looks like freedom but it feels like death Who: Nish and Obed What: Two newly single residents chill pool-side. Where: Pax When: Sunday, May 21, 2017
Nish had pushed open her curtains and stepped out onto the balcony this morning, the warm sunlight caressing her bare arms in a way she never would have tolerated before. She’d slept in until about noon, lingering in a pleasant dream that she couldn’t quite remember once she woke, but had been so nice she hadn’t wanted to leave it. Now she spent the afternoon puttering around her apartment, eating berries she’d picked up at the market yesterday and cookies from Alice’s bakery. But down below she spotted the pool, and suddenly all she wanted to do was wile away the afternoon in the cool water.
She pulled on her suit, a navy one piece with a plunging neckline and attractive cutouts in the shape of a lotus on the stomach, slathered her skin with sunscreen, tossed a towel over her shoulder and headed down to the pool.
So far it was early enough in the afternoon that the pool was empty. The fortunate thing about living in such an exclusive building, she thought, was the complete absence of children. So once she set her towel and sunglasses down on a nearby lounge chair, she dove into the water and did several laps of the pool, swimming until her limbs grew tired and then pausing in the shallow end to catch her breath. By then Stephan had wandered out to greet her. She frowned in confusion, but gratefully accepted his offer of a drink despite the oddness of him being out here...shouldn’t he be at the front desk reading his magazines? She stepped out of the pool and dried herself off, just in time for him to come back and hand her something cold and fruity with a parasol in it and wander away leaving her looking incredulously after him.
Obed held the door for Stephan to reenter the building. With a small smile he dismissed the concierge's offer of a drink, instead slipping through the door as it fell closed, and making his way to a lounge chair in relative shade. He spread an oversized white towel across it, neatly smoothing it out. He kicked off his sandals and pushed them under the chair, then moved toward the pool itself.
"Nish," he said, nodding a small greeting to her. "How are you today?"
Nish was still frowning at the door Stephan had left through, still standing where he’d left her holding the colourful drink. “Did that just happen?” she asked aloud, but mostly to herself. “I didn’t order this…” she said, finally tearing her eyes away from the door and fixing them on Obed. She scoffed and shook her head, setting the drink down on the nearby table and then forcing herself to shake off the weirdness and smile at her neighbour.
“I’m good,” she said automatically to his earlier question, and then caught herself when she realized that she actually meant it. She did feel good lately, and she was sure Jen was a big part of that. But she was also feeling better in general...ever since the spa she seemed to have a happier outlook on life in general. “How are you?” she asked, sitting on her chosen lounge chair and finally giving in to temptation, taking a sip of the free drink. It was delicious...it reminded her of a drink she’d had several of at CASKET a while back. “I haven’t had a chance to drop in on Isobel in a while, though I keep meaning to; how’s she?”
Obed's face went quickly, carefully blank. Though days had gone by, he was still reeling from his dream -- their dream, he supposed -- and the texts that had followed it. He supposed it was a mercy that few seemed to know of their changed situation, but at the moment, it felt like a fresh wound.
"As I understand it," he said, slipping into the water, "she's doing well. She and Hanni are on the first floor now."
Startled, Nish’s mouth formed a silent ‘o’ of shock and she looked away. “I...I didn’t know,” she said lamely. “I’m sorry.” She suddenly felt nervous around him, recognizing the look on his face as one she’d seen in the mirror for quite a while after her own breakup. She didn’t have experience dealing with people who have recently broken up, but she did know what it was like to be in that situation.
“How are you doing?” she asked him, her brow creased in a slight frown. It was what she’d needed after Rafe broke it off with her, and what Daniel had provided for her. Someone to talk to, and someone to listen. She wasn’t a counselor, and she and Obed were more acquaintances than friends, but she knew what it was like to feel alone. And he looked very much alone right now.
Obed shrugged. He slipped farther down into the water, letting it pool over his pale shoulders. "I'm working a lot," he said, as though that was answer enough. Perhaps to someone in Nish's line of work, it was. He reached for something to say, but this was unfamiliar territory, and he felt far more uncomfortable than he was accustomed to being. "Thank you." He cleared his throat. He was well aware more was likely expected of him; Isobel might have encouraged him to say more. The thought did little to improve his mood.
"It's an adjustment," he said, hoping that explanation would suffice.
Nish nodded when he spoke, looking away from him so he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. “Yeah,” she agreed, speaking for herself as well as empathising with him. “It’s like...there’s a giant hole in your life where that other person used to be. And nothing you try to fill it with seems to fit there.” She’d spent a lot of time drinking at first. Indulging in self-pity, either alone in her apartment or out with Daniel or at a bar with people whose names she’d never learned. Then one day it just...got better. And she started doing things for her, that made her happy. Her first decision on that path had been to take advantage of the free spa day, and after that everything seemed to just get better.
She allowed a small smile and met his eyes. “It will get better. It just takes time.”
"So I'm told." Obed swam over toward her side of the pool. He brought his arms to rest atop the warm concrete, idly treading water as he watched his neighbor. "Lucky for me I do have time, and plenty of work to fill that space." Eager to change the subject, he forged ahead. "So. Did you go to the spa that management offered?"
