Tinder Island Chapter 6

Please see "Oak Island"

Chapter Six

My mother continued getting worse, very slowly, but very steadily. Aunt Pam never again suggested I visit, but kept me up to date. Still refusing to make a living will, my mother kept sending money to her faith healer. 

Over a month later, trees were turning gold and nights were cool. One Sunday in late October Cheryl gave me some news over lunch. 

“I waited until now to tell you, I wanted to be sure... I'm pregnant. Six weeks.” Cheryl was glowing. 

“Congratulations! How wonderful! Cheryl, this is great news.”

“We conceived around Labor Day. No one knows yet but you and my mother. I'm going to wait a bit more before going public.” 

We plumbed the subject thoroughly over lunch and into dessert and coffee. Something stirred in me. Did I want to be a mother? 

“When are you and Ezra going to get married?” 

I squirmed a bit under this question. Did I want to marry Ezra? It seemed that I should have some kind of decisive answer to this question. But I came up blank. By default, then, I supposed the answer was No. If I had wanted marriage, I would know.

She asked a fresh question. “Are you and Ezra ever going to get married?” 

Shifting about, I tried to formulate an answer that didn't sound harsh. I loved Ezra, I really did. But we had never even discussed the subject. Which now seemed a bit strange. We'd been together over two years. 

“Do you want to get married at all?” Cheryl persisted. 

“I don't know,” I confessed. “It's really weird, but we haven't talked about it. I guess I'd know if I did.” I shrugged. 

“Time is ticking on, Cassie. If Ezra isn't the right guy, maybe you need to think about finding the right one.” 

“Is there a right one? What if there isn't?” 

***

On my way home, I thought about our conversation. What if Cheryl were right, that there was a guy out there for me, a guy I did more than love, a guy who lit me up inside and made all my bells ring? Staying with Ezra would be foolish. But-- what if there isn't that kind of guy waiting for me out there, I dump Ezra and never find anything better? Should I stay safe and dull, or risk it all to find something better? 

And then I was appalled at thinking so callously about Ezra. I loved him. I really did. And he could be so good to me. We had built a life together. You can't total up pros and cons of people like life was an account book. 

***

Halloween was coming up and Ezra and I were having the same conversation all over again.

“Cassie, we have to go together. Paul's parties are the best and I said we could come.” Ezra watched as I cut fresh basil leaves into strips.

“Cheryl's party sounds fun. I don't fit in at Paul's parties.” In years past I would have jumped at an invitation to such an exclusive party. But that was before I knew what they were like. Everyone drank a lot, which I had begun to find boring. People having sex in stairwells and lines of coke in the bathroom no longer felt risque and glamorous. Cheryl had planned a display for the trick-or-treaters in her neighborhood and we'd hand out candy. I'd rather admire the home made costumes of the small children than be surrounded by carefully garbed adults with witty themes for their masquerades. 

I scooped the basil into the salad bowl and turned to the tomatoes. 

“We're a couple. We're expected.”

I chopped the slippery tomatoes carefully. “Ezra, can't we go where I want to go, for once? We always go to your functions and never to Cheryl's.” 

Ezra snorted. “Like I would ever go to her parties. I have nothing in common with her class of people. Why do you hang out with her?” 

I was getting irritated. “Cheryl is a good friend and a good person. I wish you weren't such a snob, Ezra. We're not better than Cheryl and her friends because we work different types of jobs or went to different schools.” 

“I'm not a snob. I just have standards.” 

“You are a snob. You think you are a superior being.” I went to the drawer for the vegetable peeler. 

“Well, that doesn't matter. I've already sent in our RSVP.” He was leaning against the cabinets, looking every inch the Ivy League man, in his french cuff shirt and work trousers.

It was beginning to seem as though we came from different worlds. And I was always the one who struggled to fit into his world. He never once tried to be pleasant or friendly with Cheryl or her husband. 

As I peeled the cucumbers, Ezra came to stand behind me, circling my waist  and pulling me to him.

“We could be Gatsby and Daisy.” 

“I can't be a flapper with my hair.” I wriggled out of his embrace. Now I was just being contrary. I hadn't thought about costumes at all. I chopped the cucumbers in silence. 

