aterovis_bm_reapthewhirlwind.p65 (2 page)

“Why’d he get a two bedroom if it’s just him?”

“I don’t know, Will, what difference does it make?

Are you interested or not?”

“I don’t even know this guy...what’s his name?

Adam?”

“Aidan. And I do know him. He’s a really nice guy. I think you two would get along. Look, he just moved in and he’s having a kind of house warming party tonight.

I’m supposed to go; why don’t you go with me? That way you can meet him, see the apartment, see if you like him...the whole nine yards.”

He handed me my glass of OJ and started gulping his down.

“I won’t know anyone there,” I protested.

“Yes you will. Laura and Gabe will be there. Gabe knows him from last year; they had some classes together or something. There’ll only be a couple other people there, so you don’t have to worry about your terminal shyness.”

“I don’t want to crash his party, especially if there aren’t even that many people going.” I was getting weaker and Joey knew it.

“He said I could bring a friend.” I hesitated and he moved in for the kill. “There’s going to be someone there I want you to meet besides Aidan.”

“Who?”

“Come and you’ll find out.”

I played my last ace. “I’m supposed to go out with Beth tonight.”

“So cancel!” he yelled throwing his hands up. “Come on, Will. You just said you missed me. Here’s your chance to spend some time with me plus meet some 9

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new people and maybe find some new digs. Live a little.

Bethie will get over it.”

I sighed and Joey grinned. He knew he’d won. Why he still got any pleasure from it was beyond me since he always won. You’d think he’d be used to it by now, the manipulative bastard.

“What should I wear?”

“Whatever you want. It’s just a party not a debutante ball.”

“A what?”

“Look it up.”

“Oh so you don’t know either.”

“Shut up.” He laughed and punched me in the arm.

“Ow!” I shoved him back and soon we were wrestling around the kitchen, crashing into the table and knocking over a chair.

“No roughhousing inside!” Mom called.

We froze and looked at each other, then collapsed into a giggling heap on the floor...just like old times.

***

An hour later, I stood in my room with a towel around my waist as a puddle of water collected at my feet. I stared at the phone wondering if there was any way I could avoid picking it up. I had been getting out of the shower when Mom called up that Beth was on the phone. I dreaded the inevitable confrontation when I broke off our date tonight...for the third time in a row.

As I said earlier, Beth is my on-again-off-again girlfriend—more off than on. Not because of Beth; she would have us engaged if she had her way. I was always the one who put things on hold and Beth was always the one who talked me into going out again. I was content just to hang out with Joey and Laura. In fact, 10

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Beth was the only girl I had ever dated. Going to dances with Laura because she didn’t have a date doesn’t count.

Laura says I have a problem with commitment and maybe I do, but I really think I’ve just watched too many romantic movies. I want that kind of romance where you light up when you hear their name and melt down when they walk into the room. That just wasn’t there with Beth. We got along fine; she was comfortable—

but there was just no…spark.

I sighed and knew I couldn’t put it off any longer.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Well, it’s about time,” my mother joked as she hung up. My parents loved Beth to no end.

“What happened? You fall down getting out of the shower?” Beth said.

“No, I guess I got lost in thought,” I said lamely.

“Oh? And you were thinking about me of course,”

she teased.

“Actually, yes.”

“Don’t sound so excited.”

“Listen, Beth, about tonight...”

“No! Will!” she interrupted. “Don’t do this to me again. Tonight was going to be special. You promised.

Just you and me.”

“Something came up.” I was dying and I knew it.

“Let me guess, it has something to do with Joey, right?”

“What does Joey have to do with anything?”

“Everything with you has something to do with Joey.

Joey always comes first with you. When is it my turn?

You treat me like you treat Laura.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? What’s wrong with how I treat Laura? She’s one of my closest friends.”

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“That’s just it, Will.” She sighed. “Laura’s your friend.

But I’m supposed to be your girlfriend. And what’s wrong with how you treat both of us is that anytime Joey wants to do something, we both get shoved aside.

