Coffee in Common (42 page)

6:12 AM

Priya glanced at the clock as she lay a blanket over the sleeping form on the sofa. There was no way she was going to work today. She left a message on Tom's voice mail then walked into to the alcove that held her computer, removed two sheets of paper from the printer tray, and wrote two notes.

The first she placed on top of Maggie's purse.

Good morning, unless it's afternoon in which case, good afternoon.

If you're reading this, I'm still asleep. I'm really glad you stayed last night. In case you don't remember, you called in to work about 2:30. I called in, too, so we both have the day off.

I took your clothes out of the bathroom and folded them. They're in the plastic bag next to the sofa but they're pretty messed up, so don't try to wear them. I have some things that should fit you.

Please come in and wake me. I'm guessing we'll both need strong coffee when we get up.

Priya

The second, written in big red letters, she taped to the door to the apartment, over the lock.

Don't you DARE leave this apartment without waking me first.

Please.

I want to talk with you.

Priya

She returned to her bedroom and slid under the covers. As she reached to turn off the ringer on the phone, she noticed the message indicator on the answering machine was blinking. She pressed the play button and heard

"Hello, Priya. Please, I really need to talk with you. I don't know what…"

She hit the delete button, not bothering to listen to the rest of the message. She was tired. And happy. And even Brian and his games couldn't get her down today.

A sigh escaped as her head hit the pillow, her mind reviewing the previous hours with Maggie. She felt her eyes fill with tears as she remembered Maggie's story of a lost first love, of almost unbearable pain, and of the unfortunate method she'd fallen into for ensuring she'd never feel that pain again. The tears ran down her cheeks with the memory of the agony and emptiness, the longing and suppression, the denial and acceptance.

She thanked the gods for her father and the talk that had led to her vow. She shuddered at the thought that the same thing could have happened to her had she not eschewed sex.

"Poor Maggie," she whispered, wiping her eyes with the sheet. She really liked the woman. They were so different, the virgin and the slut, as Maggie liked to say. But they were alike in many ways, too.

They were both bright and quick. They both liked stylish clothes but hated shopping alone. They both desperately wanted someone with whom they could share their lives. And sex was making it harder for both of them, though in diametrically opposite ways. Physically, they were as different as could be, but both were comfortable with their bodies.

Around three-thirty, when the vodka she consumed proved too much for her and came back up all over her clothes, Priya led Maggie to the bathroom to clean up. After getting her a facecloth and towel, she fetched a nightgown and robe only to return to find her sitting naked on the edge of the bathtub, not the least concerned with her nudity.

"What do you think?" She stood and, a bit unsteadily, turned slowly around. "Think I could pass for a boy."

"Oh stop. You're lovely, just a little thin. I bet if you put on ten pounds you'd have some nice curves."

"Maybe. But nothing like yours."

Priya conquered her own body shyness as a teenager in public school locker rooms. In those days, she enjoyed showing off her physical gifts to make the mean girls jealous. Had the circumstances been reversed tonight, she could see herself doffing her clothes exactly as Maggie had.

 "The virgin and the slut," she said softly. If this developed into a real friendship, it would be a most interesting one indeed.

She rolled on her side, settled in, and soon drifted off to sleep, more content with her life than she'd been in a very long time.

10:40 AM

"Will somebody
please
shoot that fucking phone!"

Tom and Paul looked up from their work, over at Rob, then at each other. Paul could read Tom's eyes. He wanted him to find out what was bugging Rob.

"Hey Rob," he said casually, in between rings.

"What?" his friend snapped.

"You want me to check Priya's desk and see if I can find some tweezers to pluck out that hair across your ass?"

Priya's phone had been ringing about every fifteen minutes all morning. Her voicemail always picked up on the fourth ring, but the constant interruptions were becoming an annoyance, especially for Rob who was distracted enough when he walked through the door earlier. He shot Paul a withering glance as he jumped up and grabbed the receiver of Priya's phone.

"Hello," he said forcefully, as if daring someone to be on the other end. "She's not here. She took the day off, so stop calling. And take a fucking hint, will ya? She doesn't want to talk to you."

He slammed down the handset, shaking his head in disgust. "Brian."

Paul glanced at Tom and nodded toward the door. "Hey Tom, did we ever get those proofs back?"

Tom smiled. "No. We should have had them yesterday. Let me walk down and see if I can find them."

As soon as the door closed behind him Paul turned to Rob. "Okay, Rob. What the hell is going on with you today? Did you and Lisa have a fight or something?"

"A fight? No, no fight. A fight would have been easy to deal with. No, she stabbed me in the gut and twisted the fucking knife, that's all."

"What are you talking about?"

"Last night, or this morning, I proposed to her and she said no."

Paul wasn't sure if he was more stunned by the news that Rob proposed to Lisa or that she refused him. "You really asked her to marry you?"

Rob nodded, his face growing more grim by the second.

"And she said no? She said ‘no I won't marry you'?"

"Just about."

Paul took a deep breath. "Rob, what exactly happened and exactly what did she say?"

"You know, I've been like a whole new person since we got back together. I've been everything she wanted me to be. Everything
I
wanted to be. And we've been great together. And then last night, I had this dream about us and I knew it was time to do it so I did. I woke her up and proposed."

"And…"

"And she just looked at me. Then she started crying. She said not to ask her that now. It was too soon. She said to take it back and ask her again in six months. Six months! Six fucking months! Am I supposed to love her more in six months? Is she supposed to love
me
more in six months?
What the fuck happens in six months?
" He was almost shouting again.

"Did you ask her?"

"Of course, and she kept crying and saying it was too soon." Rob was pacing now, furiously moving back and forth between the desks, unconsciously trying to dissipate his anger and hurt.

