Sapphire: A Paranormal Romance (48 page)

"You don't exactly look happy
saying that," Jeremy said.  "She doesn't look very happy
either."

"Well, I have to admit we’ve
wondered if we should even go on this weekend getaway." He placed two
bottles of wine in the cart.

"Why
did
you guys come,
then?"

"I told her I didn't want to
disrupt your plans."

"Yet, here we are at the store
instead of at my apartment.  Seems like you're disrupting things anyway."

Stephen smiled.  "Hardly the
same thing as cancelling the entire weekend."

"Do you think you two are
going to spend the whole weekend arguing?"

"No, I don't think so,"
Jeremy said.  "I think we'll even be friends once we split up.  We get
along fine as long as we aren't talking about her career and starting a
family."

Jeremy looked down at the cart and
pushed it along absentmindedly.  He frowned.  He remembered going to their
wedding.  Jeremy had been as sick as a dog that weekend, but he was determined
to go because he was supposed to read a verse at the ceremony. Somehow he had
gotten through it.  That day now seemed so very long ago, with so much
emotional distance between Veronica and Stephen. 

"What's wrong?" Stephen
asked.  "It's not like you and Amelia are splitting up."

"I know," Jeremy said
with a sigh.  "I just thought you guys were going to make it. It's
discouraging."

"Well, if your marriage was
based upon whether or not ours was going to make it, you may have some of your
own problems to deal with."

"I'm not saying that we're
breaking up because you guys are," Jeremy said.  "I just like you
guys, you know?  You're like a brother and Veronica was almost like a sister to
me."

"Yeah, a sister you would’ve
gladly had sex with if she’d expressed an interest."

"Well the whole
'think-of-you-like-a-sister' thing only goes so far.  I'm not insane."

"That could be open to
debate," Stephen said.

"Are you done studying the
goddamn beer yet?" Jeremy said.  "I was worried about Amelia being
late.  Instead, I'm the one who's going to be late here."

"You worry too much,"
Stephen said.  "Relax."

Jeremy sighed.  He felt like he was
spending a lot of time sighing.  Stephen was still eyeing the shelves and
looking at one beer after another.  He finally made a selection and put it the
cart.

"That's the one?" Jeremy
said, eyeing the bottle suspiciously.

"It's the nectar of the
gods."

"It all tastes like cat urine
to me."

"You taste much cat urine, do
you?"

"I just imagine it would taste
a lot like the beers you like," Jeremy said.

"That's what you used to say
about wine and now look at you."

"I suppose you want me to
thank you for that?"

Stephen smiled.  "It would be
appreciated."

Just then Veronica came around the
corner, her arms loaded with potato chips and other snacks.  She smiled and
hurried over to the cart.  At the same time, Stephen moved forward to help
Veronica with the load in her arms almost automatically and without thinking. 
Jeremy shook his head slightly as he watched, feeling sad and disappointed and
not understanding why things were imploding between the two.

"You guys weren't talking
about me, were you?" Veronica asked.

"Of course not," Jeremy
said.  "You know what us guys are like; especially Stephen.  We were
talking about hockey."

Veronica laughed.  "It
is
his obsession."

"Don't they play until about
July and then start the new season about a week later?" Jeremy cracked.

"I wish," Stephen
replied.  "Then I wouldn't have to watch freakin' baseball or see it on
ESPN all the time."

"You just don't
understand," Jeremy sighed.

"Come on," Stephen said,
gathering steam now that this was familiar territory.  "If you came down
to earth, like some kind of Martian or something, and you looked at the various
sports that people here watched and had no idea of the history of any of the
sports or anything, you would think baseball was the most boring thing ever. 
Then you'd look at hockey and see the skill and the speed at which it's played
and you would find that it’s a superior sport."

"If I were a Martian,"
Jeremy replied, "I would have respect for history and the strategy of
baseball.  Also, being a technically-superior race, I'd probably look at a
highly technical sport and be impressed.  I regret to inform you, but an alien
race might look at auto racing and be impressed."

