by Sherry Wood
“A subtle one,” he said, as if apologizing.
“You are devilishly handsome with an angel’s heart – what I’ve always said,” she cooed, looking up at the ceiling as if thanking God for such a great specimen. “Now how was your flight?” she asked with great interest.
“Oh, it was alright.”
“And the place you’re staying?” her eyes dimmed a bit. It was obvious she was very worried about that part.
“Oh it’s great, it's in Lincoln Park.”
“House swapping – I’ve never heard of such a thing. Now these people you swapped with – you trust them?”
“Oh yeah, they seem fine. I wanted to come here to see you mom, I would have given my house away.”
“Don’t you have money?” Louise asked. “How’s the acting?”
“I have…I have money.”
“You have a girlfriend, she’s high maintenance – you don’t have to tell me, I just get this sense.”
Brian was quiet but cracked a smile. “She’s quite a handful,” he said. He glanced at his mother. “She’s beautiful…and I do everything I can to keep her happy. I’ll never forget the first day I saw her.” His whole face lit up. “We have to remember that – in relationships. That sweetness. We have to keep that day alive.”
“You!” she praised, cupping his chin. “Remarkable.” A few minutes later, her hands landed on the blanket and, “Now…” she smiled brightly to show her little rows of teeth which were still nice and white at her age. “Where is she? This Saphire.”
“Oh, she’s at home – or well the house we’re staying in.” He found it hard to look at his mom because he knew how much she wanted to see Saphire. “Jetlag,” he said.
“Well, you did have a long flight,” she said, very understandable. “How are you? Please tell me. I want to know if you’re happy,” she said.
“I am.” Brian was a terrible liar. His honest big blue eyes gave him away.
“Yeah?” she looked at him and waited, patiently. “You seem to be…” she tilted her head to the right and then left. “Feeling unstable? Am I the only reason you finally decided to come back here?”
“The theatre…the stage I acted on…is here. I’m trying to get back in touch with my passion for acting – maybe I’ll stroll around DePaul.” He reached over and toyed with an old heirloom for no reason.
“Good,” she smiled, relaxed. “You have such great talent. I mean L.A. – how is it out there?”
“Warm, sunny. It has nothing to do with where I am, I just need to be more driven.”
“That’s it,” she pointed, excited and proud.
“Listen, I want to take you out to dinner – you think you’d be up for it? I’ll make reservations at Vivere. Remember? We used to go there all the time.”
“Of course I remember. Funny how tomorrows become…memories that keep you company. Life is a wonderful journey, never forget that, Brian. And the people you meet, and the ones you fall in love with, are on their own journey, so if it doesn’t work out, it may not have anything to do with you or her…or…”
“Mom,” Brian politely interrupted. “Everything’s fine.” He didn’t want her worrying about him and Saphire.
“Okay.”
“So? Want to go out for dinner?”
“Sure…maybe later this week.”
He smiled. “Thursday,” he decided. “I always have good Thursdays, I’ll make the reservation.”
“I hope you’re not letting that wonderful smile of yours go to waste. No one has a smile like you. You always got the most Valentine Day cards in school.”
Brian smiled, shyly looking down at the floor.
“I never worried about you finding a woman – but goodness did I worry about you finding the right one. Some women need so much they forget to give – it's not their fault…necessarily.” A moment passed before she took a deep breath. “Anyway, you tell this Ms. Saphire that I can’t wait to meet her.”
“I will. You should get some rest, mama.” He leaned over her and kissed her on the forehead before pulling the blanket over her.
“Oh hey,” she called to him before he left the room. He turned and looked at her.
“There’s a box of things in your room I thought you might still like – CDs – playlists and stuff. I thought you might still want them.”
“Thanks mama.” His voice grew softer as he made his way towards the hallway and down to his bedroom, the place of his teenage youth. He turned the light on and looked around. Memories fell over him. He smiled faintly at the Beastie Boys poster on the wall. He looked at his soccer trophy on the dresser. The box of things his mom was talking about was right next to it. He took the lid off and looked inside. It was mainly cassette tapes – and all those Valentine's Day cards she spoke of, old stall candy hearts.
“Mom, really?” he muttered. He took out the mix CD she mentioned and dumped the old candy into the trash. Written on the CD in black marker was For Alice and her walks home after school. He’d named it that because his girlfriend back then, Alice, walked home after school and he wanted her to have something to listen to. He smiled until he remembered how hurt he was when she approached him one day in the high school cafeteria and told him she liked “the new boy in her math class.” Then she gave him the CD back and walked off.
He studied the CD, unable to recall what the songs were on it. He felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out to a text from Saphire.
Can you get some wine on your way back? Thanks.
He slipped his phone back into his pocket and sat down on the floor so he was leaning against his dresser, and looked around. He lied down and curled up in a ball and started sobbing.
CHAPTER 10
Brian entered the house a couple of hours later, with a bottle of wine in a black plastic bag. He felt weary – it had been a long, emotional day. Saphire was parked in front of the TV, wearing Brian’s oversized grey hooded sweatshirt.
“There you are,” she got up when he walked in. “I was starting to worry! Hey, you know where the thermostat is in this place? It’s freezing.”
