Full House
I spelt well; sadly for Erik, he could hardly sleep at all. His eye was hurting him quite badly and the frozen bag of corn I had given him to use for ice made his face painfully numb; until it started to melt and made his face wet.
However, Erik felt that all this was only a minor inconvenience. He was happy; I had said I loved him, and in his mind that made up for any pain or aggravation caused by the wedding. As he lay on his back, he stared at me in the dark. He found he could still see quite well in the dim room. The hot August moon was casting rays in through my window to land on my bed.
Erik traced the line of my chin with one of his long fingers. I moved slightly into his touch and muttered something in my sleep. Erik smiled, knowing I was probably dreaming about evil flying farm animals. He kissed me softly on my forehead before rising from the bed, putting away the fast thawing corn, and then returned to me. Finally, at four thirty in the morning, Erik closed his eyes.
At eight thirty, we were both called out of our peaceful slumber by a loud series of knocks on the door. I jerked startled awake and then checked the digital clock by the bed,
"Who would do this?" I groaned; moving closer to Erik and hiding my face in his chest as if it would make whoever was at the door go away,
"I will see who it is," Erik said dutifully, rising from the bed and pulling his robe, which was now always kept in my apartment, over his shoulders. Erik noted in a mirror on his way to the door that his eye was still swollen and black and blue, but at least it hurt less.
Erik pulled the door open; ready to tell whoever it was to go away, but it was Susan. She stood in the hall looking like the perfect WASP in her blue 50's inspired dress and her long brown hair swept out of her face in a white headband. In her hands she carried a giant basket of muffins; her form of a peace offering. When Erik opened the door she was smiling apologetically, but when she saw Erik's eye her smile faded,
"Who is…" I began to ask but then I saw who it was at our door, "Good morning," I said to her coldly as I stood by Erik's side in the doorway,
"I made you two muffins," she offered,
We both stared at her, "You came over here at…eight thirty…to tell us you made us muffins?" I asked her,
"And to apologize," Susan said helplessly, "These are apology muffins, look," she held the basket out to us,
I did not move, I was still mad at her for exposing my boyfriend to ridicule and a nasty elbow. Erik however was hungry and he took one of the muffins out of the basket and inspected it, "It says 'sorry' on it," Erik said with a slight laugh and he showed it to me,
Susan nodded, "they all say 'sorry' or have little smiling faces on them, I used homemade frosting," she tried to keep her voice upbeat,
"Do any of the little faces have X eyes?" I asked, still not quite ready to forgive and forget,
"Oh Liv…" Susan looked distraught,
"What kind of muffin's are these?" Erik asked, clearly more interested in eating than any animosity toward Susan,
"Blueberry," Susan said, glad that Erik did not seem too angry with her,
Erik took a bit of the muffin, "These are good, here," he handed me the muffin; truth be told Erik could not feel angry, I had said I loved him, everyone else could go to hell,
"Erik, I am trying to have a fight with my friend," I could not help but want to smile at him though, "You have crumbs on your chin," I reached up and brushed them away,
Susan, watching the level of intimacy between Erik and I and knowing that was something her relationship with John had been sorely lacking, began to cry. I sighed; I could not be angry with her any longer, she was my friend and she needed me. I put my arms around her shoulders and guided her into the apartment. She sat down on the sofa, the muffin basket still in her hands; I sat beside her. She was still sobbing and Erik brought her a tissue, which only caused her to cry harder,
"I am so sorry Liv, I never meant for him to say those things, and I certainly never meant for you to get hurt," she addressed Erik now,
"It was only my eye; I have two of them you know,"
Susan laughed and dried her eyes on the tissue, "I am so sorry, can you two ever forgive me?"
"Of course Susan," I said, hugging her, "You are one of my best friends; I can't stay mad at you!"
"Good," Susan smiled, "Because I found out; I was going to tell everyone yesterday but…anyway; my friend has a beach house in the Hamptons and she is not using it next weekend and she said I could use it and since there are extra rooms; I thought we could all go!"
