It was an old habit for Lou to go upstairs. It was a new habit for him to leave the place unlocked, at least since Anne moved out. There was just nothing in the rental with enough value to protect. Only when the door held firm but his body kept walking, only when he smooshed his nose into the glass pane of the door, only then was he jarred into his new residential reality.
The two persons seated inside flinched at the loud thump and resulting curses. Tomoko had been attempting to weave the long, black hair from either side of her face into one braid below her chin. It all fell loose when she turned her head. Nobody, in baggy clothes and bare feet, had been gazing at a glass of water.
Tomoko sprang from her chair and hurried to unlock the door.
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
Lou rubbed his nose and talked around his hand. “Yeah, no, my fault. I totally forgot you were moving in. I’ve been gone all day.”
“Oh, yeah. All done. I don’t have that much. Nobody has even less than me.”
“Okay, cool.” Lou took half a step forward. “Uh, can I come in?”
“Right, of course. You live here.” Tomoko opened the door wide for him.
They did a bit of clumsy jostling over who was closing the door. Nobody watched the proceedings with amusement. “I’ve poked my nose into a lot of wrong places, but never tried to unlock a door with it.”
Lou sat down on the sofa. “Just one more weird thing to end the day.”
Tomoko joined Lou on the sofa, folding her legs beneath her. “I like weird. Not like pervert weird. But, you know. It makes life interesting.” She nodded her head in agreement with herself.
“What’s the weird thing?” asked Nobody.
Lou kept his first thought to himself. That Nobody was the weird thing. Not just the name, but looking straight on at that middling swash of dark hair, the face sort of rough but not really, the hang-loose outfit, a build lurking between skinny and sturdy, Lou couldn’t tell whether Nobody was a man or a woman. He was too embarrassed to ask either Nobody or Tomoko, or to inquire about their relationship. It would become obvious eventually. Wouldn’t it? Or did it matter?
Lou offered up his second thought. “Well, I’ve been seeing this woman. Kind of seeing her. It’s complicated. Anyway, I haven’t been able to reach her for over a week. And she hasn’t called me. Then today I found out that she moved. But it’s not like we broke up over anything.” Lou considered what he was saying and decided it was true. “So I don’t know if I’m actually seeing her or not.”
Tomoko put one hand to her heart. “Oh, one of those.”
Nobody commented, “Schrödinger’s girlfriend.”
“How’s that?”
“She is both at once. You won’t know until you know.”
A piece of memory came to Lou. Something Jennie tried to explain. “Oh, that Schrödinger. The guy with a cat that was dead and alive at the same time.”
“That one, yes,” said Nobody.
Tomoko raised a hand. “But cats have nine lives. So probably alive.”
Lou returned to his dilemma. “One other thing. She might have moved to a place called Thompson Unit. Wherever that is.”
“Ah,” said Nobody.
“Yes, ah,” added Tomoko.
“Ah what?”
“The Thompson Unit. That’s the psychiatric wing of the hospital. If she’s there, well, could be serious mental health issues.”
Nobody’s explanation jolted Lou with clarity. He had thought of Victoria as independent, expressive. Someone who acted freely, outside of some imagined norm. Even when he didn’t get her, she was always mesmerizing. He let out the breath of a fool. Why hadn’t he put things together, the odd behavior, her peculiar sexual tastes, those flighty moods shifting from energized to sullen. Why wasn’t he more aware? Victoria’s absence wasn’t about him. And he had done nothing to help.
“You know what?” Nobody sat up straight and slapped the table. “We’ve all had a long day. Let’s put it behind us. There’s a dance at the university tonight. Let’s kick up our heels and have fun.”
Tomoko clapped her hands. “Yes! I’ll put on my dancing feet!”
These two new roommates, strangers though they be, were good people. On any other day he might have joined them. For now, he was too pissed off at himself to have a good time. “I think I’m gonna take it easy tonight. Just have some dinner and then chill out in my room. You two have fun.” He got up from the sofa and went to the kitchen.
His roommates headed toward their own rooms. Nobody looked at Tomoko. “I think the cat is dead.”
The refrigerator held little of interest and less of sustenance. If not for the gurgling in his belly, Lou would have skipped dinner entirely. The simplest meal he could imagine was a pre-made sandwich from the Hilyard Street Market.
He went out into the summer dusk, head down, replaying his brief history with Victoria as he walked. That first encounter on the street, her intensity, the rush of words and motion. Was it high energy, or something out of control? The ADA meeting, her flushed appearance, restless and withdrawn, prone to distraction. Then the sudden shift, animated again. How she came at him, focused, forgetting the man she was with. How does one do that, change partners in an instant? Why did she fixate on him? The sex after that meeting, and subsequent nights. Her desires beyond his experience, the racing, disconnected thoughts, screwing again. Was it all about physical pleasure, or was she driven by a much deeper need?
A rumbling across the sidewalk interrupted Lou’s brooding. He looked up to see a large plastic garbage container crossing his path.
“Hi, Louie.”
His mind went blank as if the bottom fell out and his assemblage of thoughts whooshed down into an abyss. He stood mute.
“So, are you going to talk to me or do I have to pull a string?”
Lou struggled out of his trance. His mind scrambled for an intelligible reply.
“Hi.”
“Hi to you, too.” Jax laughed. “I guess conversation isn’t your strong suit.”
A short-lived thought began, something about what would please Jax, working out the exact words. A memory barged in and saved him, advice from a friend. Don't be an idiot!
“Hey, I don’t even own a suit.”
Jax smiled. Oh, how that helped. Lou’s confidence rose up and the fool in him retreated.
“You show up at surprising times.”
He gave her a casual half shrug, like no big deal. “Do you like surprises?”
“Sure, sometimes.” Jax parked the garbage bin at the curb. “It depends who’s doing the surprising.”
“Just me. Your old friend Louie.”
“Some old friend you are. I think this is the most we’ve talked.”
“Well, what are you doing right now, besides taking the garbage out?”
“Not much. I’m heating up some leftover lasagna for supper. There’s plenty. If you care to join me.” Jax started up the footpath to her front door.
Lou began to slip into that daze, the untethered floating that Jax brought on, watching her glide away, caught up in the cadence of her hips up and down and—
Don’t be an idiot!
I love where this is going... maybe.
Ok. Ok. I am like Lou… not quite sure what will happen next or what to do next… but one thing is for sure. I want the next two chapters. Please.