Eric was beginning to wonder exactly what that beeping sound he heard was. He then realized he was asleep, and as he sat up and opened his slumber-encrusted eyes, the little digital alarm clock staring at him from his desk told him that it was indeed sev en in the morning. He hit the snooze bar, and by the time it began to make noises again, he was ready to actually begin his day.
He looked at his desk calendar, and under that day was written "D-day." He thought for a minute about what this might mean, and then he remembered... the though brought a smile to his face, and to mind another thought that the day might not be so bad afte r all.
Eric's roommate Tony, a blond, semi-muscular man, was already in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of coffee. They exchanged good mornings as Eric fumbled around with a box of cereal.
"Eric," Tony said, "you really need to get a quieter alarm clock."
"If it was quieter, it wouldn't wake me up, and some people actually go to class around here. Tabitha's still here, I take it?"
"Yeah, she's asleep. You almost woke her up, though," Tony said grinning.
"Well, some people have sleep to wake up from," Eric shot back with an equally evil grin.
Eric considered the situation, and the fact was that Tony really did seem to have some kind of gift at attracting women. Tony seemed to go though a new one every week, though, and Eric did find that distressing sometimes, even though he knew it shouldn't matter to him. Besides, it had worked against Eric before.
"So, what's up today?"
"I'm going to talk to Kim today."
"Kim? Have I heard about this one?"
"No."
"You're holding out on me."
"You know what happens."
Tony shook his head at this. He shrugged, then took a sip of his coffee. Eric stopped for a second to think.
"Listen, I'm not taking chances," Eric said as he poured his milk into the cereal bowl. "Sorry."
"Yeah, I know."
They finished their breakfasts in silence, then Eric got dressed, putting his usual t-shirt and jeans over his slightly pudgy frame and baseball cap over his shoulder-length brown hair, and left the apartment.
The spring semester had started two weeks before, and as Eric weaved through the narrow streets of Polkstown on his mountain bike, approaching the campus of Midwestern University, he noticed that the morning traffic was lighter than usual. He figured tha t since the weatherman had predicted rain, a lot of the students living in the district stayed at home, looking for any excuse to skip an early class, even though the sun did peek out from behind the clouds for the most part.
Eric got to his English class with five minutes to spare, and sat down at his desk in the auditorium, waiting for Kim to arrive. He had taken something of a liking to Kim; he found her physically attractive, which helped matters, but as he had talked to her the past couple of weeks, he knew they were somewhat alike. She wasn't a gamer, but was somewhat familiar with it, or at least didn't mind hearing about it, was into computers a lot, and read as much as she could. On this particular day, however, sh e also turned out to be absent.
Following that class and his next one, Eric went to the student union to get some lunch, and ran into Tony, who looked rather unhappy about something. They got something to eat and sat down at one of the outside tables.
"Okay now, what happened?" Eric asked.
"Oh, we had an argument. She started going on about the future, and wasn't happy at all when I told her I wasn't ready to start thinking about all that."
Eric shook his head, knowing what the answer to his next question was probably going to be. "And that means?"
"Well, she gathered up her stuff and took off. I don't think she's going to be back. I don't know. So, have you talked to Kim yet?"
"No, she wasn't in class."
As he said this, Eric saw her approaching the table. She jogged over to them, adjusting her backpack on her tall, thin frame and sweeping her long red hair out of the way of her bespectacled eyes.
"Eric, hi. Do you have English notes?"
"Oh, yeah. Sit down?" Eric started digging through his backpack and motioned toward a seat, which Kim took.
"What are you all studying?" Tony asked.
"Overview of Shakespeare," Kim answered. "None of the interesting ones, though."
"Like?"
"Well, Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Henry the Fifth, all the ones you would expect from a dinosaur like Crohauser."
"You have Crohauser? I had him for Mythology."
"Now that was a tough class," Eric said, emerging from his backpack at last with his notebook.
"Yeah," Tony agreed, then looked back to Kim. "I meant which ones did you find interesting?"
"Oh, I liked Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Nights Dream..." Kim said as she began transcribing Eric's notes.
"I liked those too," Tony said. "I liked Hamlet and Julius Caesar, though. I also liked Othello."
