No opinions today, just a little fiction (?)
As Nathan neared the intersection, the traffic slowed, then jerked, then started again, a greedy predator slinking up to its prey before seeing something better in the distance. He fiddled with the radio as he leaned on the window, four inches of glass refusing to go down any further, no matter how he slammed the door, cursed it in the early mornings, entreated it in the evenings as he worked on the car during the weekends. He could always fix the most serious issues, but never the glass. He was resolute in his stand against the mechanic; no money would fall from him until they justified the bill for the last repair. $400 bill for replacing an $80 part had struck him as unnecessary to the point of blasphemy, and he refused to go back. These were the thoughts in his head when he saw Mel again.
She was the reason that the traffic had slowed, as some lady had given her a little room to cross the street, and now the cars were speeding up again. She hit the sidewalk, turned and saw his face. They had some...history. If you wanted to call it that, he thought. She was wearing a white shirt, buttoned pretty high, and a dark green skirt sufficiently long as to be called professional without being frumpy. A small clutch in hand, her face went through the muscular aerobics that usually happened when the mind is desperately shoveling through memories to assign a name to a face before it became awkward to stare, and inwardly he quailed at the thought that she would not remember him. Ah, but there it was, the widened eyes, the relieved smile and his name, coming to meet him over the sounds of horns, arguments, and the whining of sweaty children. She took a step forward - and pulled her foot back rapidly as she remembered where she was. They both instinctively looked for a place where he could pull over, and seeing none, her brow knotted, before smoothing again. Before he could lift his hand in a farewell wave, she had stepped into the traffic, which had slowed down for an instant and swept like a wind around the nose of his growling Honda. Her clutch slid along his window, and then just like that, she was sitting in his passenger seat.
"Well, what a way to see you again!" she said, and a small part of his brain marveled that she didn't seem at all winded by that quick spurt. Keeping in shape, it would seem. The majority of his brain, however, was taken up with the fact that here was Mel in his car. He flashed back to the last time he had seen her.
They had been nothing but children playing then. She was staying up the street with her father, a well known dentist in the area. Nathan had been staying with his aunt in the city for the time while his parents decided where their marriage was going to end up. They had met once or twice, but hardly ever in a setting where they could actually talk and get to know each other away from adult eyes. He had thought of her as fun: she knew all of his games, enjoyed climbing onto rooftops just like he did, and their fascinations with Batman ran parallel. Outside of these things, she actually seemed like a boy. Oh, not physically. Her hair was far too long for that, but she didn't act like the other girls. She liked Batman! How incredible was that?
Eventually the day came for hide and seek. Nate's few friends scattered like ashes in a storm as the counting began, and Nathan made a beeline for his uncle's van. Though it didn't look likely, he could fit under there, and had often used it as sanctuary in these games. He slid under the side and could not contain a reflexive yelp as he slid face to face with Mel. Her eyes widened, and she put a finger on her lips and shook her head rapidly, hair flying from side to side. There they waited as the hunters sought in vain, and when they heard footsteps next to the van, his hand found hers and held it until the steps faded. Giddy with adrenaline, he looked at her grinning back at him, the excitement of outwitting their pursuers filling both of them until it seemed impossible not to scream. In the middle of this, out of nowhere, her hand squeezed back hard on his, and she kissed him. They were children, so it was not graphic, no tongue kissing. It did not even last three seconds, and by adult standards would have been pretty tame. For a young man not even fully aware of himself as he related to girls, this was a mind blowing experience. She had walked up the street as night fell and the street lights came on like lonely fireworks late to the show, her yellow dress spotted with oil. He had never seen her since that day.
And now here she was.
"So, you, uh, you jump into strange guys' cars often?" he said smiling.
"Well, no. But I haven't seen you in forever, and if memory serves, I can take you pretty easily."
"That is all in the past, and I wouldn't assume. I could spring some kind of suplex on you and you'd be done."