And just like that, Erik and I were signed up to go on our first trip together.
A trip for me meant paring down an entire wardrobe into something which would fit into a manageable amount of suitcases. For Erik it meant the opposite; I insisted we get something for him to wear which was not black or navy blue; even though he insisted he should wear those colors, mainly because they matched his eye.
I dragged him out shopping one afternoon after work. Of course shopping to a man is a form of torture, so he was less than enthusiastic;
"I really don't see what is so wrong with the clothes I have now," He grumbled as I pulled him toward a store,
"Erik, you can't wear black all the time, and you don't have any clothes for the beach…you don't even have a bathing suit!" I laughed as I forced him through the doors,
"Nor will I be getting one," He said quickly, the thought of it made his skin crawl,
"Do you know how to swim?" I asked him while I picked up a light blue shirt and held it up to him,
Erik thought of the lake under the opera, "Yes,"
"Well then you need a suit!'
"I change my answer, I do not now how to swim," he said quickly
"Too late," I said, pulling him over to another rack of clothes, "Besides, you will have fun in the ocean, I promise," I smiled at him,
He stared at me for a long moment and then he smiled, "You are quite fortunate that you are so irresistible,"
Laughing I began throwing clothes into his arms for him to hold; t-shirts, shorts, light pants, and even swim trunks, "So what did everyone say about your eye at work?" I asked him as I piled more and more choices on top of him,
"I said that you did it," Erik was not really concentrating on the conversation, he was eyeing the swim trunks as though they might jump up and attack him; all in all they were not to be trusted,
"What!" I cried, "So now everyone thinks I am an abusive girlfriend?"
"Probably," he was still more concerned with the idea of having to wear swim trunks than with my indignation,
"You have to tell them something else!" I insisted, "what if I have to meet people from your work someday? I don't want to be known as the girl who…hits!"
"Alright, I will tell them something else…on one condition," he said,
"And what is that?" although I thought I knew already,
He picked up the swim trunks, "I put these back and we never speak of them again,"
I stared at him for a moment, "So I am an abusive girlfriend, I can live with that,"
It seemed like it took a lifetime for the weekend to come; the closer we got to Friday the more excited…and nervous I became. This was another big step; spending the weekend with him would be like a preview of a future honeymoon. I only hoped the there would be no awkward situations created by mixing friends and boyfriend; me last attempt at this had resulted in near disaster.
The only disaster Erik feared was his new wardrobe. He stared at the new, colored clothes with growing apprehension. Since coming to New York, Erik had been forced to change a lot of things about himself; his reclusive tendencies, his mad love obsession with Christine, his hair (I had convinced him he looked better without the rug and the sideburns) but this was something he was not quite comfortable with. New he could do, but sky blue was way out of his comfort zone.
The day finally came; I packed too much and he tried to get away with packing nothing new at all; a plan I foiled by packing way too much for him as well. I had rented a car for our drive out to the Hamptons and as Erik and I put our luggage in the trunk I made a new discovery about him,
"So…Do you want to drive or shall I?" I asked him as we shut the trunk,
"You can," he said quickly,
"Alright, you know, some men have this weird complex where they always have to drive," I kissed his cheek, "glad to see you aren't one of them,"
We got in the car and I started the engine, "Olivia," he said suddenly, "I do not know how to drive a car," He had been wondering if this fact would ever need to be mentioned and at first he had been hoping to avoid it, but the more he saw of them the more fascinated he became by cars; and he wanted to learn how to use one. He reasoned that as I had been fine with showing him how to do everything else, I would teach him this as well,
His confession was not as shocking as he thought it might be; there were countless people in the city who had never had the need to learn how to drive a car thanks to the brilliant cab and bus systems,
"Oh…that's not a problem; lots of people don't drive,"
"How do you do it anyway?" he asked the question which had been plaguing him since one of these things had almost run him over on his first night in the city,
"You just turn the key and press the petal…Hey ass hole! Stay in your lain!" I shouted as a car swerved next to me,
"Excuse me?" Erik did not know if I was talking to him or not, but he was sure that if he was in a lain, he had been staying in it,
"Nothing…just a little road rage," He eyed me as I continued to mutter about the mad man the DMV allowed on the road; clearly he was not the only one with rage issues,
We picked up Jackie, then Rebecca, then Susan. It was a task getting all the weekend needs of four New York women into one car, but somehow we managed.
