by Thomas, Anne
"Could it be from all the spiked punch you've been inhaling? I've been watching you from across the room. What's your problem, Red? So Molly's dating and she's happy you wanted her to do that."
"I know!" Harrison shouted suddenly, his face red.
The party conversation stopped momentarily to turn and look at him from his outburst. When they saw nothing particularly interesting, they returned to how they were.
He glared at Joe. "I don't want to talk about it right now."
Josiah shrugged. "Fine, I don't care. I don't care about Molly having an interest in some guy that even a man like me would have to say is looking pretty damn good. See, I'm at a party and I usually like to be festive instead on festering on things I shouldn't even care about. No, that you shouldn't even care about. Have you been informed lately that you yourself is dating? And not even just any woman with a woman that Molly absolutely hates and who teases and annoys the hell out of Molls."
Harrison's eyebrow raised in sudden interest. "Wait...what?"
"You don't know about Molly and Candy Grey?"
He groaned. "Please, I already have Radcliffe and Marty calling her that to make fun of her don't you call her that."
"Fine you don't know about how Candice Greybill is always on Molly's case? That she teases her all the time and Molly absolutely hates her and you're going out with her? Which only makes things worse? Yet she's not angry at you. She don't mind you dating her. What's with you and this unknown guy? If you can date the entire woman population can't
Molly date this one guy?"
Something inside Harrison screamed the answer 'No!', which only infuriated him more. "What the hell is wrong with me?" He asked.
Josiah shrugged. "Hell if I know! You got some messed up issues going on there. You better get rid of them before Molly sees you or you're going to have quite a lot of explaining to do. And no more ripping down streamers I had to go to over a dozen stores to find those damn things."
Harrison made a strangled noise that came from deep in his throat as a reply. Josiah hardly bothered to lift an eyebrow as he shook his head and walked away.
Harrison Redford slammed down the clear plastic cup that was now empty. "This was supposed to be a surprise for Molly. Looks like the surprise is on damned me." He muttered in his twisted misery.
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Because the party went late in to the night, Josiah felt too tired to go out of his way to drive the ten miles away to where he lived. Instead, he followed Harrison to his apartment one floor above Molly's to crash there. But just because he didn't have to drive away didn't mean he'd get to sleep any sooner. And as he found out, it was quite the opposite.
"So you never heard Molly or Marty say anything about this guy she was kissing tonight?"
"My God Harrison for the last time, no, I don't know anything about the guy Molly was kissing!" Josiah groaned, molding a pillow over his face in hope to block out Harrison's annoying voice. "You know, Molly is your friend why don't you just ask her?"
"I can't." Harrison said softly. "We have this deal...we don't ask each other about who we're dating. she never asks about any of my girlfriends I can't turn around and ask her the first time she has a boyfriend. It's supposed to go both ways."
"Then ask Marty."
"I can't!"
"What, another pact?" Josiah teased.
"No...then Marty would tell Molly I was asking. Besides the pact...well then Molly would think I'm actually interested and wondering who this guy is."
"But you are interested and wondering."
Harrison shook his head. "Besides the point the girls can't know that."
"And yet, I don't see why. Is this still about your pride and suffocating big ego?"
He groaned. "You are of little help, you know that?"
"Why? Because I think you should lower your pride and find out yourself? I'm sure Molly's interested in knowing about your affairs with Candy Grey...I mean Candice Greybill. So you tell her, she tell you problem solved and I can go to sleep."
"It still don't work like that."
"Then I just can't get myself to keep caring because personally, I don't see why you care so much! Molly's a big girl she can handle her dates herself she don't need you. And you have a life and a girlfriend of your own why do you care about hers?"
Harrison shrugged. "Because I care. Because she's my best friend. Because..."
"Because?"
"I don't know. I don't want her hurt."
Josiah made a disbelieving noise. "Yeah sure like anyone buys that one. You think about it. If you do, I think you'll start to realize why you might be this green about Molly dating. And then you can get back to me. But for now let me sleep!" And with that, Josiah rolled over to face the back of the sofa and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep as he was forced to listen to Harrison's curious and inconsiderate pacing.
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Marty's eyes went wide when she saw Josiah the next day.
"What the hell happened to you?" She asked.
"Harrison." He growled, rubbing at the dark circles under his eyes and shaking out his bed head hair.
"What do you mean? What's wrong with Harrison?"
Josiah shrugged, knowing that he'd get beat to a pulp if he told Marty about Harrison's freak out. "He was a bit...uh...tipsy last night, that's all. Annoying as hell."
"Huh. Well, Molly sure was happy last night. She loved the surprise party which is good, seeing that she usually hates surprises."
Josiah was tempted to ask about the man that had stayed by Molly's side with his arm around her waist all night, but knew he'd only be playing with fire and Joe was never one to risk getting burned over something superficial.
"Good, I'm glad. But I'm also tired I'm going to take off to my own home and get some sleep. I'll see you later."
