...And a Happy New Year

February 14, 2014

Chaney walked into work this morning to a bouquet of red and white tulips sitting on her desk, and without looking at the card, knew exactly who it was from. She laughed as she looked at the card attached, laughing at the on-going joke. She took the card and stuck it in her wallet, still laughing about the tradition that has yet to die.

Stephanie peaked her head into Chaney’s cubicle wondering who the flowers were from.

“So Chaney, who’s the secret admirer? Who haven’t you told me about?” Stephanie asked impishly.

Chaney rolled her eyes and chuckled. “There’s no secret admirer. It’s just from Halvo. It’s part of our Anti-Valentine’s Day.”

“Anti-Valentine’s Day? I don’t follow.”

“Basically, for as long as we’ve been friends, we decided that we hated Valentine’s Day on principle. We thought it was a gauche holiday to celebrate because you shouldn’t save the extravagant displays of affection for a silly greeting card holiday. So, we started celebrating Anti-Valentine’s Day.”

“Okay…I get that, but how do the flowers fit in?”

“It’s just a Halvo thing;” Chaney started, “in lieu of how we celebrate the day, he always sends me flowers to say I’m his favorite non-valentine. It’s stupid, but it’s just our tradition. Then that night we always watch The Shining on VHS at his place and split a large pizza and a bottle of wine.”

“That’s either the sickest or most adorable thing I’ve ever heard.” Stephanie cooed. “As messed up as that tradition is, it totally fits for you and him. No one else could pull that off and get by with it without being admitted somewhere. So why watch it on VHS? You know there are such things as DVDs right?”

“Ha of course we do. It’s just that, as kids, we obviously weren’t allowed to watch it, but he found a VHS copy of it hidden at his house with the other thriller movies we were banned from watching. His parents got it on DVD which is why the VHS was hidden. Out of tradition, we just watch it on VHS. Not to mention, it just adds the creepy factor to it because it’s all grainy and the video is messed up some from us watching it so much. It’s just tradition.”

Stephanie stood there bewildered at what she was hearing. She shook her head, dismissing what Chaney was saying and laughing while she made her way to her cubicle.

Around lunch time, there was an email sent to the office closing work early so everyone could enjoy their Valentine’s plans. Chaney knew she wouldn’t meet up with Halvo until at least 6 that night, so she had a few hours to kill before heading over. She decided to head home and pack.

Since acquiring her new apartment, Chaney has spent her evenings and free time packing up her stuff; that is, when she wasn’t spending all her time looking after Halvo and making sure he was still alright. She knew he was getting better, but she couldn’t seem to suppress her mother-like tendencies towards him.

Chaney arrived to an empty house once again, and made her way upstairs to finish packing up what little was left in her room. She had secured a couple of boxes closed when she heard the front door slam open, with Alex yelling at someone. She stopped her movement and tried to listen to see if she could distinguish who he was yelling at.

Based on the nature of the person he was addressing, it was himself, but she heard another set of footsteps clomp up the stairs that didn’t sound like they belonged to Alex. She was startled when she found John leaning against her doorframe with a sheepish expression.

He observed her puzzled expression to his appearance in her house, especially outside of her room.

“I was headed out to meet the guys at the studio and I ran into Alex on the way out of the neighborhood. His car broke down and I drove him back here.”

Chaney nodded slowly with a quirked eyebrow, trying to decipher what John was up to. He seemed to have some sort of agenda based on the fact that he made a point to let her know he was there, and by the fact that he was still standing in her doorway looking at her.

After a few moments of silence, Chaney looked at him with raised eyebrows, adorning an expression questioning if there was a reason he was still standing there.

John walked into her room and began taping up more of the boxes that she had packed. He had taped a couple boxes and had stacked them against the wall before Chaney spoke up. If she was confused before as to his appearance here, she was even more bewildered now as he continued to pack, secure, and stack her boxes.

“John, wanna tell me exactly why you’re here? I feel like it’s more than just giving my brother a ride back to our house.”

