Middle C - Part Five
By Rod Jones Artist-Writer
“Why are you calling me Susan? I was starting to take a nap.”
“Well, Ellen dear. I’ve been thinking all day about Elise and Nicholas, and I came up with a brilliant idea. Let’s go park near the front of Elise’s house and wait for Nicholas to leave. Then we’ll follow him home to his apartment. Maybe we’ll even talk to him, but he won’t know that we are Elise’s best friends.”
“Really Susan? We’re gonna drive all the way over to Santa Monica on a late Sunday afternoon just to see where Elisa’s boyfriend lives? Besides, how are we going to know when he leaves? How long are we gonna sit out in front of her house waiting for him to come down that drive? We don’t even know what kind of car he drives.”
“Well I’m pretty sure she’s not gonna be telling him anything about her personal life and I remember her saying that she kicks him out no later than 5:30 because the house staff comes back at six. So we won’t have to sit out in front of her place very long. We’ll just park a little ways before the big gates. We will know it when he’s coming down the drive, and we’ll just follow him. He doesn’t know us and he doesn’t know our car. You can be sure Elise never mentioned us to him.”
“OK I’m game. This could be fun. I like to know what he’s like. Maybe we will flirt with him. Maybe he’ll invite us into his apartment. Pretty sneaky of you Susan to come up with this scheme and I have to admit I like the idea even if we have to drive all the way over to Santa Monica. Maybe on our way back we can stop and get something to eat, of course, maybe we can con Nicholas into taking us out for dinner. Maybe he’ll invite us in and we could eat in his apartment. I don’t think we’re being very good friends to Elise. I think this is pretty sneaky, especially after we were convincing her, she should marry this guy.”
“It’s sneaky for sure, if Elise finds out which she probably will eventually, she’s gonna be plenty mad at us, especially me, because I came up with the idea. I’ll come by your place and pick you up. Then we’ll head over to Elise’s together. Let’s try and get there at five just in case my timing is off a little bit.”
“OK I will be ready.”
Susan and Ellen parked near the big iron gate. They knew that when Nicholas left, he would be driving through there and most likely making a right hand turn to get to the freeway heading back to Santa Monica.
“So Elise, we’re gonna have bologna sandwiches this time? If you don’t mind, I’d rather not go out and eat on the dining table, you call the barge. What if we just eat at that table in the kitchen? I know I would feel more comfortable even though I think that kitchen looks like it could belong to Chef Boyardee.”
“OK Nicholas, I think that’s a good idea. After we eat we could just leave our mess there. There’s people that will clean it up after you leave.”
“Are we gonna go to your private little room? Are you going to play the piano again for me? Are you gonna tell me about middle C? Maybe we should be really open and honest with each other and share our feelings. I would personally like to know more about you and where our relationship is headed.”
“All fair, everything you suggested. We should get it out in the open, but I’m not ready to tell you about middle C, that actually has to come a little bit later in our relationship. You’re done, I’m done. I have to admit to myself that that sandwich was really quite good. I don’t get to eat bologna sandwiches and enjoy it here in the kitchen with somebody that I love. I’m glad you were here with me Nicholas.
“Sit on the couch with me, Nicholas. It will be a nice cozy and intimate place for you and I to talk, certainly more comfortable than the backseat of my car.”
“You always look so graceful when you move through your home. You truly look perfectly elegant and beautiful here. And the way you dress, makes you look even more stylishly, elegant. When we first met and when I saw you coming out of that club on Sunset, I have to say, you didn’t dress the part, at least not from my perspective. Quite honestly, I never thought I’d be sitting in this mansion, on a couch in your private room, with you telling me that you love me. I’m happy for sure, even honored, but I’m also very unsettled inside. We live in two entirely different worlds. Quite honestly Elise, the insecure Nick inside me can’t imagine how our relationship could ever work out.”
“Interesting that you feel that way Nicholas. I guess I can understand how you feel, but in spite of what you may discover, I don’t fall in love every day and I certainly don’t fall in love easily. In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with you, somehow it just happened and quite honestly I’m very glad that it did. Let’s just let our relationship unfold in a natural way. I can understand how you might feel. Back when I was in school and had girlfriends come over, it became awkwardly uncomfortable. All of a sudden I wasn’t just one of the gang, they looked at me completely different. I’ve always been uncomfortable bringing people here. When it comes to you and I, well, time will tell. Please be patient. I may be very awkward at times. I live two lives, one a bit spoiled and having a true sense of entitlement. The other is insecurity and always afraid that people won’t like me, or the ones that do like me have an agenda, they’re just trying to see what they can get out of me.”
