If you haven't read them, go find parts one, two, and three before you read this :)
"Ladies and gentlemen, on your left, we have the street corner where Queen Victoria's youngest son met his second wife."
"Cole, he didn't have a second wife."
"And on your left, the bridge destroyed in the filming for the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series."
"It was that bridge, and that was CGI, you goof!"
Beth started to realize she'd finally found a job that would put to use all those random facts she'd learned as a kid. She'd been a voracious reader as a kid and rarely forgot what she read. She wasn't a prodigy or anything. Though Jaime had loved to call her that when the three of them played trivia at the local bar. Jaime was good for all the science-y things as Beth called them. The med school had to be good for something Cole joked. Beth covered pop culture, history, and literature. Cole covered, well..., Cole covered distractions. More than one team had fallen prey to Cole's charms. "Whatever, you wouldn't have won that one time without me." That was true enough Beth supposed. The one and only time Cole had been helpful in the trivia portion was during a 'tournament,' when an oddball business question came in, finally putting to use that accounting degree of his.
And that was how it started, Beth filled in random, but relevant facts in the 'official script' and Cole helped Beth with her theatricality. Sure the pay wasn't amazing but they loved it. And it paid the rent. Well, between the three of them, they found a way to pay for the small third floor walk up. It wasn't much, but it was all the three of them needed. Beth liked to think of them as half the cast of Friends. Cole resented that a little, complaining he didn't want to be Joey, the one who earned a spinoff that flopped. Beth had argued he could be Ross, but that really didn't sit well with him.
"Ross wouldn't make a good third wheel to Monica and Chandler. Besides that would make me your brother."
"You saying, you're not?"
"No offense Beth, but you've always been more than a sister to me."
"Ewwww!"
"Not like that you sicko. Don't make me get all sappy, but you're my best friend. And I mean that in the most serious, least BFF way possible. I love you."
She remembered the look in his eyes that day. She saw the love. They'd always been quite prolific about expressing their love, both spoken and physically, whether it be hand holding, hugs, or cuddling. For Cole, it was a learned behavior from Beth, not really having had a touchy-feely family. But in recent weeks, she couldn't pinpoint a moment when she remembered seeing that look. That hurt. Maybe he didn't really feel it anymore.
Maybe he wasn't satisfied with the weird status quo they had going on. He'd finally hit the breaking point. She'd pushed him over the edge, that must be it she thought. She wracked her brain for any sort of infraction that she had perpetrated that could cause him to quit loving her. Every little weird look he gave her, each time he sidestepped a conversation replayed in her head until she was a mess of tears and afghan on the couch. That's the state Jaime found her in 30 minutes later when he got off work.
"Beth?"
"I...I...I..." she sniffed, well past effective communication. He puller her off the couch, mad her throw on some flip flops and grabbed their wallets and a set of keys. She followed along meekly, trying to keep the sniffles to a minimum. Jaime guided her to the subway, sat her down, and snuggled up next to her on their ride out to the 'burbs.
She hadn't really been paying attention to where they were headed, so she was surprised to find herself walking into the park, their park.
"Ladies and gentlemen, on your left, we have the street corner where Queen Victoria's youngest son met his second wife."
"Cole, he didn't have a second wife."
"And on your left, the bridge destroyed in the filming for the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series."
"It was that bridge, and that was CGI, you goof!"
Beth started to realize she'd finally found a job that would put to use all those random facts she'd learned as a kid. She'd been a voracious reader as a kid and rarely forgot what she read. She wasn't a prodigy or anything. Though Jaime had loved to call her that when the three of them played trivia at the local bar. Jaime was good for all the science-y things as Beth called them. The med school had to be good for something Cole joked. Beth covered pop culture, history, and literature. Cole covered, well..., Cole covered distractions. More than one team had fallen prey to Cole's charms. "Whatever, you wouldn't have won that one time without me." That was true enough Beth supposed. The one and only time Cole had been helpful in the trivia portion was during a 'tournament,' when an oddball business question came in, finally putting to use that accounting degree of his.
And that was how it started, Beth filled in random, but relevant facts in the 'official script' and Cole helped Beth with her theatricality. Sure the pay wasn't amazing but they loved it. And it paid the rent. Well, between the three of them, they found a way to pay for the small third floor walk up. It wasn't much, but it was all the three of them needed. Beth liked to think of them as half the cast of Friends. Cole resented that a little, complaining he didn't want to be Joey, the one who earned a spinoff that flopped. Beth had argued he could be Ross, but that really didn't sit well with him.
"Ross wouldn't make a good third wheel to Monica and Chandler. Besides that would make me your brother."
"You saying, you're not?"
"No offense Beth, but you've always been more than a sister to me."
"Ewwww!"
"Not like that you sicko. Don't make me get all sappy, but you're my best friend. And I mean that in the most serious, least BFF way possible. I love you."
She remembered the look in his eyes that day. She saw the love. They'd always been quite prolific about expressing their love, both spoken and physically, whether it be hand holding, hugs, or cuddling. For Cole, it was a learned behavior from Beth, not really having had a touchy-feely family. But in recent weeks, she couldn't pinpoint a moment when she remembered seeing that look. That hurt. Maybe he didn't really feel it anymore.
Maybe he wasn't satisfied with the weird status quo they had going on. He'd finally hit the breaking point. She'd pushed him over the edge, that must be it she thought. She wracked her brain for any sort of infraction that she had perpetrated that could cause him to quit loving her. Every little weird look he gave her, each time he sidestepped a conversation replayed in her head until she was a mess of tears and afghan on the couch. That's the state Jaime found her in 30 minutes later when he got off work.
"Beth?"
"I...I...I..." she sniffed, well past effective communication. He puller her off the couch, mad her throw on some flip flops and grabbed their wallets and a set of keys. She followed along meekly, trying to keep the sniffles to a minimum. Jaime guided her to the subway, sat her down, and snuggled up next to her on their ride out to the 'burbs.
She hadn't really been paying attention to where they were headed, so she was surprised to find herself walking into the park, their park.
Comments
Post a Comment