by Jenna Reed
“Good. I’m happy for you.” Travis smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. I don’t allow myself to dwell on the way he’s looking right now, like a puppy that’s been kicked. Travis had a chance with me, and he ruined it, and took my heart with him. I don’t owe him anything.
“Thanks, and goodnight.” Slipping past him, I walk down the hall and back into my bedroom. Closing the door behind me, I stand there for a long moment before crawling back into my bed.
He broke your heart, idiot, and embarrassed you in front of a co-worker, and future date. You owe him nothing. Nothing at all.
11
Travis
The week comes and goes, and I’ve barely spoken to Nina since that night in the kitchen. She is definitely avoiding me, which I can understand after my drunken fiasco last weekend. I’m not saying I regret anything, just that I get why she is mad at me. I apologized even though I didn’t want to. It was the right thing to do, a way to keep the peace.
The greenhouse project was so intense yesterday, I ended up just sleeping on the couch at my parents. That wasn’t much fun, considering it felt like I was sleeping on a sack full of marbles. I think I have a permanent crick in my neck. My dad has finally locked down a layout he likes, now we’re starting the building process again. Hopefully, this time it will stick.
My mom brought up hiring a professional company to do it, and you’d have thought she’d insulted his mother. Bless her heart, she was only trying to help, but I think my father took it more of an insult than help. After that long drawn out fight ended with my mother leaving the house to spend his money in retaliation, we got started again. Dad’s mood was oddly chipper, considering everything that had happened. I decided not to push my luck and make a comment.
At around lunchtime, my dad comes out to declare we are done because the city called and said they couldn’t verify his permits. Needless to say, the good mood he’d been in after my mother left has evaporated.
“This is old Mr. Sailor’s fault. He’s got nothing better to do than sit around and mind my business,” he yelled as he paced back and forth in the kitchen.
“He was a sailor, dear. That’s not his name. We’re not doing anything wrong,” Mom says, trying to calm him down.
“He’s trying to sabotage me. I bet he has gophers in cages, and he’s just waiting for the perfect moment to release them and bring this whole project to its knees.”
“Now, honey,” my mom says, “you’re just being dramatic.”
“Dramatic, I’ll show you dramatic. Where are my hedge clippers?”
As my mom tries to save Mr. Sailor’s hedges, I finish my sandwich. I think it’s the perfect time to get the hell out of dodge and head out for the day.
When I open the front door, the house is somewhat quiet. I walk in the apartment, not prepared for what I find. Nina stands in the center of the living room, wearing a huge dress with layers of fabric cascading all over the place. The bodice of the gown is synched so tightly, her breasts heave upward, nearly reaching her chin. She leans forward and stumbles slightly in some sort of awkward curtsy. I laugh. I don’t mean to, but I can’t help it. I don’t laugh to be mean, it caught me completely off guard. Seriously, when a guy comes home, the last thing he expects is to see a beautiful woman standing in the middle of the living room, dressed in costume, practicing a curtsy.
Her head jerks up at the sound of my snicker. Color tints her cheeks as her brows pull together in a harsh frown.
“Travis, get the hell out of here if you’re going to be a dick,” she shouts.
Holding up my hands as a sign of surrender, I slowly back away from the dangerous situation I just landed myself in.
I try to keep my sniggers of amusement under control but fail miserably. I decide it is probably for the best that I go ahead and leave. “Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting… this.”
“GO!” she yells, aggressively pointing to the door.
“I will, just please tell me why the hell you are dressed like that?”
“I’m going to the Renaissance Fair with Sam if you must know.”
As soon as I hear his name, the smile is wiped off my face. “Sounds lame.”
“Just go and stop being an asshole.”
“Fine, I don’t need to watch this train wreck.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them. The hurt is written all over her face, and I wish I could take them back.
“Please go,” she says, her voice more sad than angry now.
I nod and leave the apartment, wondering why I had to say that.
