“Ew,” I said.
She smiled sadly. “Ew is right. I’m seriously considering getting another cat.”
“Penelope,” I counselled her. “Do you really want to be a stereotype?”
Lately, Penelope’s way of dealing with her romantic upsets was to buy another cat. Right now, she was ‘only’ at six.
“Set me up with the hot twin you don’t want then,” Penelope said petulantly. “Or let’s go to Paris!”
“As overdue as I am for a trip, I don’t have my dad financing them,” I reminded her. “And I am still paying off school. As for the twins, I don’t know who I like yet.”
“But you’re going on a date with Jake, right.? So just invite me and Owen too.”
“I don’t know.”
“Will you at least think about it?” she practically begged.
“Fine, I’ll think about it.”
“Hyacinth,” Viola said sharply, sticking her head into the break room. “Aren’t you due back on the floor?”
“Oh yeah, sorry.” I glanced at the clock, noting that indeed the minute hand was one tick away from the time I should’ve been done.
“Well, chop chop. You’ve had enough time to gossip,” she snipped.
“Cin works harder than anyone here Viola and you know it,” Penelope declared. “So shove it.”
Viola hovered in the doorway, her face working with the impossibility of her dilemma. She couldn’t directly talk back to Penelope, whose father was the hospital’s largest financial donor, but she couldn’t just take being talked back to like that lying down.
Finally, she decided on storming off, while Penelope and I dissolved into giggles.
“You’re terrible,” I told her. “She’s going to schedule you for Saturday nights for weeks.”
“Just let her try,” Penelope said with a wave. “Anyway, she is a bitch to you when you’re the hardest-working one here, it drives me nuts.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling.
“Now get back to work!” she joked.
The rest of my shift was a blur of patients. Some suturing, some tests, lots of recording. By the time I was finished, I was about ready to collapse in bed, although sleep didn’t come so easily. The question gnawed at me, growing with my sleeplessness: Who to choose – Owen or Jake?
7
Owen
The next day I had off, so I made the most of it. I went out, just me and my camera and Pearl Harbor. It was nice being out there while most people were at work, getting odd angles and unique shots of things that would’ve been way trickier had there been lots of people around. Although I couldn’t stop thinking of Cin.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and I called her up.
“Hey you.”
“Hey,” she said, sounding surprised and, was I imagining happy?
“Just been taking pictures and thinking how much better they’d be if you were in them,” I said, nearly groaning out loud at my attempt at a cheesy pickup line.
She laughed. “I’m flattered, but I do have to work.”
“After work, then. We can top everything off with a movie at Cineplex and grab some feed.”
A long pause, and then, as if she were choosing her words carefully: “I’d love to.”
I paused, waiting for the ‘but’. The tone she’d used wasn’t the one you used when you were agreeing to go somewhere.
“I already have a date with Jake.”
“Ah, figures.”
“Maybe tomorrow?”
“Maybe,” I said, “Hang on. I’m just going to put you on hold for a second.”
“Ok.”
I called up Jake. “You have a sparring session at the gym tonight at 6.”
“Yeah, so?”
“So you can’t go out with Cin then.”
Silence, then, “How’d you know?”
“I have my ways.”
“C’mon man, it’s one time.”
“Are you slipping?”
“Fuck you. Is this about missing a session or trying to cock-block me with Cin?”
“Both. I have a better idea anyway. One that benefits us both.”
“Oh?”
“That new Avengers movie is at Cineplex.”
“Your point?”
“We could all go at 9 pm, giving you time to go to the gym too.”
“So you’re saying that instead of me going on a date just me and Cin, I let you tag along.”
“The Cineplex movie was my idea,” I said dryly. “Or the other option is I just take her tomorrow.”
I could tell Jake was drawn to the idea of having both of us there for this first date, seeing once and for all who she liked better.
Finally, he said, “Fine. But this is the last time I let you hijack one of my dates.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “See you tonight.”
With Cin back on the line, I suddenly got nerves. Would she be upset about the change of plans?
“I want to run something by you,” I told her.
“Sure.”
“Jake is willing to go to the movie with us if you’re ok with that. Not to hijack your date or anything, but he did have an appointment at our gym with our coach, that he really shouldn’t miss.”
“That’s fine,” she said quickly. “Although there is something I’d like to run by you too.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Would it be ok if my friend came along?”
“Sure,” I said immediately, although my teeth were clenched together. Was Cin trying to pawn me off on her friend?
My gaze was swept away by the sky, with its big fluffy clouds.
“Although I’d still like to come for that photography thing, if you’d like,” she said shyly.
I leapt up. “You mean now?”
“Well, I’m still at work, but I’m off in an hour.”
My mouth was suddenly very dry.
“Owen?”
“Yeah, sorry. I can pick you up.”
“You sure?”
“Yep.”
Seeing her in her nurse uniform, how she’d looked the first time I’d laid eyes on her, was a rush.
Cin smoothed a part of her top, smiling ruefully.
“Guess you’ll include only my face if you’re still planning on those shots of yours.”
“Not at all,” I said. “We could have a themed photoshoot.”
“Like ‘Nurse Plopped on Sand Not Knowing What to Do’?”
