She hugged him back. He smelled her hair, wishing he could like her. Wishing for once he could feel normal.
“I’m sorry,” Iris said.
“No, no, shhhh. I’m the one who should be sorry I can’t like a girl as great as you.”
She looked up at him with watery eyes, “Thank you Tony.”
“Sure.”
“Can you…” Iris said shyly, “can you hold me like this for a while?”
“I don’t think that will be a problem.”
He turned out to be wrong.
6
“So how is she?”
“She’s better,” Eric said, obviously relieved. “They’re going to release her tonight.”
“That’s good,” Tony said.
“Yeah. Thanks again for everything. I’m sorry for the call from out of nowhere. I just didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know who else to talk to.”
“There’s no need to apologize.”
“I appreciate you stopping by,” Eric told him. “You want some
coffee?”
“Yes, coffee would be great,” Tony said.
“Have a seat man. This ain’t no walk through.”
Tony smiled. “Glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.” He took a seat at the small kitchen table.
“Yeah,” Eric said, “This thing really threw me for a loop. I didn’t even know she could have a heart attack.”
“Has she been stressed a lot lately?”
Eric frowned; his brow creased. “Not that I know of. Everything’s been pretty normal.”
“Must be something outside the house. Maybe at work? Has she been working a lot?”
“No more than usual. You sound like her doctor.”
“Well, have you thought about what may have caused it?” Tony asked.
“Yeah, of course I have, but I haven’t come up with anything.”
“Maybe you should look into it, as soon as she gets better of course.
“Maybe.”
7
Seeing Iris at work the next day was awkward, to say the least. They both had to act friendly and pretend nothing happened in front of others. The sad thing was he did care for her, just not in that way.
“Hey Iris,” Tony said, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Tony,” she said, moving quickly past him. She was obviously still embarrassed. He didn’t know what he could possibly do about that. He caught up with her at the end of the day.
“Iris!”
She turned expectantly.
“Listen, can we talk?” Tony said.
“Um, sure.”
“Let’s walk outside.” He guided her. “I don’t want you to feel awkward around me, okay. There’s no need for that. We’re still buds.”
“Right, buds.”
“I understand you feel embarrassed, or whatever, but there can’t be a strain on our work relationship.”
“Oh my God! Are you going to fire me? You’re going to say it was sexual harassment or something! Oh man!”
Tony laughed. “Come here silly.” He took her in his big arms. “Of course I’m not going to fire you, and if I felt harassed you’d be the first to know. And I certainly wouldn’t make that up as an excuse to fire you because I was uncomfortable, which right at this moment I’m not.”
That last part was a lie (the not feeling uncomfortable part), but one he had to tell to reassure her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you wouldn’t.”
“Listen, come over tomorrow night. We’ll have some coffee, talk this over some more. I want you to feel comfortable around me.” He ignored the voice in his head that told him this was a bad idea.
“All right,” Iris agreed. He didn’t catch the hopeful note in her voice. He was busy trying to be the decent guy who wouldn’t leave a friend out in the cold.
8
“Eric?” When Tony answered the phone, he wasn’t sure who he was expecting, but it wasn’t Eric.
“Yeah, it’s me Tony. I looked into it all right. I found out the source of her anxiety. It was busy consoling her about her heart attack.”
“What are you saying Eric?”
“My wife is cheating on me man. And she didn’t even have the decency to hide it better. I saw them right across the street, when I went out to get the paper this morning.”
“Aw jeeze Eric, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, me too. Now I don’t know what the hell to do. Cause if I yell at her I’ll probably cause another heart attack, and if I don’t I’ll probably have one.”
“Man that is a tough call. Sit her down and talk to her. I know it’s going to be hard not to yell, but restrain the urge. Walk out if you have to and cool off,” Tony said.
“I don’t even know whether I should hate her or feel sorry for her. Why does she have to put me in this position?”
“Maybe you should ask her.”
“Oh, I will,” Eric assured him.
“Do you want to come over for a while?”
“No, she’s coming back soon. From the grocery store she says.”
“All right man. Good luck. You keep me posted. And hang in there.”
“Yeah.” Eric hung up.
Tony Vincent couldn’t possibly know what he was feeling, but he heard it in Eric’s voice. The anger- Anger at her cheating, anger at her lying, but most of all anger that he had cried and humiliated himself (at least in his eyes) in front of everyone, for her, when she was to blame for her own condition. And still, Tony envied him.
9
Tony had only been with one girl in his life, his sophomore year in high school, before he was sure about his own orientation. Her name was Brenda Kay and she was a sweetheart. Of course, it was an awkward break up, especially because they didn’t break up for the usual reasons couples do. She didn’t understand how he could have been with her at all, if he was gay. What made it even more surprising, now that he’d been “officially” gay since junior year, was that he eventually gave in to Iris.
It started off innocently enough, at least from his side. She
came over and started talking. He put on the coffee.
“So how’s everything?” Tony said.
“Good, I guess,” Iris responded. “Tony, I’m a bit nervous. I’m not sure exactly why you wanted me over here. I mean, you made it clear you didn’t want anything to do with me.”
