Cursive

by Phoebe Lane

  "My sympathies," she said with mock sadness as Evan playfully punched Jace in the arm. "Tell me about your house. Ellie mentioned you built a place on the beach?" Aislynn continued.

  "Yeah, just finished it. I think Ellie will do an amazing job with the interior design. Believe me when I say, if I had decided to take the decorating into my own hands, I would've ended up on the cover of Bachelor Pad Monthly."

  "I really hope that magazine doesn't actually exist," Aislynn said before taking a sip of her drink. "She has amazing talent. I guarantee the place will look incredible after she's done with it."

  After the game ended, Evan suggested they all go out to dinner to celebrate the Rangers' win over the Padres. Jace wasn't amused with his level of gloating, but agreed to go nonetheless. He was secretly craving more time with Aislynn.

  "So, what do you think of Aislynn?" Evan asked Jace while on their way to the restaurant. They had all met at the ballpark, and the girls were riding in a separate car.

  "What do you mean? I thought you said this wasn't a date?" he casually asked, trying to brush off the questioning.

  "It's not, but you guys seem to be hitting it off."

  "She's really nice. Spunky. Intelligent."

  And beautiful. If only I could take a sniff of her neck. I just want to smell her, and maybe taste her too.

  "All good qualities. So what's holding you back?"

  Jace thought for a moment before answering. "I think you were right about what you said the other night. I don't get the vibe that Aislynn's into the casual thing. I don't know. There's something about her—"

  Jace was having a hard time putting into words what it was about Aislynn that drew him in. Maybe it was her spontaneity, or the way she carried herself without pretenses. His mind went back to the morning they’d met, and he remembered seeing her walking into the kitchen half asleep wearing that tiny robe—

  That's it. She's breathtaking, and she doesn't even know it. Such a dangerous combination.

  It didn't escape him that he was spending an awful lot of time trying to figure out a woman he'd only met briefly and to whom he'd only spoken for a few hours. Yet, he couldn't stop himself.

  "She's really down to earth and real," Jace finally added.

  "Ha! Who's talking like a girl now?" Evan asked.

  "I'm not the one bringing up babies."

  "Point taken. Listen, man, I'm not trying to have a 'heart to heart' here," Evan said using air quotes, "but I think it's time for you to look for something different. Stop fucking around with all these women you randomly date. Pun intended, by the way."

  "I 'date' because relationships come with way too much drama and too much baggage. I thought I was over and done with all that crap after I broke up with Chloe, and then I turn around and meet Lia. I mean, what are the odds?"

  "Not all women are 'Lias' or 'Chloes.' They were the problem, not the actual relationship crap. Call me crazy, but I think there might be something there with Aislynn, and I think you should give it a chance."

  "You mean give her a chance?"

  "No. I mean give yourself a chance. To maybe get it right this time."

  From what Aislynn could observe, things were going great for Ellie and Evan. They had this weird connection that became completely impenetrable by the people around them. It wasn't that they acted like they were inside a bubble; it was more like they were locked inside the romantic equivalent of a maximum security area at NSA headquarters.

  Meanwhile, Jace and Aislynn spent their time during dinner bonding over their mutual disgust for their friends' obvious love connection.

  "Do you think they even realize we're making fun of them?" Aislynn asked Jace while staring at their friends across the table.

  "Unlikely. I think they've moved to a different wavelength where only the two of them and a specific species of Amazonian bird can actually communicate in," he answered, making her throw her head back in laughter.

  "You know, Jace, for a non-date, I'm having a lot of fun. I really needed to laugh. I haven't done much of that in while." They stared at each other and smiled as Aislynn felt a bubble starting to form around them.

  "Then how about we all have another non-date on Wednesday? Dinner at my place?" Evan asked excitedly, inserting himself back into the conversation and successfully popping Jace and Aislynn's bubble.

  "Great idea! Aislynn?" Ellie said.

