‘I dreamed about them again,’ Eve blurted. She paused on the pavement.
‘Still?’ Anna asked.
‘That night … the night, it just …’ Eve shook her head. ‘Replayed.’
‘Maybe you should go back to talking to someone?’
Eve swallowed. ‘I can’t go through that again. I won’t.’
‘I just … I don’t want you to feel alone.’
‘I’m living in the city that never sleeps and I have you … I’m never alone,’ Eve lied, as she tried to lighten the mood. ‘I’ve gotta go. We’ll talk later.’
Eve left out what her what her mother had said to her, the weight of her words still ringing in her ears. She steadied herself against the cool brick of a store-front. ‘Pathetic,’ she muttered, as she swallowed back tears.
A flock of birds flew overhead. Eve closed her eyes and imagined the flight – the wind so high up, the taste of the clouds. Her breathing slowed to a calmness. Eve pushed the dream away with every step she took. With each push from a stranger into her side, she slid the memory away, causing it to sink lower than her footsteps.
‘And so it begins,’ Eve whispered to the empty store, as she breathed in the dust and scent of old vinyls.
Laura threaded her shoes. The knot stuck out at an odd angle. She bent to retie it, somehow thinking her encounter with Eve would be easier if she could control the aesthetic of her footwear.
‘I can’t believe you are seriously doing this for some girl,’ Deb said, an air of annoyance in her words.
Laura shrugged and straightened her blouse, smoothing out creases that weren’t there.
‘I’ve never seen you like this. Seriously, what has got into you?’
Laura shook her head, not quite knowing herself. ‘I don’t know why, just thinking about her is doing this to me.’
‘Two words, my dear. Mid-life crisis.’
Laura walked across her kitchen to the windows. She leaned her forehead against the glass. The solidity of it, the cool that spread down her forehead, fused a focused energy in her. She pictured Eve through closed eyes, the way her shirt had hung loose on her body the last time they talked, her eyes, her laugh. She didn’t know why, but she needed to be close to her, to see the same world she saw. Deb’s hand clasped her back, snapping her out of the daydream.
‘I think we had better go now.’
‘Yes,’ Laura agreed. ‘Let’s go.’
‘This is, by far, one of the strangest things I’ve ever done.’ Deb slung her handbag over her arm.
‘This was your idea.’
‘I know, but I didn’t think you would actually agree to it.’
Laura could feel the elevator sliding past each floor. She counted the clicks in her bones. The way the metal slotted downwards at the press of a button.
‘What if she recognises me? From the show?’ Deb asked.
‘She didn’t even know who I was. I doubt she’ll know who you are.’ Laura pretended not see Deb’s wounded stare as the elevator doors opened onto the foyer.
Eve slumped against her stool. The beginnings of a headache had begun to throb behind her eyes, somewhere between the fourth rude customer who had graced her presence today and the late shipment of records they now wouldn’t be getting until next week. Her eyes lingered on the doughnuts Al had attacked earlier in the morning, and her thoughts drifted to Laura, wondering if she would come in again today.
Eve found her mind replaying old memories, like the day she applied for the job in the store. She had escaped into the store as a cover for a sudden rain. Drenched and cold, her body warmed at the sight of the vinyls, the old tattered counter that no doubt had more history than her life combined. It felt like walking towards an old friend you hadn’t seen in a long time, comforting and warm, knowing you were sure to get a good conversation. Marco, her now boss, had stood at the counter, with greased thick black hair and a stern expression to match. Eve walked towards him in wet shoes. Like the storm, the words slipped out without warning. Eve suggested he hire someone with a more approachable demeanour to work the counter. She didn’t have time to brace for his answer. Marco came out from behind the counter and stared her down. Eve tensed, frozen, realising too late what her mouth had got her into this time.
Instead of telling her to get out, he grabbed her shoulders with a clasp so restrictive Eve doubted she could have run if she wanted to. He laughed, making her jerk. A long throaty laugh. ‘Okay, little girl. I’ll hire you. Only because you insult me and make me smile.’
Their first meeting turned into a one-of-a-kind friendship. They worked side by side for hours at a time. She learned the ropes and soon even bested Marco at the complicated cash register he insisted on keeping for atmosphere. Every Friday, their nights ended with ribs from a corner restaurant Marco had sworn on his family’s lives to be the best he’d ever eaten. One night, her mouth full and smeared with rib sauce, Marco had told her how his parents met. His soon-to-be father had just finished a long shift when he heard sirens in the distance. A woman came hurtling towards him and pulled on his car door, screaming for him to drive.
‘My mother said that my father accidentally put the car in reverse and almost went through a brick wall.’ Marco slapped his thigh and bellowed loud enough for the street below to hear. ‘My mother, the criminal, and my father, the love-struck idiot.’
Eve had grown quiet. She tried to remember her parents telling her their story, her mind turning over and over, replaying fragments without the most important pieces. She didn’t have their first story, but she had their last. It wasn’t something to share over a relaxing dinner. After a month of late nights and constant sarcastic bickering, Marco told her he needed a vacation. He had been gone without a word since.
Eve straightened on her stool, making her feel off balance. She saw Laura coming down the street, trailed by another woman. She smiled easily when her silhouette filled the doorway.
Eve leaned against the counter. ‘We really have to stop meeting like this.’
Laura’s companion looked her up and down with an odd focus in her expression, like she was counting toothpicks.
Eve closed the distance between them, feeling like a specimen. ‘Hi there.’ She made contact. ‘I’m Eve.’
‘Deb.’ She shook her hand. Her long straight nose and pouted lips reminded her of someone, but her mind wouldn’t give up who.
‘We were just on our way to lunch.’
Eve nodded, not knowing if it was an invitation. She wondered if the two of them were friends or worked together. She couldn’t pin down their pairing. Eve’s jaw flexed suddenly when Deb leaned into Laura. Their waists brushed. The brief moment stirred something in her. A reaction she wasn’t sure of. Deb whispered something into Laura’s ear. Eve strained her own, wanting to hear every word. She looked down at her hands and noticed them balled. Eve tried to fold herself up and melt into the paperbacks, her whole body tensed.
Laura cleared her throat. She had said something she missed. ‘Are you alright?’
Eve nodded, needing to get away from the two of them. ‘Yeah, yeah. If you need anything, just call.’ She put as much distance as she could between Deb and the way she had brushed against Laura. Eve tried to busy herself rearranging records on the upper level but her hands wouldn’t cooperate, still tense from the meeting. She peered at the two of them, their closeness, Laura’s easy laugh at something Deb had said. Eve waited until Deb was out of sight down the other end of the store, before asking if she could show Laura something. Eve motioned for Laura to follow her to the storeroom. Eve scanned the room for a talking point. Her eyes rested on the safe that lay hidden under the singular window. She knelt towards the safe