Page 35 of Love is Strange
And yet on the rare occasion that I happen to glance out my window and see one without the other, it’s usually the husband, late at night, pacing his half of the backyard, smoking a cigarette and glancing up at the night sky.
They’ve been gone for the past week; the husband, the wife, the son, the unborn baby, and the dog and it makes me feel lonelier than usual. I hate not hearing footsteps on the other side of the wall just as much as I hate them when they wake me up early on weekday mornings.
Miko brushes against my leg, pulling me back to the present and I glance down at her, giving her a smile. She gently pushes herself against me a little firmer this time, so I lean down and scoop her up in my arms. She’s not an ordinary companion, but I’m by no means an ordinary kind of girl and she makes me so happy when I feel like the sun will never shine again.
I put her back down and let her trot into the apartment again, closing the door behind us both and sighing. The only reason I’m thinking about them right now is because I find a small ounce of jealousy building inside of me.
I always hoped that when I got far away from my family, I would magically fall into a normal life and that everything would be like it was with my parents—a loving and caring relationship, two kids; a boy and a girl, and the white picket fence that everyone strives for.
Instead, I find myself more alone than ever and the one person I know can give me some semblance of the normality I crave so desperately is also the person I keep pushing away.
Time to change that.
I go and sit on my couch and pick up my cell phone. I managed to pry Silas’ phone number from Vanessa the last time I was at the bar and didn’t even care how she came to have possession of it. She gave it over freely and that’s all that mattered in that moment.
I tap the screen and bring it to life before I scroll down to his name in my contacts list and push the call button.
Three rings later and I almost hang up the phone when I hear his voice.
“Yeah?”
“Silas? Um, hi. It’s, um, it’s me.”
I groan internally at the sound of my voice. Instead of being the confident woman I had every intention of being, I sound more like a terrified, squeaky mouse.
“Me, who?” he asks in confusion.
A sound of laughter erupts in the background and I can hear him tell someone to fuck off. He’s either at the Tavern again or he’s out with his guys somewhere else.
“Who is this?” he asks more persistently.
“Axelle-Rose,” I reply quietly.
Silence.
I can hear the rustling of his hand covering his phone and the mumbling of his voice as he tells his friends that he has to take this call and that he’ll be back shortly.
“What’s up, Hair Metal?” he finally asks, a passing breeze becoming caught up in the phone. I smile and shake my head; there’s nothing in this world that will get him to stop calling me that. “Wait, how did you get my number?”
“Vanessa,” I confess nervously.
“Oh. So, what’s up?”
I clear my throat and take a deep breath. I had an entire speech prepared for him and now I’m swallowing it down, unable to say it as I planned.
“Can you come over? I mean, if you’re busy I understand.” My tone comes out high-pitched and rushed, and the only answer that greets me right away is the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I feel dizzy, ready for his rejection, but he surprises me.
“Yeah. Just text me your address, okay? I’ll go wait in my car for it. See you in a few.”
Click.
The line drops, and my hands are shaking. I swipe away from the phone call list and open my messages, willing my fingers to cooperate as I send him the information he’s apparently waiting for.
I find it hard to believe that he’ll come over. I think his acceptance was more of a way to get me off the phone so he wouldn’t have to explain to his friends who he was on the phone with, but when he replies with agot it,I toss the phone back onto the couch and let out a relieved sigh.
But then it hits me.
Silas is on his way to my place and it shouldn’t take him more than twenty minutes to get here.