  "Sure. Jace, want to give it a chance?" she asked him softly and immediately picked up on a glance exchanged between the guys. It was subtle, but Aislynn was good at picking up on body language.

  "You know what? I think I do," Jace answered with a coy smile.

  A few days later, as Aislynn tried to work on her manuscript, she heard a knock at the door. She was surprised to find a UPS delivery man carrying what appeared to be two huge parcels and a very annoyed look on his face.

  "Currington?" he barked.

  "Yes?" she cautiously answered.

  "Sign here," he said, placing the boxes down on her doorstep and handing her the electronic pad and pen.

  "Good luck!" he said halfway down the hallway, not bothering to look back or offer any help bringing the boxes in.

  "Geez, thanks," she muttered under her breath.

  Once inside, she glanced at the return address and realized they were the boxes Pam had mentioned sending to her. She set them aside without even opening them, figuring they were items she hadn't needed in close to a year and were probably not important.

  She'd been having a hard time with her writing that day, getting a dozen pages written before deleting them in frustration. After finally deciding to call a strike on anything related to books, she desperately looked for a distraction. It was five in the afternoon, and the pool at the gym was going to be crowded with the after-work crowd. It was too late to drink coffee and expect decent sleep that night, and she was still full from her late lunch. Her CBGB wasn't working in her favor.

  So, of course, Aislynn got curious about the boxes and dug right into them. Inside the first box she found old photo albums, her favorite college sweater, and some jewelry. A huge smile spread across her face as she browsed through some of her favorite books she hadn’t read in ages.

  The second box was equally as big but peculiarly lighter in weight. She opened it and peeked inside, only to feel her breath leave her, her muscles tense up, and hot tears spring to her eyes.

  I should've just gone to the gym.

  Aislynn tried to shield her eyes from the bright light of her cell phone screen as she sent a quick text to Ellie.

  Hey. Not feeling well. Going to bed early, just FYI. I'll see you tomorrow morning.

  R U OK? Do you need anything?

  Got a migraine. Took a sleeping pill so I can rest, just in case u hear me snoring ;-)

  K, I'll be home soon. Get me if you need anything.

  Aislynn woke up to Ellie shaking her shoulder. She felt completely disoriented and her muscles ached.

  "Wake up, Aislynn," Ellie said, and she forced her eyes, trying to situate herself.

  Ugh, I'm never taking sleeping pills again.

  "Are you okay?" Ellie asked with a worried expression on her face. "What the hell happened to you last night?"

  "What do you mean?" Aislynn asked, still confused.

  She sat up in bed and took in her surroundings. Her room was a disaster. There were things thrown everywhere and Ellie looked utterly panicked.

  Then Aislynn looked down at herself and finally noticed it. Oh my God. This can't be happening, she repeated to herself over and over. She started gasping for air, her pulse raced, and she felt like someone was sitting on her chest.

  Aislynn was sitting up in bed wearing a wedding dress.

  "What the hell happened to you?" Ellie asked.

  "I don't know," she said, feeling her heart beat a million miles an hour. "I can't remember anything. Just…I'm…Just help me get out of this thing."

  Ellie quickly helped her undress and put her robe on. Aislyn
n sat back on the bed, tried to catch her breath, and watched as Ellie packed the wedding dress back into the box sitting by the closet door. She also took note of the mess around her room—there was a spilled glass over by the bedroom door, clothes thrown across the floor, and a dozen books lying behind a chair.

  Did I do all this?

  "Do you feel okay? Do you want me to get you something to drink?"

  "No, I think I'll just go take a hot shower. I need to try and think about what the hell happened," Aislynn said.

  She sat on the shower floor for half an hour, letting the hot water fall on her back, when suddenly the memories started coming back to her. Along with the memories came the anger.

  She was now very upset with herself and extremely angry at her mother.

  "Mom, I got your boxes in the mail yesterday," Aislynn said on the phone, not even bothering to say hello when she answered.

