“The Turn of a Friendly Card” Chapter 1 “Games People Play” (starter)

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Games People Play
"He said he had to work," she stated with such adamancy you'd swear she was defending his life in a court of law. In a way, she was defending him...in the court of public opinion...or at least to opinion of her friend, that being me.
"I just saw him at Starbucks. He' s not at work." I replied with an equal amount of gusto--I didn't want to win the battle or the war, but Renee could be an idiot sometimes. You'd think our class salutatorian would have at least a pamphlet's worth of street smarts.
"You’re lying "
"Why would I? Call his workplace," I handed her my cell, "go on."
"Fine, I will!"
She tapped out Daniel's work digits and then placed the call on speakerphone.
"Mintoni's Pizza. Will this be for delivery or take out?"
"Is Daniel Elefante there?" Renee asked as she stared intently at the clock timer on the phone,
"I'm not sure. Let me check. Please hold."
"He's probably out on a delivery."
"Oh he's on a delivery alright," I thought to myself...but I'd never dare say it.
"Umm, he's uhh...out on a delivery...I think, " the voice on the line stated, with a 'slightly stoned' tone.
"Thank you," Renee replied as she hung the phone up and stared at the screen some more before she passed it to me. "You’re driving."
Renee was my best friend, she had been since junior high. We never dated as I always felt she was just a friend. Yeah, I was told countless times that I was crazy and that I had to be a “homo” because I refused to jump her bones when I got the first chance. We never saw ourselves as a couple, more like cousins, not brother and sister, because cousins could and would do those crazy things that siblings would never do with each other. Yes, we went to the senior prom with each other—if only to finally get in the yearbook in something that wasn’t related to academics.
We went onto college together—thinking it was easier to room an apartment midway to the campus and carpool around town. It was fine at first. We had a two-bedroom flat, an actual kitchen but only one bathroom which Renee commandeered early. I didn’t mind that.
Having to wait for her at campus for the work studies she was doing? I was fine with that as I could sit in computer lab in the library, browse the web and just fritter my time. But I had to draw the line at Daniel.
He was a jerk. I felt it, literally, as he shoved me out of the way on the first day of school and like a dog that had been kicked around by its owner, I didn’t forget that. So, you can image my horror when I find him showing up at our apartment and you can envision my disgust hearing them in the next room.

And, because it was an apartment, the walls were thing enough that I might as well had been in the same room with them:a thought that made me go out and buy a fan and a white noise machine to try and drown them out. I was usually successful and could wake up without any bad mental images but there was one time when I walked out of my bedroom and ran right into a completely naked Daniel. That image burned into my retinas as the guy was truly huge.
In every way.
He had a few tats
The dude was like Roman god of Hercules.
I made an about face and stepped back into my room as Renee stepped out to see what had happened.
I didn’t apologize and neither did Daniel. I could image the thoughts in his mind would have been either ‘who cares, I got this girl’ to ‘I’ll get him later, I got this girl”
My mind, however, to go back to what I said earlier was freaking out about what I had just witnessed. I had seen anything like that and I was frightened and curious of my my thoughts.
I locked the door and threw myself onto the bed.

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Comments

My favorite group.......

D. Eden's picture

So with an Alan Parsons Project title, I just had to check this out! I can only imagine where this is headed.

D. Eden

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus

Thank you.

Aylesea Malcolm's picture

Thank you.