Best Friends Forever, Chapter Two (*cricket cricket*)
Lexi and Nadia walked along the streets together, looking, if they
could
say so with a straight face, very drunk. They hadn't even been
drinking, but
there was always something about catching up with an old friend that
made every
inside joke ten times funnier, every little slip up funnier, and every
sound
effect louder. They were suddenly and happily aware of the hot night
air,
walking around the streets of London, collecting odd looks by the
bushel and hardly caring anymore. Nadia hadn't even considered what she
was
going to do when she got there, but she found herself just having a
good time
with Lexi and she didn't mind at all. She sketched her friend twice
using
charcoal and grained paper, keeping one for herself and giving the
better of
the two to Lexi for her to keep.
Inside a small shop with Gray and John, Eric sighed
in a bored manner. He had volunteered to go scouting locations, hadn't
he? Yet
there he sat, bored out of his mind, and he hadn't a clue why. John
gave him a
stern look as he sat there, chin in hand, elbow on table, eyes
half-shut with
boredom. Finally, papers signed and location scouted, John and Gray
hauled Eric
out of the shop as they started toward the car. They were interrupted
rudely,
if not strangely.
There was a loud screech somewhere to their left, and
two women flew out out of the nearest alley with a broken bottle
fleeing after
them. They were laughing hard, and when the second collapsed in a heap
in front
of the parking meter, Gray had almost started laughing as well. The
woman
hoisted her bag and stood up, making sure she hadn't dropped any of her
painting materials or her papers. John was just about to elbow Eric in
the side
when he stepped forward and helped her to her feet, shaking his head
slowly.
"What happened?" He asked gently, brushing
her off.
Nadia giggled and looked up, her eyes sparkling.
"Ding dong ditch without a doorbell; risky business."
Eric fixed her with a scorful stare for about three
seconds before he started to laugh gently, turning to see how the other
woman
was faring.
The second woman's eyes widened as Eric stepped over
to make sure she hadn't gotten hurt and she gave Nadia a hard look.
"Oh!
Hello, Eric,"
"Hey, look, I brought Lexi!" She elbowed
Lexi, who ran her eyes over her former flame eagerly. He just got cuter
and
cuter every time she saw him-and he was growing his hair out! She
smiled and
tried not to look out of breath; John and Gray snorted, Gray clearing
his
throat loudly.
Eric ignored him and turned back to Nadia. "What
are you doing here?"
She shrugged. "Lexi just showed up and we wanted
something to do. Movie's opening up at the cinema, so we were going to
go out
and have a good time." She paused, thinking over her comment quickly.
"Care to join a couple ladies in a dark theater?"
Against his wishes, Eric's heart began to pound
harder. "Sounds promising,"
For once, John and Gray did not make any comments
about their outing, they didn't tell them to be back by eleven, and
they didn't
seem to mind that Eric was staring at both of them like he was seeing a
woman
for the very first time. Finally he shook Lexi's hand and wrapped Nadia
lightly
upside the head before turning to get into the car, slipping into the
back seat
fearlessly. They waved as they left, but as soon as they rounded the
block,
Eric flopped back in the seat and screamed loudly, kicking the window
once.
Gray started to tap on the brakes in case he was going into a seizure,
but the
man lying in the back seat was not in pain, he was just confused and
angry.
"Which movie is opening up at the cinema?"
Lexi asked quickly, turning to walk with Nadia, who was already looking
in a
window forlornly.
She squinted one eye. "It's not really opening
so much as re-opening, you see. Casablanca is playing along with a
thriller,
Psycho I think."
Lexi snorted. "You're going to take you 'best
friend' to see Casablanca and Psycho? What are you,
crazy?"
Nadia folded her arms defensively. "Psycho is my
favourite movie!"
"You're forgetting the fact that Casablanca is a love story and you're
taking
Eric to it!" Lexi retorted, smiling knowingly.
Nadia rolled her eyes. "It's not like we haven't
done it before. That's why we go to re-openings. There'll be no one
there, we
can sit and make fun of that movie the entire time. Romances are the
best
things to make fun of."
With another snort, Lexi sighed. "You are the
only woman I know who doesn't take guys to theaters to scream and
clamor on
their laps."
Instead of scrunching her nose up, as usual at things
like that, Nadia's face went lax; she began to think about what it
would be
like to have Eric holding her tight again, keeping her safe from
whatever
horror and violence she was seeing. It made her feel warm just to think
about
it, just like it always did when she was upset and knew he'd be there
to cheer
her up. The only other "scary" movie Nadia had seen in Eric's company
had been a not so scary movie that had left her laughing when others
were
screaming, Eric trying to shush her as she howled with the cheesiness
of the
film ("Eric, the mask just ties in the back. How can anyone be afraid
of
that?").
Nadia pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose
and sighed, pulling her bag off her shoulder with a fierce look. She
began to
sketch lightly, trying to remember Eric's face from memory. Lexi talked
on and
on about various things, correcting Nadia as she went, telling her
things about
Eric she remembered, throwing in a few unnecessary things as she did.
"So, you're working as a legal aide and I'm
still trying to get myself enough money to stop working at the
elementary
school and become a professional artist. What else is new?" Nadia asked
sarcastically, trying to concentrate on shading the sketch before her.
