I'm in a rush, sprinting my way to Vee's house as if a pack of hungry wolves were on the chase. That's how fast things have gone from total bliss to utter hell. In a blink; a snap of my fingers.
"I have bad news, Champ." That's what Dad said a few minutes after I woke up this morning. Aunt Sugar had been in tears, and Uncle Owen's smile, like Dad's, had vacated the premises. I knew instantly; I didn't even need to ask what happened. I just clenched my fists and asked what I really needed to know.
"When?"
"A week? Ten days at best."
And then, another sob from Aunt Sugar was my cue to leave the living room with no further words. I made a quick stop at my room to grab my phone and wallet before jumping out of the window, and...*poof*... John was gone.
Despite the shattering news, and my frantic run, I feel completely calm, almost estranged from the whole thing. It's weirdly surreal; like this has happened to some other random guy; not me.
I ring the bell of Veronica's house, barely breaking a sweat from my run.
Eliza, Vee's mother, opens the door. "John! What a pleasant surprise! Do come in." I walk in and Eliza shuts the door behind me. "Nice bed-head, by the way."
"Thanks! I hear it's trendy now." And hell if I know where my sense of humor is coming from. Because, believe me, there's nothing to laugh about.
"I imagine you're looking for Ronnie. She's still asleep, though..." And then she gives me a captivating grin—one that must have come from the same store in hell where Martin bought his own. "Perhaps you want to go wake her up with a kiss? Twenty-first century Sleeping Beauty style?"
I bet she's expecting me to blush and clam up, but I take the challenge head-on. "Actually," I tell Vee's mom, "I'll do just that." And I stride towards Vee's room because today I'm not in my own skin. And if Eliza has anything to say about it, I totally don't hear her.
I try the door knob as carefully as I can, poking my head inside first. Sure enough, Sleeping Beauty is lying in her bed, and fucking hell: I need to talk to her right away. I walk in, grateful for the carpeted floor which muffles my steps. I lean closer to her, taking a minute to admire her beautiful face, and she looks so adorable I can't disturb her. I don't want to be responsible for breaking the spell that keeps her in such a peaceful slumber.
"Are you going to kiss me at all or what?" And then she opens a single gorgeous grey eye.
"Oh. So, you are awake."
"Shhhhh," she says sleepily. "Pretend I'm not."
I shrug, kick my shoes off, and climb into bed with her, like this is the kind of normal thing I do every morning. I snuggle close, hiding my face in the crook of her neck, and she turns over to embrace me. We stay like that for a while and I swear I'm ready to doze off when she breaks sixteen decibels off the silence.
"What's wrong, honey?"
The world is about to end, in ten days at best.
"Nothing is, sunshine." This is the first lie I tell Vee, and you can bet there's going to be a lot more. The most disturbing part is that I don't feel the slightest trace of guilt about it.
"Would you mind explaining your impromptu visit, then?" She runs her delicate fingers through my hair, and I breathe in her flowery scent. It's mesmerizing.
. "I just had a really sudden urge to see you again."
"I see..." Then an explosion of decibels blasts through the room: "You better not be eavesdropping behind that door, Mom!"
"Shoot!" a voice says. A moment later we hear Eliza's footsteps retreating down the hallway.
"Sorry about that, John."
I snuggle even closer, hugging her tiny body tight against my own. "It's fine, baby. I'm at peace here."
"You're so out of your tree today, you know that?"
"Yeah. Because I'm crazy in love with you."
She chuckles lightly and kisses my forehead. "I love you too, my sweet and bonkers boyfriend."
We stay like that for a couple more minutes, enjoying the warmth and silence and our peaceful breathing. This time it's me who breaks the spell. "Will we get to do this every day if we get married?"
Veronica raises her head from the pillow. "What? Are you proposing to me, John Foster?"
"It's not the most romantic way, but I definitely would if these are the kind of pleasures that await us." I stretch a little a plant a slow kiss on her neck.
"Your stubble tickles," she chuckles, but she moves her head a little to encourage me some more, and I deliver. "I don't know what you did to my usual John, but I'm not ready to complain yet."
"Oh, you know... there's so much more of me to get to know if you're curious," I say, sliding a timid hand under her shirt and savoring the subtle curve of her waist. In a matter of seconds, my tentative hand becomes more adventurous, and migrates from her waist to explore the soft lines of the muscles in her back.
