Human Blend (15 page)

“Tomorrow, at the carnival, you are going to
let me pay for some things,” she advised him.

“Why are you so hung up on paying for
things?” he asked, sliding a slice of pizza onto each plate.

“We don't live in the era where woman cannot
pay their own way for things,” she reminded him.

“I know, but I kinda like the old male
chauvinist ways of taking care of the woman while she stays at home
and has babies,” he said taking a bite of the pizza.

“Oh we are
not
going to have this
conversation, are we?” Julie argued. Austin had a big grin on his
face. He had known the comment was going to provoke her. He slid
her plate closer to her.

“Eat up. You're gonna need your strength for
battle,” he teased.

“If I thought you were serious for even a
second...” Julie started to preach.

Austin had come around to her side of the
counter. “I know, I know. You'd gather all the feminist women of
the world together and kick my ass,” he said and laughed, holding
up a piece of pepper from the pizza to her lips. She ate the piece
from his hand and chewed.

“Actually, no, I'd kick your ass all by
myself,” she said with a satisfied grin. Julie reached for her own
plate and began eating. Austin hopped up on the stool next to
her.

The rest of their conversation was milder and
less confrontational than earlier. They fell into an easy banter
and had soon polished off the whole pizza, washing it down with
water. “I should have ordered some soda,” Austin said, throwing
away their trash.

“Home of Mountain Dew,” Julie recited,
remembering the welcome sign when she first arrived.

“That's the real reason you came here,”
Austin said. “For the Mountain Dew, right?” he teased.

“Yep, you found out my secret,” Julie said,
hopping down off the stool. Taking Austin's hand, she pulled him
towards the sofa. “Let's see if we can find a good movie to watch,”
she suggested.

“Betcha he doesn't have cable,” Austin
surmised.

“Oh, stop,” Julie admonished as they sat
down. Austin began flipping through the channels.

“Okay, what are you in the mood for?” he
asked. He stopped on a station that showed a tornado tearing
through a town.

“Is that, like, a disaster type movie?” she
asked.

“Yeah, the best kind,” Austin replied. She
took the remote from him.

“Let's see what else is on,” she said,
flipping the channels. Julie stopped on a channel that showed two
young lovers gazing into each other eyes.

“Not a chick flick,” Austin moaned, grabbing
the remote back from her. Austin flipped some more and stopped on
an animated show.

“Oh, come on. Cartoons?” she laughed and
tried to take the remote back, but he held it out of her reach.
Julie got up on her knees and tried to reach it, but Austin
switched hands and held it behind his head, laughing. She climbed
onto his lap to try and reach it. Austin pulled a fast maneuver and
she ended up on her back, with him grinning victoriously over her.
“Think you're slick?” Julie smiled, before using her full body
weight to roll them off the sofa and onto the floor. She smirked
down at him as she was now on top. “Think again,” she smiled.

“Actually, I'm kinda liking this position,”
he said as he quickly sat up with her in his lap. He locked his
arms behind her waist, preventing her from moving. “You were
saying...?” he teased.

Julie poked the remote up from in between
them. “I still won,” she laughed.

Austin grabbed the remote from her and tossed
it onto the sofa. “I won,” he said before kissing her. The
television was forgotten by both. As the kisses grew more intense,
“Where's your room?” he breathed. He didn't want to be interrupted
by the doctor coming home.

“Somewhere,” Julie said, not caring about
anything but staying lost inside Austin's kisses.

Austin stood up, Julie's legs wrapped around
his waist. He was moving. “Jules,” he growled.

She finally took a second to point, “That
one,” she gestured toward her door, which was a crack open. Now
that Austin had a destination, he moved quicker, pushing the door
open with their bodies. He kicked it shut with his foot and made
his way to the bed. Falling onto the bed, the heat and passion
erupted once more. Their bodies moved fluidly together and
continued until both fell into a comfortable slumber.

Eli would sometimes spend days at the
hospital, but now found himself with the urge to go home. He still
pondered the event in the conference room with Julie. Austin seemed
nice enough. It was the concern he showed for Julie that lead Eli
to give the permission for them to hang out at his place. He just
hoped he had made the right decision. “Oh, enough of this, I'm
going home,” he said to himself.