Lexi began to giggle.
"Say it," the other said dangerously.
Lexi giggled again, but spoke. "Well, for
starters my best female friend has a best male friend that-"
"I'd leave that subject alone, seeing as I have
a pointy object at hand." Nadia cut her off shortly, smiling lightly to
show she was joking.
Her friend laughed. "It's just hard to see you
two doing anything together; I never could picture you two living
together.
There was that week when you sold the couch and we could only guess
where you
were sleeping, and you said, 'Oh, I've been in Eric's bed, with him'
and we
were all, 'WHAT?!'"
Nadia rolled her eyes. "And you were like, and
she was all, and then he was like-"
"I get it, I get it," Lexi muttered darkly,
turning her head sharply to look down the street.
She snorted and flipped over her pad of paper.
"Yes? No?" She tilted the sketch of Eric, squinting slightly. Lexi
gave her a thumbs up; Nadia ripped the page from the book and handed it
to her.
Nadia rubbed her feet in her sandals, moaning softly
as she stood. "I really should get a car, but I have no money. Thank
you,
public transportation, oh, and thank you God, while I'm at it!" She
shook
a fist at the sky.
Lexi smiled. "Just means you can get rides home
with Eric more,"
"Reckless driver he is..."
"Ugh! Nadia, you need to un-lighten up!"
Lexi shook her briskly. Nadia lolled about for a moment before seizing
Lexi's
hands and fixing her with an incredulous look.
"What?"
Lexi made a disgusted noise and stalked off, mutter
haphazardly. "You need to act serious for once and start talking to me
like you're in a drama here!"
Nadia laughed. "But I'm not! There's nothing
melodramatic happening right now; why act like it?"
Whirling around with nostrils flaring, Lexi took a
tremendous breath. "You must be joking!"
"You think just because I kissed my best friend
I'm going to have to get all sappy and worried? I had a few drinks, I
freaked,
I'm done! I'm dropping it, and you should too! Just because you used to
date
him doesn't mean that I have to make up for what you couldn't provide
for him,
Lexi. Just because you couldn't handle having him so casual about
everything
doesn't mean I have to be attached to his side. I've lived with that
guy; I
know how he ticks. So shut up and let me live!" Nadia's arms stopped
waving around as she stopped ranting and looked around to see quite a
few
people staring. Slowly, Lexi took a bow, Nadia following. A small
smattering of
applause came shortly and soon enough they were sitting down inside a
small
book store, cheeks flaming.
Lexi sipped out of a Styrofoam cup nonchalantly.
"You never told Eric what time to meet us at the theater."
"Seven o' clock show; ever since we were
eighteen we've been going to the seven o' clock. There's always a show
at that
time on a Saturday. He'll find us." Nadia muttered, stirring some sugar
into her cup.
Lexi sighed dreamily. "Just don't take things
for granted, huh Nadia? Promise me that."
The other woman sighed and looked up. "How
so?"
"Don't take for granted the fact that he still
knows what you like and don't like, and that he makes time for you.
Don't
forget that he has been there for you when no one else has, you know
what I
mean. Don't forget that he does sweet things for you when he doesn't
have
to." Lexi was looking rather lonely at that point.
Nadia sighed slowly, tiring of her constant deep
breathing. "What cute things? You mean like the way he always drives me
home at all hours, and he still sends me concert notifications when
Steel
Tarantula is in town?" She smiled, remembering her favourite band's
name
fondly.
"Yeah, and the way he still hugs you in the
morning when you look like you could die on your feet, and the way he
pushes
your glasses up on your face for you. When you fall asleep with those
on he
takes them off and puts them on the table for you; he's just a sweet
person to
you for some reason." She sniffed and looked away.
Nadia hinted some jealousy and took Lexi's hand.
"He used to be sweet to you, or do you forget?"
Lexi's shoulders rocked, though Nadia couldn't see
the tears. "I don't remember,"
"He'd carry you inside to your dorm, he'd drive
you to classes half an hour out of his way, and he put up with all your
room-mates for almost a year before you two broke up for the first
time."
Nadia smiled.
Lexi laughed gently, smiling in spite of herself.
"You were my room-mate when we dated, Nadia."
"I'm pretty annoying, believe it or not."
She replied wisely.
"Yeah, but he always liked you. He stuck up for
you when the entire campus thought that you were a lesbian," she paused
and laughed, "and even made up that rumour about Jon Beckensale to save
you."
Nadia laughed. "Jon Beckensale, God, if only he
was single now!"
The lead singer of Steel Tarantula was a tall and
lanky blonde haired, blue eyed beauty. He had a very soft voice, and
sounded
very sincere, and had even gone to college around the same time as
Nadia and
Eric. He was a fourth year student when Nadia was a first year student.
She had
stayed five years to get her degree, also a year behind in age for her
group.
She had graduated at seventeen instead of eighteen, a year younger than
everyone in her class, at least.
Eric had saved her reputation after Nadia's mistake
of stating that she wasn't interested in guys as much as her studies.
