Mirage

by Ashley Suzanne

  I was a little overjoyed that she didn’t just get out and walk into her apartment.

  “Mira, you know I’m here anytime you want to talk, right? I would like to think that we are friends too,” I said to her, trying not to stare at her too hard.

  “Same goes for you, big guy. We are friends. Danny would want us to stay close. Nobody knew him better than we did. Maybe we can get together for coffee or lunch or something?” Mira asked while she was fumbling with the laces of the UofM hoodie she had sitting on her lap.

  “Yeah, I would like that a lot,” said back to her honestly..

  Chapter Three

  Over the past few weeks, Skylar and I saw each other on a weekly basis. He usually drops by just to check on me or invite me out for coffee. I forgot how much fun he is to be around. He’s constantly joking around with me, reminding me that I’m alive. God, I needed this.

  It’s been about seven months, give or take, since graduation and I still don’t have a job. I graduated from U of M with a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Marketing. I wish someone had told me how pointless this degree would be. Seven months and no job offers. It wasn’t like I had really tried, though.

  Today is my day, I think to myself. I will find a job. I scour the classified ads in the newspaper and job posting boards, with no luck. I am not going to be able to support myself much longer. My parents have been helping me out for some time and I can’t continue to live off of their support.

  After another hour of online job searching, I finally find an ad for an Office Manager at a large real estate firm downtown. Hell, I guess I’ll just send in my resume, what’s the worst that can happen?

  As I pack away my laptop, preparing for a nice well-deserved nap, I realize that I haven’t seen Kylee or Skylar over the last couple of days.

  “Maybe something is going on with those two,” I mumble, suddenly feeling a hint of jealousy. What the hell is going on with me? A few minutes later, Kylee comes walking through our front door.

  “Where have you been lately?” I ask her with an inquisitive look on my face.

  “Job interviews, networking and growing up,” she snaps back at me. Woah, where is all of this coming from?

  “Ky, I was just messing around. I haven’t seen you in a few days and kind of missed you. What’s going on?”

  “I didn’t know it was official until this afternoon, but remember the job I applied for in Grand Rapids a few months ago? Well, I had my final interview today and they offered me the job,” Kylee said.

  “OH MY GOD! Ky, this is amazing news. Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I would have helped you get ready and drove you to the interview. Why don’t you look happy?” I asked, noticing her eyes were focused on the floor.

  “Mira, didn’t you hear me. The job in GRAND RAPIDS hired me. I have to move. I can’t manage a two-hour commute to work and then another two hours after work. They want me to start next week and told me they would help me relocate. Ya know, put me up until I find a suitable place. But I don’t think I can leave you yet.”

  The hell you’re not, I think to myself. “Kylee Renee, we have been best friends for ages. You have been my rock during the past few months and I am eternally grateful to you for that. But now, it’s your time. You’re moving out, I’ll help you pack. Grand Rapids or bust,” I say to my friend.

  I am elated for my friend. She busted her ass through college, only to be constantly overlooked. This is her time to shine and I’ll be damned if I let her stay because I might be lonely when she leaves.

  Kylee runs over to me and plops on the couch next to me. Her smile is bigger than I have ever seen.

  “Mira are you sure you won’t need me around? How are you going to afford this place by yourself? Who will be your new roommate? What if they become your new best friend?” Kylee starts running questions by me a million miles a minute.

  Just as Kylee began to spout off more questions, Skylar comes strolling through the front door. Does he think he lives here?

  “Hey ladies, what’s new?” Skylar says as he walks into the kitchen to rummage through our fridge.

  “Oh nothing, other than Ky got a fancy new job in Grand Rapids. Isn’t that the best news?” I joyfully say with my eyes beaming at my best friend.

  “Shit Ky, congrats. When do you start? That’s going to be one helluva drive back and forth to work,” Skylar said as more of an inquisition than a statement. He must know that she isn’t going to drive that far to work every day.

  “Well, if you must know, Sky, the company I am working for is going to put me up in a hotel until I find a suitable place to live out there. I start next week. This weekend there will be drinking and packing and of course heavy lifting. Your help will be appreciated,” she says with smirk on her face.

  “Mira, are you going to stay here or look for a smaller place?” Skylar asks me while sitting on the loveseat across the room from the sofa that Kylee and I are sitting on.

  “I guess I’ll just stay right here. I’ll put an ad out looking for a roommate to help cover costs. This is a great apartment with cheap rent. I’m sure that I’ll have no problems finding someone that wants to live here with me,” I say honestly.

  “How about you move into my house?” Skylar asks. I almost choke on my drink. Did he really just ask me that?

  “Um, thanks Skylar, but I would rather keep my apartment,” I say, trying to stay calm. How can my dead fiancé’s best friend ask me to move in with him?

  “Okay, then how about I move in here with you? My house is too big for just me and the landlord told me that he intended the house to be for several people and not just a single guy. If I don’t have a roommate, he wants to put it back on the since I can’t sign the lease alone, ” he responded.

  Skylar has a large three-bedroom house. Throughout college, Skylar, Danny and their friend Trent all lived in that house. There was always a party going on. I spent plenty of time in that house.

