I looked down over the edge of the bed. She was curled up.
"You okay?"
She stretched an arm out toward me.
I pulled her into a sitting position and she leaned her head back against the mattress and sighed.
"I needed that." she said, and burst out laughing again.
I fell back on my pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Kate pulled herself up and sat beside me, cross-legged, studying me for a minute.
"So, exactly how many women have been right here where I am now?"
" A lot." I kept my eyes on the ceiling.
"That doesn't bother you?"
"Nope." Yup.
She patted me on the chest. "You're better than that."
She grabbed her empty water glass and got up to go for a refill. I watched her go, and she paused at the door. She seemed about to say something, but thought the better of it and went to the kitchen.
I stared at the ceiling.
"I'm better than that. I'm better than that." I mused thoughtfully.
Was I?
As I filled my glass with water, I gazed out the small slider over the sink. There was a monstrous storm system advancing rapidly. The clouds were incredibly dark and very dangerous looking. I looked for a glint of light on the horizon, but I couldn't see beyond the storm. I loved thunderstorms and rain, but this did not look good.
The radio was still on.
Black Horse and a Cherry Tree.
"…No, no no no…I said, no, no, you're not the one for me." I couldn't help but sing along as I twisted to try to see the clouds that were directly over the building. "No,no-"
I heard Maurice stop in the doorway. "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree... You know, I read somewhere that the horse as a symbol represents suppressed sexual desire."
I spun around and gave him a look of incomprehension and consternation. What?
"What. I read things." He said defensively,leaning against the doorframe, hands in his jeans' pockets.
"That is not what the song is about at all." I snapped and turned back to the window.
"You want to enlighten me, Miss Know-It-All?" He leaned against the counter next to me and followed my gaze out the window at the clouds.
"The woman is at a crossroads, a place in her life where she has to make a monumental decision. A choice about right and wrong, good and bad; it's a moment of lost innocence. Fate has stepped in and she needs to fight the darkness and listen to her heart. It's almost as if she's momentarily lost control of her circumstances and is trying to regain it." That last part was a little too autobiographical to suit me. Maurice was silent.
"Looks like they'll be cancelling the game today." I gestured at the window. He squinted out at the quick-moving clouds.
"Looks like a bad one."
"Does this place have a basement?" I asked.
"Take it easy, Dorothy, we'll be fine. What do you want for lunch?" He moved away and opened the fridge door, peering inside.
"You don't really have a lot in there. I was amazed to find the asparagus."
"Mom." He explained.
"Ah. And I thought guys like you just dropped right out of Heaven."
He looked up at me in annoyance. "Do you want something to eat or not?"
"I'm starving." I realized. What time was it? "What do you have?"
He took inventory.
"Take out." He straightened and slammed the fridge shut. He opened a small drawer and threw a pile of papers on the counter.
"Pick one. They all deliver."
"Well, what do you want?"
"I don't care." He leaned over the sink, looking out at the approaching storm. We could hear the rumble of thunder.
"Whatever you decide on, get enough for lunch and dinner. I'll go shopping tomorrow."
He probably shopped daily, at a convenience store, three items at a time.
"Well, if we're talking leftovers, then it should be Chinese. I hate cold pizza. With the looks of that storm, we may end up without the ability to heat things up. Chinese is okay cold. And can sit unrefrigerated for hours."
"I said I don't care. Just pick something. And don't even talk about losing electricity."
"You know, there are some things you can't control. Do you have candles and matches?"
He glared at me. "We're not going to need them. Now just mark off the things you want so I can call the order in." He squinted back out the window, and a huge flash of lightning made us both step back.
"Damn."
A sharp crack of thunder followed.
"Damn." I agreed. The lights flickered.
Maurice looked down at the menu in my hand, then up at me. "Decide fast." I did.
"I'm buying." I said, grabbing the cordless phone off its stand.
He grabbed my wrist and wrenched the phone from my hand, giving me his "Whattaya, stoopid?" look.
Still holding my wrist, he said "What are you gonna do – give them your credit card number?" Oh. Duh. After the mistake with the computer I felt especially foolish.
"I have cash." I offered.
"Shut up," he shook his head at me, let me go and punched in the number of the restaurant.
Another flash of lightning close by made him nearly drop the phone. I could almost hear it sizzle with the electricity. He looked at me, eyes wide. The thunder that followed made us both jump.
"If you can't get through, we're not going to starve. You must have something in the freezer." I opened it. Ice. And the half-bottle of Stoli left from the previous night. .
"Okayyyy," I shut the freezer quietly, as Maurice was rattling off the order. I started looking into cabinets. Canned food, perhaps.
"What, no soup tureen? " I muttered sarcastically to myself. The cupboards were awfully sparse. "No waffle maker? Fondue pot?"
"Problem?" he queried hanging up the phone.
"Do you ever cook anything?"
"Don't have time."
"You do this weekend."
"Don't want to."
"Can I cook?"
"Whatever ."
"I like to cook."
"I like to eat." He was leaning on the counter looking out the window again. The sky was almost black.
"Look, I'll make a list of groceries and I'll give you some money – can you pick up some things for me?"
"What, like at a market? And I don't want your money."
"Yeah, an actual market. Imagine. God, I was expecting to at least find Spaghettios and Cocoa Pebbles in there." I gestured back at the cupboards. "Just so you know: French fries don't count as a vegetable."
He gave me his pissed-off look and left the room. How I loved that look. I got a kick out of making it appear at will.
I went back to look out the window, and used my best cabaret sound for some Sinatra.
"Some day, when I'm awfully low,
when the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you…
and the way you look tonight."
With all the thunder I couldn't be sure, but I thought he slammed something.