After a while, I said, “Alright, I'll make an appearance, as I did on Labor Day. Two hours. That's it.”

***

We decided to be Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Not exciting or original, but one for which my hair was not a problem. No one ever said Maid Marian couldn't be a flaming redhead. 

Saturday night, I prepared to go to Cheryl's. I'd decided to go to her house first so I could see the trick-or-treaters. Paul's party wouldn't even get started until ten or eleven.

Cheryl's street was parked up and I had to walk a block to get to her house. The wet, blustery night was exhilarating. Trick-or-treaters were already out and I walked up the path to Cheryl's front door behind a pirate and a very small princess, escorted by their father. Cheryl had gone all out and her front porch was draped in spiders' webs. A stray spider, the size of my hand, dangled a few feet from the ground and intimidated the princess. The pirate, brandishing his sword, dashed up the path, past a cauldron overflowing with smoke created by dry ice. The porch was lit by a purple light bulb over head and many strings of tiny purple lights tangled in the spiders' webs. Cheryl sat on the steps, a pretty witch handing out candy from her plastic jack'o'lantern.  Carved pumpkins lined the steps, candles flickering in the wind.

When the pirate and princess received their candy, Cheryl rose to greet me. Behind her was Ted, a lanky skeleton. He invited me in and directed me to the drinks table. I dipped into  the warm mulled wine and ladled out a steaming glass mug. It smelled spicy, like autumn and red wine. I greeted a few familiar faces as I drifted to the back of the house, into the kitchen. Three people clustered around the coffee pot, trying to decide how much ground coffee was needed for a full pot. One of them was Leo, dressed in a medieval tunic and stockings with pointy shoes of worked velvet. He turned, saw me and came to join me.

I smiled in greeting but didn't know what to say. The last time I'd seen him I was a complete mess, all my emotions spilled out, face a swollen mask of tears. 

“Cassie, it's good to see you.” His smile was the smile I remembered from years ago. I found myself being hugged by him and receiving a kiss on the cheek.

Flushing, I fumbled for a conversational straw and asked, “Have you tried the mulled wine, Leo?”

His smile changed a little, gaining a touch of something like sadness. “No, not my thing these days.” He looked me up and down and asked, “Who are you masquerading as tonight?”

“Maid Marian. Robin Hood is at home.” 

With a flourish, Leo produced a hat with a large feather and placed it on his head at an angle. “Maid Marian, will you allow me to take his place? I, too, am Robin Hood tonight.” He took my arm and led me out onto the back porch. There was a circle of people around a blaze in the fire pit, and a nearby table laid out with sticks of varying lengths, marshmallows, Hershey's bars and graham crackers.

“Let's make s'mores, like Camp Henley.” Leo chose a stick and handed it to me. “I gave you a long stick because I know you like to burn yours.” He was right, I loved my marshmallows crisp black on the outside. It felt a bit ridiculous to be making s'mores like a little kid, but I threaded a marshmallow onto my stick and followed Leo to the fire. There were several children toasting their own marshmallows, supervised by a couple of adults. It was a nice idea of Cheryl and Ted's to provide amusement for the kids in this form. I lit my marshmallow on fire, blew it out and turned back to the table, smushing it on top of a graham cracker with chocolate. The chocolate melted messily and my fingers were covered with melted Hershey bar when I had finished mine. Leo was equally messy. 

Licking my fingers, I said, “Leo, you have some on your face. Where are the napkins?”

We found them and I dabbed at Leo's face. He had a smear on his cheek. 

“You have some, too,” Leo said. He cradled my face in one large hand. “Hold still.” He leaned in and brushed at the corner of my mouth, a gentle caress. Our eyes met. My stomach made a strange dropping sensation and electricity flashed through me. I quickly pulled away from his grasp and  broke eye contact, taking the napkin from him. 

“I can do that,” I snapped at him. I wiped at my mouth and turned away. “I need to wash my hands.” I fled.

In the bathroom, hot water running over my hands, I looked into the mirror. Something had just happened that I did not want at all. Leo had always been like a brother to me, and he needed to stay that way. I had Ezra. I didn't want this kind of complication. So I got angry. What the hell did Leo think he was doing? The anger pushed that electric feeling away. 