"Girls! I'm so excited!" Susan smiled as she checked her Burberry purse one last time to make sure she had not forgotten anything,
"Honestly Susan; this is a trip, save the orgasm for sex," Rebecca quipped,
"Hey! Easy on the orgasm talk," I called from the front seat, glancing over to see what expression Erik had on his face,
"Oh, Erik's not offended, are you?" Rebecca insisted,
Erik smiled, the dancers at the ballet had though they were inappropriate, but he knew we four women put them to shame, "It doesn't bother me," contractions were another thing Erik was picking up on,
"Well tell us when you need a life raft; because we are about to drown you in the estrogen ocean," Jackie called,
Erik did not really know what she meant by this, but he assumed she had been meaning to be funny so he laughed.
In all honesty Jackie had just brought a great concern of mind front and center; I was worried that by the end of this weekend Erik would need the coastguard to resuscitated him; four women and one man. God help him.
Twenty minutes later Susan had not lost any of her enthusiasm;
"We should all have a sing along!"
"Oh dear God," I heard Jackie groan,
"Honey, don't take this the wrong way, but I am going to have to shove that bag of yours into your pretty little mouth," Rebecca snapped,
"Oh come on you guys!" Susan would not be deterred, "When I was younger, when ever we went on road trips my mother always led us in songs; it's how I learned all the words to Flower Drum Song,"
"And how useful that knowledge must be for you today!" Jackie said sarcastically,
"Who was your mother, Mrs. Brady?" Rebecca asked,
I however needed a distraction from my drive numb brain, "Alright Susan, what are we singing?"
Erik felt a strange twisting in his stomach; we were talking about doing what was his very favorite thing to do. Despite all efforts to cut music completely from his life he found it was impossible; like trying to stop me from shopping; it just stays with you; and no matter how many times it breaks your bank account (or in Erik's case your heart) you just keep coming back for more,
"Oklahoma," Susan said,
"I think I am going to be sick," Jackie muttered, but Erik waited excitedly; what were we talking about? What was Oklahoma?
"They couldn't pick a better time to start in life," I began to sing,
"It ain't to early and it ain't too late," Susan joined in,
"Startin' as a farmer with a brand new wife," My turn,
"Soon be livin' in a brand new state," Susan's turn,
"Brand new state! Gonna treat you great!" together,
Everybody, except for poor Erik who did not know the words, "Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the pain! And the wavin' wheat, can sure smell sweet, when the wind comes right behind the rain!"
"Oklahoma every night my honey lamb and I, sit alone and talk and watch a hawk makin' lazy circles in the sky!" I sang that part alone,
But every one joined in for, "We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand, and when we sayyyyyy yip! I-yip-I-yo-e-a! we're only sayin' your doin' find Oklahoma, Oklahoma OK!"
Then we lowered our voices and sang in a whisper, "Okla-homa, Okla-homa…" and then our voices rose higher, "We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand! And when we say yip! I-yip-I-yo-e-a! we're only sayin' your doin' fine Oklahoma, Oklahoma…O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A Oklahoma! Yaaaaa!"
Erik had just been given his first taste of Broadway, and to be honest with himself he was not sure what he thought; it was so different, but it was up tempo and it made us all laugh, and one thing he knew he would always like would be the sound of people enjoying music.
The beach house was small and comfortable; it was white washed with navy shuttered windows. By the time we got there I was exhausted from working all day and then having to drive all the way out to the Hamptons.
