Possess (10 page)

Airing Dirty Laundry

As much as I didn't want to leave Remy by himself, I needed to get out of the apartment. Brody's face was burned into my mind, haunting me even as I sat wide-awake in the middle of the laundromat. There was no explanation to what had happened last night. No way that my bathroom mirror could have shattered itself. I had been racking my brain all morning, trying to come to a reasonable explanation as to how it could have happened. I came up with nothing.

That side of the bathroom did not share a wall with a neighboring apartment and it certainly couldn't have been an earthquake. Thinking back to it, I was even less convinced that Remy had managed to leap onto the counter earlier that day either.  While that tiny butterball had managed to scale the couch, he couldn’t have the ability or strength to launch himself as high as the counter. But what other explanation did I have? The only one I could think of was one I refused to believe.

Was I sleepwalking again? It would explain waking up in the kitchen the other day. But then if I broke the mirror in my sleep last night, why weren't my hands covered in cuts? I shook my head, adjusting my weight as I sat back against the hard plastic chair. I watched my clothes spinning in the washing machine in front of me, hoping the hypnotic swirl of colors would somehow zap Brody's face from my thoughts.

“Harley?” Nolan's deep husky voice startled me from my seat.

“Ugh, don’t do that!” I shot him a sideways glance, sinking back into the molded yellowing plastic. His lips turned down into a concerned frown. “I had a long night.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean ta startle ya.” His blue eyes shifted to mine ruefully as he sat down beside me.

“It’s fine.”

“Bad dreams?” He rested his elbows on his knees, a few curls rolling forward as his crystalline eyes watched me. With those curls and those eyes, he was quite handsome – when he wasn’t being a jerk.

“Just, uh...dreams about my home.” My words stunted together as I struggled to come up with something other than
“Your dead friend shattered my fucking mirror,”
which was sure to not go over well with him. “What are you doing here?” I gave him a suspicious look.

“My, umm, laundry?” A smirk crossed his lips and I forced my gaze away from him as I felt the growing heat in my cheeks that was surely a nice rosy shade. The machine my clothes were spinning around in buzzed and I was relieved to find something to busy myself with. He remained leaned back in his chair, still watching me as I yanked open the door of the washer.  Dumping my wet heap of clothes into a laundry cart, I became very aware of just how many bras and panties were a part of the pile and my cheeks flushed once more. I purposely positioned myself in front of the cart, just in case he decided to peek at the contents.

Pulling the cart a few machines over, I opened the door to an unoccupied dryer and started tossing my wet under things inside. As I glanced back toward Nolan, he suddenly pulled himself upright in his chair and emitted a cough as he averted his gaze and wiped a smirk from his face.
Had he just been staring at my ass?
I quickly stood up as I pushed the door shut then jammed quarters into the slot as I shot him a dirty look.

“Listen, Harley. Since we’ve got a little bit of time ta kill waiting on our clothes, did ya want ta go get some coffee? I thought maybe we could talk.” As I turned back around, Nolan was standing with his hands shoved in his pockets and a hopeful look in his eyes. Even if I wanted to be pissed at him, that look alone made it difficult.

“I guess that’s okay.” I shrugged then grabbed my jacket and wriggled into it. Once more I noticed, for the briefest second that his eyes were lingering on me as I finally managed to slip my arms into my jacket. Another little smirk pulled at his lips and his cheeks flushed as he turned for the door with me in tow.

The cold air soothed my face. Despite a whole night’s rest, I felt like I hadn’t slept at all. One more calm, dreamless night was all I wanted. One like the night when Nolan had made me stay at his place. I was half-tempted to ask if I could stay over again.
Don’t even think about it!

 I watched him as we walked, tawny corkscrews of hair bobbing freely as the wind blew threw them and pushed them away from his face. I took in his broad muscular shoulders that narrowed into slim hips as he pulled his jacket tight around him. His pace slowed as we reached a tiny café. There was a small patio out front that remained vacant in the increasingly colder weather. Nolan turned to me, holding the door as several curls blew back into his face.
What a gentleman, when you aren't looking at my ass,
I thought smartly.

