by Raquel Belle
A couple of train rides later, and I was walking up Beth’s street towards her place. To my surprise, she was pacing the sidewalk outside, on the phone. I waved, but she didn’t notice me until I touched her arm.
“Hey,” I said. She gave me a tired smile and hurried off of the phone with whomever it was. I cupped her face in my hands, and she melted against me for a second as I kissed her.
“Hi, sorry, my mom was chewing my ear off.” She huffed and quickly unlocked the gate and then the building’s front door.
“Your mom? How come?” I took her hand in mine and kissed her knuckles. She smiled up at me, as if I’d made her entire day. It made me wonder how she was used to being treated by guys she’d dated.
She sighed. “My brother wants to plan this whole surprise for my mom and make her think he won’t make it for Thanksgiving. However, she isn’t taking it very well, and right now it feels like my brother and I are in trouble.” We walked to the elevator, and she pressed the call button.
“Aw, that’s not too bad. You guys must be very close if she misses him that much,” I said. The elevator doors slid open, and we stepped inside.
“Yeah we’re close, even closer now since our parents split. Mom wants to keep us together as much as possible,” she said. The elevator glided to a stop, and we walked down the hall to her apartment.
“Your parents divorced?” I asked.
She unlocked her front door, and we stepped inside. The cat started purring right away and curled himself through and around her legs until she picked him up.
“Yeah, it’s recent. I’m still working on getting them back together, but they can both be stubborn,” she said, as if she had every intention of reversing her parents’ decision. I didn’t doubt her—Beth was definitely strong willed.
“You don’t think they really wanted to split?” I asked. She dropped her bag on the couch, and I put mine on the floor in front of the coffee table.
She shook her head. “They still love each other, but they just…have to remember what that looked like before Oscar and I were born, now that we’ve moved out, anyway. You want anything to drink, maybe a snack or something?” She turned on the lights in the kitchen and living room, and then fed the cat.
“Water’s good for now,” I said and set up on the couch for another listening session. A few minutes later she plopped down next to me with a water bottle and slid her laptop out of her bag.
“Do you have siblings?” she asked, while opening her laptop.
I nodded. “A brother and sister. We aren’t close though. I mean, the family isn’t close in general.” I leaned over to kiss her neck. She caressed my arm, then stretched out, leaving her feet in my lap.
“How come?” she asked, as she pushed her hair behind her ears.
I shrugged. “It’s complicated. Mostly it’s because my parents’ parents were dysfunctional and competitive on both sides so… That’s just how we were raised.”
“Oh…so is it like, you guys don’t spend the holidays together, or that the holidays are awkward?”
“Now it’s at the point where we don’t even bother to get together anymore,” I said. “If I say hi, my father will try and pick a fight. It’s the same with my mom and my brother. My sister doesn’t even bother. I haven’t seen or heard from her in years.”
“What?” Beth said. “What if something happened to her, then how would you guys know?” Beth seemed so concerned, which was more than I felt towards my own family. It was sweet.
“You’re too caring,” I said.
She rolled her eyes at me. “No matter what anyone’s done, you should stay in touch just to make sure they’re alive. One of the worst things you can feel is regret after something bad happens to a family member, or anyone you once cared about.”
I shrugged. “I guess…”
She took a breath. “Ready?”
“Go ahead and press play,” I said. We listened to about an hour of the recording, both working in comfortable silence. It felt oddly like we were in a class together, working on a group project. But, hell, if either of our editors knew what we were doing to write the stories, they’d blow blood vessels.
“Do you want to order some food and hang out?” I asked, as Beth closed her laptop.
She smiled. “Sure, that sounds good.”
My phone rang, and I glanced at it on the table. Naomi’s name scrolled across the screen. I strolled into the kitchen with the phone and answered. “What do you want?”
“Wow, how nice and warm,” Naomi said. “What are you doing, ho?”
I smirked. “I’m hanging out with Beth, bro. What do you want?”
“A ride…I’m drunk, and I’m stuck. The stupid bartender stole my keys.”