“That makes a lot of sense, Elise. But I can only imagine because I was born middle class. I live in the middle class and I hang out with people that are middle class. It’s where I seem to be the most comfortable and a lifestyle that is most relatable to who I am inside and out. I love it when people say ‘love conquers all.’ What’s to conquer here is probably more my problem than yours. I wonder; being in love, will it grow into a lifelong commitment. That’s probably where I’m the most insecure. What would happen if you and I got married? I don’t think you’re going to want to live in an apartment with me. I don’t know quite frankly where we would live together, maybe we would just buy a regular house somewhere. I don’t even know if you want to have children.”
“Those are a lot of things to think about. I never really thought that I would get married. I never met someone I wanted to be married to. As it stands right now. I can do whatever I wanna do. I never have to worry about money. By the way, I can’t meet with you next weekend. I have to go to Paris to give a little recital. I’ll probably be gone around 10 days. I would invite you to go with me, but I know that’s probably impractical for you to walk away from your work obligations.”
“No, I cannot run off to Paris right now, although I’ve spent a lot of time in that city and even have done some development work for a media project there. I will definitely miss not seeing you next weekend. Maybe we could connect somehow prior to you leaving. Maybe that will also give me some time to think things through. And I would hope the same for you. Maybe when you come back, we’ll both approach our relationship with a new perspective. I probably need to work on that more than you.”
“You’re right Nicholas, at this point that could be good for both of us. I will miss you, I will miss you for sure, and I will be thinking about you. You can count on that. Now hold me very tight and kiss me so I have something to hold onto, and to think about. There’s something magical about the way you hold me and the way we kiss each other. There’s more to that. I know that you mean everything to me and I will pretty much do everything I can to make your life happy as we move forward in our discovery. Let me walk you to your car. Hold my hand tightly.”
“I will miss you desperately Elise. This separation even though I won’t like it, it’s going to be good. Let’s hug and give me your hand.”
“Look Ellen, I think this Elise’s Nick guy is coming down the driveway now. Let the pursuit begin. Hopefully the traffic won’t be too bad. Doesn’t seem like it should be at this time of day, on a Sunday afternoon. Shouldn’t take us that long to get to West LA. I haven’t been to Santa Monica in a long time.”
“I never go over there. I’m excited to find out where this Nicholas guy lives. I’m hoping we can count on him into inviting us into his apartment. Apparently, Elise thinks an awful lot of him. I wonder what happened when she told him she was going to go to Paris? I wonder what story she made up for that trip? She’s probably gonna end up hanging out with that Jean-Louis guy. Weren’t they an item, at one point, Susan? I think there were even pictures of them together in La Monde. I don’t know Susan, do you think Elise is gonna be able to hide her past, her history? I guess we’ll know what this guy really is when we connect with him at his apartment.”
“I really wanna get to know him myself, Ellen I think I could be the right person for him, he just doesn’t know it yet.”
“You’d really do that to Elise? You’re gonna steal her boyfriend right out from underneath her? And try to do it while she is gone?”
“She’s done it to me. I’m not afraid to do it to her, but of course, I have to really like this guy and he has to like me. No actually he needs to fall in love with me. I can do that, from what I know we have similar backgrounds. If he’s the kind of guy, I think he is, he’s gonna have a hard time understanding Elisa’s life, and I really don’t think he’s the kind of guy that’s gonna move into her mansion and live happily ever after. You bet I’m gonna try and I know I will succeed.”
“You never seem to amaze me, Susan. If anybody can pull that off, it’s you. But I hope you do it because you actually care for this guy and you don’t hurt him. Don’t be spiteful, Elise has always been good to you and I.”
“Let the not so wicked game of love begin.”
This short story has developed a life of its own. The characters are refusing to let go.
In order to finish out the saga between Nicolas and Elise, I’m going to turn it into a short read book. Probably available on Amazon KDP, or for sure a digital download. Either way, if you want to find out how it all turns out, you’ll have a couple of options.
I have other short stories that I want to introduce to Thought Row Vignettes in the coming weeks. ~ Rod
The short stories and essays published in Thought Row Vignettes are written entirely by me, Rod Jones Artist and Writer, using only a human hand and imagination. AI does not write, revise, or generate the fiction, essays, dialogue, plots, or endings. Any imperfections in grammar or punctuation are authentically mine.
.
Some accompanying visuals may be original photography, properly licensed stock images, or AI-generated illustrations created from my own visual direction. These images are visual companions to the writing, not substitutes for it.
.
In a web where automated systems generate so much of the traffic and language, Thought Row Vignettes remains a small space for human-made fiction and reflection, one human sharing stories with another.