"Oh really. Well while you consider what kind of body slam you will fail at trying to do on me, tell me what's been going on! It's been forever!"
So he told her. He avoided the depression, because that wouldn't make a favourable impression. He stuck to the basics, ranted about the car for a while, traffic, school, the whole nine. She told him she was working as a secretary in town and was liking it so far. The chatter continued until she abruptly looked left, said "Oh, there's the diner. I should probably actually eat on my lunch break. You have time for some food?"
He was broke, and he was trying to be early for counseling on the first day, so he deflected it with a "maybe next time. I'm about to go to a work meeting, then some football. Good day for it."
"Maybe next time might be never..." his brain warned. He shook it off.
"...catch you some other time then, maybe hang out. At least now I know you're downtown sometimes. Next week maybe?"
"Yeah, that works."
"Okay, have a good one!" She punched him lightly on the shoulder and got out of the car, leaving him to process what had just happened. A ghost of his past had drifted back into his life, but unlike Jacob Marley she had come with the sounds of traffic heralding her approach.
He was still thinking about it as he went up the nondescript stairs to the counseling center, turned the corner and opened the door. All the same posters were there, and he studied the art pieces above the fern until he was called in. He got on the couch, steepled his fingers much like his counselor, and closed his eyes. How to begin...
Outside, he heard another appointment being registered, children outside the window, a mower buzzing, then stopping, then a man's cursing all mingling in the afternoon heat. He lay on his back and let it all comfort him, how normal it all was, how relaxing. He let all his frustrations out, and Dr. Charles remarked that he seemed more uplifted today. "Maybe not uplifted," he said, "but reflective. In a good way."
Finally, when he was out of time, he went back into the lobby, eyes fixed on the exit. Behind him, he heard a low gasp, and he turned around, not knowing what to expect, yet somehow, knowing exactly who it was.
Mel stared at him from a chair in the waiting room, and the secretary smiled.
"Do you know each other?"
"Ye-"
"No."
He stiffened as she avoided his gaze, and drifted into the next room soundlessly.
As Nathan neared the intersection, the traffic slowed, then jerked, then started again, a greedy predator slinking up to its prey before seeing something better in the distance. He fiddled with the radio as he leaned on the window, four inches of glass refusing to go down any further, no matter how he slammed the door, cursed it in the early mornings, entreated it in the evenings as he worked on the car during the weekends. He could always fix the most serious issues, but never the glass. He was resolute in his stand against the mechanic; no money would fall from him until they justified the bill for the last repair. $400 bill for replacing an $80 part had struck him as unnecessary to the point of blasphemy, and he refused to go back. These were the thoughts in his head when he saw Mel again.
She was the reason that the traffic had slowed, as some lady had given her a little room to cross the street, and now the cars were speeding up again. She hit the sidewalk, turned and saw his face. They had some...history. If you wanted to call it that, he thought. She was wearing a white shirt, buttoned pretty high, and a dark green skirt sufficiently long as to be called professional without being frumpy. A small clutch in hand, her face went through the muscular aerobics that usually happened when the mind is desperately shoveling through memories to assign a name to a face before it became awkward to stare, and inwardly he quailed at the thought that she would not remember him. Ah, but there it was, the widened eyes, the relieved smile and his name, coming to meet him over the sounds of horns, arguments, and the whining of sweaty children. She took a step forward - and pulled her foot back rapidly as she remembered where she was. They both instinctively looked for a place where he could pull over, and seeing none, her brow knotted, before smoothing again. Before he could lift his hand in a farewell wave, she had stepped into the traffic, which had slowed down for an instant and swept like a wind around the nose of his growling Honda. Her clutch slid along his window, and then just like that, she was sitting in his passenger seat.
"Well, what a way to see you again!" she said, and a small part of his brain marveled that she didn't seem at all winded by that quick spurt. Keeping in shape, it would seem. The majority of his brain, however, was taken up with the fact that here was Mel in his car. He flashed back to the last time he had seen her.
