Unrequited

Close Call - May 2001

A week after John had gotten his tattoos, he came home in a dark, aggravated mood. Arianna had been working in her home office when she heard him come in with a slam of the front door so loud that she was startled. She shook her head, figuring he'd be in to see her and to tell her what was bothering him, so she resumed her work. But soon, she heard him banging about in the kitchen. When she heard the shattering of glass, she shot to her feet and hurried out into the living room. She could hear John mumbling and cursing to himself in the kitchen, so she followed his voice.

She found him kneeling beside the trash can he'd pulled over to himself, shards of a broken drinking glass on the tile floor. He was gingerly picking up the jagged pieces but then slamming them into the trash can. He's going to cut himself doing that, she thought and went to the closet where she kept the dustpan and brush. She had no sooner turned towards him with the cleaning tools when she heard him curse loudly, snatching his one hand up quickly as blood spurted out of his palm.

"John!" she exclaimed, concerned for his injury as she hurried over to him.

He stood as she stepped up to him, and she grabbed his forearm, pulling him over to the sink. She ran his hand under the cold water for a moment, flicking on the light over the sink and watching his blood wash away. When she pulled his hand out from under the water, his palm immediately filled with blood, but she also saw the sparkling edge of the piece of glass.

"Careful - ow!" he yelled, scowling at her as she pulled the sliver of glass from his palm.

She thrust his hand under the water again, hoping any tiny flakes or pieces of glass would be washed away now that the big piece had been removed. She watched the wound flush clean and tried to see exactly how deep it was. She was pretty sure that he needed stitches, and when she pulled his hand out of the water flow, that was confirmed by how quickly his palm filled once more with his blood.

"You need stitches," she told him, but he immediately shook his head no.

"I don't have time for that," he complained, getting more agitated.

"You'll have even less time if this gets infected," she warned, and he gave her a loud, exasperated sigh, slapping his free hand on his thigh in annoyance.

She looked at him, confused by how high his level of aggravation was. It was just a cut.

"What is wrong with you today?" she asked with agitation in her voice.

"That little bastard is going to spill the beans!" John suddenly shouted, making her flinch.

What is he talking about? she thought as she looked at him, confused.

"Who?" she asked.

"Warren! He had Cyndi post on his site that he will be taking part in a Missing Persons reunion," he ranted as he pulled away from her and started to pace.

"So?" Arianna commented as she watched his blood drip on the floor and thought about having to clean it up later.

"So?! We're trying to keep the Duran reunion quiet for now! The fans are already getting curious," he added, and she looked at him like he was crazy.

"Why are you trying to hide it from the fans? This is really exciting stuff!" Arianna said eagerly.

"Because Nick and Simon are still touring with the current incarnation of the band."

"And?" she questioned. "Why is that a problem?" she added, crossing her arms in front of her and deflecting his agitation.

She didn't understand why they were all being so secretive. The fans would go nuts over the idea of the 'fab five' reuniting. John stopped mid-pace, his eyes glaring into hers, incredulous that she was not grasping the severity of the situation.