Section I
Beginning, Previous Section, Section III, Next Section
Editor's Note: This story contains more swearing than most stories here on the Guild.
Ana groaned. In walked Mrs. Elson. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Elson."
"Afternoon, Ms. Smith," she replied tersely.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Here is more of your post."
"Oh dear. I'm sorry you keep getting our letters. We've spoken to the postman once already."
"I advise you to speak to him or her again. They have obviously not heeded you the first time."
"Thank you, Mrs. Elson."
Ana watched the lady leave and then let out a sigh of relief. She never felt easy around that woman. Her husband was even worse. He thought she was possessed by the Devil, but he couldn't figure out whether Ana or Stacy was the Devil.
Storm poked her head out of the office. "Is she gone?"
"Yeah."
"Good. What was it this time?"
"They got some of our letters in the post again."
"You'd think it never happened to anyone else from the way they behave."
Ana turned back to her email.
There's this couple who run the religious bookshop next door to us. It's ironic because they're mean people and aren't 'Christian' at all in the real sense of the term. They don't forgive, they think I'm possessed by the Devil, they assume the worst of people, and I think they're xenophobic. They don't like an Indian friend of mine.I didn't actually get to watch the game, much as I would have liked to. It must have been fun watching it in a pub. Which is your favourite player? I'm afraid I would have to go with Michael Owen. He plays for my favourite team, Liverpool, and he's extremely good. His looks aren't too shabby, either.
If you had to pick one hero of a Shakespeare play to be, which one would you pick?
Sincerely, Ana
Stacy asked to have Saturday afternoon off, and Storm saw no reason why she shouldn't, so she assented.
At five, Stacy walked into The Crown pub and spotted Martin standing at the bar chatting to the bartender. She walked up to him. He saw her and smiled a warm welcome.
"Yer date?" said the barman.
Martin nodded, still smiling at Stacy. "You ready?" he asked her.
She smiled back and nodded.
Martin tipped the bartender and guided her out of the busy pub to the street.
Once outside, Stacy asked him, "What are we doing?"
"I thought it'd be pleasant to just walk around Covent Garden. Then we can find somewhere to eat there. Does that sound like a good idea?"
"Sure."
He clasped her hand, twining her fingers with his. She smiled up at him shyly. Together they slowly walked down the small pedestrian street, stopping often to look in shop windows.
"Do you like living in London?" Stacy asked him.
"I do. It has history, it has life in its centre, whatever I feel like doing it's here, and it's friendly and safe."
"How long have you lived here?"
"Oh... about six years."
"Where did you live before that?"
"In Devon."
"Why did you come here?"
"My job."
"Did you mind moving?"
"At first I wasn't so sure about living in such an expensive city, but my salary kind of compensated."
"That book looks interesting," she said, pointing to a book called The Wealth of London about the rich people in London from 1666 and the architecture they built.
"You're interested in history?"
"Social history."
"I prefer military history I suppose."
"Typical," she said.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, giving her arm a tug playfully.
"Merely that it is typical for men to be interested in the military side of history since that's where they dominated."
"Is this more of your feminist theory?"
"Of course."
"I see."
They continued to wander through the crowds. Soon, they came into Covent Garden. It was active on that Saturday evening. There were clowns performing on the corner, a Playstation virtual reality ride, and plenty of people walking around. Stacy and Martin just walked, content to people watch.
"Stacy?"
"Hmm?"
"Why don't you like me coming to Wild Iris?"
"Because I haven't really told Storm about you."
"Why not?"
"Because she'll say I shouldn't go out with you."
"Why?"
"She'll say I'm not ready for a relationship yet."
"Your boss is telling you this?"
"She's not my boss, she's my best friend."
"But she owns the shop."
"Yes."
"So she's your boss."
"I work for her because she's my best friend not because she's my boss."
"Is there a reason why she thinks you're not ready for a relationship?"
"Yes, but it's really complicated."
"Which in girl-talk means 'I don't want to talk about it'."
She grinned at him. "You're pretty good."
Martin put on conceited face. "Yes, I am aren't I?"
"I'm starting to get hungry. Where shall we eat?"
"I don't mind. You pick."
"There was a cute creperie somewhere."
"I think it was on the other side."
"Does that sound good to you?"
"I'm always ready for French food."
They walked over and ate a quiet meal in the little restaurant overlooking the outer courtyard. They got to know each other better through conversation, but Stacy hesitated to tell much about her past, and nothing about Ana.
"Do you want to go to a club next weekend?" asked Martin.
"I'd love to," she said.
"Shall I pick you up around ten?"
"Uh... I live outside of the city. So why don't I just meet you there?"
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "Which club did you want to go?"
"How about the End? Or Fabric?"
"I like Fabric."
"Ok. Let's say we'll meet by the door."
"Fine."
"Are you sure you want to meet there? I feel bad about it."
"Don't. It's fine. It would be silly for you to come all the way out to where I live. I'll just stay with Storm instead of going home."
"And I can't pick you up from Storm's because she'll stop you."
"Roughly, yeah."
Martin shook his head, still not liking it.
They left Covent Garden after they had finished their meal and walked up James Street to the Covent Garden tube station. They paused outside of it. He was walking home while she would take the tube. Stacy actually lived only a couple of stops away on the Piccadilly Line and could easily have walked it, but she wanted to keep up the charade that she lived outside of the city.
"I had a nice time tonight," she said.
"I really enjoyed it, too."
"I guess I'll see you next week, then?"
"Would you like to meet for lunch during the week?"
"I'm not sure which day would be good. Shall I email you? Do you mind short notice?"
