by Dallas Adams
“Yes, well, I was going to chat with that young artist, but these girls were concerned and made me aware that we are going on in a few moments. So I guess the talking with the artist will have to wait.” As she spoke her eyes darted sharply in Eric’s direction. He was lucky she cared enough to think it through and not make a scene like she originally wanted to.
“Well I wish you luck Roxie and also to you ladies. Go sparkle up on the stage like you always do,” Eric told them with a kind smile. Such a lying and fake smile; it took all of Roxie’s power not comment on his deceiving mug.
“Yes, like I, and the other ladies, always do,” she sneered, walking off with the other girls toward the stage. Lucky, oh was he all so lucky, she thought.
The show consisted of a lot of sass and drama, but that wasn’t what Roxie was focused on. Roxie did her show, performing how she always did - amazingly. But as she danced, her mind was not even on the performance. It was on that Christen woman. Was that girl unaware of Roxie’s relationship with Eric? Were they messing around behind Roxie’s back? Were some of her naked photos part of Eric’s disgusting collection? She couldn’t even concentrate on the task of being a showgirl, even if she wanted. Lucky for her that was no problem.
Christen also did not pay much attention to the show. Kat whispering to her with insults about the gorgeous woman on the stage made that impossible. Joey also kept sneaking up into her mind. She wondered if he was living happy in heaven with the angels, watching down on her. In the past days a few strange things had been happening that she wasn't sure how to comprehend. She felt bad since she shouldn’t be so stressed about the past, but she felt it.
The show ended with the wild clapping of the audience. Eric took the microphone and asked everyone to file out into the main hall. He had a new addition to the gallery for everyone to see. With the announcement, the people did just that. They all headed to the main hall to see it. Eric called Christen up to where her painting sat, still covered.
“This is Christen Baker,” he announced to everyone. “Today, her piece of artwork will be hung in this fine gallery to be viewed with other famous artists. This piece is called, 'Tomorrow's Dawn'.” He looked at Christen. “Do the honors,” he whispered. Christen nodded her head and pulled down the cover revealing her masterpiece. There were a few ohs and ahs at her work. People were looking at the painting with whispers and murmurs. She didn’t know if they were good or bad comments, but she really didn’t care. All she wanted was for the world to validate the inspiration she was sure partly came from Joey, somehow.
The focus was centered on an old man who stood in the middle of the painting. He stood there with his hands grasped together, looking up at the creamy colored sky that was filled with light oranges and yellows, along with some hot pink and a few streaks of red. The clouds were crisp and airy, taking up the whole entire sky.
The old man was well defined with his wrinkles. The details were so fine they almost made him look real. His skin was tanned and you could tell he was a farmer. His skin was soiled with dirt marks on his face and hands. It was strange to see the man so unkempt, as he wore a dark brown tux. His eyes were a vibrant light blue that were softly looking on. It was evident he was holding back some sort of emotion. His hair was a grayish-blonde, dirt also shown in his hair.
To the right of him, a woman with bright blonde hair was holding onto him. By her figure, you could tell she was elderly. Her white dress also covered in dirt along with her skin. Her face was buried into the man’s shoulder so you couldn’t see it. On the left of him was a boy with brown hair. This boy was on his knees, holding onto the man’s shirt as he hung his head down. The boy’s face was very young with tears streaming down. He was also in a tux, though his was black and showed a much newer look than the old man’s.
The ground below them was filled with plenty of earthy colors and tones. Dark greens, browns, and even reds painted the background. Right in front of the family grew two flowers. One was a white carnation which was opened and bright for the world to see. The other one was a white daisy, which was also just as bright, with a bright yellow center.
Soon people started clapping for Christen. They were amazed with what the girl had done; and honestly, Christen was just as amazed. The fact that people were clapping for her painting filled her heart with gratitude. It was a testament to her life and love with Joey, not just a painting. She hoped that everyone else could see that.
“You go girl!” Christen smiled at Kat who was cheering like when she used to be a cheerleader. She felt so warm on the inside, and wondered if Joey could feel it to.
