Deep End
One
It happens in the candy bar aisle of a rest stop several exits down the freeway from his home. He is standing there, in his hunched and quiet way, debating the merits of Snickers versus Kit Kat, when he feels the air rush out of the room.
“Kris? Hi!” She hits him with a one-two punch, the sound of her voice and the pads of her fingers burning fingerprints into his forearm.
“Hi, Bridget.” Her name tastes metallic and cold on his tongue and it takes him what feels like a lifetime to speak through the wooziness. He had almost forgotten the way she overwhelmed him.
“What are you doing here?” she continues, her voice washing him in acid, seemingly unaware that he is drowning six inches from her front.
“Uh...Montana.” he blurts out because she makes his brain feel like an egg on the sidewalk on a sunny day and he has never been able to control himself around her. “Driving there, for the wedding.” He elaborates, even though most of his brain is screaming ‘stop talking!’ at full volume.
“Really?” she motions behind her, “Us too!” Before he can ask the obvious question, she has tucked herself into the side of a veritable Greek God.
Okay, that’s a lie and also, it makes him sound a little like he plays for the other team, but Jesus she could not have picked a man further from Kris himself. He is tall and broad, all tanned skin, blond hair and blue eyes.
“This is Adam.” She giggles. Actually giggles. The men nod at each other in that way that says ‘Watch it, I’m sizing you up’. Kris really doesn’t need to look to know that Adam wins.
“Are any of the guys with you?” she asks, standing on tip toe to peer over the tops of shelves and search the store with her eyes. “Or are you alone?” she asks as she drops back to the balls of her feet.
“Not alone.” And now he really wishes he could stop doing the blurting thing. He is alone, but she can’t know that.
“Oh, who are you with?” and he swears he can hear a hint of derision in her voice.
He doesn’t have time to ponder the implications though because the disaster train is rapidly careening towards him and he needs to find a way off the tracks. Before his panic can overwhelm him to the point of telling the truth, something warm has pressed itself along the length of him and is speaking.
“Hey babe,” a female voice says four inches from his left ear, “Found them.” A hand waves a bag of sunflower seeds between them.
----
Skylar had been watching it unfold from the end of the aisle. While looking over a vast display of seasoned sunflower seeds, she had been casually eyeing the man in the candy aisle (it was Kris Letang, for god’s sakes, who wouldn’t, plus she had been intrigued by the break in his back, the defeated round of his shoulders) and had seen the woman saunter up to him with that look of destruction in her eyes.
She hears the pieces of their conversation and the next thing she knows she is pressing herself up against a strange man, calling him babe and offering him her sunflower seeds. She knows she is certainly not an adequate comparison to the couple standing across from them, but she figures something is better than nothing, isn’t it? Judging from the way the woman is regarding her, maybe not. But, an arm slides around her shoulders and he says,
“Great.” Holding her against him and offering to take the bag of seeds from her hand. She can feel the tension in him, the stiffness lying across her shoulders, the taut muscles she is pressed up against. The four of them – the Gods and little human Hercules, stand facing each other. A beat of silence.
“You are?” Bridget finally asks, though it is clear from her tone that the answer doesn’t really matter.
“I’m Skylar, it’s nice to meet you.” Kill them with kindness, isn’t that what people always say?
“Bridget,” the ice queen returns, “I’m an old friend of Kris’.” The way she says old friend makes it very clear that she is staking some kind of claim. “How long have you two been dating?”
“Not long,” Skylar answers easily because if she’s going to be in this she may as well dive right in, “but you know how it is, you meet the right guy and that’s just it, right?” Actually, she has no idea how it is. She’s never met the one, or even the one who might come before the one. Kris thinks this Skylar girl seems to have a handle on things, so he shuts up because he’s already dug himself halfway down to the earth’s core and he doesn’t want to make things worse.
“Well, hey,” Bridget says and her face lights up like she has suddenly thought of the cure to the common cold, “If we’re all driving to Montana, we should travel together!” she claps her hands and Skylar bites her tongue so hard it bleeds, “I mean, Kris is a great navigator and Adam and I are both totally hopeless, we’d probably end up in New Mexico or something!” she says with a laugh and Skylar wonders why she feels the need to punctuate every sentence with an exclamation mark, as though it’s the most exciting thing she’s ever been a part of. Then she wonders how she went from total stranger to judgmental insider in four seconds flat. There is another long beat of silence.
“Uh...okay, sure.” Even as he is saying the words, he knows it is a horrifically stupid idea. Too late.
“Great! We’re in the Red Envoy! We’ll follow you.” And she flounces off with Blondie behind her before anyone can get another word in edgewise.
Splat, Kris thinks, the disaster train is ploughing full speed ahead and he’s tied to the tracks.