"No. You have my email address?"
She shook her head. "I lost your business card, remember?"
"That's right. Your excuse for not getting back to me after I threw you in the mud. Here's another one for you to lose."
"Thank you," she said, tucking it in her trouser pockets.
There was an awkward pause. "Good night, then," she said, blushing.
He caught her face in his hands, slowly leaned forward, and kissed her softly, briefly, tenderly. Then he let her go and said, "Good night."
He left her standing there.
Oh f***! What have I got myself into?
"Taylor's been using me to entertain his clients."
"Has he now?"
"Yep."
"It's your turn."
"I know."
"What do you do, tell jokes?"
"No. See, it's this whole act. Taylor comes into Goa's with his clients, and then at some point in the conversation, he'll make some remark about the piano playing. Then he comes over to request a song and 'discovers' that it's his good friend, the famous Fries Bennet, who is the player. So he brings me over to the table to chat."
"He does this every time?"
"Only when he thinks a client will be interested."
"Rummy. Three hearts in a row and four threes."
"I was close. I was just looking for another eight."
"You weren't getting that anytime soon. I had it."
"It's your turn to shuffle."
"Will you get me more hot chocolate?"
Fries took the mugs and carefully walked out of the bedroom. When he came back, Storm dealt the seven cards and then relieved him of her mug, taking a sip and putting it behind her on the bookshelf.
"You know," she said.
"No, I don't."
"Shut up and let me finish. You should get a commission for doing that."
"I do. Taylor's company pays me twenty pounds every time I entertain them. Schmooze, flatter, whatever you call it."
"I think you should get Goa's to pay you a commission for bringing business to their restaurant. A meal isn't payment enough."
"I suppose I could talk to them about it. Taylor certainly wouldn't be bringing his clients there if it weren't for me."
"Exactly."
"Hide your cards better. I can see them."
"If you would stop looking, then maybe you wouldn't see them."
"I can't help it if you flash them at me."
"I was not flashing."
Stacy hurried toward Goa's. She was late. She had to get there and be out in fifteen minutes. She began to jog down the pavement, brushing past annoyed pedestrians. When she reached it, she paused to catch her breath and then went in. There was Fries playing the piano near the back.
She walked over to the piano and smiled sweetly at Fries. He seemed surprised to see her. When he had finished the song, he looked up at her. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to hear you for a few minutes and to say hello."
Fries felt bad because his first reaction was to be suspicious.
"Thank you for stopping by. What do you think of it?"
"It's a sweet setup."
"Would you like me to play you something?"
"I have to go in a few minutes, but could you play me some Chopin?"
"Sure."
He began to play a mazurka in a haunting minor key. Stacy had to be impressed. He looked like he was born for the piano. He was graceful, emotional, but tasteful. If Stacy hadn't been interested in Martin....
When he had finished, she said, "That was really beautiful."
"Credit should go to Chopin not me."
"You should hear me attempt something like that and then you would agree you should you get some credit."
"I'm glad you liked it."
"I have to run. I'll see you sometime later."
"Bye."
Stacy calmly left the restaurant, and as soon as she was beyond Fries' vision in the windows, she began to jog down the pavement again. She looked at her watch. Three minutes. She was going to be late. Suddenly she stopped. Hang on, she thought to herself. What if I am late? He'll wait. I shouldn't act so eager. Be calm and cool. Don't act needy. She just briskly walked along the pavement, avoiding getting hit by cars as she crossed the street.
She was only a few minutes late when she walked up to the Indian restaurant on Great Russell Street. Martin was already seated. He stood as she walked in, smiling.
"Sorry I'm late," she said as she draped her coat over the back of her chair and sat down. She was pleased to note he didn't attempt to help her with her coat or pull out her chair for her.
"Not at all."
Stacy looked around at the small establishment. "How did you find this place?"
"I love Indian food and then I had a friend who suggested this place."
"I suppose that's how these places get their customers. It's not like they advertise."
"I think London is full of places that only certain people visit."
"Tons of tiny cliques and communities in a huge city."
"Yeah."
"I have a close friend who is Indian. But his partner doesn't like it- or rather he can't tolerate spices."
"That's funny. This other person I kind of know mentioned a gay Indian friend. It's just an unusual occurrence in my book."
"That is a coincidence."
The waiter took their orders and they conversed happily throughout the meal. Again, Stacy avoided certain subjects, doing it so adeptly he didn't notice it.
An hour later, they walked slowly back hand in hand towards Charing Cross. On the pavement in front of the Palace Theatre where Shaftesbury splits from Charing Cross, Stacy and Martin stopped to say goodbye.
"Thank you for lunch."
"It's my pleasure," replied Martin.
"As long as next time you let me pay."
"Only because if I say no you'll blow up at me."
"Exactly."
"I'll see you at the Fabric at 10:30?"
She nodded.
He kissed her softly again. He pulled away, and upon seeing she had no objection, he kissed her longer a second time. When they parted, he smiled down at her. "Have a good week."
"Bye," she said, and walked away feeling giddy.
When she entered Wild Iris, Storm said, "You look happy."
"I am," was all Stacy said in reply.
"Have you broken up with Jane, yet?" asked Storm the following evening after supper.
"No."
"When are you going to do it?"
"Soon."
She walked over to the phone, picked it up, and shoved it at him. "Dial."
"Storm, no!"
"Why not? You have to do it sometime. Just call her and get it over with."
"This phone doesn't have long distance."
"Use a credit card."
"I doubt she'll be home right now."
"Leave a message on her machine then."
"But I don't want to do it with you hanging over my shoulder."
