A Helping Hand

Changes

Tony had made it through a year sober; he decided he no longer needed a housekeeper. A few days before the end, Sarah and Tony talked to Howard.

On her last day, she was cleaning up after lunch when Tony joined her in the kitchen, "So...I'm going to miss you. When I first hired you, I thought maybe I could just keep my distance and this would be easy, but it's not really working out that way."

"I know, boss. It's not easy for me, either. But I need to keep bright for Howard, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. What are you planning on making for your last dinner?"

"That lasagna you boys liked so much."

She finished the dishes and went to the living room; he followed, "Oh god, that thing was good. I can't believe you made me love broccoli."

"Cooking magic, Tony- I'm a kitchen witch."

"I'm going to miss your cooking almost as much as your company."

"Well I'm not leaving New York. You know how to get in touch with me."

She stood up having retrieved an errant pillow to find Tony close beside her, "Sarah...thank you. For everything." He opened his arms.

She smiled and hugged him tightly, "I'm glad I could help."

"You probably saved my life."

She kissed his cheek, "Good- it's worth saving." She checked the time, "Got to go get Howard. Have fun while I'm gone."

Tony was still standing in the same spot when he heard the front door click closed. With a deep breath, he headed back to the kitchen.

On the way home, Howard was eager to share how well his art project had gone and how much his classmates had enjoyed his science fair project proposal. Between his stories, they played Cows in the Graveyard and Howard yet again won. He dashed to the house, excited to tell his father what he had told Sarah.

When they opened the door, he asked, "Why does the house smell like chocolate?"

"I have no idea. I wonder what your dad got into."

"He can build a suit out of scrap metal to burst out of an Afghani prison, but he can't cook without setting something on fire." They discovered that Tony was, indeed, in the kitchen, but nothing was on fire. Cooling on the counter was a beautiful chocolate cake. Tony was washing dishes. He smiled and waved, his pink flowered apron smudged with chocolate and flour.

"Dad...you baked."

"I followed the directions to the letter and it looks pretty. And the batter tasted good."

"Is that the recipe I made you guys? The one from the Hippie Handbook?"

"Yeah. It looked easy enough that even I could manage it."

"I'm proud of you, Tony. It's a right fine cake."

"Sweet. Can you whip cream for it when it's closer to cutting time?"

"Of course."

Howard went to start his homework and Sarah began the lasagna. While it cooked, she plopped on the couch and turned on the television to watch a few episodes of Star Trek. Tony sat beside her, his arm on the back of the couch.

Dinner was lively, and Tony's cake tasted as delicious as it looked. They played games late into the night. Howard hugged Sarah before going to bed and she promised to always answer is text messages.

She was packing up her bag when Tony handed her an envelope, "Don't open it yet...it's just a little bonus for being amazing."

"You're sweet. Tony. The best boss I ever had. Let's not drag this out, OK? I'm having a hard enough time with this."

"Oh. OK. But please keep in touch?"

"Of course. Goodbye, Tony."

"Yeah. Bye, Sarah. Be safe out there."

He heard her close the door and willed his feet to carry him down to his bed. Something about her leaving made the house feel empty.