"Well, I thought it was okay. I'm not really keen on tragedy, myself."
Eric just sat back and watched the proceedings go back and forth like a tennis match, having been unable to get a word in edgewise since he got the notebook out. They talked about this so much that Eric wondered why Kim was even taking the class; Eric ne eded it as an English major, but she was a philosophy major.
And then it happened.
"Well, you know the Polkstown Theater is presenting Twelfth Night starting this weekend. Why don't we go?" Tony asked.
"Sure. What time?"
"Eight or so. Pick you up at seven?"
"Okay. Oh, I didn't catch your name. Kim Eggers."
Tony paused for a minute, which impressed on Eric that just maybe this wasn't intended, then said, "Tony Rogers."
"Here, I'll write my number down for you... okay... oh, Eric, I don't have time to finish this now. Do you mind if I borrow these notes and give them back to you on Wednesday?"
For a moment, Tony thought Eric might have gone catatonic. He just stared into space.
"Eric?" Kim shoved Eric's shoulder.
"Oh... yeah, go right ahead," Eric answered, unable to articulate much else.
"Great. Later, and I'll see you," she nodded at Tony," on Friday."
Tony waved at her, and as she walked away immediately looked down at the table. "Eric, why didn't you tell me that was Kim?"
"Would it have mattered?"
"Yes. I'm sorry, I really am."
"Yeah. Look, I have a class to go to. I'll be home later."
Eric didn't have a class to go to, really. He did, however, go to the footbridge. This was one of his favorite spots, as it always put him in a philosophical mood. The bridge, barely too narrow for a car, stretched across a small river that branched ou t of a tributary to the Missouri, ending in a clump of trees on the other side. Underneath on the far end was a small peninsula that reached out from the shore toward the nearest support, and it was here that Eric sat down, sheltered from the rain that w as just starting, to watch the river go by, hoping that would do something about his mood.
*****
Two weeks later, Eric was sitting at the top of the stadium. He went there often when depressed, and the past two weeks were prime time. He looked out into the night, and from this vantage point could see the lights from downtown in the distance, and th e lights from the nearby houses, and headlights running around between the others, and Eric knew he was in trouble when he would hope for two of the moving lights to reach each other and stop moving, meaning they either knew each other and stopped to talk , or had just had an horrible accident.
It was morbid thoughts such as those that made him worry about himself sometimes. If they were only starting two weeks after the fact, though, then things were better than normal.
"Hello?" The voice, coming from his left, was distinctively female. Just what I need, Eric thought sarcastically as he nodded to indicate his awareness.
She stepped in front of him. She was tall, with blond hair reaching down to her shoulders, which were covered by a vest made of some sort of paisley material over a beige blouse. a plain brown skirt and hiking books completed the outfit.
"Listen," she said, "I know you've been making good use of my depression spot, but it's been two weeks and I'd like it back."
"What?"
"I want my spot back."
Eric looked at her in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding," he said.
She shook her head. "Nope. If you're not going to leave, you're at least going to share," she added, sitting down on the benches in front of him, leaning against a concrete divider that ran along the right side of the seating area.
"Whatever."
"So what's the deal? Assuming, of course, you feel like discussing that with a total stranger."
"Not really."
The woman nodded, and said, "Fine. Oh, my name's Susan. Susan Murphy." She offered a hand to him.
Eric shook her hand, replying, "Eric Stevens."
Susan grinned slightly, and in a deeper voice, said, "Tell them Eric Stevens sends his regards..."
"What?"
"Nothing, just paraphrasing a movie." Susan looked away, toward the lights circulating in the distance. She looked that way for several minutes before speaking again.
"You know what?" she said.
"What?" Eric answered, genuinely curious as to what this person was going to do next.
"It's a real shame that you can't see the stars that well from here."
"Why's that?"
"Light pollution. Drowns out the stars."
"No, I meant why is it a shame."
"Of course you did," she said, looking back at Eric again. "Looking at the stars is kind of like this, except more natural. It has a completely different feel. There's this place just out of town that I take my telescope to sometimes, to get away from the lights out here. I just look up at whatever's up there; usually it's just a bunch of stars, but sometimes there's other stuff, and it can be quite beautiful. You ever do anything like that?"