"I'll go into my bedroom then. It's silly you're putting this off."
"It's a perfectly normal thing to do. Procrastination is a major part of everyone's life."
"Fries, you need to do this. You're wasting the best years of her life this way. You're not treating her right, you're being selfish."
"You speak from personal experience?" he argued back, hurt that she was saying these things.
"Yes, I do!" she snapped.
Fries was stunned into silence.
"Call her and set her free," Storm said, her voice choked with threatening tears. She walked into her bedroom and slammed the door.
Fries was left staring at the closed door. He got out his wallet and took his calling card out. He dialed the number and password and then punched in the number of the Bennet Mansion and waited for someone to pick up.
"Hello?"
It was William. Fries got up from the table and walked over to the couch, saying, "Hi, William."
"Fries, how are you?!"
"Well, I have a dilemma to talk to you about. Do you have a few minutes?"
"We were just sitting down to supper." Fries heard him say, "Darling, do you mind if I took this into my office?"
"Is something wrong?" Fries heard Elizabeth say.
"He said it's a dilemma."
"Go on, then. Give my love to him."
William said to Fries, "Hang on and I'll go into my office, but I need two hands."
"Sure, go on."
William put the phone in his lap and wheeled out of the kitchen through the living room into the hall and then into his office. He shut the door and wheeled behind his desk. Then he picked up the phone and said, "So what is your dilemma?"
"How do you break up with a girlfriend?"
"You mean Jane?"
"Yeah. I like her, she's a sweet girl, but it's just not working. But I don't want to hurt her feelings."
"And you think I have a lot of experience in dumping people?"
"Yes."
"I'm honoured," he deadpanned. "The only advice I could tell you is to do it as soon as possible, to do it gently, explain it's nothing to do with her and that you just feel she could do so much better."
"So flatter her?"
"Don't flatter her necessarily, but assure her that she's not deficient in any way. It's a tendency girls seem to have when they're dumped."
"Anything else?"
"Tell her you still want to remain friends. Oh, and if she asks if there's somebody else, say no."
"But there isn't anyone else."
"Fine. If there were, still say no."
"Ok."
"Do it soon, though."
"Ok, I know."
"Tell me how it goes."
"Thanks William."
"I'm always here for you."
"Tell Mum I love her."
"I will."
"Bye."
"Bye.
Fries hung up and looked at the bedroom door. It remained shut. He dialed Jane's number.
When Fries had hung up, Storm came out of her bedroom and stood in the doorway looking at Fries stretched out on the couch with one hand covering his eyes, the other holding his glasses. She walked over to him and sat down on the edge of the couch by his waist. He didn't move. She laid a gently hand on his chest and said in a soft voice, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you."
He didn't say anything.
"How did it go?"
Still he remained silent. She sighed and began to stand up. But his other hand quickly held her and she sat back down. Fries suddenly sniffed loudly, and Storm realized he was crying.
"Oh Fries!" she cried, and leaned down to give him a hug. Fries gratefully wrapped his arms around her.
Storm lay her head on his chest beneath his chin, and felt his unsteady breath.
In a choked up voice, he managed to say, "I did love her. Just not in the right way."
"You had to love her on some level if you stayed together for a year."
After a minute, she asked, "How is she?"
"Upset. Understandably."
"She'll be ok, Fries. Give her time."
He fell silent again, and they just lay there, only the sound of their breathing audible. Somehow he fell asleep at some point. Storm gently slipped away from him and let him continue sleeping.
When he awoke forty-five minutes later, Storm was cooking supper as quietly as she could. She noticed him as he sat up and rubbed his eyes fiercely, stretching.
"Feeling better?" she asked him.
He shook his head no, as he scrubbed the stubble that needed to be shaved off in the morning.
Storm grabbed something from the counter and ran across to the couch, doing a spectacular leap over it to sit on the opposite end from him. "Well!" she said with a grin. "I found something to cheer you up. I've been saving them for a special occasion, but I thought this is as good as any."
She handed him a small box. He looked at it with curiosity, then began to laugh. They were "N'Sync Cool Candy Message Hearts". They were essentially like the Valentine's Day chalky candy with messages like 'I Love You' and 'You're Cool!'. Except this box was special. It had a picture of N'Sync on the front and the messages were like ' 'N Joy', 'Stay Cool', 'N Love' and 'Bye Bye' as well as the various band member's names.
"How long have you had these? Since last February?"
"Yep!" she said, smiling mischievously.
"I'm touched, really."
"It made you laugh," she pointed out.
"Where did you get these?"
"Stacy found them and gave them to me as a gag gift. I thought you would appreciate them more since they're of musicians."
Fries laughed some more.
"Come on. I'm making a small meal and then there's ice cream in the freezer and we can run out to rent some movies before they close."
"Is this how girls deal with breakups?" asked Fries, a little amused in spite of himself.
"When you can't get drunk, you have to think of other ways of drowning the pain."
She dragged him off the sofa and over to the kitchen table, placing him down and giving him the silverware and mats to place on the table.
In five minutes, they were sitting down to mashed potatoes, beans, and broccoli.
"You have to save some room for the ice cream," she explained.
"Do you have this down to a science?"
"Yep."
After supper, they strolled down to the video rental on Gower Street. Storm let Fries pick his favourite movies and paid for them herself.
"What did you get?" She looked through his selection of three. "Amadeus, some movie with Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier, and ... The Godfather?"
"That one is my be angry movie, the first one is my be depressed movie, and the second one is my get over it movie."
"You're catching on," she said.
