Falling In

by Stark, Avery

  “Okay,” she said with a groan. Audrey could hear her sheets rustle on the other end as she sat up in bed and clicked on a lamp. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think that I might need to get out of town for a little while.”

  Kim gasped on the other end and asked, “Are you in trouble or something?”

  “No,” Audrey said with a little laugh. “Not like that, anyway. Things here have been a little rough and I think that the Cedar Bay air could help me clear my thoughts.”

  “Cedar Key.”

  “What?”

  “The town I live in. It’s called Cedar Key, not Bay. But that’s okay; you’re going to love it.”

  “Oh,” Audrey responded, sounding a little embarrassed. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t even worry about it. Once you’re here for a while, the residents will make sure that you have it right.” She took a deep breath and exhaled into the phone. “They’re a unique bunch.”

  “So when do you want me to come?”

  “As soon as you can. I’ll even pay you back for the cost of the ticket. I’m supposed to head out tomorrow night and would like to at least give you a tour of the house before I go.”

  Audrey eyed the clock over the stove, though it really didn’t matter what time it was. With two massive airports less than an hour away, there was always a flight heading to anywhere that she could possibly want to go.

  “Okay,” she answered and squeezed her eyes shut. “I’ll call you when I get to the airport and let you know when I’ll be there. Sorry for calling you so late.

  “Sounds good,” she said and yawned loudly. “And maybe you can finally tell me what’s on your mind. I know something’s up.”

  “Maybe,” Audrey echoed. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “See ya.”

  She shoved the phone back into her pocket and finally peeled herself off of the tile floor. Within a half an hour she packed up one of her suitcases--one that she used on their summer vacation to Italy the year before--and started toward the door. Back in the kitchen on her way to the garage, her determined steps ground to a halt.

  Audrey let go of the retractable handle on her bag and cradled her left hand in the right one. She looked down and eyed her modest wedding ring. Even though she knew that it was just a hunk of metal and stone, looking at it made her want to break down and cry again. There were so many memories tied up in that small token of her husband’s now dead affection that it quickly started to feel like more of a burden than anything else.

  She closed her eyes and wrenched the shining band off. It tinkered softly against the counter top after rolling out of Audrey’s palm and came to rest amidst the shattered glass, splintered wood and blood.

  Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea.

  Chapter 3

  As the nearly-empty plane dipped down for its final descent during the early morning hours, Audrey tightly gripped the right sleeve of her sweater to cover the mess of red wounds. Even though she knew that the weather was going to be hot, the last thing that she wanted was questions about what happened. Not yet, anyway.

  She stared out of the tiny window from her seat at the front of the plane. Down below, the rugged Florida coastline whipped by, inching ever closer as the aircraft approached its final destination: Gainesville. Within minutes, the small tires screeched and the cabin bounced. It was a sure sign that they were finally safe on the ground.

  It was a bittersweet feeling, but one that was heavy with relief. Even if she was going to go back and try to work things out with Max, Audrey needed to be far, far away from him for a while. After what he did, however, she thought that the chances of that were unbelievably slim.

  Without much of a wait, Audrey and the handful of other passengers filed out of the cabin and made their way through the small airport. By most standards, the place was downright tiny. With only two runways and a single terminal, Gainesville regional airport was the closest to Cedar Key, even though it was still an hour and a half away.

  In a way, Audrey was glad. A small airport meant less people to deal with, and less people to deal with meant that there would even fewer people to ask her questions. It was getting harder and harder for her to keep the sweater sleeve where it covered everything.

  Even inside the airport, the air was sticky and heavy. It clung to the thick wool of her top and made it feel like the thing was soaked through within minutes. Audrey struggled through the short hall and down an escalator, clawing at the neck like it was strangling her.

  At the bottom of the moving stairs, her old friend, Kim, leaned against the small “Arrivals” screen with one foot propped up against it. A heavier woman with an all-around bulky frame, Kimberly Parsons was a master of carrying her extra weight well. She had a sloping, shapely figure that--despite her bigger size--made men go crazy. Between that and her curly, long locks that matched the mocha hue of her eyes, Kim had a unique beauty that was all her own.

  When she caught sight of her beat-down looking friend, she screeched and jumped forward, making her brown spirals bounce about her head.

  “Audrey!”

  Still careful not to let her scarred wrist slip into view, Audrey scrambled toward her friend and fell like a leaf into her strong embrace.

  Kim stroked her head. Even though she didn’t know any of the sordid details, the two knew each other well enough for her to know that something was very, very wrong. She held her friend close and the two rocked back and forth silently.

  After a minute or two, Kim whispered into Audrey’s ear, “What happened?”

  She was still unable to go into it, not while they were standing in the middle of an airport.

  “Let’s get my bag and get out of here. We can talk in the car.”

  Kim finally released her and took a step back.

  “Sounds good.”

  Audrey claimed her lone bag from the rotating belt and followed her friend to her car. Even after they were inside and well on their way, neither one of them said anything. Instead of sparking up a conversation, Audrey stared out of the window and clung desperately to the end of her sweater sleeve.