He walked over, handed Iris her cup and sat down next to her.
“That’s not true.”
“Right, you want to be friends, but as much as I want to be here, you can see why this is a little awkward.”
“All right, that’s fair. So what can I do to put you at ease?”
Iris put her cup of coffee down, looked him in the eye, and before he knew she was going to do it, she leaned in and kissed him. It was a firm plant on the lips.
She backed away, embarrassed.
Tony smiled. “Feel better?”
“A little. You’re not mad?”
“Not really. Reminded me a little of my ex.”
“You mean your last guy?” she said, a bit insulted.
“No,” he laughed. “Her name was Brenda. It was back in high school.”
“You had a girl?”
“Don’t act so shocked. Yes, she was my one and only, before I realized I was more attracted to guys.”
“So are you attracted to girls?”
“Yes Iris.”
She looked at him. “Are you…?” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Attracted to you?” Tony said. “Of course I am Iris. You’re beautiful.”
She blushed. This time she moved in to kiss him for real, her tongue darting in his mouth to find his.
“Iris, don’t…” he said, backing away.
“Why not?” Iris said. “You said it yourself. You think I’m beautiful. No one has ever called me beautiful before.”
“No one?”
She shook her head. Something about the shy way she was looking at h
im caused something to stir. He hadn’t felt anything remotely down there for a girl since Brenda Kay. Iris didn’t fail to notice.
“Oh my,” she said. She put her hand there and gripped him. Sexual harassment at its finest, except he didn’t feel harassed, and she knew it.
“Iris, what are you…”
“Seducing you.” She French kissed him while holding his growing manhood. He gave in and kissed back. It didn’t feel so bad.
Still there was a moment of hesitation. “Iris, I don’t think we…”
“Yes, don’t think Tony. Don’t think at all.” She placed his hand on her breast. He felt her nipple, hard against his palm.
“Feel good?” she said.
“Yes.”
She took off his shirt, running her hands over his hard chest and abs. He took hers off.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” Tony said.
“Yes,” she said coyly, “Do you?”
He couldn’t respond. And then her mouth was on his again. He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. The rest of their clothes came off before they hit the bed. He entered her, creating a feeling both alien and familiar. She moaned.
“Oh God Tony. I’ve been dreaming of this for so long.”
“Shhh,” he said, and kissed her, pushing in and out, pulsating inside her.
“Oh my God,” she said, “Tony, you feel so good.”
“You… too,” he grunted.
She rested on his chest when it was over and they both fell to sleep. He awoke beside her and thought Oh God what have I done? Iris woke up when she felt him move underneath the sheets. They were on their sides, facing each other.
She smiled. “Hi.”
Oh God, he thought again.
“Tony?”
“Iris, this was wrong. We shouldn’t have.”
She frowned. “Are you saying you regret having slept with me?”
“No, I…”
“This is just a mistake to you, isn’t it?” she shouted.
“It’s not like that. It’s more complicated.”
“It didn’t seem that complicated last night.”
“Well, it is. I…”
The phone rang.
“I’m going to get the phone,” Tony finished.
“Let it ring, this is important.”
“This could be too.”
He sat up and looked at the phone on the nightstand, waiting for it to ring again. Not disappointing him, it did. Iris grabbed his arm just as he reached for it.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Tony said. “I promise.”
“All right! Fine! Get the phone!
He reached for it, expecting her to pull him back again. She didn’t. Tony answered it.
NEW YORK CITY
1
“Did you need a bag for that?”
“No, that’s fine. Thank you.”
The blonde was pretty, and therefore, of course, out of his league, but he smiled and wished her well. She was gone in an instant, and the store was empty again.
There wasn’t much to do at USED BOOKS A LOT but read. It was basically a one man operation. The manager was gone most of the day, and Jeremy grabbed whatever book caught his eye and sat at the desk with it, waiting on the occasional customer to walk through the door. They were rare and it was even rarer when they actually bought something. The place was one of those rinky-dink hole in the walls, full of dusty books and even dustier shelves. There were hundreds of them in the city. It paid the bills (barely) only because he’d been working here the last six years.
He always thought it’d be Myron who’d end up working in a place like this, if he hadn’t become a scientist of course. Myron always loved books and movies. They were his escape from harsh reality.
The bell above the door chimed. Jeremy looked up. It was Emmanuel, his manager, although everyone called him Manny for short.
“Hey kid, ready for a lunch break?”
“Sure am,” Jeremy said, getting up and stretching. He thought it was funny Manny still called him a kid. His boss was near retirement age, though he looked about fifty, even with his prodigious belly overlapping his waistband, protruding out of his shirt, and his grey receding hairline.
“Go ahead,” Manny said. “I’ll cover the fort.”
“You think you can handle them all?” Jeremy said, making a grand sweep with his arms of the shop.
Manny grinned, surveying the sea of untouched books. “Yeah, I think I’ll manage.”
Jeremy headed next door to the deli.