They walked home and while Storm set up the video, Fries grabbed the tubs of ice cream from the freezer as well as a couple of spoons. He walked over, plopped on one end of the couch while Storm occupied the other, and began their night of recovering from a breakup.
Fries trapped Ana in the office the following day. "Tell me. Who is Frank?"
She became flustered. "I can't talk about him."
"Why not?"
"Because it's wrong."
"Is he dead?"
"No."
"That's the only reason I can think of why it would be wrong to do so. To speak ill of the dead."
"I can't be the one to tell you."
"Is Storm going to tell me if I asked?"
"No."
"Fine." He left her alone after that.
When he had the chance, Fries got West as a captive audience. "West?"
"Hmm?" West replied, reading a botany newsletter.
"Do you know who Frank is?"
"Which one?" he replied absently, still reading.
"Someone Storm used to date."
West looked up at him. "I know of him."
"Can you tell me about him?"
"No. I know of him, I don't know much more than that. Like you, I've only heard him mentioned in passing conversation."
Taylor didn't have much more information than that. So Fries was left wondering and without any satisfactory answers. He was sensitive enough not to ask Storm about him.
"Are you still emailing that guy?" asked Storm.
"Yeah," Ana said, shyly.
"What's he like?"
"He's really funny. And interesting. We have a lot of the same tastes, but there are some things he likes doing that I don't."
"Like what?"
"He said he's going to a club tonight."
"And you would never go to a club, right?"
"Well, I don't have anything against them, I just don't like them that much."
"I know. I always have to wait until Stacy's around before I get to go to one."
"But then you get to do other things with me that Stacy doesn't like doing."
"Can't think of anything off the top of my head..." she teased. Storm picked up the Colonel and cuddled him against her shoulder, petting him and scratching his head. "So what are you doing tonight?"
"Nothing planned."
"So what do you want to do?"
"I dunno."
"How about coming over and we can play games?"
"What kind of games?"
"Strip poker?" she asked with a grin.
Ana wrinkled her nose. "Not with you two sticks."
"Who are you calling a stick?"
"You and Fries. You're both so skinny it makes elephants like me quite self-conscious."
"You are not an elephant."
"You're sweet, Storm, but you're also a horrible liar."
"You're being ridiculous," Storm said, and walked into the office.
That night, Ana, Storm, and Fries sat around the kitchen table with homemade milkshakes and a hand of cards each. No, it was not strip poker. But bars of candy were on the table as bets. Chocolate oranges were worth one hundred, Mars worth fifty, Fruit Pastelles forty, Galaxies thirty, Mint Aeros twenty, Whispas ten, and Smarties worth five. Not a really great system, but it was fun.
"Do you want to know what I did yesterday?" asked Ana.
"No," said Storm.
"Tough, you're gonna hear me anyway. I thought yesterday was Saturday, so I put on my Saturday underwear, and I went the whole day thinking it was Saturday. I went to put my underwear on this morning and I discovered that today is Saturday!"
Fries had to chuckle in spite in of himself. "You have underwear for the days of the week?"
"Sure do."
"So does Stacy wear them too?"
"She doesn't go changing her underwear as soon as she shows up."
"But does she put them on herself?"
"No. Actually, what's worse is when I don't have any other clean underwear left and I have to wear the wrong day. It just makes my whole day go off."
"You're the weirdest person I know," muttered Fries as he put another card down.
"You must know very few weird people," said Storm. "In my career as a queer bookseller, I've met some very interesting people. One of my favourite customers who comes in every now and then is Brandy. She's American. She has thick, fiery red hair. Sorry, strawberry blonde is the correct term. But she's just a hoot. She acts like she's 18 but she's in her mid twenties. And she travels a lot. All over."
Ana shook her head. "No, there's this girl, Sara, who comes in and she looks like she's 16, very petite and cute and pretty. Men turn their heads to look at her, and you think she's so proper and polite. But then she opens her mouth." Storm chuckled and nodded. "And she'll say stuff that is shocking. Not that shocking in the general scheme of things, but just coming from her mouth it's always a surprise."
"I remember we were talking one time and she said her biggest fear is being reincarnated as a pair of testicles. She said more stuff like that, but I don't want to curl your hair with her stories."
"And then there's Sarah in the china shop a couple of doors down from Wild Iris. She has a tendency of dropping things."
"So why does she work in a china shop?" asked Fries.
"That's a good question."
"How long are you waiting until you put a card down?" asked Storm.
"Oh, is it my turn?" replied Ana.
"Could we put some music on?" said Fries.
Storm nodded and gestured to her CD and record collection.
Fries put his cards down and went over to scrutinize her collection. A lot of it was the same as when she had lived in Bennet Mansion. He recognized the heavy metal, the rap, the R&B. But he wanted something softer than that for a card game. He chose the Bridge Over Troubled Water album by Simon and Garfunkle. He put on the CD and went back to the table to play his turn.
After four games of poker where somehow Storm got most of the candy, she suggested a different game.
"Let's play rummy, but if you lose, you have to tell a secret."
"If you tell a secret, then it's not a secret anymore," said Fries.
"Not necessarily a secret you've sworn to keep, but rather something deep down inside you that no one else knows."
"Or the winner could ask the question, like when was the first time you slept with someone, or what's your least favourite food," suggested Ana.
Everyone seemed to agree though Fries was a little reluctant. Storm dealt the first hand and looked at her cards. Eight of spades, six of spades, six of hearts, four of diamonds, ace of clubs, three of clubs and a king of diamonds. A horrible hand. Through the course of several rounds, picking up cards and either keeping them or discarding them, Storm lost. Fries actually won, and Ana was one card away, so Storm had the worst result and was at Fries' mercy.
