by A. D. McLain
John looked uncomfortable. “We’re just worried about you. After what happened to your par—” He stopped short, but the unfinished word hung in the air between them.
And suddenly, she understood. It wasn’t about her at all. It never had been. This was about her parents. She was being pursued because of her parents, because she’d taken up their work with the SES. John and everyone else who missed them were being overprotective – not because of her so much as because they were still feeling raw after the accident. This was their way of coping.
After a moment, Nicole sighed and pushed back her aggravation. “I’m not my parents. I’m going to be fine.” All the same, she tucked the cell phone into her purse and offered John a weak smile. She couldn’t stay mad at him, after all, it was a very sweet– if misguided – gesture. With a small sense of satisfaction, she noticed John seemed relieved now that she’d taken the phone. At least she’d made one of them feel better.
“Before I forget,” John said, changing the subject, “Meg, what are you doing tonight?”
“Why?” Meg hedged.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go to that club on 5th Street with me and some friends.”
“Why, John Markham – are you asking me out?” Meg teased.
“I… no… I mean, I kinda… well, there’s someone else I kind of was hoping that maybe we’d… start something. You know?”
“Really? Who?” Nicole smiled. John was a sweet guy, despite the aggravation he caused her. He deserved to meet someone nice who liked him back.
“Just… well… Susan.”.
“Susan?” Nicole repeated, and she grinned.
“Yeah,” He offered her a sheepish grin and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Wait,” Meg scrunched her face in thought, “is she the attorney you guys are always talking about?”
“Yeah,” John grinned.
Meg offered him a triumphant smile. “Cool.”
Nicole had to agree. The few times she’d spoken to Susan, she’d seemed really nice, and she appeared to like John well enough.
Meg held a hand to her hip. “Why are you asking me to go out with you and your friends, if you’re interested in this Susan?”
“Yeah, and why aren’t I invited?” Nicole teased. “Are you planning an orgy without me?” She put her hand to her chest. “Humph. I’m hurt. Really.” She batted her eyelashes a couple of times for effect and threw a wink over to Meg. Sure enough, Meg was smiling proudly at Nicole’s very Meg-like response.
John shot Nicole a look but chose not to respond to the sarcasm. “I didn’t invite you, because you always complain about how loud clubs. As for you,” he turned back to Meg, “Susan knows this guy she wants to set you up with. He’s a cop, his name is Mark.”
Meg turned her attention back to John and started counting off fingers. “One, why would Susan want to set me up when we haven’t even met? Two, what makes her think this guy is my type?”
John flushed. “I guess it’s because I talk about you guys all the time. She said Mark is great, but he never goes out or seems to do anything outside of work. He’s really devoted to helping people, which makes him an awesome guy, but he doesn’t really take the time to take care of himself. I told her how you are tough, smart, loyal, always seizing the day, and she figured someone with a strong personality like yours would be able to get through to him.”
“Oh.” It was Meg’s turn to have heated cheeks. “Well, the answer is, no.”
“Why not?” John’s brow crinkled in confusion.
“Got too much work to do. I’m working on about ten projects at once right now. Maybe another time.”
John shrugged. “Okay. If you change your mind, we’ll be there from eight ’til about ten.”
“Okay, I’ll keep it in mind.”
John said his goodbyes and headed off to his own car and Nicole settled into the passenger seat of Meg’s car. Now all the madness with John was over, her mind went straight back to daydreaming about a certain Mr. Coverton.
“Nicole,” Meg’s voice broke through her thoughts. “You know you can talk to me about anything, don’t you?”
“I know.”
“Do you want to talk about what’s on your mind?”
“Not right now.”
Meg indicated to turn a corner. “Is this about that David guy?”
Nicole swallowed heavily before she responded. “Yeah, it is, but I don’t want talk about him right now. I mean, I do think about him a lot, but I don’t really have everything figured out in my head yet. I need some more time to think about what I’m feeling before I talk about it. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, but you know, sometimes talking helps to figure things out.” Meg cringed, knowing she should really learn to take her own advice.
