Our Hearts Entwined

by Lilliana Anderson

  “What the hell? Didn’t I see you go into the bathroom a little while ago?” Josh mumbled, frowning as he scratched his head, trying to piece together the events of the morning in his mind.

  “Josh! What are you talking about? I just got here, and I had to walk! I couldn’t find my fucking keys anywhere.” Mia bit out in frustration before turning her aggravation towards Eric. “Why the hell is your phone off all the time? I can’t even get through to your voicemail!”

  Josh made a hasty retreat back into his bedroom where a very sleepy Louise was waiting for him.

  “Where’d you go?” she asked.

  “To answer the door, Mia was pounding on it and is out there having a go at Eric.”

  “Really? Didn’t she spend the night? What did she do – go out early and lock herself outside?”

  “Who knows, but I think it’s best we stay in here while they sort it out,” he said, sitting back on the bed next to her.

  A worried expression fixed itself upon Louise’s face, “But I have to pee,” she complained.

  ***

  “Mia, what are you talking about?” Eric said, confused as all hell.

  “Your phone Eric! Two nights in a row I can’t get through - Why can’t I ring it?” Mia asked again, her hands on her hips and her frustration level rising.

  “What? Why are you even trying to ring it? Where did you go?”

  “Answer the god damn question!” she yelled, wincing as a pain shot behind her eye. Her head was still aching despite sleeping solidly since Louise left yesterday evening.

  “I don’t know, call it now – I’ll go and get it,” Eric said, walking into his bedroom closely followed by Mia. “What time did you go home?”

  “What are you talking about? I went home straight from work.”

  “No, I’m talking about last night. You weren’t in bed this morning and you’re wearing different clothes. What time did you go? And why did you go?”

  Mia glanced down at the three quarter black leggings and oversized t-shirt she was wearing with her converse shoes, the outfit she’d put on after her shower that morning, before looking back at him.

  “Eric you’re not making any sense. I came here to get my spare key off you and see why I can’t call you anymore,” she explained, reaching out and taking his phone as he offered it to her. When she punched in her own phone number her mobile rang straight away but when she returned the call, nothing happened. “Why isn’t this working?” she wondered aloud, staring at the phones in her hands.

  “Mia! Forget the fucking phones,” Eric told her, grabbing his phone out of her hand and throwing it on his rumpled bed. “Would you just talk to me properly?” he demanded, his voice edged with frustration and a rising anger.

  “I don’t know what’s going on!” Mia exclaimed.

  “Neither do I, do you even remember being with me last night?”

  “No,” she whispered, dropping until she was sitting on Eric’s bed. “No, I don’t.”

  “Alright, well something is obviously going on. Do you want me to take the day off work? Take you to the doctor or something?”

  “No, no – I’ll be fine. I’m just… I’m just really confused right now,” Mia mumbled looking at her wrist to check for a watch that she never wore, before landing her eyes on Eric’s bedside clock. “I have to go home, I need to get ready for work.”

  “Did I hear you say you walked here? Do you want me to drive you back?” he offered.

  “Yes, please. I… I couldn’t find my keys,” she told him again, feeling so disheartened after another morning of confusion. She didn’t like the way that Eric was looking at her. It was making her feel like something was wrong with her.

  “Come on,” he said, stuffing his feet into a pair of runners and holding his hand out to her. Mia took hold of it and allowed him to lead her out of the house, passing a very bewildered looking Louise on their way out the door.

  What’s going on? she signed, her brow furrowed with worry for her friend.

  Mia simply shrugged her shoulders and signed to her that she would talk to her later.

  Eric didn’t really speak much on the short drive back to Mia’s flat, instead he concentrated on the road and the news report that was being aired over the radio. His eyes betrayed him though as they occasionally flicked over to Mia, laced with concern. He didn’t think that her change in demeanour coupled with her forgetfulness could be a good thing and he felt that he would need to make sure she went to the doctor.

  Eric noticed that Mia kept pressing her fingers to her head and asked her if she had a headache. When she nodded that she did, his worry increased as he started to hear diagnosis’ of brain tumours bombarding them from within his mind.

  As they walked up the stairs to her flat, Eric held her by the hand, gently stroking his thumb back and forth as he once again led the way. Standing at her front door, he went through his keys to select the one for her lock.

  “So did you find your keys?” Mia’s neighbour, a small lady of around eighty, named Joan, asked as she came up the stairs behind them. In her hand she carried a plastic bag that looked to contain that morning’s paper and a litre of milk.

  “Um, no… not yet,” Mia replied, a slight frown wrinkling her forehead as she tried to recall seeing Joan that morning to tell her that she’d misplaced her keys.

  “Well, see that you do. I don’t like the idea of you climbing between balconies,” Joan pointed out as she entered her own flat and shut her door, leaving Mia standing on the landing feeling even more confused than she was a moment ago.

  “Uh, what was that all about?” Eric asked from the now open doorway.

  “I have no idea,” Mia told him stepping through the door and pressing it shut behind her.

  “I thought you said you couldn’t find your keys?” he said.

  “I couldn’t.”

  “Well what are these?”

