kathleensmiles, you are simply too kind. As for the monolith, marble will do. :)
Huggles to all who have read so far! Thank you for the luv!
The house was quiet. Rene had wrangled Henry into an after-dinner roll just down the street to the park, and Tracy was knitting on the porch. Twilight reached restful and magic fingers into the windows of the house, painting the worn floors and clean walls with shadows that slowly moved through the muted color spectrum. Celina was snuggled under a blanket in her favorite chair in the living room, next to the phone, tea mug in hand to try to calm her nervous energy.
Somewhere in the house, a clock ticked. It reminded Eddie that he had to fix that expensive Rolex tomorrow, and get it in the mail. This retreat of his mind into something that didn't cause him so much anxiety was hollow.
The number was sitting next to his phone, taunting him, beckoning him with things frightening to consider and even more frightening to ignore.
Steeling his resolve, he picked up the handpiece and dialed, before he lost his nerve.
"Hola, estas Juanita."
Eddie hung up quickly, checked the digits, and shook his head at his own clumsiness.
What if he didn't call? What if her friends' tacit warnings were realized? What if, having let Eddie put a foot in the door of her heart, he trashed her and left her reeling? Celina groaned and sipped her tea in a self-comforting way, watching the shadows creep up the wall. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was uncertainty. She considered herself a confident individual, and Eddie seemed confident, too. As long as they were honest to each other, things could only get better and better.
Right...?
The phone rang, and Celina forcibly held herself back for two rings as per Tracy's advice. "Hello?" she sounded so childish, it made her wince.
"Hey," came the equally vulnerable (but better-disguised) voice from the other end. "It's Eddie."
Celina giggled, more relieved than she cared to admit that he'd kept his promise. "I figured. How was the rest of your day?"
"Good," replied the blutbad, his fingers tightening on the phone. "Yours?"
"Also good."
A pause. "Hey, Celina?" he asked, as though expecting her to say no before the question was voiced.
"Yeah?" she said, trying to project casual calmness and indifferent curiosity, even though her heart leaped.
"I'm working tomorrow, but I'm free the day after. Do you want to go someplace for lunch again?"
"Eddie, that sounds like a fabulous idea," she said warmly, eyes soft as though he were there to see.
"Can it be a surprise?" he ventured.
Celina's brows raised. "Okay. Jeans good?"
"Yeah, jeans are good."
"You know,"she confided softly. "You surprise me."
He paused, and she could hear his nervous smile. "Really? You fascinate me."
"Because I'm a bottechat?"
"Because you're..." he grasped at a word that would fit, and settled on, "...you."
She heard him shift, and she pictured him in his dark house, on the couch, with the phone cradled against his shoulder. "So, what's the name of your band?" he asked, clearing his throat and changing the subject.
"Galatia," she replied, taking up the banner. "Inspired by our shared history class in freshmen year. We're predominantly Celtic, but we do other stuff, too."
Eddie chuckled. "It fits. Do you play any instruments?"
"Alas, no," she sighed. "Put anything but a tambourine in my hand and I'm hopeless. Even then, barely adequate. But I can sing, and Henry, Rene and Tracy do, too, but they like to play better. So it works." She picked up her mug, noting how dark the room was now that the sun had set. Even though they were apart, she secretly felt like he was there, sitting next to her.
"I wish I could play," she continued ruefully. "I can look at their fingers move, and the notes glide over me, and I think, 'man, I'm jealous'. I'm a witness to it, but I can't belong to the music like they can."
Eddie smiled at the wistfulness in her voice. "I wish I could do what you do."
"Like what?"
"Interact with people, like a band does on stage. I'm not the friendliest person on the planet."
"Really? You seem pretty friendly to me."
He laughed in a self-deprecating way. "This coming from the girl I kissed."
"Are you suggesting I'm biased?" she teased.
"Not at all, kitty cat. Not at all." Another pause. "I liked kissing you," he said, like he was telling his deepest secret.
Celina's fingers tightened on the handpiece. "I liked it, too."
He breathed a sigh of relief. "So I wasn't out of line?"
"No," she laughed. "No, not at all. Just shocked me a bit, that's all."
Eddie chuckled. "You're telling me. And what was with the old wolf and cat peeking through?"
"I don't know," said Celina, with a little worry. "That's pretty odd, for me. What about the wolf?"
"Out of character, but it's not like I'm falling off the veggie wolf wagon."
"How did that come about?" She asked. "Going veggie wolf, I mean."
Eddie shifted again, gathering his thoughts. "I saw my family, and my friends, and how out of control they were. I was a slave, same as them, to my beast nature." His tone changed to reflect the strength of his conviction. "I wanted to be different. So I changed."
"Was it hard for you?"
"In some ways, yeah. Learning to keep it under wraps when I was angry, for one. But I do Pilates and stuff and it keeps me cool."
She giggled. "I can't imagine you doing Pilates. I just can't." Her voice turned slightly seductive. "Do you wear those sweet Spandex exercise clothes?"
"No, definitely not." His laughter bounced down the line. "Do you have a hard time, with the cat?"
Her smile faded slightly, and he heard it. "Some. No more than you, I'm sure. I've got my ways of keeping my nose clean. Tea, for one." The urge overcame her to sip said tea.
"What's in the cup tonight?"
He can hear that? she marveled. "Green pekoe. Yummy."
"Meh, I'll take your word for it. What else helps you?"
"Believe it or not," she said, feigning airiness. "Not eating meat."
His disbelief was evident. "No meat at all?"