Brian shook his head. He needed a minute. He needed a hug.
He shook his head, exasperated as he walked into the kitchen. He placed the bottle of wine on the counter.
“Here’s your wine…you need me to open it before I turn in?”
Her face crumbled. “You’re not going to have any?”
He looked at her, clearly needing something more than wine. “I’m tired,” he simply said. He left a window open for her to say something, but she just smiled before taking off like a bird.
“Thanks,” she went back over to the couch. Brian went off in search of the thermostat.
“You’re right,” he muttered. “It is very cold in here.” She didn’t pick up on the double-meaning. She just curled up on the couch and watched a Ryan Gosling film she’d seen ten times already.
CHAPTER 11
“So what is this news?” Vanessa looked up from one end of the pool as John relaxed on the other. The champagne was nothing cheap – one glass and it had Vanessa feeling a very pleasant buzz. She swam over to John so she was in the deep end. She looked out at the ocean. It was almost overwhelming how many pretty things there were to take in.
“Well, you know how close Morey and I are?” John said. The name “Morey” just set off too many alarms in Vanessa’s head.
“Are you getting married?” she joked. John never seemed to find her funny these days. Vanessa laughed anyway, she has a weird laugh but she was not embarrassed by it. She reached for the champagne bottle and poured more into their glasses.
“I’m sorry,” she handed John his glass. “Go on, sweetie.”
“He wants to come and visit us – and I think it’s a good idea.”
“You think it’s a good idea, or he does? Of course he does – you’re his only friend,” she said, swimming away. “That’s not healthy, John, he needs other things going on.”
John’s face collapsed
. He should have known this wouldn’t go any other way.
“He lucked out and his uncle left him a ton of money in his will and all he ever has to worry about is this band.” Vanessa sounded a little jealous. “That’s great, but does he realize that you’re in a relationship?”
“What does that have to do with the band?” John asked. Vanessa was quiet. She turned so she was facing the wall and pulled herself up out of the water. Did he notice, she wondered, how pretty she was as the water poured down her body? Was he even looking? Could she even catch his eye anymore?
“Where are you going?” John asked from the other end of the pool.
“To bed, I’m tired.”
“Hey,” John climbed up out of the pool and raced over to her – nearly slipping. “Come on, I just wanted to ask you if you would mind if he came up here for a few days? He is lonely, Vanessa.”
“This is supposed to be about us.”
“It is,” John pointed out. “We have three months – you could invite Chelsea up if you wanted.”
“I don’t,” Vanessa clarified. She went back over to the pretty grey and blue Champagne bottle. It was empty and warm as the ground after a hard rain. “I can’t do this – I can’t talk about Morey without more alcohol.” She went into the kitchen and took out the other bottle of champagne, which didn’t have a note on it.
“That might not be for us,” John said.
“Well…” Vanessa looked around for the corkscrew. “We have three months to replace it,” she said. She paused. Maybe she should call. She needed to call Brian anyway about the review she left behind. She went over to her bag on the kitchen counter and took her cell phone out.
“What are you doing?” John asked.
“I’m going to call them – to check in and tell them I left my review there.”
CHAPTER 12
Brian had his shirt off and partially ready to turn in when he heard his cell phone ringing in the pocket of his jeans. He rushed over, worried it might be his mom. He didn’t even look to see the number first.
“Hello?”
Vanessa had heard Brian’s voice before but she’d forgotten how pleasant it was, and sexy.
“Hi…Brian?”
“Yes.”
“Hi, it’s Vanessa.”
“Vanessa, how are you?” He sounded happy to hear from her. “How’s Izzy?”
“Oh fine, everything is so great. How’s it out there?”
“Pretty good.”
“Oh?” She worried because he sounded a little troubled. “How is your mom?” she asked. Saphire hadn’t even asked him that.
“She’s good.” Vanessa could almost hear his smile. “Sitting up and everything – even had an appetite. I’m taking her out to dinner soon, I hope, if she’s up to it…”
“Brian, that’s great.” Vanessa’s tone was rich with warmth. They both grew quiet. Vanessa took a mental climb down from Planet-Crush-On-A-Man-She-Didn’t-Know and remembered why she called, and that her boyfriend was standing right behind her.
“So there’s champagne…” Wait, that wasn’t why she called. “I left the review…my papers…” Oh, what a train wreck of words. She closed her eyes for a minute and took a series of deep breaths. “I forgot an important body of work there,” she said, starting over. Brian’s body. She almost started laughing. Get a hold of yourself! “It’s not that big of a deal but…” she didn’t know why she said that – it was a big deal. She worked very hard on it and should be immensely proud of it.
“Well,” he cut in, his tone gentle, yet firm. “You said it was important.”
“Right.” His voice was so relaxing and controlling all at once. It was addictive. “No, it is. I was wondering…if you could send it to me? I don’t want to put you out…”
“That’s not putting me out,” he let her know. “Going to the post office?” he said, a nice light air in his voice. “It’s fine. I rented a car.”
“Oh, cool!” She was way too enthusiastic. Renting a car was not that cool, calm down.