  Mia couldn’t believe her eyes, sitting on the entry table – exactly where she always put them – were her keys. “But… I looked everywhere…” she whispered.

  “Mia, I really think you should go and see a doctor. I’m worried about you,” Eric told her softly, taking her in his arms.

  Mia’s breath hitched slightly as she clung to him and nodded, feeling scared of what seeing a doctor might tell her.

  Chapter Nine

  “Hi Mia,” Josh said and signed the moment she walked through the door of the town house on the Friday, a week later.

  “Hi Josh, Louise,” she said nodding at each of them.

  “Louise is teaching me to finger spell properly,” Josh told her proudly.

  “I see,” she said in reply. “Where’s Eric?”

  “In his room,” Josh informed her as Louise looked on. “You’re becoming a permanent fixture around here lately,” he commented.

  “Mia?” Louise said before she raised her hands and started to sign quickly, earning a confused look from Josh as he tried to decipher the meaning behind her gestures. He, like Eric and Mia, had known Louise since high school. So while he wasn’t fluent in Auslan, he was able to pick out a few words and phrases that he had learnt over the years.

  Giving up on trying to work out what Louise was saying, Josh looked over at Mia who was patiently waiting until Louise finished. She gave a tight smile in response. “I’m just going to go and see Eric,” she told them, thumbing over her shoulder towards the direction of Eric’s room.

  Louise’s eyes narrowed as she watched her disappear down the hallway.

  “What was that about? You were signing so fast, I couldn’t understand any of it,” Josh said after tapping Louise on the shoulder to get her to look at him.

  “I don’t know,” she said and signed, shaking her head as her eyes drifted towards Eric’s bedroom. “It’s just… I don’t think this is right,” she told him.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, attempting to sign a couple of the words that he knew.

  Louise smiled at him as she watched hi
m try. “Will you come for a drive? I want to check on something.”

  “Sure,” he told her, standing up from the couch and holding his hand out to her to pull her after him. “Where are we going?” he asked as they walked out the door.

  Louise waited until they had walked most of the way down the driveway, towards Josh’s car where it was parked on the street before she spoke. “We’re going to Mia’s flat,” she revealed.

  “What? Why? She’s inside.”

  “Just humour me,” she asked him. Josh nodded his head and held the door of his forest green Rav4 open for her to climb into and drove her the couple of blocks to Mia’s flat.

  The moment Josh pulled the car up to the curb, Louise unclipped her seatbelt and jumped out, unable to hear Josh call after her pointlessly as she rushed across the street and up the two flights of stairs to Mia’s front door.

  Knocking loudly, she waited, trying to turn the door handle as Josh caught up to her. She turned to face him. “Can you hear anything inside?” she asked, concern furrowing her brow.

  Shaking his head, Josh said, “No, it’s quiet and look, there’s no light under the door. What are we doing here? Do you have a key? Why do you need to get in there?”

  “No, I don’t have a key. Only Eric does… I just felt so sure,” she said, turning away and sitting at the top of the stair case.

  Josh folded his long body up to sit down next to her. “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “It’s Mia – I just… I thought she’d be here,” she said quietly.

  “Lou, you just saw her at my place.”

  I know, she signed, closing her eyes and leaning against Josh’s shoulder. There was something about the Mia who went into Eric’s room tonight that told her that she wasn’t her friend Mia. She couldn’t quite explain it – they were just… different. She’d been so sure that she’d go to Mia’s apartment, knock on the door and have her answer it. But now… now she doubted herself, now she wasn’t sure anymore.

  Josh slid his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders and held her tight against him, kissing the top of her head. He’d noticed how strange Mia was acting lately, it was as if she didn’t even care about Louise anymore, and it pained him to watch their interactions. He’d wanted to shake her and tell her to snap out of it.

  “Do you want to go back to my place?” he asked when she looked back up at him.

  Shaking her head she said, “No, would you mind taking me home?”

  Pressing his lips together in an understanding grin, he tucked her auburn curls behind her ear. “Of course I’ll take you home. I can talk to Mia for you too if you want?”

  She shook her head, her curls bouncing off her shoulders as she did. “No, I’ll sort it out.”

  ***

  After dropping Louise off at her house, Josh returned home to find Eric sitting in front of the television with the xbox controller in hand as he stared ahead, tapping the buttons in concentration as he played. “Is Mia gone already?” he asked as he headed to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

  “Yeah, she said she’s got a bunch of school stuff to do,” he called out in answer.

  “Is that Halo one?” Josh asked upon his return as he sat down next to him on the black leather couch, placing a beer for each of them on the coffee table in front of them.

  “Thanks mate, and yeah, it’s an oldie, but a goodie,” Eric replied, hitting pause and picking up the bottle of beer. “Where’s Louise?”

  “She wanted to go home,” he replied, picking at the corner of the label with his nail. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” Eric said, restarting the game in co-op mode so Josh could join in.

  Placing his beer on the table, Josh picked up the controller and started. “What’s with Mia coming over every night lately?”

  “I don’t know, is it a problem for you? I didn’t think you’d care since you always have Lou here.”

