He leaned into the doorway. Waiting. Patiently, like always. She turned away from the mirror to face him. "Which do you like better?" She held up two pairs of shoes. He stared blankly at the shoes in front of his face. He was never sure if these questions were trick questions or if she genuinely cared what he thought.
"Hurry, we don't have all night. Which shoes?" Still unable to differentiate between the two, he pointed to the shoes he thought she'd want him to choose. She dropped both arms and glared at him. "Really? Ew," she turned away from him and strapped on the pair he hadn't chosen. "But...but they both look the same," he said as he walked into the room.
She rolled her eyes as he pulled her close to his body and smiled at their reflection. She pushed her way out of his embrace and picked up a pair of dangling earrings off the dresser. "Remind me to take these off when we get back."
It was only a quarter past one but she was already tumbling all over the party. Her feet hurt and she couldn't lift her head off his chest. "I want to go home," she mumbled drunkenly into his chest, "I also need to eat...maybe an entire cow." He laughed loudly and startled her. He rubbed her arm and kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, let's get you home."
With one hand on the small of her back, he gently led her out of the party but before she got to the exit, she froze. Overwhelming emotions flooded her drunken vision. Her insides knotted up as she stood face to face with her past. His presence suffocated and bounded her to the floor she stood on.
The hand on her back slowly rubbed her shoulder. "What's wrong?" He asked from behind. Instead of responding, she pushed forward and against the crowd.
On the drive back, words spewed from her mouth a mile a minute about years prior. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked bitterly. She hesitated. "Because I thought you'd care," she sputtered. Silence. Regretting his choice of words, he searched for her hands, tucked tightly underneath her thighs. Her grip was strong and unyielding, even in her drunkenness. He finally rested his hand on her knee and sped home in silence.
She ran out of the car before he could even park and stormed up the stairs into her apartment. He followed and walked into her bedroom where she was still clothed. He sat on the edge of her bed and gently took off her shoes. He slowly unzipped her dress and gave her a t-shirt to wear. He put down a glass of water at her bedside as she folded the covers over her like a burrito. "Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude..." his words drifted off as she turned away from him. He sat there for a few seconds, trying to rearrange words in his head.
Finally he said the only thing he knew wouldn't upset her even more, "At least let me help you take off your earrings." She didn't say anything but turned her right ear to him. He unhooked the first earring and let her turn her head to unhook the other earring. "Thank you. I think you can leave now." She turned her back to him again. He smoothed the back of her head and kissed it before he got up to leave. He turned around to see her burrito-blanket body.
I should say something but would it matter? She'll forget about all this in the morning anyway. She always does. He sighed one last time and slowly closed the door, hoping she would stop him and ask him to stay.
Labels: feeling a little nostalgic today, forget this in the morning, oldie