There were enough rooms in the house for us each to have our own; of course Erik and I would be sharing one of these rooms. I was hardly in the room before I crashed on the bed, leaving poor Erik to carry up all the luggage; something he did happily as he watched me, curled up on the bed half asleep.
"Oh," I said when I realized he had brought all my baggage, "You did not have to do that, I would have helped,"
"You can hardly lift your head, let alone the thousand ton shoe bag you insisted on bringing," He dropped down on the bed next to me,
"You're so sweet," I shoved myself into his arms, "I don't deserve you,"
There they were; the words Erik had always said to others directed toward him. Without knowing it, I had said the four words which made Erik feel a warmth he had never thought possible. Not only did I love him, I admired him as well, and though Erik did not understand why on earth I would think that I did not deserve him, he appreciated my saying it.
I was laying on my back, Erik on top of me, his arms around my back. After I said these words he pressed his lips to mine, gently at first but then with such force and passion I felt my heartbeat quicken and I wanted very badly for him to do more. I was reworded by his hand sliding under the hem of the skirt I was wearing.
"My love," Erik murmured as he kissed me, and his hand traveled the length of my thigh
Truth be told I was getting very used to him calling me "my love." At first I had thought it sounded silly and a bit trite, but the more I realized he how much he actually meant it the more I enjoyed hearing him say it.
"I love you," I whispered as he gently kissed my neck and his fingers lightly touched me, sending a tremor up my body.
We were cut short by a knock on the door, "Come on you two; you can have sex later, now we have to eat," Rebecca called through the door before going down to the kitchen to watch as Susan, the only one who really knew how to cook, made dinner.
"we will finish this later, I promise," Erik sighed and rolled off of me leaving me with one last kiss upon my lips. I sat up as Erik walked into the adjoining bathroom of our room to wash his hands. I could not have cared less for dinner; I had wanted to finish now. However that night, true to his word as always, Erik made me finish, four times over.
The interesting thing about a vacation is that everyone views the mornings differently; either it is a blessing to be able to sleep in late, or it is a treat to get up early and run or go for walks. Jackie and I were of the running camp, while everyone else in the house slept in.
I left a note for Erik telling him where I had gone, signing it "love Olivia." Erik always called me Olivia, never Liv, and I found even this, which really meant nothing, to be the most endearing thing he could do.
Erik did not hear me as I left; he was dreaming about what all the people from his past would do if they could see him now, now that he was a wealthy man in love and not a coward hiding from his own face. Erik had never slept so much in his life. He found that it was much easier to do when he was not in a coffin, or when he was not half out of his mind with unrequited love rage.
As Erik dreamt of a kind of revenge, Jackie and I ran. The air coming in from the sea was cool and there were not too many people out on the beach; perfect running conditions. Our conversation turned to the night before,
"That was quite a show you two put on last night," Jackie teased me as we ran,
"You heard us?" I was shocked, "I thought we were being quite,"
"You were; but we were listening at the door," Jackie laughed,
"Oh my God! You guys are sick!"
"Hey, we are all alone and you are in love and getting laid; you owe us something," Jackie countered,
"Well, don't tell Erik, I don't want him to get embarrassed," I pleaded,
"From what I heard last night he had nothing to be embarrassed about," Jackie said, and then we both dissolved into a fit of laughter which made it difficult to run.
When we returned the sun had fully risen and the day was already getting hot. I quietly opened the door to our room; Erik still lay sleeping. I slipped off my running sneakers and went stealthily to the side of his bed. I watched him sleep for a moment; he looked incredibly peaceful and sweet, not to mention handsome. Though I knew Erik was not traditionally attractive, his face prevented this, love is blind, and I loved him with all my heart.
But at the moment, I did not want to be the sweet little angel who softly awakens her lover; I had another plan in mind. In one quick movement, I pulled the covers off of him and jumped on him,
He groaned as he was shocked awake and I grabbed hold of him, "you are all sweaty and you smell," he half complained half laughed,
"I know," I said wickedly, "And you love it,"
"We shall see," He said in just as wicked a tone, and before I could stop him, Erik turned beneath me and wriggled out of the bed only to quickly turn around and grab me, throwing himself into my middle and picking me up and carrying me over his shoulder.
