What Did I Tell You?

Chapter 7

That night, Tarja and Floor were both lying in bed reading, when Floor suddenly sat up and said,

"Okay, Tarja, I simply can't ignore it anymore. What...were you doing with Alissa this afternoon?" Tarja sighed.

"Nothing, actually. I think you just jumped to a conclusion. We were just making out. Why? Does it matter?"

"No," Floor said. "And I wouldn't care if you were. I don't care what you do, it's your apartment too. I was just curious." She blushed. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Tarja said, smiling. "I'm sorry we upset you." Floor sighed and pushed some strands of hair out of her face.

"It's not your fault. I was just...jealous, I guess. Cause you have Alissa and I...I have no one." She suddenly looked sad, and Tarja felt bad for bringing it up again.

"I'm sorry," she said, getting out of bed to go hug Floor. Floor hugged back.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm fine," she insisted. "Don't worry about me."

"I can't help it. I know you're hurting, no matter how tough you act. And I worry that you're just totally miserable and are falling apart," Tarja answered. She touched Floor's cheek. "I love you. That's why I worry about you." Floor squeezed her hand.

"You'll know if I'm falling apart, trust me. I'm not, at least, not right now." She sighed, and Tarja saw a hint of pain in her blue eyes. "Sorry. I didn't mean to get you all worked up again." Tarja stroked her hair.

"It's okay. You didn't do anything."

"I think it was Sharon," Floor said quietly. She lay down and turned off the light. "I'm gonna try and get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay," Tarja said, leaning down to hug her. "Goodnight, Floortje."

"Goodnight, Tari," Floor said, hugging back. She kissed Tarja's cheek. "I'm glad I have you to talk to." Tarja smiled, then kissed Floor's cheek and went back to bed. But while she was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, she could hear Floor softly crying into her pillow, and her heart ached because of it.

In the morning, Floor seemed fine, though her eyes were a little red. Tarja decided to say nothing about it, and just handed her a plate of eggs and toast as she sat down at the table. The food seemed to help, and after breakfast, when Floor went into the bathroom to take a shower, Tarja heard her singing. In fact, she was still singing when she came out of the bathroom, dressed to go out.

"I gotta run, Tarja, I'm gonna be late. Bye! See you this evening," she said, hugging her friend. Tarja hugged back.

"Have fun," she said.

"You too," Floor replied, before she hurried out the door.

Several weeks passed, and things sort of fell into a routine. Going out to whatever they needed to do in the daytime, coming home, eating dinner, doing the dishes, and going to bed. Occasionally, they broke the pattern and went out to do something fun, sometimes just Tarja and Alissa, and sometimes they brought Floor with them. This was okay; as a matter of fact, it was quite pleasant. But after a while,something began to bother Tarja. She hadn't heard from or seen Sharon in over three weeks. She texted her, but got no reply. The same thing happened when she emailed her. Finally, Tarja became worried and drove over to Sharon's apartment one Friday evening. She rode the elevator up to the third story, planning what she would say to Sharon, but when she reached Sharon's door, she found that her hands would not move to knock on it. She seemed frozen.

Just knock, Tarja, she told herself. Knock. Just lift your hand and knock on the dang door. What's wrong with you? She forced her hand up and rapped on the door. It opened a moment later, revealing Sharon. Tarja stared at her friend in astonishment. The other woman looked awful, dressed in sweatpants and an old t-shirt that looked like she'd slept in them, there were huge circles under her eyes, which were red and bloodshot, and her hair looked like it hadn't been combed in days. Any anger Tarja still had toward Sharon was completely washed away the moment she laid eyes on her. She reached out and put her arms around her friend.