The Woman in the Windowsill

~~~

I hear the doorbell to my apartment. Jessica has arrived early. It’s officially our fourth date today and I’ve decided to make her dinner. I’m in the process of adding my alfredo sauce to the linguine as she waits on my doorstep. David still isn’t out of the apartment yet, and doesn’t appear to be in any rush as he sluggishly puts on his jacket in the living room.

“Could you grab that?”, I ask him.

He walks by me on the way to the front door and vulgarly grabs his groin in front of me as he passes me.

“I didn’t need to see that”

“Yeah but I wanted you to see. Remember who your real lover is”, he laughs. I roll my eyes and try to hold back my laugh which would undoubtedly encourage future vulgar behavior.

He answers the door and sees his cousin standing in the doorway. She’s wearing a casual getup, the first time since we’ve met up with each other. A simple hoodie with leggings. It was something different than the elegant black or red dresses she usually wore when we went out. Nonetheless, I figured it was simply a sign of the two of us getting more comfortable with each other with each passing day.

“What’s going on kid”, David says, giving his cousin an obligatory hug.

“Hey David”, she replies. She scurries past him as David takes her place on the front doorstep.

“You two play nice”, he orders to us as he shuts the front door and leaves the building.

“Hey you”, she says as she kisses me on the cheek. She looks around my place. It’s her first time here, and I’m anxious to see what she thinks of it.

“Hey, I kinda missed you”, I tell her.

“I’m sure you did”, she sasses. She still hasn’t said anything about my apartment, but makes a squeal as she picks up Sam.

“I love your cat”, she tells me. “You must be Sam”, she says, bring the cat nose to nose with her. Sam begins to purr in her arms as she carries him over to me and watches me toss the pasta. “Looks good Brett”, she smiles. I’ve grown quite fond of her smiles.

I lay a quick kiss on her and serve her a plate. She puts Sam onto the floor and he begins to meow for a plate of his own.

“Can I feed him”, she politely asks as she slurps up some noodles.

“I have some wet cat food, I usually save it for special occasions. I suppose this could be one.” I grab a can from the cabinet and toss it to her. She fails to catch it. She isn’t a softball player like Camila was evidently.

She apologizes for her lack of coordination and opens the can. Sam runs over to her and begins to chow down. The two of us finish our meal in the kitchen, as my dining room table has become overcome by papers and some of David’s items.

“Where’d my cousin go?”, she asks.

“I think he went out”, I tell her. “Probably off to a bar or something. I don’t think he wanted to be here for our date.”

She continues to gaze at Sam in fascination as he chows down. We both finished and she offers to clean up the kitchen for me. I refuse and tell her I’ll clean it up later. Jessica discovers an old chess set I’ve had since high school and challenges me at it.

The two of us end up playing a panned out game. She’s a good chess player.

“You’re good at this”, I tell her. “Not quite as good as me unfortunately”. I move my queen in to take her knight.

“Fuck”, she curses. “I almost had you. And I’ve been going easy on you Brett, you’re just a little bit cocky”. She flashes a quick seductive smile at me from across the board.

“What else are you good at?”, I ask curiously. “I suppose being a nurse isn’t the only hobby you pursue, right?”

“Well”, she begins. “I love chess, puzzles, those types of things. I’m kind of a nerd, in all honesty.”

“Yeah, you were telling me about how you like Marvel movies a lot. Not a lot of girls are freely into that you know.” I move my pawn up a space.

Jessica sits there and contemplates her next move. “I also like cooking. Hopefully you’ll let me cook for you next time instead. I can cook a lot better than pancakes, I promise.”

“Hmm.” I look at the chess board. She moves her bishop to another position on the table and before I can realize I’m in check mate. “Well played”, I admit. “I see you’re good at chess. Do you sing? Or do you like arts and crafts?”

“I’m no singer”, she laughs. “Nor an artist, I’ll admit.” She now moves the pieces off the board. “I am good at chess though. And I’m better at a lot of things than I am at chess”. She pushes the board aside and climbs onto the table. Before I know it she’s on top of me.

After a half an hour we’re all finished. She doesn’t bother putting her clothes back on and opts to fall asleep on my bed. On the contrary, I decide to at least put my pants on as I make a quick trip to the bathroom. On my way there my front door opens, and David walks in. He sees that I’m shirtless.

“Jessica still here?”, he asks. It’s clear he’s had a few.

“Yeah”, I answer truthfully.

He nods and walks past me.

After using the bathroom I quietly inch back into my room. I see Camila asleep in our bed, where she’s meant to be. I blink and it’s Jessica instead. I put my hand on my head a take a deep breath. How would she feel about me bringing another woman into OUR bed?

I begin to break. I need to see something of hers, anything. There’s no more pictures of us. But there’s the bracelet! I go into my closet. I begin to rummage through the contents, but as quietly as possible. Jessica shifts a little bit in her sleep but doesn’t open her eyes.

I actually hadn’t thought of Camila at all yesterday. It was the first day that’s happened since she passed. But her absence from my mind has only brought the obsession back even stronger. I just wanted something tangible of her.

I finally find the bracelet. The rhinestones glimmer in the evening light. I hear rain begin to pour outside. I hold the bracelet in my hands, then bring it up to my face. I begin to wonder, am I sick? I have a beautiful woman lying in my bed and I choose to dwell upon a dead woman? I didn’t care. I had the bracelet.

I continue to stare at it. The light bounces off the colors beautifully. It is made of cheap materials but it’s well made. I decide to put it on, just because it was something of hers. I fit it around my right wrist, and run my fingers across the rhinestones. A teardrop land on one of the stones. I didn’t even notice I shed a tear until I see it coat one of the stones. I wipe the tear off the stone.

“Come to bed”, Jessica suggests. She’s half asleep. I turn around to see her motioning her index finger for me to come to her. I shut my closet and make my way over to her. I position myself behind her and put my arm over her. She takes my hand and interlocks our fingers. She quickly falls back asleep. I lay there for at least an hour, in silence, unable to sleep. Eventually, after a long while, I’m able to drift away into a deep sleep…