Dangerous Light

Mind clouded with disheartening thoughts brought on by excessive consumption of wine, Athena reaches through the cool, dark air of her bedroom to cover her illuminated, buzzing cell phone. Just answer it, she tells herself as she feels the device vibrate beneath her shaky hand. “Yes?” she croaks as she places the phone to her ear.

“Athena?”

Too lazy to move the phone away from her ear, Athena scrunches her nose. “Why are you calling me Jordan?”

“What’s wrong, Athena?”

Rolling her eyes, Athena hiccups, “don’t you… change the subject.”

“I just wanted to see if you’re okay… I wanted to talk to you, but you don’t sound like you’re in the mood right now.”

With an intense hiccup, Athena rests her hand across her ribcage. “Right.”

Silence falls over the phone line, while subtle breathing – and occasional hiccups on Athena’s part – lingers for a few moments.

“Are you drunk?” Jordan’s voice is barely above a whisper. Amusement is laced in his tone, but hidden decently.

Athena nods silently, “maybe.”

“Meaning yes,” Jordan says, more to himself.

“No, it doesn’t.” Athena grumbles. “Drinking doesn’t equal drunk.”

“For you it does,” Jordan scoffs. “You never drink. Are you alright?”

Shaking her head, moisture descends Athena’s warm cheeks before she can stop it from happening. “I’m not having this conversation with you.”

A scoff meets her ears as she hastily hangs the phone up and drops it over the edge of the bed, listening to it collide with the wood floor.



“She hung up on me.” Jordan is seemingly unable to hold his jaw closed as he stares at his phone. “She actually hung up on me.”

Max looks into the mirror above the dark dresser, at Jordan, “maybe you should go check on her.”

“Yeah, so she can try and slap me, or something.”

“You’re scared that she’ll hit you? Ma belle would never do something like that.”

Jordan shakes his head, “you don’t even know her, Max!”

“I know she wouldn’t hit anybody,” Max mutters, hastily running his fingers through his hair in attempt to style it. “Ma belle wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“She’s drunk,” Jordan says, crossing his arms, “and I’m pretty sure she hates me.”

Max stops, putting his hand down, “she doesn’t hate you, Staalsy. Would you like me to go check on her?”

“No. I can’t talk about this right now,” Jordan mumbles, standing up from the chair near the window. “You have no idea who you’re talking about right now, Max.”

Crossing his arms, Max watches as Jordan crosses the room. “Go talk to Sid if you don’t believe me. At this point, he may be the only person who can fix this.”

Stopping, Jordan slowly looks over his shoulder with a firm gaze. Did he really just…? Shaking his head, Jordan pulls the door open, not bothering to aid it in closing quietly as he crosses the suite.

His knock on Sidney’s door is greeted with a “come in!”

“Can we talk?” Jordan questions as he opens the door.

Pressing the power button on the television remote, the room falls silent as Sidney pulls himself up on the bed. “Sure. What’s up?”

“Does Athena hate me?”

Sidney’s eyes widen slightly when Jordan speaks, “what are you talking about?”

“Does she hate me? Yes or no?”

Shaking his head, Sidney smirks, “no. Where’d you get that idea?”

“I called her and she’s drunk. She’s being snippy.”

Sidney slowly shakes his head, “that doesn’t mean she hates you.”

“She’s never been that snippy. Not with me, anyway.”

“Maybe she’s had a bad day,” Sidney shrugs. “And how would I know if she hated you, anyway?”

Jordan crosses his bulky arms, “you two’ve been spending a lot of time together.”

Unfazed by his friend’s accusing tone, Sidney speaks calmly, “what’s the supposed to mean?”

Blinking, Jordan exhales soundly.

“Am I not allowed to be friends with her now?”

Narrowing his eyes, Jordan’s nostrils flare. “You two are not just friends. The past couple of days, you two have been inseparable. And you slept at her apartment—”

“When we got here, you two were inseparable and shared a bed,” Sidney refuses to add fuel to the fire by telling Jordan that he slept on the same bed with Athena last night, “are you two more than friends?”