Deep end, Skylar thinks, we’re in the middle of the Dead Sea now.
“Kris? Hi!” She hits him with a one-two punch, the sound of her voice and the pads of her fingers burning fingerprints into his forearm.
“Hi, Bridget.” Her name tastes metallic and cold on his tongue and it takes him what feels like a lifetime to speak through the wooziness. He had almost forgotten the way she overwhelmed him.
“What are you doing here?” she continues, her voice washing him in acid, seemingly unaware that he is drowning six inches from her front.
“Uh...Montana.” he blurts out because she makes his brain feel like an egg on the sidewalk on a sunny day and he has never been able to control himself around her. “Driving there, for the wedding.” He elaborates, even though most of his brain is screaming ‘stop talking!’ at full volume.
“Really?” she motions behind her, “Us too!” Before he can ask the obvious question, she has tucked herself into the side of a veritable Greek God.
Okay, that’s a lie and also, it makes him sound a little like he plays for the other team, but Jesus she could not have picked a man further from Kris himself. He is tall and broad, all tanned skin, blond hair and blue eyes.
“This is Adam.” She giggles. Actually giggles. The men nod at each other in that way that says ‘Watch it, I’m sizing you up’. Kris really doesn’t need to look to know that Adam wins.
“Are any of the guys with you?” she asks, standing on tip toe to peer over the tops of shelves and search the store with her eyes. “Or are you alone?” she asks as she drops back to the balls of her feet.
“Not alone.” And now he really wishes he could stop doing the blurting thing. He is alone, but she can’t know that.
“Oh, who are you with?” and he swears he can hear a hint of derision in her voice.
He doesn’t have time to ponder the implications though because the disaster train is rapidly careening towards him and he needs to find a way off the tracks. Before his panic can overwhelm him to the point of telling the truth, something warm has pressed itself along the length of him and is speaking.
“Hey babe,” a female voice says four inches from his left ear, “Found them.” A hand waves a bag of sunflower seeds between them.
----
Skylar had been watching it unfold from the end of the aisle. While looking over a vast display of seasoned sunflower seeds, she had been casually eyeing the man in the candy aisle (it was Kris Letang, for god’s sakes, who wouldn’t, plus she had been intrigued by the break in his back, the defeated round of his shoulders) and had seen the woman saunter up to him with that look of destruction in her eyes.
She hears the pieces of their conversation and the next thing she knows she is pressing herself up against a strange man, calling him babe and offering him her sunflower seeds. She knows she is certainly not an adequate comparison to the couple standing across from them, but she figures something is better than nothing, isn’t it? Judging from the way the woman is regarding her, maybe not. But, an arm slides around her shoulders and he says,
“Great.” Holding her against him and offering to take the bag of seeds from her hand. She can feel the tension in him, the stiffness lying across her shoulders, the taut muscles she is pressed up against. The four of them – the Gods and little human Hercules, stand facing each other. A beat of silence.
“You are?” Bridget finally asks, though it is clear from her tone that the answer doesn’t really matter.
“I’m Skylar, it’s nice to meet you.” Kill them with kindness, isn’t that what people always say?
“Bridget,” the ice queen returns, “I’m an old friend of Kris’.” The way she says old friend makes it very clear that she is staking some kind of claim. “How long have you two been dating?”
“Not long,” Skylar answers easily because if she’s going to be in this she may as well dive right in, “but you know how it is, you meet the right guy and that’s just it, right?” Actually, she has no idea how it is. She’s never met the one, or even the one who might come before the one. Kris thinks this Skylar girl seems to have a handle on things, so he shuts up because he’s already dug himself halfway down to the earth’s core and he doesn’t want to make things worse.
“Well, hey,” Bridget says and her face lights up like she has suddenly thought of the cure to the common cold, “If we’re all driving to Montana, we should travel together!” she claps her hands and Skylar bites her tongue so hard it bleeds, “I mean, Kris is a great navigator and Adam and I are both totally hopeless, we’d probably end up in New Mexico or something!” she says with a laugh and Skylar wonders why she feels the need to punctuate every sentence with an exclamation mark, as though it’s the most exciting thing she’s ever been a part of. Then she wonders how she went from total stranger to judgmental insider in four seconds flat. There is another long beat of silence.
“Uh...okay, sure.” Even as he is saying the words, he knows it is a horrifically stupid idea. Too late.
“Great! We’re in the Red Envoy! We’ll follow you.” And she flounces off with Blondie behind her before anyone can get another word in edgewise.
Splat, Kris thinks, the disaster train is ploughing full speed ahead and he’s tied to the tracks.
Deep end, Skylar thinks, we’re in the middle of the Dead Sea now.