Since I’m not sure what to do, I head to the coffee shop. I order a caramel something or other and settle myself in one of the booths. Using one of their laptops, I google Renaissance Fair to see what she’s actually going to be doing. As I sip my coffee, I am surprised to see that what I’m looking at doesn’t appear to be that bad. There’s jousting and beer, or as they call it, mead. You can get drunk there and eat a lot. What’s not to love about that?
My conscience still nags at me. I wish I hadn’t laughed at her or said what I did. After two lattes and a cheese anish, I decide to head back to the apartment and try to make amends. I should at least apologize for being such a giant ass. Hopefully, she didn’t leave yet, or worse, Sam is there.
When I walk into the apartment, I think I hear her in her bedroom. Walking over to her door, I put my ear to it and listen. At first, I don’t hear anything, but then a soft sob meets my ear. My heart pinches inside my chest. Did I make her this upset? I feel like a heel.
I rap my knuckles lightly on the door. “Nina,” I call, “are you okay?”
For a moment, there is no answer, but the sobs and sniffles have stopped.
I knock again. “Nina?”
“Go away.”
I don’t want to go away if she’s upset, especially if she’s upset with me. Then I hear her sobs again. No, this isn’t just about me laughing at her. This has to be something else. That asshole must have stood her up. Why would anyone do that to her? I realize I can stand out here, making assumptions all day, or I can just go in and see what’s wrong.
I put my hand on the knob. “I’m coming in,” I tell her. I pause for just a moment, waiting for her to say no, but when she doesn’t answer, I push her bedroom door open.
When I walk in, she’s sitting on the floor in front of her bed. Her gown has pooled around her, kind of resembling a mushroom. Her hair is fixed beautifully. When she lifts her gaze to meet mine, my heart breaks. Her artfully done makeup has been smeared all over her face. Dark trails of mascara streak down her cheeks. She sniffs and looks at her hands.
“You were right to laugh at me,” she says, “I’m so stupid, he didn’t even show up.”
“No, I shouldn’t have laughed. It wasn’t a funny laugh, you just surprised me. It was more of a nervous laugh. Your boobs look fantastic,” I say, trying to make her feel better.
A flush creeps across her cheeks, and despite the state of her makeup, she’s still breathtakingly beautiful. I want to go to her and pull her in my arms, but instead, I lean on her doorframe.
“The fair looked cool. I Googled some stuff.”
She wails, “I just wanted to eat a turkey leg. They look delicious.” Her voice goes really high-pitched, and tears stream down her face.
“Okay, you know what. You want a turkey leg? We’ll go get you a turkey leg.”
She hiccups softly, and her eyes grow wide. “No, what if he’s there?”
I shrug. “I’ll kick his ass.” I mean it too, if we run into him, I’m going to make sure he knows exactly what kind of giant douchebag he is.
She smiles, “If you’re sure you want to go with a hot mess like me.”
I flash her a broad smile, and I wink. “You look beautiful, Nina. Freshen up your makeup if you want. Hell, go like that for all I care. You’ll still be the fairest maiden there. When you’re ready, I’ll be waiting out there to take you.”
She offers me a timid smile, and it makes my hea
rt leap in my chest.
I back out of the room and close the door behind me. While I am excited to get to spend time with her, I can’t say that I am particularly happy about the circumstances that have led up to it. What kind of asshole stands up a woman as beautiful as Nina?
She comes out a few minutes later, and I am once again breathless. Taken aback by her beauty. She looks at me shyly, clutching her hands in front of her.
“You are stunning,” I say. I think I might be drooling a little bit because her breasts do look simply delicious.
After picking my jaw up off the floor, I give her a gallant bow. “M’lady.”
She giggles and gives me an awkward yet adorable curtsy. I offer her my arm, and she slips her hand into the bend of my elbow. I can feel the heat of her hand on my skin, and I bite back a groan.
