The Blueprint (10 page)

“I’m happy to assist.
  Would you like me to kiss you as well or will roamin' hands be enough?” 

“We might need to do some kissing if he doesn’t leave.  I can’t see him.
"  She peeked over his shoulder.  "Is he still there?”

“No.  Unfortunately, he
went inside.  But, you’ll be happy to know that I think your friend was plenty pissed based on the force of the kick he gave his tire.” 

They were still standing in a semi-embrace when Kim swung the door open.  Her face morphed from excited to hurt as she surveyed the scene.   Lily noticed her roommate’s warring emotions and knew she had a lot of explaining to do.  Kim recovered, faked a cheerful final good-bye for Jimmy, and stormed inside.

Lily chased after her, but was greeted coldly by her roommate’s locked bedroom door.  “Kimmy, please open up.  It’s not what you think.  Ben pulled up in his car just as Jimmy and I were walking out.  Jimmy was just pretending to be into me to help piss off Ben.  That’s it.  I promise.  Nothing happened.  Please, talk to me.  I hate it when you’re mad at me."  She rested her head against the closed door and mumbled, “Shit, shit, shit.”

T
he door flew open; Lily stiffened, preparing herself for a hard right jab, harsh words, or both.  But instead, Kim stood vibrating with excitement.

“I figured it out,”
Kim explained.

“You what?”

Emphasizing each word, Kim said, “I... figured... it... out!”

“What could you have figured out in th
e last two minutes other than believing I'm a traitor and you hate me?”  Lily stepped back and leaned into the opposite wall.  Based on the glimmer in Kim's eyes, she didn't think she was in trouble anymore, but she also didn't think the explanation would be rational.

“The universe is trying to tell you something.”

“The what?”

“The universe is talking but you won’t listen,”
Kim clarified.  Despite the confused look on her friend's face, she continued in earnest. “Remember that history paper that disappeared your senior year in high school?”

“Yes. “

“I took it,” Kim admitted.

“You what?”
  Lily slid down the wall and rested with her knees bent to her chest.  She’d seen that look on Kim’s face before when she was trying to apply some of her psychobabble to real life, and she knew it would take all of her strength to follow along.  Better get comfortable, this could take a while.

Kim joined her on the floor.  “I took it and threw it away.  I wanted to see what would happen.  We were talking about Karma in one of my classes and I wanted to see not only what would happen if I did something bad, but what would happen to my victim.”

“It was awfully nice of you to include me in your experiment.  But maybe next time you could leave me out of it.  Or perhaps,” added Lily with a sneer, “I should do some experimenting of my own.  This is finals week, right?”

“Whatever.  You don’t have an evil bone in your body.  Don’t you want to know what happened?”  Lily rolled her eyes and Kim took that as a yes.  “Well, I broke my wrist two days later falling on some ice, and you won the History Department award.”  Lily shook her head
, befuddled.  Undeterred, Kim asked, “Didn’t you get an extension on that paper and rewrite the whole thing?”

“I think Mr. Dawson felt sorry for me, so he gave me another week to finish.”

“And my guess is that the second paper was better than the first.  And that the second paper is what helped you win that award.”

“What does any of this have to do with the universe?”
Lily asked.

“I think the universe is trying to make up for your parents and your sister leaving you.  I think good things keep falling into your lap to make up for it, but you’re not paying attention.”

Lily stared past Kim.  This was a topic she would not discuss even with her best friend. 

Kim got the hint but
pushed forward anyway.  “Look, some terrible stuff happened to you when you were a kid, but some good stuff has happened to you as an adult.  You won a full ride to college.  You found a great job with a boss who treats you well and stays out of the way.  This roach trap we live in should have fallen down six months ago, but I think it stays glued together just so you’ll stay.  And that old cheap car of yours keeps puttering along despite all the horrible noises and smells it makes.  You also have to admit that most of the guys you’ve dated, by anyone else’s standards, would be keepers.” 

Lily held her silence.

Kim hoped
she was listening.  “The entire time you were in your room before dinner Jimmy asked about you.  I’d noticed how he looked at you while you pretended to ignore us at lunch, and how he’d light up when he’d make you laugh.  I’ve been kidding myself for weeks that I had a chance with him.  And tonight, I made such a fool of myself over him.”  In her best high-pitched pathetic girl voice, Kim parroted, “Oh, Jimmy, can I get you more pizza?  Oh, Jimmy, I love your boots.  How many big bad snakes did you have to kill to make them? Oh, Jimmy, you’ll have to show this silly dumb girl the difference between a wrench and a screwdriver.”

Lily spoke up, now willing to participate in the conversation she’d anticipated before Kim went all therapist on her. “I wondered what in the world was wrong with you.  I’ve never seen you play
the dumb girl part to get a guy.”

“He wants you, not me, and the truth is
... that I’m okay with that.  I shouldn’t have to work that hard to get noticed.”

Lily pressed her palms into her eyes and exhaled. 
“What about what I want?”

“I don’t know that Jimmy’s overly concerned with that.”  Kim got up and walked into her room,
but left the door open.

“I’m sorry
, Kim.  Before tonight’s fiasco, I promise I did nothing to encourage him.”

“You never do.” 

7

Lily knew her roommate too well to believe that her conveniently timed epiphany regarding the powers of karma were enough for her to rebound from her crush on Jimmy.  And Kim blasting the Johnny Lee song
Lookin’ for Love in All the Wrong Places
while hiding out in her room day and night proved it.  However annoying and loud her self-inflicted therapy sounded to Lily and the neighbors, it seemed to work.  Kim emerged three days later as her cheerful old self again.