And with that, he jingled his key ring and walked away, leaving Marty to go about her original business.
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Harrison wiped his sweaty palms against the dry of his jeans, chewing on his bottom lip a habit he had learned from Molly.
After spending the night pacing, he knew he might as well make it count for something. Therefore, he was heading over to Marty's apartment. Not an easy task, however.
With a low groan, he knocked on her door. He was rewarded in a few moment's time with her presence.
"Hey, I was...well, that's to say, I was..." He fumbled.
Marty sighed, looking at her watch. "I have eleven minutes make this quick." She said, pushing him in and shutting the door.
"Now, spit it out or I'm leaving I have a bunch of errands to run today."
He nodded. "Okay, but you can't you cannot tell Molly I came to you about this, okay?"
"Sure, whatever. What do you want?"
"I was just wondering...who was that guy she was with last night?"
Molly looked at him in shock for a moment, then burst out laughing. "That's why you're here? Why you're so nervous? Because you want to know that?" She mocked in her delight.
He growled. "Just tell me."
She crossed her arms. "No, I don't think I will."
"What do you mean?" He outburst.
"I mean, I don't tell Molly's business to other people. If you want to know about Ephram, you ask her."
An eyebrow perked. "Ephram? What kind of stupid girlie name is that?"
He asked, a slow smile spreading. Maybe he didn't have anything to worry about after all.
"Oh, I don't know. Molly loves the name. Especially his last name."
"Last name?" He swallowed hard.
"Yeah. She keeps getting these dreamy eyes. I think I caught her already writing down 'Molly Vinick."
"Vinick? What a stupid name."
Marty hid her grin, enjoying Harrison's obvious jealous immensely. "Molly don't think so and that's all that matter
s."
Harrison noticeably grew more unsettled. "How long has she been seeing this guy for?"
Marty made the motions of zipping her lips and throwing away the key. Harrison glared at her, but she didn't budge from her decision.
Frustrated even more, Harrison turned and stomped out angrily. "Gee, thanks a lot." He grumbled before slamming the door.
Once in the hallway, he flipped open his cell phone. "Hey Joe any more remarkably unuseful ideas?"
"Didn't go so well, huh?"
Harrison let out a low groan. "You know that it wouldn't."
"Yeah well, you tried. Now you only have one choice ask Molly."
"Yeah, I don't think so." He replied, closing his cell phone and stomping down the hall. "Judas Priest, all stressed out and no one to choke." He swore.
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His plan to find out about this new mysterious guy had failed, yet that was only half of the reason he was near foaming at the mouth from his boiling mood. He had yet to understand why the hell he cared about this Ephram Vinick being in Molly's life. What did he want to know for? He had Candice Greybill to keep him occupied he didn't need to brood over Molly's own personal life. She was a big girl she could take care of herself.
So why did he still care so much?
Maybe, he told himself, it was because they stuck together through everything. They were so close and now, could it be, they were drifting apart? Now that they were both busy with their own affairs, would there still be time to retain a good relationship as they had always done?
His sensible side told him that of course, nothing like that would change. It didn't matter. It never did before, and Molly wouldn't allow such a thing to happen he knew this. So how could this be the problem?
The only thing worse than brooding over something you hate, was brooding over something you didn't understand.
But even though he already knew this would stick like glue to the back of his mind, he still wasn't able to lower his pride enough to go talk to Molly.
He wasn't that desperate yet.
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"Hey Harry, got a sec?"
Harrison looked up from his desk, his fingers entwined in his shaggy hair.
Molly stood in his office doorway with a beautiful smile on. She sure was happy about something.
"Can I trade this job for what's behind door number two?" He replied, watching a pencil roll off his desk surface and land with a light clatter on the floor.
She smiled wider, a curl falling over her forehead that she tried to blow away but failed. "You can trade this job in for anything you want. You just got to want it bad enough to do the work."
"Hmm...another thing to ponder over...just what I need." He joked, then nodded over to her. "But you didn't come here to listen to my sorrowful woes. What's up, slapjack?"
She laughed when he used her old nickname from way back. How strange was it that all the high school girls used to get jealous over Harrison giving her a nickname after a breakfast food.
"You remembering those girls in high school?" He grinned.
She threw her head back in joyous laughter. "Yep."
"Those were some crazy times back then."
"Definitely. But uh...I was wondering if you wanted to go out to eat with us tonight? Marty just dropped by to ask me, so..."
"Oh...sure, I suppose."
"Great." Her smile dimmed. "Will it just be you or will you be bringing Candice?"
The question quickly bounced back and forth in his head. Should he or shouldn't he?
If he did, he could give her a dose of her own medicine. To let her know that he didn't care about her relationships because he had a very healthy one right in front of her eyes. Maybe he could send her thoughts wild like she did with him.
Or he could leave Candice home and just go himself. He could get Molly all alone. Talk to her about any particular recent events. After all, why would she purposely keep her boyfriend secret, now that she had him at her party and knew that he was aware of a situation going on?