As soon as we get there, people are everywhere, and I have to admit, Googling the fair didn’t do it justice at all. There are people dressed in brightly colored costumes, while some dance with ribbons. We barely make it through the front gate when a larger woman dressed similar to Nina accosts me at the front gate with a flower, to Nina’s absolute delight.
“Huzzah!” A drunk frat boy yells as he dances in circles around a less than amused girl with hair braided like Nina’s. She’s wearing jeans and a T-shirt and rolling her eyes at his antics. It is more than obvious she isn’t as thrilled to be here as her counterpart.
“You fit in great here,” I lean in and whisper to Nina. While some people have chosen not to dress up, there are more that have dressed in era-appropriate clothing. I watch in awe as a knight walks by us in full costume. His metal costume clicks and clacks with each step he takes. I can’t help but stare at him, wondering how he can possibly move in a contraption like that. It can’t be comfortable.
Nina leans in close. I can smell the sweet scent of her perfume as she whispers, “I wonder what he does when he has to go pee?” She giggles.
“Come one, come all. Have thou’s fortune read by the Mistress Helena she knows all.” A man says as he comes up to Nina and grabs her hand. He plants a kiss on it.
“Man, these people are handsy,” I tell her.
She nods, “They are, come on, let’s go find the alcohol.”
I follow her through hordes of people toward the center of the fair, where I can see food vendors set up. There are brightly colored tents with vendors and crafters all over the place. They peddle wares from jewelry to authentic-era clothing. I can’t help but be taken in by the atmosphere. It’s rather intoxicating.
The women are all dressed similarly, in tightly laced corsets and full skirts. Some have flowers woven through their hair, and others are intricately braided. The men’s clothing varies in style and color. Some wear tights that leave nothing to the imagination. I try to avoid paying too close attention to those guys.
“This is actually pretty awesome,” I mumble. Nina clings to my arm as we weave our way through the crowd.
“It’s fun to see people not caring about the stupid stuff going on in their lives right now,” she says thoughtfully.
We continue forward toward a man juggling knives, and another playing an instrument that looks like a guitar. The way his fingers move and pluck the strings leaves me transfixed. It’s impressive.
“I can see what the attraction could be, and oh look, here’s your turkey leg,” I say, pointing to a giant turkey cartoon ahead. He’s holding a bandaged stub where his leg used to be. It’s kind of a strange advertisement, but does the job, obviously.
Nina tugs me through the mass of people, and once we reach the stand, we’re greeted by a man wearing puffy sleeves and a bizarre-looking shirt. “Good morrow, Mistress. Dost thou care for some honey mead? We have three different strengths. Strong, medium-strong, and for wimps.”
She giggles and looks up at me. Her smile makes me smile. “I will take the medium-strong,” she says, “don’t want to be a wimp.”
“Most excellent, and for the lord?”
“I’ll have the same,” I say, “thank you.”
“Dost thou wish for a souvenir tankard?” he asks.
Nina looks up at me with her wide beautiful eyes. “Oh, I don’t know,” she says.
I shrug and wink at her. “Might as well go all out and experience the whole thing.”
“Yes, please,” Nina says to the guy. Smiling widely at me.
I can’t help it. I want to see her smiling. All the time. We watch as he pours our drafts into metal cups and then passes them to us. I pay him, and we take our cups and leave.
“Come on, I want to make sure I see everything!” She grabs my hand and pulls me along. It’s hard not to get sucked in by her enthusiasm. Somewhere somebody is yelling.
“The king and queen approaches.”
Others yell, “huzzah.”
Several people ringing bells and drumming drums walk through as men and women carry banners. A knight walks by holding a tall stick with a flag up top.
After two people walk by on stilts, I lean over to Nina, “Where are the king and queen?”
“Probably at the end of the parade.”
Men walk by wearing horses as a costume, and some drunk ladies, dressed like Nina, skip by. One man, dressed as a Renaissance zombie catches my eye.
“I’m not sure what he’s doing in there.” Nina gives me a puzzled look.
