Road to nowhere - p20

Bill woke up to the strident noise of his digital clock, beeping loudly. He groaned and felt around to find the clock. He put it on snooze and told himself, just ten minutes. He closed his eyes and the ten minutes just flew by. The loud beeping noise made him jump again. He turned it off and sat in his place, stretching out.
He was not much of a morning person and despised waking up too early in the morning, but today he was actually excited. He looked around. It was still dark outside. He was sleeping in Tom's bed. He got out of the bed and walked out of the room. He could see the dark figure of his brother spread on the sofa in the living room. His blonde dreadlocks fell to his shoulders and Bill could see his clothing just thrown carelessly everywhere on the ground. He huffed and soundlessly walked to his own room.
He didn't want to wake Christy up yet. He would just take his clothes, take a shower and then he could wake her up. As he entered his eyes automatically scanned the bed. She was not under the covers, the bed was neatly made. Bill's heart skipped a beat. He remembered bitterly chasing her outside of an unknown town, trying to figure out where she was.
He looked up and in the dark he saw the small body curved against the bedpost. Christy was sitting there with her back against the wooden bedpost and her knees pulled up into her chest. Her arms were wrapped around her knees like she was trying to occupy as little space as possible. She looked at Bill from under a curtain of falling hair.
"Good morning." she sounded tired.
Bill smiled and tugged on his tight old t-shirt he had slept in.
"Hey, you're already up."
"I always wake up early."
She preferred not to mention most of the time she had problem going into sleep and if she did, it would be hard to stay sleep. She remained quiet.
"Don't you need anything?" Bill asked her.
"I just took a shower if that's ok with you guys."
"You took a shower?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to …"
Bill stopped her, "No, no! I didn't mean that. I was just wondering how early you woke up. That's quite alright. Did you find everything?"
"Yeah."
Bill stood there. Christy sounded cold, distant. He didn't understand why and didn't know what to say.
"Ok, I'll try to make it quick. We'll have breakfast on the way. You hungry?"
"No."
"You didn't eat dinner, either."
"I'm fine."
Christy almost covered her face under her arms. Bill sighed. He took his clothes for the day out of the closet and walked out.
He stood under the warm flow of water; letting it caress his still half sleep muscles. He sighed and just stood there in silence, letting the warm water wash over his long dreads. It was good to be back home.

Christy looked at the small narrow street skeptically. She didn't know where they were. Bill was smiling cheerfully. He put the last bit of his pastry in his mouth and dropped his empty disposable coffee cup in the first trash can on their way. Their quick little breakfast had been pleasant. They had walked all the way. Christy was silent while Bill had been chattering loudly. The streets were quiet and deserted. Bill sounded like a happy pigeon cooing lightly, breaking the ice in the air.
As they got closer to the end of the narrow street they were in, she could see more people and the voices were getting louder. They walked towards a small entrance and Christy felt the cool fragrances before seeing from behind the fences where they were. It was a big flower market. The rush of the scents was almost overwhelming. Many rows of flowers were just sitting there, waiting to be picked out. In the glowing radiance of the colours and soft petals, people seemed more cheerful, more alive. Christy's face lit up at the sight. She stood there mesmerized in the cold air, inhaling deeply. Her breath came out in small puffs, shapeless and disappeared quickly. The cool aroma made her dizzy. Bill seemed happy to see her reaction.
"Do you like it?"
"Love it. It's so beautiful."
"It is, isn't it? Come on, let's find Jenna."
Bill said it without much thinking and walked further. Christy swallowed at the mentioning of the name. so that was her name, Jenna. She followed him. They walked amongst the rows of flowers. People seemed to know Bill. He strutted around. He said hello here and there; shook hands and introduced Christy to some of the stall keepers. He was as proud as a rooster in a hen house. She shyly kept behind him and every time someone tried to get too close, Bill stood there protectively, guarding her space. She really appreciated what he did to make her feel comfortable, still a little thing tugged at a loose string of her heart. She couldn't stop feeling so bitter.
She sighed and stared at Bill's small back. She liked how straight he stood and how his leather jacket made small noises as he walked around. She didn't understand how he walked on those high heels, which could even be a killer for a woman, but it seemed he felt more comfortable towering over people rather than letting them intimidate him.
Bill turned at a corner and they found their way to a big stall in the middle of the market. Christy could see the back of a blonde head. Bill almost shouted out loud, "Jenna, gorgeous."
The girl attending the stall turned around. Her baby blue eyes shone as she saw Bill.
"Hey! Billie love. I missed you."
They hugged each other tightly. Christy almost backed away; a sick feeling erupted in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to grab Bill's hand and pull him away from her. She stared at the girl's small white hands patting Bill's back. Her eyes squinted as she saw the gold wedding band on the girl's left finger. She felt her eyes welling up. She could feel a panic attack building up in her chest. What was wrong with her?
