Birds Of a Feather

4. A woman's mind and winter wind change oft

"Bye, El!" Sara said, standing at the door as Layla was putting her jacket on and finally leaving her loft.
"Damn, I'm late! Byeeee"
"No need to hurry, your loser boyfriend won't call, as usual" Sara remarked.
"I'm late for work, not for the phone call! Anyway, he said he'd call, so he will" her friend snapped as she was running to the elevator. She pressed the button to call it with little hope – she was almost sure that fucker was broken – but this time it was working.
"A little luck, for a change" she sighed to herself and got into the lift.
As the doors opened at the first floor, an incredibly good looking guy, not very tall and with long curly hair and piercing blue eyes was standing in the lobby right in front of her.
"Oh my god, it works?" the man asked with a little smile on his face.
"Ehm yes, unexpectedly" Layla answered, with a polite smile, getting out of the elevator. She was about to go outside when the guy suddenly spoke again.
"By the way, hi"
The girl turned around and saw he was standing behind her, nervously scratching the back of his neck.
"Oh, hi" she answered, taken aback by the greeting.
"How's it going?"
"Uhm, fine..." she replied, slightly puzzled.
<Ok, guys don't flirt with me, like never – let alone the attractive ones. What's happening here?> "Great" he said, nodding and looking at her as he was expecting her to say something else.
"What about you?" she asked, and thought <This must be some madman, for sure. I'd better not contradict him>
"I'm doing great. You know, uhm, I was a bit worried"
"Worried?" Layla was trying to figure out what this guy was up to without making him angry or something.
"Yeah, for you" he added, biting his lower lip.
"... For me? Why?" the girl was getting nervous and was mentally calculating the distance between her and the man, her and the glass door, and the man and the glass door. At the right time she would escape and run as fast as she could.
"I feel guilty, I hurt you" 
<Ok, this is getting really creepy... He's so handsome though>
"Oh, you didn't do anything, don't worry" she told him with a fake giggle, in an attempt to pander to him.
"I did, and I'm sorry"
"No worries, I'm fine! And... I need to go to work now, so..." she smiled at him, then turned around and walked to the door. She was about to get out when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Wait!"
<Great, I'm dead now. He's gonna hit me with an axe or rape me or both>
"... Yes?" she slowly turned to face him, scared to death.
"Listen, I went to this optical shop yesterday, it had pretty good stuff at reasonable prices. I took a look around and saw a couple of frames which I think would look good on you. But, you know, you should try them on – I mean, I tried some myself but it's not the same, of course..." he explained, chuckling a little in the end.
"Excuse me but... do I know you?" Layla asked, now totally confused.
"Uhm, yes..." Eddie answered, raising an eyebrow "A few days ago... the surfboard, your glasses, your lovely friend..."
"... OH MY GOD! IT'S YOU!" Layla yelled, slapping her forehead: she wanted to die, right there, in that very moment.
"Hehe yeah, I-I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself properly, I thought you remembered" Eddie gave her an embarassed look and then stared at his own feet.
"What? Sure I remember, of course! I don't have Alzheimer! It's just... you know... without my glasses I can't see anything, so..."
"Oh, right! You couldn't see clearly, you didn't see me! I'm so stupid, I'm sorry, I should have known"
"It's ok, don't worry"
"Oh my god, what did you think of me? A stranger asking you things... I must have scared you, I'm so fucking sorry!" Eddie kept apologizing.
The more he was telling he was sorry the more Layla was feeling embarrassed; she could feel her cheeks burning.
"Don't worry, it's cool now. I am sorry for not recognizing you; actually, your voice is quite unmistakable, I should have remembered it"
"Oh, thank you! Uhm, it was a compliment, right?"
"Yeah, it was" she giggled. And now it wasn't fake.
"Uhm, let's start it all over again, then... Hi!" Eddie said with a huge smile, showing his cute dimples.
"Hi!" the girl replied in awe, then suddenly remembered what Sara told her.
<Horrible, uh? I'm gonna kill her>
"What's up?" he went on.
"Everything's fine, also because now I can see the world, as you noticed" she answered, pointing at the glasses she was wearing.
"I'm glad to hear that! By the way, I was telling you about this shop. Of course you should come with me, also for the lenses becaus-"
"You don't need to buy me new glasses" Layla interrupted him, shaking her head.
"What? But I want to"
"You don't want to, you're only afraid of my friend" she laughed.
"Hehe ok, maybe a little bit"
"You don't have to be... Well, not too much. I mean, you shouldn't take Sara too literally"
"I'll keep that in mind... I wanna make up for the little accident I caused, though"
"I have these ones now, it's the spare, they call them spare glasses because one uses them right in this kind of situations, you know. I don't need new ones"
"But... if now you use them as main glasses, you'll need a new pair of spare glasses" he remarked with a grin.
"You're not gonna buy me glasses; I don't want you to, full stop"
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. And don't worry, Sara won't bite you... At least, not too hard" Layla smirked.
"Haha oh god, she hates me already"
"She doesn't hate you... She hates Jeff. And everything about Jeff. What he says and does, his music, his friends..."
"... So she hates me too"
"But only incidentally, not directly!"
"That's some consolation, for sure" he joked.
And Layla thought he was so damn cute when he joked and smiled and talked or did any other thing... Until she remembered she had a boyfriend. Then she also remembered she had just spent a whole afternoon at Sara's place, plotting various pranks and revenge acts of any kind. She had promised to cooperate and to join her in the battle against the enemies. And he was one of the enemies. But he was so nice and kind...
"Oh, what do we have here? Our spectacled owl!" Jeff reached the lobby, his presence announced by the sound of his steps on the stairs.
"Jeff!" Eddie shouted at his friend.
"Haha it's ok, Jeff has been calling me lovely names ever since we first met, I'd be worried if he stopped" Layla joked.
"Don't allow yourself to be cheated, Eddie! She seems witty and nice and kind, but remember: she is a friend of Sara. She can't be completely sane" the bassist said, drawing imaginary circles around his temple.
"I'm not sane and it's a fact, regardless of my friendship with Sara: I think your singer has already noticed that" Layla laughed and walked out in the streets, while Eddie and Jeff followed her.
"Told ya" Ament told the singer as they walked to their van to do the soundcheck for their first show ever, while Layla was walking in the same direction to go to work.
"Where do you work?" Eddie asked her as they walked.
"In a video shop, not far from here"
"Oh, good to know there's one round here!" he said "I'll drop by sometimes"
"See you soon, then" she said, still walking, while the guys stopped at their van.
"See you" Ed muttered.
"Bye bye, Four Eyes!" Jeff told her.
"Wait!" she suddenly stopped right before turning into a side street, turned around and called him.
"Yes?" he peeped out of the van window with a sly smile.
"I forgot to ask your name"
"I'm Eddie. What's yours?"
"Layla" she said, then waved at him and walked away.
<Layla. Pretty name>