Most
people took it the wrong way and thought that she was a lesbian and she
hung
out with Eric so people wouldn't know. He had spread the rumour that
Nadia had
slept with Jon Beckensale and it had ended badly, so she was sick of
guys for a
while. He then insisted that if a woman could put up with a man like
him for
more than ten minutes, she was not a lesbian, because they have
absolutely no
use for men and prefer to have female friends, of which she only had
one, and
she was also rather strange. Together the three of them gathered
themselves
some attention.
"I wonder what it would be like to sleep with
him," Lexi mumured, thinking about Jon Beckensale.
Nadia giggled. "Let's go find out, right
now."
"Right, we'll just knock on the door and pretend
to go nuts; 'OH MY GOD! JUST SCREW ME NOW!'" She laughed.
Nadia looked up at the clock. "Six
thirty; we
have half an hour. Oh, let's buy our tickets while we're thinking about
it."
They left and walked the ten blocks to the theater,
which with their slow and steady gait took them upwards of twenty
minutes. They
bought their tickets and went inside to sit, though Nadia lingered
outside. She
handed the ticket salesman a few extra notes.
"There'll be a guy showing up, probably the only
other person that shows, when he comes in, tell him he doesn't have to
pay,
it's on me." She grinned wickedly, knowing very well Eric would be
embarrassed she paid for him.
"In case someone else does show up, can I have
this wonderful stranger's name?" The man asked in a monotone.
Nadia nodded gracefully. "Eric Idle, and pass
the message for me."
"What message?" He asked in the same bored
voice.
Nadia grinned before saying, "Just do me a favor
and give him a hard time about having a woman pay for his admittance,
please?"
He nodded. "As you wish, madame."
She thanked him before walking into the theater where
Lexi sat in the very middle, slightly to the right, holding her jacket
like a
pillow. Nadia showed her a cool trick where they sat in the very back
near the
concession stand and were able to use the wall like a rest. After a few
minutes
of previews and shorts, a crouched figure made its way over to the area
where
they sat. He popped up, face scrunched up in a strange way.
"You bitch," he muttered, sitting down.
Nadia laughed. "Aww, poor baby! Did the mean man
give you a hard time?"
Eric smacked at her lightly, sitting to her left
while Lexi sat pinned to the wall. Nadia snickered again and bunched
her jacket
up under her arms before placing it on Eric's shoulder and putting her
head on
it. He moved his shoulder once or twice, tilting her head off to either
side,
but the movie had started so he sort of sat still to make sure that
this one
time she didn't lose it and end up needing to bury into his shirt like
the
first time she watched the movie with him.
The movie was great, they made it through part one
before there was a break and the concession stand was opened to all
three of
them. Lexi paid up and bought everyone everything they needed, Eric not
quite
being able to face the ticket salesman/concession worker as she paid.
Nadia sat
back down and stared anxiously as "Casablanca" came onto the screen.
Eric situated himself in between the two women and jokingly faked a
stretch,
putting his arms around both of them. Instead of batting him away, both
sort of
snuggled up to him, passing foodstuffs between them and chatting as the
more
boring parts came along. There were a few late arrivals that moved
right up to
the front, mostly boyfriend girlfriend couples that proceeded to snog
heavily
every few moments, a few older couples necking in the corners for old
times'
sake. As it proceeded to go along, Lexi managed to spill most
everything she
got her hands on, which proved to go badly for Eric, caught in the
middle. It
was the last straw when she tipped over a cup of soda, jumping over the
seats
to get paper towels. She was gone, in and out, retrieving paper towels
and
throwing sopping ones away. When she did return, she grabbed the empty
cup and
walked up to the vacant stand, waiting patiently for someone to refill
or throw
away. Nadia shook her head at Lexi for a moment before turning back to
the
screen, Eric's arm still around her shoulders, her right one pressed to
the
wall.
She heard Lexi sigh and walk to the other side in
hopes of catching the ticket salesman there, but he wasn't there. She
sat down
cross legged and waited, now determined.
Nadia shook her head slowly again, waiting for the
sappy love scene to be over.
"What's her name again?" Eric whispered,
making Nadia break out into goosebumps as his breath washed over her.
She shivered once before answering. "Ilsa
Lund,"
"Ah, right." He replied, sinking down lower
into the chair, turning to look at Nadia's face.
She stared fixedly at the screen, clearly telling
Eric that she was giving it her all not to look at him. She blinked
several
times as she turned to look at him, giving him almost a scolding before
fixing
her eyes on the screen again, turning a light pink as she did.
"Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last
time!" Ilsa crooned softly before the man on the screen pushed his face
to
hers and an ecstasy spread over both of them.
Both Nadia and Eric went rigid, neither of them brave
enough to look at the either, neither of them brave enough to laugh.
Lexi still
wasn't there, and the never-ending kiss on the screen seemed to have
sparked
what couples were not busy necking to have started. Eric finally moved,
crossing his legs slowly, moving his arm off her shoulder even slower.
Nadia
wanted to close her eyes and open them to see a white sand beach, blue
waters,
and no Eric. It was hard enough knowing they wouldn't talk about it,
but now
there was a love scene playing in the theater and she was alone with
him, not
making fun of it.
"I think she swallowed his tongue," she
whispered finally.