He sheepishly smiled. “Actually, I uh, heard you were moving out and uh, thought I could help out. Ya know, since obviously Halvo can’t right now…broken ribs and all.” He nervously replied, as his hand rubbed the back of his neck.

“Right…but how did you hear about it?”

“Halvo told me.”

“Of course he did.” Chaney muttered.

She should have known it was a setup from the get-go. Of course John wouldn’t come on his own accord. However, she did need help moving in, and the added labor would greatly reduce her time spent packing and unpacking.

She nodded in acceptance of his help and motioned for him to continue. They worked in silence for a few minutes before John broke the silence.

“Any big plans tonight?”

“Just the annual Anti-Valentine’s Day plans with Halvo.”

John laughed. “I should’ve figured it was you he did that with. When he’s told me about it in the past, I figured it was some of the guys going over to his place to wallow in their pathetic singleness.”

Chaney ignored that comment, not sure whether or not to be insulted by it.

Noting that Chaney seemed a bit colder towards him now, he thought about what he said and realized how it must have come across.

“Hey, I wasn’t meaning that to insult you. It’s one thing for the guys to do it…but for you and Halvo to do it, it’s just a special tradition for you guys.”

“Yeah…uh, we just hate the commercialism of the day. We feel like you should show your love to someone every day and not just on a stupid holiday.”

John smiled, realizing that they actually had something in common besides their love of Tom Petty.

“I feel the same.”

Chaney looked over at him, seeing him smile, and she smiled a little back at him. She thought that maybe his company wouldn’t be so bad as long as he kept his pleasant demeanor.

She then asked him, “So what about you? Any big plans for tonight?”

John shrugged a bit and smiled his crooked smile. “Uh, not really. I may take Stephanie for a casual dinner, but nothing too fancy. We’re not really official or anything, we’ve just gone out a couple times, but I think I’ll take her out tonight.”

Chaney’s face fell, but she tried to quickly mask it in a smile before he could notice.

“That sounds great, John. I’m sure she’ll like it.”

He smiled in response and quickly pulled out his phone to send a text before pocketing it again.

They finished boxing up the last of her things minus a few essentials. They both got up off the floor in silence and stood there awkwardly, John rubbing the back of his neck, and both avoiding eye contact with one another.

“Well uh, if you’d like, I’ll drop by tomorrow and help you move in. You can load your boxes in my truck.”

Chaney forced a smile and nodded. “Uh, yeah. T-that’d be great.”

“I may uh, even bring the rest of the guys so you’ll have a few extra sets of hands. It’ll make loading and unloading a lot faster.”

“That’ll be good.”

John started to walk towards her door before he stopped himself and turned around to face Chaney again.

“Chaney, I know my apologies mean shit right now, but please believe me when I say that I am genuinely sorry about the way I’ve been treating you. I don’t expect you to forgive me right away, and I hope you don’t, but I would like us to be civil towards one another. You can be pretty good company…even if you do have crappy taste in music.” He winked.

She rolled her eyes. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Thanks. I may not have your elitist taste in music, but I do have a good taste. It’s just not your taste. Stop being so narrow-minded and you may enjoy what you hear.” She challenged with an impish smirk.

He chuckled a little before waving and heading down the stairs.

She looked at her phone and saw that it was already 5:45 and quickly rushed around to get ready for her night with Halvo. She noticed in the process that she had missed a phone call and a few texts from him. As she was running around frantically getting dressed, she decided to call Halvo, and put him on speaker so she could continue to get ready.

“Indy? Bout time you called me back. Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, I just uh, got sidetracked.”

Halvo smirked, figuring he knew the reason.

“Oh? And what, or should I ask who got you sidetracked?”

Chaney heard the smug smirk in his voice and chuckled as she pulled on her jeans.

“Like you don’t know? You practically set it up.”

“Maybe, but doesn’t mean I don’t wanna know.”

Chaney rolled her eyes as she searched her closet and drawers for a shirt to wear.