I laughed. “Exactly like that.”
Reaching my car, I was sure to open the car door for her before going in myself.
“I’m glad you invited me,” she said. “Lately I’ve been spending too much time inside, just going from work to home and back again. It’s easy to get in these ruts where you forget there’s things to do other than Netflix.”
I nodded. “Definitely. That’s what drew me to the harbor today. Feels like I’ve been too wrapped up in working and running errands, doing chores, sitting in front of my TV, that kind of thing.”
“I was actually glad about the movie cinema idea,” Cin continued. “I can’t remember the last time I went to one of those.”
“The way you say it,” I laughed. “Like it’s this old-timey thing. But it really is getting to be that way. Things are changing so fast these days.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she said.
Pulling into a parking spot, I shrugged. “It’s both, I guess. Only with so much happening, sometimes it takes a while to realize basic things. Like when you asked me why I was single. I’d never really given it much thought, my instinctive avoidance of anything serious.”
“And?”
I cracked a grin. “Damn, you really don’t mind throwing punches, do you?”
She was biting at her thumbnail. “I should stop while I’m ahead. Usually I’m not like this, it’s just-”
“I feel comfortable with you,” I said, realizing that it was the same for her as soon as the words were out of my lips.
; I felt a certain pride over it. Cin’s reserve when we’d first met her, and even that night after Jake’s fight, was melting away.
“I have to admit,” I said, turning so that our faces were inches apart. “This sassy side of you is pretty cute.”
She blushed, and I helped out of the car.
Outside on the sand, we took our shoes off and let our toes enjoy the warm granules.
Cin formed a shade with her eyes and squinted into the horizon. “Do I get to see the photos you’ve taken so far?”
“Sure,” I said.
Although it felt a bit like ripping out my heart and showing it to her. It was different with Jake, who had no eye for art and didn’t want one. He would just joke and ask why on earth I was taking a picture of a pebble, or what did I see in the lines of the tree? Showing him the picture, he’d kind of nod, but I could see that he didn’t get it.
With Cin, I sensed that we shared an understanding of sorts, that she had an artistic side too.
I flipped through the photos I’d taken this time, stopping when I reached my favorite. Although I didn’t tell her that. Instead, I handed over the camera, and waited.
A few nerve-wracking seconds and she exhaled, “Whoa.”
The word went through me like a bird soaring.
She cast me an impressed sidelong glance, turning to look at the source, an unremarkable pile of rocks.
“The way you make it look…” she said softly, tipping her head this way then that, smiling again. “You find the beauty in simple things,” she concluded.
“I like to try,” I said.
Although right now, anyone could’ve seen the beauty in her. Her upturned lashes and downturned lips, the high Victorian plane of her nose. She was all graceful curves, her face, but her body especially.
“What’s your favorite color?” she asked suddenly, her gaze beyond me.
“Blue,” I said immediately. Then, joking, “Why, you going to wear that tonight?”
She raised her brows. “Maybe.”
“What’s your favorite?” I asked.
“Black.”
“That’s not a-”
“Color, I know. I’ve only heard that ten trillion times.”
“Listen, about me and Jake, I don’t want you to feel guilty about it.”
She turned to look at me head-on.
“I mean it,” I continued. “We’ve both talked about it, and we just want to see where this goes. So no pressure, if you decide to be with him.”
“If I decide,” she said softly.
It then occurred to me, looking at her, that we’d never considered the other possibility. The one where, somehow, we both won. It seemed impossible and wrong and I didn’t dare ask. But, standing there, watching her and wanting to kiss her and wondering about Jake, I entertained it for two-thirds of a second. Maybe it could work.
--
When I drove her home, there was less conversation. We’d made a good run of the nurse photos. She’d posed and sprawled and crouched and laughed as I flit about catching all of it. Every angle provided new evidence of her beauty.
Pulling up in front of her place, a glance at my watch had me chuckling. “See you in an hour.”
Cin grinned. “See you in an hour.”
And then I leaned forward and kissed her.
8
Cin
“You did what?” Penelope shrieked.
“I know, I know. But I had to kiss him back,” I said, my face still tingling from the contact. “We’d had such a nice day together, and I really do like him. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. You’re the one who has the dilemma of a lifetime.”
I sighed. “Don’t remind me. Although I am sorry for being late.”
“It’s ok,” Penelope said. “I let myself in and examined your makeup cache.”
“Examined, huh?” I said, casting a dubious look at my vanity mirror and desk, which was a jumble of makeup, some so old I couldn’t even remember ever having bought it.
“Yep,” Penelope said, fluttering her blue-mascaraed lashes. “What do you think?”
“Very 80’s,” I said, not quite sure I had the right decade. “Are you sure you’re still ok with this? I don’t want you to feel obligated to go.”
Penelope pouted. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No, but I was going to try and set you up with Owen, but now that he and I kissed…”
“Listen,” Penelope said. “I’m pretty sure things between you and the twins are a sure thing. But still, I don’t like the idea of it being just you and both of them. Especially when you’re not sure of what you want yet. So how about I come along as a chaperone?”
