Autumn in Kensington

Call Me Maybe

The phone rang...and then it rang again. By the third ring, I was beginning to awaken and attempt to figure out where the hell I was underneath the down comforter. My eyes were barely open as I thrashed around wondering how on earth Roger and I managed to get so tangled up in this thing. The white sheet was mostly on the floor and the white blanket that normally was underneath the down comforter was wrapped halfway around me and stuck underneath Roger. The phone had rung two more times. It was a good thing it didn't ring terribly loudly. I finally managed to untangle myself from the sea of blankets. One pillow was in the floor and my head was half-falling off the other. Roger and I had failed to close the window in my bedroom last night which would explain why it was fucking freezing in here. I managed to pull myself up toward my nightstand, mostly waking Roger in the process. He had heavy eyes this morning. He raised his head up, blinked a couple times, and breathed out heavily as he sunk back into the pillow. This stupid phone had rung at least eight times by now. I reached my bare arm to finally answer it. I reluctantly sat up, still feeling sleepy, and slung my feet to the side of the bed. The remnants of candles could be smelled as it mixed with the cold city air. It wa a divine scent The smell of weed, however, was completely absent. I picked up the receiver and picked up the phone itself so I could go close that damn window. My record player was still blankly spinning from the night before. Roger and I listened to both sides completely...twice. I knew I should probably pull the needle off. I was so very cold, of course, I was also naked, that didn't help. I held the phone receiver to my ear. "Hello?" My voice was a bit raspy. The voice on the other end of the phone nearly deafened me. I looked at the clock: 7:15.  It was much too early for this.

 "Damn...window..." I mumbled, awkwardly closing the window, balancing the phone, and probably flashing the world below. Immediately, it became warmer in my bedroom once the window was shut. I pulled on the phone as far as it would reach without pulling the entire bloody thing from the wall and stretched myself out to reach the needle on my record player. "Okay, Chrissie...first...slow down. I have no damn clue what you just said." I told her calmly as I did my best to pull my arm out of socket to flip the needle. I finally got it. I let Chrissie ramble as I hurried back to bed, sitting the phone on the nightstand and situating myself into my snug nest. I tugged and fought with the blankets until I was in my cocoon once more. I had both arms outside of the covers. Roger stirred a bit, rolling over toward me and putting an arm over my stomach and his head on my shoulder. I rested my free hand in his hair. I knew if I drug my fingernails against his scalp long enough, he would fall asleep.

 I closed my eyes and half-listened to Chrissie's out of control babbling. "Oh, so you went to Kensington Square last night?" I yawned. "What do you mean I'm not listening? I'm so listening." I could feel Roger's lips on my stomach. "Oh! You have a date!? Today? When? Oh, okay." I could feel Roger's tongue on my abdomen and his hand sliding over my hip bone. "So, he's callin' you today? Oh...oooooh." I could feel Roger's palms on the inside of my thighs. I breathed heavily into the phone and arched my back up a little. "What? Yes! Yes! I'm....lis...listening...!" I insisted. "What do you mean tell you what to do? It sounds liiiike you're did the riiiiiight thing by givin' him your number, oooh! Uh huh...yeah...I'm fine." I really wasn't fine...I was much better than fine. "Mmmm...I have no idea what you should wear." I was squirmin' a bit. "Do you have any idea what you're...OH! Doin'?" It was apparent, I was not keepin' it classy at this point. "Mmm hmm...I...I don't really..." I gasped into the phone. "Chrissie, I'm gonna' have to call you back!" I didn't wait for her to respond, say goodbye, nothing. I slammed the phone back down onto its base.