I went out to the front porch, intending to watch the trick-or-treaters with Cheryl, to get away from Leo. I rummaged in my pockets for my phone to look at the time. I probably needed to get going anyway. Damn, I must have left my phone in the car. Distracted, I almost bumped into Ted. I asked him for the time. It was only nine o'clock. I had a little while before I needed to go. 

Outside, I settled on the front steps next to Cheryl. 

“What's the best costume so far?” I asked her. 

“We had a father dressed as a Mormon, complete with bicycle. And Andy,” she gestured inside, “is a d********g. He's got the spout as a sort of helmet.” I had missed that costume. “Did you see Leo? He's Robin Hood. You could be his Maid Marian.”

Annoyed, I replied, “I've got a Robin Hood at home. I don't need Leo Lansing to complete me.” Once that was out of my mouth, I realized I sounded angry and harsh. 

Cheryl turned to see me better, giving me a piercing look. “Is something up, Cassie?” 

I looked away. “I just hate these couple costumes,” I lied. “It makes you seem incomplete without a man. It's sexist.” 

“Ted and I never do the couple costume thing because we can never agree.”

“Yeah, well, I'm not too happy about the Robin Hood-Maid Marian thing, but Ezra insisted. I wanted to go as Rosie the Riveter.” 

We talked on about costumes. I had the feeling that Cheryl was not fooled by my distraction, but she let me steer the conversation away from Leo. Not long after I took my leave.

I was concerned when I looked for my phone in my car and didn't find it there either. Damn, I had lost it or I'd left it at home.

When I got back to our apartment and unlocked the door, I found the living room dark. Curious where Ezra could be I followed the light into the kitchen. He was leaning against the far counter with a scotch in his hand and a dangerous look on his face. My phone was precisely centered on the kitchen island. To my surprise he hadn't changed into his costume but was still wearing the corduroys and sweater I left him in.

“What are you doing calling this Leo guy?” Ezra bit off each word, obviously controlling some kind of anger.

“He's a friend. How did you know I called him?” 

“That woman Cheryl texted you his number and you spoke to him twice.” 

“How could you know how many times I spoke to him?” I looked at my phone, sitting on the counter perfectly centered. I had not left it like that, I was sure. 

“Why did you call him?” Ezra repeated, sounding as if he believed he had some right to know the answer to his question. 

“F**k that, Ezra. Why were you in my phone?” 

“Good thing I looked, finding you talking to this guy. Is that how you repay me?” 

“Repay you? Repay you for what, exactly? I didn't know I owed you anything. Why were you looking in my phone?” 

“You're talking to that man behind my back. After all I've done for you, you're talking to some lowlife scum?”

“Don't call Leo scum. And don't change the subject.” I glared at him. “Why were you in my phone?” I separated each word, seething with fury. How could he violate my privacy like that? And I didn't owe him one damn thing. All what he had done for me? 

“Leo this, Leo that. Go ahead and tell me he doesn't mean anything to you.” 

“Of course he means something to me. We're friends. And I'll talk to whoever I want. You had no right to be looking in my phone.” 

“Why were you hiding this from me, Miss Innocent?”

I snatched my phone off the counter and turned my back on him. I refused to be interrogated. 

Ezra's heavy whiskey glass went flying past me and shattered against the far wall. 

“What were you doing talking to him?” He was bellowing now. I slowly turned, unlocking my phone screen and stabbing in the numbers 9-1-1. 

“If you don't stop throwing things, I'm calling the police.” My finger hovered over the connect button. “You need to calm down, Ezra.” 

He stood there, looking furiously at me, as if trying to prevent himself launching himself at me.  

“I'm serious, Ezra. You get violent, I'm calling the police.” 

He tried to take a deep breath. It didn't work very well, but he was trying. I put my phone in my pocket.

“You listen to me, Ezra. There is no good reason for you to violate my privacy like that. There is no reason you can come up with that will ever excuse you for looking in my phone.” He was still looking furious. “Now you need to pay attention to me. I called Leo twice to make plans to meet him in person.”

“HA!”

