Annie wiped away her tears as she walked to her door, responding to the knock. She had been waiting for this moment. The moment when Caroline would realize something was strange, and demand to know what she and Richard had been doing together in her apartment.
She sighed to herself, "Okay, Annie. This is Caroline. Your best friend in the entire world. Do the right thing."
Annie opened the door in dread. "Caroline, we need to talk...Richard. What are you doing here?" Annie caught her breath, both relieved and fearful as she stared up at Richard.
Richard ran his fingers through his blond hair and looked down at his feet. Anything to avoid eye contact with his one-time lover. "Umm...can I come in. Please? I think we need to talk about some things."
Annie opened the door wider for Richard to enter. "Sure. Come on in." As Richard walked into her apartment, Annie made a quick glance out the door, across the hallway, to make sure that Caroline had not seen Richard. Satisfied that she had not, she shut the door gently. She turned to look at Richard, filled with dread over the inevitable exchange that was about to take place.
"So, uh...have you ever been in my apartment before, Richie? I don't think you have. Let me show you around." Annie walked toward the kitchen. As she walked by Richard, he put his arms out and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Richard, don't..." She wanted so badly for Richard to kiss her. She could still feel Richard's urgent and passionate, yet incredibly gentle lips on hers, and it had been nearly twelve hours now. She wanted to refreshen the feeling. She wanted to make it last forever, but...
"Annie, I am so sorry that I did this to you. I just...I needed to tell you that. This morning in Caroline's apartment, I realize that all I did was talk about how awful I felt about what I did to Caroline, and how I had ruined everything for myself, but...that was so selfish! I took advantage of the situation, and that wasn't fair to you. And now...now..."
"Yeah, Richard? What now?"
Richard pulled Annie to him in a comforting embrace. "I have no idea. Did you tell her?"
Annie pulled away and looked at Richard incredulously. "Are you kidding? Why would I do a thing like that?"
"Okay, I was just asking. I mean, after I left..."
"No. No! We can't tell her. Ever. Ever ever ever ever ever!"
Richard stepped back and ran his fingers through his hair again.
"And stop doing that!" Annie was practically screaming.
Richard stood stunned. "I'm sorry. What did I do?"
"You...you..." Annie didn't understand why she was feeling this way. "You keep running your fingers through your hair."
"Oh. Well, in that case, I humbly apologize, Annie. How could I have ever been so crass and inconsiderate? What is going on with you? I know this is tough. Believe me, I know. But, just lay off a little. If my running my fingers through my hair annoys you so much, I'll try not to, but can't you just say, 'Dear Richard, if it's not too much of an inconvenience, could you possibly leave your hair the hell alone!' You don't have to scream..."
"It's not annoying."
"Well, in that case, you are really overreacting!"
"It's just really sexy, alright!" Annie covered her mouth with her hands, not believing that she said what she did.
Richard laughed with a smirk as he waited for the punchline. "Sexy?"
Annie stood close to Richard, and no longer able to control herself, she reached up and ran her fingers through his wavy hair. The same hair that only the evening before she had held onto tightly as he had made love to her. "Yes, Richard. Sexy."
Richard laughed again, but now it was a nervous laugh. He looked away, again avoiding Annie's eyes. "Well, um...thanks. That's nice of you to say."
"I'm not saying it to be nice. Truthfully, I don't know why I am saying it. Well..." Annie sighed as she resigned herself to being real and honest, "except that it's true. You're very sexy."
"I get that all the time. It's the black clothes, and the look on my face that says 'I'd rather steal a child's ice cream cone than'...okay, Annie. This is weird."
Annie used the hand touching Richard's hair to pull him closer to her. She began planting gentle kisses on his collarbone and neck. "What's weird?"
Richard shivered and again laughed nervously. "Umm...it's just weird that I, uh, wow, umm...I was just making fun of myself there for a moment. You know, I was doing what you usually do."
Annie moved her kisses up his neck, toward his face. She spoke against his skin, "Yeah. I don't think I do that anymore. You smell so good. You taste so good."
Richard couldn't take it any longer. "Annie. Annie...wait..." He pulled her away. "We can't...I mean, we shouldn't..." Then he really looked in her eyes for the first time since the night before. He saw things in her eyes that he had never noticed. He saw pain and loneliness and a need to be loved. He saw a woman that he genuinely cared about. "Wow."