  The low, marshy landscape flew by with a kind of monotony that Audrey found peaceful. Several yards back from the highway, spotty clumps of trees and random lakes broke up the endless green with even deeper shades of the same hue. Every half mile or so, rickety-looking billboards popped up. They advertised everything from alligator farms to alligator jerky, the latter of which made Audrey heave a little the first time she saw it.

  More than half way home, Kim finally broke the silence.

  “Audrey?”

  She glanced down and checked her sleeve before she finally turned to face her friend. The thought of dealing with tough questions wasn’t exactly appealing, but she knew that they were coming.

  “Yeah?”

  Her eyes still locked on the highway, Kim paused and asked with all seriousness, “Why are you dressed like Frosty the Snowman?”

  Audrey burst into a fit of laughter so intense that it made the corners of her sore eyes sparkle with tears. Of all the things that she was expecting, a question like that took her completely by surprise.

  It wasn’t until almost two miles later that she regained enough composure to wipe off her cheeks with her sleeves and respond, “I haven’t been feeling very well. That’s all.”

  Technically it wasn’t a lie.

  Kim turned briefly to size her up and guided the car off of the highway.

  “Are we already there?”

  “Ha,” Kim laughed. “Cedar Key is about sixty miles from here, so I suggest that you get comfortable. We don’t have a major highway like that one.”

  Audrey looked out the front window to the long, winding road in front of them and settled down into her seat. The muscles in her stomach were already sore from her little episode, but she didn’t mind. Of all the pain that came her way, it was easily the most pleasant.

  As the I-75 faded into the brightening horizon in the car’s mirro
rs, she guided the conversation in a different direction, “What have you been doing down here, exactly? I get the feeling that there isn’t much around.”

  “And you’d be right,” she responded. “I’ve been doing work for the authority that oversees the nature preserves in the area. Everything is done digitally now, so I’m able to live in Cedar Key and do almost everything that they need from home. It’s not a bad deal, really.”

  The two women fell back into a silence, though the mood between them was diffused enough to allow Audrey to drift off to sleep with her head pressed against the door and her battered wrist tucked tightly under leg.

  ---

  The loud snapping of Kim setting her car’s parking brake dragged Audrey back to the world of the living. Much to her surprise, her nap was mostly dreamless and peaceful, though it was frequently punctuated by the throbbing heat that her thick sweater inflicted.

  “We’re here,” she said and killed the engine.

  Both of the car’s doors groaned loudly as the women got out. Careful to use her “good” arm, Audrey grabbed her suitcase out of the back and struggled to keep it upright as the wheels bumped and hopped over the rocky soil leading up to a short staircase. Above that, Kim’s two-story house sat peacefully a few feet off of the ground with a rickety porch that lined it all the way around. The wood panels covering the void between house and ground were worn through in more than one place, allowing her to get a look at the thick wooden beams that supported everything. Like the rest of the home, they looked ancient.

  She lifted her bag and joined Kim at the top of the stairs, wiping away the sweat on her brow with her arm.

  “Welcome home.”

  Without even unlocking the door, Kim threw it open and led them into a small foyer. Near the far wall where the stairs to the second story waited, she dropped her purse onto a long, narrow table full of wildflowers that were pressed and dried between small panes of glass.

  “So do you want the tour?”

  Audrey closed the front door and shoved the uncooperative suitcase against the wall with her foot.

  “That would be great.”

  The downstairs portion of the house was like one big circle, starting with the living room to the left. Clockwise from there was the small kitchen, dining room and Kim’s office, which led back to the foyer.

  Upstairs, a short hallway lined with framed sketches of the local flora held two bedrooms on one side and a surprisingly large bathroom on the other. Kim led her to the second door on the left.

  “I didn’t have a whole lot of time to decorate,” she said and threw it open.

  As soon as Audrey set foot in the room, she swore that she could feel her blood pressure drop by a few points. Decorated mostly in subtle greens and blues with white-washed furniture and a big, plush bed near the center, the space evoked the beachy carelessness that she wanted so desperately to escape to. In the window at the end of the room, carefully-hung lines of assorted colors of sea glass cast colorful, dancing spots all over.

  “Wow,” Audrey said. “It’s great.”

  “I’m glad you like it.” Kim paused before continuing, “Do you want some coffee or something? I have to get out of here within the next hour. Oh and I have some cash downstairs for you, too.”

  “Yeah,” she replied and tried her best to look away from the undulating blobs of color as a warm, fresh breeze whistled through the dozen or so thin strings that hung there. “Coffee would be nice.”

  The women started back down with Kim still leading away. When they were back where they started, she went over to where she left her purse and started to rummage through it.

  “It’s in here somewhere. Just a sec. I’m only supposed to be out there for two weeks, but you know how that goes.”

  Once she managed to dig it out, Kim quickly turned and handed over a small envelope. Without thinking, Audrey reached for it, allowing the sleeve of her sweater to easily hike up and reveal what she had tried so hard to cover earlier.

  “There’s a little extra in there, just so you can get settled and not have to worry about-”

  When Kim gasped, Audrey immediately realized her mistake. She jammed the money into the pocket of her denim shorts and took a step back.