“I do know, but I still need to work this out on my own first. Okay?”
“Okay.” Meg pulled over in front of the apartment building and parked, leaning over to give Nicole a hug. “Call me if you need me.”
“I will.”
10
Nicole dropped the cell phone onto the couch and kicked off her shoes. “Okay,” she muttered, “so what if they mean well, and they’re just reacting to some underlying fear that I’ll follow my parents to an early grave? What am I supposed to do with a cell phone?” Her parents were gone, so she didn’t have anyone to keep track of her comings and goings. No one noticed if she didn’t text when she arrived at school or came home for the night. Hers was a small town, and she knew it well, so GPS was unnecessary. She had her own professional camera, so she never saw the need to get an expensive phone to take pictures. She and Meg preferred hanging out in person to talking on a phone. Being on the phone for too long always gave Nicole a headache. Her ears were sensitive to loud sounds, and no matter how low she turned the volume on phones, they always bothered her eventually. And they cost money. She could put the money for a cell phone toward groceries or school books. She sat down, propping her feet up on the coffee table and started to fiddle with the cell phone’s antenna.
She stared at the blank phone display and grimaced. Okay, she was probably being too hard on everyone but she couldn’t seem to help herself, she was too used to being left alone. This center of attention thing was getting really old, real fast. She snapped the antenna back down and set the phone down on the end table. At least she didn’t have to worry about being coddled tonight. John was out with friends, and Meg was busy with homework, so she was unlikely to be disturbed. A smile crept over her face. A night alone – this was exactly what she needed. No phone calls. No worrying friends. No pressure. Maybe, she could relax with a hot bath and watch a little TV ’til she fell asleep. Now there was a plan.
Nicole took one look at Meg on the other side of the doorway and said, “No.”
“No, what?” Meg asked in confusion.
“You’re here because you and John both have it in your heads that I need some type of bodyguard or something.”
Meg rolled her eyes. “No, smart ass. I’m here because I thought you might like the company, and oh … I don’t know, maybe because we’re best friends, and I thought you might like to help me procrastinate with some ice cream and video games? But if you’re not interested in Phish Food ice cream….” Meg waved the delectable ice cream pint through the crack in the door.
Nicole stared longingly at the treat and found herself salivating.
Meg smiled triumphantly. “That’s what I thought.”
“What game did you have in mind?” Nicole smiled in spite of herself and opened the door all the way.
“Nalagata Strike.” Meg pulled out the fighter game Nicole had given her for her last birthday. They’d played it a lot the first couple of weeks, but then the accident happened, and Nicole hadn’t been in a video game mood. “I am so going to kick your butt as Yoyamanae, the Elven Samurai.” Meg’s eyes twinkled.
“As long as I can play Groztu. I love that little imp.”
Setting the game do
wn, the two girls walked into the kitchen to serve the ice cream. Nicole started pulling out the various toppings they’d need, while Meg grabbed the bowls and spoons. “Hey, do you have any more of the Fudge Brownie ice cream left?” Meg asked.
“Do camels live in the desert?”
Meg chuckled. “That’s my girl.” Taking the toppings, Meg spooned generous servings of both flavors of ice creams into their bowls and covered the already rich treat with walnuts, chocolate syrup and whipped cream.
“Ahh… you do make the best sundaes ever.” Nicole sighed appreciatively.
“I can’t take all the credit. The ice cream does a lot of the work for me. You know, I heard somewhere once that ice cream is actually a temporary fix for being sad, or depression, or something.”
“Really? But then, I suppose any girl over fifteen already knew that.”
“Yeah,” Meg grinned in agreement. “It temporarily raises the serotonin levels in the brain, I think.”