“It was John. He came over to help me finish packing. He’s coming by tomorrow to help me move all my stuff into my new place since invalid over here can’t do it.”

She glared at her phone at him, even though he couldn’t see.

“Hey, I can come for moral support, but I can’t lift anything. Consider me your unofficial cheerleader.”

“Ha, yeah. You’ll stand around, drinking my beers, while we all move my stuff, and ordering us around…”

“That sounds about right. You know me so well.” He fake sobbed.

“Save the cheese Halvo. When should I be over?”

He contemplated for a moment. “Well, considering the pizza is here and the tape is queued up to the beginning of the movie, and the wine is chilled, you tell me.”

She laughed. “Alright, alright I get it. I’m finishing getting ready now.” She said as she finally found a top pulled it over her head.

“Wait, finish getting ready? You mean you’ve been changing the entire time we were on the phone?” He asked the latter suggestively.

“God Halvo, quit being a perv. I hate when you do that, it’s so awkward.”

He laughed, “Which is why it’s so much fun! I love making you squirm.” His statement once again laced with innuendo.

“Oh my god I’m hanging up. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

He began to speak again, but she hung up before he got the chance to embarrass her any further.

She looked at her reflection in her mirror and noticed her face was bright red. Halvo never made her blush like that before despite how he would often tease her like he just did. She didn’t understand why suddenly she was getting so flustered over his crude jokes, but decided to brush the feeling off as she quick fixed her hair, touched up her makeup, and put on her shoes.

She made it to his house within a few minutes of ending their phone conversation. However that didn’t stop him from sending a few crude text messages in the same vein of teasing that he had done before they got off the phone.

She let herself into his house, her face still flushed from embarrassment from his texts, wishing her face and heart beat would calm down. When she walked in, Halvo was already sprawled out on the couch, pizza and wine on the coffee table, and The Shining paused at the opening frame.

He grinned upon seeing her, and the smirk only grew when he noticed how red her face was.

“Aww, did someone get all hot and bothered?” He jested.

She walked over and punched his left shoulder, thankful that his arms weren’t injured in the accident.

He gripped his shoulder where she punched him, laughing. “Wow, someone’s feisty tonight.”

“Yeah, and someone is a bit horny tonight.”

“Well ya know, it is Valentine’s Day and you can help relieve my frustrations…”

“Save it.” Chaney groaned. “Man, you’re in a mood tonight. Did you take any pain medication tonight? Is that why you’re unnaturally friendly right now?”

He put a hand over his heart and feigned hurt. “I’m offended. Like I need medication to be smooth.”

Chaney gave him a challenging look.

“Alright, I may have taken one a couple hours ago.”

Chaney laughed and shook her head.

“Hey! My ribs were killing me!” he defended.

“I’m sure they were Casanova. Let’s start the movie. I’ll dish the pizza and pour the wine.”

Halvo started the film, and they ate and drank in silence. They set their empty plates and glasses on the coffee table when they were finished, and Chaney curled into his right side, pulling the blanket off the back of the couch to cover their laps as they continued to watch.

No matter how many times she had seen this movie, Chaney still clung tightly to Halvo during the latter half of the movie as Jack began to lose his mind. The concept of a guy going psycho-killer on his wife and kid always freaked her out; especially when he began to chase them around the hotel with an axe.

The tighter she clung to Halvo, the tighter he would pull her into his side. By this point in the film, his right arm was draped over her shoulders. Her right arm was draped across his stomach, mindful not to touch his broken ribs, and her feet were tucked on the couch under the blanket they were sharing. She loved times like this when she could be so cozy with Halvo. He provided a sense of comfort to her that she had yet to find in anyone else. Even though this was a flick she had seen numerous times over the years as well as a fictional story, Halvo’s arm around her gave her a sense of security. His presence alone in most cases was enough of a comfort for her to keep her demons at bay.

Halvo enjoyed being her sense of protection. They had a mutual understanding of their dependency on each other; Chaney needing him for protection, and Halvo needing Chaney to protect. He loved that he could be her sense of comfort and knew he was without her saying so. That’s how their friendship worked. They understood these intricacies about each other that they couldn’t verbalize, but somehow had an innate knowledge of.