"So?"

"So I got dressed and left."

"You what? Are you crazy?"

"I couldn't deal with it, man. I mean, I was expecting her to be all happy and to jump up and hug me and…man, I freaked out. And then she started crying harder and begging me not to leave, but I couldn't face her. I felt so fucking small, so humiliated. I guess I found out how big a loser I really am."

"What are you talking about? How are you a loser? Why the hell did you even act like that? Why…"

"Aren't you listening? She doesn't want to marry me. She doesn't want me. She…"

"Stop, you moron. Just stop! Don't you
ever
listen?"

"I listened. I heard her. Six months. You know what six months is? It's code for ‘I don't want you.'"

 "You really
are
fucking nuts. And you really
don't
deserve that girl. She never said she didn't want to marry you. All she said was not to ask her now, to ask her later. So what? Maybe she has a problem, maybe she…who knows. But man, you walked out on her and left her crying like that. Are you
trying
to lose her for real? You better get your ass over to the Ritz right the fuck now and find her and beg her to forgive you for being such a humongous dick. I mean, this is way beyond the pale even for you."

Paul glared at Rob, who could only look back, dumbfounded.

"What the hell are you standing there for? Go. Now. I'll tell Tom you had an emergency."

Rob didn't move. He appeared dazed, unable to process what happened and what Paul was telling him. He shook his head to clear it.

"But what if…"

"Rob, if you blow this with her you
will
regret it for the rest of your life! You'll end up drinking yourself to death or something over it. Man, if you blow this, you really
will
be a loser. The biggest loser of all time. You have to find a way to deal with this. You have to go talk to her. You have to apologize. And you have to do it right now!

"Tell her you freaked out. Tell her you felt like a loser. And tell her it was no excuse for leaving. Do whatever you have to but you better do it now. My God, Rob, what the
hell
were you
thinking
?

"Now go. Get out of here."

Rob's previous anger and misery could not stand up to the fury of Paul's diatribe. He looked up at his friend and almost cringed at the disappointment he saw on his face. That was when he knew how wrong he'd been. He nodded once and headed slowly for the door.

"I said hurry! And don't forget to grovel. On your knees if you have to. And bring flowers. Lots of them!"

12:10 PM

Jillian stood at the window in the lobby of her building and scanned the crowd on both sides of the street. She was looking for Aiden.

She was certain he was stalking her. Or if not stalking, then watching. Five times she'd seen him since Sunday, always from a distance, always watching her until he realized she noticed. Then he vanished.

It just doesn't make sense. Liz was right. Stalking wasn't Aiden's thing. Maybe it's some sort of game. Now that
would
be like him. But what game? If he wants to see me or talk to me, why doesn't he just call 411? Or ring my bell? He must know where I live by now. Could something have happened to him? Five years is a long time. People change and not always for the better.

She glanced at her watch. It was almost twelve-fifteen. As she turned away from the window, the air in the lobby filled with an instrumental version of the song that had been had been dogging her for two weeks now. She stopped and listened for a minute, letting the music wash Aiden right out of her head.

Then it was time to go. She was meeting Paul at Coffey's and after last night's conversation she was determined to focus all her attention on him.

There is no way I'll be thinking about Aiden today.

She pushed open the door.

At least not during lunch.

12:35 PM

Rob was frantic. He couldn't find her anywhere. After leaving the florist with four dozen roses, the most he could carry, he rushed over to the Ritz only to discover she called in. Then he tried her cell phone, but she didn't answer, so he went to her apartment. She wasn't there, either. He started calling friends and family.

Nobody's seen her. Or maybe she just asked everyone to tell me that. No. I can't believe that. I know her. She'd never ask someone to lie for her. She'd just tell me to my face to fuck off.

On a whim, he headed to his apartment, hoping she might either be there or have left a note or a message on his machine, but again, no Lisa. He tried restaurants and coffee shops, everywhere she might hang out. Finally, he ran out of ideas.

His arms were aching from carrying the roses as he crossed Tremont Street and found a bench on the Common where he could put them down, rest, and think.

What a jerk I was. Paul was right. What kind of man would walk out like that?

He glanced at his watch and muttered, "Lunchtime. Where would she…"

And it hit him. He gathered up the roses had headed for the Public Gardens.

As he approached her favorite bench from the rear, he could only see the right side of her face, but even at a distance he could see it was puffy from crying. His heart sank into his stomach.

What can I do? What can I say to make this right?

He stood watching her for a few minutes, desperate for inspiration. He thought about saying a prayer, and the thought gave him an idea.

He extracted one rose and lay the rest down on the grass. Then he quietly moved up behind her, knelt, and began to pray out loud.

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

He saw her stiffen at the sound of his voice, but she didn't turn around and, thankfully, didn't get up and walk away.

"Dear Lord, please help me. I did a very stupid thing this morning, perhaps the stupidest thing any man's ever done. And I don't know if I can make it right on my own.

"I think I really hurt the most wonderful woman you ever created, Lord. I did something I shouldn't have done, and then reacted so badly when I didn't get the response I expected.

"I know there's no excuse, Lord. I know I'm stupid and weak. But Lord, I love this woman more than my own life. Please help me find the words to take away her pain, to make her smile again, to make her happy again. Please help me find the words to let her know how sorry I am. Please help me find a way for her to love me again. And if the only way you can make her love me again is to take my life, then do it now because I'd rather die knowing she loves me than live in a world without her.

"But if the only way she can be happy is to never see me again, then please give me the strength to accept it. All I want, all I ever wanted was to make her happy. And now I've acted the fool and hurt her again.