Bill pulled away from the blonde girl and with his arm still wrapped around her shoulder held her in front of Christy.
"Christy, this is my best friend and partner, Jenna. Jenna this is Christy."
Jenna didn't try to shake hands or hug Christy. She kept her distance. She definitely knew about her hatred of being touched. Jenna waved and smiled brightly at her. Bill noticed the tears in Christy's big brown eyes. His eyebrows furrowed at the sight.
"Christy?"
"So you're married? That was your surprise? You brought me here to humiliate me?"
The question was abrupt, straight forward, yet shocking. Bill didn't expect it. He looked at Jenna who stared at Christy with her mouth open. Jenna burst out laughing. Christy felt stupid under her happy blue gaze.
"My world! Of course not. I'm married to Bill's best friend, Andi. He mentioned we're friends, didn't he?"
Now Christy really felt stupid. She started to withdraw. She took small steps, backing away even further. The smallest voice escaped her lips.
"You said … partner."
"Partner as … business partner." Bill said in a low voice.
Bill really felt sorry for her. He tried to remember what he had said to make her believe he was married? Couldn't she see how he tried to attract her attention in every possible way? He had done something wrong to make her feel this way. He sighed. Somehow he remembered how Christy had been acting all strange since morning. Now he somehow understood why. Had she heard his conversation with Jenna last night? Was it why she had ignored him all morning?
Christy wiped the teardrops from her eyes. She did not know what to say. This rush of emotions, in front of both of them was not acceptable. Her heart was hammering painfully in her chest. Her face burned like she had a high temperature. Suddenly she wanted to run away, get away from the burning scent of flowers and the blue eyes looking at her questioningly.
"Bill, I sent today's delivery to the shop. Andi is there. I made some cookies for you guys last night when you said you'd bring your friend along. I'll get them for you."
Jenna could feel she was no longer welcome. She wisely found the right excuse and walked lightly to the stall, leaving Bill and Christy alone to talk.
Bill looked at Christy who would not look up at him. Her head was ducked low on her chest, but Bill could see her eyes scanning her surroundings, like she was looking for a way out. She was nervously chewing on one of her fingers. He knew better than to bring up the subject again.
He looked at the rows of flowers. He smiled as he spotted what he was looking for. He took a bouquet of light purple bellflowers out of a large vase. He shook the excessive water from the bouquet and held it in front of Christy. She looked at the fragile light purple petals. Bill held his hand out stubbornly, he smiled. Christy blinked.
"You're mad at me?" Christy whispered.
"Mad at you? What for?" Bill sounded surprised, he really was. Christy was the one to be mad at him after what he had done.
"I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. Please, don't. You didn't do anything wrong."
"I just couldn't help it, I had to know. It was driving me crazy."
"I'm sorry Christy, it was my fault. I just wanted to introduce my friends to you. I wanted to surprise you. Didn't mean to hurt you."
Christy nodded. She finally got the bouquet of bellflowers from Bill. She hesitantly looked up to meet the warm kind eyes looking down at her. There was no anger or even judgment in them, only understanding and a little glitter of happiness. She tried to hide her burning face behind the flowers.
She could still feel him, his presence and his warmth. The flowers could not hide her forever. She opened her eyes and her tearful gaze welcomed the warm soothing glare. She sighed. A blush creped under her cheeks.
Bill was completely taken aback as Christy's hands snaked around his neck and her body carefully leaned on his. He stood there, not sure of how to react. She was there, hugging him and he did not know if he could hug her back. His hands hesitantly moved. It was like he was looking at his hands in slow motion. It took him forever to wrap his arms around her waist; still he just put his fingertips on the small of her back.
Electric sparks exploded as his fingers touched the material of her jacket. He could feel her thin back and the bones under his hands. He did not squeeze her tightly as he felt how her muscles stiffened and her body slightly shivered under his hands. She moaned in the back of her throat and her grip around his neck became loose. She let go.
Bill instantly released her waist. She walked away. Bill could still feel the electric current running through his body, making his ears buzz. His body protested angrily to the absence of the small body attached to it for the shortest period of time. His heart beat so fast that he felt it would jump out of his throat any minute. Christy looked at the flowers again with a smile, a happy one this time.
"Thanks."
Bill did not answer. He was left speechless.
"Bill, your cookies guys. Andi called, he's waiting for you. Bill?"
Bill turned sharply to see Jenna standing behind him. She was holding a tin box in her hand. He looked at the box and his laughter almost filled the whole market. He used the cookies as an excuse and hugged Jenna so tightly that she started coughing.
"Get away from me Bill. What the hell is wrong you? Are you hyperventilating?"
Bill let go and took the box from her. He was almost skipping around lightly. Jenna looked at him with her jaw dropping. She did not know why he was acting so strangely all of a sudden. Christy's face was so badly flushed and she was hiding under her trusty hood, playing with the small flowers she was carefully holding up, cradling them on her chest, like a baby. She was smiling to herself.