"Erik! Put me down!" I was laughing very hard however,
"I will when I will," he said, slapping my backside,
"Erik!" I shrieked again; he carried me kicking and screaming into the bathroom, forcing me into the shower. He set me down and backed away before turning on the water; completely soaking me. I had to laugh; but I also pulled him into the shower with me.
"Are you in need of further assistance in the shower my love?" Erik teased me slyly as he rested his hands on my waist. I nodded innocently and lifted my arms above my head and let him pull my shirt off over my head, and then my sports bra, all the while the water from the shower head beat down on us both.
That morning I discovered another thing to enjoy on vacation mornings; long showers. And as Erik's hand brought the washcloth across my bare skin with the same reverence he brought his fingers across organ keys, I knew I could never belong to another man, and Erik knew he needed to thank whoever invented the shower.
However, Erik had to curse whoever invented the bathing suit. It was a lovely day and we were going out to the beach; there would be no staying inside the house today. Though everything was heaven outside the house, inside I was doing battle; in the case of Olivia and swim trunks v. Erik and stubbornness I was determined to win,
"But you will look so cute!" I insisted, which may not have been the right angle to push,
"That is not reason for me to put these on," Erik insisted; nope, wrong angle.
"Would you just try them on and see how they look?" I suddenly knew the right angle, "Please," I wrapped my arms around his neck, "For me,"
I saw the expression in his eyes change; ding ding ding, "Fine," he sighed and entered the bathroom to change. It may not have been the modern feminine approach, but when it comes to men, sometimes womanly whiles work better than reason.
Erik looked at himself in the full length mirror in the bathroom,
"I look ridiculous," he thought as he examined what I was forcing him to wear. Nothing like this would have been imaginable back in the day he had come from; where a ladies ankle was considered inappropriate to show. As Erik thought about this he laughed to himself knowing that I would never have made it in his time; there would have been no way for my to show off my shoes. But this was the only thought that gave him any amusement.
"How is it coming in there?" I called through the door,
"I am not coming out," He called back, "I look like a…I don't know what, a confused albino who went out of the house half dressed," Erik ridiculed himself as he surveyed his un tanned body in the mirror. He had never liked his own physique and so he had covered it up with as many clothes as he could. Now, being forced to wear only swim trunks, he felt entirely too exposed.
"Please let me see," I begged him, "I will make it worth your while I promise," I added in a flirtatious voice,
"Damn," Erik muttered; he had gone his whole life without physical contact, but now that he had had taste of what it was he was not ready to give it up for anything, and so, with the promise of great sex later on, I got Erik out of the bathroom.
The instant I saw him I knew my verdict; he did look like a confused albino who had gone out of the house half dressed, but he was my confused naked albino and I loved him for it.
"you look fine," I reassured him,
"You are a liar," He told me,
"No sweetie…I am a lawyer," I smiled at him
"And the difference is?" he teased me,
I hit him on his pale chest and then handed him a shirt to wear. It was not a Hawaiian shirt for anyone who is wondering, Hawaiian shirts were sent from the fashion devil to plague man and woman kind along with stretch pants, fanny packs, and white wash jeans.
I quickly changed into my bathing suit. Upon seeing my two piece, Erik decided that perhaps bathing suits were not such wicked things after all. My friends were waiting for us downstairs,
"Another two minutes and we were going to send up a search party to look for you two," Jackie said,
"Maybe they could have found my dignity somewhere," Erik said, he was still not thrilled about revealing so much of his body,
Basically all that was on the schedule for the day was beach beach and more beach, so we carried everything we absolutely needed; chairs, towels, drinks, food, books, this months copy of VOGUE, last months copy of VOGUE, a radio, sunscreen, a giant yellow beach umbrella, sarongs in varying lengths…
"My God it looks like we are going off into the desert with all these things," Erik sighed as he humbly helped to carry most of it…poor man,
"I'm sorry honey, do you need help with anything?" I asked him; he was carrying the giant umbrella, the radio, and a huge cooler,
"No, no," he sighed, "Or didn't I tell you? I am actually part mule,"
I laughed as we trudged down to the beach, looking no doubt like a group of wondering nomads…a group of wondering nomads in Gucci.
