...And a Happy New Year

March 11, 2014

Chaney woke up to loud knocking on her door. She stifled her giggle as she was expecting Halvo for their brunch, but he knew where the key was at so she didn’t know why he didn’t just open the door. Since she had only slept in her underwear, she quickly threw one of his sweatshirts over her bare chest as she went to answer the door.

As she opened the door, she said, “I don’t know why you knocked you knew where the key was.” The expression on her face instantly changed as she saw John standing there.

He looked down, taking in her apparel, or lack thereof, a blush covering his cheeks. He averted his stare to the ground, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. “I uh, hope I’m not uh, interrupting anything. I should’ve called beforehand. I’m sorry, I’ll just go.” He started to walk away, but she caught his arm before he got too far.

“Nonsense. I only planned to have Halvo over for brunch, but it’s not for,” she looked at the clock on her microwave, “a couple hours, so come on in. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you joining us,” she smiled, forgetting she still wasn’t dressed.

She opened the door wider to let John in and he made himself comfortable on the couch. “Can I get you anything to drink? Coffee? Water?”

He avoided eye contact, staring at his feet. “Uh, no I’m good thanks.”

She looked at him puzzled. “You alright John?”

He quickly looked back at her in the kitchen, relieved that the counter covered her lower torso. “Yeah, um. I’m alright.”

She looked at him questioningly then looked down only to realize why he was acting so strange. She forgot that she hadn’t gotten dressed to answer the door. She quickly left the kitchen and ran to her room to throw on some sweatpants and a bra before making her way back into the living room. She was mortified and could only imagine how John felt. She made her way back to the living room and saw him still staring at the ground.

“Hey,” she sheepishly said.

He only nodded, acknowledging her presence in the room.

“I’m uh, I’m dressed now. Sorry about that,” she said with a scrunched nose as she bit her lip.

John hesitantly looked up from the floor towards her, and visibly sighed with relief. He instantly seemed to feel more comfortable and like his old self once she came back. He scooted over on the couch, patting the cushion next to him for her to sit on as he took his black lyric book out of his pocket and sat it on the table.

She smiled and skipped over there before plopping on the couch with a dramatic sigh.

“Tough week?” he laughed.

She looked over at him from her slumped position on the couch and laughed lightly. “Not hardly. It’s just been…interesting,” she giggled.

This caught his attention and he sat up straighter before leaning towards her slightly. “Interesting huh? How so?” he challenged with a gleam in his eye.

She couldn’t hide the slight blush that rose to her cheeks from his stare as she thought about the moment her and Halvo shared on this very sofa just a couple days prior. “Oh uh, I don’t know. It’s just been an interesting week at work.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “But it’s Sunday…” he prompted.

“I know, I just mean these last couple weeks. I’ve been bogged down with work,” she said, quickly covering her chance of spilling anything about her and Halvo. They hadn’t discussed when they’d tell the guys yet, so she thought it best to not say anything to John. She hated keeping this from him as they’d grown kinda close over the last month or so.

“I see…well, any paintings or great works of art to speak of?” he questioned.

The sparkle in her eye glistened as she quick jumped off the couch and ran towards her room. She went to the shelf in the back of her closet where she kept her art supplies and grabbed her red sketchbook and few small paintings she had been working on. She was excited to show John what she had been working on while he was away.

She walked in the room carrying a few canvases with her sketchbook on top as she set them on the coffee table in front of him.

“Woah, you did all of this while we were in Brazil?”

“No! I mean, just one of them. I’ve been working on these for the last month or so. Most of these started while you guys were in the UK touring. I didn’t really see you much between then and Brazil, so I got a lot done.”

He nodded as he first grabbed the sketchbook and started thumbing through it. He was more than impressed by all of her small sketches that she had. Some were more elaborate than others, but most often reflected whatever was around her. He loved how he could tell what she had done that day based solely on the contents of her sketchbook. He could tell what days she went to the coffee shop, the park, work, the landing off her kitchen; her sketches were like small photographs of where she had been.

