He rolled onto his back and thought of his sister’s morning ritual. Where does she get the energy to go running every day? It’s Sunday and she has that poor dog up and running at this time of day. Rhys was probably with her. They were the morning people in the family. Surely, he must be adopted.
Through the open window, the sound of Carolyn’s footsteps receded as she and Max took off down the street. This would be the moment for him to fall back asleep, but his mind wouldn’t let him. Thoughts of last night chased themselves through his head. The unexpected had happened to him, and he wasn’t likely to forget it so quickly.
He and Milan had sat on the wooden park-like bench in front of Ragtag’s and talked for a while about all sorts of things while they nursed their drinks. He knew that at first she was waiting for Julian to come looking for her. However, as time passed their conversation grew more engaging, until finally they were just two people enjoying each other’s company on a late-spring night in June.
Luke took Milan’s empty glass and rested it next to his own on the sidewalk beside the bench. “You know, I don’t really feel much like going back in there.”
Her laugh was a soft tinkle, “Me either.”
He watched her smooth imaginary wrinkles from her skirt. Her head with its short, stylish haircut was bent over her lap. When she stopped fidgeting, he stood up and extended his hand to her. Milan had grown up in the suburbs west of the city, but now she lived in an apartment in Center City that was within walking distance.
“Come on. Let’s get you home.”
She hesitated and glanced toward the doorway, even though she couldn’t see inside from her position. Reality had returned. Luke knew she was debating leaving, and he worried that she would go back inside to Julian. He expected it, but Milan was full of surprises this night. She took his hand and eased off the bench with fluid grace.
He walked her safely to her building, returned to his car and drove home. Ragtag’s had suddenly become too loud and crowded for his mood.
He fell into his bed and replayed the night over and over in his head until Rhys and Julian stumbled into the house. He heard their not-quite-muted voices for a while until they drifted off to sleep on whatever piece of furniture they had managed to make it to.
Mark brought Carolyn home not too much longer after the guys. She had walked quietly down the hall to his room and lightly knocked on the door.
“Yeah,” he said in a muted voice.
She poked her head through the doorway. “I just wanted to know if you were home,” she said and closed the door as she disappeared.
He listened to her walk to her room. Then the house grew silent again and as Luke finally drifted off, for the briefest of moments, he saw Milan’s face.
***
Downstairs Rhys and Julian were watching old cartoons on cable from opposite ends of the sofa. They looked as bad as anyone their size would if they had spent the night crammed into a love seat or arm chair.
Luke dropped into the rocker across from the guys and stretched his long legs out in front of him. He stared at his bare feet, wondering what Milan was doing. Was she thinking about him? Or Julian?
“What happened to you last night?” Rhys asked his brother. Julian’s eyes darted to Luke then back to the television. Bugs Bunny was torturing Elmer Fudd on-screen and Luke took his time answering.
“Nothing special.”
It should not have been, but the mood in the room was awkward.
“You disappeared after Milan left. Do you know what happened to her?”
Luke was amused by the way these two worked together, Rhys asking the questions that Julian should have been. He embarked on a fishing expedition of his own. “You didn’t talk to her last night?”
Coming up empty, Luke sighed and explained. “I ran into her in the entrance. We ended up hanging out outside for a while.”
“You did?” Rhys sounded surprised. Luke nodded, watching Julian out of the corner of his eye.
“I walked her to her apartment and then didn’t feel like going back to the bar so I came home.”
“How was she?” Julian finally spoke.
Luke couldn’t help but feel the zing of power at knowing that in that moment, he was the only man in the room who knew anything about Milan. He looked directly at Julian and tried to figure out exactly what it was Julian wanted to hear. “She’s alright.”
They locked eyes for a second letting each other know that there was more to that statement than what was said.
“So what’d you do to Milan, man?” Rhys smacked Julian on the back of the head.
