by Suzie Carr
We laughed as we made our way over to the table, crunching crab shells with our feet.
A few minutes later, our waitress dumped a dozen crabs in the middle of our table.
Haley picked one up from its leg and dangled in front of her face. “So, what do I do with this thing?”
“I’ll show you.” I picked up a hammer, placed the crab in front of me, and hammered it in the belly region. Then, I tore at the shell and yanked on the meat until it came loose. I continued to wrestle with it until all the meat piled to my side. “It’s a bit of work, but it’s so worth it.” Then, I cupped the pile of meat and passed it to her. “Here you can start with this.”
“What fun would it be if I let you do all the work?” She ignored the pile of meat, picking up the hammer instead. She pounded away at her crab. Juice, meat, and shells flew everywhere.
We continued hammering the crabs like a couple of construction workers securing nails on a rooftop, helping to fill the room with even more laughter. We chugged beer from plastic cups too.
After destroying the twelve crabs and littering the ground near our table with shells, we put down our hammers.
“I’m full,” I said.
She smiled at me. “Come here.” She picked up a napkin.
I leaned into her.
“You have a bit of crab on your face.” She gently wiped the corner of my mouth with the napkin. When she pulled it away, she paused, holding my gaze. I closed my eyes to soak in the warm feeling. When I opened them again, her eyes still poured desire into mine. I looked to my left to contain the silly grin creeping on my face.
“You’re cute when you’re giddy.”
“I’m not giddy.”
She rolled her eyes and smirked.
“Okay maybe a little, but that’s only because of the beer.”
“Yeah, the beer.”
“Yes, the beer,” I assured her.
She glanced down at her watch. “It’s nine o’clock. The night is still young. Let’s go.”
I decided to take her to a bar not far from the crab restaurant. It’d been a long time since I’d gone there. Goldie dragged me there a few times before. They had karaoke, and the crowd seemed like a fun bunch back then. “Now bear with me. I don’t get out much these days, so I can’t be sure if this is still a decent place or not.”
“You just took me to a basement filled with people hammering innocent little creatures, and you’re worried of what my impression will be if this place turns out to be a dive?”
“Innocent little creatures? Is that how you treat innocent little creatures?”
“I have a rough side to me, didn’t I tell you?”
“We might need it in here if it turns out this place is a dive.”
“The more a dive, the better,” she said with confidence as she climbed out of the car.
The bass of the rock music shook the air around us. “Sounds like a live band. Could be a rough crowd. You want to put that cute little pocketbook in the trunk along with mine?”
She unhitched its silver buckle and dug out her license and a wad of loose bills. She stuffed them in her front pocket. “Good thinking.”
I opened my trunk and we tossed our pocketbooks in alongside my emergency roadside kit that Colin bought for me.
Minutes later, the bouncer checked my ID with little scrutiny, but then got to Haley’s and stared at it as if he’d never looked at a license before. “Wow, we get chicks from as far away as Virginia and PA, but never from Denver.”
“Chicks?” An amused grin bounced on her face.
“It’s a compliment, I assure you,” he said back with toying eyes.
“I wouldn’t take it any other way.” She played back.
“You are such a flirt,” I said as we walked in and headed towards the bar.
She nodded mischievously.
“Now, that deal we made with each other about you telling me about the bartender girl, seeing as there’s no karaoke here, are you going to keep me in suspense?”
“Just because there’s a band, doesn’t mean a girl can’t still work her way up to singing a song with them. It depends how valuable the news is to you.” She lifted her eyebrow to me.
I looked to the stage where five hippy men rocked their heads back and forth to the beat of the music. “I wouldn’t know how to sing one of these songs.”
“Not that important to you, huh?” She shrugged her shoulders and turned to the blonde guy tending bar. “You know how to make a Blue Martini?”
He moved up closer to the counter, wiping it with his dirty rag, not taking his eye from her. “I’m a fast learner.”
She wrinkled her nose. “In that case, two Vodka Cranberries will be fine.”
“You got it, beautiful.” He flashed a blinding white smile her way before turning his back to make the drinks.
“Do women throw themselves at your feet the way all these men do?” I asked.
“Throw themselves at my feet?”
I laughed at her attempt to be humble.
“Emma!” A familiar voice called out from behind me.
I spun around. “Goldie, Charlie! What are you guys doing here?” I welcomed my friends with a hug.
Goldie eyed Haley, “I could ask you the same thing. Where’s Colin?”
“He’s out with the guys.”
“I don’t think I know your friend.” She didn’t take her eyes off of Haley.
Urging them to move in closer, I turned to Haley. “Haley, these are my friends Goldie and her fiancé, Charlie. Guys, this is my friend Haley.”
She took hold of Charlie’s firm grip and matched Goldie’s reluctant loose shake. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
“Are you the girl from Denver?” Charlie asked.
I shook my head at him, then shot Goldie a glaring look. How dare she tell him about her?
Goldie punched his bulging tricep muscle, causing him to jump back.
“I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?” Charlie asked.
