“Hey Todd, got a sec?” Astrid stood just inside Todd Feldon’s doorway as he looked up from his computer and smiled at her. Astrid thought Todd was a handsome man in a very academic sort of way. He was tall with dark hair, light brown eyes and glasses, but he looked more sophisticated than nerdy. Todd could be stern, but for the most part, he was a really easy guy to work with. “Sure, but you know you don’t have to turn that in until the end of the day.” He gestured toward the thin, beige folder she held in her hands. “I got an early start,” was all she said in return. “I can imagine, considering you were here before I was this morning,” he answered as he reached out to take it from her. He opened the folder, scanned its contents quickly and commented, “these are good.” He glanced up at her, gave her a business like half-smile, nodded his head and said, “Thanks.” Astrid gave him one polite, but tired nod and turned to walk back to her desk when Todd called her back. “You know, there really isn’t anything else you need to do today. If you want to take off…”, his sentence trailed off as he shrugged and pointed as if to say there’s the door. “Thanks anyway, Todd, but I’m sure I can find something that needs to be done.” “Really? Because you look like hell warmed over. No offense,” he chuckled softly. “Well, good morning to you, too.” Her voice was flat, the sarcasm understated, almost lazy.
Todd narrowed his eyes slightly, cocked his head to the side and examined Astrid as if he couldn’t see her clearly. “Hey now, what happened to the sense of humor, the wit, the biting sarcasm? You okay, Astrid?” He was joking with her a little, but he was genuinely interested. “How sweet, you’re concerned,” she shot back sweetly. “Can I go back to my desk now?” “Did you mean ’can I go back to bed now’? That’s where you need to be. I’m not sure how much I like grumpy Astrid.” She sighed, “I just had a rough night, that’s all. Give me some busy work and I’ll be fine.” “Go home, Astrid.” “But”- Todd cut her off. “Go Home.” “Sleep,” he commanded gently. He smiled widely at her, daring her to argue and turned his attention back to his computer. Discussion closed.
Feeling surly, both from sleep deprivation and being ordered around like a child, Astrid did what Todd told her to do; she got in her car and drove home. It was an electric blue Volkswagen Jetta-one she got lucky to get. She needed a car when her old beat up neon died, which Todd knew and so he secretly showed her the ad for her current car before it was published in the paper. A doctor at the hospital bought the car brand new for his wife. She’d driven it for a few months, but then was diagnosed with a rare disease that prevented her from driving or even going out much for that matter. The doctors had given her up to a year to live and in an effort to eliminate some of their finances in order to better care for his wife, the doctor had put the car up for sale. He was graciously taking payments on it, which was the only way Astrid was even able to afford it.
Driving abated Astrid’s bad mood a little, but all too soon she was home again when she didn’t want to be. She debated on pulling back out and driving somewhere-anywhere-else, but she yawned, which effectively cancelled out any such plans; she was too tired to be driving around. She reluctantly got out of the car, ambled up the porch steps and unlocked the door. She hung her keys on the nail in the wall by the entryway and dragged herself to the couch where she tumbled down with a loud plopping noise.
She hadn’t intended to go to sleep. The dream she’d had the night before thoroughly banished any desire she had to ever close her eyes again, but she was helpless against the exhaustion and sleep overtook her almost instantly. Luckily, there were no bad dreams, or dreams of any kind (as far as she could remember) when she woke very early the next morning. Her eyes fluttered open, she stretched, then peeked at the clock. She’d slept for over twelve hours. That surprised her-she didn’t think she was that tired. She felt alert and refreshed, but too comfortable to get up just yet so she laid on the couch for a few minutes longer thinking.
That was some dream she’d had the night before. It was all too realistic. She could feel everything in the dream as if she was really there, as if it was actually happening. It was very, very scary. And weird. The whole mind blasting thing was strange, but what really vexed her was this Aysa person. She’d dreamed about her before, but this dream was by far the most bizarre. Where did it come from? And what was it with this girl stalking her dreams? Of course, Astrid could have been imagining that it had anything to do with her. It could have just been a dream-nothing prophetic or meaningful about it. Sometimes, my head is a really crazy place to live, she thought. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her little silver cell phone and glanced at the front screen. No missed calls.
The rest of the week passed in much the same way. Slow and dreary. Work, home, mope, sleep-with little in between as she was purposely trying not to think. Friday was day five with no calls, not even a text, from Alex. She could have called him, but wouldn’t simply on principle. He said he would call her and she would wait until he got around to it. (Hey, you already knew the girl was stubborn.) In the meantime, it was a Friday night and she was at home alone again, staring at Alex’s note on the kitchen table where she’d left it all week, feeling like a mental case. “That’s it!“, she exclaimed determinedly, deciding she wasn’t going to stay home and mope again. On a whim, she sprang off the chair nearly knocking it over in the process, darted into the entryway, grabbed her keys, jumped into the jetta and hauled ass to town.
