The Cameo, Part 7

Subject: The Cameo (end)
From: an4@anon.lelnet.com
Date: 29 Jan 1997 02:01:38 GMT
Message-ID: <199701290143.UAA03078@mail.msen.com>

   Kristen did not have to leave the bed tonight. For the first time in over a
month she was lying there wrapped in a glorious haze of smoke. Hers and his.
She inhaled deeply on the cigarette and put her head back, eyes closed,
enjoying the moment. Her left hand was wrapped around his right and the-
   Magic was the only word for it.
   She had no idea the struggle Brendan was going through to not enjoy it.
   His eyes were wide open. He was telling himself it was just part of the job,
but it was difficult to believe it. He took an hard pull on the cigar,
reminding himself how disgusted he would feel later. But now, with that ring
bonded to his finger like a living thing, there was nothing but pleasure. His
mouth was full of it. He had to force himself not to inhale. Kristen looked
at him lovingly- yes, that emotion was in her now open eyes- and exhaled.
Right into his face.
   Her smoke was intoxicating. Before he could stop himself he was kissing her-
and he felt himself stiffen again as he tasted the sweet tinge of tobacco on
her tongue. 	
   "Again ?" she asked throatily, slipping her hand down the inside of his
thigh.
   He sat up, puffed on the cigar, inhaling this time because- he told himself-
this was the most important time to appear sincere.
   Their exhales mingled in the air between them and they both leaned into the
cloud of smoke.
   Of course, this couldn't last. Brendan felt his own control slip, and that
was dangerous. If they had to send somebody for him, well things would get
ugly.
   He felt drunk. This wasn't the first time he'd had to go this far, but it
had never been like this. For the first time in his life, he truly
understood. For the first time, he was one of them.
   She brought her cigarette to her naturally pouty lips- the sort of lips many
a movie star had acquired surgically- and her inhale finished what the kiss
had started. Her eyes were shining like twin venuses. She held the inhale and
drew more breath in through her nose until her entire face seemed to be
smoldering.
   He found himself leaning into the inhale before it happened. She squeezed
the smoke out through a small 'o' in her lips, the lower one curled back to
make an opening out of which the sweetest smelling scent in the world poured
like steam from a kettle. The smoke drove into his face and broke like a wave
and he wondered how he'd ever found such a wonderful aroma disgusting.
   When she smiled, his desire broke the crest and he moved to fulfill it.
   The doorbell rang.
   They took twin inhales, the last of Brendan's control wavering dangerously.
   It rang twice more, and through the haze he heard himself say "You'd better
get that."
   He hardly believed he'd had the discipline left to say it. 
   Kristen rolled out of the bed reluctantly, taking one last longingly look at
this very different man in her bed. She threw on her robe, lit a fresh
cigarette, and left the bedroom without speaking. What was there to say ?
   She was shocked to find Sarah- and her mother- at the door. The grim looks
on their faces dulled her anger only slightly. Sarah had to know better- and
yet, if not for Sarah, none of this would be happening.
   "I'm kind of busy right now," Kristen said, feeling vaguely like a character
from some cheesy sitcom.
   If there was one thing Mom was good at, it was getting her point across
quickly. Sarah knew that was how she'd made so much money in a field full of
hungry competitors. She didn't say anything. She just held open the powerbook
and let Kristen have a good look at the screen. Sarah wondered if the goose
bumps which formed immediately on her lower legs from the cold northeastern
air or what she was seeing.
   "Does he have it ?" Mom asked, all business now.
   The scene was almost ridiculous enough that Sarah would have laughed- if she
didn't know this wasn't some sick, twisted joke.
   "Yes- he-" Kristen lowered her voice. "He's in the bedroom right now,
smoking a cigar." She paused, and when she looked at Sarah, she was smiling
in spite of herself. "You should have seen him, Sarah. He-"
   There was a noise from the bedroom, something heavy being knocked over.
   All three ran that direction.
   Kristen knew what the noise was. She had a sweater chest under the window,
on which sat an heavy antique brass lamp. The lamp was now lying on the
floor. The window was wide open.
   Brendan was gone. Sarah had no idea how he'd gotten his pants on.
   By the time they got back to the driveway, his car was gone. Sarah had
parked him in so he'd driven his Cherokee right over the snow covered lawn to
get out, leaving deep tracks.	
   "He'll head for the airport," Mom said. "If he gets on a plane, it's over."
   
   Of course, it had started to snow again. Sarah was fighting both her panic
and the road. There were times when the car seemed to be sliding on a sheet
of heavy, wet snow, but she pushed on. It was actually worse out here on the
highway. Something else was wrong as well, some natural part of the driving
experience missing.
   Without taking her eye off the road- although the hypnotic action of the
falling snow was making her want to look anywhere else- she asked Kristen to
light her a cigarette.
   Mom was still connected to the internet via her modem. "Damn it. His tickets
were just changed for a flight in forty minutes to Chicago. Although with
this snow-"
   Sarah took the cigarette gratefully and the first inhale sharpened her
drowsy senses.
   The second one almost brought some semblance of calm.
   "You don't think they'll try to fly out in this, do you ?"
   "It could just be a squall," Kristen said morosely. "What's two inches of
snow around here ? It wasn't doing anything half an hour ago."
   "How would you know ?" Sarah asked. She tried to make it sound like a
teasing comment, but she was afraid it came out more like a dig.
   "I really am sorry, Sarah," Kristen said, sounding hurt. It was impossible
to believe that just a short time ago-
   That had been blissful.
   The rest was just downright bizarre.
   "I didn't mean it-" Sarah started to say.
   She had the presence of mind not to slam the brake with her right foot. She
just eased off the accelerator, shifted down to first, and let the car glide
to an halt at the edge of the outside lane.
   
   The Cherokee wasn't a vehicle anymore. It was just a twisted lump of metal
wrapped around the edge of an overpass abutment. The windshield was basically
gone, and they saw him right away. Just a lump of humanity, lying in the
snow, already collecting a sheet of purifying crystals. Mom, always the first
with a sarcastic comment, couldn't resist.
   "You'd think somebody so anal about smoking would have at least been wearing
a seat belt."
   It was funny, but it wasn't.
   There was no question what to do, and Kristen did it because she'd gotten
them into this mess to begin with. She got out of the car, trudged through
what was now almost three inches of snow, and bent down by his body. Mother
and daughter sat in the car and waited nervously, sure someone would drive
by, that a situation which would defy explanation would follow.
   It didn't. In less than a minute, Kristen was back in the car, lighting a
cigarette as Sarah returned the cameo to its rightful place around her neck.
   She drove to the next exit, got off, and soon they were headed the other way
in a car filled with sweet cigarette smoke. It was almost ten minutes before
any of them found the nerve to speak again.
   It was Kristen. "You know, I still have more than half a box of those
cigars."
   In spite of themselves, they had to smile.

The end.

Previous part | Next part