by Meghan Diane
When we reached the front door, the weight instantly lifted. There stood Jason. Of course Jason was working. I had bribed him with a whole bag of Red Bulls. With a newfound confidence, I strode into the store. The bell on the door rang behind us.
“Heyyyyy Jason,” I cooed. “This is Phoenix.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
I could almost see the lightbulb go off in his head at the recognition of her name.
“Oh Phoenix. We’ve heard so much about you.”
I shot him a death stare.
“All good,” he laughed. “All good.”
Phoenix stood in the doorway taking in the store. It was a lot to handle. There was vinyl everywhere, and to the untrained eye it looked like a mess. Seemingly endless aisles led to other aisles and it wasn’t until after you got close enough to the madness that you could see that everything had its own place. There was a section for jazz. There was a section for older classics. There was even a section for newer electronica music.
The whole place smelled like a weird mixture of dust and cardboard. Secretly it was one of my favorite smells, but I couldn’t help but wonder what it smelled like to everyone else.
“Want the grand tour?” I asked, gesturing toward the madness before us.
She nodded, and I led her down the first row, starting with the classics.
As we walked between the aisles, I ran my fingers over the familiar records. She would pick up random albums, flip them over, smile, and place them back down.
I’d always had these fantasies of what it would be like to take the person I was dating to work. I would zone out while cleaning the never-ending supply of records. I would think about how great it would be to make out with them among my most desired things, the idea making me high as I cleaned.
But now, being there with Phoenix, I realized I didn’t want to make out with her. I wanted to show her all of my favorite things. I wanted to show her how I spent my days. I wanted to show her where we kept all of my most wished-for records. I wanted to show her the part of my life that not everyone got to see.
“So this is where I work,” I said, gesturing to the rest of the store. “It’s also the reason I come home smelling like an old person’s house.”
She laughed and I lightened up a little.
“And over here,” I directed as I led her down one of the aisles in the back that we hadn’t gotten to yet, “is what we affectionately refer to as the stain.” I pointed to the discoloration on the floor where the hardwood was haphazardly colored a darker brown. “Now I’m not going to tell you how it got here. That’s a story that you’re going to have to get Cassie to tell you. But I will tell you it’s a good one.”
Her laughter played gently in my ear. “Noted.”
I grinned, turning to meet her gaze. Her brown eyes softened as she took me in. “I like it here. I understand why you spend so much time working now.” She pointed to the light coming through the window. “And look at that lighting. Tell me you have some great shots of the store?”
I blushed. I’d never really thought of bringing my camera in here. It felt weird to mix the two worlds.
“I haven’t actually.” But now I couldn’t help but think how good she’d look leaning up against a box of records. Maybe I’d have to reconsider.
“Ready to go?” I asked, turning to walk toward the door. But as I pivoted on my heels, I felt my face collide with another figure, my vision momentarily blurring. “I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed, knowing I’d probably just knocked over some poor defenseless customer. I was going to hear about this later from Jason, I was sure.
“It’s okay,” Cassie whispered.
“Oh! It’s you.”
“Yeah, it’s me.” She stuck out her hand toward Phoenix. “I’m Cassie. It’s nice to finally meet you. Aurora talks about you nonstop.”
“And now it’s time to go!” I pointed toward the door.
“She talks about you all of the time too,” Phoenix laughed. “I’m so glad you were here. It wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t get to meet you.”
“I know, I agree. Has Aurora given you the grand tour?”
“She has. This place is awesome. She even showed me the stain.” She lifted her eyebrows high on her forehead, waiting.
“Oh my gosh. You drop coffee one time, and you never hear the end of it.” Cassie narrowed her eyes at me. “But did she tell you how it happened?”
“She didn’t,” Phoenix said, moving closer to Cassie. “Do go on.”
“Well. I’ll have you know I didn’t actually drop the coffee. I’m not clumsy like this one.” She pointed at me and I rolled my eyes. “It would be more accurate to say that I was attacked.”
“Now this I’ve got to hear,” Phoenix said.
Cassie grinned. “So there I was, minding my own business—well for the most part. I was cleaning the records like I always do. And this super banging girl, who I was kind of sleeping with, shows up at the store. It was still early in the morning, so she had brought me a coffee. God I loved her.” She looked off into the distance, obviously replaying a moment that neither of us could see.
“I loved her too,” I added, staring into the same blank space.
Phoenix turned and gave me that look.
“What? Like the girl said, she was totally hot. And, she would bring me coffee too. Loved her.”
“Anyway,” Cassie continued. “There I was, sipping my coffee with this girl. And I mean we were standing pretty close.” She waved her hands around. “I don’t know, maybe I had her backed against the records.”
“So you weren’t cleaning the records at all,” Phoenix laughed.
“Oh not at all. So there we were, when in walks my ex. She had a nasty habit of doing that sometimes. She thought she still had control over me. Anyway, so she sees us of course. And she comes storming over. And I mean storming. I could practically see the smoke coming from her ears. She gets to us, takes one look at the cup, and Hulk smashes it right to the ground.”
“Oooooooo mannn.”
