Flash #16

Charlie watches as Theresa lowers herself back into the water. She lies still with all of her body beneath the surface, her hair fanning out all around her head.
“Look Daddy,” she says with excited eyes.
“I’m a mermaid!”Charlie smiles and nods enthusiastically.
“Did you have a good day?” Theresa asks.
Charlie shakes his head a little. My God, the day I’ve had, he thinks as a part of it flashes through him.
“No?” Theresa asks looking concerned, “Did you have a bad day?”
“No, it was a fine day T. How ‘bout you?”
“My yogurt exploded in my lunchbox,” she declares dramatically. “It spoiled everything inside. But Todd made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
“Who’s Todd?” Charlie asks distractedly.
“Todd, Daddy!” she responds impatiently. “He’s my teacher!”
“Oh right,” he answers, but can’t really remember ever meeting Todd. He wonders if maybe he should walk all the way in on the mornings he drops Theresa off to her classroom. “That was nice of him.”
“Yep. And you know what else? There are crocodiles bigger than this whole bathtub.”
Charlie laughs. Nothing like a 4 year-old’s stream of consciousness.
“What did you do today, Daddy?” she asks.
The morning’s experience flashes through him again just as Theresa makes a big splash. Water hits Charlie in the eye and just as he wipes his face on his shirtsleeve, he is suddenly plunged even farther into the morning. His shirt smells of her. A tingle of panic lights in him and he pulls it over his head quickly.
Theresa is inspecting him. “Are you taking a bath next?” she asks.
“Yep,” he answers. “So finish up. Daddy’s turn.”
Inwardly, he breathes a sigh of relief. He is glad he picked that up quick enough, but honestly, how could he be so dumb? He will have to be more careful from now on. If he had hugged Ellen or one of his daughters, any one of them would have asked what the smell of that unfamiliar perfume was. Anyone of them would have known right away it wasn’t Ellen’s. Take a shower as soon as you get home, he resolves. After all, this is no one’s business but his own.