us!"
Jana jumped up together, buzzing over both the discovery and the ridiculous song Robby had picked. Dana wiped her fingers with a napkin, Jack took a last sip of his beer, and that's when Robby's phone lit up on the table and started buzzing.
Incoming Call
Friend Dennis
"Oh my god! Whitaker from pediatrics," Dana squealed with an almost unhinged laugh. "Young, single dad."
"Damn, man." Jack was just as stunned as she was. "What makes you think you can turn down Dennis Whitaker? That's like turning down, I don't know, Linda Cardellini."
"Oh, she's gorgeous," Dana agreed, heading toward the stage to grab the mic. "I think the best thing that could've happened to you is having someone like Whitaker notice you. You don't just find that anywhere."
Jack gave his friend a hard pat on the shoulder before heading over to Dana to share the mic, just in time to jump in on Sandy's part.
Robby didn't manage to pick up the call. Didn't think he could, not without sounding way too embarrassed after everything that had just gone down in a matter of seconds. Instead, a message came in from Dennis, a couple of photos, him and Amelia and the kids at the park, and one of all of them passed out in front of the TV.
Friend Dennis
sorry for interrupting your date, just wanted to say the picnic wore them out! got them asleep before nine ;)
He suddenly felt ridiculous, as dumb as a kid who couldn't even figure out what he felt for his friend.
Maybe it was admiration, the guy was an amazing doctor. Maybe it was happiness, for meeting him and having such a great neighbor. Maybe it was the good kind of envy, because his life seemed to just work. Maybe it was all of it, mixed together.
In the background, his friends kept belting out that song, cheered on by the other customers.
And then, out of nowhere, he found himself thinking about Dennis as a person again. His irresistible scent, his perfectly styled hair, his nose like something carved from a Greek statue, his big blue eyes, his thin, pink lips. And once again, his chest filled with that same warm feeling, his stomach exploded with butterflies.
So dumb. Must’ve been the beer sitting wrong.
When Robby finally confessed to Dennis, in the clumsiest, most awkward way possible, Dennis admitted he'd called because he couldn't stand the thought of imagining him with someone else.