  “What happened to you?”

  She sighed and pulled the sweater off--it was already too late by then--and let it fall in a pool near her dirty sneakers. The relief from the heat was instant, though it didn’t feel as good as it should have. Still struggling to maintain her composure, Audrey sighed and finally forced the truth from between her quivering lips, “It’s over, Kim.”

  Her friend walked closer, but approached carefully.

  “What’s over?”

  “Everything.”

  “You didn’t...”

  She glanced down to her wrist, not realizing until she got a good look at the wounds that it kind of looked like she tried to kill herself.

  “Oh no,” she withdrew her arm and hid it slightly behind her back. She was starting to feel a little too exposed; just a bit too vulnerable. “I didn’t do this.”

  Kim’s hand finally closed around her shoulder, though it did so with an air of trepidation.

  “Then what’s going on? Seriously,” she said and gave her a little shake. “Please tell me.”

  With a sigh of defeat, Audrey let it all spill out.

  “Max and I are getting a divorce, which he decided to tell me on the same day that KWP sent me packing. He came home drunk, we started to fight and he smashed a picture. That’s how this happened,” she said and held up her arm.

  Kim squeezed her shoulders as she guided them toward the kitchen.

  “Jesus, Audrey. Do you need to go to the hospital?”

  She shook her head and let her friend lower her into a chair near the sink. From the cabinets under it, Kim produced a small first aid kit and snapped the lid open.

  “Are you sure? Can you still move your hand?”

  “Yeah,” she closed her eyes and let Kim position her arm over the sink.

  The cold, tingling burn of hydrogen peroxide spread through her wrist as Kim poured it over the cuts. She clenched her teeth and sucked the humid air through, trying her best to hold still as the bubbles tickled and pricked the raw flesh.

  Kim lifted her arm up and examined it closely with a grimace.

  “I don’t see any more glass in there.” She paused and loudly knocked some things around. “I’m going to bandage you up, okay?”

  Audrey nodded and opened her eyes to watch. Even with the quick rinse that she just got, the handful of cuts already looked much better. Before long, they disappeared completely under a plain, beige wrap.

  When she was done, Kim screwed the top back onto the brown bottle of peroxide and pushed it toward the back of the counter with everything else. She leaned closer, forcing their eyes to make contact.

  “Are you sure you’re okay? I can stay with you if you need me to.”

  “I’m fine,” she said with a bland tone that surprised even her. After all that happened, she was finding it harder and harder to feel anything. The constant sensation of being on the brink of a meltdown faded at some point, leaving behind a numb, almost distant disposition in its wake. “I honestly think that some time alone is the best thing right now.”

  “Look, I can tell the people at the conference to fuck off. It’s not a huge deal.”

  A tiny smirk pinched the corners of Audrey’s pale lips. That was the Kim that she knew and loved.

  “Really?” She reached out and patted her on the arm. “You calling me to come down here was the best thing that could’ve happened. I’ll be fine.”

  Kim eyed her suspiciously but eventually relented, “Okay, but you’d better call me if you need to talk or anything. You know I’ll always be there to listen, no matter what it is.”

  Audrey stood up from her seat and embraced her friend’s warm, soft body for the second time that day. After a minute or two, she pulled back and feigned a smile.


  “Come on. I’ll walk you out.”

  Though she still looked hesitant, Kim went up, grabbed her suitcase and met Audrey out on the front porch.

  From where they stood--elevated above the flat landscape--the water nearby shimmered under the high-noon sun. Much of the property surrounding the old home was like a marsh, with pools of water jutting up between seemingly endless tendrils of reeds and grasses that linked together with sometimes fragile connections. Audrey could hear birds, frogs and crickets sounding off. The one thing she couldn’t hear, however, was the constant thrum of the city life that she was accustomed to. In a weird way, it made her suddenly feel lonely.

  Kim tapped her shoulder.

  “I have to go.” She hugged Audrey tight, almost squeezing the breath out of her. “Please call me if you need anything. I’m only a flight away.”

  “Thanks, Kim,” she replied and hugged her back. “I will.”

  By the time that her friend’s car disappeared down the narrow road, loneliness gave way to a feeling of absolute desolation. Audrey sank back into the shade of the patio and took a seat on a warm, creaking hammock that hung from the rafters.

  She was asleep before her feet even made it up with the rest of her body, leaving a tangled, snoring mess. Fortunately, there wasn’t a soul around to see it.

  ---

  Near the elevated porch, a large egret landed and started to honk, forcing Audrey up from her nap. Though it only lasted few hours, she was left feeling refreshed and relatively calm.

  She sat up and craned her neck, watching the massive, white bird as it stomped around and made as much noise as possible. Even though the thing was obnoxious, it was better than the honking of taxi cabs.

  Audrey forced herself back to her feet and started around the porch, where she eventually happened upon an old--though well maintained--bike. The thing was a classic beach cruiser, with smoothly-sloping bars that were painted a beautiful mint green. A small, delicate stripe of white followed all of the contours, making the whole thing pop. On the front was a basket big enough to hold a bag of groceries, maybe two.