Episode 10 (4.1)
October 26, 2008 06:00 PM
Isabel turned in front of the mirror, examining herself in the dress she’d picked out. Once, twice, she judged herself from every angle. Leaning in, she studied her face, checking for any wayward marks she may have failed to cover with makeup. Nervously, she peered at the desk clock. . .
Lee turned from his clock and back to the computer. Cracking his fingers, he hunched over the computer once more and began typing frantically. After a few seconds he leaned back, rubbing his eyes; his elbow brushed some of the scattered papers on his desk. They fell to the floor and Lee nearly went with them as he tried to catch a few in midair. Muttering, he bent down and began sweeping them up . . .
Shane gathered the papers on his desk, putting them into his folder seconds before the bell rang. He leapt from his seat and vaulted past his peers to the door, ignoring the odd look from his professor. He zigzagged through the hallway traffic, stopping at the door of Keira’s classroom. He glanced in, noticing that it was empty. Turning around he frantically searched the hallway for her. Finally, there she was, walking down the steps with a friend; he saw her turn and look right at him, then continue out of sight.
* * *
“Mom, really, it’s great that you gave Alicia a job and it’s been working out, but I can’t talk long.” Lee sat in front of the computer, desperate to hang up the phone. Carleen was on the other end, filling him in on the details of his family’s life since he’d gone back to school.
“I just worry about you, Lee. Since you returned to school, we hardly ever hear from you.” The note of concern in her voice was evident. “If you would just give us a call every once and awhile.”
“Mom, if I don’t get this paper written, I can honestly say my chance for an internship this summer is going to be gone.” Lee began to proofread his paper while clamping the phone between his neck and his shoulder. “I have got to rock this, Mom. I promise that when I have it in, my life will go back to normal and I will fill you in on everything that’s not exciting here on campus.”
“As long as you sure you’re doing fine.”
“Mom, seriously.” Lee’s exasperation was not masked.
“All right, all right. I have to get going to Stella’s.” Pause. “Are you sure you don’t need anything?”
“Mom, I’m hanging up now.”
“Ok, I love you, honey! Good luck on that paper.”
“Yeah, you too.” Lee hung up his phone and tossed it to the side. He glanced at his screen, but the words were beginning to bleed into one large black, box of text. He blinked and rubbed his tired eyes. “If I read this one more time. . .”
There was a knock on his door. Before Lee could get up to answer it, Nicki walked in. “Wow, pretty dark in here, Hathaway. You ever try letting in some outside light?” Nicki walked over to the window and opened the blind; sunlight immediately poured in to lighten the atmosphere. “See, what a nice afternoon! Let’s enjoy it!”
* * *
Isabel descended the steps and walked into the kitchen. Jillian glanced up from the laundry she’d been ironing. She paused when she noticed Isabel’s dress, low cut but tasteful, and hair done up nicely. “Should I ask?”
“Hm?” Isabel emerged from the fridge with a yogurt, which she immediately set about eating with a spoon.
“I know you are not going to work at Stella’s with that outfit.” Jillian placed her iron down and moved into the kitchen. “So either you are having a lady’s night or,” She smiled, “Tim is coming to sweep you off your feet for a romantic evening.”
Isabel nearly choked on her yogurt. She coughed a few times, “MoMom, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
“About what?” Jillian watched, taken aback by her daughter’s reaction.
“Tim. With everything that was going on with Allan, it slipped my mind.”
“Did something happen?”
“You could say that. Tim’s in California, Mom.”
“On a vacation?” Jillian asked, hesitantly.
“A little more permanent,” responded Isabel, flatly.
* * *
“Can I help you with something?” Lee stood up from his desk, pushing in his chair behind him. Nicki walked into the room and took a few glances around.
“I ran into Tucker down at the campus center. He told me how you’ve been holed up in this room all week working on your paper. So I figured that maybe it was time that you had a little break.”
“And?”
“And what, I came to take you out for lunch.”
Lee regarded her with suspicion. “And?”
Nicki threw up her hands, “There is no and.”
“Nicki, in the three years we’ve known each other, you have always been a pretty decent friend. But honestly, when was the last time you stopped by to take me out for a lunch break. Come clean, what’s the story?”
Guilt caused her to blush, “Aight, truth. I need your help with something involving my brother.” She quickly added, “BUT, I honestly do think you should get out of this place! Your eyes are bloodshot and it’s starting to smell a little.” She waved her hand in front of her nose.
“Ha, Ha,” he dryly responded. Turning back to the screen, he found it was again making sense. Exhaustion pounded at the back of his head, however. He knew it was only a matter of time before things would begin to unravel once more. “You know, Nicki, maybe a break is in order.”
“Great!” She grabbed his arm and dragged him out the doorway. Lee had enough sense to grab his wallet before the door slammed shut behind them.
