Cherry - part 20

Cherry

Accent

She doesn't know what to do. She's in love with Percival, but should she tell him? Cathy and her have talked about their dinner all night. Yet she doesn't know what to do or how to proceed from here. Maybe just be his friend. If that's what she can get, she'll take it without complain.

“I'll have Richard to drive you home. In fact, I'll come with you and keep him company on the way back.” She says, and Cathy gets up from the couch and they walk together to the car where Richard awaits.

“Richard, could you drive Cathy home? I'll come with you.” He nods and opens the doors for the girls.

And they drive in silence, the long road to Cathy's house. When they arrive, Cherry hugs Cathy and says “I have to talk to him, don't I?” and she nods. “Talk to me when you do.” She answers.

Usually, Cherry sits in the back seat of her limo, but she has the need to talk about something completely different for a change, and she place herself in the front seat of the car.

“Take the long way home, Richard.”

They drove in the darkness and even though Cherry wanted to talk about something, anything, that wasn't about Percival, she never knew how to break the ice.

“Say something to me, Richard. Anything.”

“What would you like me to say miss?” His British accent always puts her at ease.

“I want you to tell me that I'm a dumb teen who's obsessing over a stupid boy.” She admits to herself how much her plan to not think about him, is failing slowly.

“I remember being in love.” He sighs. She notices how he drives the car, so professional.

“Tell me about your biggest crush.” Cherry says, leans back and closes her eyes.

“It was many years ago,” he begins, “it was a girl named Mindy. I met her at my last year of high school. I didn't know how to talk to girls so I just tried to sit next to her in every class we had together. And then, at one of the first parties of the year, we got to talk. From then, it wasn't much more different from how normal relationships start. But it was nice. And then, five years later, we got married. And now we've been together for almost twenty years.”

“That's such a nice story. Why have I never heard that before?”

“You should visit me more often in the garage. I do spend some time there, to take care of the cars.”

“I will.”

Cherry is almost asleep when they arrive home. She wakes up and looks directly into Richards big, brown eyes. Something about that face of his is so friendly it's hard not to like.

“I'll get you to your room, Miss.” He takes her arm and they walk towards the door.

“Please, call me Cherry.” A few minutes later they stand in front of Cherry's bedroom door.

“Goodnight, Cherry.” Richard says, and maybe she's tired, maybe she had just found a new found respect for her driver, so she hugs him and mumbles “goodnight, Richard.” and she turns to the door to open it. Turned toward the door, she says “I was very impressed by your story.” and she can almost hear Richards smile, and she's instantly comforted.

She always liked that accent of his.

Cherry - part 19

Cathy

Help

The bus is crowded and she's more than tired. She just sent an application for the home nursing school. It was a hell of a ride out there. And now what? In two months she might be starting at the school. Is she going to quit her job at the store? She throws out the thought and look outside the window. Nothing and everything passes her by.

And then her cell phone rings. She picks it out from her pocket. It's Cherry.

“Hi.” She answers. Is she psychic?

“How are you?”

“Just delivered the application for the school. You?”

“I had dinner with Percival last night. How do you think I am?” Cherry's voice faded in and out.

“Oh, poor girl. You must be freaked. I'll take the next bus to your place.”
“No need, I'll send Richard to pick you up. At the station?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Don't mention it. I just have to speak to you now.”

“I can hear that.”

And she hangs up. Gossip. That's her hobby, she thinks. Knowing everything about everybody, that's how you get a good conversation started.

Richard is not tall, has pretty big eyes and dark hair. He must be around forty. It is the first time Cathy sees Richard. They shake hands.

“I understand Miss Cherry needs you right away?” His voice is soothing.

“Yeah, it's a girl thing.”

The ride is short and she is mute while he is driving. Cherry is waiting on the front porch when they arrive.

“Tell me about it.” Cathy says, as soon as she gives Cherry a hug. They start walking towards Cherry's room, while she breathes heavily. They place themselves on the couch in her living room.

“He is so sweet.” Cherry says, and it is as if that sentence closes the entire conversation for a while. She doesn't know what to say, just as much as Cathy doesn't know what to say.

Cathy looks around the room. Her apartment is smaller than Cherry's rooms combined. She is ashamed now, as she looks at Cherry and her innocent, blank eyes, her way too pink room, and she is about to tell her about feelings she has for a boy she already knows in the most intimate ways.

“I don't know what to do, Cathy?” Cherry's arms swing back and forth over the couch. She sighs and looks at her.

