Her neck, arms and legs were willowy, her calves pretty decent since she'd gotten into zumba last year. I liked to tease her about her bony knees. Her feet were bare. Her right little toe had a silver ring.
She was Charis. Same old Charis. She looked like the geek she was.
Fucking fantastic to see her.
So fantastic I almost reached out and grabbed her for a hug. But I stopped myself-I don't know why.
"I probably should be." I said, clearing my throat. I was nervous, for some reason. "If I need to, I'll call the profs for an extension."
"Thinking you can wiggle out of things? Ha, I dare you to try, Norrell." She finally remembered to move aside to let me pass.
"They'd agree to a retake," I assured her. I was confident there, having finagled it before, in my wilder drinking days.
"You are such a politician sometimes," she laughed.
I was just inside the door when I paused. I hadn't been exactly sure how I would break it to her, but this needed to be said. "Char … Aura and I just broke up."
Charis froze into stone. Her mouth opened and stayed open. "You. Did. Not."
That made me grin despite myself. "Did."
"Impossible." Her tone was urgent. "No, no, this can't be. Asher, you and Aura are The Couple. People talk about the two of you in one breath, use you as a metaphor after Romeo and Juliet, Abelard and Heloise … "
"It takes more than being invited together to parties to keep a couple going, Sloane."
"An institution, that's what you are … "
She was right. We had been a Marmot Canyon University institution, Aura and I. Everybody knew we were together. My professors asked after her. We received single, not double, invitations to social events. We were "the most tweeted couple on campus." For what it's worth.
It was depressing, when you thought about it.
While Sloane stood there in her doorway as if paralyzed, I reached into my sack and brought out a bottle. She lunged for it, holding it to her chest like a life jacket.
"When did it happen?"
"We fought this morning."
Charis's mouth finally closed a bit, her lips pursing. She continued looking dazed as I attended to the business of getting glasses and pouring.
"You guys always fight. I think of your fights as romantic, kind of Shakespearean. If I be waspish, best beware my sting and suchlike."
"Yeah, well, this one was a dealbreaker."
"Wow," she said, plopping down on her sofa next to me and putting her feet up on the coffee table. "Wow. I just can't believe it."
"Believe it." I downed a couple of shots, leaned back, and closed my eyes.
And relaxed for the first time in months.
Finally.
I was here. I was home. Everything would be fine now. The rush of relief actually made me smile.
I glanced around, comforted by the pistachio wrappers, the clothing draped over furniture, mounds of batteries and electronics piled on surfaces. Charis's long feet rested between two precarious stacks of books. Her bachelor-style housekeeping reminded me of my two older brothers. The place smelled nice enough, so I don't think anything was actually rotting, but there was disarray galore. Nothing had changed. She was just the same.
I felt more tension flowing out of me before I even took one sip of whiskey.
"This really blows." She sounded subdued, like the air had gone out of her. For someone who wasn't a huge Aura fan, my bestie was taking this hard.
"Maybe you'll make up with her," she went on. "Maybe whatever it is she'll forgive you for, or you'll forgive her, or … something."
It was like she was trying to convince herself.
I looked at her curiously. I was starting to wonder if there was something more to her dismay than the obvious. "No. We're done. Truth, Char? It's a relief. My dad always told us boys a good woman would enhance your life, make it better. Fill it up, not drain it dry."
"You're saying Aura drains it dry?"
My balls, for sure. Naturally, I didn't say that crassness aloud. I'm comfortable with Charis, but I try to tone down my dirty mouth some.
I swallowed two more shots working up a more sociable answer. "Let's just say she didn't leave me a whole helluva lot for anything else."
"Did something happen that sparked the fight?"
I hesitated. Should I tell her the part she'd played? I was reluctant to go there, but on the other hand, I didn't want it there between us, unspoken.
"Well?"
"Nobody pulled any new shit," I hedged. "Things have been bad for a while."
"Oh. I didn't know that. Well, how is she? Is she upset?"
"She'll get over it."
"Really. You think?"
I held up one palm. "I hereby make a prediction. I predict Aura Renaldi's life will significantly improve starting now."
As the liquor began to hit my system, it occurred to me how true I spoke. When Aura irritated me, I pulled away, which made her bonkers, which made me pull away, which made her insecure, which made her bonkers, which irritated me … .
Yeah, the whole situation had been majorly fucked up. They'd have loved tearing me down as an enabler on reality TV.
"Um, so, I guess, do you want to talk about what happened?"
I opened my eyes. "You really want a play by play, Sloane?"
She shrugged, her cheeks a little pink. "It's up to you. We both know your girlfriend and I never really hit it off, but if you need to talk about it, I'm here for you. You know that."
I hesitated. Historically, the topic of Aura has been do-not-enter for us. Sloane and I have some deep convos, but we avoid waxing eloquent on our love lives. She knew I was into Aura; I knew she dated the occasional loser, and we left it at that.
She gave me space probably because she felt uncomfortable about getting between Aura and me. Or so I gathered from the way she left the room whenever Aura got extra wiggly in my lap.
As for me …
Aura had always made it clear that my relationship with Sloane was a problem. A big one. I didn't want Sloane worrying about that.
But now that I think about it, with the perspective of hindsight, it does imply that Sloane has been between me and Aura from the beginning …
CHAPTER 5
Three Years Ago-The Hair
Charis: Something's wrong. What's wrong?
Asher: Nothing. Just girlfriend shit.
Charis: Oh. I'm sorry.
Asher: It'll blow over. So you up for some VelvetSky2?
Charis: Uh, sure. Okay, sure.
Asher: What about you, something wrong with you?
Charis: No. No, I'm fine. What are you doing?
Asher: Just calling Aura, give me a sec … hey, there. Are you? Yeah, I'm at Charis's. Want to come over, we're playing … great. She'll be here soon.
Charis: Cool. What does she like, chips, tacos … oh, I have some pistachios-tell me she likes pistachios. These are good, they're not the dyed ones. What? What's wrong now?
Asher: Shit. She might not want to play, she might just hang, that all right?
Charis: That'll be fine. I'd like to get to know her better. You guys have been dating for, what is it, four months already. I need to see if she's treating you right, young whippersnapper.
Asher: She's treating me fine, big sister.
Charis: Hmm. You know what? You're in a weird mood.
Asher: So are you. You don't usually wear your hair like that.
Charis: Like-oh, you mean up like this? It's getting long. I've got to cut it.
Asher: It looks good.
Charis: It looks messy. Stop changing the subject. What's with the weird mood?
Asher: I'm not in a weird mood, I'm just … anyway … Aura's great. She's amazing. She's what I need right now.
Charis: You're really happy being with her, aren't you?
Asher: Why do you say that?
Charis: You miss her when she's not with you. You're always checking your phone. She'll be here soon, you know.
Asher: Yeah, I know. You logged in? We'll play at least till she gets here.
Charis: Okay.
Asher
AURA HAD A COW THE MOMENT SHE first learned of Sloane's existence, about a week into our relationship.
At first her suspicions amused me. All I can say in my defense is, Charis just isn't the type of woman other females go into jealous fits about. She's everyone's friend, everyone's pal, and a bit oddball if you want the truth. Not that I give a fuck. As far as I'm concerned, she's just the way she should be.
But this wasn't my first girlfriend rodeo, oh, no. With the female of the species, you don't ignore early signs of problems, you face them head-on to avoid looking the fool when the apocalypse comes.
I insisted the two women meet ASAP. I even gave Charis a heads-up about the situation.
She came through like a champ. No sooner had I introduced them than she was laying it all out with her usual good humor.