One Game | Benny Watts

013

Jennifer and Benny made their slow way back to Benny's apartment, a small smile on each other their faces. Maybe she could live like this, maybe she could quit her job... stay with Benny... be with Benny on his trips and maybe participate herself. Maybe she really did like Benny, and maybe it was worth giving it a shot. She glanced up at him, seeing his peacefully face light up by the moonlight as he walked.

She then reminded herself, she said one night. She only has one night. That's all. That made her sad slightly, made her miss his arm around her or his compliments. The two continued until they reached Benny's little underground apartment. "Ladies first," he smiled opening the door for her.

"Gentlemen," she nodded heading inside hanging her coat up on the wall and kicking her heels off and pulling her left foot up to her knee rubbing the bottom. "I hate heels," she whispered

"You wear them all the time on stage?" He asked slowly confused

"Exactly," she sighed.

"You looked beautiful tonight," he smirked glancing over at her. She leant against the wall, resting her head against it as she looked at him with a small smile.

"So did you," she replied "Now, I'm going to get changed," as she walked towards her suitcase pulling out her pjs.

"Use my room," he offered pointing to his empty room. As she got changed he leant of the door waiting for her while contemplating what he was to do. "So, is that our night over?" He asked

"Well, it's not morning is it," she answered opening the door to see him.

"So... technically, it's still our one night?"

"I suppose," she shrugged heading towards the kitchen, taking a large cup of water while Benny went into his room. Normally, she would've had a bottle of beer and a cigar by unfortunately circumstances prevented that.

She drank as much as she could until it made her feel so sick she couldn't drink anymore, pouring the rest down the sink. On her way to her small blow up bed in the blurry mirror on Benny walls she saw a pale silhouette of a man. Only skinny black jeans and long silver chains clinging to his body, she watched the figure move until it cleared and he was resting on his doorframe. Her vision still glancing down him.

"Jennifer?" He smirked, she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Shut up," she scoffed

"Mhm. Look I've gotta read this and then I'll be with you all right?" He held up a copy of chess review.

"Take as long as you need," she smiled warmly , blowing up her little bed as Benny shifted back to a blurry image sitting in his bed reading through the book yet his mind were in other places. This was the end of their night, after this they would go back to normal. Back to two friends who play chess sometimes. Nothing more, nothing less.

This would be it, he would never put his arm around her again. Never be able to look at her as long as he did. Never go on a date with her again. Never feel her eyes glancing over him again. This is it. They would then continue pretending like nothing ever happened, never went on a date, never looked at each other with so much admiration, never again.

This bought on a feeling Benny hated, it was like an ache in his stomach. Like a hole, which he filled with the chess review. Funnily enough, Jennifer felt the same thing when she thought about being anything serious with Benny. Not because she didn't like him, she had come to realise that she did in fact like him. But because she disliked the thought of loosing anything they already had.

She saw it as, they closer he was, the move amount of distance he could put in seconds. This terrified her, the thought of loosing Benny. As this point they had built a stable friendship really, changing that friendship could change the stability and she wasn't sure if that was worth it. She stood up from the bean bag crouching down by her suitcase digging through it for her hairbrush before something caught her eye.

A little plastic ziplock bag with two circular white tablets in there. She didn't remember packing these but... she was glad she did. She knew she shouldn't but she would. She chucked them down her throat quickly and made sure Benny wasn't watching as stuffed it back into the suitcase pulling out her hairbrush and running it through her hair.

***

As Benny got closer to the end of his Chess Review, Jennifer's pills were just beginning to work. It was only hitting her now she was meant to take 1 tablet not 2... but she's done it now and she felt fantastic. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this amazing. She sat on the sofa now, her legs swinging back and forth while her head nodded to some song she remembered.

It then crossed her mind that Benny was here, she had completely forgotten he was here. But he most definitely was. "You all right Jen?" He asked from his bedroom "I can hear your feet on the floor," she froze her legs still. She could feel the room on the left elongating and on the right squishing down. She looked at her previously moving legs to see them strangely long. Since when were her legs this long. "Jen?" He repeated

"Yeah- I- I'm fine," she smiled staring at her legs and standing up to check they were real. "Interesting," she whispered as she took a few steps.

"You sound weird," he spoke cautiously, Jennifer went quiet as she walked towards him room. Looking at him while leaning on the door frame.

"Thanks," she said sarcastically causing Benny to smile as he allowed his eyes to take a short glanced down her. "Hm," she mumbled walking towards him.

"You okay?" He asked as the girl sat directly in front of him, her arms wrapped round his neck and a hand going through the back of his hair. She rested her head onto her shoulder, her warm breath going against Benny's neck. He was frozen for a second before wrapping his arms around Jennifer waist. She pulling away slightly looking at him for a second. "Can I kiss you?" He asked very slowly, scared of her answer

"Shut up," she mumbled pulling his face towards her...