When You Come to Me

by Jade Alyse

  She takes a deep breath and makes a decision. Her cellular phone rings but she chooses to ignore it. She knows that it’s Anthony. She knows that he’s wondering why she hasn’t returned to the hospital yet.

  “Asha’s appointment ran a little long,” she’ll tell him later. “But everything’s fine with her…”

  She’s certain that things will return to normal if she just makes things right with him. She removes her seatbelt slowly and nerves climb the length of her body, and she ignores the idea that time and space will negatively affect their dynamic. But just as reaches for the door handle, slowly running her tongue across her dry lips, a baby blue BMW glides past her with precision and grace as it pulls into the driveway behind the green Explorer. And Natalie watches as a petite woman with dark brown hair exits slowly, wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts and a thin white tank top. She traverses up the sidewalk comfortably, as if she’d done it so many times before.

  She stalls on the porch, rummages through her purse for a few seconds before she retrieves another set of keys. She unlocks the front door with ease and walks in quickly thereafter.

  Natalie speeds off as a singular tear glides down her cheek.

  #

  The following week, she dawdles in the shower in the early evening. She knows that Anthony will be by soon to pick her up but she hasn’t felt like doing much of anything. She regrets agreeing to go to the Art Walk downtown with him, even though a part of her admits to refusing to spend a lot of time with him for unknown reasons. She’s become quite good at lying and coming up with random excuses and she hates herself for it. And she hates the fact that she hides the picture of her and Brandon every time he comes over. She wants no questions of who he was and why her eyes still loitered over his picture every once in a while, as if she were still living in a fantasy, as if she and Brandon were still having the same argument and had yet to make up.

  There was a knock on the front door as she slid a strapless black romper up her body and pulled her hair back into a loose chignon. She chose to forego obnoxious amounts of makeup but Asha often assured her that peach blush looked amazing on her skin.

  She let Anthony in as she ran back to her bedroom to get her bag. And when she returned, he eyed her curiously.

  “What?” she questioned, her brows furrowed.

  “Umm, where are the rest of your clothes, Nat?”

  She examined herself for a few seconds and replied, “Didn’t you check the weather this morning? It’s supposed to be ninety degrees. It is the middle of June, Ant…”

  “Look, whatever,” he replied with the roll of his eyes. He then reached for her hand, tugging her toward the door. “Let’s go…I want to get a table at 65 & George before they all get taken. Where’s Asha? I thought she was coming with us?”

  “She said she’d meet us there,” she replied. “Apparently she’s bringing a date…”

  Anthony chuckled a little. “I never thought the day would come…”

  She smiled in return. “Neither did I…”

  The Athens Art Walk was one of those peculiar things in town that consistently drew a full crowd as diverse as the United Nations and as big as a collegiate championship football game. And it was one of those peculiar events that she and Brandon and Asha and Scotty frequented during the summer months, because the drinks were cheap, the live street band was always entertaining, and the food was free in most galleries downtown. And in her past life, Natalie looked forward to this dramatic social scene because it always reminded her of why her friends were so great and it secured her reasoning for choosing to move to Athens.

  Anthony loved it because some of his fraternity brothers were members of the popular street band, who played both original songs and took requests from the audience. This was their second year going together, and she confidently knew that Anthony would want to dance the night away – she was mentally preparing herself for it.

  It took them several minutes to find a parking spot, as he obsessively wanted to find one as close to his favorite restaurant as possible.

  “Anthony, sweetheart, it’s not that serious,” she told her once she was fed up. “Just park the car…”

  “You’re the one that doesn’t like walking,” he told her, shaking his head. “I’m doing this for you, baby…”

  “If I didn’t like walking, I wouldn’t have come to an Art Walk, now would I?”

  “Fine, fine,” he huffed. “There’s a parallel spot right there, calm down…does Asha know where to meet us?”

  “As if she could forget…”

  They were seated under a large yellow umbrella outside and they both ordered a cocktail as they waited on the remainder of their party to arrive.