He loved the style of her sketches; cross-hatchings of sorts that were rough in appearance, but totally recognizable and refined at the same time. He knew her potential was great and was excited to see where it took her later in life. She was going to make it big one day, he knew it.

After thumbing through her sketchbook, he sat it down on the coffee table next to the small stack of canvases as he began to look through those.

Chaney had been pacing the living room as he looked, biting her thumb in nervousness. She never felt more exposed than when she was showing John her artwork. As a fellow creative, she knew he would be honest with her about her work. He was never one to beat around the bush. If he hated something, he would say so. She was nervous as he looked over her work with a critical eye. She knew he would be the most honest of anyone she asked, but was especially afraid of what he would say.

She decided to branch out a bit with her newest pieces and trying something new. She began experimenting with her painting style. As practice, she would sketch out ideas in her sketchbook of how she would attempt to paint. Cross-hatching was something she’d never tried before, and was afraid she couldn’t pull it off.

John had finally finished looking through the last of her paintings and sat there in contemplation as he gathered his thoughts.

Chaney quickly walked back over to the couch and sat next to him, waiting for his critique on her work. She knew he would support her, but she also knew he would tell her when her work wasn’t up to par.

He took a deep breath before turning to her. “Well Chaney, I must say, I’m impressed.”

She released her breath that she had been holding. “Really?”

“Yeah really,” he laughed. “Why wouldn’t I be? You’ve turned out a lot of great work over the last month.”

“I don’t know, I was just worried it wouldn’t be good enough. I experimented a lot for the first time.”

“So? There’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes experimenting can be the best thing to ever happen to your work. I’m speaking from experience. Sometimes you just need to go out on a limb and try something you’ve never done before. You’ll be surprised with what you can accomplish.”

She smiled meekly at him. “Thanks. For real, thank you.”

“For what?” he smiled with his brows slightly furrowed in confusion.

“For starters for just being there. For being my creative consultant so to speak. Also, your encouragement has helped push me to do what I’ve dreamed of doing my entire life. I wouldn’t have had the courage to start painting again without your urging. Speaking of, I also appreciate your note that you left in my brushes box. It meant a lot to find it there when I felt inspired to paint right after you left.”

The smile on his face grew as he brought her to him in a hug. “Of course! What are friends for?”

About that time, they heard the front door knob jiggle as Halvo’s voice spoke on the other side of the door as he opened it. “Hey babe, I brought the stuff for brunch so let’s get cookin’ good-lookin’!”

Chaney’s face grew red and John just looked between Chaney and Halvo coming through the door.

Halvo stopped and nearly dropped whatever he had in his hands when he saw John sitting on the couch with Chaney. “Oh, hey John. I uh, didn’t expect you here. How uh, how are ya?”

The awkwardness that was settling in the room was stifling and Chaney was looking for any means of escape.

“I’m good, how’re you man?” John said as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, barely making eye contact with his best friend.

“Good, good,” Halvo replied distantly. “I’m uh, gonna go put up the food stuff so it doesn’t go bad while we catch up…” he said as he made his way into the kitchen.

Silence filled her apartment as they waited for Halvo to join them in the living room.

Chaney was too busy worrying about how to escape the awkward tension filling her apartment to remember that she left her paintings and sketches out on the table. Her knee was bouncing uncontrollably as she couldn’t seem to stop fidgeting.

John wasn’t much better as he kept drumming his fingers on his knees, not knowing what to say to fill the silence.

The only sound filling the apartment besides the deafening silence was the crinkle of the bags as Halvo unpacked them and put the perishable food in the fridge. He then came in, instantly noticing the artwork on the table. “Hey! What’s all this?” he asked curiously.

Chaney looked at John terrified, not knowing how to tell him. She knew Halvo wouldn’t mind, but he would mind the fact that she kept it a secret from him. He would mind even more that she told John before telling him.