"Not really. Messed around with fractals a while back."
"Ah, a computer whiz."
"No, I just dabble, although I do know my way around a system. Fractals got boring after a while, though."
"I never liked those much myself. Did you do anything else?"
Eric thought for a second, but couldn't come up with anything. "Not really."
"Okay... you have a car on campus?"
"Nope. Bike. Why?"
Susan looked at her watch, then said, "Oh, damn, I didn't know it was this late. I have to go; test tomorrow. Look, do you want to try some stargazing tomorrow night?"
"Sure, I guess."
"Cool. I'll borrow my roommate's car and I'll see you about ten or so. Where do you live?"
Eric gave her his address, and as she left, he couldn't help but watch her leave, wondering what the hell had just happened.
*****
The next night, Tony arrived home with his latest woman while Eric was getting ready. Kim had become history within a week, and in fact no longer wanted to associate with Eric, either, assuming that Eric should have told her about Tony's attitude.
"Hi, Eric," he said as they came in and saw the odds and ends Eric was gathering on the floor. "Flashlight... heavy jacket... paper... insect repellant... going camping, man?"
"Not exactly, no," Eric answered. He heard the car horn, and dumped the stuff into a paper bag, put on the jacket and left.
Susan was outside, in a yellow Nova hatchback. She got out to help him load his stuff into the back, and they got into the car and drove off toward the edge of town.
They didn't notice Tony watching them from the window of the apartment. He ran several options through his mind before he finally settled on one, turned to the woman he came in with, and said, "Jasmine, we need to talk about something..."
*****
The night had been uneventful, really. They had the telescope set up, but the sky stubbornly refused to come out from behind its cloud cover. Susan stared at a starfinder under a red-lensed flashlight, shaking her head. "It wasn't supposed to be like t his tonight."
Eric looked into the eyepiece every once in a while. "What are we missing?"
"Well, there was supposed to be a meteor shower sometime around now."
"You can tell things like that?"
"When the earth passes through debris, yes. It happens about the same time every year," she explained. "Maybe we'll get lucky and the moon will make an appearance, but it looks like that's as good as it gets tonight. How about a sandwich?"
"Sure. What have you got?"
Susan lit a lantern, and reached into the box she had brought with her. "I went with basic bologna and cheese. Thought it'd be safest." She handed the plastic-bagged sandwich to Eric.
Eric bit into the sandwich, and a thought occurred to him.
"Hey, Susan, what were you doing up there?" Eric asked.
"Where?"
"The stadium."
"Oh... well, I go there when I'm depressed, or have a lot to think about."
"You were there to think then?"
"No, I just hide it well. It's not as bad as it was a month ago."
"What happened?"
"Caught my boyfriend with a cheerleader or something like that."
"Oh. I'm sorry-"
"Don't be. He was a bastard anyway. What about you? I know you weren't there to think."
"I usually go to the bridge for that."
"Bridge?"
"If this stargazing thing pans out, we can go there. Anyway, I'd just had a relationship, or rather a possible one, not work out. She wound up going out with my roommate."
"Ooh..." Susan grimaced.
Eric nodded in agreement, adding, "He didn't even stay with her, and that's what really bugs me. He's always doing things like that, and stuff like this always happens."
"So why don't you tell him to shove off?"
"Well, I need the help with the rent, plus I've known him forever, plus I'm not entirely sure he means to do what he does."
Susan shrugged. "I wouldn't put up with it, even then."
"Anyway, it's happened, it's past, and that's that." Eric looked up at the sky. "I think the cloud cover is breaking."
Susan turned the lantern out. "It'll take a few minutes for our eyes to adjust."
After several minutes, they took turns at the telescope, watching the occasional meteorite streak across the sky above when they weren't at the scope, and watching the more general shower when they were.
"Say," Eric asked. "Have you ever wished on a falling star?"
"No. That's silly."
"Maybe, but it's fun. Try it."
They watched the sky, abandoning the telescope until a streak of light zipped from one side of the sky to the other.
"Did you make a wish?" Eric asked.
"Yeah. Want to hear it?"
"It won't come true if you tell me."
"Well... are you having a good time?"
"Yeah. This is kind of fun."
