“Maybe this should wait until we can both sit down at our place.” Our place? Who was he trying to convince here? Surely not me. He turned onto the street his apartment was on, not our apartment.
“You must be mental, thinking I’m going to go into your apartment with you. I don’t even know who you are anymore! And you made me leave my family behind in all the psychotic bullshit at the church!” I crossed my arms and turned toward the window. My maturity level hit high on the epic scale.
“Elaina, I need to explain to you what is going on. Just give me a few minutes, and if you don’t like what you hear, then you can leave. I’m not imprisoning you.” His statement seemed a bit calculated. I looked out the limo window, ignoring him, and trying to piece together what I had just seen.
There was a car crumpled around a light pole. The driver was hanging out of the window with his throat torn out, and some psycho lady was snacking on his arm like it was a turkey leg. My stomach was protesting again. I had a feeling that I would be safer with Henry, rather than out there in the wide open asking for Mental Susie to eat me for dessert.
“Am I having a nightmare? Please, Claire, pinch me. Tell me this isn’t real.” She reached up and slapped me across my face. “Ouch! Damn it! I said pinch me, not slap me, you bitch! I guess I am awake,” I said, while rubbing the newly-minted handprint on my face.
“This is not a dream, Elaina, but it is a nightmare of mega proportion,” Henry said so calmly and matter-of-fact, like it wasn’t a big deal. I looked back at him, confused, and he pulled the car up in front of his apartment building.
He hopped out and ran to the door where Claire and I were sitting. He held out his hand to help me out. When I didn’t make a move, he squatted down. “Elaina, love…”
“Love? Love!? Really!?”
“Elaina, I am begging you. Please…come inside so we can talk about this. It’s far too dangerous for you two to be out here on your own.”
“Talk about this? Are you fucking kidding me right now?! You left our families and friends stranded with what looked like crazed, people-eating monsters!” I looked toward Claire. She had her arm hooked through mine, and we were squeezing each other’s hands.
“Claire, talk some sense into her. This is important. We need to get off the street and to safety now!” Henry spoke with urgency.
“I can’t make her do anything she doesn’t want to do.” Then Claire turned to me, her eyes welling up with tears. “But, Elaina, Marc’s gone and I’m really scared out here. For me…please.” I looked back at Henry, wondering who he truly was.
I sighed. “I am doing this for Claire, not for you!” I pushed away his hand and scooted out of the car barefoot. Then, of course, I tore my dress even more on the door latch. I couldn’t have cared less.
***
Henry unlocked his third floor apartment. I had only been there twice to pick him up for dates on those rare occasions that he wasn’t walking around my apartment in his birthday suit. It was during the evening both times, and he met me at the door so I didn’t see much of anything.
“Come in. Please, have a seat on the sofa. I’m going to go change out of these clothes and wash up a bit.”
With nervous energy, I looked around. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Everything in there was contemporary. There was not a speck of dust anywhere, everything was in light colors, and there was not a book out of place. All clean lines, except for the trunk under the front window. It was exceptionally old and looked out of place, like a flea market or tag sale find. Maybe a family heirloom, I thought.
Much different than my style, which was the shabby chic, lived-in look. Plus, I wasn’t exactly a neat freak and, by looking around, I could see that Henry definitely was. I realized why he was always cleaning up behind me. I would be drinking the last sip of coffee out of my mug, and he would be grabbing it to load into the dishwasher.
I looked over at Claire, who was hugging herself, and I shrugged my shoulders. We’ve had the discussion before about Henry’s apartment. It was always in the back of my mind, and I wondered if he was going to keep his bachelor pad after we married.
We wanted to look for a house when we came home from the honeymoon. I wasn’t sure where home would be until we bought a house of our own. We talked about it for months and looked at several houses. The prices made me choke. Henry kept urging me to make a decision and not to worry about the financial aspect. He said it wasn’t an issue. Just choose what I liked and he would make it happen.
“Claire, I am so sorry about Marc.” I reached over and held her. She began sobbing again. Her make-up was making its way all over my dress.