Then come the knights who ride by on actual horses, a lady in a huge purple dress is with them, followed by another woman yelling at the top of her lungs, “God save the queen.”
We walk for a little while, past a candle shop, and one of those places you can make wax hands.
“Oh look, a sword swallower.” I steer Nina toward him.
“I can’t handle that,” she makes a vomiting face, “it makes me gag just thinking about it.”
“You’ll be fine,” I shake my head and grab her hand, pulling her to sit in front of the sword-swallowing man. The swords look incredibly long, and he looks incredibly small. This is either going to be great or a total disaster.
The show starts with him giving a disclaimer about dying, and I close my eyes. Nina squeezes my hand, and I find myself watching her. She really is beautiful and so in her element here. It’s like she was made for this time in history.
Gasping, she looks up at me, catching me watching her.
“You’re the wimp, you’re not even watching it.”
“Nope.” I grin and continue to gaze at her as she looks back at the stage.
“Look, Travis,” she exclaims, and I look forward just in time to see a long sword disappear down the man’s throat without a hitch. So, no disaster, after all.
After leaving the sword swallowing show, we walk toward the jousting arena. There’s a man dressed as a bird yelling that it starts soon. Looking around, I realize I’m one of the few people not wearing a costume. I might look out of place, but there is no way I would wear some of these outfits.
I’m totally enjoying being with Nina, but this is not my scene. The men running around in cosplay are too much, and everywhere I look, boobs are coming out of women’s dresses. That part isn’t too bad, but it’s women of all ages. In fact, I just heard a kid say, “wait up, Grandma,” and when he caught up with her, her bosoms were hanging out. Wrinkly old lady tits are just something a man can never unsee.
A chick dressed as a goat approaches us. At least, I think she’s a goat, might be a donkey. “Fancy some milk from my teat?” she asks in a very serious voice.
Nina giggles and pushes me toward the woman. She’s holding a jug of milk, and I throw up in my mouth a little.
“No, no, thank you,” I manage to get out.
Nina points to a little girl dressed in a Renaissance dress, “Look at how cute she is. She’s passing out flowers, do you think she works her?”
I don’t respond because I’m not really sure. One would think they couldn’t employee children, but this place is unlike anything I’ve experienced before.
The little
girl sees her watching and walks over to her. “Here’s a flower, mistress. I’m Anna. We need some more people for the Maypole dance.” She bats her eyes and smiles up at Nina.
“Oh, I don’t know how to do that.” Nina looks to me and I shrug.
“It’s not difficult, mistress, I will teach you,” Anna says.
“Well, how can I say no to that?” Nina smiles at me and allows Anna to lead her to where several men and women are gathering around a large pole with different colored ribbons. There is seriously every color: purple, green, yellow, orange. It makes a really pretty effect as they hang from the pole.
One lady says the point of the dance is to wind the ribbon all the way to the bottom. I can’t help but think that’s going to take forever. The dance starts, and a woman walks by playing some sort of instrument. The people move out from the maypole and start to dance in circles, moving around each other as they hold on to the ribbons. The ones dressed up yell with each circle and then cheer. A group of them gather nearby to sing along with the lady playing the instrument.
It only takes Nina a couple turns before she’s got it down. I watch in awe as she circles around skipping and throwing her head back with laughter.
She’s so carefree, and it makes something in my chest tighten. When she’s had her fill of dancing, she walks back over to me, beads of sweat on her forehead.
“Come on, let’s go watch the jousting,” she says. She’s like a kid in a candy store. Running up to another tent, she grabs two more meads. I’m still working on my first, which I display to her, so she shrugs and says, “More for me.”
“I guess you haven’t spotted the asshole here?”
“No, he’s not here, that I can see, which gives me a whole new set of questions when I see him.”
When we go and sit down to watch the jousting, I’m very aware of how close Nina is sitting to me. I can smell her, and she smells the same as she did that night. Like vanilla and coconut. I need to watch it, or I’m going to do something rash like pull her into my chest and kiss her beautiful lips.
