No Strings

CHAPTER 23--BOY AND GIRL IN WINTER

The snow was coming down in thick clumps outside. I watched William go to his car. I wasn't going to go to work that day. I was sick with a fever. There was no way I could go to work with a sore throat and drive two hours. I'd called a temp agency to get a replacement. The snow was thick anyhow. The ground was blanketed in three inches of snow, but William was going anyhow.

Dressed up in a suit, tie, and a heavy trench coat--something out of a fifties movie, he struggled against the wind to his car. My breath frosted against the window pane. He was holding out his hands catching the clumps of snow. He put his hands into his pocket and got into the car. He started it, but after a few minutes, got out and then disappeared into the back of the house.

I coughed and tried to warm myself up. I was somehow amused and horrified that he was trying. I could hear the wind howl through the trees.

He reappeared struggling against the wind. He started shoveling the snow out from around the car. I was tempted to help him, but I knew he would refuse because my fever was intense.

He got into his car and then after a few minutes I saw the plume of car exhaust. He drove away about twenty minutes later.

***

Life was boring when I didn't have work. The fever hadn't gone down. Mind-numbing amounts of TV distracted me from the lack of work. The Lifetime and Oxygen channel's marathon of movies made me gag, but I found that daytime television was worse. I wanted to type in those boring expense reports into the database again, file the papers from the client list, put together the project folders which I hated. I wish the office had more interns to dump that on, but by the time the television was done with me, I wanted to do that.

I wrapped myself in blankets and dragged them around the house. I hated being so inactive. My parents were the type to make me fend for myself when I was throwing up.

Lunch was bland. I couldn't find much more than frozen fish sticks and some oddball vegetables. I didn't feel like cooking or cleaning up.

So I visited the animal room. I played with my hedgehog for a few hours. I fed it a few crickets and mealworms that I'd stored up. I let it run around. Even more bored, I decided to take pictures of each of my animals. At first I thought it would be neat for insurance purposes, but then I got so bored that I devised an advertisement plan with them. I wrapped the blanket tight around me and worked on it while I coughed and sputtered.

My project wasn't anything brilliant like my classy coworkers. I made an ad for a cleaning agent--so safe that it could be used on animal cages, but so strong, that it could clean up the worst of messes and smells. I was playing with this idea from my laptop's print outs from the camera when William peered into the animal room.

"I made some hot chocolate, I wanted to know if you want some."

I said, "Sure."

"Good. I also am making chili. If you want some of that, help yourself."

I hesitated, realizing my mistake. He laughed a little. "No, it's not a date. I told you not to worry about that. This is not the first time I've had a crush on someone. Remember Sally Franks in middle school?"

I nodded. She was popular in school.

He entered the room. He looked up at the ceiling. "She turned me down to go to a dance. I was heartbroken. But I recovered. I've been turned down by girls I've liked and loved before. I've been also accepted by girls I've liked before. So don't worry too much. I'm not the kind to attack you in the middle of the night or make drunken rants at you."

I guess the reason he had said that was because he guessed I was thinking in that direction. I'd said such things through the romance movie fests. I couldn't help laughing at his commentary.

"Anyway, hot chocolate is downstairs if you want it. And the chili is simmering. I have to see how its doing. Do you want some?"

I paused and nodded. "I'll be down in a minute, I have to clean up."

He talked about all the usual things he talked about. His work and how things were going. I'd asked him anyhow. He'd pause and ask me about the television I watched and the things I'd been doing all day. Most of the time, he didn't talk all that much. His chili was good. It made me feel comfortable. Even the soft burn of the various peppers and mustards wasn't unpleasant.

I cleaned the dishes and he put away the excess chili. I had a feeling that would be his next dinner food kick.

He yawned and said, "I'm going to bed. Thank you for cleaning up."

I said, "You're welcome."

I got ready for bed too. I wore my pajamas. I still found it a bit strange that he was making little requests instead of trying to ask me to... well love him back. Make me love him back. Maybe I should divorce him. I fell asleep on that thought. I didn't sleep well that night.