As we stepped onto the beach Erik for a moment forgot all his reservations and apprehensions about the day; the feel of the sand between his toes was unlike anything he had ever experienced before; it was soft and smooth and felt good to walk on. Then there was the beach itself; he had never been to one like this and the salt water and the fresh air and the crying gulls created an environment he actually…liked.
What he did not like were all the other people who were now on the beach. It was a hot August day, so the beach was filled with families, couples, twenty somethings basking themselves in the sun and thirty somethings passing the sunscreen.
The moment we passed the first group of people on our way down to the water Erik felt like they were all thinking he must be an albino freak, and even the calming lull of the ocean could not relax his nerves.
As he looked around Erik realized he was in the world he had always been desperate to penetrate; the world where happy people led happy, normal lives away from dark catacombs and gloomy still lakes. This was the sunny world he had hoped to try to share with Christine; but she had not had the power to bring him up into it. Erik glanced sidelong at me and wondered what power I had that I was able to do what she could not.
We stopped when we got closer to the ocean. Erik lay down the radio and the cooler and proceeded to jab the umbrella into the sand. I have to say I was impressed with how deep he could drive the thing into the sand; I had never thought of Erik as being that strong, but I supposed he was not a weakling.
We set up our chairs; though my three friends stayed in the relative shade of the umbrella, I wanted to be in the sun and that meant Erik in the sun as well,
The next few moments were devoted to putting on sunscreen. Erik watched as I rubbed the white lotion onto my body, "Will you get my back?" I asked him and turned so my back was facing him and handed him the bottle,
Erik supposed I wanted his to rub the stuff onto my back, so he did, enjoying very much the feel of it. Then I turned to him, "Alright, now I will do you," I traded the bottle of eight I had been using on myself for a bottle of forty five; the last thing I needed was for Erik to get a sun burn; it had been hard enough convincing him to come down to the beach without having the prospect of turning into a lobster.
For a moment Erik did not move; in his mind he was weighing the embarrassment of taking off his shirt against the pleasure of me rubbing the sun tan lotion onto him. In the end pleasure won out and he removed his shirt. I made sure I covered every inch of his back so it would not burn.
"Alright, your done," I said and Erik sat back in his chair, "Now let me do your face," I reached for him, planning on rubbing the lotion into his marred cheek,
Without thinking Erik grabbed my wrist almost painfully tightly and prevented me from touching him. I looked up at him in wonder as he held on so tightly I could not move my arm away from him. In his eyes I read an expression of pain and fear,
Erik hated it when people touched his face, and even though it was me, and I had touched him plenty, there was still that gut reaction he could not shake, now made stronger by being out in public. Quickly however Erik recovered and he let go of me,
I stared at him and for the first time it really dawned on me that something quite terrible must have happened to him involving his face; something more than public ridicule to make him fear a touch like that,
Sensing that it was not the right moment to bring this up, I handed Erik the bottle, "Just rub this all over, to make sure you don't get burnt,"
Erik nodded and quite hated himself; I had touched his face before, I had kissed his face before, but he felt that me rubbing his marred face was just too much. He knew he was being ridiculous, but part of him still tensed every time I touched his face.
Erik and I lay silent for awhile, listening to the conversation of Jackie, Rebecca and Susan as they surveyed passing men on the beach. Rebecca wanted the lifeguard who was surrounded by twenty something girls with dark tans, Jackie wanted the guy with the dog, and Susan wanted the relationship the guy and his wife and kids had; and then I realized I had exactly what I wanted already. I was happy, our relationship was good, and we were good for each other. And then I wondered, was I good for him? Or had I been forcing him to do too much against his will? I had thought this whole trip would be fun for him, but if he felt so uncomfortable that he did not even want me to touch his face, had I been making him do too much?
