4. Wreck of the Day
He slid his gold key into the lock and turned, clicking the door open. Generic pre-recorded laughter drifted toward him down the hall as he stepped in the door. He slipped off his black leather shoes and followed the laughter into the lounge.
There he found his girlfriend stretched out asleep on the moss green couch as a re-run of Friends played to itself. He approached her silently, his socks sliding against the wood floor before he leaned in and placed a soft kiss atop her auburn hair. Her head slightly shifted as she hummed quietly before she opened her hazel eyes slowly and looked up at him. He placed another kiss onto her lips lightly before it dawned on her that he had been missing. He gently shifted her bare feet so he could sit down on the couch and placed her feet into his lap so she could still stretch out. He rubbed the pad of his thumb against the balls of her left foot. She cast her eyes over his shirt stained in black greasy marks.
'Where have you been…?' She raised an eyebrow.
'I was down at Grand Central when that bomb on the subway went off…' Her face immediately fell and he saw the worry cloud her pale face and tears began to fill the bottom of her wide eyes. He smiled and reached forward, wrapping his arms around her ribs, shifting her into his lap. Her head fell into the crook of his neck. He rubbed her back with one hand.
'I'm okay, I'm here, don't worry…'
'W-were you on the subway…?' She asked reluctantly.
He shook his head. 'No. I was waiting for it but I knew something wasn't right. Just an intuition thing, y'know?' She nodded against his chest. She lifted her head away and looked up at him.
'Why are you so dirty…?' She shifted herself away from him slightly.
'I saved a woman today…'
She removed herself from his lap. 'So that's where you've been? You've been with a woman all day…?' She shifted her whole body away from him and stiffened up, bringing her knees up to her face.
He tried to reach out to her. 'I saved her life. I just had to do it…'
She stood up away from him. 'Please tell me she's a co-worker…' She said without looking at him. When he didn't respond, she brought her eyes up to him sitting on the couch. 'Sam…' She spoke weakly, almost pleading for an answer. He just simply shook his head. 'And I'm supposed to be okay with you spending the whole day with some, random woman?'
He looked up to her again. 'Her name was Quinn. Is Quinn.' He corrected himself.
'Do I look like I care what her name is?' She exclaimed.
'I saved her life.' He spoke gently.
'And you just had to spend the whole day with her…' She scoffed to herself rubbing her forehead with her left palm.
'I had to take her to the Emergency Room.' He tried to reason with her. 'She needed stitches in her leg…'
'And she couldn't go by herself?'
'She was bleeding a lot. She could hardly walk.'
'I'm sure she's a big girl.'
'I wanted to make sure she was okay.' He took to his feet and tried to approach her. 'Nothing happened Romy…We just hung out…'
'And you talked?'
He nodded. 'Of course.'
She looked at his shirt. 'Where's your tie…?' He didn't answer. 'She has it doesn't she…?'
He sighed loudly, trying to rub away the headache that was forming at the front of his head. 'No, she doesn't.' He replied sharply. 'It's in a trash can in the Emergency Room at Mount Sinai Hospital. Do you wanna go check?'
She lowered her voice. 'Don't push me Sam.'
His hand fell back by his side. 'I'm going to bed. It's been a long day, I have a headache.' Before she could reply he left the room and headed across the hall to their bedroom.
'Don't even think about sleeping in that bed!' She called after him with a sigh.
She sat uncomfortably in the dark coloured armchair and ran the thin piece of white card between her fingertips. She took her cellphone out of her deep pocket and set it down in her lap and balanced the card on the screen. She reached into her satchel and brought out her camera. With a quiet whirr she switched it on, and she was met with his gently smiling face. His green eyes burned in the dying sunlight that illuminated him. She balanced the camera on her knees, his face still watching her. She picked up her cellphone and punched in the number. She punched in the last digit, pausing as her thumb hovered over the call button.
A dull buzzing sounded from beside the lamp above his head. He drowsily placed his hand behind his head, retrieving his cellphone. He looked across to the mantle, the clock showing 1.30am.
'Hello…' He answered with a sleepy groan.
'What do I say…?'
Confused for a moment, he didn't respond to the mysterious question.
'It's Quinn. I'm sorry, did I-did I wake you…? I'm sorry I didn't realise how late it was.'
He sighed, rubbing his eye and propping himself up against the arm of the couch. 'It's okay, it's fine…where are you…?'
She chuckled. 'Where d'you think?'
'You're holding up your end of the bargain…' He smiled.
'Are you? Did you…?'
He sighed. 'That's…that's a long story.' He hesitated.
'What's that s'posed to mean…?'
He scratched his head. 'We…' He sighed again. 'We had a fight. I've been relegated to the couch.'
She took an audibly sharp intake of breath. 'About what?'
He shook his head. 'It's not important. It's nothing.'
'I-I didn't cause it…did I…?' She hesitated.
'No. No it's nothing.'
She cleared her throat. 'I'm sorry Sam.'
'You tell her the truth.' He brightened after a pause. 'You tell her everything. You tell her everything that you've thought about her since college. Be honest.'
'Everything?'
He nodded. 'The only way to get to her is to tell her everything. If you tell her everything, you'll get everything back.'
He could hear her worried lips curl into a smile. 'Thank you, Sam. For everything.'
He chuckled. 'At least I'm useful for something.'
She paused, confused. 'Sam…? What's wrong?'
He brightened up again. 'It's not important.' He replied dismissively. 'Call me back when you see her.'
He could hear the announcements in the background. 'I better go; I'm s'posed to be boarding.'
'Go get your girl Quinn.' He smiled.
'I'll let you know. Talk to you later.'
A quiet beep sounded as she hung up the phone.