by Michael Vu
There was a pause. Noah listened to her breathing. Then she spoke. Noah nodded his head, and answered:
“I like to egg this guy’s house.” Noah giggled. “Mr. Wheeler. He treats his daughter like a queen. She’s a snob. Mr. Wheeler is a stuck up man. I think I’m doing the neighborhood a favor by egging his house at night. I should belong to the neighborhood watch and receive a medal for my work.”
After the dance, Elizabeth headed straight home. She was turning in for bed when she came up with an idea. She listened and waited until other members of the house were asleep.
When all the noises in the house were gone, she crawled out of bed. She dragged her feet gently on the carpet towards the kitchen where the phone sat charging.
Back in her room, with the lamp on, she dialed random numbers. On nights when sleep was difficult, or when her friends were bored during a sleep over, Elizabeth passed the night by calling random strangers. She liked to hear the sound of their voices. And if it was a pleasant voice, she interacted with them.
She dialed a random seven-digit number. The phone rang and reached its voicemail. Elizabeth hung up. She dialed another number, but this time, she is greeted with a hostile man. He demanded to know whom he was speaking to and why this person was calling at such a random late hour. Elizabeth hung up. She turned down the light.
That night Elizabeth was having a hard time falling asleep. The sunlight started to show its way into the room. She felt utterly lonely. She picked up the phone, and randomly dials another number.
The person on the other end picked up.
“Hi,” said Elizabeth.
She thought the boy’s voice was pleasant and comforting. It made her flush. She pulled the comforter over her head as she listened to him speak. She felt the urge to make a connection with this person, so immediately asked the boy if he could discuss something personal; something he has never told anyone. He answered and she listened.
“What’s it like to never sleep?” asked Elizabeth with a laugh.
She found the boy to be funny and creative. She immediately wished to see his face to compare what she imagined him to look like against the reality of his appearance.
“Why do you want to know my name? It’s fun to not know each other’s names don’t you think? You could be anyone.” Elizabeth paused for a bit. With a chuckle, she answered: “But if you should know my name, it’s Beth.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“Do you want so more water? You have to drink some, the doctor said. Noah?”
“Yes, my sweet?”
“Noah, I love you. Don’t leave me.”
“Okay.”
“Okay what? You will leave me? Or okay, you will stay with me?”
Noah took a deep breath. He observed the equipment surrounding him. Tubes ran from his arms and from his nose. The room was bright white. He looked out the window. It was a cloudy night. The stars were hiding themselves.
Noah’s lips were dry. His light blonde hair was cut short. Noah was thirty-two years, six months, and two days old. He had a thin face, which matched his slim body. His nose, which was even, matched his thin lips. He smiled and gave his sincere, charming eyes.
“My sweet, my dear Chloe, I will never leave you. Besides, there is no other woman as pretty as you who would marry me.”
“My babe, who said I’d marry you?” said Chloe with a chuckle. She smiled while tears flowed down her cheeks. “Drink this water here.”
Chloe helped Noah to some water. He observed her bright brown eyes. Her lovely long brown hair was youthful and spritely. Her long narrow face matched her height. Chloe was a tall woman of five foot ten, much taller (with heels on) than Noah who was five foot nine. She had long thin fingers. Her complexion was clear and pale. She had a thin, well-profiled nose.
“The doctor said you’ve been getting up in the middle of the night. We were wondering where you go babe? I thought the medication was working. We were so worried you have been sleep walking again.” Chloe took the cup of water from his hands. She placed it gently on a plastic tray. She leaned in closer to his face. “But you aren’t. He told me the staff would find you lucid and fully aware of where you were.”
“You know me, not one for sleep is all.”
Noah’s brown eyes darted around the room. His thoughts circled back to the streets of New York. He loved the nights he spent roaming the city. He wished he were out there now. Living in New York was for him like a fish roaming a wide ocean full of adventure, full of stories waiting to be discovered.
He wanted to be out there now. But Chloe would never allow it; she was extremely cautious of him walking alone late in the city.
This was where he met Chloe for the first time. It was in Central Park. Chloe and Noah belonged to a youth group called Upward Bound. In addition to their full-time work, they worked as volunteer mentors. Each summer, the program, through yearlong fundraising, allowed the group to a weeklong tour of New York City.
He was alone looking at the fish swimming in the pond. The air brushed through the trees, which gave birth to the leaves on the ground. Locals and tourists packed the park with great cheer.
Chloe was with her friends. She saw Noah standing alone, and decided to chat with him.
“Weird fishes.”
“I’m sorry?” responded Noah.
“I said weird fishes. They don’t seem to eat what we feed them. Watch.” Chloe threw in the pond some crackers towards a pair of gold fish. “See, nothing.”
“They’re special fish. Maybe they don’t eat the stuff because they’re not like all the other fish.”
“What do they eat then?”
Noah paused to think about the question. He returned his gaze at the fishes. He reached into his pocket.
“Dark chocolate,” said Noah.
“Dark chocolate?”
“Yes.” Noah pulled out a half eaten bar. He unwrapped it.