Eric took a deep, relieved breath, letting it out in
a small laugh. "Along with a few other things,"
Lexi paused as she reentered the viewing area, wiping
her hands off on her pants as she did, looking carefully at the fading
picture
of the kissing couple on the screen, and then searching in the dark for
her two
friends, who were busy looking opposite directions. Eric cleared his
throat
once before leaning dramatically to his left and resurfacing with a
pair of
sunglasses from Lexi's bag, which he put on and lowered himself into
the seat
some more, catching up on some lost sleep. Nadia's head lowered onto
his
shoulder, and within minutes the two were fast asleep as the end of the
movie
came and went, credits rolling at just past eleven. Lexi slid up behind
Nadia
and shook her shoulders softly, grabbing her glasses as they slipped
off the
end of her face as she sat up.
"You should have kissed him, Naddy. He was
looking you over!" Lexi prodded.
Nadia groaned sleepily. "No, Lexi, never again.
The more I think about it, the less I think I actually enjoyed it and
the more
I think I just assumed I would. I don't think I really did."
Lexi sighed this time, knowing it was about time
Nadia figure out her feelings by herself with enough help from her.
"Besides, I'd rather do this," Nadia said
mischievously, sticking her index finger into her mouth before
inserting it
into Eric's ear. He sat bolt upright, rubbing his ear furiously with
his shirt
sleeve, whining under it all.
"Eww, gross, Nadia!" He muttered, scrubbing
feverishly at the area.
Nadia laughed. "You've only done that to me ever
since we met! That's only the second time I've done it, I say you suck
it up
and let it go!"
As they walked out to the street, Nadia began
counting underground subway tokens carefully. She cursed and handed
Lexi enough
to get her home before turning to Eric pitifully.
"Spare a bum some tokens, buddy?" She
asked, holding out the amount she had. Eric fished around in his
pockets before
shaking his head apologetically.
He tilted his head back towards his car. "I'll
give you a ride, come on."
Lexi giggled softly and raced off to link her hand in
his, Nadia trying to act mad. She whined to him about how nice he was
being and
how she'd probably owe him for some reason. In the end she did climb
into the car,
but she felt strange being in the back seat while Lexi and Eric chatted
up
front. Eric seemed to be stiffening up a bit toward Lexi, he didn't
seem to
like talking to her all that much. Lexi, on the other hand, seemed to
be
ecstatic he was giving her the attention and basked in it. She brought
up so
many stupid topics on the hour-long drive that Nadia even tuned out and
stared
at her feet.
As they pulled up, Nadia leapt out of the car before
it even stopped, Lexi scrambling out after her with a yelp. Eric stood
up on
the other side of the car and coughed lightly. "Nadia! I need to talk
to
you!"
She froze and rolled her eyes, depositing her bag
into Lexi's arms as she stormed into the house, scared of what was
going to
happen. Nadia walked back to the side of Eric's car, her hands on her
hips.
"What?"
He tossed his keys into the back seat. "Get
in," he commanded sternly, slipping in himself. Nadia climbed in and
folded her arms, looking carefully at her sandaled feet again. Eric
sighed
somewhere to her right, hands on the steering wheel.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" He
finally asked.
Nadia snorted. "I'm sick of you being a
goody-two-shoes all the time, what the hell happened to you?"
He gave her an incredulous look. "Since when am
I not allowed to give you a ride home?"
"When it's an hour away! We should have
walked," she spat irrationally.
He started to talk again, but Nadia cut him off.
"Naddy-"
"And another thing, stop calling me 'Naddy!'
It's a stupid name-" She started in on him, eyes glittering
maliciously.
He raised his hands in confusion. "What the
hell?"
Nadia's face was reddening slowly, making her usually
beautiful skin become ugly. "Shut up!"
"What is it, that time of the month?" Eric
asked, hurt shining out in his eyes.
"You are such a jerk, you know that? You can't
even be serious when I'm serious!"
He looked up suddenly, surprising Nadia to see his
eyes swimming slightly. "Is this because we kissed?"
Averting her eyes, Nadia bit her lip.
"Yes,"
Eric sighed and looked away, his face making a beacon
of hurt and sorrow. "I'm sorry, Nadia. I'll go now,"
With that, Nadia seized his arm, feeling slightly
schizophrenic as she did so. "Eric! I'm not supposed to be allowed to
yell
at you for being nice, or for using my nickname, or for trying to
lighten the
mood. Keep me sane, don't let me beat you up over it!"
He gave her a very strange look of confusion.
"Look, I'm sorry if I've fucked up your life, but I-"
"You didn't fuck up anything! Well, a lot
anyway," she muttered, turning away. "I'm sorry, Eric, and I should
be. Please don't be mad; it's my fault."
Her glasses slipped down to the end of her nose as
she rapidly turned back to him and looked out to her house several
times. He
reached out and pulled the glasses off of her face. He put them on and
looked
at her intelligently.
"How do I look?" He posed, letting her know
she was forgiven.
She giggled, squinting. "Smashing, dear, now can
I have those back? I have a date with my bed."
Slowly Eric took the glasses off and slid up next to
her, tilting her chin up to place the square frames back onto her face.