 "Lll...Lyd? Lydia? Hello? You...you there?" Chrissie said on her end of the phone. "Lydia?" She found herself perplexed. She wondered if she should call back. Chrissie thought for a moment. She didn't pick the phone up again immediately. She was sitting at her kitchen table with a pot of tea and staring at Brian's jacket that she still had from the night before. She stood up from her cup of tea, her flat quiet this morning. She hadn't even opened the blinds yet. Chrissie reached over and ran her fingers down the sleeve. She could still smell him in the fabric. She was full of nervous energy. She and Brian had left Kensington Square the night before at nearly one o' clock in the morning. She had been wide awake since six and tortured herself for the hour and fifteen minutes before calling Lydia; all that anticipation only to be hung up upon. "She had a good reason, I'm sure." Chrissie told herself. Before leaving her, Brian had assured Chrissie that he would call before noon. She was already excitedly anticipating that phone call. She returned to her tea and distracted herself with the days' paper. Chrissie kept glancing over the top of the paper at Brian's jacket. What she wanted to do was bury her face in it, but she refrained herself from doing so. Chrissie continued reading in the silence of her kitchen. She glanced over at the clock: 7:42…back to reading. She turned around to get a pair of scissors from a drawer behind her. Chrissie knew this was a perfect opportunity to clip coupons. She glanced over at Brian’s jacket again and flipped to the page where the weekend coupons were located.

 The phone rang, causing Chrissie to practically leap up from her chair and fling the scissors across the room. She audibly squeaked and clambered for the phone. “Hello!?” she answered the phone halfway through the first ring. “Lydia! Are you okay? Why did you hang up!? What are you doin’?” Chrissie asked her excitedly. “Oh…Ooooooooh. Wait!? What!? This early!? You’re….really? Last night? Seriously? How intense? Ooooooh. I’m impressed. See! That! Tell me how you do that!” Chrissie paused and leaned over against the table. “LYDIA! No! No! No! Not THAT! You know I haven’t been on a date in like six months and I really like Brian. You’re so comfortable…how do I do that? Chrissie had stood up and turned around, wrapping herself in the phone cord. “Yes…yes, I did pretty well last night but this is going to be me and Brian for the afternoon. I don’t know what we’re doin’ yet. Okay…okay…then what? No! You know I don’t kiss anyone on a first date! Nooooo! No! I can’t hold his hand! Are you mad!? Guess what? I’ve got his jacket. It’s layin’ here on my table. Wha….no!! Okay….yes, okay. It was really wonderful. Yeah.” Chrissie laughed sweetly. “Yeeeesssss. That’s a very nice thing for you to say. Aww, thank you, Lydia. Okay…okay. I’ll tell you all about it. Okay, bye.”

 I hung up the phone and rolled out of bed, scraping my robe off the floor and tying it around me. I hadn’t found it earlier because it was underneath the bed. I still had an open bag of grass on the nightstand beside my bed. I headed into the kitchen to put a kettle of tea on the stove for tea. Roger was in the shower. I filled the kettle, turned the stove on and went back to the bathroom. I took my sky blue compact off the sink and opened it. I clicked the rotating wheel into place: SAT, it read. I kept a glass for water to take my pill with in the bathroom. I swallowed it down and proceeded back to the kitchen to wait on the water to boil and to find something to make for breakfast. English muffins, eggs, jam, hashbrowns. Perfect. I could work with this.

 It was 10:37. Chrissie had successfully clipped seventeen coupons, completely rearranged her towels, alphabetized all the books on her bookshelf and arranged her closet by color. Or course, after arranging her entire closet…she tore it upside down trying to figure out what to wear on this afternoon date. She had seven outfits laid out on her bed…all of which she hated. At 10:41…the phone rang. Chrissie nearly destroyed everything in her path to get to the phone in her living room. “Hello?” she answered it eagerly. Chrissie could have lifted off the floor she was so excited. “Hi, Brian! How was your night? Did you sleep well?” Chrissie laughed. “Good. Good. Yeah. Oh…nothing much. I haven’t been up long.” She lied. “Brunch? Sure! I’d love to. Okay…okay what time? Oh…oh you’re gonna’ pick me up?” Chrissie’s cheeks should have hurt from smiling so much. “Okay, the flats are located at 87 Wilshire. If you get to the campus you’ve gone too far.” She laughed. “I’ll be waitin’ near the mailboxes. I’ll bring your jacket. Okay…11:30? I’ll be ready, Brian. See you soon. Okay, bye.”