“I don’t think they can eat that,” said Chloe doubtfully. She raised her eyebrows.
“You’re right. We better try it first.” Noah unwrapped the gold foil, broke apiece off, and fed it into Chloe’s mouth. She was surprised by the gesture, and thus, took a step backward.
“Oh, me first?”
“How is it?” asked Noah.
“It’s dark.” Chloe studied his dark brown eyes. She smiled. “I’m Chloe by the way.”
“I know.”
“Do I know you?”
“You’re very pretty Chloe,” interrupted Noah. “Would you like another bar of chocolate?”
This was the first conversation between Chloe and Noah.
Back in the hospital, Chloe was asleep next to Noah’s bed on the sofa. He watched her sleep.
How pretty she was! She appeared to him an angel at rest. He admired her long brown hair. Her clear complexion at rest made her look youthful and innocent. He kissed her cheek. He kissed her lovely hands.
“Be right back sweetheart.”
Noah slipped out of bed, past the nurse’s desk, and out into the night.
New York City was a very beautiful place to be when one cannot sleep. You could drift through streets to be alone without the feeling of being the only person alive. The notion comforted Noah.
Noah took the F Train to Bryant Park. He took a seat in a green chair and gazed up at the buildings standing tall and erect. Noah had been coming here often and was surprised to know that that each time he came, not one building ever appeared familiar to him. What great architecture, he thought each time he stopped here!
A homeless man, who was walking by, stopped and faced Noah. He approached Noah gingerly.
“Do you have any spare change son?”
“I don’t.”
The homeless man stood there for a moment. His face was streaked with black marks as if he laid himself down on the streets and was run over with car tires. His white beard was long. He was covered in a red comforter one would use for camping purposes. His response was:
“Oh.” He scra
tched his face. “Why are you wearing a hospital outfit?”
“Because I am a patient.”
“Oh. What happened?”
The homeless man took a seat next to Noah. Noah explained that he was in an accident at work. Noah worked at Tekserve, an Apple Reseller on Twenty-third and Sixth Avenue. He was part of the stock room team, explained Noah to the observant homeless man.
Two afternoons ago, he was unloading a truck when a car lost control and swerved. Though he was able to jump out of the way, the car slammed into the truck being unloaded. Merchandise and boxes dropped down from the truck. One large box in particular, dropped down and landed violently on top of Noah.
“And that’s how I landed in the hospital.”
“Oh,” said the homeless man.
A few moments passed between them.
“And you are sure you don’t have any change?”
In this exact moment, a few blocks away, was Elizabeth Little circling her apartment. She lived in a studio apartment not too far from Bryant Park and would often go there Sunday mornings to do Yoga with a large group of other New Yorkers.
She was having a hard time falling asleep. She tried to count the stars outside her window, but clouds surrounded the stars. She picked herself up and walked to the bathroom. She turned on the light, looked for her brush, and brushed her long blonde hair.
Elizabeth looked deep into her blue eyes. She was a pretty woman of thirty-two years of age. She had long eyelashes, which she had often used to charm people; it often aided her when she was out of luck or in need of good fortune with someone. Her body was long, thin, and narrow. Her breasts were small. She had full lips and a straight, even long nose.
Elizabeth played with her hair for several minutes. But still, sleep would not come to her eyes.
She had an idea.
Elizabeth grabbed her keys, placed her New York Yankees baseball cap on her head, which she just bought at a home game last week, and headed out the door.
She was never one to stroll the sidewalks late at night. But the urge to do so tonight was suddenly strong. The streets around her apartment were quiet.
It was three in the morning. Her feet took her to Bryant Park. She looked around the area: Nobody was there. Elizabeth took a seat. Several streets away she heard the sound of a taxi honking its horn.
Suddenly, Elizabeth heard footsteps coming up behind her right shoulder. Her heart sinks. She tried to remain calm. She turned around to face the walker.
“Ms. I was wondering if you had any change?”
“No, I don’t. I am sorry,” Elizabeth, answered startled.
Elizabeth observed the homeless man. She wondered why he was covered in a red comforter in the middle of April. The homeless man stood there for a moment staring into her eyes as if she would change her mind and magically find coins in her pockets.
But she had no coins in her possession. The homeless man exclaimed:
“Oh.”
He walked away. Elizabeth returned her attention to the city. She sat there for an hour in a deep pensive mood. Finally, she picked herself up and headed back to her isolated apartment.
Inside, she undressed and slipped under the covers. Her eyes grew heavy as the sun began to rise. Streaks of orange light blasted through her windows. She wondered if there was anyone else in New York watching the sunrise. It was beautiful.
She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
The next day at work, Elizabeth was slow and groggy. It was Tuesday morning on a bright and warm day. The caffeine in her coffee was too slow in its cause to kick her into gear.
Elizabeth worked at an advertising agency. She belonged to the accounts team. All through junior high and high school, she had taken a liking to numbers. She observed this preference to be her calling.
But the lack of sleep, and the slow ingestion of caffeine, prevented her from working well. To make matters worse, her computer keyboard wasn’t working.