Julian took a deep breath and stretched his arms above his head. “Milan was being Milan last night and I just was not up for playing along. That’s all.”
“Uh-huh. What’d she do?” prompted Rhys.
“Naw, nothing. She was just, you know…” Julian trailed off.
“Now you know we’re not going to let it go.”
“Rhys, aka Columbo,” Julian mumbled.
Normally Luke would have gotten Rhys off Julian’s back, but he was curious, too. Milan never explained what happened and now he really wanted to know.
“Geez!” Julian huffed in mock annoyance and took a moment to collect his thoughts. “You know, I just wanted a little peace. I wanted to relax, hang out, have a good time. I've got a beautiful woman on my arm, I’m out with my friends, everyone’s having a nice time and then—BOOM! She’s not having a good time and wanted to make everyone else miserable. I wasn’t having it,” Julian looked to his friends for support. He didn’t find much.
“That’s it, Jules? Man, she walked out!” Rhys started, “and you guys looked a little intense before you started dancing with that really cute—”
“Yeah, she was cute wasn’t she?” Julian grinned and Rhys reached over to high-five him. “But that had nothing to do with it,” Julian continued, sobering up. “Look, Milan just felt a little left out of you guys’ conversation and made some comment about Carolyn not sharing you enough or something and—you know, just women stuff. It’s stupid, stupid stuff.”
“Oh,” Rhys’confused expression matched Luke’s. “Really?”
“What did she say?” Luke pulled his legs in and leaned forward in the rocker.
“What Luke, she didn’t tell you?” Julian countered, probably more vehemently than he’d intended, “Big surprise. Had you going, didn’t she? The old victim routine, eh?” Julian raised his eyebrows at Luke. “Look guys, I know Milan. I know she has faults. We all do. But she has issues with other women—any woman—getting attention when she’s around, regardless of who it is. Carolyn, Cera, whoever,” he stopped and looked at the brothers. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know this, ‘cuz I know you do.”
“Hey, I’ve been out of town…”
“I…don’t think I ever…really paid that much attention before,” Luke hedged, speaking over Rhys. “I mean, I guess so.”
“Exactly,” Julian said, vindicated.
“So you came to Carolyn’s defense? No wonder she was pissed.” Rhys smirked.
“Ah-ha. Funny.” Julian shook his head, “Look, I did not come to Carolyn’s defense. I just told Milan to stop it and that if she didn’t want to have good time that I could find one with someone else.”
It was Rhys’ turn to raise his eyebrows.
“Not forever!” Julian added quickly, “just for the time we were there. That’s all. I was a little surprised that she took off but I’m glad you took care of my girl. Thanks Luke. Always can count on you.”
Luke shook Julian’s outstretched hand briefly, feeling more like a traitor than a hero.
“So what’d you think of Mark?” Julian leaned back in the sofa, clearly signaling that he was done with the subject.
Rhys rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. What’s there to think? He’s a guy.” Rhys had leaned back in his seat so that his head rested on the edge of the sofa’s back. He rolled his head toward Julian. “I should be asking you. You’ve been h
ere. You’ve seen him. You tell me if I should trust him around my sister.”
“Ask your brother,” Julian dodged the question, “What do you think, Luke?”
“I don’t know. He’s a good guy. Carolyn seems to like him. So I guess that’s good. What? You don’t like him?”
“I don’t know him. One night of ‘Mark plays soccer on the weekends’ and ‘Mark also plays the piano’ does not an opinion make.
“Aww, she was trying to sell him to you. How cute. She never tried to sell him to me,” Luke chuckled, “but then again, I’ve been here and I got to know him firsthand, so that makes you judge and jury big bro.”
“Mark’s fate lies in my hands?” Rhys asked, looking as if he were mulling it over. “What do you think Jules? The axe?”
Luke started bouncing his knee and the rocker started to move. Rhys had been back one night and he and Julian had fallen right back in line with each other. They were so at ease. They shared an unspoken rhythm that had always kept them bouncing on the same beat, never having to catch up to what the other one was thinking.