"Nope. Almost eight years now," she replied, with a hint of pride.
"Man," he whistled. "Couldn't do it. Meat-atarian, through and though. Wait, I thought you said you eat sushi?"
"That's when I give in to the cat," she replied, blushing at the memory of how she'd given in to the cat and rubbed their cheeks after the kiss. "A true rarity. Soothes the savage beast, you know?"
"Gives it something to placate it," he said with understanding. "Gives it something to focus on, and keep it from getting too crazy."
"Like a toy to a toddler."
"Amen."
They chuckled together.
"How do your roommates deal with a half-feline friend?" asked Eddie.
He could imagine Celina's shrug. "As well as can be expected of humans. They know my quirks, and love me the same."
"Must be nice," Eddie said wryly.
She made a comforting noise, hearing his tone.
"Do they, you know, see you? When you get catty?"
Celina laughed in a way that suggested she had done something she knew would get her in trouble. "Funny you should ask," she said cheerily. "Yeah, they can."
"How?" he asked incredulously. "Only Grimms and other unnaturals can see us!"
"I'm a folklore major, remember?" she said. "I found this...recipe, if you will. You know how, back in the old days, people thought that eating thyme and hanging around fairy circles would let them see the wee folk?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, I found something that was our equivalent. I asked my friends to try it, and viola. Granted, it's not as good as Grimm sight, but they have warning if I'm about to go claws-out or whatever."
"And this recipe wears off?"
"Yeah, like any herb."
Eddie whistled lowly. "That's some deep stuff, Celina. Couldn't you get in trouble with the other folks like us?"
"Well, yeah, of course. But my peeps are careful, and nobody's caught on. I think all eyes are on the Grimms to have that gift, not Joe Blow."
"Good point," he conceded. "So, confession time. While we're sharing, and all."
"I'm all ears."
Eddie opened his mouth to speak, but the word would not leave. What if, by telling her that he occasionally helped a Grimm, she abruptly and harshly put this conversation (not to mention this infant relationship) to an end? It was like politics and religion: not first phone call fodder.
"Be brave," she urged gently. "I won't bite, unless you ask me really nice."
He managed a faint smile at her purred attempt to lighten the situation, but nothing more. "Maybe...next time. It's pretty deep stuff." The wolf growled, Coward. He had to agree.
To her credit, she rolled with the punch. "That's okay. We can't tell it all at once, anyway."
The screen door banged in the kitchen. "Just a second, Eddie."
Tracy tried to Pink Panther her way past Celina. "Sorry," she mouthed, the scarf she was working on dragging behind her. "How's it going?"
"It's okay," mouthed Celina back to the former, giving a thumbs up to the latter.
Tracy did a gleeful happy dance on the spot before scurrying down the hall.
Eddie felt like he'd erected a wall between them with his failure to launch, and was eager to tear it down. "How'd you learn about Grimms? Isn't that, you know, passed down?" He could kick himself, really, he could.
"Usually, yeah," Celina said lightly, sparing him embarrassment.
"They really covered their bases with that college degree."
"Tell me about it. But that only inspired my research spreeing. Grimms are all over the world, in various forms, if you just know how to look at the evidence."
Suddenly, there came a sound of Henry and Rene's good-natured bickering and gravel crunching from the driveway.
Celina gasped, "I have to go. Trouble's home."
"Your brother?" guessed Eddie.
"Yeah. Do you want to pick me up in two days, in keeping with the surprise?"
"Sure. What's your address?"
She rattled it off to his scribbling fingers, then said apologetically, "I have to go. My peeps won't let me have peaceful phone calls."
"It's okay," he assured. "I'll see you in two days, at noon."
"Bye, Eddie," she said, affection coloring her voice.
"Bye, Celina," he replied, unwilling to let her go.
"Bye," she murmured once more, and forced her thumb to depress the button.
Henry and Rene rolled up the ramp and burst into the living room. "Was that him?" asked Henry nonchalantly, toeing off his shoes and gesturing at the phone in Celina's hand.
"Yeah," said his sister, biting her lip and glancing at him. "Is that a problem?"
Henry sighed, shrugged. "As much as my little sis dating anybody is bound to be. Just," he rubbed his face. "Gimme some time. And let me meet him, eventually."
Celina's heart flooded with relief and love for her brother. She got up and hugged him, reveling in his exercise-driven warmth and comforting, familiar scent. "Thanks, Henry."
"And what about 'thanks, Rene'?" wheedled the guitarist. "I did get him out of the house for you!"
"You couldn't keep a secret if you tried!" cried Celina, kicking his convenient wheel, incensed but forgivingly so. Henry came to his friend's aid and started to tickle Celina's ribs, causing her to howl for backup.
Tracy reappeared to join the fun, and threw her toothpick-esque frame onto Henry's back. He treated her like she wasn't there, until she covered his eyes, cackling.
No quarter was given, but eventually, the quartet retired for the night. Celina's heart was too full for her to sleep immediately, so she smiled into the darkness of her room and racked her brain for possibilities. What is this surprise Eddie's talking about? she mused. And what is it he's so reluctant to tell me?
Eddie stared at the phone in his hand, a grin slowly spreading on his face. He felt foolish with happiness. As he prepared for sleep, he couldn't stop smiling.
That night, he dreamed of an orange tabby cat laying next to him in bed, purring, tail tip twitching in drowsy comfort at his soothing warmth. It burrowed its heavy eyes into his side, and accepted his hand stroking its soft fur.
When he woke up the next morning to find the weight that had lain against him all night was a pillow, he was sorely disappointed.