“What?” I glanced behind me. Beth was still on the couch, scrolling through her phone.
Naomi sighed. “I came to a consult in fucking Jersey and went out for drinks after and… It’s a long story, I’ll explain later. Just come get me, please.”
“It’ll be like an hour and a half, maybe two before I can get anywhere near you. Let me call you a cab,” I said.
“Some best friend you are! If I end up dead or kidnapped it’s your fault, and I will haunt you for the rest of your life,” she said and then hung up.
I sighed. “Fuck.”
“Everything okay?” Beth said.
I walked back to the living room and picked up my stuff. “I have to rescue my friend. She’s stuck in Jersey, drunk, and she didn’t even tell me where she is.” I texted Naomi. She was difficult when she was wasted, and after a bad experience in her college days, she hated cabs or anything related to them if she wasn’t one-hundred percent sober. It was a pain in the ass sometimes.
“You can’t call her a cab?” Beth sounded confused.
“No, she almost got kidnapped when she was twenty, so since then she’s had a bad phobia. I have to go get her.” I walked over to Beth and grabbed my bag. “Rain check on the food. Tomorrow?” I bent down, and she kissed my cheek. I could tell she wanted to ask questions, but she didn’t.
She sighed. “Sure, but…”
“What? You can ask me anything,” I said.
She shook her head and smiled at me, but it didn’t last long on her lips. “No, no. Your friend needs rescuing, so go and…get her.” She stood up, and we walked slowly to the door. I hated when she got like that. It wasn’t like her.
“I’ll call you later, and we’ll talk.” I stood in the hall and touched her chin, so she’d look at me.
“Okay,” she said, putting on a flat smile. Yeah, I was going to have to explain my relationship with Naomi because that was clearly the issue.
I took a cab to the garage, then drove to Jersey and picked her up at a bar where she was laid out in a corner booth with her jacket draped over her like a blanket. We left and got stuck in traffic.
“What sense does getting drunk at a business meeting make? On a Monday?” I finally asked her after twenty minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic.
“The client was one of those frat-boy-five-years-later types. It was the only way to his heart and his bank account,” she slurred. Her head fell against the glass, and she pulled her jacket higher, up to her neck.
“But still, Naomi! It isn’t like you to get this…out of it,” I said, gesturing haphazardly at her. We passed by a bad wreck, and traffic finally started picking up again. “I really like this woman, you know. I can’t come help you at every beck and call. I’m trying to get somewhere with her, okay?”
“Well I’m sorry…usually Jess would pick me up or be with me,” she said.
“Is that what this is all about? Jess?” I glanced at Naomi. She pulled the back of her seat up and pushed the silver-blonde hair out of her face.
“Of course it is Anthony. I miss her! We’ve never not been together, and it’s weird, and I hate it. I’m fucking miserable,” she said.
“Alright, we’re fixing this then.” I said. We were still thirty minutes outside of the cit
y, so the effect was lackluster. But I was heading to Jess’s place instead of Naomi’s.
“How?” Naomi said.
I didn’t answer until I found parking across the street from Jess’s building in the Bronx. “Oh no, fuck that, Anthony. Drive. Take me home. I am not going up there just to walk in on her banging one of her roommates or something.” Naomi ducked down in her seat, as if Jess could see her from the fifteenth floor.
“We’re going in there, so come on.” I unbuckled Naomi’s seatbelt then got out and opened her door. She took a deep breath and glared at me, but got out of the car. “Glare at me all you want. You don’t even have to say anything. I’ll do the talking.”
“Over my dead body!” Naomi said, just like I knew she would. I hid my grin though and gestured for her to walk ahead of me. We buzzed up, and the gate unlocked a second later. Someone must’ve been waiting on a delivery or something. “Stand behind me, and I’ll do the talking.”
“As if I would ever!” She said. We skipped the lobby for the stairwell and walked to the second floor.