She
didn't move as he slid closer, and she didn't move as the cool plastic
slid
over her ears and brought the world back into focus. She didn't move as
Eric
leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips, washing her over
with a
strange feeling. She didn't move as he pushed her against the seat, and
she
didn't try to kiss him back. He continued to kiss her over and over
again,
touching her cheek with a free hand, the other holding her left hand
tightly.
The only time she voluntarily moved was when he parted for air and she
opened
her mouth, giving him a silent notice. He slid up to her again and
pushed his
tongue into her mouth, sighing with her taste, loving he way she went
limp
again and again in his arms. She didn't move back, and she didn't touch
him,
but the simple fact she wasn't pushing him away made him feel golden.
As he
moved his lips from her mouth to her cheek, inching back to her neck
slowly,
Nadia sighed. He was so gentle this time, not pushing urgently, not
grabbing
her and pulling her unbelievably close. Goosebumps broke out over
Nadia's
arms and legs, making the hairs on the back of her neck rise pleasantly
as he
kissed gently on her neck, his lips soft and inviting. She looked him
over as
he slid back and looked at her silently. When she didn't move, he
reached up
and took her glasses from her again, sliding back over to her.
This was one of those times she felt
over-comfortable. He was so gentle and adorable, kissing her here and
there,
but in the end she still knew that he probably had an unholy mess
waiting for
him to clean when he got home, he drank and smoked, he hung out with an
unruly
crowd, and he had dated more than three women at once a long time ago.
She knew
so much about him, and yet this was a surprising thing she was
learning. She
was learning that he could be gentle and caring with even her, the girl
he'd
met sitting in a fountain. She could almost hear his breathy voice
asking her
if it had always been like that again, but in the end she decided she
was
asking herself that question. Then she answered the question and said
that no,
it hadn't always been like that, and she was scared of what was going
to
happen. As his hands ran over her hips and shoulders, she knew that
once again,
she'd do just about anything for him, which scared her more. She pushed
him
away finally, fleeing the car as she felt tears coming.
"Nadia-!"
"Save it Eric, go home." She replied with a
choke in her voice.
He caught her arm and looked her over urgently.
"Why-?"
"I don't want to talk to you anymore," she
shook her arm from his grip, "and I'd appreciate it if you never
touched
me again."
With that she walked inside and slammed her door
behind her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eric lit a cigarette, not caring there were about
four empty packs next to him and Mike wasn't helping him burn them
down. He
picked up a small glass of whiskey and sipped it, glaring hard as John
shook
his head at him. It was ten o' clock in the morning and he'd been
drinking for
about an hour, hardly caring that he was on the road to a meltdown of
sorts.
The others hadn't brought up the night before, knowing something had
happened
between Nadia and himself, and it hadn't been good. He hadn't spoken a
word all
morning, though he'd turned out about five new sketches in five
minutes,
scribbling quickly, cigarette bouncing in the corner of his mouth as he
did so,
his loose clothes looking more loose than ever, like he was starving
before
their very eyes. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, trying to see past the
horror
in his life. Since when does drama strike up so quickly and harshly,
with so
many consequences?
As if hoping to break the uncomfortable silence, Gray
switched on the radio and sat back, tuning into a station. A strange
melody
played and John Lennon's voice floated over the static.
"I love to turn you on...."
Eric hurled a glass at the radio and scowled as it
shattered but did not manage to destroy Terry's radio. Terry picked up
the
shards of glass and sighed as the other Terry began to sketch Eric, who
was
sitting there in the heartlessness of heartbreak. He looked like such a
badass,
cigarette, bottle of whiskey, and his dirty and disheveled appearance.
Terry
added some shading to make him look like he had five o' clock shadow,
snickering softly. He stopped laughing as Eric shot him a murderous
glare, only
hoping that whatever had happened between him and Nadia would resolve
soon. His
job wasn't at stake, but his social life was.
Morning had come and left already for Nadia, who was
wide awake and sitting in the ledge of her small house's window. She
watched
the cars going by, hoping one of them would stop like they used to do
when
she'd sit in her dorm window. They'd stop and two or five young men
would climb
out and whistle, maybe knock on the door and gasp as the masses of
young girls
walked out amongst Eric, the lone male in a house dorm full of women.
Lexi tapped Nadia on the shoulder carefully; it still
frightened her. "Hey, how's life?"
Nadia took a deep, slow breath through her nose,
trying not to cry like she had last night. "Melodramatic, crappy,
stupid.
I wish I was dead."
"Now now, you don't wish you were dead, come
on!" Lexi chided softly, rubbing her shoulders.
The other woman nodded. "Yes I do! I told
Eric," she let her head drop down, "not twelve hours ago that I'd
rather not see him ever again on any level."
Lexi stared. "Well, why the hell did you do
that?"
"He kissed me again, Lexi. I can't have him
doing that to me!" She howled, putting her head down again.
"And how did you feel when he kissed you?"
Lexi asked, tossing some of her short hair out of her eyes. Seeing
this, Nadia
ran her hand over her own head, trying to feel how her hair had faired.
It
stuck out in all directions, hanging in her eyes when she looked down.
She
ruffled her hair very thoroughly before looking up again.