♣♦♣

It was half past ten and, when the phone rang, Sara already knew who it was.
"Hello, Lonelyheart!" she chirped, for her friend, in a too cheerful tone.
<Hey> Layla sighed, resigned to her friend's sarcasm.
"Let me guess: David hasn't called yet, right?"
<He has training sessions, he can be late sometimes>
"Yeah, training sessions with cheerleaders, maybe" Sara snapped.
<Sara!>
"Ok, ok: he's the perfect boyfriend and loves you so much. Is this ok?"
<No, not at all. You're not good at telling lies, Sara. I found evidence earlier today too...> Layla said and Sara could feel her smirk through the phone.
"What do you mean?"
<Horrible, Sara?>
"... What?"
<You said Eddie was ugly>
"Who the fuck is Eddie?"
<Jeff's roommate, I met him when I left. I didn't recognize him because I hadn't seen him clearly and someone had told me he looked ugly>
"Uhm, yes... Why? Do you think he's... nice?" Sara asked distractedly.
<What? Nice? Nah... he's just one of the most handsome men I've ever seen in my whole life and I made a fool of myself in front of him! And it's all your fault!>
"You made a fool of yourself? He arrives here in Seattle with a surfboard and dressed as if he was ready to ride some waves and have a few cocktails on the beach with Ament and their slacker bandmates, almost kills you and breaks your glasses in the process... and you are the one who cut a poor figure!" Sara replied astonished.
<You know what I mean...> 
"You didn't recognize him, so what? Who is he?? Who cares, why should you care?! He's a loser, why did you even talk to him?? Didn't we agree he was the enemy???" Sara asked enbittered.
<Sara, please, take a breath! You're overreacting, he just asked me how I was 'cause he was worried. He also offered to buy me glasses, he went to a shop and...> Layla tried to calm down her friend.
"... And of course you accepted his offer, right?"
<Uhm... actually...>
"EL!"
<Listen, it was an accident. He hit me, and that's ok, but I was also walking without looking where I was going, as usual. You know I'm a dreamer, I always have my head in the clouds>
"But-"
<So it was my fault too. And it all happened because the elevator never works, so it's also your landlord's fault. It's everybody's fault!> 
"... Let's say it's Jeff's fault and that's it, that makes me feel better" Sara remarked.
<... Plus Eddie really seems a nice guy, maybe you were too harsh with him>
"Layla, that's just a pose! It's an act, he acts kind to gain your trust and discover your weak points, and mine. To destroy us!"
<... He's not a secret agent, Sara>
"You'll see. He'll start asking things about you, where you live, where you work... just don't tell him"
<Err...>
"LAYLA!"
<I just told him where I work>
"Good job, El. When the video shop detonates with you inside, don't tell me I didn't warn you"
<If the shop explodes with me inside I won't tell anything anymore> 
"... By the way, don't you have a boyfriend?" Sara asked, quickly switching subjects.
<What?>
"You're showing way too much interest in this guy. I know you may feel neglected by that fucker in Boston, but that's no good reason to fall into the enemy's trap"
<I'm not interested! I just said he looks good... it was, ehm, an objective remark!> 
"I hope so"
<Gotta hang up now, the fucker from Boston could call any minute>
"Finally you're starting calling things with their proper name! Good night, El"
<I hate you. Good night>

Sara went straight to bed. She couldn't sleep though.