Spinning

Chapter 41: Flight Attendant Barbie

"Do you think I can pull off tie dye?"
    "Sure, if you want people to get nauseous when they look at you."
    Stone has an interesting idea here. "Maybe then people will finally leave me alone," I murmur, while holding up a blue and pink tie dye long sleeve crop top while shopping at my favorite record store, trying to balance Stone via my flip phone between my ear and my shoulder. I smooth the shirt, wondering how it'll look.
    "Are you listening to me?"
    "What?"
    "I asked what you're doing this weekend."
    "Oh. Uh, well I think I'm going to meet Susan and Chris in LA."
    Silence.
    "What?"
    "Yeah, Susan asked me to come to LA. She needs her passport because she's flying to Japan or something after, so I'm flying her passport out. And my body is coming with it."
I see an old record of Led Zeppelin IV on my way out. I run my hands over its smooth surface. I always thought it was a strange album cover.
    "When are you leaving?"
    "Tomorrow," I answer, distractedly, considering if I should buy the record. I do have Physical Graffiti and Houses of the Holy hung on my wall...
    "And when do you come back?"
    "Tuesday, I think. Not sure."
    Silence.
    "And you're staying with Susan?"
    What the hell is Stone's deal?
"Yes, you psychotic human. I'll buy a tracker so you can have real time updates of my location."
    "Sorry Jordan, my house is on fire, gotta go."
    And the line goes dead.
What the hell?

    "I swear to god, she asked me to unhook her bra."
    "But... weren't you uncomfortable?"
    "Well of course, but what else could I have done?! Say no?"
    "You could've pulled the fire alarm and ran away!"
    "Have her bra-less and wet? No thank you! I unhooked it and then ran into the stall to hide."
    "Was she at least hot?"
    "No! She must be at least 45 years old. And not a hot, Jennifer-Aniston-type 45."
    Eddie giggles at my re-telling of this strange encounter I had at the gym.
    "Well, I'm just glad you didn't hurt yourself during the process."
    "Of course I hurt myself! My eyes were burning!"
    Another series of giggles from Eddie. I have my phone pinned between my ear and my shoulder again, and I swear my ear will far off from overuse. Who the hell am I?
Eddie called me an hour or so after I hung up with Stone, and I've been mindlessly pacing my room ever since, attempting to pack. So far, I have my newly purchased tie-dye shirt, my platform Doc Martens and a comb thrown into a suitcase.
    "Anyways... I saw another ad for that Pink Floyd laser show you've been wanted to go to."
    "Oh yeah, I've heard its trippy." I internally shudder at the memory of Adriano asking me to go with him...
    "I think they are doing The Wall this weekend."
    Ugh. I haven't told Eddie yet that I have to postpone our little... outing, or what ever it is, scheduled for this weekend. And I'm getting the feeling he wants to add this to the agenda.
    "Nice. Although, I like Dark Side of the Moon better."
    Silence. Guilt floods my veins. Does Eddie think I'm turning him down?
    "Maybe another time then."
    Silence. Think, Jordan, think.
    "So, uh—,"
    "Do you like—,"
    We both try to break the awkward silence at the same time.
    "You first," I blurt out, mainly because I didn't actually have anything to say.
    "I was just going to ask if you like Indian food. A new place opened up near our—er, my apartment that we could try this weekend."
    Ugh. Not again. Do it, Jordan, rip the band-aid off.
    "Well, uh, I meant to bring this up earlier, but something came up and I need to postpone our, uh, Indian food tasting extravaganza until next week."
    A pause.
    "Oh. Sure, no problem."
    There's a tone in Eddie's voice that I can't place. It's not disappointment like I expected. His voice became deeper and more muted than usual... like he was talking through a burp. Or holding his breath.
    "Really, I wasn't really expecting any plans this weekend, and then I got this, uh, offer I couldn't refuse." I attempted my best Vito Corleone impression at the end, but I didn't even get a hint of a chuckle from Eddie. Eddie, the same man who just ferociously laughed at me taking off another woman's bra at the gym. What the heck?
    "Er, anyways, tell me any date next week and I'm there."
    "Okay. Indian food tasting extravaganza will be postponed."
    He didn't ask what plans came up. He didn't sound sad, or confused, or angry, or disappointed, or anything other than perfectly neutral about the whole issue. Was I overestimating his interest in me? Did he get a better offer from a better woman? A Mrs. Corleone?
    My mild contentment of the day was doused with a cold splash of rejection. No, not even rejection. His covert, vague, muddled, inexplicable reaction to my postponement. I wanted some hurt, some pain, some indication that he's upset by my actions, proving that he's feeling the connection I'm feeling, willing to try to rebuild what Angela knocked down. But he just seemed... content. What the heck, man.