  “It doesn’t bother me, it’s just that… I don’t know – she’s different, and it’s upsetting Louise. Has she said anything to you at all? I mean, have they had a fight or something?”

  “I don’t know man. I’ve noticed it too. Mia is certainly different. With me, it’s in a good way, but I have noticed that she isn’t talking to Louise when she’s here, and she’s not signing to her which is a bit weird. I asked her if something was going on and she said that she was just giving you and Louise some space.”

  “So you think she has a problem with me?”

  “No, why would she have a problem with you.”

  “I don’t know, she doesn’t talk to me either. She only talks to you these days.”

  “I guess….ah shit,” he commented as his character was killed and he was taken back to the last check point.

  “So, what happened with Mia last week. Did she go see a doctor?” Josh asked.

  “Yeah, she said that she’s just been under a lot of stress at school. She just needs a bit more sleep and maybe a holiday. Plus, she’s been having these weird nightmares. She reckons they seemed so real that she was getting all disoriented.”

  “Is that why she never stays the night?”

  “I don’t know. Why does it matter?”

  “It’s just that you guys have suddenly started to hang out every night and then she goes home before midnight.”

  “Yeah I guess. But, she’s always liked her space. It’s why we don’t live together.”

  “But she stayed over last weekend.”

  “Yeah, and then she lost her shit.”

  “Has she been fine since?”

  “Yeah, well she saw the doctor…”

  “Maybe she’s on drugs?”

  “Mia? On drugs? Yeah right,” Eric laughed, Mia barely drank, there was no way she’d take drugs. “No, I think she just needs to wake up in her own bed.”

  “Are you staying at hers this weekend?”

  “Nope,” he said, taking another swig of his beer.

  “Why not? You always stay there.”

  “She doesn’t want to,” he shrugged, tapping at his buttons as an Elite tried to attack his character. “Doesn’t bother me, she just wants to go out, maybe come back here for a bit and then go home.”

  “Alright…”

  “I don’t mind, I’m happy if she’s happy. I’ve never been that great at sharing a bed anyway,” he admitted, bouncing his shoulders before placing his controller on the table. “I’m going to bed. Baz is picking me up at five thirty in the morning,” he said, picking up the two empty beer bottles and taking them to the kitchen to drop them in their recycling tub. As he passed Josh on his way to his room, Eric told him that he’d see what he could do about getting Mia to talk to Louise. They’d all known each other for so long that Eric would hate it if they suddenly weren’t getting along.

  As Josh heard the door to Eric’s room click closed, he sat and thought about Louise wanting him to take her to Mia’s tonight. It was a strange thing to ask for when they’d just seen Mia with Eric. He wondered if maybe there was some sort of sickness going around, first Mia was acting strangely and now Louise. He decided that he should get an early night too, lest he come down with something as well… just in case.

  Chapter Ten

  The next day, Louise made her way over to Mia’s flat and knocked firmly on the door, calling out to her friend in the hopes that she was home this time.

  The door flew open and a very tired looking Mia stood in the doorway. She gestured for Louise to enter and started to move about the kitchen to prepare coffee for them both.

  “No,” Louise said and signed. “Get dressed, I’m going to take you for a late breakfast. You look like you need a good dose of sunshine.”

  I’m just so tired. All I do is sleep at the moment.

  What were you doing last night?

  Sleeping, I woke up on the couch this morning.

  I saw you with Eric last night. I didn’t think it was you, but I came here to look for you and there was no one here.


  What?

  I can’t explain it, Louise said, I was so sure it wasn’t you. Maybe you’re getting abducted by aliens every night - there has to be some kind of explanation. What’s the last thing you remember doing last night?

  Mia chose to ignore the comment about aliens and continue on with the conversation in a more serious tone. Coming home from work, having some dinner. I worked on and then emailed an updated report on one of my students to his psychiatrist. Then I made a coffee and sat down to read. Then it was morning. I didn’t go anywhere. But Louise, that’s been happening a lot.

  What has?

  Me, passing out on the couch. It’s happened almost every night this week – what if there’s something wrong. What if I’m not actually sleeping?

  What? You think you have an alter ego or something?

  I don’t know, how many times have you seen me with Eric this week?

  I don’t know. You’re there pretty much every time I am. So I’ve seen you maybe three or four times. Only briefly though – your doppelganger doesn’t like talking to me very much.

  “This isn’t a joke Louise,” Mia said out loud, a sick feeling overtaking her limbs and forcing her to sit down. I’m worried something really bad is happening with me. I’m worried I’m losing my mind.

  ***

  Later that evening, a tall, lean man, with light brown hair, slighty damp with sweat could be seen entering Mia’s block of flats. He bounded up the stairs, eager to see his girlfriend after his football game had concluded.

  Normally he went to the pub afterwards and had a beer with his team mates, but after reconnecting with her over the last couple of weeks, Eric wanted to surprise her, to be near her again. Using his key, he entered Mia’s flat and called out her name.

  “Mia! Are you home?”

  From the bathroom he could hear the sound of the shower running. Grinning to himself, he went to open the door so he could join her. At first he was going to jump in the shower and surprise her, but then he remembered that she wasn’t expecting him, so he announced himself as he opened the bathroom door.