Reality Bytes

by Jane Frances

  Toni studied her companion. Emma was hunched forward over the table, eyes cast downward, ash in danger of falling onto the table as her cigarette dangled in one hand, forgotten.

  It has to be a woman, Toni decided. Toni also decided Emma must have been on the receiving end of whatever had happened. One didn’t react this way when they were the bearer of bad tidings. Such melancholy came only as the recipient. Toni knew this from firsthand experience. She had been through the devastation of loss, the heartache that comes from loving but not being loved in return.

  Sighing inwardly, Toni turned her attention to a point just past Emma’s shoulder, to the interior of the house, made visible by the floor-to-ceiling expanses of glass. Returned from the bathroom, Lisa had resumed her position on the couch—arm slung over an armrest, legs sprawled over Cathy’s. They were in the midst of some conversation, Lisa punctuating a point by poking Cathy in the ribs and both of them bursting into laughter. Toni watched the pair. Tomorrow marked more than the anniversary of meeting Emma; it was also a year to the day Toni lost Cathy to Lisa.

  But that was a whole other story and not one Toni wanted to dredge up at this particular moment. Still, a twinge of regret couldn’t help rearing its head as she continued to watch the pair. Lisa was playing the clown, her cheeks puffed out, arms spread in a wide circle as she bobbed up and down in her seat. Whoever or whatever she was imitating, Cathy obviously found it hilarious, her whole body shaking with laughter.

  Toni was not immune to the contagious nature of laughter, even when witnessed from a distance. Feelings of regret gave way to the beginnings of mirth. But the smile hadn’t quite reached her lips when Emma’s voice broke into her thoughts. Toni returned her attention outside. “Sorry, what was that?”

  Ash from Emma’s cigarette dropped onto the table but Emma didn’t seem to notice. The movement of her head as she indicated inside the house was more a sway than a nod. “You never had a chance with her, you know.”

  Toni blinked, not quite sure she’d heard correctly. “I beg your pardon?”

  This time Emma used her cigarette as a pointer. The action made whatever ash was still attached fall to the tiled balcony floor. She sucked on the cigarette but it had gone out, burned right to the filter. Emma squinted at the dead cigarette in surprise, and ground it unmercifully into the ashtray. “I said”—she reached for her cigarette packet—”you never had a chance with her. She was Lisa’s all along.”

  “I know that,” Toni said without emotion, so unprepared for the directness of Emma’s words she didn’t know how to react to them. But Toni’s reply was lost on Emma. She just kept right on talking, pausing only to light the fresh cigarette she pushed between her lips.

  “Oh, you may have thought you had her. A word here, a hug there…a kiss.” Emma stopped talking and drew in deeply, smoke billowing around her. “But not just a kiss between friends, a proper kiss…on the mouth.” The bourbon bottle was pulled closer and Emma fumbled with the screw-top lid. “Fucking thing.” The bottle was pushed in Toni’s direction, obviously meant for Toni to open. Toni did so, silent as Emma continued, “It’s the little things, you know, make you think you’re in. But you’re not, and you’re a friggin’ idiot for thinking you are.”

  Emma clutched the now open bottle, lifting it in the cheers gesture before tilting her head to down a good few mouthfuls. Toni watched her drink, a whole spectrum of emotions rising to the surface, fighting for supremacy. She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry or just plain lash out at…at this horrid woman who, with just a few choice words, managed to cut right to the bone.

  Yes, Toni knew she was never Cathy’s. Over the years Toni had called her boss, they’d also become the best of friends, and that’s exactly where it should have stayed. But Cathy turned to Toni in her time of need and Toni, long besotted with her employer, offered her comfort in the form of a lover. Their brief time together saw Toni’s crush quickly turn to love. And then, just as quickly, it all fell apart. Cathy’s heart lay well and truly with Lisa and, as the saying goes, you can’t stand in the way of true love. Yes, yes, yes! Toni knew all this, and she’d dealt with it all a year ago. She didn’t want or need to deal with it again now, and she really didn’t want or need to hear about it from some drunk.

  Toni stood and, without another word or glance at Emma, left the balcony.

  “Lisa, stop it!” Doubled over with laughter, Cathy took a hand from her stomach to swipe at her eyes. “You’re terrible!”