“Let me finish. I called him to make plans to talk to him in person about my mother. About my mother. That's what we talked about. We didn't do anything but talk. And you can see I didn't call him again after that. I wanted to see him that one time for a specific reason.” 

Ezra finally looked like he was calming down.

“But all that aside, I can talk to whoever I want. If I want to talk to a childhood friend, I'll do it and you have no business telling me not to.”

“But--”

“No. No buts. Who I call is my business. Either you trust me or you don't. Obviously you don't. So you have all the answers you're going to get from me. Why don't you just go to your fancy party. ” I turned and headed for the bedroom, to change out of my costume. 

Author's Note

Thank you for reading. All comments, big or small are very welcome. I am especially interested in what people think about Leo's intentions and Cassie's reactions to Leo's behavior.

Reviews

[AUU]

1. The opening paragraph about her mom feels a tad out of place. I think you wanted to remind/update readers about her illness, but being a stagnant update of "everything is the same," might be redundant. If that makes sense.

2. "Over a month..." I like this paragraph, and this might be a nitpick, but have you considered dropping the "over a month" part? Writing the "trees are turning gold and nights were cool" already gets the point across that time has passed.

3. Did Cherly tell her husband that she was pregnant? If she hasn't yet that might further show the bond between Cassie and Cheryl.

4."We plumbed the subject thoroughly..." I like this, but I don't like it. I like it because it leaves a lot to the imagination of what these two talked about, and I get it, I know what they were talking about, BUT there is an opportunity to kind of further elaborate on their conversation of babies. Just a nitpick, again, it's good either way.

5."When are you and Ezra..." Oh boi

6."If I had wanted marriage..." do you need "had?"

7."She asked a fresh question." This line was a little awkward. You might not need it if Cassie answers Cheryl with a kind of unsure "Maybe?" prompting Cheryl to press again with the, "Are you..." question.

8. I like how Cassie's body language seems to be prompting Cheryl's prying, but I think it could be bit snappier with Cassie giving short unsure answers: "We could one day. Maybe."

9. "Time is ticking on, Cassie." How obnoxious lol. Again. Guy perspective. Totally fine that she says that. Don't need to change it.

10. "What if Cheryl [was] right..." Was instead of were?

11. You can't total up pros and cons of people like life was an account book." Very good line.

12. 'Halloween was coming..." You might be able to cut this line totally. The conversation being "tired" should speak with the dialogue.

13. 'Paul's [Halloween] parties..." Adding Halloween here makes it so you can cut that bit out of the previous sentence.

14. "Everyone drank a lot..." they do at most parties though..." people having sex in stairwells, and lines of coke in the bathroom no longer felt risque and glamorous." That second part is new thing about Ezra's friend's parties, and is something Cassie never brought up before. Was this changed in previous chapters?

15. "Cheryl planned..." so it sounds like you have decided to make Cheryl's life more wholesome, and Ezra more cold. I like it.

16. "We always go to your functions..." I got hung up on functions. Just sounds weirdly correct.

17. "Ezra snorted." A*s.

19. "Superior being." Again...weirdly correct, kind of unnatural.

20. "Gatsby and Daisy." Oh lol...I like this line, oh gawd if that doesn't speak volumes of his character.

21. "Parked up." I got hung up one this.

22. "One of them was Leo, dressed in a medieval..." That's very a whimsical choice.

23. "He turned, saw me and came to join me." I think you can cut this line, if you also cut, "I smiled in greeting but didn't know what to say."

24. "all my emotions spilled out, face a swollen mask of tears." I like this line, just didn't feel like it was needed.

25."I found myself being hugged by him and receiving a kiss..." you could shorten this to be more active. "He hugged me and pecked[kissed] my cheek."

26. "I fumbled for a conversational straw." That's a good line!

27. "Let's make s'mores, like Camp Henley." I feel as though there is a better way to say this, and still recall the history between the two.

28. I think having the long stick is a very thoughtful way to show they have history, I'm just not really seeing the connection of giving her a long stick so she can burn her marshmallow. Maybe have a line with Cassie plunging her stick deep into the fire (because the long stick) to make the connection.