They walked together out of the
liquor aisle. Stephen and Jeremy looked toward the checkout lines and tried to
determine which line would move the fastest.  Both men eyed the self-checkout
lanes.

"Please," Stephen said,
not looking at Jeremy, his eyes scanning the lanes, "of what possible
skill is driving to the left?  They drive around and around in a circle. How
challenging is that?  Just because NASCAR is the most-popular spectator sport
in this country doesn't mean it's the best sport.  Taste accounts for
nothing."

"Hey, now," Jeremy
admonished, guiding the cart toward the self-checkout lanes. "I don't like
auto racing either.  However, I am willing to admit that I don't think I could
do it.  You have no idea what it takes to control engines and vehicles that
powerful.  Plus, it gets so hot in those cars. I bet you couldn't do it."

"Oh yeah?" Stephen said
as he moved up to one of the available self-service lanes and started scanning
groceries.  “Have you seen me drive?"

Jeremy rolled his eyes. 
"Lord, yes, I have.  I remember the white knuckles I had as I gripped the
'oh shit' bar."

"Yes," Veronica said.
"Stephen still thinks this is Europe and the highways are the
Autobahn."

"I'm being attacked on all
sides here," Stephen said with a laugh as he scanned more groceries.

"Well, I felt I needed to
contribute something to this conversation," Veronica said.  "I hate
it when you guys talk about sports."

"I do apologize," Jeremy
said as he pulled more groceries out of the cart and laid them on the small
shelf next to the scanner.

"She loves it," Stephen
said.  "She knows hockey is the ultimate sport."

Jeremy rolled his eyes.  Veronica
rolled hers as well.  Stephen chose to ignore them both.

They finished scanning the
groceries and putting them into the plastic bags.  Stephen paid and the three
of them each grabbed bags.  They exited the store as Jeremy glanced at his
watch.  They could still reach home before Amelia if they hurried.  However,
after one look at the crowded parking lot and the traffic trying to get out, he
knew it was unlikely.

Jeremy started the car as Stephen
and Veronica loaded the bags into the back and then returned to their seats. 
Stephen smirked at Jeremy and immediately began fiddling with the radio as
Jeremy backed out and found an opening in the line of traffic. He knew that
Stephen was fiddling with his radio to irritate him.  He chose to ignore it and
drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

"You are aware that this is
supposed to be a fun weekend, right?" Stephen asked.

"Shut-up."

"Well, you’re always so
tense," Stephen said.  "You get these schedules in your head and then
you act like it's the end of the world when things don't follow exactly as
planned.  You need to relax.  I’m amazed you don't have a dozen ulcers."

"How do you know I don't?  I
get it from my mother, anyway.  She's always been the type to have everything
planned out.  Whenever anything disrupts her plans, she goes nuts."

"Amelia isn't like this, is
she?" Veronica said from the back as she began leafing through a magazine
she had purchased.

"No," Jeremy said.

"Then I agree with Stephen.
You need to relax."

"Now I feel ganged-up
on," Jeremy said as he turned into traffic.

"Wait until Amelia gets in
here," Veronica said.  "Then you'll really be in for it."

They all fell silent as Jeremy
turned onto the street behind the apartment building he and Amelia lived in. 
He parked in a spot in front of a red brick building with a white front.

"This is the place?"
Veronica asked.

"Yep," Jeremy replied as
he watched for a break in traffic and then opened the car door.

"Not bad," Stephen said
as he climbed out.  "A little old."

Jeremy and Amelia had only moved
into the apartment three months ago.  They had been quite happy in their
smaller and more expensive apartment in a different part of town, but the
landlord for that place turned out to be a greedy son of a bitch who just
wanted to sell the building to developers.  The landlord gave them a
month-to-month deal on the place and suddenly kicked them out when someone made
him a deal he couldn’t pass up.  It had been a mad scramble to find this place
which, as it turned out, was bigger and cost less than the other place.  Still,
it was on a busy street, further in the city and in a neighborhood not quite as
nice as their last.  Jeremy held out hopes about his latest novel, which was
selling well, and the whole autograph session at the airport seemed to indicate
good things, and that maybe he and Amelia would soon have enough money to get a
house, perhaps a condo.