I grinned, and Penelope huffed. “Ok, maybe I’m not the ideal chaperone, but still.”
“Sure thing,” I said, grinning.
“First thing’s first,” Penelope said. “Let’s try a new makeup look on you.”
Penelope’s looked pretty good, so I consented, which, thirty minutes later, I realized was a very poor choice indeed.
“It looks like you were in a bar fight and lost,” even Penelope admitted with a sigh as she peered down to look at my two black-shadowed eyes that resembled, well, black eyes.
I could only gape dumbly at my expression before grabbing for the makeup remover. “I can’t go out like this.”
Not to mention that I still had an outfit to choose. So, completely bare-faced, I stood before my closet.
“It’s supposed to be pretty warm tonight, so you could totally go for a dress like I did,” Penelope said helpfully.
“It’s not that,” I said. “It’s just – Jake asked me to wear red.”
“So?” Penelope said. “Wear red then.”
“Yeah, but Owen asked me to wear blue.”
“Girl, you have bigger problems,” Penelope pointed out. “We have to be ready in three minutes!”
In the end, I threw on some old black dress, rubbed off the last of the black-smeared monstrosity that was my eye makeup, shoved everything in sight into my big purse and raced down the stairs with Penelope.
“Hey, only 10 minutes late,” Jake said from the driver’s seat with a smile. “Not bad.”
I smiled sweetly at him. “Want me to go and finish my makeup so you can wait longer?”
“Why ruin a good thing?” Owen said from the back. The intensity of his gaze indicated he meant it, too.
I shifted uneasily. Luckily, I still had some lip gloss leftover from earlier today, but still. I was makeup-less in front of the hottest guys I knew.
“This is Penelope,” I told them.
She waved. “Anything you want to know about Cin, you just ask me.”
“Great, thanks,” I said, shooting a glare at her as we got in the back.
“Never said I’d tell them the answers,” she pointed out.
“Ok, how about this,” Jake said as he pulled his Porsche away from the curb. His voice rose an octave. “How do I win Cin’s undying affection?”
“Wine,” Penelope said immediately. “Lots of it.”
We all laughed.
Inside the car, the chitchat flowed easily. Although my mind was periodically pulled away from the conversation, distracted by Owen’s nearness, the way his eyes returned to mine every so often. Inside, I was roiling with nerves. Before, the crazy-hot kiss with Jake and our phone conversation after had made me start to think that he was the one I liked. But now I was definitely starting to have feelings for Owen too. We couldn’t continue things like this indefinitely, could we?
A few minutes later we were there, and Jake raced over to open the door for me.
“An Owen move,” he said, tossing a wink to his brother.
“How gentlemanly,” Owen said as he clasped my hand.
“I try,” Jake said as he clasped the other one.
“Talk about being the fourth wheel,” Penelope said with a good-humored laugh.
“Here,” I said, dropping both twins’ hands and grabbin
g hers.
“Sorry,” she giggled to them.
Glancing at each other, they went for my free hand at the same time.
“Can we please not act like we’re twelve?” I asked them.
“We can try,” Jake said in a half-hearted voice.
Inside the movie theater, we were pretty early, so there was plenty of time to talk.
“So you did used to switch with each other in school?” Penelope asked, looking to Owen.
“Yeah,” he said. “Sometimes Jake would even fail my tests for me.”
“Just how you started that food fight and said you were me?” Jake said with a sanguine smile.
“Kinda crazy you guys work together now,” Penelope commented.
“Not really,” Jake said. “Back then our feuds were nothing serious, just kid stuff. Whenever we’d get into big trouble, we’d band together to figure it out. Just how we do now.”
There was something forced about Owen’s smile as he agreed. “Yep. Just how we do now.”
“Food time,” I said, grinning as I accepted the menu from the theatre attendant.
“Ice cream,” Jake said immediately, “All I want is ice cream.”
“Ice cream does sound pretty good,” I said, my finger scanning the flavors. “They even have Rolo.”
After we told the attendant our selections and she left, talk returned to the movie at hand.
“I heard this one might be scary,” Jake said to me in a somber tone, touching my arm. “So if you need to cuddle up to me, don’t hesitate.”
“It’s Avengers,” I said, smirking. “Not The Shining.”
“Now that you mention it,” Jake continued. “Didn’t you run out of the room crying when you first saw The Shining, Owen?”
“I was four,” Owen said. “And Jack Nicholson is a scary bastard when he’s crazy. Anyway, check this out.”
He held out his phone and I stared. For a good few seconds, what was on the screen didn’t process. The woman with her hair splaying around her like a halo was too beautiful, almost unearthly so.
“Holy hell you look hot!” Penelope said, peering over Owen to see the screen.
I looked up to Owen. It was clear he’d done some fiddling with the colors and gradients and all that, but still. “This is how you see me?”
He nodded. “That’s how you are.”
Right then, I felt like kissing him, like the rush of feeling in me found a channel. Because it was more than Owen had taken a pretty picture of me. That picture, the way he caught the play of sad and happy, full and empty in my eyes, they way he’d captured it, it was clear. He got me. Owen hardly knew me and yet, he did somehow.
Double Trouble Page 4