His curiosity, his frustration and his brooding could all end. "I don't think I'll bring Candice. It'll probably just be me."
Her eyes seemed a little brighter with that news. "Okay, so you're coming. Great. I'll see you then." Flashing him another smile, she turned and walked away, her midback length curls bouncing as she went.
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Harrison went to drop by Molly's class room to ask about where the dinner would be, but he found the room dark and empty. Looking in to Marty's room, he saw she was still there.
"Where's Radcliffe?" He asked, swinging his head in.
Marty looked up from her papers that she had been going through. Quickly, she grabbed a pencil and started to chew on the end. Harrison wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"That's nasty, Marty."
But she wasn't caring. She was giving herself time to think of something. "Uh, I don't know, Harrison. Perhaps her boyfriend picked her up?"
"And she didn't tell you? Just disappeared suddenly?"
"I'm a very busy person! And I don't require, unlike you, that she tell me everything that she's doing. If you're so interested...find out yourself."
He squinted at her, as if trying to read her mind. "I know there's something you're not telling me. Something you know."
"The truth? I know a hell of a lot. I just don't go around broadcasting it, especially if I'm told not to."
"So what you're saying," Harrison said, his eyes glaring angry once again. "Is that Molly is asking you to keep secrets from me now is that it?"
Marty crunched on the pencil a bit more. "I think you two really need to talk to each other and not have me be your middle man."
"Well ya know, I think I would do just that if I could find the damn woman!" He shouted as he lost control of his temper, slamming her door and stalking down the hallway.
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Harrison returned to his office, only to see a stack of books on there that he had forgotten about.
Candice had to leave early today for some excuse or another, but she had library books that were late and asked him if he could drop them off.
Not exactly what he wanted to be doing at the moment, but there was little to be done about that right now. After all, Molly did live in the same apartment building as he they were bound to bump in to each other at some point soon.
Grabbing the stack of books, he hurried to the library, anxious to get out of here.
"These are from Candice Greybill." He said, placing the books on the checkout counter. He turned to walk out when he turned back around, doing a double take at the woman behind the desk.
"Oh no. No." He said, shaking his head. "This is not who you're cheating me with! If you're going to cheat on me...God, at least make it human!"
She looked up at him in misery. "Please, don't make anything of this."
"Well what the hell are you doing here? What, I don't pay you enough?"
She shook her head. "No, actually. Teaching isn't enough."
"It never looked like you were hurting before. You have an apartment, a car..." He stopped.
"Yeah? An apartment that's the size of most people's master bedrooms. A car that's eight years old. And no, I don't go anywhere. Do you know why? I can't afford it. My idea of spring break and summer break is basically...well, it's Marty and I staying at my place and watching movie marathons. I'm twenty-nine years old, Harrison!"
"So am I!"
"But you have a girlfriend that you can afford to take out."
"So? You have a boyfriend that takes you out!"
She shook her head, laying her face in the darkness of her hands.
"You just don't get it, alright? I don't even understand why you care. Just let me have the damn job it has nothing to
do with you!"
Harrison felt awkward. Through the years, he usually was the main cause of her temper and almost always on the receiving end of it. But now there was a different feel about it.
She was being closed. She was being all private like. And most of all, she was being one hell of a lot like him.
"I don't care about the job, Molly. But I do care about you. And I care about our relationship. I want to know when you started keeping secrets from me and why you felt compelled that you had to."
"What all do you think I've been keeping from you? You act like I have a whole different life on the side that you know nothing about. Really Harrison, I promise I'm not a superhero with a secret identity or something."
He met her glare, burning her irises with his anger. "Oh, you don't have a life on the side, huh? So why did I have to attend a surprise party just to find out that you're dating and looking very much in love? Why did I have to return Candice's books just to find out that you're working two jobs and that you look very tired? Molly, I felt like you're slipping away from me!"
That was all she could take. She slammed the book she had been browsing through while he was talking. Licking her cracked lips, she growled low in her throat. "Well you know what, Harrison? Now you know how I feel every time you ditch me so you can go fool a woman in to loving you just long enough for you to get your use out of her. Maybe you'll start to see my side of things now. Or would that be asking too much? Hoping too much?"
Grabbing her jacket, she got up and went to the door. "Get out the library is closing early today."
"You can't do that." he said, standing his ground.
"The hell I freaking can't!" She yelled, stomping over to him and grabbing his ear hard, leading him out the door. Instead of leaving, she gave him a hard shove to make him stumble out, then shut and locked the door, remaining in the library herself. Steaming from their conversation and breathing heavy, she returned to her desk.
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She would be considered strange indeed if anyone found out that when Molly Radcliffe was upset, she blasted the radio to eighties music and tended to sing along to any sad song. "Oh mother, say a prayer for me. Jesse's back in town and it won't be easy." Molly whispered as the tune came on, turning on the warm water to fill up the sink. " near me, don't let him touch me, don't let him please me."