Naomi was tense. For one, she was quiet when we stepped into the elevator, and she wouldn’t stop tapping her foot. The elevator stopped on Jess’s floor, and we walked slowly to Apartment J. She stopped in front of the door and didn’t do anything, so I knocked.
The door opened. “Oh, Naomi, hey!”
I stepped aside, not recognizing one of Jess’s roommates. She seemed bubbly. Her hair was long and straight, and she had pale, plain features.
“Hey, Andy, um…is Jess here?” Naomi asked, cautiously. We both peered inside behind Andy, but the living room was empty.
“Yeah she’s here. Come on in.” I stepped behind Naomi and felt pretty useless by the door while she walked to the couch and sat at the very edge of the cushions.
“Jess!” Andy said, suddenly.
Naomi jumped. “For fuck’s sake…”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
“You have company!” Andy said, as she walked through the kitchen to the hallway. Behind it, and a minute later, Jesse emerged. She was the same height and build as Naomi, pretty slender, but her brown hair was cropped short. She was dressed up in a long romper type outfit, makeup and everything. Her grey eyes looked almost purple because of the makeup she wore.
“Never mind, never mind… This was a bad idea. We’re leaving!” Naomi shot up from the couch and hurried towards me.
“No, wait. Why’d you come here?” Jess said. She glanced at me then back at Naomi.
“Why’d you guys split, Jess?” I asked. Naomi looked at me, wide eyed.
“How’s that your business, Anthony?” she said.
“Because Naomi’s my business. She’s like my sister, and she’s hurting, so I want to get to the bottom of this. Give her closure or get back together. Don’t go back and forth with her because it’s fucked up.” I walked to the couch and sat down. “I’ll wait for you guys to work it out. Oh, and she’s drunk by the way.” I grabbed the TV remote and turned it on, aware of Jess’s stare burning a hole into the side of my face.
“He just wants me to have a ride when I’m drunk,” Naomi said.
“Come on,” Jess said. They left the apartment together, and I figured they were headed to the roof, so I settled in with a movie on Netflix that I paid no real attention to. My fingers itched to text Beth or call her. I figured it would be better to wait until I was at home, so we wouldn’t be interrupted though, especially by female voices.
The front door swung open, waking me up from a light nap. I wasn’t even aware that I’d dozed off. Jess and Naomi were standing close together, and both of them were hiding shy smiles that seemed promising.
“Cool, everything good?” I asked, and stood up, keys in hand.
“Yeah, we had a good talk,” Naomi said. She glanced at Jess who nodded. They shared a look, and I cleared my throat, catching the attention of both of them.
“So, are you coming with me…or?” I asked Naomi.
“Oh, yeah! I still need a ride,” she said.
I drove her home, but she didn’t share anything about what they’d talked about. It made for a quicker ride anyway. As soon as I’d walked into my apartment, I called Beth, dropped my bag off in the office, and laid on the bed until she finally answered.
“Hey, you’re just getting home?” she asked.
“Yeah, I had to go on an excursion,” I said. “You know the woman I went to the play with?”
“I remember—she was gorgeous,” she said. Her voice made me want to ask what she was wearing and whether she was laying down.
“She wanted to hit on you,” I said.
“Hit on me?” Beth sounded confused.
“Naomi is my best friend. Our families are close, and she’s more my sister than my actual sister is. She’s also gay, and has been for as long as I’ve known her.”
“Oh…” Beth paused, and I wished that I could see her face. “Yeah, so after the three-hour excursion into Jersey, I took her to her ex’s place because they’ve been having issues for a couple months now, and it’s kinda coming to a head. I got them talking again at least. After that, I dropped her off, then fought the urge to show up at your place.”
Beth laughed. “Did you really?”
“I’d be under you right now, if I didn’t think you were mad at me,” I said.
“I wasn’t mad, just suspicious, that’s all,” she said.
“Tell me why. Why’d you get suspicious?”
“To be honest, Anthony, I’ve never dated a guy with female friends that they weren’t sleeping with…while seeing me.”