“I don’t really care what’s in it or what it does, as long as it keeps on doing it.” Nicole dripped some chocolate syrup onto her tongue and licked the bottom of her overfilled spoon. They both laughed as they headed back into the living room.
The girls watched some TV while they ate, not wanting to get the game controllers sticky with the ice cream. When they were both done, Nicole gathered the bowls and headed back into the kitchen, leaving Meg watching some weird commercial with a football player dancing in a tutu, selling shampoo. “That’s just weird,” she mumbled to herself while she ran water into the dishes and dried her hands on a dishrag.
“Here he comes to save the day,” Meg started to sing, and it was so loud, Nicole thought Meg had come into the kitchen with her.
She turned to comment on Meg’s awful song choice, but to her surprise, Meg was still sitting in the living room. Nicole shook her head and turned off the kitchen light. It was so strange, Meg had sounded as if she was right behind her. She sighed and sat down beside her friend. Must be the unusually strong hearing everyone always accused her of having. “Why on Earth were you singing the theme song to Mighty Mouse?” she asked with a wry smile.
Meg looked momentarily taken back and shook her head. “Get out of my mind, Cameron.”
Nicole blinked. “Wait… you mean I did it again?”
Meg nodded. Wow, they must really be on the same wave length lately. She’d never picked up this much from Meg before. “So, why were you thinking the theme song to Mighty Mouse?” she questioned.
Meg smiled. “Don’t know. You know me, I’m a veritable jukebox of mismatched music.”
Five hours later, they were still sitting on the couch, playing the video game. “So, why didn’t you go out with John tonight?” Nicole asked as she barely got her fighter out of the corner before Meg’s special hit her.
“I just had a lot of work to do tonight.” Meg shrugged and grabbed the imp with a Class Seven grapple hold.
“Hence the five hour ‘Video Game and Ice Creamathon’.”Nicole gritted her teeth and finally broke the grapple, managing a nice combo in the process.
Meg’s only response was a special combo that had the screen lighting up with all the points she was racking up, leaving Nicole’s fighter obliterated in the assault. “I win again,” she announced triumphantly. That means you get to order the pizza.”
“Pizza? It’s 11 o’clock at night!”
“So? I skipped lunch.” Meg shrugged.
“Meg, what’s really going on?”
Meg sighed and put down her controller. “What do you mean?” She looked over at Nicole’s pointed stare and leaned back on the couch. “I was worried about you. I was flipping through the channels on TV, and I saw some ‘Cars Attacking People’ or ‘Spectacular Wrecks’, or some show like that, and I got a bad feeling about you. Promise me you’ll be extra careful.”
“I promise,” Nicole said sincerely, not even thinking of making light of her friend’s comments.
A lot of the tension drained out of Meg with Nicole’s words. “Good.”
“You know, you could have just told me this over the phone. Then you could have gone out and met that guy John was talking about.”
Meg shrugged. “You know I usually avoid bars anyway…unless a really cute guy is involved.”
Nicole snorted. “I don’t know why. It’s not like you ever go out with any of them.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You love to flirt, but as soon as a guy starts to put off the ‘I’m serious’ vibes, you get so cold and closed off, it’s like watching an ice wall literally go up in front of you. You were so cold to that last guy, I thought his face would shatter.”
“Well, maybe not his face…” Meg trailed off meaningfully.
They both started laughing. “That’s horrible!” Nicole announced between giggles.
“I know.”
Meg smiled, but there was something besides the humor in her eyes, something sad. “Meg, what’s really going on? Is something bothering you?” Nicole questioned.
“I’m just… restless. I was feeling a little claustrophobic in my apartment, so I needed to get out for a while. But you’re right, it’s late. I should be going.” She got up to unplug the controller but Nicole stopped her with a hand on her arm.
People generally thought Meg was cheerful, and usually she was. Other times it was a facade. Meg’s childhood left invisible scars. Nicole was the only one who Meg let near her when the burden became too heavy and the mask fell. She went to great lengths to keep everyone else out. Once, she went so far as to fake chickenpox just to be left alone for a couple of weeks. But that was years ago. “It brought back memories… my attack… didn’t it?”