“No, Charlie. Of course not,” I said. “Yes, this is my friend from Denver. She’s in town for another meeting. I decided to take her out to the only place I knew of and it turns out it’s changed quite a bit from what I remember.”
“This is where my band plays. We’re going on right after these guys.”
“Say Charlie, do you ever let stragglers from the audience get up on stage and sing a few lyrics with you?” Haley asked, passing a playful grin to me.
I grabbed hold of her arm. “Oh no you don’t.”
She turned back to Charlie. “Emma wants to sing. That’s all she talked about since we’ve been out tonight.”
“You’re such a jerk,” I said to her, squeezing her wrist, not caring about the discerning look that had just sprung up on Goldie’s face.
“Charlie, seriously, look at her. She’s dying here to make her debut. What can we have her sing?”
“My band can play most anything.”
“Charlie, really, she’s just kidding around,” I said.
Haley came close to my ear, “If you want to know, you’ll have to sing.”
“Goldie, help me out here.” I pleaded with my friend.
“I’m kind of with your new friend on this one. I’d really like to see what you’ve got in you.”
Of all times for Goldie to be accepting.
Haley high-fived them. “It’s a consensus. Give it up. You’re singing.”
I turned to Haley. “I will get you back for this.”
Drawing her attention away from me, she asked Goldie, “You know her. Should I be concerned?”
Goldie only shrugged.
By the time Charlie’s band began playing, Goldie taught Haley how to order their next round of drinks in Spanish as well as recite the alphabet forwards and backwards.
Goldie turned to me and asked me in Spanish whether Colin knew Haley was out with me?
“You’re the psychic. You should know the answer to that one.”
Goldie
studied me. “Interesante.”
“Oh, please.” I rolled my eyes and then felt Haley’s hand on my shoulder.
“What did she say?” she asked.
“She asked if you’re always this much fun.”
She draped her arm over Goldie’s shoulder. “I love this lady.” She squeezed her tightly before releasing. “So you’re a real live psychic, huh? They always intrigued me. Tell me what it’s like.”
Haley’s dynamic nature could even put Goldie at ease. Always excited when someone other than a skeptic asked her about her trade, she jumped into discussing her early history with it and how it evolved over the years. Haley, charming as ever, listened with the attention of an awe-struck fan and asked just the right questions.
And when Charlie’s band ended their rendition of “We are the Champions” by Queen, he announced, “I have a friend who wants to get up on stage and sing us a song tonight. Emma, why don’t you come on up now?” He waved me up on stage.
My head spun. “I can’t do this.”
“You look like you’re ready to faint,” Haley cuddled me. “I thought you said you were a ham?”
“I used to be.”
She rubbed the small of my back, then turned and walked towards Charlie. Within moments of climbing under the bright stage lights and whispering to him, the band played the introduction to “Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About” and soon, Haley chimed in with her beautiful, soulful voice. She played to the crowd’s enthusiasm, as she pranced around the stage like she owned it, flipping her bouncy hair, eyeing her new fans, even bending down to touch their hands.
“She’s good. I’ll give her that,” Goldie said.
I swelled with pride for her. “She looks like a star up there.”
I locked my eyes onto her as she returned from the stage. “I can see why your picture graces the Great Wall of Singers at Lou’s.”
After another round of drinks, Haley asked, “Are you ready to get out of here?”
I didn’t want the night to be over. I wasn’t ready to drop her off and go home to my empty apartment. “If you’re ready.”
As I drove her back to her hotel, my heart sank. She didn’t have any more visits planned. This was it.
I pulled into a spot in the hotel parking lot. I gripped the steering wheel, then buried my face into my arms.
“I know.” She sighed. “It went by too fast.”
I faced her. “I don’t want this night to end.”
She put her hand over mine. “Why don’t you come up for a bit?”
If I went up, I’d return a cheat. “Hmm, I don’t know, Haley.”
She squeezed my hand. “For coffee.”
I wanted it to be more than coffee. “Coffee does sound good.”
“Come on.”
Moments later, we stood outside of her room.
Once she unlocked the door, she stepped aside to let me pass through. The room had her light, romantic scent. A lounging area towards the window bathed the room with an open feel. Its milk chocolate couch and lighting accents added a romantic flair.
Adrenaline shot through me being on her turf.
“I’ll put on some coffee.”
I sat on the edge of the couch watching her fumble with pouring the water into the small opening of the coffeemaker. Within seconds of turning it on, the metal carafe sizzled against the hotplate.
She came over to the couch and sat close to me, crossing her legs. “Goldie is such a riot.”
“When she started in on that psychic talk, I cringed.”
“Why?”
“Because, I wasn’t sure how you would take it.”
“Psychic stuff intrigues me. Just from reading my palm, she knew I had a twin sister.”
A twin? I still had so much to learn about her. “Is she identical to you?”
“No, he’s not.” She smiled softly. Then pointing to a deep groove on her palm, she said, “Look, she told me that this line here is the one that indicated I will have good health.”