"Smiling and happy and all that?"
"Sort of."
Susan smiled, saying "Then I've already gotten mine."
Eric looked at her like she was insane. "Now that is silly."
She shrugged. "As long as it gets you out of my stadium," she said, still smiling. "Did you make a wish?"
Eric hesitated. He had made a wish, but realized he was coming to like her rather too quickly for him to be comfortable. Still, the wish was made.
"Sort of," he eventually told her.
*****
Eric closed the door behind him, dropping the bag on the floor, and looked out the window to the car driving away. He didn't notice Tony emerging from his room.
"Hey, Eric."
Eric nearly leapt through the ceiling.
"Sorry if I scared you, man," Tony apologized.
"Don't worry about it," Eric replied.
"Did you have a good time?"
"It was okay, I think. Meteor shower. I didn't wake you all up, did I?"
"Oh, no. Jasmine left shortly after you did."
"Another discussion?"
"Yeah. You see," Tony said, leading the way to the kitchen, "I'm starting to realize what I want, and Jasmine just didn't fit, you know?"
"Well, at least you're realizing what you actually want," Eric said as he opened the refrigerator and retrieved the jug of orange juice. He poured a glass for himself, offered a glass to Tony, which was refused, and sat down at the table. "How did she t ake it?" Eric finally asked.
"Not well. Anyway, I'm going back to bed. Later." Tony waved tiredly and retreated to his room, leaving Eric to consider the nights events, and his plans for the next night.
*****
"This," Eric announced dramatically, "is the footbridge." He bowed with a flourish, waving toward the little parking lot in front of the iron trestle.
"Impressive," Susan said as she advanced toward it. "How long has it been here?"
"Since the thirties, I think. An ex-girlfriend brought me here, and she knew more about it that I did."
"Oh," Susan answered, a strange but unidentified tone in her voice. "What happened?"
"She graduated, moved on to bigger and better things, met a German business executive and there she went."
Susan nodded. "Well, come on," she said.
Eric led her to the middle of the bridge, where they looked out over the water, and at the lights from the bridge reflected off the water.
"Nice view," Susan said, "but not as good as from my spot."
"Different purpose."
"Yeah, I suppose... but it really is just one form of meditation or another, isn't it?"
"I suppose so. See that little bit of land there?" Eric pointed out toward the peninsula underneath the far side of the bridge.
"Yeah."
"That's where I usually go to think. My ex and I danced there once."
"Interesting combination."
"Well, yeah. It was our first dance, and I think third date. I try not to think about it. I don't even know why I thought of it now."
Susan nodded, said, "I'll be right back," and ran back to the car. She returned with a portable radio. "How do we get down there?"
"Susan, what are you thinking?"
"Trust me. How do we get there?"
Eric led Susan down the path to the patch of land. She set up the radio on some rocks, and eventually found a station that played a lot of slow music. She stepped up to Eric and, after a few seconds, took his hands, saying, "Well, what are you waiting f or?"
They began to dance, and although Eric felt downright uncomfortable, he eased into the motions.
"Eric, I need to tell you something," Susan said as they danced.
"What's that?"
"I've seen you at the stadium before. Did you know you talk to yourself when you're up there?"
"I had no idea. I hate to think some of what you might have heard."
"Yeah, well, you have some pretty deep passions for someone who never seems to express them. I haven't seen you get truly excited about anything yet, other than there."
"That's me, I guess."
"Listen, if you ever need to talk, you know how to get in touch with me, okay?"
"Susan, I don't know..."
"If you want to, I'm here."
Their eyes met as the music began to wind down, and some sort of understanding passed between them. It was one of those moments of realization people have with each other, when they know there is genuine care in the other's heart, a moment that seemed to stretch forever, until the disc jockey interrupted, and Eric looked away.
He saw something streak across the sky.
"The meteor shower is still going on?" he asked.
"I think so. Why?"
"No reason." But he was thinking about his wish.
*****
They got back to Eric's apartment, and Eric asked Susan if she wanted something to drink before she left. She agreed, and they went inside, being careful not to make too much noise. They eventually sat at the table, each with glasses of bottled water, a nd didn't say much for a while. Every so often, Eric would glance in her direction, just to see her look back at something on the table, which he would then do as well.