  “That’s a great idea. Then I wouldn’t have to be so worried about Mira being here all alone and you can be a man and fix the leaking sink.” Ky was joking about the sink, but I could see in her eyes she was serious about Skylar moving into the apartment.

  “Well, I guess if you were planning on moving anyway, I have an open room if you want it,” I said, sounding shakier than I would have liked.

  “Great. Settled. I’ll come over this weekend for the drinking, packing and heavy lifting. We can put all Ky’s stuff in the living room until a truck or whatever comes and I’ll move into her room at the same time,” Skylar said, smiling and winking at me. That wink. Why does he keep doing that?

  The rest of the week flew by. I received a call about the resume I submitted to the real estate firm. I have an interview at the company on Tuesday of next week. That should be enough time to recover from the booze fest that Kylee is planning. I hope she realizes that we’re not in college anymore. It’s been months since I’ve had a drink. This is going to be trouble.

  On Friday evening, Skylar comes over with boxes, pizza and a fifth of tequila. Oh hell, me and tequila are not the best of friends. To be quite honest, I have either two sides when tequila is involved. I am either a raging bitch or a horny slut. Let’s hope I’m a bitch tonight. I’m not ready to be a little slut this evening.

  We’re all sitting on the living room floor around the coffee table, eating pizza and listening to the radio, trying to get in the mood to disassemble Kylee’s life of the past four years. As I’m getting ready to take a bite of my slice, a Rihanna song comes on the radio. One that Kylee and I had learned a dance routine to in our junior year. We both look at each other and start laughing.

  “Does someone want to fill me in on what the hell is so funny?” Skylar asks looking at the two of us like we are bat shit crazy.

  “Oh my God, Mira, do you remember this song? That bitch ass dance teacher thought this song was the greatest thing ever written and choreographed a routine to it,” Kylee says to me. Well she laughed out the se
ntences. My stomach hurt so badly from laughing. I remembered this song and I even remembered the dance.

  “Wait, there is a dance? I have to see this dance. If this is going to be the last time we’re all together here, I need to see this dance. This dance is now on my bucket list, ladies,” Skylar said biting his lip to keep from laughing at us.

  Maybe it was the tequila or maybe it was me being sentimental about my best friend moving away, but fuck it. We’re dancing and we’re going to give it our all.

  We got up and moved the sofa back to the wall. We both started doing this stupid routine that we had learned two years ago. The dance reminded me of the cheer routine from Bring It On and I couldn’t help but double over laughing too hard to continue. There are only so many times you can use jazz hands and pelvis thrusts in one dance.

  When I was doubled over, I looked over at Ky and she was going to town. She was singing about feeling like she was the only girl in the world and finishing the epic routine.

  She finally realized that I was no longer dancing with her and she tried to hip bump me causing us to fall over as we laughed hysterically.

  “I can’t believe we learned that dance and lived through it,” Kylee said with tears flowing from laughing so hard.

  “Well, ladies, I must say, as entertaining as that was, I’m very proud that neither of you decided to pursue a degree in dance. That was terrible,” Skylar said laughing at us.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe we were looking for your judgment, Skylar Landon. If you would like to show us your moves, we would love to watch. If you don’t, I suggest you shut your face,” I said in retaliation. Well, I guess the bitch has made her appearance.

  Skylar threw a piece of pizza crust in my direction, missing me by a long shot. After he blew an air kiss in my direction, I knew that my recent bitch attack was brushed off.

  In that moment, I realized for the first time in seven months, I wasn’t thinking about Danny and I wasn’t feeling guilty. I stopped laughing and a small smile crept across my face.

  I knew this was Danny’s way of telling me it was okay to be happy and laugh. I feel at peace for the first time in a long time.

  Chapter Four

  Sunday afternoon the moving trucks came and Kylee left. It was pretty emotional when she grabbed the last box and walked out of the apartment. We had said our goodbyes earlier in the day to avoid a tearful end to such a beautiful weekend. We all drank and packed. We listened to the radio and reminisced about old memories that the songs stirred up.

  Isn’t it crazy that certain songs can bring back a memory so vividly? We were in Kylee’s room packing away her memories when Alicia Keys came on the radio and it took me back to such a wonderful memory of Danny.

  Two weeks before graduation

  Danny and I both received letters from the Advisor’s office at the University. We decided to wait until we were together to open them. We knew they contained our final GPA’s and we both wanted to graduate with honors.

  I met Danny at his house. We went into his bedroom where I sat nervously on the bed and Danny followed my lead.

  “Okay, on the count on three, we open them, got it,” Danny said playfully.

  “How about I open your letter and you open mine?” I asked him.

  “Your wish is my command, Pea,” he responded.

  We switched letters, “One. Two. Two and a half. Two and three quarters. Three,” Danny counted down.

  We ripped the envelopes open. I read the letter. “Danny, you are graduating with a 3.58 GPA. HONORS!!!,” I said proudly.

  “How about me, what is my GPA?” I asked. He had sad eyes and my stomach fell.

  “Pea, I don’t know how to say this. This is very disappointing,” Danny said, still with sad eyes.

  “What the hell does it say, Danny?” I asked getting angry that he knew something so important and wasn’t telling me.