"Erik?" I said softly and I taped him lightly on the arm,
"What?" he had been laying still for the past minutes, hoping I was not angry with him for grabbing my wrist,
"Can we go for a walk?" I think this was the first time I had asked him if we could do something instead of just telling him we were going to do something,
"Of course," he was glad I wanted to talk with him,
"Girls, we will be back!" I waved goodbye to them as Erik and I left to walk down the beach,
He took my hand as we walked in silence; Erik thought that there could be nothing better than this, walking down a beach hand in hand with me. He wished that the whole rest of the world would go away so he could enjoy it more and not feel so self-conscious with every step he took.
I was headed toward a strip of the beach which was less inhabited so we could talk comfortably. When we finally reached an area where there were few people I stopped,
"Can we stay here and talk awhile?" I asked and Erik nodded. I untied the sarong I had been wearing and lay it down for us both to sit on.
"Erik, I could not help but notice, earlier, you did not want me to touch your face," I thought I would get right to the point,
Erik sighed, "It was silly of me; sometimes I just…I didn't hurt you did I?" He gently took the wrist he had grabbed earlier and inspected it,
"No, no, of course not," I said, and he softly brushed his lips against my wrist before returning it to my lap,
"Erik...I think I may owe you an apology," I began,
He stared at me, "why on earth would you owe me an apology?"
"Am I making you do too much?" I just let the question roll off of my tongue before I was even sure I wanted it to,
"You are not making me do anything…except wear this ridiculous outfit," He said honestly,
"And it makes you so uncomfortable that you don't even want me to touch your face?" I asked him,
Erik knew his answer was yes, but not in the way that I was thinking. He felt so exposed he was more on edge than usual, and when he had seen my hand rise to his face he remember a time when every touch to his twisted cheek had been a wicked one,
"Olivia, I do not think you grasp how few times people have touched my face," he began to explain,
I remained silent and waited for him to say something else, but he did not, so I said, "but you are not mad at me are you? I am not making you do too many things you don't want to am I? "
"No," He said firmly, and he cupped my face with his hand, "you are the best thing that has ever happened to me," What more could I want him to say? He was perfect. He kissed me and I leaned into him, happy I was not doing anything to upset him. New Yorkers are known to demand everything they want immediately, and I was glad that I was not treating my boyfriend the same way I treated the guy who took my order for Chinese.
"So what do you want to do now?" I asked him,
He thought for a moment, staring off in the direction of the ocean, "Well, I have this damn thing on, I might as well use it,"
"Really?" I asked excitedly, I had not found anyone who would go in the ocean with me in ages,
"Really," He grabbed my hand and jumped to his feet, brining me up with him. The water was freezing, but no more cold Erik thought than the lake below the opera. Thus, he was able to enter the water much faster than me. Eventually my body went numb and we were swimming out beyond where the waves began to crash against the beach.
Erik actually enjoyed himself more than he thought he would; there was something exhilarating about it all and he was suddenly hit with the sense that he was finally really living.
"So it looked like you two had a fun day," Rebecca said; I was down stairs talking with her and Jackie as we tried to help Susan with dinner, Erik was taking a shower, alone this time.
"We did…Oh God, I don't ever mean to ditch you guys," I said, suddenly realizing that I had been neglecting my friends slightly,
"No, it's alright, your in love," Susan crooned as she cooked
"Do remember us when you move into your little Town House with all your perfect kids," Jackie said with a wry smile,
There was a knock on the door,
"It's open!" Susan called, and we heard someone enter,
We all looked up in shock at once. John Grove knew Susan's friend who had let us use the house, so ten unanswered phone calls after the wedding he decided to try to force amends. John also had a house in the Hamptons, and by the look on Susan's face I could see that what had once been a major attraction about John was now not seeming so good,
"J-John, what are you doing here?" Susan asked bewildered,
"Susan, I miss you," He said, "I have called you about a hundred times, why haven't you called me back?"