They had been nothing but children playing then. She was staying up the street with her father, a well known dentist in the area. Nathan had been staying with his aunt in the city for the time while his parents decided where their marriage was going to end up. They had met once or twice, but hardly ever in a setting where they could actually talk and get to know each other away from adult eyes. He had thought of her as fun: she knew all of his games, enjoyed climbing onto rooftops just like he did, and their fascinations with Batman ran parallel. Outside of these things, she actually seemed like a boy. Oh, not physically. Her hair was far too long for that, but she didn't act like the other girls. She liked Batman! How incredible was that?
Eventually the day came for hide and seek. Nate's few friends scattered like ashes in a storm as the counting began, and Nathan made a beeline for his uncle's van. Though it didn't look likely, he could fit under there, and had often used it as sanctuary in these games. He slid under the side and could not contain a reflexive yelp as he slid face to face with Mel. Her eyes widened, and she put a finger on her lips and shook her head rapidly, hair flying from side to side. There they waited as the hunters sought in vain, and when they heard footsteps next to the van, his hand found hers and held it until the steps faded. Giddy with adrenaline, he looked at her grinning back at him, the excitement of outwitting their pursuers filling both of them until it seemed impossible not to scream. In the middle of this, out of nowhere, her hand squeezed back hard on his, and she kissed him. They were children, so it was not graphic, no tongue kissing. It did not even last three seconds, and by adult standards would have been pretty tame. For a young man not even fully aware of himself as he related to girls, this was a mind blowing experience. She had walked up the street as night fell and the street lights came on like lonely fireworks late to the show, her yellow dress spotted with oil. He had never seen her since that day.
And now here she was.
"So, you, uh, you jump into strange guys' cars often?" he said smiling.
"Well, no. But I haven't seen you in forever, and if memory serves, I can take you pretty easily."
"That is all in the past, and I wouldn't assume. I could spring some kind of suplex on you and you'd be done."
"Oh really. Well while you consider what kind of body slam you will fail at trying to do on me, tell me what's been going on! It's been forever!"
So he told her. He avoided the depression, because that wouldn't make a favourable impression. He stuck to the basics, ranted about the car for a while, traffic, school, the whole nine. She told him she was working as a secretary in town and was liking it so far. The chatter continued until she abruptly looked left, said "Oh, there's the diner. I should probably actually eat on my lunch break. You have time for some food?"
He was broke, and he was trying to be early for counseling on the first day, so he deflected it with a "maybe next time. I'm about to go to a work meeting, then some football. Good day for it."
"Maybe next time might be never..." his brain warned. He shook it off.
"...catch you some other time then, maybe hang out. At least now I know you're downtown sometimes. Next week maybe?"
"Yeah, that works."
"Okay, have a good one!" She punched him lightly on the shoulder and got out of the car, leaving him to process what had just happened. A ghost of his past had drifted back into his life, but unlike Jacob Marley she had come with the sounds of traffic heralding her approach.
He was still thinking about it as he went up the nondescript stairs to the counseling center, turned the corner and opened the door. All the same posters were there, and he studied the art pieces above the fern until he was called in. He got on the couch, steepled his fingers much like his counselor, and closed his eyes. How to begin...
Outside, he heard another appointment being registered, children outside the window, a mower buzzing, then stopping, then a man's cursing all mingling in the afternoon heat. He lay on his back and let it all comfort him, how normal it all was, how relaxing. He let all his frustrations out, and Dr. Charles remarked that he seemed more uplifted today. "Maybe not uplifted," he said, "but reflective. In a good way."
Finally, when he was out of time, he went back into the lobby, eyes fixed on the exit. Behind him, he heard a low gasp, and he turned around, not knowing what to expect, yet somehow, knowing exactly who it was.
Mel stared at him from a chair in the waiting room, and the secretary smiled.
"Do you know each other?"
"Ye-"
"No."
He stiffened as she avoided his gaze, and drifted into the next room soundlessly.
