Luis sat in his running shorts on the small back porch, drinking coffee and looking out over a small garden, preferring to run early to avoid the heat but also to get the workout over with as soon as possible. As he gazed into the red glow of the rising sun, he bit his lip in thought; the unexpected phone call of three days ago still haunted him. It had been seven, eight years since he last spoke with Nora. Even after all that time, the recollection was still fresh.
December; she finished her last exam of the semester and waited in the lobby of the dorm for a taxi to take her to the train station. It was Friday; she could have waited until Saturday morning but she did not want to prolong the situation. On Wednesday she said, "I'm not coming back next semester." Luis suspected something like this. A subtle, nuanced change had affected their relationship. He saw it but ignored it; Nora knew it but did not want to face it. Finally the words were said and by Friday it would be over.
Luis also recalled the first time he saw her. A cold autumn afternoon, the football team just lost a close game to their intra-state rival. Luis played well. The entire team played well. They just were beaten. Walking off the field, through the chain link gate he looked to his left and noticed her standing next to a guy who had his arm protectively around her. A mass of light red hair, agitated by the wind, fell in disarray about her shoulders. A bulky knit sweater concealed her ample bust. Faded, blue jeans clung to her legs and crotch. A voluptuous mouth, permanently fixed in a seductive pout sprang to a smile when he caught her gaze.
The circumstance of how he met her were lost but from that day until fifteen months later when they parted at the dorm lobby, was a rollicking spontaneous, uninhibited sexual free-for-all. Nora was 'new' money, suburban, accustomed to nice things, abundant attention and getting what she wanted. Luis was streetwise, confident; happy just to be surviving. In many ways they were polar opposites but that is what kept them together. The unadmitted realization that this would never last, like a dying star, kept the intensity going.
Luis made his way to the front stoop to sit and wait.
The car slowed at the corner and the passenger's eyes jumped up from the map to scan the street sign. As the car turned, Nora spotted an open space and eased the car to the curb. The passenger stared intently at the house addresses and commented. "It is over there on the other side of the street". With that Nora put the car into park but let the engine idle. "Over there" Segolene repeated and turned.
Nora's face flushed as she fumbled for words. "This must be a movie set". Her eyes swept down the long uninterrupted row of narrow tightly packed brick town houses. "I don't know anyone who would live in a place like this"
"Well, you know one person and it is probably that guy sitting on the front steps" Segolene retorted. "Let's go check".
Luis watched the duo from the top of the stoop. 'They are cast from the same mold' was his first reaction. From the shoulders down they could pass for twins; both had a little extra baby fat, very amble bust and sturdy legs. Nora was more short-waisted which made her seem shorter. Facially they were very different. Nora was still the well coiffed blonde with a fair complexion and the seductive pout. Her friend was darker; dark eyes and extremely dark hair which billowed wildly about her shoulders. The sight of Nora still aroused a sense of lust although tempered by the intervening years. Her friend aroused his curiosity.
The passenger made eye contact as she approached the steps. "You must be Luis. I'm Segolene" she stated as she extended her hand. Luis nodded and accepted the handshake. "Nora is a bit frightened by the neighborhood. Do you think she will be safe?"
Luis smiled not knowing if the comments were meant to be taken seriously or not. "Do you feel threatened?" he retorted.
"Hell no" was the immediate response, "but I wasn't raised in a gated community either. This is a bit of a shock to her." Her comments had a peculiar sound to them.
Luis mentally recapped their fifteen months; piecing together the various locales and venues they haunted together. He retrieved memory fragments; the smoky bars and music clubs where nobody asked your age; riding his motorcycle through the west side slums because they were the most direct route through the city; the nights in the woods that abutted the train tracks where they unabashedly indulged their sexual desires within earshot of the rundown row houses across the railway. He glanced up and down the litter free street with its tidy houses; 'she either was not paying attention to the surroundings or her memory is fading' he thought.
He stepped towards Nora as she approached and gave her a welcoming hug. She held him slightly longer than just friends but not long enough to revive lost feelings. "How are you doing?" she asked with the hint of a lingering New York accent.
"Fine. And you?"
"Things are going good for me too." As she replied, Nora gestured with her hands to display, perhaps unconsciously, the large diamond engagement ring and wedding band combination. Luis noticed but did not acknowledge.
"Come on in and I will give you the nickel tour of the place." Luis opened the door and beckoned them in. Segolene enthusiastically looked around the long, narrow, sparsely appointed room. "This is quite charming; slightly Bohemian but not subterranean". She chuckled at her 'subterranean' description as she walked about.
"You have some nice artwork. That is a Daumier." Luis stepped behind her as she pointed to the etching on the wall.
"I don't think it is an original. I bought it at a yard sale for a few buck but it had a battered frame. I reframed it. That is why it looks good."
"Oh no! Look at the number in the corner. This is a numbered lithograph. It is 'original' but it is not unique. There was run of 125 before they scored the plate. Keep that one!" Segolene proceeded along the wall and stopped. "Calder" she exclaimed, "an interesting but not exceptionally valuable piece." She turned and sighed, "This I really like." She extended a finger to the edge of the frame and traced it along the perimeter. "There" she smiled over her shoulder at Luis, "this is a Gantner. See the signature. He is one of my favorites. How did you acquire such an 'eclectic' mix?"
Luis was taken back. He never had an eye for art, much less value. Most everything on the walls he purchased at yard sales or auctions, not because he thought them valuable but because he liked them or thought them interesting.
Nora walked slowly down the length of the room. . She could only guess but, maybe 13 feet wide and 30 feet from the front wall to the kitchen. 'My bathroom is larger that this', she thought. The kitchen was compact, economical and neat, but also quite small. The back door led to a deck overlooking a postage stamp size yard enclosed with a chain link fence. An alley separated the backs of the houses from those on the next street. 'Could I live in a place like this?' she thought rhetorically.
She re-entered the house as Segolene continued to lecture Luis on his art. Nora waxed nostalgic. 'Did I make the wrong choice?' she mused. Jimmy offered everything she always wanted; anything material, social status and most of all, not just security but excess wealth. Still, her doubts lingered. Luis will be very successful. He is focused and intelligent, but for Nora, he was not ambitious, at least not in a monetary sense. He was not an acquirer. Having things was not a priority as much as doing things. But perhaps she could have changed him.