Annie shivered. "I know."
"No, it's just...wow. You are a beautiful woman, Annie Spadaro." Richard caressed Annie's cheek, and was surprised when one tear fell on his finger. "Hey, hey, come here." He pulled her close to him and stroked her hair. "What is it? What's the tear for?"
As she rested her head on Richard's chest, the tears broke free. "Damn it! I don't cry."
Richard smiled and stepped back from Annie. He used his hand to wipe the multitude of tears from her cheeks. Then he reached down and took her hands in his. "Let's sit for a minute, okay?" He walked with her to the couch and sat down next to her.
"Richard, I think I have some things I need to say to you. I may regret it, but I need to be honest."
"That's fine. You can say whatever you need to say, but can I go first? Please?" Her smile was her answer. "Okay. First of all, you are beautiful."
"Richard, you don't have to say that..."
"No, Annie! You are! But it's not just about beautiful, big brown eyes, and that phenomenal dancer's body. Although, I must say again, that is truly phenomenal." He smiled at her as she blushed, something he had never seen her do before. "I'm sorry, Annie. I really am."
"Richard, you already apologized. Really, you're not alone in this."
"No, you don't understand. I'm not just sorry about last night. I am sorry for the way I have always treated you. I'm sorry for all the times I called you a slut, and all the times I called you a whore."
"Oh, Richie, you never called me a whore." She laughed.
"I didn't?" Richard smirked. "I must have just thought it then."
Annie picked the pillow off of the couch and whacked him with it. "You're so cruel!"
"I know. That's why you love me." As soon as Richard said that, he regretted it. Annie turned away from him, and he knew he had ruined their light-hearted moment. "I mean, that's why you...why you..."
"You're right. That's why I love you." Annie turned back to him and looked into his eyes. "What do I do now?"
"Annie, you don't love me."
Annie stood up and walked behind the couch to the other side of the room. "No, you're confused. You don't love me. I do, in fact, love you."
Richard turned around to look at her. "Annie..."
A knock at the door interrupted their awkward moment. Richard jumped from the couch. "That's Caroline."
Annie wiped her eyes. "How do you know?"
"I just know. Look, I'm going to hide. I'm not ready for this. I mean, I want to talk to her, but not yet. Not...here. Where can I hide?"
Richard was panicking. Annie, on the other hand, had an eerie calmness about her. Suddenly, Richard was afraid of what Annie would do. But he couldn't say what he was afraid she would do. He feared she would tell Caroline about the night before, but then he felt relief knowing he wouldn't have to lie to Caroline anymore. He feared Annie would create a bigger lie to tell her best friend, and they would never get out of it, but then he felt relief knowing Caroline would never know. Most of all, he feared Annie really did love him. And from that, he could gather no relief.
"Annie! Where can I hide?"
Caroline's voice came from behind him as she walked in the door, "That's just like you. Run away, Richard."
He turned around to face the woman he loved, but instead he faced someone he didn't even recognize. He had never seen Caroline so angry, so hurt. He had never seen coldness in her eyes before.
Caroline shut the door behind her and then calmly walked to the couch and sat down. Annie and Richard stared at her, unsure what to expect. Neither could muster up the strength to talk. Both were a little afraid of the new Caroline that sat before them. Caroline, on the other hand, was all composure and strength, and she spoke first.
"So. I'm thinking of a new line of 'Caroline' greeting cards. I wanted to run it by you two, my best friends in the entire world. The two people I trust more than anyone else I have ever known. The two people that I know will always be there for me in my times of need..."
"What's your idea, Caroline?" Annie suddenly knew that Caroline knew. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew. And the mood Annie was in, she would have none of Caroline's little game, whatever it was.
Richard knew too. He could see straight through Caroline. He always had been able to. And now he felt as if he knew Annie pretty well also. He watched nervously as the two women stared holes through each other.
Richard had to break the silence. "Okay, Caroline. Can you and I go somewhere and talk?"
"I don't know that we have anything to talk about, actually. I'd rather just hang out here if that's alright by you."
Annie walked to the door and opened it, "Actually, Caroline. I'm not sure that's alright by me. I'd like you to leave."
"Annie!" Richard couldn't believe what was happening. And he knew he was the cause of it.
Caroline jumped off the couch and got in Annie's face. "Okay, Spadaro, let's just have it out. Right here. Right now."
