“That was so much fun, Annie. Where did you hear about this club?”
Kevin, Howie, Ann, and AJ were in a cab on the way back to the hotel after spending Saturday night out clubbing. Fortunately, it was a big cab with the seats on either side of the door. AJ and Annie sat facing Kevin and Howie.
“You know me, Kev. I try to stay informed. A friend of mine told me about a new club and I figured that it would be great to take you guys.”
“I’m glad you did.” As it almost always did, AJ’s mind switched to his favorite subject – women. “Hey, Howie, did you see that red head at the bar?”
“How could I? I’m sure I was dancing with someone better looking anyway.”
“Who? Didn’t you spend the whole night dancing with Annie?”
“Exactly.”
Annie laughed, and jumped over to squeeze in between Kevin and Howie. She put her head on his shoulder and smiled, “See, Alex. Howie knows how to make a woman feel good.”
“Anytime, beautiful.”
AJ rolled his eyes and then ruined it by smiling. Kevin, meanwhile, laughed at his friends’ antics. They talked and joked for a bit longer until they reached the hotel.
Howie hugged Ann tightly, “You call me, you hear? We have a lot of talking and catching up to do, okay?”
She gave him a mock salute, “Yes, sir, Mr. Lecture Man, sir!”
As he walked back to the hotel, Kevin bid her goodbye as well. “Will we see you before we leave?”
“How much longer do you have here?”
“We leave Wednesday.”
“Yeah, I’ll definitely see you before then.”
“Good, now this old man can go to bed feeling happy.” The two laughed as they hugged and he walked away.
Ann looked around, confused for a moment when she didn’t immediately find AJ.
“I’m still in here,” he called from the cab.
“Aren’t you going to come out?”
“No, come in here, I want to take you somewhere.”
She raised a skeptical eyebrow but climbed back into the cab quickly. AJ nodded to the driver and he sped off as if AJ had already told him where to go.
“Where are you taking me, and why, exactly, am I being kidnapped?”
The cab passed under a street light to reveal a slightly devilish grin, “I’m taking you to our spot and you’re not being kidnapped. Just rerouted.”
Our spot. AJ didn’t need to say more. Annie automatically knew where they were going. She also knew that the grin AJ couldn’t wipe off his face was because of the fact he was making her squirm, which she hated, and not because of what was about to go down. Their ‘spot’ was reserved for discussions and epiphanies and meaningful, idle chit-chat. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her when the amicable silence continued. Soon enough, she had dozed off to sleep in the taxi. They arrived a few minutes later.
AJ shook her slightly and bent down to whisper in her ear, “The cab stopped, sweetie, we’re here.”
She awoke quickly and tried to pay the cabby, but AJ stopped her with a stern look and handed his money to the driver.
Annie never knew why two mature adults would choose the swings at Central Park as their spot for sometimes deep, sometimes intellectual, conversation. But they were, as the others quipped, the A-team, and a set of swings just happened to suit them perfectly.
Each picked a swing and sat adjacent to each other, rocking silently and listening to the cool night breeze flirt with all the trees. If Ann wasn’t barely listening, she would have missed AJ’s quiet inquiry.
“What took you so long?”
Her swing made a screeching sound as it stopped abruptly, “Excuse me?”
“Why didn’t you talk to me for a week, Annie? I called you like how many times and you never once called back. I thought we were better friends than that.”
“We are, Alex, the best, but I just couldn’t face you yet.”
“I was so worried that you were hurting really bad or something.”
“That’s why I couldn’t talk to you.”
“Why?”
“Because I was.”
The pair was silent again, their thoughts contemplative. AJ was the first to speak.
“Tell me about it.”
“What?”
“Everything. Why you were hurting, why you couldn’t speak to me because you were hurting, the whole nine.”
“I was still really unsure about the choices I had made, and I didn’t want anyone reading my confusion like an open book. Plus, I didn’t want you to start acting like Superman on a mission to save me from my pain.”
AJ laughed, “Am I really like that? Trying to be Superman?”
“Sometimes. We’re the same age, but you always act like some surrogate father going to beat up the boy who upset your baby girl.”
“Sorry,” he smiled sheepishly.
“Don’t be. Most of the time, it does a world of good, knowing that someone always has my back.”
He placed his hand on her arm, “You do know that, don’t you? That I’m always here?”
“Of course.”
Another moment of quiet passed between them.
“He misses you, you know.”
“Yeah?”
AJ nodded his head, “Yeah. He’s been a jerk all week.”
It was Annie’s turn to smile apologetically, “sorry.”
“Don’t be. Kevin yelled at him two days ago and he seems to be getting better.”
“What happened?”
“He got kind of jealous, hearing Kevin and me on the phone with you, plus he had been at the gym that day. He threw a hissy, and Kevin called him on it.”
“That’s good,” she said, her voice sounding distant.
AJ paused thoughtfully before speaking, “This isn’t just your pain, you know?”
Ann began to swing slowly, “What do you mean?”
“I know that sometimes, just because it’s your nature, you try to handle things on your own. But…you’re one of my best friends and I feel like I just need to be there for you.”
“You are.”
“I know but, sometimes you won’t let me be.”
“It’s like you said, that’s my nature. Even you should know, being an only child, you tend to be one of two extremes, emotionally dependent or a complete independent. I have the unfortunate pleasure of getting the worst of both worlds.”
“You’re not alone. You never are. I need you to know that I’m here and I want to help.”
“I do know that, it’s just that sometimes…sometimes, I have to sort things out for myself before I can come to anyone. But I know that when I’m straight I can come to you.”
They shared a warm glance and held hands while swinging peacefully for a few moments. AJ broke the silence again. “I have something for you.”
“Oh, yeah? What?”
“Actually two things, but don’t get hyped.”
“Well, what are they?”
“Remember when me and Howie didn’t come back on the last break because we went to Asia?” she nodded enthusiastically, “well, while I was there, I got you this.”
He stood from his swing and handed her a relatively small black box. She didn’t attempt to hide her gasp of surprise and wonder once she had opened it. She held in her hands a jade figurine of a kitten playing with a ball of yarn.
“I thought you might like it. Actually, I saw it in a store I was passing by looking for something to get Amanda and just knew it was for you.”
She threw her arms around him and hugged him until he pulled back to look at his watch. “Damn, I better get you home. It’s already after 3am.”
“Really? Wow! We should start looking for a cab.”
Fifteen minutes after making it to the main road, laughing and joking, they were able to hail a cab.
The taxi reached the hotel and AJ was about to jump out when he turned around.
“I almost forgot. Here’s your second present,” he handed her an envelope, “all I can tell you is to 1)read it with an open mind and 2)for future reference – no, I did not look at it.” He smiled as the confusion swept over her face, hugged and kissed her on the cheek and bounced out of the cab.
“Now, what could this be?” she thought to herself.
Links to other sites on the Web
© 1997 crunkgrl62382@yahoo.com
Get your own Free Home Page