* * *
Isabel and Jillian sat across from one another at the kitchen table. “What happened?” Jillian watched her daughter with concern.
Isabel, however, seemed to show little emotional attachment to the situation. “Things seemed to be getting a little rough, but I thought we would work through it.” As she spoke, her voice was calm and collected. There was no indication that she’d ever been upset about Tim’s departure. “He was going to California for a business trip. It was supposed to only last a week, but he evidently decided to make it more permanent. He told me while I was driving him to the airport. Said that he hadn’t wanted to spoil our last night together.” Isabel toyed with the yogurt in her cup.
“What a bastard.” Jillian’s utterance managed to shock her daughter out of her calm.
“Excuse me?”
“No, seriously, what an utter fool. To think you wasted three years on him? I always knew that you could do better, I just never imagined that Tim would turn out so terribly.” Jillian’s face reddened, growing angrier as she spoke. “What about all his belongings here? I certainly hope he doesn’t expect you to take care of them.”
“No, he hired a company to do all that.”
“And has he tried to contact you since? To at least apologize?”
Isabel thought back to the text message she’d received the night of Allan’s arrest. “No,” she lied.
Jillian rose from her chair and hustled over to the stove. She put on the kettle and began heating the water, visibly agitated. “I don’t understand how you can be so calm.”
“There’s not really anything I can do at this point, mother.”
“I didn’t date that boy and I have a half a mind to hop on a plane to California to give him a piece of my mind. To treat you in such a way.”
Isabel shrugged, “Mom it’s over. Seriously, I’ve moved on.” Absently, Isabel toyed with a strand of hair she’d let hang. As her eyes strayed to a clock, Jillian seemed to once more register what she was wearing.
“Where are you going,” Jillian questioned.
“I,” Isabel bit her lip, then blurted, “I have a date tonight.”
“A date?! Already? Things only just ended with Tim, don’t you think you need a little healing period?” Before Isabel could answer or defend herself, the doorbell rang and both women froze.
* * *
The door swung open as Tucker stumbled in, books in hand. “Honey, I’m home!” He found an empty room, albeit a far brighter one than when he had left earlier that morning. Tucker tossed his stuff unto his bed and glanced over at Lee’s screen; the paper still sitting idly. Tucker smirked and sat down in Lee’s chair, scrolling through until he found the middle. He began typing, a smirk on his face.
* * *
Shane sat slumped at a lunch room table, his food mostly untouched in front of him. Around him students talked and mingled, but he appeared completely oblivious. Alicia McCaulley broke away from one of her friends and made her way over. “Hey Shane.” When she had no answer, Alicia grew more concerned; She pulled an empty chair out and sat down beside him. “Earth to Shane, Shane.”
He came to, slightly startled to find someone sitting next to him. “Huh, Wh-Alicia?”
“Uh yeah,” She smiled. “Should I ask?”
“Ask what?”
“Why you’re sitting here alone at lunch instead of attached to Keira somewhere.”
Shane’s face tightened. “Maybe that’s something you should be asking her.”
Alicia cocked an eyebrow, “Um, ok, what’s the deal.”
“The deal is that Keira won’t talk to me cause of a stupid fight.” Shane shot Alicia a look, “What does it matter.”
“Well it matters to me if you’re upset. I’m not big on my friends being down.” She picked a fry off his plate and ate it. “So what was the fight about?”
“She overreacted over something I did.”
“Which was what?” Alicia ate another fry.
“I went over to her house with flowers.”
“I could see how that might be upsetting,” Alicia joked. Shane shot her a look and stopped talking.
“So she thanked me and then I pulled her into a kiss.” Shane muttered, staring down at his hands on the table. “She was totally responding at first too, like really responding.” He glanced up at Alicia, “She totally wanted it. Then the next thing I know, she was yelling at me for not understanding her so I was like, screw this, and stormed out. I am just so frustrated with that crap. So I was like, whatever, I’m going to cool down for a few days and I guess she was too. So today I’m all ready to apologize for being a jerk and she completely ignores me. Cold shoulder all the way. I can’t win.” Shane stopped to catch a breath, waiting for Alicia to respond.
She regarded him for a second, then blurted “You are such an idiot sometimes.”
* * *
Nicki and Lee walked through the campus cafe carrying trays. “So that’s the story. After the frat party disaster, Mom and Dad have really been laying on the pressure to have Jackson drop out. I thought it would blow over, but it’s been nearly a week and they still haven’t caved.” They sat down at a table; Lee began munching on an apple while Nicki talked. “I get that they’re worried, but Jackson can take care of himself. What happened wasn’t his fault, you know? He shouldn’t be punished because some idiot decided to serve people who were underage.”
“So where do I come in?”
“I’m still working that part out with Allan right now.”