“What the fuck?” I sat up and kicked off my shoes. She laughed on the other line. I shook my head. “That shit isn’t funny, that’s… I wish people wouldn’t have done that to you.”
She laughed. “I was attracted to a certain type of man, and well, they’re all the fucking same. I should’ve learned a lot sooner than I did is the problem.”
“You used to date a lot?” I turned on my back and grabbed the light remote to turn on my lamps and open the window blinds. The city lights cast the room in an ambient glow. My inheritance money kept me comfortable, to say the least.
“I was always in love, in serial relationships, that sort of thing. I wasn’t supposed to date you. I didn’t want to,” she said. I don’t know why, but I found that flattering.
“Yet, here we are. You’re jealous of Naomi and can’t get enough of this…”
“Okay, I was not jealous! I was just confused and suspicious. Those are very different things.”
I laughed. “Sure…”
“It’s not funny. I don’t get jealous,” she said.
I wished I was there to kiss her pouting lips. “So, tomorrow, instead of getting takeout, how about we go dancing and have a nice dinner at one of my favorite restaurants?”
“That sounds great,” she said.
I heard the smile in her voice, and a weird warmth filled my chest. A couple weeks ago I’d never have guessed we’d be where we were just then.
Chapter Twenty-One
Beth
Work dragged on because I was looking forward to my date with Anthony all day. Outside of my feature, I had other things to edit and work on, other staff stories to critique, so I was looking forward to my next major piece. There was also a random call from Nathan Chester, who just wanted to check on the story as if it were his feature. Three o’clock couldn’t have come fast enough, though. I caught a lucky day on the subway and got home in less than an hour. Still, I had too much idle time until Anthony said he’d pick me up. I fed the cat, took a long shower, and spent a good bit of time going through my wardrobe for something to wear.
Since I didn’t know exactly where we were going, I settled on a cute maroon colored dress that I never wore. It came to mid-thigh in the front and touched my ankles in the back. It had a lace pattern, and spaghetti straps, and was tapered around the waist. I’d definitely have to wear a pashmina over it or risk hyp
othermia if we were to spend any time outside. I strapped on some heels and kept the jewelry simple. I took some time with my makeup, and did a nice smoky eye and neutral lip. My hair, I kept curly since it was getting long again, so I just tousled it with some lightweight gel.
Once I was done, I sat on the couch like a queen and waited for Anthony to arrive. He called me when he was at the gate. I buzzed him through and a few minutes later, he knocked on the door.
“Wow,” he said, smiling from ear-to-ear when I opened the door. “Shit…” He laughed, sounding almost nervous. He ran his fingers through his jet-black hair that was now hanging into his eyes a bit. His scruff was freshly groomed and, coincidentally, he wore a jacket that was the same color as my dress, over a white button-up with a loosened collar and slim black slacks. I wanted to jump his bones pretty much immediately, but after I’d spent so much time putting myself together, there was no way we weren’t leaving the apartment.
“Back at you, sexy,” I said. “To be honest, I’m feeling myself a little bit, so be prepared for some extra-ness.”
“Hey, I don’t mind. I’m whatever you need me to be, baby.” Anthony offered me his arm, and I linked mine with his while shutting the door behind me. We paused, so that I could lock up, then we strode down the hall.
“Are we dancing first or dining first?”
“Definitely dancing first. Those heels aren’t too high, right?” he said. We waited a few seconds for the elevator, then stepped inside, alone.
“I have incredible balance. I’ve been walking in heels since I was six,” I said, making him crack up. I shook my head. “What’s so funny about that? Almost any woman will tell you, you have to practice and start early. How do you think Beyoncé does it?”
Anthony laughed low in his throat and lowered his head as soon as the doors closed. He kissed my neck and a shiver traveled through my entire body. “God…”
“Let’s make it out of the building, yeah?” I stepped forward to press the ground floor button, but as soon as it lit up, Anthony tugged me back to him and kissed me. His lips were firm and searching, and his body felt so good and firm under my hands. I moaned wistfully but pulled away. I wasn’t about to get caught making out in the elevator.