The movie ended and Chaney curled up even more into Halvo’s side, not wanting to move from her comfortable position. She was sleepy, he was warm, and she had no desire to leave his company.

She lazily looked over at the coffee table and saw that they still had almost the full bottle of wine, each only drinking one serving earlier in the night. She was in the mood to get a bit buzzed, ready to take the edge off for the weekend, and debated with herself on whether or not she should sit up and pour them each another glass.

Halvo seemed to have the same debate because he muttered something about wanting more wine, but not wanting to move to get it. She looked up at him and laughed lightly, basking in fact that they had the same thought processes. The want for a good buzz taking over, Chaney eventually sat up against her better wishes and poured them each a glass of wine; both ready to let loose for the night now that their annual festivities were finished.

The conversation between the two was kept light as the wine in the bottle decreased in volume. Both were gradually losing inhibition the longer they talked and drank. The longer they drank, the more cozy they became with each other. By the time they were on their final glass, lazy smiles adorned both of their faces.

Chaney was now sitting on Halvo’s lap, with his right arm wrapped around her waist, and both of her arms wrapped around his neck. They weren’t drunk by any means, but were feeling buzzed and the most relaxed either had felt all week.

Neither were talking about anything in particular, but both were laughing at whatever the other was saying due to neither of them making sense when they spoke. Chaney sat there looking at Halvo, and him back at her. They shared this intense stare into each other’s eyes that went far beyond looking at outward appearance.

Something came over Chaney, and before she could think twice about it, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Halvo’s. He immediately responded and pulled her closer to him. She repositioned herself on his lap so that she was now straddling his waist. Chaney played with the ends of his hair on the back of his neck while he began to kiss across her jaw and make his way to her neck. The second he started kissing below her ear, she realized what was going on and pulled back from him.

When Halvo felt her pull back, he looked up at her confused momentarily before realization crossed his features as well. They both stared at each other wide-eyed trying to comprehend what had just happened. They continued to sit there staring at each other, chests heaving in attempts to calm their heart rates down.

They continued to stare at each other, attempting to blink away what had happened and hoping to determine whether it actually happened or not. The next thing they knew, they were back at it. Halvo pulled her to him again and began passionately kissing her. She didn’t resist and only let him continue.

However, the moment his hand started to slide under the hem of her shirt, she pulled his hand away, and ceased what was going on. They both looked at each other, red-faced and lips swollen, slightly smirking at how their night transpired. Chaney moved from where she was straddled on his waist and got up to put her shoes on. She realized how late it was now, and didn’t know what time John would be there the next day to help her move. She wanted to get a good night’s rest for the laborious day she knew was ahead of her.

As she stood up, Halvo reached out and grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers, to keep her from leaving his side. He now craved her presence even more than before.

She bit her lip to contain the smirk threatening to break free, and stepped closer to him. She put one of her knees on the couch next to where he was still seated, and leaned down to kiss him again. He began to pull her closer and back to straddling his waist, but she pulled back so she could leave.

He pouted at her leaving so soon. She leaned down and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and walked over to her shoes to put them on before grabbing her bag and heading out the door.

As she walked out to her car, she had this new sense of confidence about her that she had never felt before. She put herself out there, took a risk, and shared this amazing moment. She was beginning to realize that taking risks weren’t always terrible.

Halvo’s words from the other day kept echoing through her mind; his words about how strong and independent she was. She never believed him before, because she was always so dependent on him to take care of her. However, she was starting to believe that she did indeed possess the inner strength that he talked about. For the first time in her life, she felt beautiful and confident. She didn’t know if it was her buzz talking or not, but she felt so blinded by what had been sitting in front of her this entire time.

She had an extra bounce in her step, and held her head a bit higher when she walked. She was feeling more confident about who she was, and was ready to show the world. At this point in time, nothing could bring her down from the high she was on and she couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow would bring.