“Allan? Allan McCaulley?”
“Yeah, it was his idea to try and pool our resources.” Lee nodded, finishing off his apple. “Is that all right with you?”
“Our families grew up together, I’ve known him since he was a kid. Was just confirming.”
A bookish girl with large glasses walked past their table. She paused when she saw Lee. “Hathaway, I’m surprised to see you out.”
Lee and Nicki casually turned their attention to her. “Why’s that,” he responded.
The girl looked at him with a slight smile. “Our papers are due in a half hour. I just came from turning mine in. The professor told me I was the first.”
Lee’s eyes widened. “The due date was Monday.”
“If you had bothered to show up to Astrophysics this week you’d have known they switched the date. Come to think of it, I think someone was supposed to mention it to you,” She wryly noted, “It must have slipped their minds.” The girl walked off and Lee stared in panic at Nicki.
“Ok, we have another crisis to deal with right now,” Nicki stood and grabbed him. “Come on, let’s go.”
* * *
“Come again?”
“You’re an idiot,” Alicia repeated.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shane asked, his voice rising slightly.
“Shane, from the start you knew what you were getting into with Keira. She was completely up front with you on her religion and background. So you’re frustrated, I can understand. But it’s not like out of the blue she’s suddenly withholding ‘the sex’ from you or anything.”
“This isn’t about sex!”
“Whatever it’s about, she’s not someone who’s comfortable being physical at all! You can’t just force it on her out of the blue. She cares about you a lot, have you even tried talking to her? Or was sticking your tongue down her throat your first instinct to solve things?” Alicia leaned back in her chair, letting her words sink in.
Shane blinked, trying to think of an argument to Alicia’s point. He started to speak a few times, but then stopped, not really finding the words to express himself. Alicia calmly watched him. “Well I should have known you were going to take her side,” was finally all he could offer.
“Shane, what are we, three? Grow up, this isn’t about sides. You acted like a bonehead, it happens. No one said that dating Keira was going to be easy. I think a few of us even warned you. But it is what it is, if you want to change things then talk to her. I’d start with apologizing.”
Shane sullenly regarded her. “You think that’ll even work?”
“It’s worth a shot. Just make sure that you do some good, old fashioned groveling.”
* * *
DING-DONG.
Isabel moved to get up, but Jillian was already rushing across the room to the door. “Mom, wait-” she pleaded, but the door was already open. Julio stood there, two bouquets flowers in hand. He seemed slightly startled by Jillian, but quickly recovered.
“Oh, hello. I’m here for Isabel.” Isabel got up from the table and waved, uncomfortably. Her mother was looking over the newcomer, blocking the doorway. “Are you Mrs. McCaulley?”
Jillian nodded, then remembered her manners, “Yes, I am and you are?”
“Julio Martes,” He held out the larger of the two bouquets. “These are for you.” Jillian accepted the flowers with some hesitation. “The other one is for your daughter,” He added.
“Mom,” Isabel brushed up alongside her, “This is who I am going out with tonight.”
“I could tell that,” Jillian replied.
“We should be going,” Isabel prodded. Jillian finally picked up the hint and stepped away from the doorway. Isabel, now carrying a small clutch, kissed her mother softly on the cheek. She whispered, “I’ll be fine and I’ll see you later.” She turned and smiled at Julio, who handed her the other flowers. “Thank you, they’re beautiful.”
“Then it’s only fitting that you should have them.” Isabel blushed.
Jillian reached for the flowers, “I’ll put them in water, dear, go have fun.” Isabel smiled at her mom and then walked out with Julio. Jillian shut the door behind them, pausing against it for a moment. As she turned to search for a vase in the kitchen, her face was lit by a bright smile.
* * *
Nicki and Lee burst into his dorm room. She ran over to the computer and hit the print option; with a hum, it sprang to life. Lee gasped, “I didn’t finish proofreading!”
“Lee, how many times have you read this document since you finished it?”
“Three times, but I could have still missed som-”
“Lee, I know you. You do everything meticulously. We don’t have time right now, come on.” She grabbed the paper and handed it to him. Lee searched, found a binder, and put it inside. The two raced from the room.
* * *
As the hanging bell on the front door rang, Abigail Diore looked up from her magazine. She glanced at her appointment book, noting the blanks by the current time. She got up and opened the back curtain, calling out to the arriving customer, “I’m sorry, we close early on Fridays for everyone except appointments. If you would like to come back tomorrow, I’d gladly take down your name.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have until tomorrow.” Standing at the front door was Misha Bower, dressed in a miniskirt, loose fitting top, and a draping fur coat. The look was entirely high fashion, save for her mangled hair and blotchy face. “I need your help Abigail! I need it desperately bad!”
Posted at 10/26/2008 by beck | Comments? (1)