“You're in love with him. What more is there to it?” She doesn't really feel that helpful by giving that answer.

“Should I tell him?” Cherry's voice is flat now, and she sounds like she just took some Valium. Cathy wonders if she'll fall asleep randomly mid-sentence.

“Why not? He's as insecure as you. I should know, otherwise he wouldn't have asked for my services.” As soon as she says it out loud, the air in the room suddenly feels colder.

“I shouldn't be talking to you about this, should I?” Cherry mumbles and sighs.

“It's just... I didn't know who else to talk to.” Her elaboration makes Cathy feel better. When she heard Cherry's voice on the phone, she immediately wanted to help her. Now her insides are all cold.

“It's okay. I want to help, I just don't know how to do that.”

They both smile at each other, but Cathy feels more vulnerable than she had ever felt before.

Cherry - part 18

Zia

Dances

It's late and she should be sleeping. She is tired but she is much too entertained by looking out her window. She has had an eye on Perry since he entered the street. It's not too dark for her to see him. Just barely she spots his wide smile and how he almost dances instead of just walking on the sidewalk. She admits to herself how well he pulls off that fine blazer, black pants and white shirt. He's born to wear nice things.

She wonders when she last saw Perry that happy, and she cannot think of a single time she'd seen him smile or walk like that.

A part of her wants to be the annoying sister and go down in the main hall to greet him and give him the whole third degree.

But Zia was never annoying. Never has been. Probably never will be, not that much, at least. So she watches him from afar, his dances, hops and skips across the sidewalk.

She knows how she cannot help him. She can never get through to their dad in that way. She cannot say to him; 'Love your son more! Divide your love equally between us.' and if she would, he'd never understand.

Maybe, she thought, I can help him some other way.

And Zia hear his mumbling and humming and the strange sounds of his footsteps. She smiles and feels a happiness she hasn’t felt in a long time.

The door closed on the other side, and she starts to sing. But then there's a knock on her door and she stops her song mid-sentence. Perry is on the other side, still with that grin on his face.

“Hey little brother.” She smiles. Every tension they had because of their father was suddenly on pause. He just stood there and smiled.

“Hi, Zia... I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Sure, what would that be?”

“How come you never introduced me to Cherry when you were babysitting her?” She didn't see that coming.

“I don't really know why. It was a job. Why bring it home?”

“Oh, I don't know. Because she's amazing.”

“So that's what you've been doing all night. Thinking about Cherry?”

“She invited me to accompany her to dinner, as a matter of fact.” The third degree came to her, and she didn't even have to do anything herself.

“Uuh, what happened?” She smiles. The atmosphere is just so happy, she can't help herself. Young love. He leans forward and looks straight into her eyes.

“I hugged her.” He smiled again. Hugged her? He's high over hugging her? He must be lovestruck then, she thought.

“Wow.” She could feel how her eyes rolled. She didn't mean to do that, but he didn't notice.

“Zia, why is she so wonderful?”

“Because you've got no experience or anything with anyone.”

“Nah, that's not why... She's just...” And he smiles again.

“I think you should get to sleep.” Zia says, and Perry looks at her apologetic. She smiles to let him know that she's not mad at him for knocking on her door this late. She pulls him close to her, almost like a hug, and whisper into his ear: “Don't drown, Perry. I cannot save you from drowning. So don't.” Only she smiles when she says it, and she can hear it in her own voice.

She can hear the smile.

Cherry - part 17

Percival

Front porch

“Dad, this is for you. I am leaving now, I have a dinner thing with Cherry.” His father looks at him from his desk.

“Percival, I just came from a meeting. We are not done yet.” His papers are spread on the table. That man needs to get his shit in order, Perry thinks.

“Dad, this is important. It's Cherry! Cherry Waltz! Please dad. I beg you! I've worked four hours overtime already. There must be limits somewhere.”

Then something amazing happens. His dad looks at him with a hint of proud on the corner of his eyes.

“Okay son, you can go. And give my best to Miss Waltz.”

And then Perry is gone with an 'I will'. He was so tired before, but the thought of spending an evening with Cherry was more than enough to cheer him up.

She still sits in the reception, looking like a sweet, innocent flower. Beautiful and untouched by dirty human hands.

He feels guilty about his thoughts. Luckily, she'll never know, and his thoughts continue.

“Are you ready to go?” He asks her. I am looking at the beautiful, untouched flower.

“That sure was quick.” She smiles, and her amazing smile makes him smile even wider.