Practicing her most exercised
remedy, avoidance, Lily started taking her lunch breaks at her desk, claiming that Simon needed this or that done right away.  Kim, of course, knew better; never in the year she worked at the library had there been a paperwork emergency.  Simon, even more distracted than normal since his relationship with Judith began six months ago, had no idea what was happening outside of his cerebrum.  If he declared a state of emergency, it would most likely concern dating advice, not the cataloging of documents.  But Kim played along and made excuses for Lily to the Rogers boys at lunch every day. 

In truth, Kim knew she wasn’t so totally over Jimmy that she could stand by and watch him fawn over Lily, not that he was the fawning type.   To her disgust, she remembered that
, in fact, she was the fawning type.  She wished she could have a do-over with pizza night.  This time she’d play hard to get.  It always worked for her roommate.  But then again, Lily wasn’t playing. 

Two weeks passed and still Lily kept her distance.  Spending all day inside was taking its toll.  She missed the sunshine and the fun of lunches at the fountain.  Jimmy’s stories about the dumb stuff he, his brothers, and
his cousins did as kids always made her laugh.  At night, while lying in bed, she thought more about his stories and drew pictures in her head to go along with the words; she could easily imagine his happy childhood adventures and pretend her childhood had been different. 

Even with Kim’s permission, Lily didn’t thi
nk dating Jimmy was wise.  She almost liked his company too much.  Her awareness of him was different and intense.  Before, dating guys had never really required liking them overly much.  She could date someone for months and never give them a thought in between dinners, and so keeping things light was never a problem.  By choosing men who could wine and dine her, she knew that their old money and protected lineage, if not good sense, would prevent commitment.  What good family would bother with someone whose background was shady at best?  Who would want to bring her home to mom?  She was content with her role as trophy, because she was just as guilty of using men for attention and affection without strings.  But even with her clear rules and strict boundaries in place, her plan often backfired.  Men saw her as a challenge, not the lost cause she embraced. 

S
he did think about Jimmy and that was new and unsettling.  His company affected her like a good book.  Books helped her forget.  Books helped her relax.   But with books, she could stop reading it if she didn’t like what was happening or re-think the ending if she wasn’t satisfied.   However easygoing Jimmy seemed, she sensed he wouldn’t be easily dissuaded if given the slightest bit of encouragement.  And he wouldn't be shelved without a fight.  Besides, she struggled with the idea of needing to run him off anyway.  She feared there’d be two casualties this time around and that was a chance she wasn’t willing to take.  

Remembering the feel of Lily’s curves pressed against him that night on the carport consumed his thoughts.  Jimmy was primed for action.  He intended to make sure it happened again, but this time for their pleasure, not solely for the purpose of ticking off an ex. And just when he'd decided to make his move, she disappeared.  He‘d always considered himself a patient man, but he tired of waiting for his charms to win her over; he needed a plan.  It was time to take the bull by the horns. 

Jimmy’s brother, Tom, who was also blessed with that dark hair, blue eyed
combination inherited from their mother and which attracted women to them like flies to stink, taunted Jimmy about his thoughtful pursuit of women.  Where Tom gave very little consideration to anything other than a woman’s eagerness to join him in the sack, Jimmy had only given a chosen few his attentions and unlike his brother those relationships were few and genuine.  He was searching for the real thing, not just a good time. 

As a little boy, Jimmy remembered watching his parents talk and laugh together over dinners
and chores.  They appeared nothing more than big kids on a super-long play date.  His parents’ smiles and teasing defined the images etched in his mind of love and marriage. So when approaching relationships, he always first pursued the friendship part and gave it some time to grow and simmer, confident the rest would fall into place.

Charlie, his father, often told the story of the day in the third grade when he
fell head over heels in love with Grace, Jimmy’s mother.  Grace was sitting outside at recess playing jacks with her friends when the school bully, Dominic Tate, walked up to her and took the little rubber ball they were using.  Her friends started crying, but not Grace; she got up and followed Dominic.  He returned to his friends with his stolen prize thinking to join them in celebrating his most recent crime, but they weren’t hooting and hollering like he’d expected.  When his pals explained that he’d been followed by one of the runts he’d just picked on, Dominic turned to growl at her, but he never got the chance.  Grace, with her dark bouncy curls and innocent blue eyes, kicked him in the crotch as hard as she could with her white patent leather shoes.  Dominic hit the ground.  Grace picked up her ball, returned to her friends and her game of jacks, as if humiliating someone three times her size was nothing new.  And Jimmy's dad fell in love.  Finishing his story, Charlie smiled at his sons and wiggled his eyebrows, always adding, “Now remember, boys, pretty is nice, but spunky is
excitin’
.” He’d blow a kiss to his wife who’d promptly throw at him whatever unbreakable object she could get her hands on, proving his point.

Lily left work Friday night looking forward to a nice quiet evening curled up with a book.  All hopes for that vanished when she crossed the parking lot to find her little car boxed in by Jimmy’s truck.  She could see from a distance that it was impossible to pull forward because there was a brick landscaping wall in the way and she couldn’t back out because Jimmy had parked his truck perpendicular to her parking spot.  She was trapped.

S
he hurried to her car with her purse smacking her hip the whole way and blurted, “What the hell?”

“Good
evenin', Lily."  His amusement was at war with his polite facade.  "I’d hoped you’d let me take you to dinner tonight.”

Her fi
ght or flight instincts took over.  With her preferred method—flight-- blocked, she crossed her arms and answered through a fake smile, “No thanks.  Please, move your truck so I can go home.”

“I’ll gladly move my truck after you get in it and let me take you to dinner.”

“I’m not going to dinner with you.”  She knew she needed to come up with some convincing reason, but her brain was on pause.  Kim had warned her that Jimmy was interested, but she’d hoped that in her absence he’d move on.  No such luck.