I opened my palm to see if I had a similar line, which I did. I never let Goldie read my palm or my cards. She freaked me out once, and I vowed never to let her freak me out again. She had experimented with me reading tea leaves, and she blurted out that she saw an accident. Two days later, I rode my bike into a parked car and flipped over the entire length of the sedan, breaking my leg.
Haley touched the deep line on my hand with her finger, tracing it lightly. She swirled it softly around the different lines, then up and down each finger, slowly, sending waves of pleasure through me, causing me to topple forward over my lap, over our encircled hands. She continued massaging my palm with her fingertips until I raised my head and looked into her eyes. Longing hung on her face.
Our gaze locked and I dizzied from the blood rushing through my veins. She gently pulled her fingers from mine, and brought her hand up to my face. She gently touched my cheek with the tips of her fingers, slowly, seductively tracing a line from my cheek, then down my neck.
I closed my eyes to drink in her teasing touch. I wanted to make love to her more than anything else I’d ever wanted in my entire life.
She let her hand fall to her side, and let out a deep sigh. “I guess I’d better go check on that coffee.”
I breathed in a deep gulp of air. “Okay.”
She steadied the carafe over the porcelain coffee cup. The coffee streamed down into it, releasing a cloud of steam. “Cream and sugar?”
“Sure.”
She handed me my cup and then walked to the window. She opened it, letting in the warm gentle breeze. Then, she settled in on the couch next to me, but this time with more of a buffer of space between us.
“I’m sorry about that,” she said, not looking at me as she took a sip.
I clenched the cup between my hands. “It’s okay.”
It wasn’t. And, we both knew it.
We sat in silence, just staring at our coffee cups.
“What’s on your mind?” she asked.
I leaned back against the oversized pillow, bending my knees. My feet rested within inches of hers. I moved my left foot closer until it touched her bare foot.
Her eyes grew larger.
I sloped my head to the side. “Call me obsessed, but I’m still wondering about that bartender girl.”
She stroked my foot with hers. “A deal’s a deal. You didn’t follow through.”
“Oh come on. Why can’t you tell me?”
“Because, in all honesty, there’s nothing to tell.”
“Nothing?”
“Nope.”
I continued to lock eyes with her. “You’re so secretive.”
“Ask me anything.”
What I really wanted to know was did she melt inside too? Did she want to cuddle up to me as badly? Did she think about me all the time as well? “Just tell me something about yourself that I don’t already know.”
“I make a damn good cup of coffee.” She took another sip.
“What about your family? You never talk about them. I had no idea you were a twin.”
“My family is a sore subject.”
I couldn’t imagine someone with her personality not being happy with her family. “You’re not close with them?”
“I’m close with Todd, my twin. My parents, we haven’t talked in a number of years.”
“What happened?”
“It’s a long story.”
I rubbed her foot more. “I’ve got all night to listen.”
She dropped her eyes, staring down at her cup of coffee again. “I brought Alicia, my ex-girlfriend, to dinner one night. I had told my parents I wanted them to meet someone special, someone I was dating, and when I walked in with Alicia, they told me I was never welcomed in their house again.”
The breeze blew across my skin, making the fine hair on my arm stand up. I shuddered. “That’s horrible.”
“I’m better with it now.”
How could she be? “Really?”
She rub
bed her necklace. “Well, maybe not.”
“You haven’t spoken since?”
“Once we did, when Todd graduated from Harvard Medical School. Todd begged me to go. I love my brother. I had to go even though I was sick to my stomach with disgust for the way my parents acted.”
“What happened?”
“They completely ignored me—acted like I wasn’t even there.”
I pulled my foot away, hugging it close to my chest. “I couldn’t handle that.”
“It’s hard.”
“How do you deal with that?”
“I made the choice to live my life for me and not for them. The moment I realized that, I set myself free. They’re welcomed back into my life anytime. It’s not up to me. The choice is theirs.”
I shivered at the thought of not having my dad in my life.
She rose from the couch and walked over to her bed. Taking the cover off, she pulled it in her arms and walked over to me. “You look cold.” She covered me with the soft comforter.
I leaned my head against the side of the couch and closed my eyes, humbled by her convictions. She knew what she wanted and wouldn’t let even her own family dictate any different. Me, on the flip side, catered to everyone else’s desires but my own.
When I finally opened my eyes again, the sun filled the room with warmth and Haley sat on the floor beside me, stroking my hair, watching me. “Good morning.”
I squinted at the bright sunshine as it cast its rays in the room. “I fell asleep?”
“You look beautiful when you sleep. Especially when you let out that gentle little snore.” She continued to run her fingers through my hair.
“I snore?”
“You’re adorable when you do.”
I buried my head under the blanket.
She pulled it down and leaned in closer to tickle my belly. “Why, are you embarrassed?”
I giggled and wrestled my way out of the tickle. But she didn’t relent, so I tickled her, too. Before long the two of us had fallen into a big heap on the ground, laughing, kicking, and wriggling our way free from each other. I rolled up onto my elbows and rested my chin on my folded hands. “I’ve got to get going,” I said, reluctant to leave.
“I’ve got to get ready for that meeting as well.”