  “Leave it to Asha to be late,” Anthony murmured, rolling his eyes.

  “You got your table, Ant,” she replied. “What’s the point in complaining about Asha now? She’s not doing anything wrong…just drink your drink…”

  Lord knows, she needed to drink hers. She should’ve ordered something stronger. There’s always next time.

  “Any time you start acting all pissy, it means you had a bad day at work,” she reminded him. “Is that what this is about, honey? Did you have a bad day?”

  “You were there, Natalie,” he began. “Did it look like I had a bad day?”

  “No…”

  “I didn’t have this attitude until I saw you in that getup,” he said. “Apparently you didn’t notice the number of guys who stared at you when we walked over here…”

  “Of course I didn’t notice,” she shrugged. “I’m here with you…”

  Physically, she thought, not necessarily mentally…

  He took a sip of his cocktail, and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he replied, shaking his head. “I’m not starting the night off right. I’m being an asshole, aren’t I?’

  She nodded. “A little bit, yea…”

  He chuckled humbly. “Look at me, Nat…I’m edging on thirty and I still get insecure about my girlfriend’s beauty…I guess every day, I’m praying to God that some better man doesn’t come along and snatch you away…”

  She doesn’t respond, but she slowly reaches for his hand to soothe him.

  “I love you, Nat,” he replied, earnestly. “And I’ve played with some ideas in my head…I’ve often wondered whether or not to run them by you…”

  “What types of ideas…?”

  She suddenly felt a tinge of déjà vu.

  “I own a home,” he began, sighing heavily.

  “Yes,” she chuckled. “I think I’ve been there before…”

  “And I’ve got too much room. I bought a king sized bed with no one to share it with. I bought a forty-two inch plasma television and I often watch it alone. I buy all of these groceries for a state-of-the-art stainless steel refrigerator and I often cook for myself…”

  Natalie swallowed thickly, and murmured, “Anthony, what are you saying?”

  He squeezed her hand tighter. “I’m saying I want you to move in with me…”

  “What?”

  “We’re perfect for each other, Natalie…we’re going down the same path, we grew up the same way, my mother loves you, I love you…it makes sense…”

  She stares at him vacuously, and she realizes that the alcoholic beverage is still caught in her throat. She swallows it quickly before she chokes. She runs through a series of markers in their relationship that they haven’t met, that she feels as though should come before moving in together…sex, marriage, babies, another five or six years…

  She was becoming all too familiar with men pushing the limits of their relationship…when would a lesson be learned?

  “You’re quiet, Nat…say something, baby…”

  She parts her lips to answer, in spite of not knowing what to say, and just as she scrambles to run a few excuses through her head…

  “I’m here, you lovely black people! Sorry we’re late!”

  She recognizes Scotty trailing behind her and she�
��s not surprised. But when she sees a considerably taller, broader man trailing behind them she feels her heart jump to her throat.

  “Asha, you brought two dates,” Anthony teased. “They must be really special…”

  Scotty and Asha approached the table but the third person lingered behind them. Their eyes were locked in an obnoxious pull of tug-of-war until she purposely diverted her eyes in Anthony’s direction.

  “Anthony, shut up,” Asha replied, sitting down. She then turned to Scotty. “Scott, this is Anthony Jones…and you remember Natalie, don’t you?”

  Natalie eyed her roommate angrily, but Asha only smiled impishly in return.

  “Oh, yea, Natalie…Chandler, right?” Scotty replied.

  “Sure,” Natalie replied. “Whatever you want it to be, Scotty…”

  “And Anthony, this is my rude friend, Brandon,” Asha said, tugging on Brandon’s wrist. “Apparently, he’s shy…Brandon, this is Anthony and I’m not sure if you remember Natalie or not…”

  She wanted to stop the charade, but everything was happening too fast. It was like watching a car accident happen…

  She ran through a series of the nastiest curse words she could think of in her head. She felt a little better afterwards.

