Unhinge Me

by Ann Montgomery

  “Now that all that is over with, can I give you something?” he asked.

  “What’s this?” she inquired.

  “Well, you never gave me time to get you anything for your birthday, so it’s late. But I really wanted to get you something. I had to express mail it, but it arrived today.” He smiled shyly. “Open it.”

  “You really shouldn’t have, Caleb,” Alex tried to say, but Caleb brushed her off and pushed the box closer to her.

  She carefully opened the pretty purple wrapping paper and opened the box inside. Alex pushed aside the tissue paper, revealing a small, old looking book. Without even opening it, she jumped up and threw her arms around Caleb.

  “A Walt Whitman collection!” she exclaimed excitedly.

  “First addition,” he added, beaming. It wasn’t an easy find, but it was totally worth it to see the look on her face.

  Alex shook her head, astounded. “I don’t know what to say.” She sighed and wiped a small tear from her eye. The gift meant more to her than he would ever know.

  “Look inside,” he coaxed.

  She opened the old book and found a little strip of paper bookmarking one of the poems. She turned to it and read it aloud, smiling before she even started because she knew it well.

  A woman waits for me, she contains all, nothing is lacking, yet all were lacking if sex were lacking, or if the moisture of the right man were lacking.

  Sex contains all, bodies, souls, Meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies, results, promulgations, Songs, commands, health, pride, the maternal mystery, the seminal milk, All hopes, benefactions, bestowals, all the passions, loves, beauties, delights of the earth, All the governments, judges, gods, follow’d persons of the earth, These are contain’d in sex as parts of itself and justifications of itself.

  Without shame the man I like knows and avows the deliciousness of his sex, Without shame the woman I like knows and avows hers.

  Alex blushed and looked around the room. She distinctively remembered the poem was not that hot the last time she’d read it. This time, however, it made her want to take Caleb into the bathroom with her and do dirty things to him. Her look told him so.

  For a moment, he looked like he was considering it, but Graham and Rachael returned with their drinks and some more British chips from Joe.

  Caleb gave her a wink as they all dug into the food.

  “Not as good as Josie’s, but still yummy!” Alex remarked. “Where is Josie tonight anyway?” she asked Caleb. She and Josie were really getting close and she was looking forward to introducing her to Rachael.

  “Under the weather, apparently,” he answered. “Must be pretty serious, too, because she is never not here.”

  Alex frowned. “I hope she’s okay…”

  The four of them spent the rest of the night talking and joking. Rachael spent most of it rolling her eyes or bickering with Graham. Caleb took Alex’s hand under the table and squeezed. Alex leaned in closer to him and snuggled against him as they laughed at their companions’ banter.

  “You do realize that poem is totally about a guy who sleeps with multiple women.” Alex side glanced and grinned at Caleb.

  “Just the second part, really,” he insisted. “Plus, I wouldn’t know about any of that anyway. I’m a one woman man.” He put his hand on his heart to swear.

  Alex just laughed.

  When they went to leave at closing time, Alex pulled Joe aside to hug him and thank him for the food. She knew how much he hated cooking.

  “You alright, Alex?” Joe asked, making his big voice as quiet as possible. “You seemed a bit off when you came in.”

  Alex appreciated her friend’s concern. “Much better now, thanks Joe.” She grinned, then added, “I hope Josie feels better.”

  Joe got a little more serious. “Me too, lass, me too.”

  “Well, if there is anything I can do, please don’t hesitate to call me!” she made him promise.

  Out in the parking lot, Rachael and Graham were debating the football thing again. Alex didn’t hear all of it, but heard Rachael say something about scrawny soccer players.

  Graham, pretty irritated at that point, and more than a little tipsy, finally said, “Look honey, judging by the way you look,” -he looked her up and down- “and dress, you’ve never played a sport in your life. So why don’t you just stop talking and let the men do the thinking on the subject, eh?”

  Rachael blinked. “Did you seriously just say that to me?”

  “Alright,” Alex ran over. “Time to go!” She took Rachael’s shoulders and led her away to her car.

  “Of all the douchebags on this planet-” Rachael started to yell, but Alex ignored her. She physically put the also tipsy Rachael in the passenger seat and shut the door. Her muffled, angry words could still be heard as Alex walked back to the men to say goodbye.

  Graham mumbled his farewell and stumbled into the passenger seat of Caleb’s car as Caleb walked over to Alex and took her into his arms.

  After giving her the most passionate kiss he could, he looked into her eyes and smirked.

  “I’m so glad you aren’t avoiding me anymore.”

  “Me too,” Alex smiled.

  Caleb snuck out of his apartment on Monday morning, trying not to wake Graham up. Without the responsibilities of home, Graham was getting a little lazy and had taken up the habit of sleeping in.

  The day went by slower than usual, and by the time it was over, Caleb was just looking forward to going home and seeing Alex again. He was hoping to have her and Graham get to know each other better before Graham had to go back to the England.

  As he gathered his things to leave, he noticed a stray poetry book sitting on one of the desks in the front row. He walked over to put it back in its spot when he noticed a piece of paper sticking out of it. He stopped short, recognizing the same paper as the note from a few weeks ago. He looked towards the door to make sure no one was looking and pulled the note out to open it.

