A Brilliant Plan

Chapter 24

I STOOD BEFORE Mundy in the light of the morning sun, a girl dressed in black, urine-soiled trousers, stained t-shirt, blue lips of shock and puffy thick eyes from crying without tears. He was standing there, fully dressed, so much for proper alibis, with a concerned look behind his thick glasses. He caught me gallantly when I broke down in his doorframe.

I did everything like a machine ready to be switched off, shutting down my functions one by one. The last thing I felt was the warmth when Mundy handed me a pill, pushed a hot water bottle under the blanket and pulled the curtains closed. Everything went dark, alas, no dreams.

Dancing over my eyes, a single sunray found its way through a crack in the curtains covering Mundy's bedroom window and the sunlight on my face finally woke me in the late afternoon. I felt serene, as if nothing had happened at all and I had just spent a day in bed out of pure luxury, something I did now and then. But the bad thoughts and memories came back, bit-by-bit, vision-by-vision, and I pulled the blanket over my face for a few minutes because the room started to spin around me and I began hyperventilating again. I was safe here; it was warm and cozy, sheets smelling of Mundy, my knight in armor—in certain situations.

Finally, I stretched loudly and looked down to check on my level of decency. I wore an old Berkeley College T-Shirt and a pair of baggy grey jogging pants. Nothing else, and I mean, nothing else. Did I have reasons to be embarrassed? The state I had been in came back to me a flash. I could always check Mundy for red ears. Just as I decided to get up, the door opened silently and he popped his head in. Mundy had probably checked on me every hour for the last 12 hours, on the hour, what a sweetie.

"Hey," he said quietly in a soft voice. "How are you this, eh... afternoon?" He sat down on the bed beside me and patted my hand like a grandmother.

"What happened to the shop?" It was the first normal world thing that came into my mind.

Mundy rolled his eyes as if he had expected this massive avoidance of the core subject. "Fine. I managed to talk to Mrs. Otis after her jealous husband threatened to rip off certain parts of my anatomy because he suspected that I had an affair with her. I told her that you had suddenly fell sick and that she was supposed to put out a sign at the store and otherwise remain home. Was that OK?"

"You are a dear, Mundy."

He looked at me seriously. "Cal? Would you like to tell me what went down in Newport? You looked and smelled terrible, you were in a state of shock and I actually thought about calling the doctor."

"Which you didn't do, I hope."

"No, of course not. I helped you get cleaned up and I tucked you in," Mundy said.

"I hope it wasn't too embarrassing for either of us?"

Mundy's ears got a little red. "I swear to God, I looked away when necessary."

I took Mundy's hand. "I know you did. Thank you very much. Can we get something to eat? I haven't had anything to eat for nearly 24 hours."

He glanced at his watch. "I figure you are in for Mundy steak therapy! What about the Outback behind Del Amo Fashion Mall?"

"The lady likes it raw. Can you fetch me something to wear?"

I took a quick shower, dressed in some borrowed jeans, shirt and jacket from Mundy, together with some sexy male underwear and cheap tube socks. Mundy drove us to the restaurant where he had called ahead and reserved us a table in the back. To Mundy's delight, the bumpy bouncy teenage waitress rotated her hips unbelievably, as she led the way to our table.