The pianist knew exactly what his first question was going to be. And Ana had an idea of what it was. She vigorously shook her head, begging him not to ask it, but Fries ignored her and said, "Who is Frank?"
Ana fell limp. Storm froze. No one said anything for several minutes. There was just the sound of "Only Living Boy in New York" playing in the background.
Finally Storm cleared her throat, looked down at her hands. "Frank is an ex-boyfriend. He was a f***ing a******. We were in college, and we continued dating after college. I thought he loved me and I thought we were going to get married some time. I didn't love him, but I thought I did. Sometimes he would annoy me and make me very depressed. He would dampen my spirit and tell me I was silly. He would say things like I was too skinny, and I should grow out my hair to look more feminine. He would slap my butt patronizingly. He thought my degrees were useless and I would just end up being a teacher and a housewife. He didn't have any confidence in me. And I thought I loved him, and I thought he was right. He said I couldn't overcome my past. My mother was in me and I just had to accept that. Now of course it's obvious I should have left him from the beginning. But when you're in the middle of it, even though all your friends are telling you to dump him, you can't, because you think he loves you and you think you love him and everything will work out. Finally, he dumped me, and I was a mess for a while. He left me for someone else he had been seeing for some time. I was f***ing blind. Once Ana, Stacy, and West pulled me through it, I was so much better. I started Wild Iris, and I became happy. And very feminist. My goal became to help other women overcome stifling relationships like that. Does that answer your question?"
She looked up at Fries, who had tears in his eyes. She laughed shakily. "Geez, don't look at me like that!"
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Hey, this game was my idea. I was asking for it. Now you know why I'm as fanatic and kooky as I am."
"Yes, I do."
"Shall we play on? See who's the next loser?"
They played another round. Ana lost and Fries won again. He had to think for a couple of minutes before he thought of a good question.
"Have you ever had a relationship?"
"No," replied Ana.
"What?" cried Storm. "What the f*** do you call your online fling?"
Ana blushed, smiling. "Um... it's just a friendship. We haven't spoken of anything romantic or anything like that. I don't even know if he's single. He probably isn't."
"So are you a virgin?"
"No. Stacy's slept with a couple of guys as far as I know. I'm hoping it's not more than that."
"You don't know?"
"Nope."
Fries raised his eyebrows and let out a whistle.
"Next one," said Ana. "I'm determined that Fries should lose soon."
As they played the third round, Ana suddenly said, "I feel like I should be somewhere."
"You are somewhere," replied Storm.
"No, I mean somewhere else. Like I'm late or something."
"Is there somewhere you have to be?"
"If I knew I wouldn't be wondering why I have the feeling."
"I don't remember you having any appointments or anything."
"Oh well."
They played the round and Storm lost again, with Ana winning. "Ok, Storm, what's you're greatest fear?"
"Easy. Falling in love."
"Are you joking?" asked Ana. "Not death or losing your parents or something like that?"
Storm shook her head. "Nope. Well, I am sort of afraid of those things too, but my greatest fear is falling in love?"
"Why?"
"That's a second question."
"I answered a second question," Ana replied.
"I don't know why. No one can explain why they're mortally afraid of heights or spiders or snakes, they just are."
"Yes, they can. Those things are deadly."
"I can't f***ing explain it," said Storm. "Don't keep asking me. You got the answer to your question now let's play another round and make Fries lose."
They played another round and this time Fries did lose. Ana won, so she had to come up with a question. "Give me a minute," she said, and tried to think of a good question.
Storm leaned over and was about to whisper something in Ana's ear when Fries said, "No cheating. She has to think of one herself."
Ana soon thought of one on her own. "What do you really think about equality between men and women?"
Storm groaned. "No! You should've asked him something really deep and dirty."
"Well you can do that next time," retorted Ana.
Fries answered, "Physically, I don't think the average man and woman are equal. We've evolved with different roles. Mentally and emotionally, I think the average man and woman are different, not necessarily one inferior to the other. Whether that is socialised or natural, I don't know. But there are plenty of crossovers. I'm sure people would label me more feminine than masculine. I think women have the capability to be anything they want basically, but they may not be brought up in such a way."
Storm crossed her arms, looking at Fries skeptically. "You're just saying what you think we want to hear."
"And you're just hearing what you want to hear. You don't believe that any men actually think this way."
"That's not true."
Fries raised his eyebrows, challenging her. Storm looked away. He said, "Storm, not every man is Frank. I rephrase that. Not every straight man is Frank."
She didn't respond to him, staring at the painted mural on her wall, but Fries knew she'd heard and heeded him.
They played another round. Ana lost and Storm won. "Finally!" she said, rubbing her hands together.
"Who do you like?" asked Storm. "I mean in a more than friendly way."
"No one," replied Ana.
"Come on, there has to be somebody you prefer above anyone else."
"Well, if there had to be someone, it would be my email friend."
"Hmmm, so you do like him."
"Of course I like him," said Ana. "Otherwise I wouldn't email him."
"But you like him."
"Let's play another round," said Ana.
Storm won and Ana lost again. Ana groaned. "What is it this time?" asked Ana.
"Do you like Stacy as a person?"
"I can't honestly answer that question since I don't know her personally very well and I'm biased. In some ways I know her better than everyone because I have to 'live' with her."
"So answer it dishonestly then. Your opinion right now about Stacy is...?"
"I don't like her that much. I mean, she just makes life more difficult for me."
"Fair enough."
"Next?"