"I'd still have that landlord
from the other place whacked if I knew any actual mobsters," Jeremy said
as he walked toward the front porch, looking for the right key.

"Hey, you could be
homeless," Stephen said.

Jeremy scanned up and down the
block.  He did not see Amelia's car anywhere.  This made him feel a bit better
as he unlocked the door leading to the stairs to their apartment.  They tromped
noisily up the wooden stairs to the door at the top, which opened easily and
had no lock on it.

"Wow," Stephen said as he
looked around.  "I like this place.  How many bedrooms?"

"Three.".

Veronica entered the apartment and
started looking around as well.  She wandered into the living room and then
through it onto the sun porch.  She looked out on the street.  Jeremy wondered
if she was all right.

"I think I like it better than
your other place," Stephen said.

"You’re right about it being a
little old, though" Jeremy said, forcing himself to look away from
Veronica.  “The kitchen doesn't even have any kitchen cabinets, but it has this
huge pantry.  It has old wiring and a whole ‘old building feel’ to it.  The
other place was a little more modern.  Plus, the other place was set back from
the street and there was that park right next to it.  I don't know, I kinda
miss it."

Just then the door at the bottom of
the stairs made a noise that indicated someone had entered the foyer.  Jeremy's
heart jumped as he heard a key turning and then footsteps up the stairs. 
Amelia opened the door a moment later, looking as gorgeous as she had when
she’d left that morning.

"Hey, baby," Jeremy said
and kissed her almost before she could get in the door.

"Jeez," Amelia said with
a laugh as she returned the kiss, "let me get in first."

Hellos were exchanged between
Amelia and Stephen.  Stephen made more jokes and then Veronica and Stephen sat
down in the living room.  Amelia tapped Jeremy on the shoulder and motioned him
into the bedroom.  As soon as he was inside with her, she closed the door and
kissed him, her hands around his neck and her lips parted, her tongue teasing
his.

"Now, that's the kind of hello
I wanted to give," Amelia said.  "How are they doing?"

"Looks like it could be a bit
of a rough weekend," Jeremy said.  "I was talking with Stephen and
it's looking like he's already decided on a divorce."

"Great," Amelia said
sarcastically.

"I know.  Let’s just try to
make the best of it.  We should get going."

"I wish we had time for a
quickie," Amelia said with a grin.

"You always want it, don't
you?" Jeremy said with his own grin.

"You know you love it!"

"I do," Jeremy said and
leaned in to kiss her.  "We just don't quite have the time for what you
have in mind.  You still need to pack and we need to get going."

Amelia kissed him back, then turned
toward the closet and set about packing with her usual efficiency.  Jeremy
watched her for a moment and had to shake his head to come back to reality.  He
sighed and did his best to mentally prepare himself for going back into the
living room and being amidst Stephen and Veronica and the tension between
them.  It was hard to place exactly what was wrong, but the air around the
married couple was thick.  Jeremy felt as if he could almost taste it.

"I'm headed back out there,"
Jeremy said.

"Good luck," Amelia
whispered back.

Jeremy opened the door and stepped
out into the dining room.  He looked quickly to his left and saw Veronica and
Stephen sitting as far apart from one another as the room would allow, neither
looking at the other and neither of them smiling.  The television was on and
Stephen had the remote control in his hand.  He flipped through the stations
without really seeing what he was looking at, the pace of his finger hitting
buttons much faster than his eyes could register what he was seeing on each
station.

"She’ll be ready in a few
minutes," Jeremy said.

Veronica and Stephen both jumped a
bit at the sound of his voice and seemed to snap out of some kind of trance, as
though an electric current ran beneath their seats and Jeremy had triggered the
shock.  They both looked at Jeremy and then smiled as if both of them had
rehearsed this exact scene.  It was like watching two automatons.  Stephen put
down the remote.

"If she's anything like me,
she'll take forever," Veronica said.

"She has an amazing ability to
get packed in record time," Jeremy said.  "I predict we will be on
the road in fifteen minutes."