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ysonesse(First posted on Runaway Tales: Pink Lemonade #15)
“The carpet needs to be on the wall.” Jamie stepped over to the largest souvenir from his post-university trip to Morocco: a genuine Berber carpet. “It’s too large for covering the floor.”
Allyson leaned against the kitchen counter, tracking her gaze along interlocked triangles of black, gold, and red arranged in four long columns. “I could never walk across a work of art.”
His thumb moved along the carpet’s hand-stitched border. “Imagine cleaning this monster…”
“How did you get it across the pond?”
Jamie grinned. “Would you believe I sailed around the world before coming to America?”
Allyson stared at him for a long moment. Maybe that quip was ridiculous…but she giggled.
Jamie picked at some random threads that hung from a small frayed part of the carpet. He’d spent two hours checking every visible corner, making sure no stray possessions were lying about creating a mess. Back-to-back double shifts as bartender and manager within the past seventy-two hours left Jamie unconcerned about the state of his flat. A small pile of dirty clothes in the bedroom, three encrusted plates with accompanying forks in the sink, a pile of soda and water bottles nearly overflowing in the recycle bin were glaring reminders of disorder. So a quick shove into his closet alleviated the laundry problem, while the dishes and recycling bag were taken downstairs and pitched into the dumpster. At least that problem was easy to solve…
“Well, I’ve only started the grand tour.” Jamie stepped away from the carpet wall decoration. “There are other hidden treasures around here.” He moved over to the battered leather sea chest which sat over by the TV, holding a large collection of DVD’s.
Allyson moved closer to both Jamie and the sea chest. “Is that a family heirloom?”
“From a relative who also happens to be my namesake.”
“Another James Kennan.”
“He was my great-great uncle, the fourteenth Earl’s third son. James the Elder served on a few Cunard passenger liners, then died in 1916 while in the Navy.”
She traced her fingers across a torn green and white sticker from a long forgotten port. “I’m sorry.”
“It was so long ago. There’s no help for something in the past.”
“But it does remind you about everything that matters.”
“Like the pursuit of happiness, the importance of truth, the journey toward love, right?”
“The “journey” is more like stumbling from lust toward something called love.”
“Lust and love are permanent bedfellows. “
Allyson sat on the floor. “You’re so idealistic.”
“I prefer ‘romantic realist’.” Jamie knelt down and reached into a pile of unopened movies.
“Two contrasting modes that don’t match.”
He frowned. “That’s disappointing.”
“You wanted me to somebody else?”
“I understand you’re cautious.”
“I’d think you would be more careful, considering the nature of your last relationship.”
“That’s ancient history.”
Allyson sighed. “Youth makes everything ancient history.”
“Do you actually believe that I wasn’t affected by Gwen leaving? A text message saying ‘It’s over’ doesn’t make you feel great.”
“I admire your capacity to go past a bad relationship.” Allyson sat on the floor. “I had a different kind of breakup with Brian. When he said it was over between us, I wasn’t surprised. He was never satisfied with me, and it was actually kind of a relief everything was over.”
“He’s unsatisfied with everything.”
She nodded. “You pinned him. He can’t live in the moment.”
“Sounds like Gwen. She always searched for anything different.”
“Maybe they could pair up and balance out each other’s flaws.”
“Or drive themselves mad with frustration over those flaws.”
“They wouldn’t deserve any less, particularly from each other.”
“Misery loves company.” Allyson picked up a stray DVD that escaped from the pile she moved aside. She looked at its front cover. “The Empire Strikes Back?”
“I grew up on those films when they first came out…” he laughed “…on video.” He reached across to pluck the movie from Allyson’s grasp. “Good old VHS. Dad popped this into the sitting room VCR and sat with me to watch all three movies. It was my sixth birthday, just fantastic.”
“Was that your greatest birthday so far?”
“One of my top five.”
“You’ve got another one coming up soon. Maybe that could go into your list.”
“Since you’re part of that day, then it might become Number One.”
Allyson laughed. “Now I’ve got such an impossible standard to achieve.”
“One of your better presents?”
“Definitely.”
“Nice dance around the subject. Did you learn that skill at university? All the drunk people I knew in college were barely able to stand, let alone talk.”
“There was one night where my clothes went missing after─” He glanced in Allyson’s direction. “But that was on Mykonos in the summer after I graduated.”
Allyson laughed. “You aren’t going to finish?!”
“Always leave some mystery, dear.”
“So I’m ‘dear’ to you?”
“‘Dear’ is a term of affection, which describes some particular feeling I have…” Jamie understood that a major transition was destined to unfold inside the flat. “What comes next?”
Allyson laughed. “Something fun?”
“Anything special in mind?”
“One thing, and something else─?”
“I didn’t plan ahead.”
“‘Impulse’ should be your middle name.”
“Perhaps not all the time.” Hesitation was getting old, fast, like four months ago; how many people waited so long for their first kiss? He was lucky she hadn’t already given up and left already…
One kiss, if done properly, could evolve into a relationship…it needed to be perfect. Okay that was ridiculous; nothing was ever perfect...