They played again and Fries came under the mercy of Storm. He looked at her expectantly. She smiled mischievously. "Are you a virgin?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Oh." She hadn't expected that answer for some reason. He'd had a steady girlfriend....
Storm lost to Fries next time. He asked her, "If your real mother showed up one day, recovered from her alcoholism, changed, wants to get to know you, what would you do?"
"I'd yell at her and tell her never to contact me again."
"What if she was on her death bed or something?"
"I might be a bit more gentler, but I would still tell her I hate her and that she ruined my childhood and damaged my life forever."
"Surely it isn't good for you to hold so much hate inside of you," replied Fries.
"Maybe it's not. But I can't do much about it. Don't be a goody goody and tell me I should love her."
"I won't."
They played another round and Fries lost to Ana. "What was the happiest moment of your life?"
"Easy. The day I was adopted."
"Not when you won one of your competitions?"
"I was more relieved than happy with those. It was so much pressure I just felt glad it was over and I had done well. I was ecstatically happy the day in court when we won the case. It was also the day William and Elizabeth declared their love for each other."
Storm was smiling too. "Definitely one of my favourites."
"Come on. I have another question for Storm," said Fries.
"Do you, now?" said Storm, one eyebrow raised.
Fries grinned wickedly at her.
Actually Fries did win and Storm lost. She folded her arms and leaned on the table, eating one of her candy bars.
Fries asked her, "Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?"
"Oh f*** I don't know. I'm quite content running my shop and living a simple life."
"But don't you want a family or something?"
"I've thought about fostering or adopting, but I don't have the same gifts and patience Elizabeth has. Plus I couldn't really while I'm at the shop so long."
Another round passed and Ana won with Storm losing. She asked her friend, "What is your ideal man?"
"Good grief! You know those shirts or posters with a picture of the gingerbread man and it says, The Perfect Man. He's sweet and if he pisses me off I can bite his head off. Or something like that."
"Really Storm. What is your ideal man?"
Storm sighed gustily. "I don't know. I'd like him to be courteous, but respectful of me and my opinions. Can't be sexist or racist or chauvinist or misogynistic. Good looking I guess. Takes care of himself, as in hygiene and health. Talented in some way. Intelligent. That's all I can think of."
"And if a man came along like that, would you give him a chance?"
"Maybe."
Ana looked at her dubiously.
"I can't say since no one has."
They played again. Ana lost to Fries.
"What's your biggest wish?"
"That I was normal."
"Define normal," said Storm.
"That I had a normal childhood, I was mentally one person and I had a loving husband with a few children, a stable job and income, happy etc."
"And you don't think you could ever be happy as you are?"
"I find it difficult to imagine, yes."
"Shall we play one more game?" suggested Storm.
They played one more round, and Fries lost to Ana.
She thought for several minutes before asked, "What was your most embarrassing moment?"
"There's nothing worse than completely blanking on what notes to play in front of an auditorium full of people."
"You've done that?"
Fries nodded. "It's pure agony, I can tell you. It's akin to the dream where you're stark naked and everyone is pointing and laughing at you."
Storm put away the cards while Fries occupied the bathroom brushing his teeth and changing into his boxers. Ana was staying the night, sleeping in Storm's room. Fries pulled out his sofa bed, and propped himself up on the headrest, cradling his guitar in his lap, playing idly while the two girls got ready for bed and finally left him alone.
In the middle of the night, Storm was awoken by her companion.
"Oh f***!! Of f***!! Oh f***!! Ohf***ohf****ohf***ohf*** ohf***!!"
Storm sat up and rubbed scratched her short hair sleepily. "Are you going to tell me what's the matter or are you just going to sit there and say f*** all night?"
"I was supposed to meet someone tonight."
Storm buried herself under the covers. "That's what you get for not telling Ana about it." She was soon fast asleep.
Stacy emailed a profuse apology to Martin the next morning. She made an excuse and explained she couldn't call him since she didn't have his number. He replied after several days, saying, "I should be angry with you for standing me up, but I like you too much to be angry for long."
She emailed him back asking if they could meet again. He agreed and they were soon back on dating terms again. But Stacy was careful never to make a plan in the future again.
Ana woke in the middle of the night in a strange bed. She froze, listening to any sounds and carefully trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. She was naked. There was a warm body next to her, also naked. She stifled a sob. Slowly she got out of the bed and looked around the room, her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She was in this man's bedroom. She looked over at his face and didn't recognise him. Her last hope that it was for some reason West or Taylor was dashed. She stumbled toward a door that she hoped was the exit. It proved to be a walk-in closet. She turned away and tried another door, trying to be as quiet as possible. It led to a hallway. She walked down it and found herself in a living room. She saw a blinking light on a table in the corner and discovered it was a phone. She lunged for it, grabbing it. She started to dial Storm's number but, stopped, not wanting to talk there for it might wake him up. She took the phone and opened a door in the hallway. It was a bathroom. She turned on the light, closed the door, locked it, and dialed Storm's number, curling up on the rug on the floor.
It rang and rang. "Come on, Storm. Please," she sobbed, fear still gripping her heart.
"Hello?" came a baritone voice.
"Fries?" she said in a quivering voice.
"Yeah. Who is this?"
"It's Ana. Can you get Storm?"
There was a pause. "Sure. Hang on."
She heard the phone being put down and then five minutes later Storm picked up.
"Ana, what's the matter?" asked Storm, sounding groggy from being woken in the middle of the night.
Ana began to cry again. "I don't know where I am."
"Calm down, Ana. Shh. It's all right. Just calm down and tell me what you've seen."