  "Oh, good! They got there faster than I expected," Pam said casually.

  "Did you happen to go through the boxes before sending them?"

  "I went through one of them. There were some books inside and other small things, I think. But I didn't have time to go through the other box. I figured they were clothes. Why? Was something broken?"

  Aislynn paused and forced herself to take deep breaths, trying to get a handle on her ire.

  She didn't do this on purpose. She couldn't have been this malicious.

  "No, nothing was broken," she finally said with a clipped tone.

  "What is it then? You sound upset," Pam said.

  "Just…Nothing. Forget it."

  "Please, talk to me, Aislynn. What happened?" Pam asked with obvious concern.

  "That second box…It was the wedding dress."

  "Oh…the dress," Pam said nervously, but Aislynn could pick up on her attempt at composing herself. "Well, it's good that you have it then. It's not something you want to let go of, right?"

  "Excuse me?" Aislynn asked, now starting to lose her self-control.

  "It's your wedding dress."

  "No, it's not my wedding dress. It never was. I never got to wear it, remember?" Aislynn's tone of voice was now several octaves higher.

  "Why are you so upset about this? I thought you would want to keep something like that as a memento of what you had with Christopher," Pam said, then paused. "Oh, wait. I see what's going on. You want to avoid this too, just like you do with your family, your friends, and your job?"

  Aislynn completely lost her head at that point. "How can you be so insensitive?" she demanded.

  "I'm not being insensitive. Why do you always have to take everything so personally?"

  "Personal? How the hell am I supposed to take it, then?" she shouted, knowing it could probably be heard out in the living room, but not being able to give a damn.

  "Stop it, Aislynn! I deserve more respect. You always want to read more into what I say than what I actually mean. I can't ever talk to you," Pam said defensively.

  I swear it's like talking to a damn wall.

  "Listen, don't send me anything else. If you find any other boxes, just throw them away. There, you can consider that another example of how I avoid things that I apparently shouldn't take so personally." Aislynn quickly hung up the phone and turned it off. It took all her strength to resist the urge to throw it against the wall.

  She eventually made it out of her room and into the dining room, where she found Ellie waiting for her at the table.

  "I made you some tea," Ellie said softly. "Was that your mom you were just, um, talking to?"

  "More like screaming to. You can say it."

  "Is she involved in this?"

  Aislynn nodded. "I think I figured out what happened last night." She paused to allow herself a deep breath. "I got a box in the mail from her yesterday. It was the wedding dress."

  "Damn it, Pam," she muttered as her hand slammed on the table. "What the hell was she thinking?"

  "She claims she didn't know what was in it. Oh, yeah, and she also can't understand why I'm so upset about it." Aislynn sipped her tea in silence, trying to let it all sink in, and appreciating Ellie dearly for giving her some time to process things. "Last night, after I saw the dress, I was so upset that it triggered a massive migraine. I couldn't fall sleep, so I took a sleeping pill. That medicine has been known to cause sleepwalking behaviors in some people."

  "People like you?"

  Aislynn nodded. "I must have woken up and put the dress on while I was asleep."

  "Can we please throw those pills away?"

  "I already did."

  "I'm sorry this happened," Ellie said after a minute, then reached across the table for her hand and squeezed it gently. "This is probably the wrong thing to say right now, but you looked really beautiful in that dress, just like you did when you tried it on the first time."

  "It's a shame, because it really is a great dress," she said and sighed. The dress was all tulle, with sparkling crystals cascading all over a deep V-neck and princess-cut skirt. "Maybe you could use it for when you marry Evan."

  "I don’t know about marriage, but I have a feeling I'm going to be crazy in love with that man."

  "I think so, too."

  "I know you tend to keep your thoughts to yourself, but we both know you read people well. Tell me what you think of Evan," Ellie said.