At least Laura has found someone who knows how to treat her.”

“Did she...did Laura tell you this?”

“She didn’t have to. Look, Will, this obviously isn’t working. You aren’t committed to us. I think we should take a break until you figure out what you want.”

“Wait a minute; you’re breaking up with me?”

“You can call it that. Just don’t call me until you’ve figured things out. It’s your move this time.”

“Figured things out? What’s to figure out? What I want is that...that spark of chemistry. That feeling that everything is all right when you’re with them, that you’re finally home. Don’t you want that?”

“Yes, Will, I do,” she said quietly, “but the thing is, I thought I had it—with you. I’m sorry you don’t feel the same way. I hope you find it. I really do. Goodbye.”

“Beth...” I tried, but she’d already hung up.

I stood there with the phone in my hand for several minutes replaying my conversation with Beth in my head. She had said so much it took a while for it all to sink in, and when it did, I didn’t know whether to be angry, laugh, or cry. Maybe all three would suffice.

***

The car horn sounded, letting me know that Joey had arrived to pick me up for the big shindig at Aidan’s. I checked myself in the mirror and was somewhat surprised to see that I was wearing jeans and a short-sleeved dark blue pullover shirt and leather sandals. I didn’t remember choosing that particular outfit, but 12

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then I had been kind of preoccupied with my thoughts since Beth’s phone call. At any rate, it would do. At least the blue brought out my eyes.

“Hey,” I said as I slid into Joey’s Jetta.

“Hey,” he gave me a close look then threw the car into reverse and backed onto the road. “Okay, what’s wrong?” he asked as soon as we were moving forward.

“What do you mean?” I tried for the dumb approach.

“Give it up, Will. We both know you’re a terrible liar and I know you well enough to know when something is bothering you. Is it this whole apartment thing?

’Cause if it is I’ll back off. It’s not that big a deal. Your parents are just a drag sometimes...”

“It’s not that,” I cut him off. “Beth and I broke up tonight.”

“So? You guys break up like every other week. It’s a tradition. You’ll be dating again next week.”

“I don’t think so. This time was different. She broke up with me.”

“Whoa!” he looked over at me to gauge my reaction.

“Look at the road, please,” I said automatically. Having driven with Joey before, I knew we needed all the help we could get.

“So, what happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You? Mr. Let’s-talk-about-our-feelings?”

“It’s just...I need some time to think about stuff. She said some things that...I don’t know. I just need to think about it.”

“She really upset you, huh?”

“Yeah.”

The rest of the short ride was spent in silence. The apartment building turned out to be a renovated turn-13

JOSH ATEROVIS

of-the-century brick warehouse down by the newly re-juvenated river district. It looked like it once served an industrial function of some sort. The renovation project had included installing an elevator that was cleverly designed to look like a grain lift, complete with a wrought iron gate. I was thankful for the elevator considering the building was four stories and Aidan’s apartment was on the top floor.

We knocked, and after a moment, a young guy around our age opened the door. He had wavy dark blonde hair and the greenest eyes I had ever seen. I wondered if they were contacts. He was taller than I was, of course, but shorter than Joey, so that would put him at about 5’10”.

“Hey, you made it!” he said, breaking into a wide grin bordered by twin dimples.

“Aidan, this is my best friend, Will Keegan,” Joey said.

We shook hands as Aidan said, “Hi Will. I’m Aidan Scott. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

I forced a smile. “Well, you’re ahead of me.”

He laughed and stepped back to allow us in. We entered a large and airy room with high ceilings and rough brick walls. Enormous floor-to-ceiling multi-paned windows with the original wavy glass still intact lined the outside wall. Sparse furnishings made the room look even larger. The overstuffed sofa and recliner’s only company was a large entertainment center that housed a state-of-the-art system including a TV, VCR, CD

player, and DVD player. The latest R&B dance groove blasted from the surround sound speakers. Laura and Gabe occupied the sofa, sitting so close a sheet of paper couldn’t have slipped between them. A leggy blonde had draped herself over the recliner like a carefully 14

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positioned model in a Lazy-boy commercial. Laura waved to acknowledge our arrival then went back to her conversation with the blonde.