John noted her apprehension and spoke up. “Oh, I uh, I’d found these laying around my house and was looking to see if Chaney wanted to hang any of these up in her apartment.”

Halvo looked at her, waiting for her answer, “Oh uh, yeah! These will work great John, thanks.”

He smiled at her.

Halvo then went for her red sketchbook lying next to the canvases when John snatched it up. “That’s my lyric book. You know better than to touch that…” he defensively said.

Halvo laughed, “That’s right. I forgot how touchy you were about your lyric book.”

John rolled his eyes, “Well, I just wanted to drop those off. Maybe we can catch a coffee sometime this week and catch up huh?”

Chaney was about to speak, but Halvo spoke up thinking John was talking to him, “Yeah, I’ll be free all week.”

John laughed a bit, “Yeah, sure Halvo. We’ll go get coffee. I’ll see y’all around.”

John gave a slight salute and walked out of her apartment.

“Huh…” Halvo trailed off.

“What?”

“That was just…is it just me or was that incredibly awkward for some reason?”

“Oh god you felt it too! I thought I was the only one!” she exclaimed.

“Hell no. That was weird though, right? Like I’ve known the guy as long as I’ve known you and it’s never been this awkward with us…”

“I don’t know…but let’s eat some brunch. I’m starving!” Chaney interjected, hoping to get off the topic of John being there.

Halvo leaned over to give her a kiss before pulling her off the couch to follow him in the kitchen. “Let’s get cooking!”

Halvo pulled out a chair for her to sit in so she could watch while he cooked.

“Ya know Halv, I thought the whole point of us making brunch together was that I acutally participated…” she teased.

He looked over his shoulder with a smile, “Yeah, but where’s the fun in that? Is it a crime that I wanna make brunch for my girl? Can a guy not have his girlfriend’s company when he’s making her an epic meal?”

She laughed. “Oh, so it’s epic now is it?” she challenged with a raised brow and devilish smirk.

“Uh, duh! Have you ever known the Halvorsen men to do anything half-assed?”

“You mean other than your schoolwork?” she teased.

“Oh, now you’re gonna get it. If you’re not careful, I’m liable to take this delicious chocolate chip pancake batter and smear it all over your face.”

“Are you trying to convince me or…?” Chaney replied stonefaced, “because quite honestly, there are worse things than having pancake batter on my face. It helps that I like it, too,” she contemplated.

She was off in her own world when Halvo snuck up and smeared a streak of batter across her cheek; laughing as he did so. “I must say, the white batter suits you. You actually don’t look as translucent anymore…” he teased.

She turned to him wide-eyed with a smirk, “You’re one to talk! You can barely get out in the sun without baking like a lobster!”

“Deep fried in batter? No thanks, I prefer to be baked like marshmellows; lightly browned.”

“That didn’t even make sense…” she trailed off.

He laughed, “Does it have to? It’s me we’re talking about here.”

“True, true.”

There was a brief moment of silence before he got a mischievous look in his eye. He leaned in close to whisper in Chaney’s ear. “Have you ever had a moose kiss?”

The feel of his raspy voice hitting her ear sent shivers down her spine. The question itself made her back from him slightly. “A moose kiss? What the hell is—”

Before she could finish, Halvo grabbed the back and front of her head and licked her cheek. The lick removing the batter he had recently smeared on her face.

She instantly pushed him off, and started wiping her face where he licked her cheek with a grossed out expression as she laughed. “What the hell Halvo? What was that for?”

With a smirk he shrugged his shoulder. “I dunno. I just wanted a creative way to get the batter off your face,” he winked at her.

Chaney was about to say something back when Halvo’s phone rang. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket and noticed it was from an unidentified number. With a furrowed brow he said, “Hey, sorry, I need to take this call outside real quick.”

Chaney motioned for him to go ahead.