She thought carefully. "At first I was nothing,
I was just there. He was being more gentle than usual, so I felt sort
of warm,
beautiful. As he moved closer I could feel elation, but then there was
all this
dread and I couldn't see through it. I didn't even try to move and he
still
kept going; I felt like a damned queen. Beautiful and loved, but I'm
still
going to be in hell in the end anyway."
Lexi clucked her tongue softly. "Honey, you're
misinterpreting this whole thing. You were probably just surprised when
he
kissed you, so you didn't know how to react. When you realised he was
trying to
be gentle and careful with you, it was like you felt loved, which is
warm like
you described. Elation is next, right? Elation is usually happiness,
which
means you were happy that he was kissing you again, but the dread
wasn't that
you think it can never work or it'll spoil something you already have!
That
dread was of him moving around, ending the moment. You knew it would
end and
you didn't know what to say to him." She took Nadia's glasses and put
them
on, arranging them like a psychiatrist.
Nadia laughed carefully. "I still told him never
to touch me, to stop talking to me, and he didn't have to walk me in.
What if
he doesn't ever want to talk to me again?"
"You know Eric isn't like that; he'll try to win
you over. Don't make it too hard and he'll be all yours again." She
concluded.
"It's different for him and me; we never do
stupid stuff to each other." Nadia sniffed. "I was afraid at the very
end; things were changing and I knew I'd do anything for him. I knew
that if he
wanted me to do something that I-well, I would have done it!"
The doorbell rang, causing Nadia to put on her stony,
expressionless stare as she walked downstairs to answer the door,
snatching her
glasses from Lexi as she passed her. When she yanked open the door, her
jaw
dropped slowly.
"Hello, are you Nadia Smart?" A soft and
sincere voice asked, shedding a pair of sunglasses to reveal a pair of
pale
blue eyes nearly hidden under a pile of blonde hair.
She blinked three times quickly, nodding. "Yeah,
I'm pretty sure."
The man smiled briefly before saying, "I was
wondering if you were interested in doing a painting for our new record
cover-"
Lexi froze as she peered over Nadia's shoulder to see
who it was. "Jon Beckensale! We were just talking about you!"
He flashed another rare smile at Nadia as she closed
her eyes and let them open to reveal just the whites of her eyes,
twitching in
annoyance. She swatted Lexi quickly, inviting Jon to sit down anywhere
there
was space. She swept a set of Chinese food containers off a couch
before
letting him sit.
"So, what kind of painting did you have in
mind?" She asked, picking up a notepad and flipping to an empty page.
He made a nervous face before leaning back into the
couch. "Well, we were hoping on some subliminal messages of some kind,
but
we didn't want to go too far. Basically we want to show the world that
tarantulas are better that beetles, if you get my drift."
"I'm reading in between the lines, trust
me." She nodded with a sly grin. "Still working on hard rock,
then?"
He nodded. "Led Zeppelin don't have shit on
us."
Nadia nodded and continued to sketch lightly, turning
it around finally. "This is just a rough sketch, mind you. I could
paint
it or make a black and white final print of this for you. Depending on
what
definition of detail you want."
The rouch sketch depicted five giant steel tarantulas
standing over a city where all the people fleeing around were beetles
of one
kind or another, the only ones in safety being the tinier steel
tarantulas. The
message was clear: Join us or die.
"The name of the album is 'Combat Rock' if that
helps." He added.
"It still works. You're fighting all the insects
on earth, and the only survivors are converts and those on your side.
Like a
giant war, like combat." She told him, smiling as it finally dawned on
him.
He grinned again. "Ohhh! I get it! You've got
some talent here, Nadia. I think we should do a detailed black and
white cover,
if you don't mind."
She shook her head, smiling warmly. "I don't
mind at all, actually. I need those paints for my fourth grade project
at the
public school."
Slowly, Jon scratched the back of his neck. "Do
you remember your first year surrealism in the arts class at
Cambridge?"
"Yeah, I do." She tilted her head.
"Remember that project that showed up anonymous
that was a whole bunch of Polaroids showing all these peoples' faces,
all
lonely and empty around a picture of a woman crying on a stone bench?
And in
the middle of the collage was your face, laughing, in color." He said,
looking off into the distance. "Then I failed the class because the
teacher never graded my project."
"Why didn't she grade it?" Nadia asked, not
seeing why he was asking all these questions.
He blushed slightly. "Because I didn't want you
to know I centered my entire collage out of a picture I took of you
hanging out
with your friends. I didn't want you to know that I was falling all
over myself
for an hour a half a day just to be in the same room with you. And I
certainly
didn't want you to think I cared I was failing that class."
Nadia stared at him. "That was a beautiful
collage, Jon. All those lonely faces bathed in sorrow, black and white,
and
then a face full of color, it almost brightened it, but it was almost a
metaphor for life. We all want to be that beautiful shiny person when
the
reality is we're all lonely."
He looked up with bright eyes. "You're the first
person to understand it!"
She shrugged, flipping her notepad closed. "I
don't look at the world in 3-D as much as 4-D."
"You're wonderful, Nadia. I want to take you out
somewhere, right now! Let's go!" He tugged her hand, tossing his blonde
hair out of his face again, smiling again.
She smiled slyly. "I thought you said you never
smiled."
