..::.. Chapter 5 - Mint Green Phone ..::..
Work is gray. I'm back to the grind, but the grind hasn't grinded me yet. This spirit of mine is as light as a balloon, as cotton, as a fucking slice of cheesecake.
Man. Cheesecake. I pick up a piece at the deli on my way home. Every night is a celebration if you ask me.
The trip to Chicago was fun, relaxing, and life changing. I still feel it weeks later.
Sue begged me to stay. I thought about it hard. But work is getting better. I'm at the brink of getting promoted and jobs in the city are too competitive. I have a voice now. People respect me. These pencil-skirts, blouses and heels are helping to shape a more serious role in my life. I do up my hair and pin it straight. My bangs are just right, my makeup contoured and lids winged. I strap on the wonder bras and button up the silks, because here I come world, I feel great.
Jess joins me for dinner. I tell her about the closure I felt the moment my fist connected with his despicable face. She laughs. She snorts loud. We swish our cocktails under our smiling lips.
That night, I hear the shrill of that mint green phone ring inside that vacant house. It's been locked for months, but on the third ring it stops.
Edward's profile appears when he clicks on his lamp. It illuminates his usual chair. The town eventually believes he's back from an asylum. He's better. He's a little less insane. The corrupt law slapped his wrist for stabbing a man with two screwdrivers. But I know. That man owed a substantial amount of money and no payments were sent on time. Such things get you an immobile right hand.
The days pass and he paces around the house like a ghost. I don't know how he does it. I don't understand it.
His hair is back to its unruly bronze self and a beard frames his dark circles again. He plays the part phenomenally, so much so that I wonder if he's a twin. Could he really fall this unhinged time and again? I don't know. So many medical possibilities. Schizophrenia floods my mind. It's unnerving.
I see him in town, to everyone's chagrin. He takes, he manipulates, and interrupts the peace.
I try to find remnants left behind from that night at the restaurant, but there's not one speckle of proof. I forget, little by little, the sharp handsome man I once witnessed. This is the Edward that's left, a lost heart, mind, and soul. They can't possibly be the same.
Sometimes I get angry. I want to bang on his door and insist he tells me the truth. Then, I watch him and the crazed eyes can't be anyone else's but his. Alice comes by and the boys run around again. She wouldn't condone this behavior if it weren't true. I know Alice. Alice was the kind heart in our circle. She had a fierce spirit and was a force to be reckoned with. But there she is, cleaning up the mess of an insane, troubled man... and being humane about it.
I watch his windows less and less. The same routine makes for a disjointed infatuation. Jess and I find a rhythm after work. I make friends and I keep them. Everything seems to fall into place—until one night, everything changes.
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