  “Of course I remember her,” Brandon replied quietly. She saw the tightness of his lips and realized that he was angry but she didn’t know why. Shouldn’t he be loving this moment? Wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity to humiliate her?

  Brandon then finally sat down. He didn’t stop staring at her.

  “Asha’s just messing with you, Anthony,” Scotty told him. “In actuality, we’re all just old friends…you know, some more than others…”

  Natalie locked eyes with Scotty and she began to seethe.

  “We just haven’t seen Natalie in so long,” Scotty sighed, shaking his head. “And lo and behold…Asha wants to takes us out to dinner and there she is with a boyfriend of her very own…I’d heard rumors but I wasn’t sure…”

  Anthony chuckled. “Well, it’s good to meet some of Natalie’s other friends, finally…I was starting to grow tired of hanging out with her family all the time…don’t take this the wrong way, but Natalie doesn’t really talk about her friends very much…it’s like she’s leading a double life or something…”

  Suddenly, the table moved and they all realized that it was coming from Brandon’s direction. He cleared his throat and mumbled, “Sorry,” when they all looked in his way.

  “Really?” Scotty replied. “You think you know someone…”

  “Where’s that waitress,” Natalie said, clearing her throat. “I could use another drink…”

  “Oh what an effect Anthony has had on you Natalie! You know, Natalie never really drank like that before…”

  “Really?” Anthony said. “She always keeps a bottle or two of that white zinfandel in her apartment…”

  Natalie and Brandon locked eyes for a moment.

  “How long have you two crazy kids been dating, huh?” Scotty asked. “You two look like you came straight off the cover of a magazine…”

  Anthony looked at her. “How long has it been, baby? Over a year?”

  “Something like that, yea…Scott, you’re awfully chatty tonight…are you okay?”

  “Natalie that’s so thoughtful of you to ask…I’m perfectly fine…you two look so comfortable, so in love…so…”

  “Excuse me, I’ll be back…” Brandon murmurs, rising from his seat. The table grows quiet as they watch him disappear into the restaurant.

  Anthony scoffs before saying, “I don’t mean to be rude, but he’s an odd guy, isn’t he?”

  “Well, he doesn’t want me broadcasting this, but he’s had a rough couple of days…you know how it is, Anthony…you meet a girl, you think she’s the one, then she runs off with another guy before you have a chance to blink…”

  “Ouch,” Anthony replied. He then wrapped his arm around Natalie. She suddenly felt as though she couldn’t breathe.

  Scotty nodded. “Yea, definitely.”

  “Scott, what was her name again?” Asha asked.

  Scotty looked skyward and curled his lips in. “Oh, man…umm…Nadia? Natasha? Naomi? Nellie?”

  “She must’ve been something to look at,” Anthony replied. Natalie shoved him a little.

  “Oh, top-of-the-line, sir,” Scotty assured him. “Long, black hair, slender frame, dark searching eyes…”

  “Scotty, I’m sure she couldn’t mean that much to him,” Natalie replied. “I mean, where is she now? For all you know, he could be messing with some other girl and not telling you…”

  “I have all the confidence in the world, dear Tallie, that this girl is the only one he’s thought about for quite some time…”

  She excused herself to the bathroom, and Asha followed her without a word. When they were securely behind the door, Natalie pressed Asha up against the wall.

  “Before I kill you, I want you to fully explain yourself…”

  “It was pure coincidence, I promise…you know they wanted to go to the Art Walk, and I wanted to go to the Art Walk…we had no idea that you were bringing Anthony…”

  “Do you think I’m stupid, Ash?”

  “No, of course not!”

  “Do you think I’m retarded? Do you think I just woke up yesterday out of a twenty-year-long coma?”

  “What are you talking about…? You need to take them and you need to leave. I don’t want Anthony to know about Brandon…and Scotty is getting mightily close…I’m freaking out…I never wanted to see him again, and now he’s sitting across from me? What type of game are you playing? You know how long it took for me to get over him…it’s already awkward enough …”

  “That’s because you’re making it that way,” Asha replied. She placed her hands on her friend’s shoulders.