First thing he noticed upon entering the
apartment was the fact the television was on, but no one was
watching it. A glance over to the kitchen area showed a few dirty
plates in the sink along with two glasses, making him feel slightly
better. It was obvious they had eaten. A stroll over to the
trashcan showed the discarded pizza box folded in half and shoved
inside. The sound of a ringing phone could be faintly heard just
below the volume of the television. Eli walked in the direction of
the sound. Lying on the floor was the cause of the ringing: a cell
phone. He picked it up and glanced at the caller ID. It read 'Mom'.
He turned off the television in annoyance, and his eyes
automatically went to Julie's closed bedroom door.

Austin stirred in bed. He smiled when he felt
the warm body next to him snuggle closer. He looked over at the
clock. It read 1:00 A.M. “Shit,” he whispered.

“Hmm,” the body murmured.

“I gotta get home,” he spoke quietly.

“No, stay,” Julie moaned, hugging him closer.
“I like the feel of you next to me,” she added.

“I want to Jules, I really do, but I gotta
get my skateboard home before it changes into a pumpkin,” Austin
teased. “You keep sleeping. Neal is gonna drive us to the carnival.
We'll pick you up around five,” he told, throwing the covers back
on his side of the bed.

“Mmm,” Julie moaned into the pillow. Austin
laughed as he slid his pants on. “Sleep tight, grumpy,” Austin
kissed her on the head. He flung his shirt over his shoulder and
picked up his shoes before opening the bedroom door. He closed it
quietly and put down his shoes before zipping up his pants. The
sound of Eli's voice startled him.

“You know, Mr. Dorsett, when I agreed to your
idea of coming to the apartment with Julie so she could eat and get
some rest, I did not expect you to indulge your teenage hormones in
the process,” Eli said sternly.

A red flag went off in Austin's head. “No
offense, doc, but what goes on behind closed doors is really none
of your business,” Austin said, slipping his shirt over his
head.

“It is my business when the door is in my
apartment,” Eli countered.

Julie wanted to go back to sleep, but the
sound of voices talking in the next room kept her too close to
consciousness. Finally, she could ignore the curiosity no longer.
She got up and pulled out a pair of sweat pants from her bag along
with a comfy tee and headed for the bedroom door.

The phone Eli was holding was ringing again.
“By the way, your mother keeps calling,” he said and tossed the
phone to Austin.

Austin caught the phone, but did not answer
it. He was still staring down the doctor when he heard the bedroom
door open behind him.

Julie stepped out into the room and saw Eli
and Austin staring at one another, and not in the nice and friendly
way they had been before, at the hospital. “What's going on?” she
asked timidly. The room felt full of animosity.

“Nothing,” Austin quickly replied, “I was
just thanking the good doctor for his hospitality.” Austin slipped
on his shoes. “Get some sleep,” he instructed as he kissed her and
left the apartment.

Julie watched him go and then turned to Eli.
“Did I miss something?” she asked.

“Not particularly,” Eli answered.

“Then why did it feel like you could cut the
air with a knife when you two were in the same room?” she
questioned.

“Let's just say... I misinterpreted Mr.
Dorsett's intentions for the evening,” Eli answered.

Julie frowned. She wasn't quite sure how to
respond to that, although she felt compelled to. “Eli,” she
started.

“Julie, just go to sleep,” he interrupted.
The doctor turned and went into his bedroom, closing the door
behind him.

The abrupt cut-off from Eli left Julie
feeling stunned.
What just happened here
? She asked herself.
Feeling even more drained, Julie sat down on the sofa. She began
replaying the day's events in her head, trying to figure out what
went wrong. The only thing she could think of was the incident in
the conference room.
It must have upset him more than I
realized,
she reasoned. “I'm such a freak,” Julie voiced
aloud.

“If you are a freak, then so am I,” Eli said,
standing by his door.

The sound of his voice made her jump. He had
changed into his own pair of sweat pants and a plain white
undershirt. Julie realized that she had never seen him in anything
other than his suit and white coat before. “I didn't realize you
owned other clothes,” she remarked.

“I don't allow myself to relax that often,”
he said, coming over to join her on the sofa.