  It isn’t fair.

  You need to go back where you belong.

  It’s your fault.

  Go back now or I’ll make you wish you had.

  Caleb sat down at the nearest desk and put his head in his hands. This had to be about Lilith. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who blamed him for her death. He couldn’t figure out who it was though. Maybe someone from her family, although he couldn’t think who. He was going to have to tell Graham. Maybe his cousin could help him figure it out.

  Alex got to Caleb’s apartment before he did. Graham was just returning when she got there. She found him on the floor outside the apartment, sticking his fingers under the door.

  “What on earth are you doing?” she asked him.

  “Getting… his… key,” Graham grunted in the effort of fishing out the tiny treasure. Finally, he got it and stood up triumphantly. “I keep telling him to stop leaving it there.” He smiled and opened the door, moving aside to let her in first.

  Putting her purse down, Alex stood in the middle of the small space with her arms by her sides awkwardly. For a moment, neither of them said anything.

  “Um, can I get you something to drink?” Graham offered, breaking the silence.

  “Sure,” Alex responded thankfully. She looked around the room and noticed the fireplace looked different. “What happened to the fireplace?” she wondered aloud.

  “Oh, there were people over earlier in the week fixing it. It was plugged apparently. I told Caleb it was a waste of money with summer coming, but he insisted. He thinks I’m too blinkered.”

  Alex looked at him, confused.

  Graham searched for a better word. “Uhh, opinionated,” he tried.

  “Oh,” Alex nodded.

  Walking over to the fridge, Graham searched through the minimal contents and listed off the options.

  “So milk, water, beer… or there are these strange, cold tea drinks he has but doesn’t drink, in the back,” he offered.

  Alex smiled. “Green tea?” she asked, ev
en though she knew the answer. The only reason Caleb would have that in there was for her.

  “Yeah, maybe.” He looked at the bottle to read it. “Want that?”

  “Sure, that sounds good,” she simply said.

  He walked over to hand her one and popped one open for himself. He took a big gulp.

  “Hm. Not bad actually.” He looked at the bottle again curiously.

  Alex opened hers and sat down at the table, watching Graham. She still wasn’t sure what she thought about him. Rachael definitely didn’t seem to be a fan, but she was also not used to men talking back to her.

  He came over to sit down across from her. Setting his drink down, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a little white flag. He set his hands down on the table and slowly waved the flag back and forth with a smirk on his face.

  Alex shook her head and couldn’t help but smile a little.

  “Did you go out and buy that just for this?” she asked.

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “Would you believe me if I said no?” he asked, looking at her innocently.

  “No, I totally wouldn’t,” she laughed.

  “Fair enough,” he smiled. “Did you know that store down the road sells all kinds of useless rubbish?” he impishly asked, looking down at the flag. He was almost like a shy little boy sitting there. He looked back up at her and waved it again, smiling hopefully.

  “Okay, I give,” she sighed and smiled. Maybe he was more charming than she was willing to admit.

  “Oh, thank God,” he breathed and threw the flag down on the table.

  Alex giggled a little and Graham laughed with her. Then he sobered.

  “Alexandria, I really am sorry if my presence here has upset you,” he said softly. The arrogant man she had seen before was gone and the one before her now was definitely more sincere. Alex felt bad for her reaction when he’d first arrived.

  “No,” she countered. “It’s not your fault.”

  Graham waited patiently for her to continue.

  “I was just unprepared for a blast from his past, that’s all.” For full disclosure, she added, “And I was afraid you were here to take him back.” She couldn’t meet his eyes as she said the last part. She was so embarrassed.

  Graham softened. “I can see how much he means to you, and how much you mean to him. I can’t pretend to understand the connection the two of you have, but I can see that it’s deep.”

  Alex looked at him. There sat this person who knew so much about Caleb and she suddenly wanted to ask him a billion questions.

  “What was he like… before?” she asked hesitantly, afraid he wouldn’t want to answer, but he smiled thoughtfully and a faraway look lit up his eyes.

  “Caleb has always been hard to explain,” he began. “He was wild and yet so held back. I think he often felt chained by the responsibilities his parents put on him.”

  “Because of the title?”

  “That was a part of it. There is a lot of tradition and pomp and circumstance that comes with an old family like ours. But it was more than that. He is the oldest, so everything goes to him. It meant he was held to a higher standard than his brother. He spent most of his life trying to fight that until he gave up and married Lilith.”

  Alex tensed. Graham noticed and took her hand in his.

  “Please don’t ever feel distressed when it comes to Lilith. I can see that Caleb feels more for you already than he ever did for her,” he said in his soft accent. It was thicker than Caleb’s, probably because Caleb had been in America for a while.

  Alex smiled at his reassurance.

  “So what was he like as a child? Did he get in trouble a lot?” she begged to know.

  Graham brightened and said, “Do you doubt? There was this one time when he stole our grandmother’s shawl at a tea party…”

  Alex started to laugh and leaned in closer.