"Eric," she finally said, breaking the silence. "Can I ask you something? It'll probably sound kind of silly..."
"What is it?"
"Do you believe in soul mates?"
Eric shrugged. "I never really thought about it. I guess anything is possible. I always figured that if something was meant to happen, it would."
Susan nodded. "I know what you mean. It's something like that, but I mean someone you just kind of automatically connect with."
"Why? Have you found one?" Eric wondered if he sounded too hopeful in asking that question.
Susan thought for a second, looked down at her glass, and said, "I don't know yet. Not for sure, anyway."
"Oh. Well, if it's something that's supposed to just automatically happen, I would guess it's not in that case."
Susan frowned. "Maybe not. Maybe all hopeless romantics ought to be gathered up and shot for spreading such ludicrous ideas."
"They're not ludicrous. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it takes time. Besides, I'd hate to see you shot with the rest of them."
"What?" Susan looked shocked.
"If you weren't, you would never have asked me about all this soul mate stuff."
"Ouch. Okay, so what's your excuse?"
"My excuse?"
"Yeah. You don't act like it and all, but of all places to go to get away from things, you pick a place an ex-girlfriend took you to?"
Eric shook his head, saying "I try to fight it. I used to be into that kind of thing, but a person can only bash his head into the wall so many times before he learns to give up."
Susan put her hand on his. "Don't fight. Like you said, when it's meant to happen, it will, but not if you don't let it."
She removed her hand and took another sip of her drink. "Besides," she added, "it may happen sooner than you think."
Then they were startled by the sound of a key in the lock. Tony came into the kitchen soon afterwards. "Hi."
Eric nodded. Susan looked at Tony, then turned to Eric. "Is this the roommate you've been telling me about?"
"Yes. Tony, this is Susan Murphy. Susan, Tony Rogers. We thought you were here asleep."
"Delighted," Susan said in a semi-sarcastic tone that Tony didn't seem to notice as they shook hands.
Tony sat at the table with them. "Well," he said, "I got bored and decided to wander around for a while. Is this who you've been staying out with so late the past few nights?"
"Yeah."
"So, is anything... oh... you know...?"
Susan flushed a light shade of red, and Eric, feeling the pressure fall on him like an interrogator's spotlight, answered, "No. We've been looking at stuff."
"Without being quite so ambiguous," Susan added, "we've gone stargazing and we've been out to the bridge."
"The bridge?" Tony asked. "Eric, you took her to a bridge?"
Eric found himself totally unable to explain. After Eric gave up, exasperated, Tony turned back to Susan. "Anyway, you're an astronomer?"
"I dabble," she replied.
"That's cool. I used to be into it big time."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Did you ever read Starwatcher?"
"I'm a regular subscriber."
"I wrote an article for them shortly after I graduated high school. Did you see the one about the meteor impact near Chicago about three years ago?"
Susan nodded. "I think I remember that. That was you?"
Eric jumped into the conversation. "They let him keep part of it. He still has it. Why don't you go get it?"
"Good idea," Tony said, getting up and going back to his room.
After he left, Susan said, "Eric, why didn't you tell me he was into astronomy?"
"It didn't seem important."
"Didn't seem important? What kind of fool do you take me for? Look, you can think what you want, but ditch the petty jealousy, okay? You're not entitled."
Eric didn't think he was being jealous, just having not mentioned something like this. But then, why did hearing what she said feel so much like being hit with a brick?
*****
Tony went into his room, and grabbed the little plastic cube with his meteorite fragment encased within. He looked at it for a few seconds, then glanced back into the room to see Susan and Eric talking. He turned toward his window, then looked back thro ugh the door into the kitchen.
"Eric, I'm sorry," he whispered to himself. "I really never meant for it to happen before, but this time, I have to."
*****
Tony came back into the kitchen, and whatever conversation Susan and Eric were having ended. Tony held up the cube.
"Ah, let me see," Susan enthused. Tony handed the cube to her, and she turned it around in her hands, examining every angle and every surface. "How much of it is this?"
"About a twentieth. It wasn't that big, really. I just got lucky," Tony answered.