  Aislynn had been watching Evan interact with Ellie very closely. She couldn't help it; it was in her nature. Not that she was deluded enough to think she could tell absolutely everything about a person by just observing them, but she did pick up on things that most people wouldn't notice.

  "There are no red flags that I've noticed. He seems legit," Aislynn said.

  "That's good. Really good," she said with a big smile. "Would it be too predictable if I asked you about Jace now?"

  "Blatantly."

  Ellie talked Aislynn into a primping session before their dinner with the guys that evening. Aislynn insisted she didn't need so much prep for a non-date, but Ellie kept rolling her eyes at her. Ellie had to work the most at trying to convince Aislynn to wear her hair down, but her efforts were futile.

  "Learn to pick your battles, Ellie," Aislynn said.

  Her nerves didn't bother her until they were on the elevator on their way up to Evan's apartment.

  Non-date, non-date, non-date. No reason to feel nervous. Ugh, who am I kidding?

  Evan lived in a very up-and-coming neighborhood in the center of the city. It was obvious that his interest in wine went beyond just owning a wine bar. The wine cellar in his apartment was modern and quite impressive; it was all glass from floor to ceiling, held about three-hundred bottles, and opened up directly into the living room.

  He treated the group to a wine tasting mini-lesson before dinner, explaining the proper way to judge the color, clarity, and smell of the wine. He then described the different phases of tasting, which included the attack phase, the evolution phase, and the finish.

  "No offense man, but this is all going way over my head," Jace said, looking gorgeous in jeans and a white button-down shirt.

  "Well, does it taste good?" Evan asked.

  "Yeah, it's great!" Jace said, and everyone else agreed.

  "That's all that matters, then. Cheers." Aislynn appreciated how laid back Evan could be about something he was obviously so passionate about.

  The girls set the table while the guys prepped the meal, giving Aislynn some time to observe Jace. Blame it on the fact that it had been over a year since she had been with a man, or the fact she was on her second glass of wine, but her mind was having a hard time keeping some questionable images at bay.

  I wonder what it would feel like to scratch my nails hard over his abs, or to tangle my fingers in his hair when he tastes me between my legs.

  "Jace!" Evan called out.

  "Huh?" Jace said, snapping back into focus with his surroundings.

  "The timer for the pasta is going off."

  "Oh, sorry. I got it."

  "Where wer
e you just now, man?"

  I was busy tasting her, and wondering what her hair would look like out of that bun and falling on top of her breasts while she rides me, he thought.

  "Sorry, just thinking about some work stuff," Jace said nonchalantly. He wondered what the hell had come over him. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about Aislynn since they had gone to the baseball game together.

  He checked the pasta, making sure it was perfectly al dente, then tossed it with a white wine cream sauce, fresh scallops, and prawns. Evan poured more wine into a decanter and they brought everything out to the table.

  The conversation flowed effortlessly throughout dinner and it seamlessly led to dessert, which consisted of an amazing 1984 Port Evan paired with a dark chocolate and raspberry mousse cake.

  "Can we please move off the subject of politics? I have a feeling I'm gonna end up hurting somebody," Ellie said while giving Jace the evil eye.

  "All right, kids! Go to your corners, and let’s move on to safer subject matter, please," Aislynn said.

  "Let's see. We've covered some of the most important topics, like how Texas is a better state than California," Evan said as Aislynn raised her glass in acknowledgement.

  "And how San Diego weather is better than Texas summer hell," Jace added.

  "We covered music, movies, travel, and Charlie Brown," Evan said, counting off the items with his fingers. "How the hell did we end up talking about Snoopy?"

  "It’s the alcohol," Ellie suggested. "Just be glad we haven’t brought up the topic of exes. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a second date."

  "Non-date!" Jace and Aislynn echoed.

  "Oh, please. You guys have already progressed beyond that level. Actually, now that I think about it, you're technically on lingerie level," Ellie said, obviously alluding to the first time Aislynn and Jace had met.