“No! Well… maybe. Maybe a little, but I don’t want you beating yourself up over this. I’m fine, really. Just a little restless. But honestly, I’m fine, now. I should get going.” She stood to go, but Nicole stopped her a second time.
“Okay, I’ll order the pizza,” she said with mock resignation, “but only if we can have extra cheese.”
Meg smiled slowly and sat back down. “Alright, you’ve twisted my arm. You order, and I’ll see what’s on TV.”
“You got it. I’ll be right back.” She headed to the kitchen, but paused by the balcony doors, hearing a sound. Peeking through the blinds, she saw the wolf and smiled, letting him in. “Hey,” she laughed, rubbing behind his ear.
“Holy Hallucinations!” Meg jumped off the couch. “Is that a wolf?”
Nicole chuckled. “He’s the one that saved me in the woods. He’s been showing up here at night.”
Meg cautiously approached. The wolf lowered his head calmly. With a trembling hand, she touched his fur. “He’s not a spirit guide.” Her voice was barely audible.
“Nope, he’s definitely real. I probably should have warned you, but honestly I wanted to see your reaction.” Meg shot her an aggravated look.
“Okay, so this is cool, weird, but cool. But are you sure it’s safe?” The wolf padded over to the couch and found a spot on the floor to lie down. Settling in, he closed his eyes.
“I’ve been sleeping in the same room with him ever since what happened. I know it’s crazy, but it feels like he’s here to watch over me. It’s been comforting to have him here.” Meg quietly resumed her seat, keeping a skeptical eye on the wolf, but he didn’t acknowledge her movement. Nicole smiled and resumed her task of ordering food. Two hours later, she was stuffed and holding the stitch in her side from all the laughing she’d done at some late-night comedy sketches.
Meg flipped off the TV as the national anthem portended the end of broadcasting for the night. “I should go. I probably need a little sleep, after all.”
“Stay here,” Nicole said, straightening up. “It’s late, you’re tired and you shouldn’t be driving.”
“I would, but you snore,” Meg said, completely straight faced.
“Hey!” Nicole cried out indignantly.
“Just calling it like I h
ear it.” The corners of Meg’s lips curled up. She released a short laugh when Nicole pelted her with a pillow from the couch. Still grinning, she helped Nicole finish cleaning up. The two exchanged a tight hug before said their good nights.
“I don’t snore,” Nicole muttered after the front door had closed.
“Yes, you do,” Meg called from the hall. Smiling, Nicole cast a mock evil glare at the door and went to bed.
Nicole listened to the message on her machine a second time. There was no mistake, it was Billy and he’d announced that he would be arriving on a ten-thirty flight that night.
She tried to restrain her excitement. His visit was coming out of the blue, and she had a lot to do before his flight got in. She definitely needed to clean up a little bit. Briefly she considered what food she had in stock. There was bread, some peanut butter and sandwich meat, assorted breakfast cereals and plenty of snacks. That should be good for now, she decided, so she wouldn’t need to go shopping. She did need to get some gas for her car, but she could do that on the way to the airport. What should she wear? She hadn’t seen Billy in so long. Would he be proud of her, happy about the way she was living her life? Would he still see her as the responsible, intelligent individual he always had? A million questions ran through her head, not the least of which being the reason for his visit, but she couldn’t wait to see him again.
They’d grown up together as brother and sister, close despite the eight-year age gap. He’d always acted the part of an overprotective older brother, but that was before he left home when he was eighteen. He’d left to make a life for himself as a world-famous fiction writer. Their parents, both so scientifically minded, believed there wasn’t any point in wasting his time on such a frivolous dream and had wanted him to do something more realistic. Determined to follow his dreams, Billy had left, but he’d kept in touch through post cards and occasional letters.