“Hey Jerry!” Carlo greeted him. “What’s da matta? I haven’t seen you here for a week.”
“Yeah, can’t eat here every day Carlo. I’ve been shopping around.”
“Aww,” Carlo clutched his chest, pretending he was wounded. “You’re breakin’ ma heart.”
“You have a heart?” Jeremy looked at him seriously.
“Oooh. Ouch! That hurt.”
Carlo was a mild lift on an otherwise boring workday.
Although he looked nothing like Tony, his Italian accent reminded him
of his old friend.
“All right,” Carlo said. “What’ll it be wise guy?”
“Ham and Swiss, lettuce, tomato…”
“Hold the mayo,” Carlo finished with him. “Do you ever get anything else?”
“You should know. You always wait on me. Then again, I have been shopping around.”
“All right. Closing mouth now.”
He took his sandwich outside and sat on a bench. At least out here he got to people watch. The city was always full of interesting characters.
2
He stuck his head out the window of his fourteenth floor apartment. At eye level, the gorgeous skyline darkened into reds and purples behind the window lit buildings. Directly below him the passing cars and the people on the sidewalks looked like giant ants. Jeremy sought some inspiration, but found none. The air did well to clear his head, but when his head was nothing but clear, it did him no good. He went back to his desk and sat, looking at the computer. On the screen, the first page of the novel that would set him free. He stared at the blank screen for at least five minutes before he realized he had completely zoned out. He came to shaking his head, shaking it off. Jeremy sighed and typed in all caps: JEREMY DANIELS HAS NO LIFE. He got up and walked away from it, heading toward the fridge to find something more entertaining.
3
“You’re not going to eat that?”
Jeremy looked up, startled, from his slice of left over pizza at the TV. He relaxed and settled back in the sofa, when he realized it was just a commercial and the television wasn’t actually addressing
him.
“There’s a healthier alternative,” the lady told the chili dog eating slob on the screen. It was a commercial for soy hot dogs.
“Yuck, soy,” Jeremy said. He was sitting here in the dark, except for the light from the TV, on a Saturday night watching a really terrible Halloween special. Jeremy realized he was quite possibly clinically depressed. At forty-three he was either going through a mid-life crisis, or he was well on his way. Except he’d been feeling this way for the past five years, growing increasingly morose, the more he felt like his life was going nowhere.
“This is it,” he told himself, “This is as good as it gets.” No friends, no love, no money. Manhattan, a city full of people, and Jeremy was the worm in that Big Apple, not thriving, but suffocating inside. People might think it foolish, but at this moment he believed it quite possible to die of loneliness.
He thought he’d go for a walk to clear his head, forgetting it was a Saturday, until he got downstairs. He stopped just inside the lobby, looking through the glass doors. There was a group of girls, dressed to the nines, laughing and generally having a good time, outside on the steps, obviously on their way to a party or club. The floor started to shake, a distant thumping. Then the windows started rattling and vibrating with a steady hum. As the sound got nearer and louder, he realiz
ed it was an oncoming car. It stopped by the curb in front of the building, the bass from the car’s stereo blasting to full capacity, sounding like a muddy mess to anyone outside the car’s interior. Jeremy put his hands over his ears. There were two guys in the car. The driver rolled down his window, lowering the music halfway (which was still too loud).
“Hey baby!” he said, although Jeremy wasn’t clear which baby he was taking to, “Want to go for a ride?”
“Yeah right!” one of the girls said, and they all laughed. At least they had good taste.
“Aw come on,” the driver pleaded.
“Nah, I don’t think so,” she said. And Jeremy didn’t think he was going to stick around for this. He turned and went back upstairs as the car drove away. He wasn’t looking forward to walking through a bunch of cheerful party goers.
He got upstairs, put on his lounge pants, and turned the TV back on. The phone rang as soon as he sat on the sofa. He looked over at the clock to see it was a little past eleven. He wondered who would be calling at this hour. Jeremy walked over to the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Mr. Daniels?” It was a young girl’s voice, probably fourteen or fifteen.
“Yes?”
“We’ve selected your name from a list of men, and we were wondering if you’d like to appear in the next issue of Playgirl.” There was another girl giggling in the background.
“Really?” He acted shocked.
“Yes, we’d like to see your wang in our magazine.” The girl in the background was obviously in hysterics now, trying to hold it in.
“Sure,” Jeremy said wearily. The girl on the line suddenly became quiet. Perhaps she hadn’t anticipated that response.
“Okay, good,” she said. “Um hum. What we need is for you to come down and take some test shots.”
“All right, where…” Jeremy said, looking at his caller ID, “Miss Jackson?”
“Shit!” The girl at the other end slammed down the phone. Jeremy put the receiver back in its cradle, thinking not for the first time that he should get rid of his land line, and just keep the cell. At least he would avoid the telemarketers and most prank calls. But there was a feeling of nostalgia attached to it, of a simpler time. He walked back to the sofa, unmuted the TV and sat down with a sigh.
The Pit in the Woods: A Mercy Falls Mythos Page 13