He opened his eyes softly a few hours later, feeling rested, yet lazy. The house and yard were dark. He pushed himself up on his elbows and smiled. Yes, this would do. He rose up off the bed, not bothering to cover himself for he was alone and shielded from anyone or anything but Mother Nature herself. No wonder they had loved it so here.
He stepped out onto his balcony naked and just enjoyed the damp night air as it glistened all over his skin. His eyes searched his yard, darting across the tiled apex below, noting the grass and the carefully placed flowers and shrubs. He then stared at that pitiful gate and made plans in his head to begin to replace it or even remove it. For the first time he looked beyond the gate wondering what was on the other side.
Obviously it was someone else’s back yard, and wondered if the fence and gate were put there to hide anything that might clash with the perfection the former owner’s had so painfully created. Perhaps it was simply for seclusion, the house beyond too close. It was then that he noticed, another balcony, beyond the gate, but at eye level.
It was barely morning so the home was dark, but he could clearly see a balcony and a small glass wall, in comparison to his. He wondered who might live there and if they would be good neighbors. Technically, they lived on the next block, their backyards butting together, but divided by that wall. He wondered if maybe they were unfriendly, giving reason to the divide, and maybe the wall was theirs making its jarring raggedness a little more sensible in the pristine setting of his property.
It had been a lazy day, gone by in a whir. He unpacked and made the place a little more his own, basically spending the day getting to know his new home and finding the comfort of being in it. It was now late. He had showered, watched a little TV and suddenly felt fenced in.
Here it was Saturday night, in a new town, a whopping big metropolis to boot, and he was alone. Other than a few people at work, he had not had the time to begin socializing. He made a mental note to rectify that shortly. He lit the next in a day long series of Marlboros, deciding to just turn in and worry about tomorrow tomorrow.
His cell phone rang. He reached for it and flipped it open with the usual half forgotten “Hello.”
“Ian?” He recognized the voice, but didn’t place it immediately.
“Yeah, who’s this?”
“Forgotten me already have you?” The man chuckled.
“Billy?”
“Yeah, dude. You haven’t been gone that long.”
“Sorry, man” he apologized, “Everything happened so fast, it seems like a year ago instead of less than a month.”
“No one has heard from you so I took a chance that you hadn’t changed your cell phone number. Guess I lucked out.”
“Good to hear from you, bud” he said. “What’s up in the sticks?”
“Well, I have to admit that I’m kind of curious about what’s going on with you.” Billy asked.
“Huh? I got a new job and moved. I just found a place to live and have been settling in today. I was planning on calling a few people back home in a few days.”
“That’s great, Ian, but I meant with Clair.” He said flatly.
Ian was confused. “I haven’t seen or spoken to her since that night I stayed at your place, end of story.”
Ian heard his buddy sigh, and knew from experience that he was probably rubbing the palm of his hand on his forehead and trying to figure out how to say something. “Billy, what ever it is just spit it out.”
“Okay, damn. Ian, Clair has a whole new side to the story and I thought you should be warned.”
“What are you talking about, Bill?”
“Well, the word she’s spreading around town is that you never broke up. You just got a cushy executive job in prestige Ville with a whopping salary and she’s moving out there with you.”
“Over my dead body.”
“There’s more.” He warned.
“Oh, God.”
“Apparently, the two of you are getting married in September. She’s asked Renee to fly out and be her maid of honor.”
“Bill, I can assure you, it ain’t happening. She’s just flipped her lid.”
“That’s what I figured.” He seemed a little more at ease but not much.
“How did she even know about the job? You didn’t even know about that. Leaving town I could understand, but the rest…”
“Renee told me she went to your old office and your boss filled her in. Now why she was at your office I have no idea, but that asshole of a boss told her everything she wanted to know, including your new office phone number.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it, Billy. She wouldn’t have the nerve to call me. I made it very clear that it was over the night I left. I even waited until she was at work the next day to go in and get my stuff out of the apartment, so I didn’t leave a scrap of anything behind for her to ‘need to return to me’.”
“I understand that Ian, but there’s one other little bit of information I think you need to know. Clair turned in her two week notice and has told Renee that she’s flying out to live with you.”
Ian couldn’t help but laugh. He wasn’t surprised, but she would be. “Sorry, dude, I don’t mean to laugh, but Clair certainly has a surprise coming if she’s really quitting her job and flying out here to live with me.”
“Why, you already married, dude?”
“Oh, hell, no! But she can’t even get on the lot without my authority and that’s not happening, and if she comes on my property, I’ll just have her arrested. Luckily here in California there are very strict stalker laws.”
