Day 81

Buster charged into my knee caps playfully letting his head bash against the surface of my bare skin, his prickled hairs tickling against me as I sprawled myself out on the kitchen floor. Laying opposite to that of my friend Katherine, who was giving me the death stare I knew, I was still floundering over the fact Marc had given me of all people his number. I hadn’t done anything special so why me? Giving me a short shrug Kate rolled upwards and planted her arms back a short ways, palms pressed against the cool floor

“I think you should call him.” she giggled. Before I could react she snatched the paper from my hand and reeled her heels into the floor until she was completely standing. I twisted around and lunged for her ankle but she escaped by a matter of inches, already bounding towards the phone on the counter. Trying to find traction against my socks I scrambled frantically over to her until I too was leaning against the counter. “This is going to be fun! I can’t wait to hear his voice!” she squealed as the phone started to ring. Tapping my fingers anxiously against the countertop I ran my fingers through my bright red hair slowly twisting a small knot into the strands of hair. It was about three in the afternoon, usually the time Collin and I could be hanging out practically dead somewhere so I knew he shouldn’t have been very busy.

“Hello?” the crisp clean voice of Marc shot through the phone. Kate gasped a little too loud, throwing a hand over her lips she backed away cheerfully bounding up and down.

“Ahhh… hey Marc, it’s--”

“Isabelle. Nice to hear your voice again.” he chuckled lightly. Swallowing a bit too hard I shot Kate a hardy stare before twisting around, grabbing the phone from the counter.

“Yeah.. sorry about being unable to do that shoot you wanted. It’s just I was terribly over booked and I wasn't sure if I could get anyone else to cover my appointments and--”

“Look, calm down first.” he said calmly. I pressed a hand against my hot cheek and fell back against the fridge. “Don’t worry about it. I understand. But I’m actually glad you took the initiative and called me, because I was going to get Collin to ask if you would like to join me in a few days as a dinner date to one of my company board meetings. I am in need of someone to go with and my usual is sorta stuck between a rock and a hard place right now…” he trailed off. Kate kicked her foot against the ground multiple times signaling for me to go for it.

“Oh.. O-Okay.. that sounds great.” I felt my heart jump into my throat.

“Good. Then it’s settled. I’ll see you at seven.” he hung up.

“Dude…” Kate jogged over to me and grabbed me at the shoulders, giving me an exasperated shake. “He sounds so hot! Oh my gosh! Hahaha” she gave me a fair grin before drawing me into a dense hug. “Have fun with this one man… you deserve it.” she giggled, before ranting on about how I needed to get my hair done and my nails done for the big day. The big date.

But did I really deserve this?

Throwing a hand over my arm I grimaced slowly letting Kate see I was excited about getting to talk to Marc again. Was I really? She shoved me into my room quickly and threw me onto the bed, heading straight for my closet. Buster wobbled behind her at a slower pace, making sure he took in every scent she left.

“Now, I want to make sure you wear something sexy but not ridiculous you know? It’s a business affair and not a nightclub.” she giggled. “But, I want it to be--” her voice cut off quickly. Startled I watched Buster from afar, who was too busy licking the floor to notice anything unusual. He was just a dog.

“Kate? Are you gonna finish your sentence or.. what?” I pushed out a weak laugh.

“What the hell is this?” she said enraged, walking into my line of view. Looking up I felt my lips tighten and my arm start to burn as I watched her wave her hand around. Clenched between her thumb and pointer fingers was a small capped rig I had left in one of my coat pockets from only days before with Collin.

Chewing down on my tongue I gave her a swift shrug of the shoulders and forced my attention on Buster who hadn’t a single care in the world.

“Izzy, what the hell have you been doing to yourself?” she demanded, throwing the rig onto the floor. I almost flinched for it but held my ground, tenderly chewing on the inside of my lip for moral support. My attention now on the syringe I tried to calm myself by examining the small ticks indicating the measurement on the circular tube and the bright orange covering that kept the slender needle safe from harms way.

“It’s a syringe Kat.” I said hoping I could formulate a decent enough lie for the time being. Kicking my toes into the ground I reached over and grabbed the vile, hands shaky and unstable as I picked up the object. Twirling in my hands I forced a thick grin and walked over to the trash can. My hands and fingers burned as I tried to let go of the rig overtop the trash bag. Slowly letting it slip through my fingers I inhaled a thick gust of wind and felt the sharp glower of Kate from the other room.

“It was for a photo project I was doing. No big deal. I’m not a druggie Kate.”

“I know that, you stopped that right before you went off to school but-:”

“Kate, I’m not an addict. I don’t even do heroin. Quit making assumptions”

Lying to her only dug a deeper trench in the place my heart once rested.