“All work and no play makes... actually, I
forget the rest, but it wasn't a good thing,” she laughed.

“I am not very good at playing,” he laughed
with her.

Since Eli seemed to be in a better mood, she
decided to use the opportunity to apologize to him. “Eli, I just
wanted to apologize for what happened this afternoon. I don't
really understand what caused me to react the way I did. I am sorry
that I made you uncomfortable,” she said. “I really do feel like a
freak sometimes.”

“You are not a freak, Julie,” Eli said. “We
just don't know enough about you to understand how things work,” he
finished.

“Sounds like a freak to me,” Julie sighed,
then laughed. “Pity, anyone?” she joked.

“A healthy dose of pity is okay once in a
while,” Eli said and smiled.

“You're not helping,” she said and smiled
back.

“Now it's my turn to apologize. I was... rude
to your friend. I am not used to opening my life up to people and,
I'm afraid, I've come to feel a little overprotective of you. I
hope I have not overstepped my boundaries today,” he said.

Julie thought for a moment before
responding.

“Eli. If there was a miscommunication, it was
solely on my end. I am trying so hard to be normal, yet I have no
idea what normal is. I didn't grow up in a household with a mom and
a dad. I grew up with strangers... bad strangers,” her voice began
to grow distant. “Strangers that made me do bad things...” she
trailed off as a memory played in her head. Again, she was a
voyeur, watching herself.

She saw herself, not much younger than she
was now, cowering before a man who was yelling at her.

“
You think you're so smart, Laney? You
think I don't know what you are trying to do?” the man shouted
before backhanding her across the face.

Even as a voyeur, Julie jumped at the sound
his hand made when it hit her.

“
You ever pull a stunt like that again and
I swear I'll just start shooting everyone in sight, and it will be
all your fault.” He grabbed her by the hair and put his face next
to hers. “You understand me?” he growled.

She watched herself nod a reply with tears in
her eyes.

The man then threw her to the floor and
kicked her.

She watched herself curl up in pain.

She heard another man's voice in the room.
She hadn't noticed him before.

“
Luke, man, what are you doing that for?”
he asked.

“
You getting sweet on her, Damien? She
heals quick; no evidence,” Luke said. He went over to her and
pulled her to her feet.

She watched herself sway, and then steady
herself.

“
See? Good as new,” Luke said and laughed
as he pushed her toward Damien. “Go ahead, Laney. Show Damien how
grateful you are for his concern,” he ordered.

She watched herself look at Damien.

“
Luke, c'mon, she's just a kid,” Damien
argued.

“
She's older than all of us,” Luke said.
“Ain't that right, Laney?” he asked. “Now, do it, or I will,” Luke
commanded.

Julie saw the man's hesitation to follow
Luke's commands.

Luke pulled out a gun and pointed it at
Damien's head.

She saw herself step in.

“
Stop, please,” s
he heard herself
say.

She watched as she took Damien by the hand
and led him to the bed. She saw herself whisper something in
Damien's ear as the memory began to fade.

“I'd rather it be you than him,” Julie said
aloud.

She was back in the apartment. She saw Eli
watching her intently. “You were reliving something, weren't you?”
he asked, with concern clouding his face. Julie simply nodded and
curled up next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder. The
last thing she remembered was his arm wrapping itself protectively
around her. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Eli enjoyed the feeling of her relaxed body,
curled comfortably next to him, but he hated this sudden weakness
he felt in himself. It was so out of character for him. He tried to
examine the unease he now felt for Julie's friend, Austin. He
obviously had a sexual relationship with her. He was puzzled as to
why this upset him so. Eli kissed her head lightly and breathed in
her scent. He thought back to the momentary loss of control he
experienced back at the hospital.
Was it a lack of willful
control, or self contro
l? That was the question he pondered.
Julie shifted again and was now resting her head in his lap. Eli
pursed his lips.
Not good,
he thought. He carefully lifted
Julie in his arms and carried her sleeping form to her bed. He
covered her and gently brushed the hair that had fallen over her
face. Eli watched her settle into her new surroundings. Once he was
sure that she was again in a deep slumber, he returned to his own
room.