  “3.60, Pea,” he smiled when he said it.

  I slapped his arm. He really had me going. I got honors. I had busted my ass throughout college and really wanted that little asterisk next to my name in the program. I knew it seemed stupid, but that’s me. It’s the little details that matter.

  “Why the hell is that disappointing. I did better than you?” I played with him.

  “That’s exactly my point. How did I work harder than you but you ended up doing better? What is wrong with the world?” he joked right back.

  “Oh, so you’re disappointed because your future wife is smarter than you?” I asked laughing.

  All of a sudden, Danny jumped up on his bed and started singing the lyrics about a girl and she’s on fire while tickling me mercilessly.

  He sang the chorus through and I thought to myself ‘how can I not love this man’.

  Now I have all of these new memories to remind me of my weekend with Kylee and Skylar. Memories that I didn’t want to forget anytime soon. I secretly loved building new memories with the two most important people in my life at this point. Maybe moving on isn’t so bad after all.

  The rest of the day, was spent helping Skylar unpack his room. He had a lot more stuff than I originally thought, including furniture for the common areas. We decided that since his furniture was nicer than mine, we would move my stuff to the storage area in the basement and keep his newer stuff.

  Evening rolled around and I was feeling the effects of drinking all weekend. Needing a break, I decided to order some pizza, sit on the couch and browse through the movies on TV. Something felt right about being home with Skylar, about to eat pizza and watch a movie.

  “Do you know what you want to watch?” I yelled to Skylar, who was in his new room making some final touches.

  “Whatever you want. I need a shower and then I’ll meet you at the couch in twenty,” he yelled back as he walked to the bathroom.

  The pizza arrived quickly and I realized that I had some time to freshen up a little as well. I walked to my bedroom and noticed the bathroom door was open. Awesome, he takes a quick shower. This might be the perfect arrangement.

  I walked into my bedroom, grabbed my robe, a clean pair of yoga pants and a tank top. I turned on the music app on my phone and walked to the bathroom.

  Since the bathroom door was open, it didn’t even cross my mind that Skylar might still be in the bathroom. I walked in and immediately ran into a naked Skylar drying off, still standing in the shower.

  “Oh shit, Sky, I’m sorry. I saw the door open and figured you were in your room,” I said as I backed out of the bathroom but my eyes were glued to his very large, almost inviting, nether region.

  “It was bound to happen, Mi. Don’t freak out on me and if you would stop staring at my package, it might make this situation a little less awkward,” Skylar said with a smirk on his face.

  “I am not staring,” I said as I finished backing out. I put my back against the wall outside the bathroom and tried to catch my breath. Why am I so interested in his package? How did I not know that he was so well endowed? WHY. DO. I. CARE?

  Skylar walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips and turned around smirking at me again. My face flushed as bright as the pink robe I was carrying. I stood in the hall for a few minutes before I decided I couldn’t take a shower just yet. Not so soon after his amazing naked body had been in there. I had no idea that the “v” actually existed.

  Danny had a nice body. But Danny didn’t have a “v” or great abs or tanned soft looking skin or a package like that. What the hell am I doing? Other than getting aroused looking at my new roommate and his delish looking package. Shit, did I just say delish? Oh hell.

  I shook my head, walked back to my room shutting and locking the door, to change into my yoga pants and tank top. A shower will have to wait until I calm down a little.

  I walked out to the living room after changing my clothes, noticing Skylar sitting on the sofa in just a pair of worn looking pajama pants. Shit. That chest and abs again. “Ummmm, don’t you want to get dressed?” I asked h
im.

  “Well, sweetheart, here in America, when you have your junk covered, they consider that dressed,” he joked with me.

  Just seeing him so comfortable and half dressed in my apartment brought a sudden rush of heat to my lady parts. I’m going to have to do something to keep my mind off his sex appeal. I finally realized why all the girls flocked to him. I wanted to mount him right then and there.

  ‘Calm down, Mira’, I thought to myself as I went to sit on the loveseat and grab a slice of pizza. “So, what did you decide on watching, since you were here first?” I asked Skylar hoping he went for something macho and not emotional.

  “I was thinking we could play a game,” he said, still smirking. I am not sure that I like where this is going. Every time he looks at me with that smirk on his face my panties get a little damper.

  “Wh- What game did you want to play?” I hesitantly get out, not sure I really want the answer to this particular question.

  “Something easy. Like 20 questions, maybe,” he said, looking a little shy about it. Oh, I can play game. This guy has known me almost five years. There probably isn’t much he doesn’t know.

  “Alright, go first. This was your idea, guy,” I say feeling a little more confident. I curl my feet underneath me and face him.

  “Ok. I’ll accept this challenge. What’s on your mind, right now?” he asked. I felt my bite of pizza get stuck a little in my throat. I immediately started coughing trying to dislodge this piece of Italian heaven that just turned into Satan himself.

  Skylar runs over to me and picks me up off the loveseat. He puts his arms around my waist while standing behind me, attempting the Heimlich. He applied a little pressure and the pizza was dislodged fairly quickly. I start breathing a little easier and notice his arms still around my waist.