  “I can’t.” Lisa bounced around in her seat even more violently. Her demonstration of Teletubbies mating was reaching its climax. “I’m almost there.”

  Lisa had caught the children’s show Teletubbies while packing up the contents of her lounge room and was immediately appalled by its four stars—tubby, jumpsuit-clad creatures with bloated faces, button noses and television screens where their tummies should have been. She said if she’d seen the show as a child she’d have been totally freaked out and scarred for life by the disturbing little creatures. Since then, Cathy had been treated to intermittent impersonations of them in various situations, none of which would be suitable for viewing by children, and always with the same result—the grim end for the Teletubbies.

  Today was no exception. Lisa bounced right off the couch. “My cathode can’t take any more. My tube’s gonna blow!” Lisa issued a loud ka-boom!, combined it with flailing arms and concluded by lying prostrate on the floor, legs twitching.

  Once finished with her death throes Lisa sat up and shook her hair into place.

  “And that, my friend, is why Teletubbies must never, ever be allowed to reproduce.”

  “Amen to that.”

  “Jeez.” Lisa checked her watch as she hauled herself back onto the couch. “What are those two doing out there? Growing tobacco and setting up a still?” Cathy received yet another poke in the ribs and Lisa winked at her mischievously. “Or maybe they’re getting it together. Toni has been following Emma around all night.”

  “Ooh, you lie! She has not. This is the first time all evening Toni has gone outside.”

  “They sat next to each other at dinner.”

  “You told them where to sit,” Cathy reminded her, smiling. “Anyway”—she stole a glance in the direction of the doors leading to the balcony—”I don’t think either of them is in the mood for a new romance at the moment. Plus, I reckon if it was going to happen it would have happened by now.”

  “Not necessarily,” Lisa countered, slinging her legs onto Cathy’s lap. “Em’s been blinded by bloody Justine for so long she couldn’t see straight, and Toni’s been…well, you know…up until Heather, not looking. Maybe now their blinkers are off—”

  “Why don’t you just throw them into the guest room together and see what happens?” Cathy suggested dryly. “Honestly, Lisa, I reckon I’ll have to have a stern word to Steph.” Steph was one of Lisa’s closest friends. Happily partnered in a relationship spanning over a decade, she liked nothing more than setting others on the road to coupledom. “She’s turned you into a real little matchmaker.”

  Lisa puffed out her chest. “It’s my duty as half of a committed couple to ensure all singles are appropriately paired up.”

  Cathy knew she was being baited. Lisa was well aware how Cathy felt about the numerous attempts made by well-meaning couples to alter her previous long-term single status. She hated it. “And it’s my duty as the other half of the committed couple to ensure you keep your nose out of it.”

  Lisa folded her arms. “Can’t blame a girl for trying. It would be convenient though—de-single two friends in one fell swoop.”

  “Very convenient.” Cathy decided the quickest way to get Lisa to let go of the notion was to agree. Another surefire method was also employed. Cathy crooked her finger in the come-hither fashion. “Give us a kiss, cupid.”

  Their embrace was fleeting, cut short by the smooth-sounding roll of the balcony door sliding open.

  “Sorry to interrupt, guys.” Toni lo
oked somewhat embarrassed as she approached the couch.

  Lisa stretched for the remote sitting on the coffee table. She and Cathy had long resigned themselves to the fact that the evening, for now anyway, was no longer their own. “You ready to watch the rest?”

  “Umm.” Toni shuffled her feet, thrusting her hands deep into her jeans pockets. “Actually I think I might get going.”

  “Don’t you want to see Audrey and Gregory ride into the sunset on their groovy little scooter?”

  “I’ve seen it before.” One of Toni’s hands escaped a pocket and raked through her hair. She yawned. “Anyway I’m tired. I think I need an early night.”

  Cathy gave her friend careful consideration. Hair-raking was a habit Toni displayed whenever nervous, and the yawn, well, that was quite obviously forced. Something was wrong, and it was more than just feeling out-of-sorts over her breakup with Heather. “Why don’t you stay and have a coffee?” Cathy was sure Toni would agree. After all, she had broken every other rule of her liver-cleansing this evening.

  “No.” Toni was insistent. “I really do want to go.”