"Nothing worth smiling for before," he
replied, shrugging one shoulder.
"So, was that a date invitation, or am I getting
my hopes up?" She asked.
Jon snickered. "You flatter me; I'd love to have
you come with me somewhere."
"When? I'm free all summer," she smirked at
his raised eyebrows.
"How does eight o' clock sound? We'll go out to
this club I know, see if I still know how to dance." He grinned
sheepishly.
With that he left, promising to call her, taking her number down and
exiting
just a strangely as he came, seemingly disappearing into her hedge and
into the
next door neighbor's yard. Nadia shook her head disbelievingly before
closing
her door and sitting down to work on that album cover.
Lexi walked in and wrapped Nadia upside the head
impatiently. "You ditz, did you forget that at this very minute you've
got
your best friend in the world sitting somewhere out there thinking you
never
want to see him again? You better reconcile before you go out tonight,
really
Nadia!" She scolded, folding her arms in a very criminal lawyer-like
way.
Nadia grabbed her sketch and made a face. "Fine,
I'll go talk to him right now!" She seized her coat and slipped on her
shoes, ignoring the fact she was wearing a pair of men's basketball
shorts, a
tank top, and nothing else. She slipped on her denim jacket, slid on
some
sneakers she'd sheared the heels from and walked out into the street
holding
nothing but some money for the underground and her glasses, which she
had taken
off to clean.
She sat on the subway train, feeling in a very uneven
mood. Before, when she had thought that things were evening out again,
she had
completely forgotten that Eric was probably sitting somewhere just
trying to
forget about her, or figure her out. She hated to say it, but sometimes
she
could be a real woman and be hard to read, and normally she was just a
magazine
he could pick up and read when he felt necessary. Now she felt like
ancient
runes that needed deciphering, which can be a very seductive and
mysterious
thing to do, but she didn't like being secretive to Eric. He was her
best
friend for God's sake! Why mess with him?
The cart slowed and stopped in the London station, a
speaker blaring. Nadia stepped off and pulled off her denim jacket,
shrugging
it off because of the stifling heat of the car she had occupied. Now as
she
stood in the crowded station she realised just how undressed she was,
and what
she was wearing was a bit out of the ordinary. She pulled on her hair
and shirt
and tried not to look creepy, arranging her glasses carefully. She
walked, her
sneakers squeaking softly on the wet tile floor of the lobby. She
stepped into
the hot air and squinted across the street, dreading the half and hour
trudge
to Eric's house, which he probably wasn't even in on a Sunday
afternoon.
A song which had been running through Nadia's head
all day resurfaced and tried to sing out loudly but she squashed it the
best
she could. There were words in her head she hadn't ever heard before,
and the
melody seemed to be a medley of all her favorite Beatles, Rolling
Stones, and
Steel Tarantula songs. She began to hum and think more about the words
running
through her head. They seemed to be dictating her life at that point,
only
singing more to the point of view of herself looking at her life and
critisizing what she could.
Her half an hour was up. Sighing heavily, she knocked
on his door and window simultaneously, and not hearing an answer,
lifted up his
welcome mat and pulled the spare key up, slipping it into the lock and
feeling
a tell-tale click. She pushed open the door after replacing the key.
Inside was
a complete mess, beer cans, cigarette butts, dirty clothes, blankets, a
few
empty pizza boxes. It hadn't been like that two days ago. Female
instincts
kicked in; Nadia began to obsessively clean the small house, saving
leftovers,
picking up the clutter, scrubbing stains, vacuuming, laundry, dishes,
and
dusting. She felt like a house-wife of sorts, waiting for Eric to
return, but
never stopped flitting around with one of her old head scarves tied on
her head
in a slightly gypsy way. As she worked in the kitchen, wiping off the
counters
at around six thirty, she began to sing the song that had been running
through
her head, trying to keep herself from singing loudly, but unable as the
emotions of the song became evident.
As she began to swing her hips back and forth, drying
a particularly wet dish with a fresh towel, she began to really belt
out the
song, her voice shaking with an unknown talent. She loved singing with
the
radio, and she wasn't all that bad, but the guitar and singing stuff
was
usually saved for Eric. There was a loud snap behind Nadia somewhere;
her voice
failed her instantly, nearly dropping the dish she held. She put it
down and
spun around, letting her jaw drop as she saw Eric, his eyes red and
sad. He
took a few deep breaths before placing a brown paper bag on the table
and a
pizza box. A small smile crept up on his face before he seated himself
at the
table, back to Nadia.
"Want some?" He opened the box, averting
his eyes as she stepped into view.
She made a face. "Did you buy more liquor?"
Looking up slowly, his red rimmed eyes glowing out
hauntingly, he nodded. "Why yes, yes I did."
She waved a hand through the air. "You've
already been drinking today. Do you really-?"
"Some things happen that make you want to drink,
alright?" He snapped, leaning back and grabbing a clean plate, tossing
it
to her. He grabbed one for himself and sat down again, giving her a
look that
made her sit down.
"Eric, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I
said." She started, knowing he wasn't going to want to talk all that
much.
He shrugged and pulled the bottle out of the bag.
"Brandy, Nadia?"