Eric was smiling as the people clapped. Just as he had hoped, the girl would be a hit. Joey picked the right girl; someone that he could love, and also bring Eric success. He found a strange tug at his heart as he watched Christen smile. There was something about her smile, he wondered if maybe he was feeling what Joey had felt for her. That startled him a bit, and also created a little thought in his head. Was that emotion Joey’s? Or was it his own?
After much socializing and comments of praise, the event died down and everyone started to head out. Kat and Christen sat next to each other, admiring Christen’s work.
“You did good,” Kat told her.
“You think so?”
“I know so.” Both girls giggled, but Kat stopped it short. “Hey, can we talk about Eric really quick? I need..” Kat started up, but Roxie cut her off.
“Excuse me. Chris, er, Christen, I would like to have a few words with you.” Roxie looked at Kat. “Well not a few words, more like a conversation. How about I give you a ride home, Christen. What do you say?” she cooed. Christen looked at Kat, with a tilt of her head as if asking permission.
“It’s okay Christen,” Kat said with a sigh. She could always see her tomorrow. Kat was actually relieved by the interruption, as she hadn't completely formulated her thoughts about how she felt about Eric's odd behavior. Christen nodded before walking after Roxie.
“It’s awfully nice of you to give me a ride home,” Christen said with sincerity. Roxie on the other hand, rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be thinking I’m doing it to be nice.” Roxie glanced at her with a look that would put Eric’s intense looks to shame. Christen seemed surprised by her comment, but didn’t say a word. Both women walked to the staff parking lot which was sealed off with a mechanical gate. Roxie dug through her purse with a casual grace, whipping out a card. She slid the card through the card scanner, the card between two fingers. It glided through causing a tiny green light to flash on the scanner. The gate pulled itself open.
Christen was starting to think going with Roxie was a bad idea. She seemed to be rather angry with her, although she didn’t know what she had done. What could have been so terrible which made her so mad? She thought about it but her mind came back as a complete blank. “This car," Roxie said pulling Christen out of her thoughts. Christen looked to the right to see Roxie standing next to her red Porsche. Christen looked down at her feet, shuffling as she walked into to the passenger’s side. They both got into the car. Christen sat there feeling uncomfortable in the silence.
“You wanted to talk?” Christen muttered awkwardly.
“Yes, that is correct.” Roxie put her key in the car and turned it to fire the engine. She folded her hands over her knees, waiting for her GPS to start up on in the dashboard. “What is your relationship with Eric?” she asked to break the tension.
"Eric?" Christen thought. She observed Roxie as she stared down at her legs. She looked up at Roxie to see pain and sadness clear in her eyes. Roxie winced, and Christen knew exactly why she was upset, then. She placed a hand on Roxie’s shoulder with a softness causing Roxie to look up and at Christen.
“First of all, we haven’t been properly introduced to each other. I am Christen. It’s nice to meet you." Christen smiled warmly. "Second of all, Eric and I are just friends. I met him through Joey. It is nothing like a romantic relationship, so please stop looking so upset.�
� She spoke tenderly just as Roxie did with Eric.
“I see...” Roxie trailed off as she started pressing the buttons of the GPS. She got to where she needed to type in Christen’s address. “Type in your address; please and thank you,” Roxie purred softly. Christen did as she was told. Roxie took this as a time to observe her, now. The girl looked innocent enough. She didn’t seem like Eric’s type. Then again, it was Eric she was thinking about. Types didn’t seem to matter when she remembered the USB. She shook the memory out of her head, and switched her mind onto something else. She looked at Christen, again. “So you knew Joey?” She blinked as she saw the sorrow that washed across the girl’s face.
“Yeah. We were engaged.” Christen sighed softly. Her fingers played with the ring that hung around her neck as she pressed the enter button on the GPS.