"You called me ten times John," Susan corrected him, "And why I haven't called you back is none of your business,"
"Susan, what about all the good times we had together? We were so right for each other! We even agreed on how many kids we wanted to have," I knew that if you played the family card with Susan, you would probably win,
"John…you, well you…" Susan began,
"Well I what?" He demanded, his voice suddenly growing angry, "I didn't do anything to deserve what you did to me," he thought of the painful taxi door to the groin,
"John, I want you to leave," Susan said,
"Not until you agree to go out with me again,"
"No, John, I can't be with a man who is…mean," Susan would accept nothing less than prince charming for her husband,
"Oh come on! That other guy was a showoff and I was just trying to put him in his place," John Grove said angrily,
"John, you have to go," Susan insisted, and she placed her hand around his arm and attempted to pull him to the door,
"Susan, can't we go and talk in private?" He asked, and he grabbed her roughly by the shoulders,
"John…let go," Susan insisted, and we decided we had been silent long enough,
"Hey ass hole!" I yelled at him, "She said she wants you to leave," I decided to play the lawyer card, "And anything else you do from this moment on can be considered harassment; and you can bet your ass that I will created a lot of problems for you and your business if you don't leave,"
"Stay out of this Olivia," He cried; apparently he was willing to see if I was bluffing or not,
"John, I think it is time for you to go," Susan said again,
"No," he said angrily, "We are going to go to a quite room and work this all out," He began to force Susan backwards,
Then there was a rush of color which flew past me. The girls and I had a lot of cards to play against John Grove; we could call the police, I could sue his Ralph Lauren pants off; but there was one thing that we did not have that Erik did; the deck.
Erik had heard the voice of a man coming from the downstairs, and when he recognized the voice he had come close, stopping only to slightly dry off and throw on his pants. He stood in the room unnoticed for a moment and his eyes dead locked on John Grove; he had yelled at me, he was tormenting a friend of mine, and he was a douche bag, as Jackie had once so eloquently put it, and he had to die.
Erik grabbed John Grove roughly by one shoulder and turned him; John had only a second to take in Erik before Erik's fist hit him square in the jaw. He stumbled backwards and cursed; but Erik was not finished; John Grove had come into our happy home uninvited, and Erik only knew one thing to do with uninvited guests; other than Punjab them.
He seized John and quite literally threw him out the front door and then slammed it in his face. Turning around he faced four stunned faces; I had not known he had it in him. I had thought of Erik as a proud, intelligent man, but I had never seen him as a fighter. He stood by the door, and I noticed he had gained a lot of color that day, and as his body was not white he looked like much less of an albino freak.
"Are you alright Susan?" He asked, assuming that was what he was supposed to ask,
"Yes I'm fine," she said, rubbing one of her shoulders slightly where John had grabbed her,
Erik nodded, "Good then," he came to me and wrapped his arms around me, more because he liked to hold me than anything else, "I will be down in a minute; save me something to do," He nodded his head toward the meal we were going to prepare,
He went back upstairs,
"Susan, are you alright?" we all asked her something like this at the same time and embraced her,
"I'm fine," Susan said, "Olivia," she looked imploringly at me, "Marry him,"
"I am going to try," I said to her as we hugged her and she wiped her eyes,
Upstairs Erik realized that he had run down to help without putting his shirt on. As he finished dressing he realized that he did not really care; and he was glad to have gotten back at John Grove. And then, Erik had a thought. Maybe I did not possess a power which pulled him into society and allowed him to function like a normal human being. Maybe he possessed that power; maybe he had had the right cards in his hand all along, and I had just taught him to play them correctly.
The idea that there was something in him which allowed him to live like any other man was empowering.
"I mustn't forget my teacher though," Erik said quietly to himself as he thought of me. He would need to show his gratitude somehow…perhaps, he thought, with a ring.