It was only eight thirty when they arrived at her apartment, and Thom was not about to waste

time. It was as if he wanted Jordan’s stuff out more than she did, and Temi wasn’t about to argue. Therefore, box after box was filled with clothes, wrist weights, weighted belts, his toiletries, etc. They moved so quickly, that they had all of Jordan’s things packed and in both of their cars by 10:30.

“Damn, girl, he didn’t move in with any of his own furniture?”

Temi shook her head. “No. His stuff wasn’t as nice as mine, and we thought when we finally got up out of here, we would buy new stuff together.”

“Fucking cheapskate. What man doesn’t have at least a few nice pieces in his home?” It was a rhetorical question, so Temi didn’t answer. “You would think he’d want to add a personal touch here and there to make this his home too.”

Temi again wasn’t sure if she needed to answer, so she just put her jacket back on so they could drive the boxes to Indian River. However, before she could ask if Thom was ready to go, he moved to her bedroom and stood in the doorway looking inside. Nothing Thom ever did was awkward, sloppy or lacking in grace, and as he stood there; leaning against the right side of the doorway, he looked ready for a photo op. His lean body diagonal in the doorway, arms crossed against his chest, his deep brown eyes… sad.

“Artie. We have to get rid of this stuff,” he turned his sad puppy dog eyes to her. “You can’t sleep in this room again. Not like this.” Nothing had been disturbed since Temi threw Jordan and his new girl out of the apartment. In fact, Temi had merely shut the door, slept in the guest bedroom, and only reentered the scene of the crime to get clothes for work.

“I know what you mean, but I can’t afford a new bed right now.”

Thom nodded. “Right. First things first. Let’s cancel all of his computer game subscriptions. Then we’ll throw this shit out, and I will take you shopping.” Temi couldn’t believe what she was hearing and tried to protest. Thom wouldn’t hear it. “No, diva. My girl is not living with this sin in her home. Consider it an early birthday present.”

“My birthday is in April.”

Thom swatted the wind in her direction. “Then, an early as shit birthday present.” He knew she hated handouts, especially high-ticket items. “Artemisia, my dear,” he left the doorway to give her a hug, “please let me do this. I can’t stand to think of you here… alone… exiled to the guest bedroom. He’s the one who messed up, and you shouldn’t have to suffer along with him.”

 Temi held on tight to Thom and cried her eyes dry. Normally he would have been appalled to have someone lose it all over his new Bradshaw Forbes, but not Artemisia. Never.

 Once they had thrown her mattress and bedding in the dumpster, disassembled the bed and placed it to the right of the dumpster, they were off to Indian River to drop off Jordan’s things.

Jordan’s elder brother, Byron, was a wonderful man. Married with two little girls, he worked from home trying to balance being a freelance IT guy with being a stay-at-home father. He and his wife lived modestly so they could give their girls everything they never had; including the three-week trip to Disney World they took over the summer. Kira; ten, and Lucinda; eight, didn’t stop talking about it for weeks on end, and Byron never told them to stop. He would listen and relive each and every detail with them no matter how exhausting it seemed to be.

Their home was in a newer section of Indian River, where cookie cutter houses reigned supreme. Each slab home was vinyl clad, a neutral shade, and with the same ordinary landscaping; it would be the perfect spot to film A Wrinkle in Time. Some of the homes in the neighborhood were equipped with a two-car garage, but Byron and Emily; Byron’s wife, had forgone the garage to opted for an extra bedroom. Before the kids began school, the extra room was Byron’s office.  A place where he could work while the kids watched a show after lunch, a place where he could store all his equipment, a place he where his mind could turn to work and work alone.

The school district in their area wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either.  Indian River Middle and High had slumped a bit since Temi was in school and was currently rated below average. However, the elementary school; Georgetown, was still top notch, so Byron and Emily were happy for the time being but on the search for a middle school option; and time was ticking away.

One after another, Temi and Thom pulled into Byron’s driveway, and then walked to the door. A door which was, in fact, a small act of defiance by the homeowners, was painted bright sunshine yellow against the mundane grey and white of the house.