“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss.” Roxie felt a small bit of regret in her gut for being so insensitive. She knew she shouldn’t have walked into the conversation thinking the worst of the woman she just met. “You must miss him a lot, huh?” she asked as she looked behind her shoulder, backing up her car with ease.
“Every day,” Christen whispered. Tears edged in on her, but she didn’t let them fall. She couldn't let them out in front of a stranger, even if they were both female.
“That must really suck.” Roxie drove to the gate which had already closed from the length of time that had passed during their conversation. Roxie rolled down the window and reached up to the keypad, typing in the passcode that made the gates slowly open. Roxie headed out of the parking lot and followed the commands that the GPS chimed at her. “So how did you and Joey meet?” she questioned out of curiosity.
“It was freshman year of college. It is actually a pretty funny story. It was the first day for me and my friend Kat, who you saw me with earlier. We were encouraged to see the campus so we went walking around, checking everything out. While we were walking, a baseball came speeding at us headed straight for my face. I shut my eyes since that was all I could do. I had no time to react,” she continued. Roxie interrupted.
“Let me guess. He tackled you out of the way, or he somehow caught it?” Roxie asked, a small hint of sarcasm rolling off her words.
“No.” Christen chuckled. “I actually got hit right in the face. The force from it set me flying to the ground, and also broke my nose which hurt extremely bad. Joey had been running to try and catch the ball before it hit me. He looked like a superhero charging toward me to trying to stop the disaster. Once the ball hit me, Joey realized it was too late. He tried to stop running but ended up losing his footing and crashed into me, landing right on top of me.” She laughed but Roxie did not find it as amusing. Roxie knew she would have that man’s head on a stick rather than winding up dating him.
“He sounds like he was a really clumsy idiot,” Roxie murmured.
“He had his clumsy and stupid moments, but everyone has those,” Christen giggled. “After I was hit, you can bet your ass I was crying my eyes out. Kat was so mad; I thought her face turned into an apple. She was screaming at him from the top of her lungs. She called him an asshole, and even though he repeatedly said sorry over and over again, she still schreeched at him about how sorry wouldn’t fix anything. Joey started to panic. One girl was yelling at him while the other one was sitting there crying like a baby. It created quite a scene, and got a lot of people’s attention.” She laughed as she remembered when Eric had to come in and calm Joey down. “That was also the day I met Eric. He told everyone to basically shut the fuck up, and mind their own business. He instructed Joey to help me up and carry me over to their car. We all headed over to the hospital after that.”
Roxie stared at her in disbelief. She still didn’t see why she would date someone who did that to her. “And that made you see him and be all, I want to be with him for the rest of my life?” Roxie questioned with sarcasm cutting through again. Christen laughed.
“No. At first I was really angry at him. Despite that, he stayed there the whole time I was in the hospital. Even then, he felt it was still his fault. He started following me around at school like a puppy; opening the door for me, carrying things to class, walking me to my classes, and even to my place. He was a real gentleman to me. We, of course, became really good friends. Eventually we started getting feelings for each other. We both found the other attractive for months. We just didn’t want to tell each other. And that’s how we came to be. Eric just always tagged along. I’m not going to lie. I felt it was creepy that he followed us everywhere, at first. Honestly, I thought he had a gay crush on Joey.” She rubbed her head as she spoke.
“Oh I see,” she stated as she pulled up to Christen’s apartment. “So here we are then, I think,” she muttered calmly.
“I can see that.” Christen gave her smile. “Thank you for the ride." Christen unbuckled her seatbelt has Roxie pulled to the curb.
“Of course, sweet heart,” Roxie nodded her head. It wasn’t hard to see that Christen was no threat to her. The girl was way too emotionally damaged and stuck on Joey to be any sort of trouble. “Pull on the lock/unlock little lever, that should let you out." Christen nodded with a cheesy smile as she pulled the lever up.
“Good bye Roxie. It was nice to finally meet you.” With that Christen got out of the car and closed the passenger’s door, heading to her apartment complex.
