Monday 13 February 2017

The Lucky Escape

In transit today so no audio. Will try to add later. 

What women did in the bathroom was always a complete mystery to Vic. But none more so than the seven minutes they were in there before they turned the shower on. Vic just went into the bathroom and turned the water on and got in. But for women, there was always that period of near silence, of nothingness. Were they meditating? Stretching? Doing that mindfulness thing? Did they just admire their faces and bodies in the bathroom mirrors? Did the bathroom lighting make them look more attractive?
Vic lay in bed listening for clues while Tina skulked around behind the closed door. Maybe she was finishing off the job that she had pretended Vic had done earlier. If she was, she was doing it quietly. Finally, the water started and Vic could play with his phone without fear of interruption. He had to send Mia a message; not something he liked doing when there was a danger of being interrupted by Tina. Tina had taken an irrational dislike to Mia, convinced she was her love rival, despite all Vic’s protestations to the contrary. The more he said they were just friends, the more Tina accused him of protesting too much.  So, Vic had taken to hiding his friendship from Tina, which only served to heighten the suspicion.
Vic typed out the message but it was only after he’d pressed send that he realised that he’d sent it to Tina and not to Mia. It was too late, it was gone.
He read the message.
Not sure if we can meet today. Tina’s here. I’ll see if I can get rid, and let you know.
Hmm, it wasn’t great, not great at all.
He was up shit creek, and the paddle was long gone. He could imagine Tina’s face lighting up like sunshine when she saw she had a message from him, and then darkening like a sudden summer storm as she read it. Her lightning bolts were not worth thinking about. There was nothing he could do. Nothing.
Unless.
He got out of bed and patted into the living room. The water of the shower was still running. Vic guessed he had about three minutes. Her bag was on the table, he peaked in and saw the phone sitting there. It was a chance. He was breathing hard, his heart beating faster. He looked at the closed bathroom door, time was ticking, ticking.
Now, all he needed to do was to guess the passcode.
150576
The phone buzzed its rejection. Okay not her birthday, how about her daughter’s.
121202
Another buzz. The water was still flowing. What if? What if?
271073.
The screen dissolved open. Jesus she had Vic's birthday as her screen lock. The water stopped. No time to mull that one over.
Messages
Delete
Screen lock
Drop the phone
Run back to bed
Mission accomplished.
Crunch, the bathroom door opened. Vic realised he was sweating. Christ, she’d think he was having a little play with himself, but even that was better than her seeing the message.
“I love your shower,” Tina said, naked apart from the towel turban on her head.
“I pretty fond of your body,” Vic said, reaching out, inviting her to bed. She pulled away and wandered back into the living room.
“That’s strange,’ she said.
“What’s up?” Vic asked as nonchalantly as possible.
“I could have sworn I heard my phone buzz.”
“I didn’t hear anything,” Vic said.
“I must be imagining it.”

Tina went back in to the bathroom and Vic breathed for the first time in ten minutes. It was time for a cup of tea.

6 comments:

  1. Sorry but that starts to smell like a ciche after a couple of episodes you published here. It is becoming quite obvious that Vic will end up with Mia. He is the only one that he has special connection with. And the more he says that it is not true the more predictable the story is getting. No normal man, who loves a woman, would say about her "i'll get rid of her" ... yes, readers remember Vic collects women like Panini stickers but Mia is always there. so please save us from the next story in which a person considers someone "just a best friend" but subconsciously dreams of fucking them (now they just consciously reject the idea to create a perfect picture of themselves in their head) end they end up in bed (happy end here? that would be a double cliche!). I really hope for one of your famous twists of action.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What you are saying is, that men and women can't just be friends. If Mia was male Vic might well have sent the same message and no one would bat an eyelid.
      Anyway is the cliche that they don't get together or that they do? Should they get together or not? Is this part of the story or just an outtake? Who knows?

      Delete
  2. No, you did not read my post properly. I did not mean that men and women can't be friends. They can and from how the situation develops I am scared that Mia and Vic will finally get together as partners (look - Vic does not treat these other women seriously, he does not fall in love, he just behaves like a dick towards them - it is only Mia that he treats seriously). That happens but this is also a very cliched scenario and I hope your story will not go in this direction (just look how many novels like this there are https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/best-friends-falling-in-love). I really hope this story will not be so predictable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i think from the outset I've been saying that Mia and Vic will not get together.

      Delete
    2. I am not discussing what you said as I don't know it. I am just looking at these episides you published and just thought that you might be dangerously going in this direction. Vic has no respect for other women, treating them like sexual objects, just bodies to have sex with (sometimes judging them unfairly - remember 'sausage' well). He has no tender feelings for them, he does not talk to them on different topics, and whenever he feels like it he just decides to 'get rid of them', they are just props in the scenes described or objects in his collection (panini stickers). The only deeper connection he has is with Mia - you wrote somewhere you don't plan your characters' future. You just start writing and see where it takes you. Hope it will not be a cliched scenario (although some readers would love such sweet endings)

      Delete
  3. 1.) I would like to know who the anonymous is?!
    2.) Women hate lit bathroom mirrors! We love the mirrors in the dim corridor:-)
    3.) I like the story, how many percent of men are like Vic? Half of them? How many % pretend being different?
    I agree with the anonymous that "get rid" was maybe too strong but the story is in in progress and I believe in an inventive ending:-).

    ReplyDelete