Halvo made his way to the door that went to the landing, slid it open, stepped outside, and closed it behind him. Once the door was closed, he unlocked his phone and answered, “Hello?”

“Halvo!”

“Uh…yeah? Who is this?”

“It’s Stephanie.”

His eyes went wide. He quickly looked inside to see Chaney was messing with her phone. He then turned his back towards the kitchen and walked to the railing surrounding the tiny landing. He took a deep breath, propping his arms across the railing in front of him.

“Stephanie? What the hell? Where have you been? What’s going on?”

She sighed. “Look, are you free right now? I really need to see you…”

“Uh, I mean, I can. I’m currently making brunch with Chaney, but—”

“Leave. Cut it short. Make up an excuse. Do something. Just don’t tell her that you’re meeting me. I need you here right now.”

He could sense the urgency in her voice and knew something was wrong. “I’ll uh, I’ll see what I can do. Where do I need to meet you?”

“Meet me outside the back of mine and Chaney’s office building within the next half hour. I’m hiding out, but I’ll see you when you come. Park a couple blocks away and walk to the building. I’ll look for you and wave you over.”

Confused by her request, he agreed and hung up. He was trying to think of how he could best lie to Chaney about this. Something he hated doing. He hated how this whole thing with Stephanie was forcing him to lie to his girlfriend, his best friend. It wasn’t like him.

He came back into the kitchen with a downcast expression, still trying to figure out what to say.

“Is everything alright Halvo?” Chaney asked, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

He took a deep breath, shaking his head slightly. “I uh, I actually have to go.”

Chaney removed her hand and looked at him questioningly.

“That was uh, well, I uh, had a family emergency of sorts come up and I need to go.”

Chaney’s expression changed from one of confusion to one of alarm. “Oh my god. Is everything alright? Do I need to do anything?”

He shook his head. “Nah, it’s okay. We’ll be fine. I’ll be by later.” He gave her a kiss on her cheek before exiting the apartment.

He hopped in his car and drove the few blocks to their office building, keeping in mind to park a couple blocks away. He got out and walked towards the back of the building, not really sure what was going on with Stephanie or why she was acting so elusive. He hoped she would start filling in some of the blanks for him soon.

He neared the building and kept an eye out for her. He saw her hand in the distance wave from behind a large blue dumpster. Confused, he casually made his way over there, hoping not to attract any unwanted attention. When he got close, he felt Stephanie grab his arm and yank him behind the dumpster where she had been hiding out.

Considering how long she had been missing, he wouldn’t have been able to tell. She looked just as well groomed and fed as she had the last time he saw her. He was puzzled however, as to what was going on.

They stood there in an uncomfortable silence, Stephanie shifting uncomfortably between her feet, while Halvo stood there expecting her to say something.

“Look Steph, I get that you’re in some kind of bind with your husband and needed a way out, but ya gotta level with me here and tell me what’s going on. Otherwise, I don’t know how to help you.”

She sighed before looking into Halvo’s eyes. “You have to swear to me that whatever I tell you remains between us. More so than when I ran away, what I’m about to tell you, will change everything.”

“Steph, you’re starting to scare me. What’s going on?” Halvo asked with a worried expression.

“Let’s take a seat, this will take a while.”

They both sat down and situated themselves comfortably on the pavement.

He sat there expectantly, waiting for her to divulge and finally tell him what was going on.

She took a deep breath before she started. “First of all, there’s only one other person that I’ve talked to about this, so bear with me as this is difficult to talk about.”

Halvo put a comforting hand on her shoulder, urging her to continue.

“I’m a sister wife.”

Halvo retracted his hand and looked at her questioningly.

“I didn’t know it for a while. When I was 17, I met this guy named Steven at some club I was at with my friends. He came over to me, expressing interest in me. Flattered, and finding him attractive, I gave him my attention. I knew he was older, but I didn’t know just how much older. He looked like he could’ve easily been 20 when I met him, leaving a three year age difference. I knew we couldn’t really ‘date’ until I was at least 18. He was respectful of that, and we only talked during that time period.