Allyson smiled. “I guess somebody needs to finish this─”
“The carpet needs to be on the wall.” Jamie stepped over to the largest souvenir from his post-university trip to Morocco: a genuine Berber carpet. “It’s too large for covering the floor.”
Allyson leaned against the kitchen counter, tracking her gaze along interlocked triangles of black, gold, and red arranged in four long columns. “I could never walk across a work of art.”
His thumb moved along the carpet’s hand-stitched border. “Imagine cleaning this monster…”
“How did you get it across the pond?”
Jamie grinned. “Would you believe I sailed around the world before coming to America?”
Allyson stared at him for a long moment. Maybe that quip was ridiculous…but she giggled.
Jamie picked at some random threads that hung from a small frayed part of the carpet. He’d spent two hours checking every visible corner, making sure no stray possessions were lying about creating a mess. Back-to-back double shifts as bartender and manager within the past seventy-two hours left Jamie unconcerned about the state of his flat. A small pile of dirty clothes in the bedroom, three encrusted plates with accompanying forks in the sink, a pile of soda and water bottles nearly overflowing in the recycle bin were glaring reminders of disorder. So a quick shove into his closet alleviated the laundry problem, while the dishes and recycling bag were taken downstairs and pitched into the dumpster. At least that problem was easy to solve…
“Well, I’ve only started the grand tour.” Jamie stepped away from the carpet wall decoration. “There are other hidden treasures around here.” He moved over to the battered leather sea chest which sat over by the TV, holding a large collection of DVD’s.
Allyson moved closer to both Jamie and the sea chest. “Is that a family heirloom?”
“From a relative who also happens to be my namesake.”
“Another James Kennan.”
“He was my great-great uncle, the fourteenth Earl’s third son. James the Elder served on a few Cunard passenger liners, then died in 1916 while in the Navy.”
She traced her fingers across a torn green and white sticker from a long forgotten port. “I’m sorry.”
“It was so long ago. There’s no help for something in the past.”
“But it does remind you about everything that matters.”
“Like the pursuit of happiness, the importance of truth, the journey toward love, right?”
“The “journey” is more like stumbling from lust toward something called love.”
“Lust and love are permanent bedfellows. “
Allyson sat on the floor. “You’re so idealistic.”
“I prefer ‘romantic realist’.” Jamie knelt down and reached into a pile of unopened movies.
“Two contrasting modes that don’t match.”
He frowned. “That’s disappointing.”
“You wanted me to somebody else?”
“I understand you’re cautious.”
“I’d think you would be more careful, considering the nature of your last relationship.”
“That’s ancient history.”
Allyson sighed. “Youth makes everything ancient history.”
“Do you actually believe that I wasn’t affected by Gwen leaving? A text message saying ‘It’s over’ doesn’t make you feel great.”
“I admire your capacity to go past a bad relationship.” Allyson sat on the floor. “I had a different kind of breakup with Brian. When he said it was over between us, I wasn’t surprised. He was never satisfied with me, and it was actually kind of a relief everything was over.”
“He’s unsatisfied with everything.”
She nodded. “You pinned him. He can’t live in the moment.”
“Sounds like Gwen. She always searched for anything different.”
“Maybe they could pair up and balance out each other’s flaws.”
“Or drive themselves mad with frustration over those flaws.”
“They wouldn’t deserve any less, particularly from each other.”
“Misery loves company.” Allyson picked up a stray DVD that escaped from the pile she moved aside. She looked at its front cover. “The Empire Strikes Back?”
“I grew up on those films when they first came out…” he laughed “…on video.” He reached across to pluck the movie from Allyson’s grasp. “Good old VHS. Dad popped this into the sitting room VCR and sat with me to watch all three movies. It was my sixth birthday, just fantastic.”
“Was that your greatest birthday so far?”
“One of my top five.”
“You’ve got another one coming up soon. Maybe that could go into your list.”
“Since you’re part of that day, then it might become Number One.”
Allyson laughed. “Now I’ve got such an impossible standard to achieve.”
“One of your better presents?”
“Definitely.”
“Nice dance around the subject. Did you learn that skill at university? All the drunk people I knew in college were barely able to stand, let alone talk.”
“There was one night where my clothes went missing after─” He glanced in Allyson’s direction. “But that was on Mykonos in the summer after I graduated.”
Allyson laughed. “You aren’t going to finish?!”
“Always leave some mystery, dear.”
“So I’m ‘dear’ to you?”
“‘Dear’ is a term of affection, which describes some particular feeling I have…” Jamie understood that a major transition was destined to unfold inside the flat. “What comes next?”
Allyson laughed. “Something fun?”
“Anything special in mind?”
“One thing, and something else─?”
“I didn’t plan ahead.”
“‘Impulse’ should be your middle name.”
“Perhaps not all the time.” Hesitation was getting old, fast, like four months ago; how many people waited so long for their first kiss? He was lucky she hadn’t already given up and left already…
One kiss, if done properly, could evolve into a relationship…it needed to be perfect. Okay that was ridiculous; nothing was ever perfect...
Allyson smiled. “I guess somebody needs to finish this─”