Ana took several minutes. Then she continued. "I woke up in this man's bed. I'm naked. I don't know who he is. I've never seen this place before. What do I do, Storm? What do I do?"
"Don't panic, first of all," Storm said firmly. "How do you feel? Did he rape you? Do you feel hurt in any way?"
Ana paused, taking stock of her body. "No. I don't think so."
"So you don't want to call the police?"
"No."
"Go back into the bedroom-"
"I can't, Storm! What if he wakes up?"
"Listen to me. Go back into the bedroom and gather your belongings. If he wakes up, just calmly say you're going to the bathroom and tell him to go back to sleep. Make sure you get a good look at his face so you can recognise it. If there's a picture of him lying around anywhere, take it. After you've gathered all your stuff, go out of the bedroom, dress, and leave the place. Once you're out on the street, find a payphone and call me. Tell me where you are and I'll come get you."
"Are you sure? What if I'm somewhere out of the city?"
"Call me and we'll deal with it from there if you are."
"Ok."
"I'll get dressed and Fries and I will get you. Call us as soon as you're out."
Ana hung up, and stayed where she was for a few minutes, not wanting to leave the sanctuary of the bathroom, but knowing she would have to leave to escape the situation. She cursed Stacy several times over.
Finally, Ana left the bathroom and, leaving the phone in the middle of the hall, walked back to the bedroom and after adjusting her eyes to the darkness again, began to pick up the clothes that were strewn on the floor. The man in the bed stirred once and Ana's heart jumped to her throat in fear. But he settled and went back into a deep sleep.
When she left the bedroom, she pulled on the clothes. It was a short skirt and a somewhat see-through jumper. She shuddered, thinking how loose she looked. She found familiar pumps in the living room in front of the sofa. Two empty wineglasses were on the small table beside it. Ana shuddered again thinking about what must have happened. On the coat hanger, she found her nice long black overcoat. She pulled it on over her, covering her skimpy dress.
Ana looked around and decided to make her escape. She unlocked the door and walked out into a hallway with an elevator ahead to her right. She closed the door and hurried to the elevator. As she waited for it to arrive, she felt like at any moment the man would wake up and look outside and find her there. She watched, bouncing up and down in nervous panic as the numbers slowly crept up. She didn't know what floor she was on, so she had to just wait. Finally, it stopped on the fifteenth floor. The doors opened, and she stepped in, pushing the Ground floor button, and then watching the doors close with immense relief. The elevator descended and opened up to reveal a nice lobby. Ana practically jogged out of the lobby through the doors into the cold November air. She was on a street with an occasional car going past. It looked like she was still in the city of London.
She spied a red phone booth at the end of the street. She walked as quickly as she could to it and finally got inside. She dialed Storm's number. Fries immediately picked up.
"Where are you?" he asked.
"I'm on the corner of Earl's Court Road and Abingdon Place."
"All right. Stay where you are in the phone booth and call West and Taylor. Talk to them, keep talking to them. If anyone approaches, you can tell them. We'll come and get you by taxi."
"All right."
They hung up and Ana, with a shaking hand dialed West and Taylor's number. She had to call three times before one of them picked up.
"Hello?"
"Taylor?"
"Yeah."
"It's Ana."
"Hey. What's the matter?" he asked, starting to wake up more.
Ana explained what had happened. West picked up on another phone to listen in.
"F***!" he exclaimed. "Are you all right?"
"Apart from being frightened and wanting to go home as soon as possible, yes."
"You don't have any idea who he is?" asked Taylor.
"No."
"Did you get a good look at him?"
"Yeah. But unless I saw him again, I couldn't really tell you what he looked like."
"You have no idea who he is?"
"No."
"Did you get something that had his name on it?"
"No. All I could think of was to get out of there before he woke up."
"I understand."
"Neither of you know of anyone Stacy's been seeing?"
"No. She's kept it hidden from us."
Ana kept talking to them for half an hour before Fries and Storm drove up and found Ana in the phone booth. Ana hung up with Taylor and West as soon as she saw her friends, and ran to them.
Storm hugged Ana, rubbing her back soothingly as she calmed her. "Come on, let's go home."
As they turned to get back in the taxi, Storm caught a glimpse of what Ana was wearing beneath the coat.
"Wow. Stacy sure knew what she was doing, didn't she?" she remarked.
"Yeah," said Ana, despondently.
"I'm going to yell at her so hard when she comes."
"I wish I could."
When they were finally back at Storm's place, Ana changed into a borrowed pair of Fries' pajamas.
"What do you want to do now?" asked Storm.
"I just want to go back to sleep."
"Ok. You go on, I'll just change back into my pajamas."
When Ana was in the bedroom, Storm looked at Fries. "Well?" she said.
"I'd find out from Stacy who he is if you can. Give her a good talking to. What else can you do?"
"Nothing, really. I just feel for her so."
"I know."
"I'm going back to sleep. I'm exhausted."
The following morning, Storm let Ana sleep in while she opened the store on her own. She left Fries with strict instructions not to pester Ana or ask her questions or talk if she didn't want to.
"I know, I know," he had said. "I get the point. Go on, I'll take care of her."
Still worried for her friend, Storm had left to open up Wild Iris. Fries decided to practice his guitar while he waited for Ana to wake up.
Stacy woke up around eight, looked around and recognised Storm's bedroom. She groaned. Ana had woken up last night and must have left Martin's place. The previous night had been amazing. For one night she had pretended she was alone and normal. It had been incredible. But now everything was ruined. She had hoped that she could escape notice by Ana and Storm. That hadn't happened. Not wanting to deal with all of the mess and lectures and yelling she knew she would be on the receiving end of, Stacy decided to go back to sleep.