“No!” Jordan responds quickly. “She’s my best friend.”

For a moment, the two men just stare at each other.

Sidney breaks the silence after a few moments, speaking just above a whisper, “why are you so protective of her, then?”

“I’m not that protective of her,” Jordan attempts to defend himself.

Leaning forward, Sidney shakes his head, “Jordan, you stopped talking to her when she spent time with her mother, just because you didn’t like it. Now you’re running around the hotel room, like you’re gonna fight somebody because you think that Athena hates you and she’s not spending all of her time with you.”

Jordan repeats himself quietly, “she’s my best friend.”

“I get that,” Sidney nods, “but are you going to… stop her from living the rest of her life because you don’t want her to get hurt?”

Jordan shakes his head.

Sidney continues to speak, “you’re living your life, Jordan, very much without Athena’s consent. If she’s your best friend, then let her make her own decisions.”

“What are you trying to say?” Jordan’s enthusiasm deflates as he uncrosses his arms and speaks quietly.

“Don’t you want her to be happy?”

Silently, Jordan nods.

Shrugging, Sidney looks at the defeated man standing before him. “Then let her do what she wants to do.”



Just as Athena rests her head on her pillow again, a loud noise from the living room makes her eyes shoot open. Her abnormally raspy voice is quiet, “huh?”

The noise occurs again after a few minutes, sounding much louder this time.

Picking her head up, Athena eyes squint in attempt to see through the pitch black room. Dry mouth hanging open, Athena lets her head collapse on the pillow again as her bedroom door slowly opens.

“Athena,” a worried whisper comes from the dark threshold.

“Go away,” is all that Athena supplies, making no effort to move her heavy limbs.

Footsteps echo through the silent room and Athena groans when the light is switched on.

“Turn it off, Jord!” Athena buries her face into her pillow. “Now!”

Standing in the middle of the room, Jordan stares at his best friend, “Athena.”

“What?” Her head, feeling less wishy-washy than it had half an hour ago, throbs as she picks it up to stare at her best friend.

Jordan lifts his hand, a key ring resting around his index finger. “You left these in your deadbolt.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Athena mumbles, laying her head on her pillow again. “You know that.”

He nods, “I know. What the hell’s going on, Athena?”

“I’m just sad, Jordan.” Athena whispers, closing her teary eyes.

Jordan slowly walks toward the bed and sets the keys down on her nightstand, in front of a framed photo. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Jordan slowly moves a couple of stray hairs away from Athena’s flushed face. “I’m sorry, Athena.”

“I know,” Athena chokes the words out.

Getting up from the bed, Jordan shuts the light off and walks around to the other side of the bed. Slipping off his shoes, he crawls onto the mattress and stares at the ceiling.

The mattress shifts when Athena turns herself to face Jordan and move closer to him. Shamelessly, she rests her head on his shoulder. “When is this gonna get better, Jordan?”

Gently placing his hand on Athena’s shoulder blades, Jordan rubs the soft fabric of her dress. “I don’t know,” he whispers.

“Just tell me it will,” Athena slurs. “Please.”

Closing his eyes, Jordan sighs, “it’ll get better. Tomorrow will be better, Athena. Just go to sleep, okay?”

Resting her manicured hands over her face, Athena keeps her temple on Jordan’s shoulder.

“I… I didn’t mean to make you cry more,” Jordan whispers.

Athena shakes her head, “you didn’t. That’s just… that’s the same thing you said to me,” a sigh escapes her lips, “how many years ago?”

Jordan looks over at her, a bittersweet smile playing on his lips, and nods. “Yeah, I remember.”

Slowly, Athena nods and drapes her arm over Jordan’s stomach. “I’ll see you in the morning, Jordan.”

Carefully, Jordan moves her messy hair away from her hot, damp face, that he can’t even see, “I’ll be right here.”