When Julian finally spoke all humor was gone from his voice. “Carolyn will choose the man she wants to be with. I have every confidence that she will choose the right man.” Julian flashed a huge grin and winked at Rhys. “I’m hungry. What do you guys have here to eat?”
Julian was going through the pantry, trying to decide between Honey-nut Cheerios and Raisin Bran, when Carolyn returned home from her run. She entered through the back door and followed the dog straight to his water bowl without seeing Julian. While Max lapped up water, Carolyn stretched out her hamstrings and then pulled her tee shirt over her head and hung it on the chair back. In only her sports bra and running shorts, she headed for the fridge, poured herself a glass of juice and gulped it down.
Julian didn’t know why he didn’t make his presence known, but he was acutely aware that the moment she’d started disrobing, he’d crossed into lurker territory. A quick shake of a cereal box would let her know he was there, but he was struck by this opportunity to observe her candidly, so he remained motionless.
She was different from Milan—unaffected and natural. Milan was soft curves where Carolyn was lean with taut muscles and though Milan’s hair was short, he could never picture her sporting the casual ponytail Carolyn favored. Milan’s looks were a practiced piece of art, stunning to behold. Carolyn, though always practical and simple, was just as beautiful.
The dog gave him away.
Carolyn turned to find him double-fisting cereal boxes. “You surprised me. I didn’t think anyone would be up yet.”
“Sorry,” he emerged from the pantry. “I was just looking for something to eat when you came in and started stripping, so I figured I’d stand here and see how much of a show I’d get.”
“This is why a dog is a girl’s best friend,” she leaned down and rubbed Max between the ears.
At the cupboard, Julian took down two bowls and set them on the table. He reached in the silverware drawer and then joined her at the table where she was already pouring flakes into her bowl.
“You should have woken me up this morning. I would have gone running with you.”
“Oh Jules, I figured you’d be more than happy to be off running duty with me now that Rhys is back,” She smiled at him over her bowl. “Plus, you’re not really dressed for the activity.”
It had never been a duty, he thought as he inspected his rumpled shirt and black pants. “Nah, I actually got into it.”
Carolyn raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Once my muscles stopped aching, I started to enjoy our mornings together,” he grinned and attacked his bowl. “You ditching me now that that goof is back?”
She eyed him as if checking his sincerity, “Of course not, the more the merrier. Just watch out. Rhys and I tend to get a bit competitive and end up sprinting most of the time.”
“You don’t think I can keep up?”
“I know you can keep up,” she reassured him, “but it’s up to Rhys.”
They’d been running together almost every day since Rhys had left. Suddenly he needed Rhys’ permission. The thought rankled and he couldn’t let it go. “Why is it up to Rhys?”
He could have kicked himself the moment he said the words, but he didn’t look away from Carolyn’s questioning glance.
“I don’t mind. I’d love for the three of us to go running. What?”
Julian stared into his bowl. He knew he was overreacting, but his mouth was acting on its own today.
“I don’t know. How long has Rhys been gone, a couple years? Now he’s back and I’m relegated to asking Rhys If I can run with you guys. I didn’t realize I was so poor a substitute.”
“Oh Jules, no! I’m sorry. It’s not like that at all. I was just thinking that I had roped you into it when Rhys left. I figured you’d be more than happy to be let off the hook.” Carolyn rounded the table and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry. I love running with you. You know that.”
He loved it, too, and the thought that it would end made him realize how much he enjoyed starting his day with her. “I know. How could you not?” he asked, easing the unnecessary awkwardness. “How far did you go this morning?”
“Not far actually. I’m meeting Mark this morning, so I couldn’t really go far, but I wanted to get a little exercise in before we went out. Speaking of that,” she stood up and put her bowl in the sink, “I need to hit the shower.”
