Meet the Parents, Part Deux
It was a very weird and very unnerving déjà vu. At least that's how it seemed to Eva.
Every time she'd make a promise to herself that this will be the last time; this will be it. She was going to walk out the door and not look back. After all, was there really anything to look back on? Chris was always going to be Chris and she was always going to be Eva. There would come a point where their too different personalities would just cancel each other out and they'd end up hating even the mere sight of one another.
She had just watched the movie Brokeback Mountain the other night and the quote 'I wish I knew how to quit you' described her predicament really quite accurately.
It also explained why they ended up leaving Sana's Eid party early the day before and found themselves stumbling back to Chris's house after they realized that neither of them had brought enough money to check into a hotel as had been their original plan.
This hadn't been Eva's plan for weekend though: ending up half naked in bed with the one person she kept trying to put behind her.
It wasn't going to work; Chris was too volatile and she was too neurotic, their bad habits would eventually get in the way and they'll end up fighting and hating each other and regretting the prime of their youth spent on a relationship that was doomed to crash and burn.
Eva knew she was being overly dramatic, but if life thought her anything, it was that if you expect the worst at any given time, anything less wouldn't be too bad an outcome.
Chris had beautiful eyelashes though, that was for damn sure.
Eva almost hated the fact that he was so pretty and that he was so nice to her; the way he always had the look of someone staring at something amazing whenever he looked at her because she didn't know how to respond to that.
She was used to allowing teasing and put-downs to roll off her back like water, it still hurt, but eventually it just became the norm and that was okay. She considered it penance for the bad things she herself had done to others.
But sleeping Chris was slightly more tolerable than awake-Chris. At least he wasn't looking at her with a gaze that was filled with awe and expression of utter infatuation. It was weird and it made her feel awkward and she kept trying to make him stop; to push him away, but nothing she did worked. No matter how much she denied him, no matter how many times she called him an incorrigible fuck-boy and tried to pass it off as a joke, he always just laughed it off and let it roll off his back in a way that was too painfully familiar until one day she woke up and realized that she was doing to him exactly what people had done to her.
It was a hurtful realization and a pretty sobering one.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer," said the voice still rough from sleep and followed by a cheeky grin.
"How long have you been awake?" asked Eva, trying not to show how startled she was on the inside as she reached over to smack him on the arm, "Asshole."
Chris finally cracked open his eyes to look at her. His eyes were still heavy lidded with sleep and glassy, blinking rapidly trying to focus his gaze, but still he was looking at Eva like a person watching the sun rising from behind the mountains.
"A while," he said, stretching his limbs. "I felt your eyes and me and I thought what kind of guy stays asleep when they have a gorgeous lady lying less than a foot away staring at them? I would be an insult to the fuck-boy name."
Eva chuckled. "You're not –" she started, before stopping herself. She didn't know where she was going with that but it was definitely not something she wanted to say aloud, at least, not yet.
"I'm not what?" he asked, readjusting his head on the pillow, inching close to her side of the bed.
"Nothing," said Eva, trying to change the subject by reaching over to place her hand on the curve of Chris's waist, above his hipbone. It definitely did the job because Chris let out a shuddering breath and immediately forgot about his own question.
"You're such a tease, Eva, I really underestimated you."
"Did you now?" she asked with a small grin. "You know, I –"
"Chris?"
All of a sudden there was an unfamiliar voice calling out Chris's name from somewhere down the hall. Neither of them had time to react before the door to Chris's room slid open and in walked a woman Eva had never met before.
Both of them immediately shot up into a sitting position, with Eva pulling the blanket clean out of Chris's grasp and hoarding it all to herself. She was still covered from the waist up with a plain white t-shirt, but that seemed to be her automatic survival instinct kicking in.
"Mom!" exclaimed Chris, half leaping up off the bed and moving to… Eva wasn't sure what he was moving to do because his mom had already seen them in bed together, there was no hiding her presence by that point. "What are you doing back? I thought you and dad were gone for the weekend?"
"Oh… uhm…" His mom seemed unsure of how to react or where to focus her attention in that moment. She glanced at Eva then back and Chris and didn't know whether to answer his question or ask one of her own undoubtedly pressing ones. "The dog got sick and we felt that… we decided to – uhm –" she couldn't seem to be able to keep her eyes from periodically glancing over at Eva, "– cut the trip short – and, uh... who might this be, Chris?" She asked finally.
Eva nearly leapt to her feet the same way Chris had done just moments ago, wrapping the blanket around herself in a way that brought on a second bout of déjà vu. She waddled her way over to where Chris was standing near his mom and ended up doing some kind of nervous, awkward half-curtsy. She didn't know whether to introduce herself, the way Chris had done when he met her mom, or wait for him to introduce her – the way Chris had not done when he met her mom.
"Eva," she said quickly; hoping her face didn't look as red as it felt. "I'm – uh… we were just – uh…"
"Eva?" His mom repeated, looking thoughtful, like she was wracking her brain trying to figure out whether she'd heard that name before. "You're Chris's girlfriend?" she asked suddenly and Eva was sure that her face was definitely as red as it felt at that point; though she took great comfort in the fact that when she glanced over at Chris, he looked just as embarrassed as she felt on the inside. It was a far cry from the Chris she'd come to know and –
– And what? That was the question.
"Mom," said Chris, sounding uncharacteristically chagrined as he addressed her.
Eva decided in that moment that perhaps she'd have a little fun at his expense for once, so she said, "Maybe," just as Chris protested with an almost stuttered denial.
He got about half way through his words before he stopped abruptly and turned to gape at Eva. "Hang on… what?"
Eva tried not to grin too wide at his reaction. She didn't even turn to look at him as she continued to address his mom; feeling strangely braver on the inside than she ever thought possible. "I mean… we're getting there," she said.
The gob smacked look on Chris's face was definitely worth the price of admission alone.
"Well…" said Mrs. Schistad, looking between Chris and Eva. "I'll leave you two to your – whatever it is. I'll go help your father with the dog," she said, backing out slowly and walking out the door, pulling it gently close and plunging the room into an awkward silence.
– That was quickly broken by the sound of Eva's laughter.
Chris on the other hand looked far less amused and far more confused. "Was that a joke?" he asked.
"I guess you'll have to find out, won't you?" said Eva, pushing Chris backwards towards the bed and shoving him unceremoniously back onto the mattress. "Consider it – sweet revenge," she said, unravelling herself from the blanket she'd wrapped around herself and throwing it aside.
Chris flopped down onto the mattress and the lay there confused for a solid second before he seemed to catch on to what was going on. "I guess I can live with that, girlfriend," he said.
"Maybe," Eva replied, propping herself up on the mattress on one knee, straddling Chris's legs between her thighs. "Now," she said, leaning down with her arms stretched out on either side of Chris's head, "Love me."
The end.