Luke just winked at the worker before turning to look Nikki right in the eyes. They stood in the middle of the center’s lobby which divided the east and west wings. Caretakers moved about casually around them, not even paying attention to the fact that this was Nikki’s first time here due to how regular it was for Luke to be there. But Luke knew. He knew this was Nikki’s first time and that she must have felt like a fish out of water. So, he looked her right in the eyes, held both of her hands and said calmly – with a glimmer in his eye that showed he was smiling on the inside even if he wasn’t smiling while talking.
“You probably have a bunch of questions….” He said.
“Well, yeah – some.”
“And I promise, after we’re done making some visits, I’ll answer anything. I wanna actually talk to you. But for now, if you’re willing to come meet some people with me, they could really use the company.”
“Absolutely.” Nikki grasped Luke’s hands a bit tighter as she said it, reinforcing her sincerity in following Luke to do whatever he’d want to do that evening.
“So, my only words of advice are to just be you. Relax and just enjoy what short moments we have. That’s what these folks have taught me over the years.”
The ambiguity of what Luke said rang in the air, leaving Nikki wondering if he meant the short moments of each visit, or instead a greater meaning in the scheme of things.
Luke went down the hall, holding hands with Nikki. She felt him squeeze her hand ever so slightly right before he knocked on the retirement center’s first door. What seemed like a prolonged period at the door came next.
Luke could sense Nikki’s restlessness to move to the next door and reassured her: “It takes them a bit longer to get to the door. But if you don’t give up on them, they make it worthwhile in their own unique way.”
The door slowly creaked open. An old man’s wrinkled hand was seen struggling to crack the door open, so Luke reached out to help.
“Hey George!” Luke talked first as the man’s face began to appear from behind the door.
What at first seemed like a face too wrinkled to do anything other than be weighed down with old age quickly and magically transformed into a smile. Nikki wasn’t sure that George could see out from underneath the baggy eyelids which weighed down over his eyes. But George’s smile made it clear he at least knew Luke’s voice.
“George, I thought I’d introduce you to this pretty woman I met. Her name is Nikki.” Luke turned to allow Nikki to say something to introduce herself, but a low, aged voice surprised them both when it bellowed out from George. The fact that the old man said something didn’t just shock Nikki, but obviously shocked Luke as well from the look on Luke’s face.
“She’s too pretty for you,” the old man deadpanned.
Nikki chuckled. Knowing the man probably didn’t have much, if any, ability to see signaled that George was a jokester – he was going to say that no matter what Nikki looked like.
Nikki’s light-hearted, instinctual reaction took hold. “I’m only with him as community service.”
George growled a deep chuckle. “You ought to watch for this guy,” he said while lifting his finger slowly to point at Luke’s chest. “His grandmother may have been a good gal, but he still owes me money.”
“Alright,” Luke said in jest, finding a way to press on to the next door in the wing, “I think that’s our signal to escape!”
George nodded with a wry smile on his face. As he went to shut the door slowly, Nikki heard him say: “Have a good night you two.”
The door shut and Luke just stood next to Nikki looking her in the eyes as if inspecting her a bit more after the joviality that was their quick interaction with George.
“Did I say something wrong?” She asked, trying to decipher the starry-eyed look Luke was giving her.
“Wrong? Are you kidding me? That was the first time I’ve heard George say anything in over a month. You were perfect – exactly what he needed.” A reassuring smirk adorned Luke’s face, as if Nikki had impressed him with her casual and welcoming persona.
They walked a few paces to the next door down the wing, but something was said by George that sparked an interest in Nikki’s mind. George mentioned knowing Luke’s grandma. Nikki wasn’t quite trying to solve a puzzle – Luke had said, after all, that he’d answer any questions she had. But that was the first real thing she’d learned about this man who she knew very little about.
The next door also contained an old man behind it. This man wasn’t quite as talkative as George, but Nikki could see just how much it meant in his face to be visited. It was as if Luke’s quick visits were the only thing he had to look forward to.
Door after door down the hall was a similar experience. Men and women in their twilight years – if not days – were housed behind each door. Each of them illuminated from seeing Luke and getting just a few brief moments to say hi. Despite varying widely, Luke never seemed to rush each interaction, instead knowing how to make them brief but poignant.
Nikki was actually sad when they reached the final door at the end of the hall. By the time she realized that this was their last door, she already missed getting to meet each new face. For the last hour or so, not a single thought about finding love or becoming a chef had crossed her mind. Instead, as she reached out to knock on the last door, she felt calm and peaceful as she held Luke’s hand.
“Not this one,” Luke interjected as Nikki went to knock. “We just go inside without knocking at this one.” As they opened the door and entered the small room, Luke announced their presence. “Jean, I’m here and I have a visitor … so make sure you’re wearing something!” Luke winked at Nikki with a smile from his joke.
“Only ‘cause you brought someone with you,” Nikki heard the elderly woman’s voice return a joke from around the corner … at least, Nikki hoped it was a joke. But the old lady’s sentence had paused in the middle as Nikki heard her take a breath from an oxygen tank. Nikki couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about the woman’s voice surprisingly sounded familiar to her. “Looks like you’ve learned not to be alone with me again, huh?” The lady finished her sentence before taking another breath of oxygen.
Nikki’s eyes lit up. The other old folks had been a wide array of hilarious, but this crude joke was definitely the first of their visit. Nikki couldn’t conceal the shock of what Jean had just said.
But then Nikki and Luke turned the corner and Nikki knew exactly why she recognized Jean’s voice. As if by an ironic twist of fate, Nikki’s mind flashed back to a couple weeks ago, to that large dress rehearsal dinner where Nikki had seen Luke as a server for the first time. Nikki had sat down at a random table to hide from Luke by blending into the wedding party. In that moment, she’d struck up a random, motivating conversation about love with an elderly person. Jean. She just didn’t know her name at that time, but now Nikki instantly recognized the old, bedridden woman as the same person she’d encountered randomly just a couple weeks ago.
“It’s you!” Nikki couldn’t help but blurt out in shock and excitement at seeing the old woman from the party in front of her.