Ana woke up at ten in the morning. By this time Fries had become concerned and debated whether he should wake her up. He was on the point of calling Storm to ask what he should do when the bedroom door opened, and Ana stepped from the mattress to the steps, paused to look around, scratching her head and squinting as she looked around the flat.
"Morning," said Fries.
She mumbled something incoherently and plodded to the bathroom. Fries decided to make her breakfast, but upon searching for normal ingredients like bacon and eggs, he decided a bowl of healthy cereal would have to suffice.
When Ana came out of the bathroom showered and wrapped in a towel, Fries asked her, "Do you need to borrow clothes?"
She nodded. "I don't want to put the ones on I was wearing last night."
"Sure."
Fries got out a pair of loose slacks and a turtleneck for her to put on. She thanked him and took the clothes from him, retreating to the bedroom to put them on. When she came back out, she was dressed and her long wet hair was piled up on the top of her head in a bun. She looked a little funny in the clothes, but to get her home, it would suffice.
"How are you feeling?" asked Fries, hoping the question was neutral enough.
"Like I want to kill my other half," she replied grumpily.
"Completely understandable," he said. "What do you want to do?"
"Go home."
"Ok. Fine. I'll walk you home, then."
Ana gathered her things and together, in silence, they walked to Ana's flat about fifteen minutes away. She changed into her own clothes there and returned Fries' things to him with thanks.
"Are you going to Wild Iris now?"
"I guess. I should probably hang around Storm until Stacy decides to show up so Storm can yell at her."
"Ok. I have to be at Goa's soon, so I'll walk with you to Wild Iris."
"Thanks."
As they walked along, Ana decided to ask Fries, "What do you think I should do?"
"I'm really not the one you should ask."
"I still would like your opinion."
"I don't know. I guess I would talk to Stacy and tell her not to do it again."
"But it's no more fair to her to prevent her living life than it is for me."
"But you're not separate, so you both can't take liberties like other people can. It has to be a partnership worked out between the two of you. Talk with Stacy and explain to her that at least let you get to know the man."
"What if I do? Then he would just consider us freaks and never speak to us again. So it's almost better to let one of us have a life at least."
"You don't have to be so sacrificing. You have to work it out with Stacy."
"I can't though. I can't talk to her myself."
"Storm will for you."
Ana just sighed despondently, not at all optimistic.
When Storm did have the opportunity of talking to Stacy, she found it difficult going. Stacy wouldn't give the name of the man, nor how long she had been seeing him, nor would she give any promise not to do it again. Storm couldn't do more than talk to the woman. Unless Stacy was willing, Storm's hands were tied except to help Ana as best she could.
Stacy's bigger problem was trying to apologize to Martin. When he had awoken to find her side of the bed cold at six in the morning, it had not been a good sign. She had emailed him an apology but offered no excuse.
It was several days before she got a reply.
Though I should remain angry for some time, I cannot. I like you too much. However a relationship without trust will never last. What is this to you? Some game?
The reply was harsh in a way, but Stacy knew he was fully justified in feeling that way. She wished she could tell him, but was afraid that would be the last she would hear of him. She emailed again begging to see him again at least once more so she could apologize in person at least. He had grudgingly agreed. Again, however, she had to make the plans at the last minute so she was assured she would be able to attend.
When she walked up to him sitting down at a table in The Bloomsbury pub, he didn't get up and greet her. He just watched her sit down.
She couldn't bring herself to say anything for a couple of minutes. She knew he wasn't going to start.
"I'm very sorry, Martin. I know how it looked to you that I left. But it was in no way intended to look anything like that. I can't explain why I left. I wish I could. I had an amazing night and I wish it hadn't ended with me leaving like that."
He remained silent for a while. Then he asked, "Would you answer me some questions?"
"If I can."
"Are you married?"
Stacy realized what he could be thinking and said flatly, "No."
"Do you regret what happened?"
"Not at all, Martin. It was beautiful. I'm sorry, I really am." She began to feel herself about to cry. She wanted to tell him everything. She wanted him to hold her and tell her everything was okay. She didn't want to have to constantly lie and be deceitful to him. But she was so afraid, she couldn't. She liked him too much to let him go like that. So she held it all in, and wondered how it would end. She couldn't go on forever like this. But the longer she held off telling him, the longer she got to see him, the more she realized she didn't know how she was going to be able to see him go.
"So what happens now?" he said, his voice still holding some sorrow and resentment.
"I'd like to still see you if you'll let me."
"I don't know, Stacy. I feel like I know so little about you. So much of you is shrouded in mystery I don't know what to think anymore."
"I know I'm weird, but I've just had problems in my past. And I can't explain everything to you. But I've been honest with you in every way I can."
"But what are those occasions when you can't be honest?"
"Ones I can't help. Martin, I really want to tell you everything, but I can't. And if you can't continue that way, I understand, but I really like you and want to keep seeing you."
"Hard as it is for me to accept that, I like you too much not to try and trust you. So how long will I be kept in the dark?"
"Indefinitely," she said, covering her face so she wouldn't have to look at his. This had to be the hardest thing she had ever done.
Martin let out a big breath. "Well..." he said. "I guess I'll just imagine you're some kind of top secret spy for M5."
"M5 isn't exactly secret anymore. Tony Blair finally said what everyone knew- that it exists."
"I know," Martin replied with a smile. "You're some kind of Austin Powers person."
Stacy smiled back in relief. "You just keep thinking that. Whenever I act weird, you just remind yourself of that."