  “You probably shouldn’t be driving, you know,” said Lisa.

  “That’s right,” Cathy agreed. Toni wasn’t drunk, not even showing any signs of being tipsy, but over the course of the evening she’d helped empty the better part of two bottles of wine, plus she’d had at least three shots of bourbon. “It’s not worth the risk.” Cathy glanced quickly to Lisa, who understood and nodded almost imperceptibly. “You can always stay here. The guest room’s made up.”

  Toni’s eyes flicked upwards as if the guest room, located immediately above them, was visible through the ceiling. “Is Emma staying?”

  Emma’s lodging for the night had not been discussed but Lisa piped up, making the decision for both of them. Cathy was sure she could hear a trace of laughter in her voice. Cupid was back. “I think she probably will be.”

  “Well, I’ll catch a taxi then.”

  Cathy raised her eyebrows at Toni’s decisive tone. So, too, did Lisa. Cathy could almost see her cupid’s arrow doing a U-turn, striking her right in the backside. Another split-second decision was made, and Cathy said, “Look, why don’t I drive your car home? I can taxi back.”

  “You’ve been drinking too.”

  “Two glasses. And I’m already on the coffee.” To prove her point Cathy pointed to the half-empty cup on the coffee table.

  “Don’t you want to watch the rest of the movie?”

  “It’s a weekly rental. We can watch it later.” Lisa made a shooing motion with her hands. “Just agree, Toni. You two can have a private conversation on the way.” She winked at Cathy. “And Cathy can tell me all about it when she gets back.”

  By the time Cathy returned from dropping Toni at home, the house was in semi-darkness. She trotted up the two flights of stairs to the bedroom level. As she ascended, she noticed the kitchen was clear of dinner’s debris. Lisa had been busy.

  Cathy poked her head around the half-open door of the guest bedroom. Emma was on her back, covers drawn up to her chin, seemingly fast asleep. One foot poked from the bedclothes to rest on the floor, a sure sign she had been suffering from the spins.

  Emma was motionless and quiet, so, feeling all the responsibility of a babysitter with a newborn, Cathy approached the bed to check she was actually breathing. While still a few steps away, Emma drew the sharp intake of air indicative of oxygen starvation. Recognizing it as the sleep apnea of a drinker who has overdone it, Cathy decided to turn Emma onto her side. It turned out there was no need for her intervention, Emma shifting of her own accord. Cathy crept out of the bedroom.

  The next door, the one leading to the master bedroom suite, was also ajar. Cathy could quite plainly hear the rush of water. The spa was being filled.

  Cathy smiled. The night was not yet over.

  She found Lisa sitting on the step leading to the large oval spa bath. Legs splayed, her elbows rested on her knees and she was seemingly lost in thought. So much so she seemed startled when Cathy stood in front of her.

  “Hi, honey.” Cathy nodded to the room down the hall. “I see you’ve been playing den mother with our charge. Was she a handful?”

  “No more than anyone who’s downed almost an entire bottle of bourbon in the course of an evening. She’s going to have one hell of sore head in the morning.” Lisa grimaced. “Poor woman. I remember what that feels like.”

  Cathy nodded, having experienced Lisa’s hard-drinking, hard-partying days many years prior. This was their second time around the dance floor, the first almost twelve years ago, back in their university days. Cathy had graduated; Lisa had not. She left university at the same time she left Cathy, the lure of pubs and clubs and those who frequented them greater than her desire to continue their two-year relationship.

  Over a decade passed before Cathy would see Lisa again. A late-night chase after Toni’s wayward feline revealed Lisa lived not only in the same suburb as Toni, but in the house immediately behind, their properties separated only by a lane. Then, as chance would have it, Toni picked Lisa’s tiling business at random from the phone book when they were in the process of acquiring quotes for Cathy’s planned office renovations. So circumstance saw them meet up again, and destiny drew them back together.

  If anything, the separation was probably the best thing that could have happened to them. In the intervening years both forged their careers, Cathy as an accountant and Lisa—once she dragged herself out of her unemployment lethargy—as a professional tiler. The years also saw them develop their own interests and opinions, try on new relationships, change and grow. When the time did come for them to meet again, they were both ready for what the other had to offer.

