Chapter 6

Robby woke up late Saturday morning, his back stiff from sleeping on the couch and a sour taste in his mouth. He sat up and looked blearily around the room, taking note of anything that might be different. He felt vaguely disappointed that there wasn't anything different after the events of the night before. He felt like his whole world had changed, yet nothing in his vision supported that.

He looked at the table by the couch and saw the two glasses he'd left there last night, one filled with manky-looking orange juice, the other with cloudy water. He stood and grabbed the glasses, taking them to the kitchen sink. Once deposited safely among the other dirty dishes waiting for his attention, he wandered off to his bedroom. Scratching his ass, he was reminded that he was wearing sweats rather than his usual boxers. Looking around his bedroom reminded him that he needed to do some much needed housework. He set about gathering his dirty laundry, intending to make a trip to the laundromat later in the day.

Finding his jacket beneath the workout machine brought his mind back to the prior night, as if he needed reminding. A wave of sadness washed over him as he considered the idea of never seeing Elaina again. His rational mind told him it was for the best, but his emotional side wondered. Recalling the bites, he shuddered, and his rational mind got the upper hand. He continued performing necessary chores and was able to successfully put it all out of his mind.

The rest of his day was occupied with mundane tasks and mindless activities – exercising for instance – and passed without incident.

Sunday morning found Robby heading down the hall back to his apartment after picking up the Sunday paper along with his special indulgence: a caramel flan latte from the local Starbucks. The rest of the week he ate sensibly and watched his diet, but on this one day of the week, he gave in to his sensual side and indulged in extravagance. He was taking a sip when the door to Doug's apartment popped opened and a bedraggled Doug stepped out, barefoot, rubbing at his face. His jeans looked like he'd slept in them for the last two days, and his shirt was wrinkled and buttoned up crooked. Robby tried to give him space, but Doug stopped in front of him anyway.

"Hey, guy! Haven't seen you since the party." His voice cracked and was scratchy, as if wasn't quite up to the task. "How they hangin'?"

Robby had always felt that was a rather crude question, used only by clueless high-schoolers, and his answer was rather abrupt because of it.

"They're 'hanging' just fine, Doug," he said tersely, grimacing at the smell of unwashed body wafting off Doug. "Look, I've got a hot coffee and a fresh newspaper, and I'm going to enjoy a day of rest. If you'll excuse me... ?"

Just then, Dawn barreled out of the apartment, looking fresh and clean. Even so, she didn't appear to be very happy about something. She pushed past Doug with a muttered "asshole," and was going down the hall when she noticed Robby standing there. She stopped and looked at him with an interested twinkle in her eyes.

"Is this asshole bothering you, Robby?" she asked tartly, glancing to the side. Doug winced and hung his head in shame, mumbling a quick "sorry" to Dawn. She waved him off, then abruptly fanned her nose with that hand before turning her focus back to Robby. He noted that her outfit was much more conservative today, sporting a knee-length skirt with nylons, and a tailored jacket over a silk blouse, a cravat hiding her cleavage. Low heels completed her outfit. She was lightly made-up with a pale pink lip gloss gracing her full lips. She had a leather coat under her arm.

"So, I saw that red-haired wench watching you just before you left," she said with a bright smile. "Did she catch up with you in the hall? I saw her leaving just before you made it to the door."

Robby blinked, amazed that a classy woman like her was paying him that much attention, and then he blushed when he recognized that Dawn had spotted his stalker while he had been completely oblivious. Dawn tipped her head back in a laugh, her wavy chestnut hair undulating with the motion.

"I see that she did," she chortled. "Good for you, Rob. See ya around, okay?" She turned and left after Robby's brief assurance that it might be nice.

Robby turned back to the groggy Doug and took in his hangdog expression. Cursing at himself, he asked Doug if he would like to visit for a while. Doug nodded, and after closing his apartment followed Robby to his. Robby ushered him in, then offered a kitchen chair and something to drink. Doug opted for water.

"So, Doug, want to tell me what's up?" Robby inquired politely.

"I screwed the pooch, man," was Doug's more or less sober reply. "I invited her as my date to the party, then hooked up with that other chick you saw us with. I thought she was cool with it, but turns out, she expected me to ditch the bitch later." He stopped and scrubbed his face again, then heaved a sigh. "I guess you saw me passed out before the real party could start, and that should have been the end of it. I was too wasted, even the next morning, to get up to much, but the other chick showed up again last night."

Robby thought Doug was going to scour his features off if he didn't stop, but said nothing as Doug once again scrubbed at his face. Apropos of nothing, Doug commented that he needed a shave.

"What you need is a shower," Rob opined. Doug just grunted.

"I should have seen it right away," Doug complained. "Dawn's too nice to say anything, but I should've picked up on her mood. We were sitting there on the couch, kinda all cuddled up, when this chick made her move ... on Dawn." He barked a laugh and shook his head. "I tell ya what, you don't ever want to see Dawn get her mad on. It was nuts! I'm surprised you didn't hear it over in your place." Robby recalled he was listening to music with headphones last night and wouldn't have heard the crack of Doom. "She threw that bitch out so fast, I thought she was going through the wall instead of the door. Then, she told me off and left. She only came back this morning to get her coat. I tried to make it up to her, but, well, you saw how that turned out, huh?" Doug was sitting there looking totally morose, and Robby just didn't have it in him to kick him when he was down. Sure, Doug was a flake, but he was a harmless flake, and generally an okay guy.

"I really don't have a lot of experience with females..." he flashed on Elaina and grimaced, " ... for the most part, but I think you need to write Dawn off. Unless she gets over this on her own, there's no way she's coming back. I could be wrong, of course," he finished self-deprecatingly.

"Yeah, I s'pose. This sucks," he muttered with a frown. In typical Doug fashion, he suddenly flashed a grin that had Robby wondering if he should duck and cover. Doug looked at him with a mischievous sparkle in his eye.

"So, about that redhead Dawn mentioned," he said with a snigger. "Get any?"

"Doug, you really are an asshole, aren't you?" Robby answered in disgust. "Do you really think I would tell you something like that? A gentleman does not kiss and tell."

"Who's talking about kissing? I caught a look at her when she came in." Doug whistled and shook a hand in the air as if to cool it off. "I'd a' done her in a heartbeat."

Thinking about what they had done caused Robby to blanch. Doug's expression changed quickly to concerned.

"Hey, dude, it's okay," Doug said hurriedly. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's cool. I get it." It was patently obvious that he didn't get it, but at least he made the effort.

"Hey, look," he continued. "Thanks for talkin' to me. It helped, really. And, you know, you got your thing, and I gotta take a shower, and..." Doug ran out of steam.

Letting him off the hook, Robby said, "It's okay, don't worry about. Things just weren't what they seemed." Doug looked like he was about to make some crude comment, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Robby appreciated the restraint. "Come on, I'll walk you to the door."

He showed Doug to the door, commiserating on the vagaries of the female species as he walked Doug back to his place, and patted him on the back when he let himself in.

When Robby got back to his own door, he saw a business card sticking out of the door casing. He pulled it out and stuck it in his shirt pocket, intending to look at it later, then he got back to his now lukewarm coffee and still fresh newspaper. It was hours later, bedtime in fact, when he took off his shirt and the card fell to the floor. He picked it up and saw it was from a local realtors' office. Thinking it was an enterprising realtor trying to entice renters into buying more house than they needed, he turned it over in his hand. On the back he found a note with a telephone number. Written in a flowing feminine hand, it said Call me and was signed with a florid 'D'.