 “Why the hell is their door buttercup colored?”

Temi giggled at Thom’s disapproval. “They wanted to stick it to the homeowner’s association. Door colors are not included in their book of regulations, so they let their daughters pick the color.” Thom shook his head. “I kinda like it,” Temi laughed.

“Temi!” Byron opened the door. “Hey, come on in,” he ushered them inside. “What’s going on?”

 “Your brother’s a fucking dick. That’s what’s going on.” Thom waved an exasperated hand.

Temi sighed. “Byron,” she motioned to her ex’s brother before motioning to Thom, “you remember Thom. Thom, Byron.” The men shook hands.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Byron raised his brow. “Would you guys like something to drink?”

“No. Thank you,” Temi stopped him as he began to head to the kitchen. “Listen, we don’t want to keep you, I just wanted to drop off Jordan’s things.”

Byron’s face turned from warm and inviting to concern as if a cloud had passed overhead changing his chocolate eyes black. “What did he do?” His voice was stern, but Temi knew the anger was not directed at either Thom or herself. Byron was used to Jordan’s screw ups and had told Temi, on more than one occasion, that she was the best thing that ever happened to his rudderless younger brother. In fact, when it appeared Jordan would be out of a job longer than a month, Byron had offered to employ him for a while to relieve some of the burden from Temi. Of course, Jordan refused, but she was grateful to Byron for the attempt.

“Well…” she hesitated.

“Oh, come on,” Thom looked at her with exasperation. “The piece of shit has been cheating on her. She caught him red-handed yesterday with some TCC two-year old.”

Well, so much for finding the right words. “Thanks, Thom.”

“You’re welcome, sugar. No need to tiptoe around the issue. Obviously,” he gestured toward Byron, “he already knows what sort of limp-dick m-fer his brother is.”

“Thanks. Thom.” Temi put extra emphasis on each word as a warning.

Byron ran his hands over his face. “Nah, Temi, he’s right. Never in my life have I seen someone with a greater knack for turning gold into a pile of shit. Where is he now?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I threw them both out yesterday afternoon and haven’t heard from him since.”

“Well, at least he has sense enough not to call you.” Byron went to give Temi a hug. “Baby girl, I hope you know you will always be welcome here. We love you more than we like him any day of the week.” He only released her when she acknowledged she understood. “Alright now, let’s get all of his crap to the shed outback, so I can get back to work.”

 It took them less than half an hour to move all the boxes from the cars to the shed. Byron again apologized to Temi for what had happened and made her promise to come over for dinner sometime soon; he was sure Emily would have a thing or two to say about the situation as well.

“Well, he’s nothing like Jordan!”

Temi smiled at Thom as he sang Byron’s praises while walking to his car. “Hey, Mister? Where to next?”

“Please, honey, as if you don’t know,” he opened the driver’s side door of his FJ Cruiser. “Shopping, of course! Now, just follow me and keep up.”

Temi hated shopping almost more than anything in the world… the flu… yep, the flu just might top her hate for shopping… barely. She would rather purchase something online than go out mindlessly searching for perfection for hours on end with no end in sight. Online, she could search several avenues all at once, order her favorite, have it shipped, and be done in less than thirty minutes. And if she had to go out to shop, she knew what she was looking for, where to find it, and was able to run in and run out quickly. However, with Mr. Shopping-is-My-Favorite, she would have to resign herself to a full day of aimless wandering. Attempting to remain positive, Temi turned up the radio and followed Thom onto the bypass, and then to I-464. They were headed to Norfolk.

Nearly forty minutes later they were weaving their way through downtown. As they passed Doumar’s, Temi’s stomach growled. She could really go for a plain cheeseburger, some fries, and a large limeade plain water. Temi wondered if Thom would be up for that once their shopping was done. Probably not. She continued to stalk him through downtown until they arrived before a strangely shaped home in Ghent. You could tell the original portion house was far older than the additions, and if you closed your eyes and imagined the brick home without the odd wood clad add-ons, it was once quite adorable.