They both seemed nervous. Vanessa frantically searched for something else to say.
“There’s a…you know, I can just buy my own.”
“I hate that – broken sentences,” he let her know, his voice even deeper than usual. Why did he have to sound so gorgeous? Because he was. “Say what you were originally going to say. Please.” That please nearly killed her.
“You have a chottle of Bablis….bottle…of Chablis.” Her face was red hot. John was really staring now. He frowned at her as he slowly walked back out to the pool area and collected the empty bottle of champagne she’d left there. Usually she was the tidy one – her mind was obviously elsewhere.
“You know, if I decide to drink it I can just replace it.”
“You can have it,” he simply said. “That’s not a big deal.” She was about to say goodbye. “Oh hey,” he called out. “Where is the thermostat?”
“Ah,” she sounded too excited that he’d asked her a question. “Upstairs, by the bathroom, where there is that little corner that looks like a hallway but it’s not because it ends too soon.” She glanced up at John, who was texting on his phone now.
“Okay. I like your place by the way,” he said. “I like the way it smells.”
“It doesn’t smell like anything…” Vanessa said.
“I know, it’s like…yesterday’s been erased.”
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Oh yeah…it's being back here, I think. Something about this city…like an old friend that doesn’t change.”
“Yes,” she smiled. She watched as John came back in, dropped the heavy, shallow bottle of champagne into the trash and went upstairs.
“I don’t know how I went from…studying stage theatre to being on a soap opera.” A rather dark laugh trickled through the phone. Goodness, even his laugh was sexy.
“Life takes you to some interesting places, huh? I think so you can figure out which one you need to be at…like what you need to do?” Was she making sense? Man, she was pretty drunk now.
“Yeah.” Brian’s voice oozed sex appeal. “Listen, it was nice talking to you, Vanessa. Enjoy that champagne. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.”
“You too.” Vanessa didn’t want to say goodbye. “Good night,” she said instead.
“Night.”
Brian hung up and turned around to talk to Saphire, but she wasn’t there. He went upstairs to find her. Sometimes Saphire’s beauty was so distracting, Brian forgot about the lack of emotional support he got from her. He watched her sleep. She was sleeping on her stomach, her blonde hair tossed in her face. He looked down at her tan lines and back up at her face. He leaned over and gave her kisses on the back of her neck that were so gentle they were almost nonexistent. She smelled very clean. Her skin was a little cool so his lips felt especially warm and dry against it. He continued to kiss her along her shoulders while softly trailing his hand down her back and under the sheet, waking her up.
“Mmm…” she turned her head so she was looking the other way and moved a little. Brian started kissing her on her side, and disappeared under the sheet. Saphire started laughing.
“Hey,” she called out playfully, wiggling about. “What are you doing?”
He popped his head up from the sheet. “Waking up a beautiful woman the way she should be woken up. Relax.”
She shut her eyes. She was so groggy she could get herself back to sleep. He pulled the sheet back over his head.
CHAPTER 13
“How’s it going?” Brian asked, finding Saphire in the kitchen just before noon the next day.
“I miss my pool,” she pouted. She took a pop tart, went into the living room and turned the TV on. She sighed, bored. She turned and looked at him. Brian was incredibly handsome in a black and white tuxedo.
“What are you doing?” she frowned, puzzled.
“I made reservations for us tomorrow night at Vivere. I wanted to try on my tux.”
“A night out on the city! Good, I could use some excitement.”
“I’m just excited for you to finally meet my mother. We’re going to Vivere, so I’d suggest a black dress.” He gave a cute smile to indicate how excited he was. Saphire, however, looked gloomy.
“Okay.” She turned back to the TV and reached for the remote. Brian was concerned.
“Sweetheart,” he went over and sat next to her. “Aren’t you excited to meet my mother?”
“Of course.” She looked at him. “I just want a night out with the two of us – I wanna go dancing.”
“We will, we have all summer.” Brian relaxed on the couch and looked around. He really admired the framed posters against the brick wall. They were hung perfectly straight. Everything was so organized. Saphire could be a bit sloppy, leaving her dishes lying around, and all those magazines she only flipped through for a few seconds before she was done with them.
“This place is so clean and organized,” he obsessed.
“And pool-less,” Saphire muttered.
“Look, I’m sorry there’s no pool but I’m really happy I get to see my mother.”
“Why, does she have a pool?” Saphire snorted at her joke, but Brian wasn’t amused. He stood up, in disbelief. That was it.
“I’m going out, I’ll be back.”
“You’re going out like that? It's like 100 degrees out.”
“It's not, it's 86,” he said, matter-of-fact. “And I like the way I look. I’ll be back tonight. Think of something fun to do.” He smiled, trying to get her attention but she just gazed back at the TV.
CHAPTER 14
“Phew,” Vanessa fanned herself. “These tacos are spicy.” She looked at John, who was very attentive to something happening in the corner. “How are yours?” she asked. He was completely fixated on whatever was occurring in the back of the fast food joint.
“John?” She tried once again for his attention.
“I…don’t believe it...”
“What?” Vanessa turned around and saw a guy who looked to be in his sixties with wrinkly skin and jet-black hair.