"What happened to you last night?"
Keanu's voice on the other end of the phone evokes feelings of both urgency and guilt.
Nathan is gone, having caught a morning flight out to New York to start his stint in an off-Broadway role. When the phone rang, she assumed it was him, letting her know he'd landed and was settling in. Instead she is met with this excruciating question she doesn't want to answer. She says nothing for the moment, walking over to the small console table that holds various important photographs of those nearest to her heart. Squeezing her cordless phone between her ear and her shoulder, she carefully lifts the newest frame and caresses the black and white photo behind the glass.
At this point, anyone else would've been repeating the question or otherwise prodding, but he is comfortable with the silence even if he isn't comfortable with the event that led to his question. He waits, patiently, the sound of his breath the only sound he makes until finally she can no longer stand the silence.
What kind of zen bullshit mind trick is this? she wonders. The tables of holding out on a response have been expertly turned.
"I—," she starts to answer but halts, having no idea where she is going with this. What happened to me last night? Well, let's see. I went to the premiere with my sister and boyfriend and watched you...what? What did I watch? What was that look on your face that I didn't know happened until last night? Something? Nothing?
Nathan didn't spend the night last night. After the tense limousine ride to Sandra's home, he handed the driver two hundred dollars and asked if he'd continue the drive, dropping him and Aaron off on Sunset Boulevard. Hiding her relief, Sandra and Gesine exited without much fanfare: no conversation between them as the gravel in her driveway crunched beneath their feet. No sounds as their heels echoed on the wooden steps up to her porch. The turn of the key in her door was all but deafening, contrasted with the absence of anything else. Sandra set her keys down on the kitchen island, her fingers lingering, and then turned to face her sister who promptly stepped forward, sweeping her into a hug.
"Get some rest, Sandy. We'll debrief later."
There was a tacit understanding between them that they'd be analyzing the night's events later, perhaps with old movies playing in the background, definitely with a bottle of beer, or ice cream, or both, but tonight was a time for rest and decompression. Sandra ascended her stairs and entered the master bedroom, not bothering to close the door before reaching behind her to unzip her skirt, pulling her chunky, black heels through and leaving it in a pink, mountain-shaped pile on the floor in front of her bed. She tugged on the long sleeve of her pink shirt and pulled the stretchy material off of one arm, then the other, finally yanking it over her head and tossing it on the armchair in the corner. She wanders to her dresser where she removes her earrings and bracelets, dropping them into her jewelry box. Left only in her heels and matching bra and panty set, she enters her closet and haphazardly kicks off her shoes. She stares at the clothes hanging in a row for a second before unclasping the hook of her bra and dropping it where she stood, landing on top of one shoe. She dresses in an oversized nightshirt and moves to her sink where she brushes her teeth and washes the layers of makeup off of her face.
When she woke to get ready to take Nathan to the airport, she was surprised to hear his message that Aaron drove him to catch an earlier flight. The pinprick hole that had been growing since Jude's death gaped, but she was unsure what emotion filled it at that moment. She moved about her morning in a zombie-like daze, not even remembering her morning run or shower or anything that had happened all day up until this moment when she stood, phone pressed against her ear, fingers tracing the outline of the sole, black-and-white figure in the frame, searching for an answer to this unanswerable question.
YOU ARE READING
The Beginning
Fanfiction"Come here," his voice is gentle again. She gives in, placing her small hand in his. Lifting the cloth, he sees her blood spill out from her palm. He inhales sharply through his teeth and presses the rag back down. They sit there like that for abo...
