Tonight, Not Again

My week had been incredibly dull. With nothing to do—no press stuff for another few weeks—and Zoey spending all her free time writing an essay, I was getting restless. My sister, Liz, called and said she was planning to come visit me at the start of October. She also said that she wanted to know who this girl was she’s been seeing me in the tabloids with.
What was I suppose to tell her—“Oh yeah, that’s just the girl I’ve been sleeping with”?

…

As I walked around the side of the house, Zoey’s head of dark hair came into view. She was hunched over the patio table, scribbling furiously. When I called her that Monday, she said that there was no way she and I would be able to get together the rest of the week—she had to write a ten-page essay on the theory of communism.
I just wanted to see her, even if I had to sit and watch her write for hours. I couldn’t explain it—because I sure didn’t feel it with Katie—but Zoey had some sort of a hold on me. I couldn’t explain, nor did I want to admit it. She had made it abundantly clear that after Brett, she wanted nothing from a man except for a bit of fun. No relationship, no strings—which, to her, meant that she and I were not an item. It meant that this was nonexclusive and, though I highly doubted it, she was possibly sleeping with five other guys.
When she sat on my bed that second night, telling me exactly what she wanted from me, I should have known what I was getting myself into. I should have known that it was in no way possible to spend every day with a person and not feel something.
But I went ahead and agreed anyway.

So when I walked up behind her, watching as she pushed her hair off her neck, I tried not to feel anything.

“Hey there.” I tapped her leg with my foot and stepped away. Zoey jumped out of her chair, turning around and pointed her ballpoint pen in my face.
“Jesus Christ, Rob!” She heaved a sigh of relief and sat back down. Her breathing was a little ragged and I instantly regretted the idea of spontaneity. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to offer my assistance.” God, what a lie. “You know sharpen pencils, refresh pens…whatever.”
“Oh, Rob.” Her smile stretched into a yawn. “Are you really that bored?”
I pulled out the chair beside her and grabbed her essay. I always liked political science. There was a chance that I actually could help.
“Maybe.” I shot her a quick smile and began reading.
“No!” Zoey snatched the notebook back and held her to her chest. “No. It’s terrible. This is just the rough draft—I have to type it all up.”
‘Why can’t I see it?”
“Because…” She looked up at the sky and sighed. “Rob, I really need to write this. You, you’re lucky—you don’t have to do this. But I have to ace this class. Desperately.”
Shaking my head, I stood up. I needed to find something to do—quickly. I couldn’t leave. I didn’t want to leave.
“You want me here, trust me.”
“Wha—?” She threw up her hands in a protest. I knew I was getting to her.
“Trust me, Zoey.” I gripped each arm of her chair and lowered my lips onto hers.
“Rob, not tonight. I’m pushing it already.” Her brown eyes drooped slightly—I noticed they were a little bloodshot.
“You think I want to have sex with you right now?” I widened my eyes and walked toward the sliding door. “Silly girl.”
I glanced behind me to see Zoey staring at me. She was confused. Hell, I was confused. This would mark the first time we spent together that didn’t involve getting naked. But I wasn’t even thinking about that.

On my way to the kitchen, I saw Adrienne sitting on the couch. It was inevitable. She did live there too. I knew she didn’t like me. I mean, I figured she had her reasons; I imagined it was because of what I did for a living. She was probably one of those girls who believed everything printed in the magazines about me. Though I wanted to, I really couldn’t blame her. She was looking out for her best friend’s interest and if I were her, I would have been doing the same.
“You know she’s got to email that essay to her professor by two in the morning, right?” Adrienne didn’t even look up from her show. Her voice was flat, perturbed.
“I did, actually.” I turned around and leaned up against the doorframe.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She shook her head and muttered something.
“What?”
The next thing I knew, Adrienne’s finger was pointed directly at my face. I could feel her huffing in anger, the little puffs of air hitting my chest. What I had said, I wasn’t exactly sure.
“If you think that she is going to drop whatever she’s doing at any damn minute you’re horny, you better think again. She is not some little bimbo you can just use whenever you feel like it!”
I didn’t want to fight. I had no argument. That is what the relationship I had with Zoey had been about—I wouldn’t deny it.
“Well,” I stuffed my hands into my pockets. “You have got it all wrong.”

Hearing nothing more, I turned and went into the kitchen—I had an exhausted girl to feed.

…

Forty-five minutes and three charred grilled cheeses later, I reappeared on the deck. The sun had just started to set and I noticed Zoey was shivering. Without so much as a loud inhale, I crept backward through the door. Adrienne, who made no effort to conceal her curiosity, sat cross-legged on the couch staring at me.
“Where does Zoey keep her sweatshirts?”
“In the top drawer on the right.”
“Thank you.”

When I got back to the deck, Zoey was cradling her head in her hands. It was getting darker so I flipped on the light. She didn’t even notice.
“Zo.” I waited for her to turn around and then I held up the plate of grilled cheese sandwiches and Red Vines.
“Rob…”
“Sustenance.” I stated simply as I set the goodies down on the table. “Oh yeah, thought you might want this.” Zoey took the sweatshirt, slightly slack-jawed.
I helped myself to a sandwich and adjusted one of the chairs to face both the ocean and Zoey. When I went to grab one of the glasses of ice tea, I saw she was still staring.
“Zoey, I didn’t poison anything.” After thinking about it for a second, Zoey snatch a Red Vine of the plate and bit into it ferociously.
“Thanks.” I nodded and took a sip. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“You needed something.”
“Yeah.” She yawned, stretching her arms above her head. “I guess you’re right.”
“So if you need anything else—I’m quite good with that stuff by the way—just let me know.”
“You’re really going to sit right here and look at the view?” Zoey looked a little shocked, but she was smiling like a fool. I could only take that as a good sign.
“Yeah, I don’t get this where I’m at. It’s beautiful.”