  Caleb walked into his apartment and dropped his keys on the table by the door. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard laughter in the next room. It wasn’t just little giggles, either. Full-fledged, whole-hearted laughter was filling the apartment. Confused, he walked in to see what it was all about.

  What he saw made his heart jump. Alex was sitting at the small table opposite Graham and she was laughing so hard, tears were running down her face.

  Graham was laughing, too, and finishing a sentence with “…butt-ass naked in the garden! She was so mad!” Both of them roared. They were laughing so hard, they didn’t even noticed he had walked in.

  Caleb was frozen in his spot. He had never seen Alex laugh so hard. The sound made his heart swell.

  Once the laughing died down a little, Alex looked over and noticed Caleb standing there. Graham followed her gaze and stood up to great him.

  “There you are!” he patted him on the arm. Ignoring that Caleb didn’t respond, he walked into the kitchen. “You’re lucky you claimed this one, cousin. If you hadn’t, now that I have gotten to know her, I may have tried to claim her for myself!” he mused. He opened the fridge. “Where is another one of those cold teas?”

  Caleb’s eyebrow went up.

  “What? They’re pretty good!” Graham shrugged.

  Alex stood up and went over to Caleb. Putting her arms around his waist, she laid her head on his chest. Caleb relaxed and smiled down at her head. Taking a deep breath of her lilac scent, he looked over and smiled at Graham. Yup, she was all his.

  Graham got a beer for Caleb and started searching through all the drawers for a bottle opener.

  “Where is the bloody thing? I can’t find anything in this kitchen, it’s all mixed up!”

  “Left of the sink,” Alex told him. Then to Caleb she said, “How was work?”

  Caleb sighed. He hated to be the downer when it was clear Alex and Graham had finally bonded. Alex sensed his hesitation and stood back to look up at him.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, studying his face.

  Graham walked around from the kitchen, handed Caleb the beer, and stood next to them.

  Caleb took a drink before starting. He looked over at Graham.

  “I think someone has followed me here from England.”

  Graham looked confused. “What do you mean? Who?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s someone who is not a fan. They have been leaving me threatening messages. They know.” He looked at Graham evenly.

  Alex was so confused, she couldn’t speak at first. Know what? She looked back and forth between the men as they gave each other looks that said a whole lot more than the words had.

  “It’s not possible,” Graham said quietly. “Who could or would do this?” He just shook his head in disbelief. “What kind of messages? What did they say?” He looked back at Caleb, who was standing there looking defeated.

  “They left notes on my desk.”

  “So they have been in your classroom?”

  “Yes. Twice,” Caleb said simply. “It really doesn’t make sense.” He handed the two notes to Graham to read. “I don’t know who the hell they could be from.” He rubbed his face and sat down in a chair, suddenly tired.

  Graham paced around the room, engrossed in the two small pieces of paper.

  Alex sat down across from Caleb and stared at him. Nothing made sense again. She was almost tempted to get up and leave. Whatever was happening was obviously major and something else Caleb had kept from her. Her first instinct was still to run, but then she remembered the past week and how much she had missed him, and how lifeless her world had been without him. No, it felt different now. She didn’t want to leave his side ever again. She looked over at him and noticed how tired and… almost frightened he looked. She decided to sit and wait patiently for him to explain it to her. If he hadn’t planned to, he wouldn’t have started the conversation in front of her.

  Graham suddenly took out his phone as if it had rung, even though it hadn’t. He excused himself, saying he had to take a phone call.

  Caleb looked over at Alex. “Y
ou’re not demanding answers,” he noticed.

  Alex gave him a small smile.

  “Ugh,” Caleb sighed, frustrated. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything about this before, love. I swear I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you,” he tried to plea.

  Alex interrupted him with a wave of her hand.

  “You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” she promised.

  “I want to though,” he insisted. “When I left England, there was still an investigation into Lilith’s death. I knew the bobbies, er, the police, didn’t suspect me, but I think others did. It was all too much on me, trying to deal with my loss and run the family business. I drank and made stupid decisions trying to defy the naysayers. Finally, my brother saw the destructive path I was on and knew it wasn’t leading anywhere good. He was the one who suggested I leave and start over. I knew it would look even more suspicious, but he convinced me that I needed to think of my own sanity. So I left, and tried to leave it all behind me. I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you, Alex. Everything feels so good with you that I didn’t want to even think about the dark clouds from my past.” He looked so desperate to make her understand.

  Alex wasn’t upset though. What Caleb said made sense, and she was sick of the drama. She was done running.

  “I know. It’s fine, really,” she reassured him.

  Caleb was so happy to hear her say that, he leaned over and kissed her. Slowly, the kiss became more passionate and Alex whimpered a little. Caleb slid around the table and stood up to take her into his arms, never breaking the kiss. With everything going on lately, it just felt good to have her in his arms.

  Graham walked back in the room and cleared his throat. When he was ignored, he decided to leave them alone. He needed time to think anyway. He grabbed his coat and shouted goodbye as he walked out the door.

  Caleb heard Graham leave but was too intoxicated by Alex to even stop long enough to say goodbye. Instead, he picked Alex up and carried her into the bedroom.