“Once I turned 18, we started dating and dated until he proposed to me that next year right after my 19th birthday. I of course said yes because I was absolutely smitten with him. The entire time, I’m thinking he’s around 22 years old, only to find out he was 30 when I married him. Meaning, he was 28 when I first met him.”

Halvo stared at her wide-eyed but she kept going.

“That’s not the worst of it. So we have what I thought was a wedding ceremony. We didn’t’ tell my parents as they never approved of him in the first place, so we eloped. We go off on our honeymoon and return a week later to his apartment to live. I’m ecstatic. I was so in love and couldn’t wait to start living my life with this man.

“We get into his apartment and I find two other women there, one of which has a child. I looked at him confused until he introduces me to my fellow sister-wives. You’ve met one of them, Emily. I’m the closest with her. She’s become like a sister to me, and was the first to go look for me when I went missing. Annie is the other woman. She doesn’t talk a great deal, but she has the most darling daughter that I’ve quasi-adopted because I love her so much. She shares her mother’s name of Annie.

“So I’m instantly told the rules that I must now live under including how I’m not allowed to tell anyone about this sister-wife situation as it’s technically illegal and we could all get into serious trouble if we were discovered. Secondly, I’m not allowed to spend any of my free time outside of work anywhere else but home. That being said, any friends or social interactions I had were limited at best, and didn’t leave me much room for companionship. Sure I got along with Annie and Emily, but being holed up in his apartment all of the time got rather boring.

“Steven is a very jealous man, and hates any other guys interacting with any of us. He’s the only male allowed to talk to us. At least that’s what he expects. I of course never told him about you or John in fear of what he would do to you. I was so happy to make a friend in Chaney that I didn’t want to ruin our friendship by either of you guys getting hurt. That’s why she’s not allowed to know about this. Steven knows about her and doesn’t mind her being my friend.”

Halvo sat there, trying to take this all in. “Right…so where do I come in to all of this?”

She nodded before continuing. “So after six years of being married to this monster that is constantly belittling me and emotionally abusing me, I decide to run away. Which is when I initially come to your place. You were a great host and I’m forever indebted to you for your kindness. The day I left, Emily had stopped by your apartment while you were away and pleaded with me to come back. Steven was getting angry that I ran away and was on the hunt to find me. I didn’t want him to come find you or for you to be involved in this more than you already were so I ran. Hell, I’m still running.”

He hummed in contemplation. “Alright, so where did you go when you ran away from my place?”

“My boss, Mr. Rickford. I told him about my situation a couple years ago. Actually, he approached me about it due to some mix-up in my personal files. Somehow having two other females, in addition to my husband, that share the same last name as we do, sparked an interest. He was able to cover it up to protect my job and identity as he could tell it wasn’t a situation I wanted to be in. He had always told me if ever I decided to run away, he would help me out. He held true to his word. I told him the morning I ran to your place that I was running away and he covered for me at work. When I had to flee from you, I went to his house, where he’s welcomed me and where I’ve stayed ever since.

“Steven however, is starting to get suspicious and is looking for rabbit trails that lead to my whereabouts. Emily is doing her best to throw him off my trail, but there’s only so much she can do. This is where you come in. I need your help to completely run away from my husband. Can you help me?”

He could see the desperation in her eyes. As he looked at her, really looked at her, he started noticing just how exhausted she truly was. She had permanent dark purple circles under her eyes. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot from lack of sleep. Her skin lacked any sort of vivacity that it used to possess. Overall, she simply looked worn-down and it broke his heart to see her in such a state. He nodded, choosing to help her out however he could.

Tears rimmed her eyes as a smile came across her face. She engulfed him in a hug, sobbing into his shoulder as she continuously thanked him.

Halvo sat there holding her, trying to calm her down, and wondering how on earth he was going to help her escape her husband.