  The only blemish on the perfection of their reunion was the hurt Cathy caused Toni along the way. Cathy knew no good could come from having an affair with an employee, knew the situation would only be worsened by the fact that that same employee was also her best friend. But she pursued the relationship anyway, desperately attempting to block out her feelings for Lisa by running roughshod over Toni’s. Toni had been rightly upset when Cathy, realizing she could not rest until her attraction to Lisa was resolved, ended their short-lived relationship. Toni left not only work, but Perth, for three months, taking extended leave and returning to her hometown of Melbourne.

  Cathy missed Toni terribly over those months. She missed the companionship Toni offered, missed the way she talked as much with her hands as with her voice, missed the woman who was not only highly competent in her profession but also a kind and thoughtful individual. Cathy fretted often during this period, hope of Toni’s return fading with each week that passed. When the day came that Toni did step back into the offices, Cathy was overjoyed. But her joy was short-lived. Toni was largely aloof and remote, keeping to her office during work hours, displaying little of her effervescence of old when she accepted Cathy’s invitations to lunch or Friday afternoon drinks. Cathy was sure she had lost the friendship forged over their years of working together. But again, just as Cathy’s hopes were fading, Toni slowly let down her guard and allowed Cathy back into her life. To Cathy’s delight, she also allowed Lisa into her life. Lisa and Toni began their friendship reluctantly, both practicing civility purely for Cathy’s sake. It took time, but eventually both seemed to realize, if not to admit, the other had likeable traits and they could enjoy, as opposed to endure, each other’s company. It helped they were both fond of hefting weights; they met at Toni’s gym on at least a weekly basis for Pump class. Although, Cathy surmised, that activity would be coming to a temporary halt. Lisa would be in Italy, and Cathy doubted Toni would be attending any of Heather’s exercise classes for a while.

  “How was the drive?” Lisa asked.

  “Good. The roads were pretty quiet. Too early for the pubs yet, I suppose.”

  “And Toni?”

  “She was…upset.” Cathy had managed to coax the truth about halfway through the twenty-minute journe
y. “Emma said some things…about me and her.”

  Lisa raised her eyebrows, her interest clearly piqued. “Like what?”

  Cathy related all that had been revealed in the car and Lisa immediately came to Emma’s defense. “She was drunk. And it sounds to me more like she was transferring her own issues onto Toni. I don’t think it was a personal attack.”

  “I know.” Cathy’s thoughts had run along much the same lines. “I tried to tell Toni that, but I think she’s a little raw at the moment.” The water was almost at the right level and fragrant bath foam frothed on the surface. Masses of luxuriant ylang-ylang and sandalwood bubbles would appear within moments of activating the jets. “Needless to say, Emma’s not her favorite person right now.”

  “Toni’s not dumb. She’ll realize Emma just wasn’t herself tonight. She’ll get over it.” The taps were turned off and Lisa tested the temperature by swishing a hand through the water. “Bloody Justine. I tell you, if I get the chance I’ll—”

  Cathy folded her arms, smiling at the outburst. Lisa was unerringly loyal to Emma, but she was also well aware of the potential problems in bawling out one of Emma’s neighbors. “You’ll what, honey?”

  “I’ll—” Lisa paused to pull her fleecy rugby-style shirt over her head. “Oh, I don’t know.” The shirt was tossed to the far corner of the bathroom. “It just makes me so mad, her leading Emma on like that.”

  Cathy watched Lisa disrobe. Track pants and underwear were also tossed aside, fully revealing the work of art that was Lisa’s body. Cathy was not shy in her outward appreciation of it as she removed her own attire. Almost matched in height—Lisa had the advantage by an inch or so—they were both blessed to be taller than average, but not tall enough to tower. There the similarities ended. Broader at the shoulder than the hip, Lisa had the physique of an athlete. Cathy was softer, more curvaceous, her trim build kept in check by the occasional run and weekly tennis. But while Cathy’s sedentary occupation made planned exercise a necessity, Lisa thrived on all things physical, flinging herself around by choice. The demands of her job as a tiler not enough, Lisa also ran, swam and, via Pump class, tossed weights. The results were spectacular. Long limbed, Lisa had muscles that were lean and well defined. And she had legs to die for. Dressed in her work boots and shorts, she turned many a head of both sexes.