She shook her head slowly. "No, I would like to
talk to you. If you don't mind actually talking."
Eric snorted and put his hands down at his sides,
staring at her gauntly. He snorted again and started to stand up when
Nadia
lurched to her feet and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around him
tightly.
She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to tell what he was
going
through, trying to keep him close. He went sort of limp in her arms,
pulling
away slightly. His shoulders shook and when Nadia looked up from her
slightly
curled position she saw his face tilted away from her, grimace forcibly
put
there, eyes shining weakly. Such a man to not cry, Nadia mused. Just as
he
started to open his mouth, his hands floated up between them and tried
to push
him away. She only hugged him tighter and shushed him as he let out a
small cry
of anguish, hands finally leaping up around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry, Eric, I'm really sorry." She
whispered, holding his head on her shoulder.
He laughed gently. "You're lucky I'm
drunk."
Nadia smiled. "I'm just lucky,"
They pulled apart and smiled sheepishly at each
other, Nadia brushing Eric's hair from his eyes, Eric pushing Nadia's
glasses
up on her face for her, both just sort of staring at the other. Eric
smiled
again but stopped abruptly and cast his eyes downward, blushing
lightly. He
shook his head and groped for his glass of brandy. He muttered
something under
his breath before slapping Nadia gently, letting her know he needed to
get up.
She slipped lightly off his lap and stood awkwardly as he stood up and
sipped
at his glass, unmoving. He reached out with one arm and pulled her into
another
tight hug before sitting down and opening the box again.
Gray stopped outside the house half an hour later and
sighed, looking over at John who nodded furiously. He sighed again but
climbed
out of the car and started towards the door and knocking gently on the
wood. He
heard Eric's voice call him in, the door was unlocked. Pushing open the
door
revealed a very relieving sight. Eric was lying on his stomach up to
his
shoulders in freshly laundered blankets, a new pizza box next to him on
the
vacuumed carpet, but more importantly there was Nadia. She had propped
herself
with her elbows and was presently hiding behind the blanket as
suspenseful
music stabbed into the air. She whimpered softly and elbowed Eric
weakly. He
turned towards the screen of the brightly lit TV, playing an old black
and
white film.
"Glad to see you've, ahem, kissed and made up, Eric."
Gray smiled.
Eric looked up and smiled back, turning to see what
Nadia was doing. She pulled her denim jacket on, looking at her watch
and
staring expectantly at Eric. He lifted himself up and fished around in
his
pockets, pulling a few coins out and handing them over.
She smiled at him, not noticing Gray's smile.
"Thanks, doll, you're an angel."
"Just whipped beyond belief," he retorted,
reaching up and rubbing his face weakly.
"Thanks Eric; I'll talk to you later. Got me a
date," she smirked.
He laughed. "You sure do recover quickly."
"You won't believe who it is this time,"
she replied, eyes sparkling.
Eric lifted his eyebrows. "Who?" His voice
was stiff sounding, but Gray couldn't quite tell why.
"Jon Beckensale!" She danced happily.
Eric's face lit up, but Gray grimaced; he knew an
actor's face when he saw one. "Go you, Nadia! Make sure he treats you
well; I can't play big brother anymore."
She smiled sheepishly. "I know,"
With that she kissed him on the cheek, receiving one
in return before stepping out and walking quickly for the train
station,
looking at her watch with a grimace. If she found some change along the
road
she could tell Lexi to stall Jon until she got there, half an hour
late.
Inside, Eric fell to his knees, reaching under his
kitchen table for his bottle of brandy. He cursed several times until
Gray held
out the bottle for him, empty.
"What the fuck did you do that for?" Eric
shrieked, shaking the bottle hysterically.
Gray folded his arms. "Own up, mate, you can't
accept the fact she's dating again after all this can you? I don't care
what
you do tonight, but no more drinking. I've got some Valium if you need
that," he offered.
"You shouldn't be talking!" Eric retorted,
eyes wild.
Gray rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips.
"Get some sleep, Eric."
"She's trying to kill me,"
"She apologized, didn't she? You didn't go
begging her. This proves she doesn't want to kill you, I should think."
Eric looked pouty for an instant. "You didn't
hear her last night. She wasn't Nadia, she wasn't even Naddy, she was
just some
teeny-bopper trying to keep her virginity like I was raping her or
something." He said bitterly.
"Respect that decision then; if she doesn't feel
like she can date you than it can't happen. Love isn't one way, you
know that.
If it doesn't come from two directions, it isn't there at all. Without
a mutual
connection it's an infatuation or an obsession. Even a crush." Graham
was
sounding too smart for Eric's taste.
"It's like a fucking job application. I'm fully
qualified and I practically have the job, but she's going to give it to
some
slobbish lead singer of a crap-band and hope all goes well. In fact, my
application is so good she's going to have me sign a contract so she
can ring
me up and complain about the guy she does hire, and all I can do is
hope she
finally sees I've been here the entire time." Clever metaphores seemed
to
happen upon Eric under extreme stress, and he didn't argue with that.
Gray shrugged and shook his head. "Women, mate.
I decided it was too hard." He grinned.
"Yeah, and I'm considering." Eric replied,
putting his head down with a sigh. "Goodnight, Gray."