"Listen, some friends and I are going into the hills in a couple of days for some stargazing. I'm sure they'd be happy to have you along, especially Bill; he's into meteors and that kind of thing."
"Sounds like fun. Anything I should bring?"
"Whatever you have here with you astronomy-wise, and maybe some munchies." Susan glanced at her watch. "I should be going. I'll see you on Friday, Tony. Later, Eric."
Both of them showed Susan to the door. As soon as she drove away, Eric fell forward the several inches between himself and the door. "Dammit, Tony, you're doing it again."
"Pardon me?"
"You know."
"Eric, you're being paranoid."
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
"Are you okay?"
"Look, every time I start liking someone, here you come riding in on your white horse, whisking them away until you get sick of them, and then throwing them away. Hell, she was just talking about soul mates and romantic crap!"
"Then you don't have anything to worry about, do you? If she already likes you, how am I supposed to change that, even if I did intend to?"
Eric had to admit, he had a point.
*****
Several nights later, the group was back at the place that Susan and Eric had been to only nights before. Several telescopes were set up all around, and the place was a cavalcade of red lights as people wandered around the clearing and back and forth fro m the vehicles. Susan and Tony shared her telescope.
"Having fun?" Susan asked.
"Yeah," Tony said, peering into the eyepiece.
"It's a shame Eric was busy. I probably should have invited him in the first place."
"Eric, despite his virtues, does not handle a bad situation well at all."
"I don't know," Susan replied. "I do know you're not quite what I expected from what he told me."
"What did he tell you?"
Susan considered her words carefully. "Nothing bad, you know? Just different."
"And what do you think of what you know now?"
Susan looked away for a second, then looked back at Tony, who now faced her.
"You know," Tony added, "I believe that there is a moment when two people share something that binds them, no matter what may have come before, however much or little there may have been, or whatever."
Susan blinked. "Like realizing your soul mate, kind of?"
"Exactly..."
*****
Eric was watching some late night talk show host making a fool of himself when Susan and Tony came in. They proceeded into the kitchen, and Eric followed.
"Hey guys, how was it?" Eric asked.
"Not bad at all," Tony answered. "I'll be right back," he added, going into his room.
Eric broke the awkward silence after a few seconds. "How are you doing?"
"Things are good. You remember our talk about soul mates and all that the other night?"
"Yeah."
"This is great... I've found him. I really think I found him. When Tony brought it up tonight-"
"Tony?! You've got to be kidding. I mentioned that to him the other night. You think this is a coincidence?"
Susan looked down at the table and shook her head. "Eric, what is your problem? Get a hold of yourself."
"Can't you see what he's doing?"
"I told you before, get rid of the jealousy. It doesn't become you at all. And a little advice: maybe this wouldn't happen if you didn't try to attach yourself to everything that walks by in a skirt. Think about that."
Eric tried to answer, but couldn't. After another two tries, he gave up and stormed out of the kitchen, then left, slamming the apartment door behind him.
Eric tried going to the bridge, but couldn't stay there, and that had nothing to do with the light rain that began to fall. He went to the stadium instead. He had thought that it would no longer do, having met Susan there, but it worked better for him t han the bridge could anymore.
*****
A couple of weeks passed. Eric occasionally passed Susan and Tony on the way in or out of the apartment; Susan had practically moved in during the past week. He never really said much to them, and would sit at the stadium more and more every day.
*****
"Hey, don't roll over and go to sleep just yet, damn you." Susan put her arms around Tony, as he stretched out and embraced her with one arm.
"You know, we should probably see about getting a place to ourselves," Tony said.
"You think so?"
"I know that this is still bothering Eric, and maybe if we got away, he wouldn't find it necessary to leave all the time."
"So what about him, then?"
"He's got lots of friends. He'll find a roommate."
"Yeah." Susan rested her head on Tony's chest. "Now, what about us?"
"Well, I'll graduate next year. You'll graduate the year after that, probably. Then we can move somewhere with some opportunity, get married, do the family thing-"
"I'm not sure about that."
"What?"
"I really don't think I want to have kids."
Tony laughed. "You will."
"Oh? And how do you know this?"
"Eventually you will."
"Don't assume that."
"Trust me. You will."