“Long story short, the girl I was with wouldn’t believe me when I said that it was my ex and that we weren’t together anymore.” She hung her head in mock defeat. “And that was the end of banging coffee girl.”
“Damn that really sucks.”
“Doesn’t it though,” Cassie laughed. “Oh well. On to bigger and better things.”
“She means that literally,” I said. “You should see this girl that Cassie is talking to now. She’s got some big—”
“Can we not talk about Hanna?” Cassie interrupted.
“Still not talking?”
“Still not talking,” she repeated. “Girls man, girls.”
I turned to Phoenix and pretended to give her a scared look. “Are you hungry yet? Do you want to go to dinner? I know just the place. We can walk around for a bit if you’re not ready yet.”
“Yeah, of course.” She nodded to Cassie. “Are you going to join us for dinner?”
“I think I’ll pass on this one.” Cassie smiled.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m sure,” she responded, and proceeded to wiggle her eyebrows at me. “You girls have fun.”
Chapter Thirteen
As the waitress poured our wine I leaned back, content. This weekend was going just as I had hoped and I couldn’t help but feel the smile forming at the corner of my lips. Yes, I had panicked at the park, but I was trying to forget about that. Taking Phoenix to Royal Records had gone more than okay. I shouldn’t have been worried that Phoenix and Cassie wouldn’t get along. Of course they would.
“Do you want dessert?” Phoenix asked, taking a sip of her wine.
I eyed her curiously. “How can you possibly have room for dessert after eating all of that food?”
She laughed, filling the air around me with a gentle warmth. “Oh, I didn’t want dessert, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t before I shot down the waitress.”
“Clever,” I laughed. I pointed toward the outdoors. “After w
e finish this wine, do you want to keep walking for a bit?” I asked.
She nodded her head yes. “As long as you don’t plan to take advantage of me, that is.”
I cocked my head and replied, “Are you sure?” Her cheeks flushed and I knew I had won this round.
When we stepped outside the restaurant it was finally dark out. It was a little bittersweet. Nighttime on the Highrise was my favorite time to walk, but that also meant that Phoenix would be leaving in the morning and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that to happen just yet.
We walked for twenty minutes in silence, our steps in sync with one another, just taking in the sparkling lights of the city. With each step I relaxed a little more. I loved being here and I especially loved being here with Phoenix.
“Want to hear some more Greek mythology of the stars?” Phoenix asked, breaking the silence.
“You know I do,” I replied, sneaking a look at her. She held my gaze for a second before peering up into the sky.
“Okay, this one is about Lyra,” she began. “You’re going to like this one because Lyra is actually a lyre, a musical instrument that the Greek gods would play. And this particular Lyre, it belonged to Orpheus. I don’t know if you remember a lot about Orpheus, but he was known for his charm. So it’s only fitting that he be the one to have a musical instrument to charm the ladies. Now to be fair he didn’t just use the lyre to charm the ladies, he also used it to help the Agronauts past the Sirens, but that’s another story.” She peeked over at me to make sure I was still following along. I nodded in encouragement.
“Orpheus was married to Eurydice, well kind of anyway. On her wedding day she fell into a nest of vipers and was bitten and actually died. Orpheus found her body and was distraught. He was in so much distress that even the gods felt bad, and they told him to go to the underworld to get her back. So, he did. Once down there, he played his beloved lyre for Hades and his wife Persephone. They were so enchanted that they agreed to let Eurydice go free, under one stipulation. Orpheus would walk out first, followed by Eurydice. The catch was that Orpheus could not look back until they had both reached the upper world. Seems simple enough, right?”
“I don’t like where this is going,” I teased.
“So Orpheus agreed and began walking. When he reached the upper world he was very pleased with his accomplishment. He turned around to see how far behind his wife was, forgetting that they both had to reach the end before he could look back. His dear wife hadn’t made it to the end yet, and so when he turned to look, she disappeared, never to be seen by him again.”
“Dang,” I whispered. “That really sucks.” I smacked her arm playfully. “I thought you said I was going to enjoy this one?”
She shrugged, “Well, I mean it’s about music and stars. Your two favorite things.”
“Yeah, but it’s tragic!”
She nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, yeah it is.”
In the end though, it didn’t matter that it was tragic. I just liked hearing Phoenix talk about the stars, our stars. I watched her arm swaying beside me. I wanted to hold her hand. My heart began to speed up as I contemplated it. The subway token weighed in my pocket. Screw the damn coin.
Before I could talk myself out of it I reached over and intertwined her fingers with mine, the tension fading when I felt her squeeze my hand lightly in response.
So we walked on, hands intertwined, sharing all of the things that we feared, or didn’t want to fear. Digging until she was in me and I was in her too. I wanted to tell her all of my thoughts, all of my dreams. I even wanted to tell her small things, like my favorite type of ice cream.
I groaned. Could I be anymore cliché? But, I let it happened. I just kept walking, kept talking, kept digging.
We walked for maybe two hours until we finally gave in and sat down on a bench on the side of the walkway. It beckoned for our lost souls, just waiting for us to take a seat and unleash our thoughts.
I did what I was known to do. I slid down into the bench, stretched my legs out in front of me, and looked up at the stars.
