After Robert left, I hoped that Will would come out of his room, but he didn’t and I couldn’t bring myself to knock on his door. I wanted to thank him for the Wurly and apologize for the awkward moment, but I didn’t get to.
The next day was extremely hot out. I worried about Jackson in the apartment. At noon, I decided to go check on him. He greeted me at the door and I was relieved again. I leaned against the counter in the kitchen to listen to the muffled voices and music coming from Will’s room. I watched as a very petite woman came strolling down the hallway. She looked to be about fifty years old and she was either wearing a very short dress or she had no pants on. Her eyes were caked with a ton of dark makeup and she wore way too much silver jewelry. If it weren’t for her inappropriate attire and slightly haggard appearance, I would have thought she was pretty. She made her way to the fridge and grabbed a beer.
“Hi, I’m Teeny.” She smiled and stuck her hand out.
“I’m Mia. You’re a friend of Will’s, I take it?”
“Yeah, we’re friends,” she said seductively.
Bile began to rise in my throat. “Enjoy your beer, Teeny,” I said before heading to my room. As I passed Will’s room I looked in. He was sitting on the windowsill with one leg inside and one leg out. He was smoking. He turned and looked at me impassively. I waited to see some sign on his face. It was hard to tell anything from his look, except maybe indifference like, Can I help you, or What are you staring at? Without a word, I went into my room and shut the door to collect myself. Moments later I heard Will and Teeny giggling and then I heard a little scream from Teeny. I decided to bolt out of there and head back to the café. I couldn’t help but glance back into Will’s open doorway as I passed. He was giving Teeny a piggyback ride, hopping around like a fucking asshat. Teeny was spinning an imaginary lasso like she was going to rope a calf. I dry heaved and then shot down the hallway and out the door.
Back at the café, Jenny had arrived. She, Martha, and Sheil were all huddled behind the counter, looking at Jenny’s hand. Jenny spotted me walking toward her. “Oh my god, Tyler asked me to marry him!” She screamed ecstatically and jumped up and down.
“What? How long have you known him?” I blurted out, shocked and still pissed from the Will episode. Sheil gave me the stink eye.
“Can’t you be happy for me, Mia?”
“I’m sorry,” I said immediately and sincerely. “I’m having a bad day. I’m excited for you. I know you guys love each other.” It was true, I just didn’t understand how it was possible and how they were so sure of it.
We hugged and then Jenny asked me to be her maid of honor. I was surprised—Jenny and I hadn’t known each other long, but I was honored nonetheless. As the four of us talked about planning a wedding and setting a date, my mind began to wander to the current state of my life. I couldn’t help but fixate on the fact that Will was probably screwing a weird woman in our apartment.
It was quiet when I got home. I grabbed a beer, popped the top off, and began guzzling it. Will walked into the kitchen… shirtless. He stood right in front of me without a word. This time I looked directly at his chest and then slowly appraised every detail of his body. He stared motionless at me as I studied the large tattoo running down one side of his torso. It was a beautiful, abstract design that could have been a painting. He had another small tattoo, the words Soul Captain written in wispy script across his heart. I looked down at the angel wing on his forearm and decided it was the most intricate wing tattoo I had ever seen. He was wearing black jeans, the belt he always wore, and I’m pretty sure nothing underneath. I followed his happy trail down to his waist and let my gaze pause on his thin hips and low-slung jeans. I looked down a little farther, then lifted my head to the brazen expression on his face.
“That woman is old enough to me your mother,” I whispered.
“Keen observation.” He reached around me to grab a beer from the refrigerator. “I love women, Mia, and I love my mother. Teeny and I are just friends.”
“What does that have to do with anything? Bringing a sleazy woman you barely know back to the apartment to screw in the middle of day is not very considerate for her or me or your mom, for that matter.”
“Like I said, we’re just friends and she’s not sleazy. I’ve known her for a while—longer than you, in fact. She’s does a show in the theater next to the Montosh.”
“She a stripper?” I spat out.
“Performance artist.”
“Same. Thing!”
“No, it’s not the same and calm down. She went home and we were just goofing off earlier. It was hundred degrees in here so she took off her shorts.”