Let's not talk about it

 Emmie wasn't sure what she was stepping into when she got on the elevator. After all, she'd decided to walk down the hall to where someone lived that she hoped she might spot again, or have some breathtaking romantic encounter. Who was she kidding? Was she an immature freak of some kind?

Actually, she was glad she hadn't seen him because she didn't know what to say. She was sure it would be all wrong. No, she got on the elevator just as someone was getting off. But...

Something was odd. Something a little strange. The lanky blonde looked so clammy and pale. She was shaking.

"Hey, are you OK?" Emmie stopped her; the elevator wanted to shut, but Emmie held it back

The girl took a breath. Emmie knew she needed help. Although she mumbled something about it, she would be fine. 

"Let me help you," Emmie took her by the arm, then held her up before she fell. "I just live down the hall. I've seen you around. My name is Emmie."

The girl nodded and finally said, "L."

"L? Just L." Emmie would have never thought of that. 

Emmie's door was unlocked. This surprised Emmie as if she might have an early dementia of some kind. What was going on with her lately?

She helped L to the couch and turned on the kettle for some tea. She told her she'd make a whole pot. "I got this teapot from a co-worker at Christmas, and I haven't even used it." Emmie found herself rambling as she dragged out every presentable pack of cookies she could find in her cupboard.

After she laid that out on the coffee table, Emmie remembered. "Oh, should you not have cookies?" She didn't want to ask if she was diabetic, but she might be.

"No, no, it's fine."

L's sad eyes looked at Emmie as if she might be coming down on some drug. She smashed a graham cracker practically in her mouth.

Emmie went back to the kitchen to fetch the tea. She asked if she wanted any milk or sugar. L shook her head, no.

For a while, Emmie sat on the other end of the couch just watching L wolf down a sleeve of chocolate-covered graham cookies.

"Sorry," she sighed. "I just..I just messed up, you know."

"Uh, huh." Emmie nodded, unsure what she was agreeing to. Maybe it wasn't about food. Maybe something emotional had happened. "Sometimes, it's like that. I left my door unlocked."

"I don't even know if I have my key with me," L told her as she fell back against the couch. "I've been an idiot lately." She pressed her lips tight and looked at Emmie as if she needed to explain herself.

"Well, if it's not being an idiot, it's coming down with the flu." Emmie took a sip of her tea and finally gulped down hers. Emmie poured her another cup.

L talked about someone she'd met in the building who works where she works. "I guess I was crazy, you know, thinking she needed a big sister or something. Really, I don't always try to help other people, but with Macy, it's different. She's.." L smiled and shook her head. "Yeah, she must know I'm an idiot. but I kind of doubt it. She's so-" L winced hard. "Oblivious...but I'm probably the one who's oblivious."

"I understand." Emmie nodded. "I don't date. I don't even flirt, and my friend brought this guy from down the hall to her birthday, which we were celebrating at my place." Emmie was quiet then thinking she'd said enough, but the way L was looking at her she knew she needed to say more. "Well, we talked. He's a pretty good cook, evidently. And you know, it was nothing really, but I kept thinking-" Emmie did her best to laugh, "It was really nothing."

"I don't know if it would even matter if I did try to fight for her-" L shrugged. "Do I look like a winner to you?" She shook with laughter. "I don't know, I know she was so happy to see him. And well, I did feel happy for her too. He was just somebody she used to work with when she lived with her boyfriend in Colorado."

L stared into space.

"Well, I can't see myself ever actually dating somebody like him. I mean, he's huge. Really huge."

L turned to Emmie. "What are we actually talking about?"

"Oh, nothing. Absolutely nothing." 

Emmie smiled and poured herself another cup of tea.

L said she was feeling better. "I'll treat you to dinner." She looked at her brightly. "Are you doing anything tomorrow night?" 

"What?" Emmie found herself smiling.

"I know everyone will be a couple there, but me." She said she didn't even really want to go, but she was sure Macy would want her to. 

"Sure," Emmie said before she could think about it. After all, she'd always wanted to go to that steakhouse that L spoke of.

Time will tell

 

Was this going to be a make it or break it moment? Jake went to Chicago on a whim. Yes, it was the first time he'd ever felt close to someone, and that someone was Macy.

Yes, he'd always enjoyed their conversations. He felt sad now that he'd waited too long, but he'd always felt an outsider. And even now, he felt like an outsider waiting for this moment to happen on the steps of the brownstone where Macy lived. He went inside.

Jake checked his trusty watch again. He had texted twice already and had not heard a thing. 

He never traveled. Had always wanted to, but he never let himself, and then, when he noticed how cheap the flight could be, and a straight shot to Chicago, it was like lightning had struck him. Still, he didn't want to look too happy. She might see through him and know the goofy boy that he was. He needed to be serious.

