Together In Electric Dreams.
[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]
Though you're miles and miles away, I see you every day. I don't have to try, I just close my eyes.
We'll always be together,
however far it seems.
We'll always be together,
Together In Electric Dreams.
The Human League.
August 1986.
Six years later...
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Oh fuck, why did I just let Erica leave? I was going to marry her...
My friend Peter's cannonball splash into the pool ruined my melancholy self-torment. "Hey, Buddy. It's ok to be a sad sack. Erica's only been gone for two weeks, Ray. You sure she's not coming back to you?"
"I don't think so. But I don't even know if I want her back, other than to fuck. It's really messing me up. I've never been like this before."
He instinctively comforted me."That's rough. I know, I've been there. Hey, listen, Ray. Some of my friends are meeting at a nightclub later. Do you want to go? There's a great cover band that plays there."
I perked up. "You know what, that sounds like fun. I haven't been to a bar in a long time."
He prodded me, "On account of Erica being a teenager?"
I shrugged. The multitude of teasing I had received about Erica's age never bothered me too much, because she was incredibly hot. Few men in their twenties would have been able to withstand the blinding love and passion she had directed my way.
Ahh, well. That's over now...
Peter toweled himself off, pulled his Wings tee-shirt and Dodgers cap on, then gathered the car keys. "Thanks for the swim. Great move, getting an apartment with a pool!"
Erica and I used to swim, then make love all day, every day...
My eyes watered as I turned serious. "Peter, I'm really glad you've been able to visit a few times this week. I'll be alright soon, but this has been hard for me. Spending time with you helps. Thanks, I owe you."
Peter nodded, then grinned. "Remember, it's not who you owe... and it's not who you know...
I laughed through my tears, to complete the joke with him.
"It's who you blow!"
"Hahahaha, Peter. I'll pick you up at nine."
***************
The singer tapped his microphone to cut through the hearty applause. "Alright, alright, alright, thank you! Like every night, we're going to end our set with an Aerosmith song. Get ready for some Sweet Emotion! One, two, three, four..."
"Peter, you weren't kidding. This band is great! But six dollars for a beer? Damn."
"It's ladies night, Ray. If you had worn a dress instead of that leather jacket, you could have gotten your drinks for free!"
"Funny, Peter. I think I saw a Benny Hill sketch like that."
"You okay, buddy? I'm going to mingle."
Sporting a comical face, I lewdly gestured at my waist. "Mingle... with this! Yeah I'm good. Thanks for inviting me."
As he walked away, I grooved along to the kick-ass uptempo rocker.
"Sweeeeeeet, emoooooootion... Talkin' 'bout things that nobody cares. Wearin' out the things that nobody wears..."
My abhorrence for bar pickups lost to the hunting instinct, so I scanned the large, open room and noticed a tall brunette in a frumpy dress making her way over to me. Despite wearing flats, her steps wobbled.
Whoa, she's had her free drinks! Hey... Do I know her? There's something familiar...
She tugged on my sleeve with bit-nailed fingers. "You always liked this song. Hey, is that a new jacket? I think I like it better."
I had recently purchased a classier, sleek Italian garment to replace the zippered and buttoned biker model I had pilfered six years previous.
Who is this chick? She's kind of cute, in a librarian or second-grade teacher way, and... Ohhh!
"Bunny?"
"Oh, Mousey, you remember! Come here."
She sloppily embraced me. Reflexively, I placed a wide-spread hand very low on her back, then firmly pulled Bunny's hips to mine. I had stopped giving chaste, friendly hugs shortly after losing my virginity at nineteen. Some women found my physical boldness off-putting, but most appreciated it, in varying degrees.
Bunny loved it, and wouldn't let go.
We fell into a swaying kind of slow dance to the driving rock beat, with her head resting against my shoulder.
I'm taller than her now...
At my full height of six feet, and in dress shoes, few women were too tall for me. Nonetheless, I had managed to date three who I had to look up to. Bunny in flats reached only as high as Erica in heels, so she was still a comfortable fit for me.
The band ended their song and began packing up, so I led Bunny by the hand to a tiny table, then helped her onto a rickety stool. "Bunny, you always brought the booze, so let me buy this time. Vodka tonic?"
"Wait, Mousey. You don't need to do that. I'm fine for awhile. Stay here."
I climbed onto the other stool with our knees touching. "So, Bunny. How long have you been back?"
"Right after high school. I went to UCLA. Where did you go?"
Embarrassed, I mumbled, "I went to the community college for awhile. But, you know..."
"Oh. So your dreams didn't happen either. That's fine, you don't need to talk about it."