29. "I felt a bit ridiculous [to be] making s'mores." I think you can cut out "to be."

30. Wiping the chocolate was cute.

31. "I can't do that." And right there, is the craziness of girls. sorry...I get why she is conflicted, but it's funny from Leo's perspective. "She wiped my face, and then I wiped hers and she ran away >_>"

32. "I don't need Leo Lansing to complete me." I like the line. Reason why you capitalized lansing?

33. "Cheryl turned to se me better," sounds like this is from Cheryl's perspective.

34. "a dangerous look on his face." You can keep the line, but I think having Ezra holding the scotch in a room dark is foreboding enough.

35. So I'm a bit confused, I assumed that Cassie was going to Paul's party first, and then Cheryl's only because she said "as I did on Labor Day," and that's what happened on the Labor Day party. Maybe say that her plan was to go to Paul's afterward.

36. Totally didn't pick up on her forgetting her phone as a bad thing. Nicely done.

37. "low-life" I know he's drunk, but I'm finding Ezra to be comically outlandish. Like an a*s, for the sake of being an a*s.

38. '"Why were you in my phone?" I separated each word.' You. could. do. that. with. periods. too.

39. 'He was bellowing now." More active. "He bellowed."

40. "slowly." slows down the action. You can cut it.

I liked this chapter, very climatic. I do think you have a few opportunities to clean up your prose. At first I was a bit shocked Cassie didn't seem all that affected by the thrown bottle, but I liked that she stayed cool through it.

Good work :)

[SweetNutmeg]

Haha, I love your guy's perspective about face wiping. She just dabbed at his face, he was leaning in, caressing her with two hands, the way you would if you were getting ready to kiss someone. And my intention was that he was doing this on purpose, really getting intimate physically.

About Paul's party, I slipped up and thought my reader could read my mind... Paul's party is very different from the other parties, it is a big, exclusive private party taking up a whole night club with an open bar. Hence people doing coke and having sex in stairwells. It is a wild playboy's party. I'll have to straighten that out.

Leo Lansing is his name.

Thank you for pointing out all the places where my prose is weak. I will make note of your comments on my draft and go through them one by one. It's very helpful.

[MeratheRestless]

1. Threw a glass of whisky?! Red flag! Red flag! Run DON'T walk to the nearest EXIT out of this relationship and keep on going, girl! Why does Cassie put up with this? What is stopping her from either packing her bags and getting out or packing Ezra's bags and putting them out on the curb?

2. Witty use of allegory with Robin Hood.

3. Cassie is an intelligent and successful woman who can easily make a very nice life for herself, so why does she continue to believe that she owes Ezra something?

4. With Cassie's history of abuse and family dysfunction, how could she possibly believe that Ezra loves her? It isn't going to be too long before he's putting his hands on her and is she still going to think he loves her then? If that's love then I hope nobody ever loves me!

5. Faith healer? Interesting and I would like to know a little more about Cassie and her mother's religious background and belief system. For example, I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses, consequently my story characters are portrayed as such, and I incorporate beliefs and customs into my writing.

Overall you are doing a great job and I cannot wait to read the next chapter.

[SweetNutmeg]

Thank you for the review. You've given me a lot to think about.

I decided I went over board with the fight and removed a major chunk. I agree, she should leave him, after the whiskey glass incident. But she doesn't know that yet. She has to figure that out on her own, not hear it from us, lol, no matter how loud we're shouting it at the computer screen.

That's a good idea, to put in more about her religious background, especially as her mother is sending money to a faith healer, who is probably a charlatan.

I'm curious what you think about Leo and his behavior, and her response to his behavior. What do you think his intentions were?

[MeratheRestless]

There is definitely something there and they both know it, hence why Cassie bolted when she became aware of the connection. She sure isn't getting that sort of electric chemistry with Ezra, though she obviously enjoys it, hence why she defends her contact with Leo when confronted by Ezra. Leo seems very gentlemanly and subtle hoping Cassie will get the message. Though he does attempt to make a move, he's not forceful, which is nice for a change compared to other love triangles.

[MeratheRestless]

On another note, about Leo, I would like to know if he has or has had any sort of serious relationship like Cassie and the others.