“It’s not much, but I guess it’s home for now. At least for one year according to the lease,” Aidan said.

“Are you kidding? It’s awesome,” I said sincerely.

“This place must cost a fortune.”

“It’s not that bad. You want to see the rest of the place?”

“Sure. You coming, Joey?”

“Nah. You go ahead. I’m gonna go say hi,” he said as he headed toward the living area.

I shrugged and turned toward Aidan.

“Now, for the grand tour,” he said. “On your right you will notice the lavishly furnished living area. If you turn to your left, you will enter the large and spacious kitchen complete with all the gourmet accouterments one could ever desire. Julia Child, eat your heart out.”

I laughed since the kitchen was barely large enough for the both of us. A built-in table and the three chairs around it took up most of the space.

“Small, but functional,” I said helpfully.

Aidan narrowed his eyes. “Have you been talking to my real estate agent?”

I laughed again and Aidan motioned me back into the living room.

“As we continue with the guided tour we will now be going through the door just to the right of the kitchen door which, as you will see, leads to this marvelous hallway.” He switched now to a game show host voice.

“Well, Will, what will it be. Door Number One? Or maybe you’d like to try Door Number Two? Or how about trying your luck with Door Number Three?”

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Three doors opened off the hallway, one straight ahead, and one each on the left and right.

“Can I use a lifeline?” I ventured.

“Do I look like Regis?”

“Um…no…let’s try for Door Number Two.”

“Oh, jeez, Will. I’m sorry, but you chose the bathroom.

But we have some lovely parting gifts, don’t we, Jimmy?” He dropped his voice an octave and boomed,

“That’s right, Aidan. We’ll be sending Will home with a lifetime supply of Charmin. It’s squeezably soft.”

I laughed so hard I snorted, which of course caused my face to begin to burn. I imagined I must have been pretty close to the color of a tomato. Aidan acted as if I hadn’t just made a rude porcine noise and went on with his game show host shtick.

“But the game’s not over yet. Try again, Will.”

“Door Number Three.”

“Excellent choice,” he said as he swung open the door,

“and may I just say that is a lovely shade of red you are wearing. Very flattering.”

The room we walked into now was apparently Aidan’s bedroom and it was huge. It held a double bed, two dressers, a computer desk outfitted with a brand new computer, and an open closet full of clothes...and there was still room to spare.

“If you decide to be my roomie, your room will be across the hall,” Aidan said in his normal voice. He opened that door and I stepped in expecting a copy of the room I had just seen. I was surprised to find it was half the size and stacked to the ceiling with boxes.

“I, uh, haven’t finished unpacking yet,” he said sheepishly. “I know this room is smaller, but I needed the extra space for my computer desk. And to make it fair 16

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you would only have to pay a third of the rent instead of half.”

“Are you sure you can afford that?” I asked automatically.

“Oh, money’s not really a problem. That’s not why I wanted a roommate; it’s more for company. I’m from a big family and it’s weird going from that to living by myself. I thought I could offset the culture shock some by having someone else live here; I mean I have the extra room so it made sense. Not that I’m expecting you, or whoever moves in, to be my best bud or anything. I know you and Joey are really tight, but it’ll just be nice having someone else here. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, there is a bonus to having the smaller room. Check this out.”

He shoved boxes aside until he had cleared a path to the window. I followed him and looked out. I had to give it to him; the view was spectacular. The window overlooked the river, the lights from the apartment building sparkling and dancing across its black surface.

An iron fire escape just outside the window formed a sort of balcony that would be awesome on a summer night.

“I guess we should get back to the party before they think we ditched them,” Aidan said after a moment.

“Do you have a boat?” I asked him, still looking out the window. I was reluctant to leave the scene and even more reluctant to return to the group. I wasn’t in a party mood even though Aidan’s good humor had lifted my dark mood somewhat.