Temi got out of her car to meet Thom in the driveway. “Hey, I thought we were going shopping?”

“Oh, but my darling, we are,” Thom gave her a winning smile. “I know a guy who comes into some pretty amazing stuff. He’s way cool, super chic, and has impeccable taste.”

“Sooo, we’re going to jack this way cool guy for his super chic stuff because it’s in impeccable taste?”

Thom, who had been walking up to the door, stopped in his tracks and turned to give her a rye look. “No, smart-ass. Katz acquires things like antiques, estate furniture, and cool shit like that. I swear,” he was walking again, “all of the statement pieces in my crib came from this guy.”

Thom rang the doorbell, and they waited outside the harvest orange door for Mr. Katz.

Mr. Katz was an older, shorter man, about an inch less than Temi’s 5’5.’’ He was bald up front and on top but had plenty of dark hair which was kept short and clean on his sides and in the back and a full beard which accentuated a kind smile. He wore wire rimmed glasses, a beige well-worn, but not threadbare, cardigan, and a pair of comfy loafers. Katz reminded Temi of her perfect image of a little Jewish uncle; the one you could always talk to and kept a bowl of hard candy in the room where you shared your chats.

“Katz! Hey, man, how’s it been,” Thom dwarfed the shorter man with a hug.

“Things have been well, Thom. How are you?” Katz gave Thom a reserved pat on the back.

“Oh, you know me. I’m fabulous. I mean, can’t you see it,” Thom stepped back to give Katz a full view of himself. “Dashing as ever!”

The older man smiled and nodded. “Yes, I see.” Then he moved his head slightly to the right to catch a better glimpse of Temi. “I also see that you have brought a friend? You mind introducing us?”

“Oh, of course! Where are my manners,” Thom stepped aside to make introductions. “This is my girl, Artemisia Clarke. Everyone calls her Temi, except her mother and me. I think, with such a fabulous name as Artemisia, she should use it. What do you think?”

Katz smiled and shook his head as he extended a hand to Temi. “It’s very nice to meet you, and Thom is right. Artemisia is a wonderful name.” Then looking at Thom, “Please, do come in.”

Mr. Katz’s home was amazing. There were beautiful hardwood floors throughout, and he fashioned his home with simple elegance, blues, creams, greys. The paintings were all tasteful adding to the décor rather than overpowering or distracting. He had plants in various places to add life to his space but not too many to make it feel like a jungle. As they walked into the living room, Temi noticed that there were two books on the coffee table, one open the other closed beneath it.

“So, Temi,” Katz motioned them to sit on an art deco light blue crushed velvet sofa. “Why is it that you go by Temi rather than Artemisia?”

Temi hadn’t been expecting the question and had never thought about it. “Um, I guess it just kinda happened. Friends at school shorten your name, and it just sticks.”

“Hmm,” he nodded. “Do you have any idea what your name means?”

 Another interesting question, but this time it was one to which she had an answer. “It’s Greek. Meaning as strong as a bear, derived from the goddess Artemis. She is goddess of the moon and the hunt. Artemisia is also the name of a famous artist, Artemisia Gentileschi, for whom I was named.”

Katz smiled and nodded his approval. “She’s smart, Thom,” he winked to her friend. “I hope you keep this one.”

Thom made an exasperated sound, “Of course I plan to keep her… as a friend that is.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, we’re not here to talk about names or how you would like to find me a girlfriend. My dear friend, here, has suffered a terrible breakup and is in need of a new bed. Do you happen to have anything interesting in that shed of yours?”

Katz winked and smiled at Temi, giving her the distinct impression that he was very much aware of Thom’s interests and just liked teasing him about girlfriends. Temi smiled openly in return, but when Thom noticed them smiling, she quickly tried to suppress her humor.

“Of course, Thom. In fact,” he stood and began to lead them to the back door, “I think I have just the thing for our little goddess.”