Twenty minutes later, Astrid’s brilliant plan not to stay home and mope didn’t seem so brilliant when she got to town and realized she didn’t know where she was going. She didn’t even lock her front door, but it didn’t matter much. Her house was out in the woods and no one ever bothered her. She didn’t want to drive around aimlessly, but where could she go? It was a stupid question. It was Friday night-she could go anywhere. The problem was there was nowhere she wanted to go. She drove around for a while longer until she came to a bar and grill that sat right in between her town and the next. It was packed with cars, she heard the food was good and the music was loud. It seemed like a great place for not moping.
Inside, in the near darkness, the atmosphere was charged with heat, energy emanating from every body in the building. Cigarette smoke was swirling in the air, music from a live band pulsed in Astrid’s ears and the crowd was so dense it was almost impossible to advance any further into the place, never mind finding a seat anywhere. Astrid managed to push her way through the crowd with moderate difficulty, saw that there was a wooden, saloon-style door off to the right that led to another part of the bar and decided to see if it was any less crowded in that area.
It wasn’t. But she did get lucky enough to come in at exactly the same time that a couple vacated their booth. Considering she was alone, she didn’t really need a booth, but she didn’t want to stand the whole evening either. She made her way to the far corner by a back door where the booth sat and took in her surroundings. When she first walked in, it seemed the place had a very country vibe about it with smoke swirling against the wooden walls that were sparsely decorated with nets and fishing paraphernalia, but back here in this part of the bar, it was a different scene. It was still going along with the country theme, but it incorporated a much more badass, rock-n-roll feel than the main entrance. Looking around, she would have sworn two entirely different people had decorated the front part of the building and the back where she was.
There was a live band playing loud and energetically in the corner with neon lights glowing behind their heads, all of different colors: a red Budweiser sign, blue and yellow for Miller Lite and one for Corona made up of several colors, but was primarily a bright green. All around, there were pictures of famous icons and old records hanging artfully on the walls. Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and John Wayne were given tribute among others such as Elvis and Patsy Cline. There was another bar set up right beside the area where the band was playing and the majority of the people crowding around it looked happy, carefree as they slammed down drinks and laughed out loud. The rest looked like they were there just to be there. Kind of like Astrid.
The glossy, rectangular wooden tables sat lined against the walls and in the center of each was one large, smooth black tile of some sort. The chairs possessed very sleek covers of black imitation leather. In the center of the room, there were two pool tables, currently occupied by an already inebriated gathering of men. Astrid could have whooped them all at a game of pool drunk or not and she thought about betting on a few games later with a more sober crowd of idiots. She liked for her victories to be indisputable and drunk moron’s had a tendency not to accept defeat, especially by a girl, very gracefully-or less gracefully than sober moron’s at least.
At that moment a pretty, blonde waitress summoned Astrid’s attention. She was perky, all smiles as she bustled over and introduced herself, nearly having to yell over the music. “Hi, I’m Lalita. I’ll be your server this evening. What can I get for you?” She had a hint of a country twang in her voice, which Astrid found odd for a girl named Lalita. Astrid quickly swiped a menu off the table and began to look it over, something she’d neglected to do as she was taking in all the activity around her. She chose the first drink she saw-an Alabama slammer. “Anything else? Do you need a few minutes to look over the menu?” Lalita asked politely. Then, registering that Astrid was alone in a booth she added hastily, “oh, I’m sorry! Are you waiting for someone? I can come back.” Lalita the server sounded genuinely startled, thinking that she might have been rude.
Astrid looked up at her, shaking her head as she said, “no, no- I’m not waiting for anyone.” She gave her a small smile and continued, “what’s good here?” Lalita didn’t answer. She stared at Astrid like she had five heads for about three whole seconds before her face transformed into a breathtaking smile. She gasped, “I didn’t know that was you! I haven’t seen you ages!” Then she swooped down unexpectedly and caught Astrid in a very excited and very awkward hug. Astrid froze, tensing at the unwelcome embrace and barely managed not to push the girl away and knock the blond off of her. The hug was brief, ultimately saving Lalita’s dye job. Smiling from ear to ear, Lalita kept talking, oblivious to Astrid‘s confusion. “I’m going to go get your drink for you and I’ll be right back. It’s time for my break anyway so I can visit for a few.” She was positively bouncing with excitement as she turned to leave.
Astrid, on the other hand, was flummoxed. This girl really thought she knew her. Perhaps she did. It was the first time she’d gone anywhere someone she didn’t know or recognize at all directly acknowledged her as a friend might. She’d been waiting for something like that to happen for years thinking she might be able to find out something about herself or her life. It never had until now. The only time it ever came close was when she met Alex, but that wasn’t the same. He didn’t rush up and assault her with hugs. In fact, he didn’t do anything-he just stopped. He stopped and stared and so did she. Of course, it was at his dad’s auto shop so he was only waiting on her to tell him what the problem was with her car and she was just gawking at him because he’s gorgeous, but still-she rather liked her day-dreamy whimsical version of the memory. When they met, there was an inexplicable feeling of harmony within her. Peace. It’s what he gave her that first day and what he always brought to her when they were together.