“Yeah, you don’t want to keep Mark waiting.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Luke stood up and straightened his clothes. They had been lazing around all day, but time was getting away. “I gotta go. I was going to put in some overtime at the studio today.”
“Me too,” Julian grabbed his keys off the table, “I need to go over to Milan’s and see if she’s talking to me.”
Rhys went upstairs as they headed for the front door. Luke reached for the knob as the doorbell rang. He opened the door to Cera’s smiling face.
“Look who! What happened to you last night?”
“Hi Luke,” she said, brushing a brief kiss on his cheek. “I’m sorry. I meant to meet up with you guys but it just wasn’t meant to be. I’ll tell you about it later. Is Rhys here?” she asked as they passed through the door.
“He’s upstairs,” Julian said and shut the door behind him.
Left to his own devices, Rhys wandered the house trying to re-acclimate himself to being back home. He moved at a leisurely pace, and it was true he was tired, but it was more the pace of a man who has all the time in the world. It was the pace of a man who was trying to slow things down.
He slid his hand along the uneven surface of the wood railing as he walked up the stairs. Every indentation, each blemish was a scar from the past that brought back a memory of his childhood. Skimming over a narrow divot, Rhys recalled chasing Luke down the stairs only to slip and fall tooth first into the rail. He rubbed his thumb into a smooth hollow and remembered Carolyn’s tears as he watched their mother remove a splinter from her thumb. Later, Carolyn had patiently rubbed a sheet of sandpaper over the offending area with silent determination until it was smooth. At the top of the stairs, Rhys spun the now detachable knob on the post that Luke had broken off and then tried to fix with gobs of gum.
Funny the things you remember.
His room was at the end of the hall next to Carolyn's. He automatically started to step lightly as he passed his parents’ door so that he wouldn’t wake them until it hit him that they weren’t there. He hadn’t forgotten...it just still managed to catch him unawares at times.
He stopped in front of their door and then decided to go in. Turning on the light switch, Rhys glanced quickly at the bed almost expecting to see them lying there catching up on sleep after a late engagement.
The room had an air of expectancy to it. A pair of slippers sat neatly together on the floor as if his mother had just now stepped out on an errand and would be back momentarily. There was
an open book lying on the bed, its last-read page hastily marked by an envelope. On his mother’s bureau was an empty glass standing next to her favorite photo of Rhys. He could almost see her standing there looking at it with that glass in her hand. She liked order. Something must have interrupted her and she’d left the glass behind to attend to it.
Rhys reached out to pick up the framed photo when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Distracted, he knocked the glass over sending it to a shattering end.
“Hi,” Cera said sheepishly from the doorway, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Hey there, Cera,” Rhys bent down to clear away the broken glass. “Where’d you come from?”
Cera leaned against the doorpost with a mischievous smile on her face and adjusted the folds of her multicolored print dress, “Downstairs—and I’m telling.”
“You would,” Rhys glanced up at her, “I may have to kill you,” he said, deadpan.
“Will you give me a hug first?”
Rhys pondered her question as he gathered the larger pieces of glass together and placed them atop the bureau.
“What do you say we get out of here first and then I’ll think about it?” He motioned for Cera to go ahead of him and then closed the door behind them. Before she could turn around, he grabbed her from behind and squeeze tight. Cera squealed with unexpected delight as she tried to squirm her way loose.
“You’re crazy!”
“So I’ve been told. Where were you last night?” he started in right away on her.
“Oh,” she groaned, breaking free of his hold, “I knew you wouldn’t let me off the hook.” Linking her arm with his, she led him the rest of the way down the hall to his room. He’d forgotten how tall she was.
“I actually couldn’t help it. I had a flat tire and roadside service took forever to get to me. So I just went back home when they were done. Anyway,” she waved her hands as if dismissing the incident and started rattling off greetings, “Welcome home! It’s good to have you back! We missed you—all the things I would have told you had I actually seen you last night.”
Seven Days Page 3