I could feel Phoenix watching me, but I didn’t care. I took in the sight of the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, and as always now, I looked for Cassiopeia.
“They’re beautiful again tonight, don’t you think?”
I smiled toward the sky. They were beautiful, and there was nowhere else I wanted to be but under their light.
I imagined what it would be like to be up in the clouds. Would the lights be brighter? Would I find them just as beautiful if they were? Or were they only beautiful because they were so far away? So unattainable? I concluded that they would be brighter and just as beautiful. I’d wear two pairs of sunglasses if they were too bright. This caused me to laugh out loud at the thought.
“Something funny?” she asked, eyeing me up and down.
For a split second I felt self-conscious under her stare, but I pushed that aside too.
“Oh just the sky,” I mused. “It’s so wonderful and so crazy. I can’t help but get lost in it.”
“I know what you mean,” she replied. And I knew she was referring to me, and then I wondered if she did actually know what I meant then?
It was getting late and probably about time to head back to the house, but I was nervous. I wasn’t ready for her to be in my bed. I wasn’t ready to deal with the possibilities of what it meant or didn’t mean. I just wanted to sit here forever without the pressure of what should happen, or what I wanted to happen.
I looked over at her, taking in the lines on her face. She had been through some things, things she wasn’t ready to tell me yet, and I didn’t blame her. There were things I wasn’t ready to admit either. I liked the lines though. They gave off a certain vibe. It’s like you knew she had a life of her own, and she was going somewhere.
She smiled under my stare. “Something wrong?” she asked, turning to meet my gaze. I panicked again.
“Nooo,” I stuttered. “Nothing at all.” I looked away. “I love it here.”
“Me too,” she countered. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
I nodded. “I’m not ready to go yet, I’d like to sit here for a while longer, if that’s okay with you.”
“More than okay,” she breathed, sliding her fingers into mine once more.
I breathed out. “Tell me another story?”
“Okay,” she hummed, looking up at the stars for inspiration. “Well, you know Zeus right? Well you see, he had this girl he really wanted to impress.” Phoenix turned to me, and winked. “Her name was Leda, and she was a princess. She was also, unfortunately, married to King Tyndareus. Well Zeus, he wanted to impress her so bad, but Leda wasn’t having it, she was married after all. So whenever he would get close to her, she would transform into an animal. When she changed into a goose, Zeus got the bright idea to transform himself into a swan. And apparently it worked, and she finally fell for him, and then subsequently slept with him.”
“What a romantic, that Zeus,” I laughed.
“He sure did try, didn’t he? But the story doesn’t end there. Leda went home that night and also slept with her husband.”
“Oh wow. That took a turn.” I frowned. “Dang Leda.”
“Well get this. Rumor has it that she then got pregnant from both men, resulting in twins.” She glanced at me. “Don’t ask me how that works, I don’t know the logistics. I’m just the messenger.” She held up her hands in fake defeat.
“Those Greek gods.” I rolled my eyes. “So scandalous.”
“Right?” She tilted her head back, looking up toward the sky, and I followed suit.
I smiled at the stars above me. Being here with Phoenix was so relaxing. I could sit and just breathe. But then I made the mistake of looking down at my watch. “We better get going. You have to leave early.”
“I wish I didn’t.” I could feel her staring at me.
My face turned to a pout. “I wish you didn’t either.”
When I finally turned, I could see t
he desire in her eyes, and I immediately looked away. My free hand instinctually felt for the coin in my pocket. What are you so scared of Aurora? It’s not like you haven’t kissed a girl before.
“Ready to head back?” she asked, a faint smile on her lips.
“In a minute. Let’s just sit here a minute longer.” I looked back up at the stars. “First one to see a shooting star gets to ask the other any question they want.”
“Interesting,” she mused. “Challenge accepted.”
So we sat there staring up at the stars, wishing, waiting, hoping, for what seemed like hours. I began to think of what it would be like to have Phoenix as my girlfriend. Would every night be like this? Would I always be this happy? Would she make me happier as the days went on?
“THERE!” Phoenix shouted. Knocking me out of my thoughts. “There! Did you see it? I win, I win!” she whooped.
I scowled.
When she turned to find me scowling rather than smiling, she let out a sympathetic “Aww.” This made me scowl even more.
“Well,” I said, “what are you going to ask?”
Phoenix got to her feet. “I don’t quite know yet. Let’s walk while I think about it,” she said, offering her hand to me.
We began walking toward the car, hand in hand. Normally this would be romantic, but tonight I was scared of what she might ask me. Why though?
“I can feel you panicking over there. Relax,” she laughed, turning toward me. “I won’t ask anything too scary.”
Our eyes locked and my heart skipped a beat.
“Okay-y-y,” I stammered.
By the time we made it back to the car I was a bundle of nerves. I leaned against the driver’s side door and let out a sigh. “All right, what are you going to ask? You’ve had this whole walk. By now you must have something.”
“I have something.” She smiled through her lashes, and took one step closer, causing my heart to jump out of my chest. She took another step so that she was standing face to face with me.
“What-t-t is it?” I stammered. Oh no, oh no.
“Aurora,” she said, locking eyes with mine. “Can I kiss you?”