Chapter Nine
Phil
After so many years, seeing Anna again was a shock. She represented a part of my life that I had left behind, and seeing her reminded me of how far I’d come. She was still beautiful, still friendly as ever, still interested in my life and my family, but there were no feelings attached to her anymore.
“Anyway, Anna, it was nice seeing you again, but we’re on our first date and—”
“Uh, Phil?” she interrupted. “Your date has disappeared.”
With a start, I looked to my side and realized that Megan was no longer standing there. I looked around, trying to catch her among the sea of people.
“Where’d she go?” I asked.
“She didn’t look too happy to meet me,” Anna said gently. “Maybe that had something to do with it.”
I frowned. “That can’t be it.”
“I know jealousy when I see it,” she said. “As I recall, I was the jealous one when we were dating.”
“Fuck,” I cursed.
“Sorry if I fucked things up for you.”
“I gotta go, Anna,” I said, without bothering with a goodbye hug.
My only concern was finding Megan. I replayed the last ten minutes over in my head again. I didn’t think I had been different, had I? I realized that I’d forgotten to introduce Megan immediately. Then I realized I had dropped her hand. I had been holding her hand when I saw Anna, and the fact that she had managed to walk away without me even realizing it meant that I had unconsciously let go at some point.
All of that combined with seeing me meet an old girlfriend might have sent Megan straight towards the exit, but I still couldn’t quite believe she would leave like that. I checked the entire theater for good measure, and I hung around the bathrooms, too, just in case she had needed to use a restroom. But Megan was nowhere in sight.
Finally, I picked up my phone and tried calling. It was ringing, but she didn’t pick up. I tried again immediately, and this time, the line went dead. She had seen I was calling and had cut me off. I was starting to see that Anna was spot on with her observation. Cursing, I headed out towards Brent’s apartment, hoping that she had gone back there.
On my way over, I called Megan’s number again and left a message. “Megan,” I said. “I’m sorry about that… She’s an old girlfriend, but there’s nothing going on between us. There hasn’t been for years. I knew her before becoming a firefighter.”
My explanation sounded flat and flimsy as I was saying it and instead of continuing on with it, I just hung up and headed to the apartment. I realized that Megan might not even have made it back yet. She had either decided to walk, in which she would probably take another fifteen minutes, or she had taken a cab, which I thought was unlikely. Either way, I headed up to Brent’s apartment and knocked hard, hoping to find Megan there.
The door opened, but it wasn’t Megan.
“It’s you,” I said.
“Well, hello to you, too,” Brent said. He was chomping on a bag of chips. “Want one?”
“No thanks,” I said, breezing past him. “Where’s Megan?”
“No idea,” he replied with his mouth full. “Why?”
“We were at the movies and she just…disappeared on me,” I said, not wanting to get into the whole thing with Brent.
“You went to the movies together?” he asked, frowning at me.
“Uh…yeah.”
He tilted his head to the side. “On a date?”
“Um… yeah.”
“I thought you told me that there was nothing going on between you two?” he asked. “You said it was strictly plutonic and all that shit.”
“First of all, it’s platonic,” I corrected him. “Not plutonic. And secondly, it was for about ten minutes, and then it changed.”
“Hold the fuck up,” Brent said, setting down his bag of chips. “Are you telling me that you’re dating my sister?”
I turned to face him. “Yes.”
Brent’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t ask for my permission.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I didn’t realize I was supposed to.”
“Dude, we’re supposed to be friends,” he said.
“I’m sorry, man,” I said. “Really. I should have spoken to you first. But you knew Megan and I were talking…”
“As friends,” he pointed out. “I didn’t know you wanted to get in her pants.”
“It’s not like that, okay?” I said, choosing to omit the fact that we had already slept together on this very couch about an hour ago. “I really like Megan. I care about her a lot, and I don’t intend to hurt her.”
Brent listened carefully. “What are your intentions with my sister?”
I frowned. “Are you being serious right now?”
Brent’s face relaxed. “I just always wanted to say that,” he said. “But I am serious about one thing… If you hurt my sister, I’ll beat the living crap out of you—got it?”
“Got it,” I nodded. “Does that mean I have your blessing?”
Brent made a face and then shrugged to indicate that it was more like a grudging acceptance rather than an outright blessing, but I would take it. The more pressing problem at the moment was where Megan was. It would be ironic for Brent to be okay with Megan and I dating, only for Megan to decide that she never wanted to see me again.
“Thanks,” I said. “So, you have no idea where Megan is, then?”
“You were the one at the movies with her,” Brent pointed out.