"Now wait just a second," Susan said, gathering the sheets around her as she sat up. "What makes you think I'm going to change my mind about this?"
"Because, this is meant to be. We connected, and we're going to be together, and I finally know what I want."
"What about what I want?"
Tony took one of her hands and held it gently. "You'll come around, I'm sure of it."
"Yeah, right." Susan took her hand away and swept away the covers as she bent down toward the pile of clothes at the side of the bed.
"Where are you going?"
"Tony," she said as she fastened the catch on her bra, "How many times have we been through this? I'm sick of arguing about it." She stood up to put on her jeans, and Tony got out of bed and came around to her side.
"Susan, I thought we had something."
"That doesn't mean we have to think the same about everything. Every time this comes up, it's always 'you'll want this, just wait and see.' Well, maybe I won't, and you refuse to consider that. That," she said pointing at Tony as if to press the point home, "is what I am sick of. Maybe if you can learn to respect what I think and what I want, then maybe this could work, but I'm not going on with this."
"If you leave, there's no coming back."
Susan finished pulling her shirt down over her, picked up her boots, looked at Tony, and said, "Yeah. That's what I thought you'd say." Then she turned and left, slamming the door behind her.
*****
Eric saw her coming through the archway into the stadium. She turned around under her umbrella, looking for something or someone. She saw him, started coming toward him, and he stood up.
"Fine, I'll leave," he said.
"Eric, don't, please," Susan replied.
"Why not?"
"We need to talk."
"Oh, do we? I have nothing to say to you."
"Shut up and listen, damn you."
"Why can't you tell Tony about this? I'm sure his opinion would be much more important to you than mine."
"Because this has nothing to do with him. Besides, I just told him to go to hell."
"You dumped him?"
"No, it's a term of endearment," Susan said sarcastically. "Yes, I dumped him."
Eric thought about that, then sat back down, saying "Okay, say what you're going to say."
Susan joined him, placing the umbrella between them. "You'll catch your death from this rain," she said.
"And you'd care?"
"I'm going to forget you said that because you're upset right now. Why didn't you warn me?"
"I tried. I seem to recall you didn't believe me."
"No, not that. I mean his 'my way or my way' attitude."
"Well, that's a change. He usually tells them he doesn't want whatever to drive them away." Eric actually looked at her for the first time since she sat down. "You okay?"
"I'll be fine. Your roommate needs psychiatric help, though."
Eric laughed.
Susan glanced over at him. "Glad to see you still have your sense of humor. Listen, I'm sorry. I said some things I shouldn't have, and to top it off I went and did exactly what I told you not to do."
Eric gave her his trademark shrug. "I never limit myself as to what could happen. At least, I didn't used to. Maybe some would see that as not being a good thing. But, that's me. But I owe you an apology too. I should never have copped that kind of a ttitude. Thing is, I did like you, and I couldn't handle seeing that happen again."
"Did?"
Eric considered for a second, then said, "Do."
She just nodded. "I know."
Eric looked over at her, and their eyes met. They just looked at each other for several minutes, then Susan asked, "So, are we cool?"
Eric nodded. "Yeah, we're cool."
They hugged, then sat back, arms around each other, and looked at the clearing sky.
"The rain's letting up," Susan commented.
"Yeah, it's the trailing end of a front. It's been sitting here all week and is finally moving."
"And you've been out here in it all this time? Damn, Eric." Susan shook her head at that.
"You do that a lot, you know?"
"You shrug, I shake my head. You know, sometimes you do both at the same time?"
"Never noticed."
Susan hesitated, then said, "This is going to take a little time, you know."
"Yeah, I know. I still have a lot of stuff to get over myself."
"If you need to talk..."
"I know. Same goes for you."
She nodded, then looked back out over the city. Suddenly an excited look leaped onto her face. "Eric, quick, look!" she said, pointing out over the city, where Eric looked just in time to see a streak disappear behind the hills on the other side of town .
"That was bright," she added. "Must have been a big one."
"That storm still going on?"
"Nope. None are supposed to happen for another month either. You know how rare it is to see something like that otherwise?"
"No, but I can imagine."
*****
Return to the Collected Works.
Mark Kinney / alberich@iglou.com