And then I realize: no bra. Unexplored territory ahead. Now I know how Christopher Columbus must have felt when he spotted land in 1492. My pulse begins to race, and like any serious adventurer, my hands are itchy to explore new land.
I mean, I've touched her breasts before, but never like this. Not in the flesh, and I keep wondering if I'm crossing some kind of boundary. But Vee doesn't protest, and I can tell she is as excited as I am.
This is, the kind of pleasure Martin seeks when he dates the most gorgeous girls in sight. The blood begins to leave my brain for regions below my waist, and my hand seems to have a mind of its own, too.
Vee arches her back under the touch of my fingers, her breathing now ragged and whispery, and then her tongue is in my mouth and she's straddled on top of me, her hands pulling impatiently at my t-shirt. It's all happening too fast for my mind to keep up—
And then... my phone goes off. I can't tell anymore if this is the greatest timing or the worst. Vee chuckles, her teeth still gently biting at my bottom lip. Whoa! We straighten up, and I sit in a daze on the edge of the bed and check my phone. A missed call from Martin flashes on the screen, but I don't really want to connect with that half of my world right now so I turn it off.
"What? You're not answering?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
My mouth works faster than my brain. "I came here to spend time with you. And I don't want Martin latch on to us and ruin it."
She frowns a little bit and stares at me hard. She's not buying it. "What's going on, John? This isn't you. You're definitely hiding something."
I shift to face her, holding both her hands in my own before kissing them. "Vee, sunshine, nothing's going on." Second lie, or maybe it's just a replay of the first. "Is it that weird that I want some alone time with my beloved girlfriend?"
She considers this. "No, I guess not."
I smile wide at her. "Good." Then it's Vee's turn to be called by Martin. Shit. That's not good, I can't let her speak with him: I don't know if he knows yet. "You might want to turn that off too," I suggest.
"I'll just tell him to let me sleep." She leaps over me to get her phone from her bedside table, but I catch her in my arms and kiss the hell out of her to avoid it. Then she's on top of me again and I'm sure I've succeeded, but she's just close enough to pick it up. "Martin. What's up?"
Immediately, her phone goes off again in her ear, and before she can answer it, I snatch it out of her hands and hide it behind my back, the now-muffled ringtone still audible. Vee narrows her eyes, visibly pissed. I give her my best smile, but it doesn't work.
"Give me my phone."
"Come on, honey. Let's just—
"Give me my phone, John. I won't say it again."
"But, Vee..."
"Don't you dare 'But, Vee' me, Foster." Then she burrows her hand underneath me, and retrieves her phone. She leaps off of me, dials Martin back, and shoots me an angry look. "I'm gonna find out what the hell is wrong with you today. You can bet on that."
To make things even worse, she puts Martin on speaker.
"Vee, hi there." He sounds sleepy, like he just woke up. "Is John with you?"
She holds the phone in front of my face. "Say hi to your cousin."
"Hi, cousin."
"Sup, man?" There's a huge yawn on his end of the line. "Just woke up and you weren't around. Tried calling your phone but you didn't pick up."
Relief washes all over me. He still doesn't know the world is ending.
"Yeah, I..."
Think, Johnny. Think!
"I thought I'd spend the day with Vee today. You don't mind, do you?"
"I kind of had plans for us today, but yeah, I guess it's fine." Another yawn. "No problem; I'll just sleep some more."
Vee grabs her phone back. "Martin?"
"What's up, Vee?" Martin says. "You sound kind of pissed."
"John's acting super weird and suspicious today and I was wondering if something happened."
"Uhhh..." Yet another yawn. "I don't want to sound like a fucking smarty-pants here, but you've been dating the weirdest fuck in this God-forsaken world for a while now."
Veronica closes her eyes slowly and lets out a heavy sigh. "OK. I guess you're right."
"If you ask me, he needs to get laid real soon."
"No one asked you, though," I say, looking away from her. And now it's my turn to be pissed, because that could have been happening right now if Martin hadn't called in the first place.
"Listen," Martin says. "Would both of you dumb fucks take the hint and let me sleep already? Thanks." And then he hangs up without waiting for either of us to reply.
Vee and I exchange glances. She's almost ready to let this one slip.
"You're safe," she says. "For now."
Yeah. For now.