He heard Billy laugh. “I hadn’t thought of that. I almost hope she does try and land on your doorstep.”
“Me, too.”
“So…” there was a pause on the other end, and Ian could see in his head Billy chewing on his lower lip, “everything okay?”
“Yeah, just fine Bill. Thanks for asking…and the warning.”
“No prob,” he said. “You and me, too?”
“Yeah, we’re fine buddy, always will be.”
“So it’s okay that I called.”
“Yep, any time. But I think I’ll get my cell phone number changed. Been meaning to anyway. I’ll call you with the new one.”
“Cool. So everything’s alright, then?”
“Just fine.” Ian looked at the clock. “Everything okay with you?”
“Sure, what makes you ask?”
“Well it’s after 11 here, Billy, has to be at least two on the East coast. Everything alright with you?”
“Yeah, was just lying here in bed and wondering when and how to tell you about Clair. Thought I should just go ahead and do it or I wouldn’t get any sleep at all.”
Ian sniggered, “Well, you feel better now?”
“Yup”
“Can you sleep now?”
“Yup”
“Then go to bed.”
Billy laughed, “Will do.”
“Hey, Bill? Thanks for calling man. It’s good to hear from you.”
“Yeah, good to hear your voice. I’ll spread the word that Clair’s an idiot.”
“I’m sure everyone will just say ‘Duh!”
“Probably. Take care, Ian. Talk to you soon?”
“Sure thing. Night, Billy.”
“Night”
Ian closed the phone. He couldn’t believe Clair. Actually, yes he could and he was positive that she’d just show up at the office one day in the next few weeks, bags in hand expecting that nothing had ever changed. He shook his head is mock disbelief.
“Clair, Clair, Clair…” he said out loud, shaking his head. He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair, roughing it up and flopping back on the bed. Of course, she didn’t believe it was over. She had always done the breaking up before, and he’d always pleaded he would change until she would consent to take him back. He had ‘changed’ so many times he didn’t even know who he was.
But he had told her he couldn’t take it anymore and it was over. She just looked him straight in the eye and said, “Right, you’ll be back.” He had thrown a few clothes in his gym bag and headed toward the door, telling her he’d be back for the rest of his stuff as soon as he had some new digs. She laughed and snorted, “No one breaks up with me.”
He shouted, “I just did” over his shoulder as he slammed the door behind him. She even had the balls to call Billy and tell him Ian was probably on his way and to tell him that she’d have breakfast ready in the morning. So Bill was expecting him when he showed up at his apartment door. He’d had time to tell Renee to take a hike for a few hours and tuck his daughter in bed early. Ian even noticed an unopened bottle of Scotch and two glasses on the coffee table when he walked in the door. Yeah, they’d both obviously been through this before.
They had been college roommates. They had pretty much seen it all and done it all together. They were so much alike, but different enough to keep each other endlessly entertained through ten years of friendship.
Ian knew it was definitely over between him and Clair. It was the only way he could save himself. He felt like there was this huge black hole sucking in and destroying everything around him. He knew Clair wasn’t the vortex, but definitely the apex, and in order to think straight she had to go.
Ian poured himself a scotch, popped open the glass doors and stepped out onto his balcony to drink in the fresh evening air, hoping it would keep him from going further in his mind. He stared down into the water of the pool below and thought, just thought...of Claire, of the past, of nothing at all.
He took one last long drag off his cigarette and flicked it in the air. He watched the red cherry somersault through time and fall, hidden somewhere in the lawn below. He sighed. When would he stop feeling like that, something discarded, hidden in the vast darkness until whatever heat was left died from lack of oxygen.
He stared into the almost empty scotch glass, for a moment. He knocked it back, turning inside and drifted off into a heavy sleep.
Standing in the shadows, a figure watched, satisfied. For a moment, they had been afraid to move. He seemed to be staring right at them. His figure was intoxicating, almost naked and mistakenly believing he was sheltered from the world.
The figure chuckled silently. Hot and mistakenly stupid, that’s how they liked them, and this man was plenty of both. The shadow smiled. This would be so easy. It would take time, and it would be complicated, but it was a piece of cake.
A dog growled from not too far off. The shadow had been there long enough to know it was at a safe distance, but why tempt fate? No need to get cocky, this guy would step right into it.
The figure in the shadows slipped away, but not before taking one last look as the lights on the second floor flickered out. “Welcome to my world…” was murmured quietly in the night, “…said the spider to the fly.”
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