“Alice? Alice?”
A woman dressed in a grey suit, white dress shirt with pointy collars, turned around in the cubicle across from her. She smiled at Elizabeth.
“What’s up girl?”
“Do you know if they hired someone in I.T. yet? My keyboard works and then doesn’t work. I can’t work!” exclaimed Elizabeth while slamming her fingers down on the keyboard.
“I think they did. Call them up.”
Elizabeth turned around and dialed the number to the information technology department. To her surprise, someone picked up immediately. She explained the situation and the person on the other end of the call said he would be there shortly.
A few minutes later, someone arrived.
“Hi. Keyboard broken?”
“Yes, I think so,” responded Elizabeth.
“I’ll just replace it with a new one and check out the old one.”
“Okay great. Thanks so much. Did you just start? We’ve all been waiting for someone to replace Roy. It’s been too long since we’ve had anyone. We needed you like, last month,” said Elizabeth.
“Yes, this is my first week.”
“Great. I’m Elizabeth Little.” Elizabeth extended her right hand.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Noah Spence.” Noah took her hand into his.
She thought Noah Spence was a handsome boy.
CHAPTER SIX
Noah checked himself out early morning after his brisk through Bryant Park. He was getting dressed for his first day at a new job. The incident at Tekserve put him in the hospital for several weeks; he decided not to return to work there.
A friend of a friend was in need of someone with systems administration skills at a rising advertising firm. The friend of a friend suggested Noah.
Chloe rushed in the bedroom to peek at her lover.
“Do you need help with the tie babe?”
“Yes please.”
Chloe walked up to Noah and adjusted his collar. She formed a supportive smile and asked:
“Are you nervous, first day and all?”
“Not really.”
“How did you sleep last night? You were tossing and turning a lot. I swear you never sleep a night in the hospital.”
“Just fine. I slept fine,” retorted Noah.
“Don’t give me that attitude babe. You know I care for you.”
Noah did not like to lie to Chloe. But with that question, which came up every now and then, he was usually robotic with his answer.
The first day bored Noah. He was introduced to so many people that he thought he met some of them twice. Noah was part of the I.T. help desk team, which meant he would troubleshoot computer tickets in levels tier one to tier two.
The only other person on staff was James Daniels, the Vice President of the information technology department. He wanted Noah to jump right in the fire and take calls on the first day. He said it would be good experience for Noah. But Noah just thought he was being passive and lazy to go through proper procedures with him cordially.
Noah was left alone and sat at his desk for the first time. A few moments later, the phone rang. Noah answered. Shortly after, he was off to the other end of the office with a keyboard in hand.
Noah was lost. He had no idea where he was going. After awhile, the rows and rows of gray cubes appeared similar. He stopped by one of them to get directions, but this just made him more lost. Finally, after several turned corners, he found his destination. A blonde woman stood up as he approached her desk.
She was so strikingly attractive; Noah almost had a heart attack.
The woman made him nervous. He tried to hide his face from the pretty blonde woman, and when he thought her eyes were looking elsewhere, he immediately wiped the sweat from his forehead. He asked some questions about her broken keyboard, then decided to replace it with a new one while he took the replacement back for testing.
She introduced herself and shook his hand. That’s odd, Noah thought to himself: the name Elizabeth Little sounded so familiar. But the funny thing was
, she too seemed to look at him with familiar eyes.
“Noah Spence,” she said to herself with her eyes to the ground. “That sounds so familiar.” Elizabeth looked up and met Noah’s blue eyes. “Where are you from by chance Noah Spence?”
When Noah returned to his desk, he discovered the keyboard was functioning just fine.
In the following weeks, Elizabeth and Noah were inseparable. Friends of Elizabeth labeled Noah as her “office husband,” a title Noah chuckled at. They ate lunch together everyday at two in the afternoon. They even clocked out together and walked to the subway station in the evenings.
They talked about their hometown. There was much to gossip about because friends back in Illinois had stories to tell.
For instance, when Elizabeth came over to dinner, she explained to Chloe how a teacher of theirs in high school had recently been arrested for sleeping with several students.
“He always stared at me,” said Elizabeth, rolling her eyes. “I’m not surprised though. Every one at the school knew it was going on, but nobody did anything.”
Chloe sighed. She looked into Elizabeth’s eyes with her own tender ones.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of that was going on around our schools these days. It’s just horrible. Awful. I don’t even want to think about that.”
As time passed by, Chloe and Elizabeth got along like sisters. They joked and suggested to Noah they were separated at birth.
“What was Noah like in school?” asked Chloe one night after dinner.
“We didn’t know each other. Actually, I don’t think we ever spoke to one another. Did we Noah?”
“I don’t think we did. Nope.” Noah was clearing the table while the two ladies sat chatting away.
Elizabeth turned to Chloe. She said: “I remember he was a chubby boy though. I always wondered about him. He always looked aloof in those big glasses of his,” said Elizabeth chuckling.
“They were my dad’s glasses,” retorted Noah. “And I wasn’t part of the popular crowd as you were, Ms. Elizabeth Little.”