“We had a little…misunderstanding,” I said evasively. “And she ran out on me.”
“What did you do?” Brent asked, raising one eyebrow at me.
“Nothing. I just ran into an old girlfriend and Megan… I guess she got upset.”
“Huh,” Brent said. “Never pegged Megan for the jealous type.”
He sat down on his couch and put his feet up. “You can wait here for her if you want,” he said, chomping on more chips.
“I think I will,” I decided, sitting down next to Brent.
I figured if she had decided to walk home, she’d still need a little more time getting here. I groaned in frustration.
“So, who was it?” he asked.
“What?”
“Who was the ex-girlfriend you bumped into?”
“Oh… Anna,” I replied.
“Fuck, I remember her,” Brent nodded. “She was hot—definitely a nine. Maybe even a nine-point-five now that I think about it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Do you still do that?”
“Do what?”
“Rate women based on appearance?”
“Sure.” Brent nodded. “Every man does.”
“I don’t.”
“That’s because you’re a fucking boy scout who always does the right thing,” Brent said. “I’m sure Saint Phil would never objectify a woman.”
“Oh, trust me, I used to,” I said.
“What changed?”
“I suppose I just grew up.”
“Sad.”
I shook my head at him. “At some point, you might have to grow up, too, whether you like it or not.”
“Wanna watch some porn?” Brent asked.
“No,” I said decidedly.
“Want a beer?”
“Now that I won’t say no to.” I nodded, hoping it would take the edge off and make me feel a little better.
Brent got me a beer, and while he was at it, he got himself another, too. He sat down beside me and took a long swig. “So, how’d she look?”
“Who?” I asked distractedly.
“Anna, of course,” Brent said.
I looked at him in shock. “Dude.”
“What?”
“I wasn’t really paying attention to Anna.”
“Are you just saying that because you’re dating my sister?” Brent asked.
“No,” I said firmly.
“Geez…” Thankfully he didn’t persist.
I had drunk half my beer when I realized that Megan wasn’t coming home anytime soon. She had obviously gone somewhere else to try and let off some steam. The only problem was that I hadn’t the faintest notion where that might be.
“Does Megan like to hang out anyplace?” I asked.
“Uh…no clue,” Brent replied, with a shrug.
I put down my beer bottle in annoyance. “She’s your sister,” I reminded him. “Maybe you should take an interest.”
“What the fuck is your problem?” he asked, completely unconcerned.
“My problem is that she’s been working her ass off trying to pay rent, keep this place clean, and keep you fed, and you don’t seem to appreciate her.”
Brent narrowed his eyes at me. “Hey, dude, I’m not the one she ran from tonight.”
I felt my anger deflate just like that. Brent must have seen it because he took another swig of beer and threw me a bone. “Try the park two blocks down from here,” he said. “She might be there.”
“Really?”
Brent shrugged. “She mentioned walking by the park on her way to work each day…and something about going there when she has a minute to spare to think or something.”
“Thanks, Brent,” I said gratefully, as I made a beeline for the door.
“Wait, you’re leaving?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“We haven’t hung out in ages.”
“Another time, man,” I said. “Thanks for your help.”
I sped out of the apartment and headed straight for the park. I had actually driven past it in on my way here, but I hadn’t given it a second glance. There were plenty of parking spaces around the area, so I parked quickly and walked around looking for Megan.
I found her on the swing set, surrounded by trees and masked moonlight. She cut a sad and lonely silhouette, and my body ached for her all of a sudden. Her hair flowed gently in the wind, cutting off half her face from my view. She was looking down, pensive and distant.
I walked over to her quietly. She saw me coming at the last possible second, but she didn’t seem surprised. Her eyes caught mine for just a moment before she looked away again. She didn’t say a word, and I didn’t, either. Instead, I sat down on the swing beside hers, reached out, and took her hand. I thought she might resist, but to my surprise, she didn’t.
We just sat like that, hand in hand, swinging in tandem with one another. I realized suddenly that this was the first time in my life that I could remember being on a swing at all. It was a strangely sad thought, and I felt the need to share that with Megan. When I looked towards her, her face was turned towards me, but she was looking off in the distance at something I couldn’t see.
She was so beautiful that I finally understood what people meant when they spoke of muses. I could understand the inspiration behind painting a beautiful woman and wanting to commit her image to history forever. It felt almost like a public service—beauty like that needed to be seen and appreciated. I wanted to kiss her again, but I also wanted to talk to her. I found it amazing that the two things could be mutually exclusive. I had always believed that you got one or the other.
When I looked towards her, I caught her glancing towards me. But this time, she didn’t turn away.