The girl behind the counter stared up at me from behind frizzy orange bangs that nearly hid her hazel eyes. She smiled warmly at me, but her lips twisted into a scowl at the sight of Nolan. I had to do a double-take over my shoulder to be sure it was him she was giving such a nasty look to.

“Can I help you?” Her tone was dry, not even a hint of pleasantness.

“I’ll just get a grande caramel macchiato.”

“Same here.” Nolan spoke gruffly behind me then leaned forward placing his card on the counter. “I got it, okay?” He looked to me and I nodded.

“Hmmph.” The girl snatched the card in her freckled hand and swiped it through the machine, tossing it back towards him. As she turned toward the back counter, I looked over at Nolan, raising my eyebrow in curiosity.

“Ex-girlfriend or something?” His face was set in a similarly unpleasant frown as he watched the girl make our coffee.

“Um, no. Some people just don’t like me around here.”

“Is she going to spit in our coffee?” I found myself watching her as well, hoping she didn’t add anything
special
to my cup.

“Doubtful.” He sighed as he moved back towards the counter to grab the two cups she placed in front of us.

“Thank ya, miss.”

“Fuck off.” The girl mumbled at him with narrowed eyes before turning away.

“Did she
really
just tell you to fuck off?” My voice squeaked up an octave as he handed me my coffee and hastily made for the exit. He only nodded, eyes dull with exasperation as he took a sip.

“There is a nice little courtyard around the corner that we can sit at. It doesn’t usually get too windy.” He promptly changed the subject as he led me away from the coffee shop. There had not been that many patrons inside, aside from a few college students studying and a disheveled scrawny man furiously tapping away on his laptop. Still, I got the sense Nolan didn’t want to stay there and the feelings from the barista were mutual.

A few minutes later, we turned down a small winding path laid out in worn stone pavers  between two large apartment buildings. Ivy stretched up the sides of each building, creeping between the bricks and cracks. Behind those apartments were two more similar buildings standing around a square. A large expanse of grass was nestled between the buildings, off in a few corners, there were benches and a gazebo. An impressive raised flowerbed with statues of angels mixed amongst the foliage stood in the center of the grassy square. Nolan led me to one of the benches near the statues and eased himself down, motioning for me to join him.

“This courtyard is bigger than the one you showed me the other day.” I looked around, watching a few passersby with their dogs yipping at their ankles.

“It’s generally quiet around this time. It’s university housing and it’s nearing time fer finals so everyone is holed up in their apartments studying.”

“Oh. It’s pretty.”

Nolan took another sip and leaned an arm across the back of the bench, pivoting his hips so he was facing me. “Listen, about the other day. I’m sorry fer yellin’ at ya like that. I was completely out of line.”

“Aggie told me about Brody.”

His posture stiffened with my words. “She did?”

“Yeah. Just that he lived there before me, and how he died.”

“Yeah,” his features softened once again, “a lot happened back then. I don’t like talkin’ about it much, and since ya came out of nowhere and had his address I was worried ya were tryin’ ta find out stuff about it. I probably sounded like an idjit. Anyway. I’m sorry and I hope ya don’t really want ta quit.”

“You’re forgiven. And Aggie already convinced me not to quit.”

“Well, glad that’s settled.” He smiled as he took another sip.  We sat there quietly for several minutes and I stared up at the statues. Far away, the angels had looked graceful and calming, but from this angle, they were a bit imposing, bent over and leering at us with their wings casting shadows over the bench.

“Yer from Louisiana, aren’t ya?” Nolan spoke up, pulling my attention away from the creepy angels.

“Yes, um, why?”

“I spent a couple of summers there when I was younger.” He explained, seeing my wary expression, “I just recognized the little twang ya sometimes have.”

“I try not to broadcast my origins.” I shrugged as I took another sip of the soothing warm coffee. So far I tasted no spit, though the caramel was still suspect.