What was happening now was entirely different. It really brought home for her the realization that she might have been someone wholly different from the woman she was now and there really were people in the world who would recognize her as that other personality, completely unknown to her. Astrid was nervous, but determined to get a few more pieces to the puzzle from Lalita. She guessed that whoever she was before wouldn’t have minded an old friend hugging her and consciously tried to pull her usually pensive face into a more friendly, open expression. She was sure she could pretend to be whatever Lalita thought she was just for this one night.
“Oh my God!” Lalita squealed as she ran up to Astrid’s table, sliding with lively fluidity into the seat opposite Astrid. Very animated, this one-she was probably a cheerleader in high school. She even brought Astrid’s drink and managed not to spill a drop of it. Astrid assumed her happiest smile and tried to squeal right back, something that made her feel ridiculously juvenile and at which she failed immaculately. Astrid took a long sip from her Alabama slammer, both to cover up her laughable attempt to squeal like a school girl and also to give herself a little liquid courage. Thankfully, Lalita didn’t notice. As soon as she hit the seat she was off in a whirlwind of interrogation. “I’ve only got fifteen minutes so spill it! Where have you been? When did you come back? Why did you come back? Tell me everything! I‘ve missed you!” “Um, nothing to tell actually. It’s all really boring. I’m the one who missed everything. Fill me in on what’s happening around here,” Astrid countered evasively.
That was all it took to get Lalita going. She was definitely a talker. Unfortunately, she wasn’t telling Astrid anything of interest, only the typical spiel about what this person and that person had done with their lives since she’d supposedly left. She never mentioned where anyone thought she’d gone, where she’d gone there from, nothing about her family-that Astrid knew of anyway. Any one of the ten different names she reeled off might have been a relation, but how was Astrid supposed to know that?-hell, she didn’t even say her name so Astrid didn’t have a clue who Lalita thought she was.
“And Brian moved to New York and every time he comes back to visit he acts like some stuck up city boy even though we all know he’s country as a stuck hog-” “Lalita?” Astrid interrupted. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m blabbering, aren’t I?” She laughed, “I know I used to get on your nerves so bad with that. I still remember the time you threw a dinner roll at me during lunch. It was so fast I didn’t even see you move,” she recalled fondly. “Anyway, go on. Let’s talk about you!” And they were back to that. Astrid had to lead her in the right direction to get the information she wanted, but how could she do that? She didn’t have a shred of information to go from and she couldn’t risk making anything up in case she said something that contradicted what Lalita already knew to be true. She’d just have to go with the truth. Or parts of it.
“Well, I’m a photographer now.” “Holy shit! That’s great! I always knew you would be. I still have those amazing pictures you took of me our senior year. Ya know, back when I was a brunette,” Lalita grinned. Astrid was surprised she’d had a passion for photography in her former life and wondered if she’d find Lalita anywhere in the pictures she had at home. She definitely planned to check again. “Where are you working?” Lalita asked. “The newspaper over in Reidsville,” Astrid told her truthfully, wondering if that was a good idea. “Why didn’t you go back to New Branch?” “Why would I?” Astrid asked before she thought. Sometimes, her mouth didn’t check with her brain before speaking. “I just…always thought you would,” she said hesitantly, as if Astrid’s response had caught her off guard, which it probably had. “Ya know, ’cause of Jake and everything. He was really torn up when your grandparents sent you off. We all thought you‘d come back after your eighteenth birthday-being an adult and all-and then you just…didn‘t.”
Grandparents? Why was she with her grandparents? Where were her mother and father? Why did Lalita say she’d left before and now she was telling her she was sent somewhere? Where was she sent? And who was this Jake she was talking about? Astrid’s face must have given away the small wave of shock she was experiencing because Lalita was talking again, her voice full of concern. “Hey, are you okay? Did I say something?” Astrid quickly pulled herself together. Lalita’s break time was almost up and if she was going to find out anything, she had to do it now. She really wanted to ask about her parents, find out who her grandparents were and where they lived and dammit, she wanted to know her real name! But she couldn‘t ask about any of those things without giving herself away or doing some serious explaining. Since she wasn‘t ready to tell all just yet, she stuck with the only thing she felt she could legitimately ask without Lalita getting suspicious.
“Jake. Do you know where he is?” Astrid asked calmly. “Figures he’d be the first thing you’d ask about,” she chuckled. “I don’t know where he is, but I’m sure you can go to his parents’ shop and find out.” “I don’t know where that is,” Astrid confessed. Seeing the surprised look on Lalita’s face she added, “I’ve been gone, remember? I haven’t been back that long so I don’t know where anything is.” She tried to say it jokingly, hoping this place wasn’t somewhere she was supposed to know easily. “Oh! Sorry, that’s right, they moved it after you left. I forgot about that.” Thank God, Astrid thought. She definitely got lucky with that one. “It’s right between Reidsville and Collins. I don’t know the exact address, but I’m sure if you Google ‘Cage Body Shop‘, it’ll come up.”
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GASP! HOW CAN YOU NOT BE WONDERING "WTH?" RIGHT NOW? GO AHEAD...CLICKITY CLICK CLICK...YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO READ CHAPTER EIGHT. AND WHO MISSES ALEX? I KNOW I DO ;)
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