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“All right, ladies. Let’s get you something to eat,” says the man in a slightly winded voice.
“What service!” Aimee smiles flirtatiously at one of the gentlemen as he offers her a hand and helps her out of the car. I can feel one of the men staring at me, but as soon as I glance towards him, he turns away. His demeanor seems ominous but strangely comforting. Shaking my head, I smile at the other valets before following Aimee inside.
They guide us to a small table and pull out our chairs, allowing us to sit. The informality of the dining set seems familiar to me, and yet all I can think is how it doesn’t match the odd behavior of those men out front.
Once we order our food and receive our drinks, I place my elbows on the table and rest my chin on my interlaced fingers.
"So…something happened that was awkward and weird as fuck." I stare at her while she sips on her soda. She nods for me to continue. "Tyr and I, um…we were in the bathtub and ended up doing stuff, but things got weird."
“Good weird or bad weird?” Aimee asks as if this is a completely normal thing for us to talk about. I mean, I guess it is, but this is more her normal than mine.
“Bad weird,” I respond.
"Well, spit it out. What happened?"
"Well, he was kind of aggressive. Like, he came instantly." I look away from her but keep my head resting where it is.
"Oookaaaaaay," she draws out. "Maybe he hadn't yanked himself for a while. Maybe he just needed a quickie." She begins chewing on her straw.
"Yeah, maybe. But you should’ve seen it. It was strange. He choked me, and not in a sexual way. He just held me on top of him and did whatever he wanted without paying attention to me or what I was doing. I was just kind of frozen. It was… alarming. At that moment, I was almost scared of him." I look back at her hazel eyes, wanting to catch her reaction. Her pupils are dilated, her eyebrows are raised, and her mouth is slightly agape before she realizes what she’s doing and snaps her lips shut. "Yeah, so that's what I've been dealing with lately."
"I, um…wow. I don't really know what to say to that. Are you okay? Like, I know it was scary, but like, mentally, are you alright? I mean… sorry, not what I meant. By the way, that's not okay. That's a huge red flag."
Am I okay? Like, am I just pushing the flags to the side and pretending they’re not there? Maybe I’m just mentally fed up with the bad shit and trying to find the good in everyone. Yeah, that's it. That's what’s happening.
"Calm down, I've dealt with way worse. I just don't know how to bring it up and tell him that he made me anxious. Yeah, it's a red flag, but he’s healing, too, and that can come with red flags.” I put my head down but quickly pull it back up to move for the waitress who brings our food out. We both flash a smile and thank her before digging in. I don’t realize how famished I am.
"Well, that's a shame. I would definitely have a convo with Tyr and at least set some ground rules."
"Yeah, I'm going to talk to him before bed tonight. I just don’t know if I really want to hear what he has to say. But thanks, Aims. I'm glad I have you as a friend." I smile at her.
"You may not want to hear him, but it’s what you need, not want. And friend? I'm your bestie, bitch. That's what I'm here for. Duh." She smiles back at me and then kicks me timidly under the table. We both laugh and proceed to eat our dinner.
We bust through the door of the duplex, giggling and trying to catch our footing. We had a few drinks, so we got a ride home. I’ll pick up my car in the morning, since it isn’t very far from the house.
Tyr watches us as we half-fall through the door, rolls his eyes, and grins as he heads down the hallway. Watching him walk away makes me and Aimee laugh harder. We plop down on the loveseat, still giggling, and I grab the remote to turn the TV on. The television instantly starts playing the news.
"All across the country, we are receiving more and more reports about missing people. Gender and race don't seem to bother the assailants, and neither does location. With a few people being rescued recently, detectives are investigating and trying to figure out the difference between these new cases and the previous missing persons. They haven't found anything yet, but the case remains open until further noti-"
Tyr walks into the room and to the TV. He finds the power button and clicks it off.
"Hey, we were watching that!" Aimee half-whines and half-jokes.
"Yeah, well, not now. It’s the rules, and you both know that. No news. It's depressing and deceitful. Every news station is different, and their reports don't make sense. I don't want to be reminded of that bloody place constantly. They are still talking about the same shit they were talking about last week and the week before. It's absurd!" Tyr grumbles. His phone starts ringing from the kitchen, and he walks away to answer it.
Aimee looks at me with questioning eyes. Without answering out loud, I shrug my shoulders.
“His mood swings more than a monkey does from a tree,” I whisper loudly. We both start to smile at each other, then burst out laughing when she mocks the way Tyr had said, ‘absurd.’ I begin to shush her so I can better hear Tyr’s phone call.
"Yes, I can be there. Now? Yeah, give me 15 minutes and I'll be over." Tyr says quickly before hanging up. He slips on his shoes, grabs his keys, and saunters towards me.
“Where are you headed?” I stand up so I can hug him before he leaves.
"Just a few blocks away. It's an interview, so I have to rush," Tyr answers hurriedly. He kisses my forehead and starts to walk away.
"Oh, um, okay. I'll see you when you get home?"
"Yup. Bye, hun. And I'll see you again soon, Aimee. I'm sure of it." He rolls his eyes at us and leaves.