  “Look,” she began. “You know how Scotty is. He saw how upset you got over Brandon leaving you last year and he hasn’t gotten over it. He’s pissed that you’ve moved on. You know he’s going to speak his mind wherever he goes. I’ll try and tame him through dinner and afterwards I’ll send them on their merry way. You won’t even have to talk to Brandon if you don’t want to. Besides, from what I hear, he’s been seeing this random brunette but he refuses to talk about her. You’re in the clear…”

  For a moment, Natalie thought about bringing up the day she drove by their house and saw the girl walk into it at her own leisure. But Asha would probably think that she was crazy…it was beyond time for her to move on and let it go…

  When she and Asha returned to the table, there Brandon sat with a beer in his hand, and she wondered where he’d gone. She thought about the brunette she’d seen that day and wondered why he was keeping it so secret. She didn’t like the burgeoning boil of pain and nausea rising inside of her as she took a seat beside her boyfriend again.

  “You okay?” Anthony whispered close to her face. She turned to him, nodded, and pressed her lips against his once.

  “Tell me, Anthony,” Scotty began. “What made you fall for Natalie?”

  “Scott, I don’t think he wants to play Twenty Questions with you,” Asha said.

  “Oh, it’s okay, I don’t mind answering…she was always so quiet…and there was something very pure about her…I guess I was drawn to her because a lot of the other interns were afraid to talk to her…I looked at it as a challenge…and it looks like I won…”

  Anthony rocked her back and forth and she eyed Brandon momentarily, whose lips were now tighter than before. He took another sip of beer.

  “Hell, every man, whether or not they admit it, wants a good girl on their arm…”

  Natalie aimlessly pieced over her meal, and she was so distracted that she didn’t notice the rapport that Scotty was developing with her boyfriend in a short span of time. She neglected to think about the fact that both of them were insanely into music and could talk for days about it. Natalie only resolved to sit the remainder of the meal in silence, as sh
e realized it would be difficult to get rid of them now, no matter how much she and Brandon detested being this close together. Or could she only speak for herself…?

  Later, she and Asha trailed down a sidewalk, while the boys trailed behind.

  “You do realize that this can never happen again, right?”

  “Don’t be overdramatic…yes, Brandon is back in town…yes, he’s walking behind us…yes, he’s probably looking at your ass while your boyfriend is standing beside him…but it’s not the end of the world…we’re going to do what we always do…scour these galleries for free wine and dessert, dance while we’re tipsy, and go home happy people…”

  She laughed. Asha made it sound so easy.

  But somewhere in between the first gallery stop and the fourth, Anthony and Scotty had gone to see the street band early, and Asha ran into one of her ex-boyfriends, leaving her alone. She didn’t mind it though; she often enjoyed blending in with the rest of society, viewing art like normal people, who probably weren’t going through as many emotional roller coasters as she was, who woke up happy and went to bed happy with the same person each day.

  She lingered in one particular gallery which had a series of black and white photographs on display. They depicted dissimilar types of people, of different ages and colors and sizes. She assumed the message was that at the end of the day everyone was the same, no matter where they came from.

  Natalie scoffed out loud, momentarily forgetting that she wasn’t alone.

  She heard the street band start up another tune and as she started for the exit, she saw Brandon enter. She knew that he hadn’t followed her; he looked just as surprised as she did. But in a flash, she turned in the other direction, and started for the back of the gallery, praying for another exit, praying that the crowd became thick enough to hide her. She then wished that Anthony hadn’t left her. She could’ve used him as a safeguard.

  Did that sound terrible or what?

  She promised him that she’d never run away from him again, that she’d stand up to him and tell exactly what she felt but her throbbing heartbeat distracted her, scared her, and she was certain that he was trailing closely behind her. It was only a matter of time before he caught up with her.