I am standing next to the beautiful, untouched flower.

They walk on the sidewalk, side by side, as you do on a sidewalk. They don't touch, but they are close to each other. As close as they can be, without touching.

“So how is it to work for your dad?” She asks. Her dress moves in the subtle wind. It's kind of red but not pink and not just light red.

“It's tiring. I have never been so exhausted in my entire life.” He says and laugh to let her know that he doesn't mind being with her.

“What do you do there all day?” She flashes a smile again, caught him off guard. His heart flutters.

“All the stuff he doesn't want to do. Take some calls once in a while, run to the archive all the time. Sometimes I even get to clean his desk and separate some papers and putting them into separate folders and then, later, putting them in the archive. Yeah, I know. Exciting shit.”

And they laugh again. She seems nervous. He is too nervous to even notice. She's just so darn beautiful. He doesn't know what to do in these kinds of situations. Should he offer her his jacket? Is she even cold? He doesn't feel any chill.

“As long as you get paid, right?” She answers, and they laugh.

He has been there a few times for a ball, but never inside her own room. It reminds him of Zia's room, classy, but a bit more pink than hers. She calls for James over the radio system. She orders chicken. He says “ditto” and they wait.

“Percival, can I ask you something?” Cherry says, and her confidence seems long gone. He smiles, tries to put her at ease.

“Of course.”

“Why did you choose Cathy? Why did you do that anyway...” Her voice trails off, and Percival hesitates. This is the question he has been dreading all along. Especially from her. He doesn't want her to know how insecure he is. She was never supposed to know about Cathy. She was never supposed to be able to ask that kind of question. He sighs and shrugs.

“I don't really know.”
James enters the room and serves the chicken. It is without a doubt the best chicken he has had in a decade.

“I don't want to talk about Cathy.” He says, out of the blue. She looks at him, concerned. Then she nod once.

“I spoke with her.” Her voice seems so small. He cannot believe what he's hearing. The whore he hired spoke with the girl he has been in love with for a year now.

“Why?” That's the only thing he could think of asking.

“I didn't understand. I didn't seem like you.”

“But it was me.”

“That's why I spoke to her.”

“What did she say?”

“Something about you being insecure. And I didn't understand that either.”

His face is suddenly a bit darker. He can feel it.

“You don't know me.” It sounds more harsh than it should.

“I don't. But I would like to.”

He doesn't really know how she turned a dark conversation to flirting, but they ease up suddenly, share a smile and the silence is quite comfortable now.

The chickens were delicious. He takes a seat on her couch and she places herself on the giant bean bag chair.

“You would like to get to know me?” He looks straight at her. She smiles. She is so horribly pretty when she smiles.

“I would like to get to know you. Where do you want to start?” She smiles again, she must be realizing that she's kind of flirting with him. He shrugs.

“Favorite color?” She says.

“Green. Yours?”

“Red. And every shade of it.” She looks around and gestures to the room. They laugh.

“Okay. What's the color of your toothbrush?”

“Also green. Yours?”

“Blue, right now.”

“Do you have any animals?”

“I wanted a dog for many years, but father is against it. I don't think Zia would want to have that kind of responsibility right now.”

“How about you and Zia? Are you two close siblings?”

“Could be better. But we love each other unconditionally, of course. Our father just has this way of... separating us...”

“I'm sorry to hear that.”

“Every family has their troubles. I suppose your family isn’t perfect either.”

“Nope, not even a little bit.”

And they are quiet again.

“Didn't my sister use to babysit you?” He breaks the silence after several minutes.

“She did indeed. Very good, too.”

“How come we never met before high school if you knew my sister so well?” He listens to his own words, his tired voice. She must think he's bored. He is almost lying on the couch, wishing he could close his eyes, just relaxing in the presence of Cherry. She looks at him and he is instantly nervous, yet he is completely relaxed. His mood seems to change ever fifth minute.

“She actually never spoke of you.” Cherry explains, and Percival wonders why she never spoke of him. Why wouldn't she mention her little brother? Was she ashamed?

“And she never used to babysit me at your place.” She adds. Percival sighs. Why didn't Zia ever talk about him when she was babysitting Cherry? On the other hand, why didn't she ever talk about Cherry when she was at home? He cannot help but feel a great loss. They would without a doubt have a better relationship now if they had known each other when they were children. He takes a look at his watch. It's 11.30 and he needs to get home and sleep. Another day starts again tomorrow.

Just the thought made him twice as tired.