“Why is that? If ya don’t mind me asking. Ya don’t want anyone to know where yer from?” Nolan’s tone grew soft. I gulped a breath of cold air, holding it in for a moment as I tried to collect my thoughts. I turned to say something but found myself incapable of it as his eyes caught mine. They pulled at me, clouded with a curious concern and he spoke again before I could bring myself to. “It’s just, when I first saw ya, ya looked as if something had happened ta ya. Like someone had hurt ya.”

“Oh that. I got in a car accident. Nothing serious.”

“Oh,” he furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes still holding some skepticism, “I was just concerned ya might be in some sort of trouble.” I struggled not to think about the day before I’d left as his words stirred the memories. As nice as Nolan was being right now, I wasn’t sure how comfortable I was with telling him my real reasons for coming here. I struggled to grasp at something to say as we sat there in awkward silence.

“I just...I needed to escape.” I knew my words were cryptic, but the look in Nolan’s eyes seemed to convey an understanding of the general meaning behind them.

“Well, ya seem like a really nice girl, Harley. If there
is
something I can do ta help ya, I hope ya won’t be afraid ta ask.”  He spoke earnestly as he leaned forward and his clear blue eyes held mine. Nolan’s expression possessed something equally as enigmatic as my words, a deep concern that I didn’t quite understand. I found myself lost in his gaze in the brief moment before he looked away to stare up at statues that listened silently to our candid conversation.

We both finished our coffee with very little conversation after that.  I had wanted to ask him more about what had happened at the coffee shop, more about Brody, but instead I found myself wondering what exactly it was that he thought about my arrival in Midtown. What it was about my need for an escape that he seemed to understand. Ten minutes later, we both stood and headed back to the laundromat, exchanging some casual chit-chat about how things were going at the pub. When we arrived back, my clothes were dry.

“I have a little time left if you wanted to use my dryer.” I told Nolan as he pulled his clothes out of a nearby washer.

“Thanks.” He smiled. His eyes still seemed to hold that strange glimmer from the courtyard as they watched me. I quickly stuffed the rest of my clean clothes into my duffel bag, then moved out of his way after saying a quick “bye.”

“Harley, wait.” I felt Nolan's fingers grasp my shoulder gently and I spun back around to find him looking the other way as his cheeks and ears grew red. I looked down at his hand to see the strap of a black lacy bra hooked around his index finger as he held it out to me. “I think this is yours.”

“Oh! Yep, thanks.” I felt my face grow hot and hastily shoved the bra in with the rest of my laundry. As I turned to leave once more, I noticed a broad smirk spreading across his lips.  After catching his unabashed admiration of my physical
assets
earlier, surely the sight of my C cups only added to the mental image he had going. I made a quick exit from the laundromat in an attempt to avoid further embarrassment and sharply turned the corner that led back toward my apartment. On the bright side, at least it had been cute underwear. Not the ugly ones you wore on laundry day.
The ones I’m wearing now.

A few minutes later, the apartment building came into view, and an unsettled feeling churned within my stomach as it stared down at me. The ease I had felt at the laundromat and in the courtyard with Nolan vanished, leaving a haunting chill that wasn’t attributed to the cold weather. My steps slowed as I readied myself to cross the street. No cars were coming but my legs hesitated and my knees locked into place. I took in a deep breath and attempted to gather my wits.
Just dreams, Harley, they are just silly dreams and you are being a big fat chicken.
I did my best to rationalize with myself, but still found myself incapable of moving.

I shifted the bulging bag of laundry that was slung over my back and readjusted it as my shoulder began to ache. After several more minutes, I finally found the strength to will my legs forward.

As I reached my apartment, I could hear Remy meowing happily from within and the muscles in my shoulders eased. I was greeted by the little plump creature that came bounding toward my feet in playful hops, emitting a high-pitched “mew” each time his front paws hit the floor. I dropped the duffel bag next to the closed door then knelt down to catch Remy as he pounced at the toe of my boot.