"Ok, thanks."
Bunny is still kind...
She saddened, "Mousey, it's great to see you, and you look sooo good, but I'm a complete mess. I drink... all the time, just like my mother did. That's why I went to live with my dad, but it didn't help. I became an elementary school teacher, can you believe that? With my own class and everything, but I showed up drunk too many times."
Her willingness to confess her sins so readily, prompted me to rub her forearm in comfort. She grinned, "The Los Angeles school district won't fire me, but they made me a substitute, and I only work a few days per week. And so, I'm here on Ladies Night. I show up at clubs for the free drinks, then leave before the creeps start hitting on me at closing time. After I walk home, I'll watch TV alone, then pass out. Mousey, you should go back to your friends. I'm no fun anymore."
Her face drooped, as sorrow overtook her. I lifted her chin and stroked her neck. "Bunny, I'm not going to judge you. I'm not really in a good place myself. In the last two months, I lost my best friend, my home, my job, and then, my fiancé. I've replaced everything but her, but it's been really hard. I don't really... miss Erica that much, but I'm lonely."
She nodded in sympathy, and her cheek dimpled. "I'm sorry, Mousey. I... get lonely too. It's been months since, you know."
I took her hand, and we sat in morose silence for a minute, then she smiled. The familiar synth chords of Together In Electric Dreams pulsed, and my head started bobbing. Bunny laughed, "Wow, what a coincidence! I saw this movie, Electric Dreams, on MTV last month, and you're just like the main character in so many ways."
She stroked my leg with her foot. "Now, here you are after all these years, like my very own Electric Dream. Did you ever watch it, Mousey? I mean, it was truly dreadful, just like the Ramones movie we saw at Mark's house, but I could see you appreciating it."
"Yeah, Bunny. I saw it at the theater when it came out in 1984, but walked out halfway. I like this song, though."
It wasn't the whole truth. My date Sylvia wanted to have sex, so we had missed the ending. However, Peter had recently rented it on VHS, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole movie, despite the horribly wooden acting.
Bunny's uneven nod could have just as easily been a symptom of drunken pleasure. "I like the song too, Mousey."
I held out my hand to her, and she accepted my silent invitation. Our clumsy dancing seemed appropriate for the broken conditions we shared.
Giving up midway through the song, I held her close, to make it an intimate slow dance. Bunny's medium body felt better than it looked, and with a breathy sigh, she pressed her whole length against me. When she slightly turned her head resting on my chest, the dimple reappeared. I smoothly brought my mouth to hers, in the kiss that should have happened on Mark's diving board, at the volleyball game, the cast party, or a thousand other times in 1980. Our tongues sought one another with a strange familiarity, as if we had been long-time lovers since high school.
My feelings soared back six years in an instant, becoming a different sixteen-year-old boy, one who had conquered his fears and allowed himself to return a wonderful girl's... love?
It could have been...
She whispered in my ear, leaving a bit of drool. "Mousey, can we go? I'm... ready. I've... always been ready for you."
I led her to the booth where Peter and his friends played drinking games. He shook his head upon seeing a thoroughly sloshed woman draped on me. "Hey, buddy! Man, that didn't take long!"
Several witty answers came to mind, but I evenly stated. "Peter, this is Bunny. I'm taking her home now. Can you get another ride?"
"Bunny? Her name is Bunny?"
She drawled, "Hi Peter. No, my name is Kari, but that's what Mousey calls me."
Peter laughed so hard the eyeglasses came off his head. "Mousey? Are you kidding me? You never told me that! Bunny and Mousey. I'll be damned."
I offered a wry smile. "Yes, we're finally Bunny and Mousey. Goodnight, Peter."
On the way out, we stopped to look at our reflections in the mirrored wall. Bunny buried her face in my neck. "Mousey, this is what I dreamed we would look like, except without me being a ruined drunk. I don't expect anything from you beyond tonight. I wouldn't do that to you. But can we just... pretend to be, what we might have been?"
I held her from behind, as if posing for a couple's portrait in our yearbook. "Of course, Bunny. This isn't how I imagined us either, but I think I need it too."
While we waited for the valet to bring my 1972 Buick Riviera, Bunny clung tightly to me, like I would disappear if she let go. "Mousey, what kind of car do you drive? It's something different, isn't it?"
I caressed her medium butt. "Yes. Very different. Close your eyes, Bunny. Wait for it... Okay, here it is!"
She sloppily giggled, "Wow, I knew it. It's like a spaceship, or... a Batmobile."
I get that a lot...
Thanks for reading, don't forget to vote and comment!
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro