Calista

Chapter 6

Her scream caused him to scream. Calista watched her intruder stumble towards the light switch. A few moments later, they were flooded in light

"St-stop...my poor throat can't take it anymore," he said. He was coughing as he hobbled towards her with his cane.

Step. Step. Tap.
Step. Step. Tap.

Calista's eyebrows rose in wonder as she watched an older man slowly make his way back to her. He was wearing a velour smoking jacket. He had dark slicked back hair with tufts of white above each ear. His light blue eyes were framed by a craggy expression. He smiled, showing off a set of porcelain dentures.

"Cluck, cluck, my little duck," he said before sitting on her bed. He squinted as he examined her. "Your brother said your mind is as soggy as wet pancakes."

Calista tried clearing her throat which burned after screaming.

"Don't tell me you forgot me too?" His made a clucking noise with his mouth before smiling at her again. "It's me. Pop Pop!"

"Pop Pop?" Calista whispered.

"Duckie, don't you remember me? You're supposed to forget the bad but not the good. You must always remember the good."

Calista didn't know how to respond. He pulled out a cell phone from a pocket of his jacket and twirled it in front of her. "This is called a smart phone. I'm not sure why it's so smart though. If it was smart, it'd tell me the meaning of life or how to solve a Rubix cube."

Calista watched him fiddle with the screen before giving an excited squeal. "Ta da! Here it is Duckie. Proof that I'm your Pop Pop."

It was a picture of Calista Dover and him wearing matching Karate outfits. They were both black belts.

"I know Karate?" Calista asked.

"You really don't remember?" He sighed and flapped his arms around like a young child would. "I wish I could forget things too but then your brother would say I have Dementia. Or Alzheimer's. I was so scared when you were gone, Duckie. He wanted to put me in a nursing home. Can you believe it? Me? His Pop Pop."

Calista's mouth felt dry. She would never have imagined that the head of Dover Industries was a man who referred to her as Duckie and himself as Pop Pop. Calista mentally corrected herself. He wasn't the head of anything. That was Sebastian.

"Do you smell pancakes?" he asked, sniffing the air.

Calista shook her head.

"I feel like eating pancakes. Did you want to make your Pop Pop some pancakes? Peanut butter banana pancakes. I once went to a diner that sold them and they were so delicious. The waitress there hit on me. I would've married her if it wasn't for your grandmother's jealous streak. That and having two wives is illegal."

"What are you doing, Pop Pop?" Sebastian Dover's voice was loud even from the hallway.

"Sebastian!"

"I told you not to bother Calista tonight. She just came back from the hospital. I heard her screaming and rushed up here," Sebastian said. He glanced at Calista. "Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"Sebastian, I have something very important to tell you." Pop Pop stood up and placed a hand on his grandson's shoulder before leaning in.

"What is it, Pop Pop?"

"I just farted."

Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Duckie and I were going to make pancakes. Peanut butter banana pancakes. I once went to a diner that sold them and they were so delicious. The waitress there hit on me. I would've married her if it wasn't for your grandmother's jealous streak. That and-"