“I should go.” He mumbles. “My dad is probably going to make me pay for leaving before cleaning the office today.” He gets up and drags his tired body across the floor towards the door.

“I'll follow you out.” Cherry gets up as well. He can tell she's tired too.

They walk down and pass her father in one of the hallways. Percival greets him. Mr. Waltz nod at him with a smile.

They stand in the front porch and he is about to leave. He is very conscious about his lack of know-how in these kinds of situations. Well, what now? The night had gone well, at least he thought so. This wasn't a date, so he wasn't allowed to kiss her, even though he wanted to. He looked around and asked himself what's stopping you? The moonlight? The clear sky and the starry night? The warm summer breeze? He looks at her. She looks at him once in a while. Is she just as nervous as me? He wonders.

“Thank you, for keeping me company.” She smiles, and the next few seconds seems very long.

“It was all my pleasure.” His voice cracks, that's how nervous he is. She smiles.

He decides to hug her. Her smell is overpowering and the warmth from her body makes his seem like ice. He doesn't get a lot of hugs. He never saw hugging as a possibility, unless it was close family. He hugs Zia, but never his dad or mom. He hold her tight for a second, feeling her arms around him.

He just never wants to let go.

Cherry - part 16

Cherry

Favors

It was rare that Cherry's father asked her to do him a favor. She was seldom home when he needed things to be done, and if she was, it was usually something he made one of his assistants do. They also had to earn their living somehow. That was why Cherry was amazed when she found herself walking the long trip to one of her father’s offices. Richard, her driver, had offered to drive her, but she needed the fresh air. She was supposed to deliver a message to Mr. Cryx himself, something about an important meeting next week. Why not just send him a mail, she had wondered, but her father made it clear that this was important, and he could trust Cherry to get that message through to him. It was sealed in a little envelope, and she was way too excited to sit still in a car. She looked at her watch. It was late, and she had skipped dinner at home. She would have James to come up with something later.

The sun was bright orange, but it wasn't time for the sun to go down yet.

She waited in the reception, being offered all kinds of beverages. She had asked to see Mr. Cryx, who of course was in a meeting with the board at the moment. The receptionist had said “It can be up to an hour, but take a seat and I'll tell him you've arrived.”

The building had interior design in cherry tree, marble stairs and pillars. It was such a beautiful contrast to the dark tree. Her dad knew which designers to hire, that was for sure. Her mother had also pitched in with ideas. She was sitting there, looking at the reception, and being proud.

“Miss?” the receptionist says, leaning forward from behind her desk, “you were here to deliver a message for Mr. Cryx, right?” Cherry nods. The receptionist is blonde her nails is neatly been done at a salon.

“He sends someone to get it now.” She explains and lean back in her chair. The way she sits right now makes her look like a boss.

Cherry is quite surprised when she sees Percival walking towards her. He looks more than tired and also kind of mad. He's wearing black pants, a shirt and a stunning blazer. He looks so classy. He also looks quite surprised when he sees her.

“Cherry. What a surprise.” He manages to smile, and his smile touches her.

“I'm just here to deliver this.” She hands him the envelope. The silence is never-ending between them. She looks at the envelope; it's still in her hands. He hasn’t even reached for it yet. She moves in involuntary slow-motion. And then she remembers how his eyes had fixed on hers when he caught him and Cathy in the alley that night. She's ashamed of every feeling she ever had about him, even though he doesn't know it.

“So... you look tired? Is it the first day?” She says, incredibly slowly. He looks shocked at the envelope and takes it. Their fingers touch. She shivers.

“Yeah, first day, and my dad is making me work overtime. It's the meeting... I'm just waiting for it to finish, then I can get home and get some food.” They share a laugh.

“I should get going... I suppose James have got something for me when I get home.” The seconds slowed down once again, and she looked directly into his eyes. She was locked there.

“Unless you want to join me?” Her voice is lower, trying out the territory she just reached. The territory where it's okay to ask boys home to a private dinner. Not boys, just boy. Not just some boy, a boy she fancied. He looks shocked. She regrets every word she ever spoke to him or near him.

“I would love to join you. If you wait here, I'll get out of here as soon as possible. I'll be right back, I promise.”

Her smile is wide and butterflies are in her belly. She cannot get her eyes of his feet which are moving very fast across the polished floors. The eagerness in his walk makes her head spin.

She gets eye contact with the receptionist who smiles at her.

“It's quite a beautiful office.” Cherry says, in a high pinched voice.

The receptionist nod and smile a smirky smile.