But all that washed away when he saw her come out of the elevator. Only, Macy was not alone. Naturally, he towered over both of them, and he studied the lanky blonde who looked quite distressed.

"What are you doing here? We were coming to the airport to pick you up?" It startled Macy, and this meant the other person was bumping Macy from behind.

Jake put on his best smile. "You forgot to read the rest of the text."

He dropped his duffel bag and spread out his arms. Of course, Macy rammed into his stomach for a hug and a little squill, and he awkwardly put his arms around her. But he knew someone was immediately hurt, and Jake wasn't quite sure what to do about that.

Macy did her best to start an introduction.

"Oh, this is L? Who you told me about?" Jake smiled back, hoping it wasn't a smirk. He wanted to be sincere. He was sincere, but he had a feeling with that leer of L's that he wasn't. 

She left soon enough after a cold handshake. Immediately, he imagined she was the sick one, but he wasn't quite sure of the sickness. He felt sad for a moment. But no. It was a delight of giggles and chuckles all the way up on the elevator. Of course, when it stopped, he felt as if his legs might be jelly, but he guessed he wasn't much of a traveler, after all.

"I can't believe you're here." Her smile practically made him glow. He could feel it in the core of him, and it radiated a certain happiness he didn't know could make him practically drunk, but he let her lead the way.

"You must be hungry," Macy said.

"Oh, I'm not that hungry." He settled on the leather couch, which was a bit slippery, but he managed to plant himself on it, gripping the arm tightly with his long fingers. He tensed, thinking his hands were large, and when he looked down at his sneakers. It was devastating. His feet were gigantic. Would Macy notice?

Of course, not. She stumbled over his feet just to give him a bottle of water. If it had been open, he would have been soaked. Instead, it hit him in the middle of the chest as if it were a reality bite.

A secondhand emotion

 "She's such a baby," L festered a look of discontent when she couldn't stop thinking about Macy. Usually, she was in her tank and sleep pants about now, but she still had on her trusty hoodie and work pants along with her clunky shoes.

"She's an infant." She bellowed to no one in particular, but Jax had his back to her as he finished up the dishes that hadn't been done in the last few days. He was slow at chores, but eventually he got them done.

After all, Jax was her man-child she found at the park. That's where he used to play chess with the old timers. It felt like ages ago instead of a few years. Yes, she'd been drawn to him like one would want an abandoned puppy. 

She imagined even then how he got by. Did he just sleep at the park? Of course, it took some kids to beat him up before she took charge of him. He was all of twenty-two then, but he came home with her and has been here ever since. She helped him sharpen his chess skills, and he'd blazed through the last few years winning prize money at chess showdowns. If it wasn't for him, she might still be in the studio in the basement. Now she lived in a spacious two-bedroom apartment. Still, Jax was always on monotone and said very little, but usually it was profound.

"It's love." 

Did she imagine him saying it?

"No, it's not!" She was getting testy. She looked for the box wine in the fridge just as her phone beeped telling her that her blood sugar was too high. Of course, she didn't believe the sensor, but she knew the red wine would bring it down. She poured some wine in her drink cup "Sipping through Winter" and added some Fresca. It was half and half.

"It's love."  

Again, Jax was annoying her, but he went to the fridge and got out the eggs. He would make the usual scrambled eggs dotted with a few red peppers and onions. 

L got into her favorite chair and propped her feet on the ottoman to relax, but not for too long. Macy might text her about something so she couldn't drink herself silly. Before she knew it, Jax had dinner waiting.

He reminded her when they sat down to eat that he was on a team now and they would be flying him to Shanghai for a tournament soon.

"Do you really have to go?" She didn't think they played chess in China.

"Stop." He interrupted her. "Go." He looked at her as if she had forgotten he played another game.

She sighed. 

"It's love." Jax looked at her blankly.

"Be quiet, will you?" She frowned back and ate a forkful of eggs with the brown rice.

Suddenly, her phone rang.  It rattled her. It was well into the evening. Of course, it was Macy. L hoped she hadn't gotten lost in the building.

"What?"

"Can you take me to the airport?" She asked as if she were already in a rush.

"Why?" She hoped she wasn't leaving already.

"My friend's on his way here," Macy told her.

"Well, can't- What?" L winced. Damn, L thought, that fellow who made Macy so happy would be here for Valentine's Day. L gritted. She was going to have to chaprone the whole weekend.

After she got off the phone, she pointed her fork at Jax. "You aren't going anywhere."

"I leave with the team on Monday." He might as well have rattled off her itinerary for the whole weekend. She was to have dinner with her co-worker Wade and his fiancée. "Steak night."

L felt as if he was pouring in sweat. There were too many people wanting her to do things, and all she wanted was to be there for Macy. It was getting impossible.