“Finally?” A smile cracked onto Roxie’s face. Did he actually talk about her to others? Did he brag about her? Her mind jumped to the conclusion, and she felt so joyous. She headed straight home musing over whether Eric was proud to have her. Damn right he was! She was going to demand to hear these sweet words she had assumed. She was in such a cheery mood that she totally missed Eric’s car parked in the apartment’s parking lot as she pulled away.
Chapter 6
“Eric!” Christen gasped in surprise. She had walked into her apartment after Roxie had dropped her off, wanting to take a shower and go to bed. She was surprised to see Eric in her apartment playing with her giant cat stuffed animal. “How did you get in here?” she muttered with wide eyes. It was creepy to her to see him in her apartment. If it were Joey though, that would be a different story.
“Christen.” He looked up from the stuffed animal and scowled a little. “You left the door unlocked again. You really got to start remembering to lock that. Well now that you're here, come and sit next to me.” He beckoned her over. Christen kept staring at him in return. She wondered to herself if just because the door was unlocked, he thought that was an invitation for him to just walk in. She then puzzled over how he knew she was often forgetful of locking her door. She answered the first question in her mind; he did not have a right to come in like he owned the place. The second question, however, troubled her a lot. This only brought her more questions. She slowly walked over and sat next to Eric. While doing so, she asked herself, "Had Joey told him she was always forgetting to lock the door?" That did always make Joey so worked up. Was Eric just stalking her? She thought about Roxie. She hoped she was wrong.
“Eric, I would appreciate you not just walking into my apartment like that. You know how creepy that seems on my end?” she asked him, giving him a stern stare. “Why are you here anyways?”
“I wanted to see you. I didn’t mean any harm by it... just sometimes I forget I can’t do things like before.” Eric sighed heavily before looking up at her with hauntingly deep eyes. “I am here because I wanted to congratulate you. You are finally in an art gallery and left everyone in awe. I knew you could do it.” He took a hold of her hand. Again, he was showing signs of Joey like last time Eric was acting so strange. This perplexed her to no end. What did he mean he "...wanted to see her?" Did Eric suddenly have a thing for her? Can’t do things like before? Christen tried desperately to figure out what was he trying to say. Christen's head filled with enough questions to make her head spin.
“I thank you for coming to congratulate me, but you leave me for a loss. What do you mean that you can’t do t
hings like before?” She stared at him. Her eyes were wide and confused. Eric sighed at her expression as he took a hold of both of her hands. He stared into her confused eyes. It felt as if he was digging around inside her soul.
“As much as I want to, there are things I can’t do anymore. It saddens me to have to watch you from a distance,” he whispered. Watch from a distance? He must be stalking her, she mused. Or was it that he was falling for her but couldn’t see her because of Roxie? She suddenly felt awful, but just as confused. She couldn’t have feelings for Eric, even if she were to heal from the wounds so deeply affecting her like this. She loved Joey way too much to ever forget about him or let him go away from her grasp.
“Eric.” She said with a delicate tone, pulling her hands out of his. “I’m sorry to say this to you, but I will never see you more than a friend. You should know that already. Plus you have Roxie. She is a beautiful woman. Don’t throw that away for a one-sided thing. I am sorry Eric, but we are friends. Please understand that,” Christen said rather hopefully.
He watched her carefully with his eyes. There was a lot of hurt showing through them. Christen looked away. She couldn’t take the sad look he was sharing with her. It was so unlike Eric, but so like Joey. She didn’t know what to think. The confusion made her head pound with a headache.
“I get it now,” Eric sighed as he stood up. There was a realization in the body that Joey was in. Christen could only see him as Eric. Joey knew Christen would not kiss or touch Eric. Joey racked his brain to find a way to tell her who he was delicately. That’s when it hit him. “Well Christen, thank you. I will leave now, and let you get your beauty sleep, not that you aren’t already beautiful enough. Have a good night. Sleep well. I hope you and Mr.SnugglePaws have a good night.” He flashed her an absolutely priceless Joey childish smile before heading out of her apartment. Christen sat there in a surprised daze.