She took the change of subject for what it was and smiled, pushing aside the earlier train of thought. “I did she said, her face glowing. “That was actually...my coping strategy,” she said with a little shrug, “just...do something nice for me, you know? And it was great...having people pampering me for an afternoon...I even fell asleep in the middle of my massage, it was so relaxing.” She smiled whenever she thought of that place, but for some reason every time she tried to call for another appointment they were fully booked, which was weird, because when she went it was almost empty. But she just assumed that word had gotten out and now the place was so popular it was impossible to get in. It had crossed her mind that this ‘free spa day’ was just a clever marketing ploy for the spa to get more business.
“Did you go yet?” she asked eagerly, “I highly recommend it if you haven’t, it’s worth it...I’d go again if I could, but so far I haven’t been able to.” She sipped her drink again, closing her eyes and smiling briefly as a cool breeze coasted over her skin.
"I haven't," he answered. "I considered it, but the timing wasn't especially good for me then. And now work has really caught up with me…" He shrugged. "But I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I'm sure most of the building did. It's a nice gesture from management, though not as grand as I'd have expected given everything that's happened.
"Were you very… ah, affected, by the changes in the building?"
“Wasn’t everyone?” she asked with a smile. “I mean...okay, so we were trapped in here for a week, but then I went back to work and my secretary didn’t even realize I was gone,” she felt she had to emphasise, though she had heard similar stories from other residents in the building. “But yeah, it was strange for sure. I just tried to keep my head down, you know? Spent most of my time in my apartment...or what was left of it that hadn’t turned into grass,” she added with a shrug. To be honest, she sort of missed having the clear star-strewn sky above her at night, watching them wink in the dark as she fell asleep to the sounds of frogs and crickets and a soft breeze. It was pleasant, although that was definitely overshadowed by what happened near the end of the week.
“I think there was someone dangerous in the building that week,” she blurted out, her brow creased in a frown; she still had trouble when she tried to conjure those memories. She remembered the panic, the running, struggling to shut the door and Rafe bleeding...but the details of what actually happened were gone. Every time she tried to dig deeper into that memory they just slipped away faster, and all that she got for her trouble was a headache. It was like trying to remember a nightmare she’d had a year ago.
Obed's brow drew to a sharp arch. Many things had occurred in the building that week, but at no point had he felt in any real danger. His sole concern, in fact, had been for Hanni, given the crocodiles living comfortably on their floor.
"Do you?" he asked, after a moment's hesitation. "What happened to make you think that?"
Nish bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably on the soft pad of the deck chair, clasping her hands on her knees and unconsciously leaning forward, as if afraid she’d be overheard. “It’s...well…” she paused, trying to find the right words. “Okay, so near the end of that week...I was talking with someone on the third floor. And then someone...I think he attacked us.” She frowned, that same headache starting to creep behind her eyes again as she tried to pull more information from her memory. “I didn’t see his face, but we were both terrified. I think maybe he had a weapon?” she said, as if unsure. “He chased us down the stairwell and...hurt my friend. We managed to trap him in the stairs, but…” she stopped then shaking her head. “I’m just glad no one else was hurt, or at least I haven’t heard about it if they were…”
Genuine concern flickered over Obed's face, though only for a moment before he pulled his expression under control. He thought for a time, turning over the building's few residents in his mind. "It's unsettling that another tenant would do something like that," he said. "Did either of you talk to Stephan about it, or reach out to management? There should be security footage, at the very least." He shook his head. "They really need to address the safety concerns here. It's a wonder more people haven't moved out."
A frown creeped across her brow at his words. Another tenant? She’d assumed it had been someone else, maybe from outside the building, or a result of the odd changes. After all, she couldn’t see his face when she tried to remember it, so she couldn’t be sure who it was that was chasing them. But the idea that it had been another tenant...suddenly she knew he must be right. It had to have been. No one could get in or out of the building that week…
“No, I didn’t tell anyone...I don’t know if he did though,” she answered, her voice thoughtful. “At the time no one was around to tell, and when I woke up and everything was back to normal...well, I think I just forgot about it? But you’re right, there has to be cameras in the building, right?” she wondered aloud, her fingers worrying the edge of her towel across her lap. She couldn’t remember ever seeing cameras in the stairwells, but then she hadn’t been looking for them, and those types of things often go unnoticed. And with everything changed the way it had been, who know if the cameras had actually been working at the time.
"It's worth asking," Obed said. "I don't know of many properties that don't have them, however discreetly installed they may be. It hasn't been that long, either; I can't imagine the recordings would have been erased yet. Unless of course your attacker deliberately disabled them."
He raised himself out of the pool, leaving a dripping path on the concrete as he moved to a lounge seat beside her. He stretched out his towel, then lowered himself to stretch out atop it. "I'd suggest filing a police report," he said, "but I'm sure I don't have to tell you that."
She watched him come out of the pool and sit next to her, nodding. “I should,” she agreed, “it’s just...who will believe me? My memories of what happened are...distorted,” she said after searching for the right word. “I can’t be sure of any of the details...what would I tell them? And if the cameras don’t back them up…” the more she thought about it the more crazy it sounded to her. This, she realised, was the real reason she’d kept it to herself. And Rafe...she hadn’t talked to him about it yet. She couldn’t…
Obed nodded. "I understand," he said, sincerely. "The cameras might be the best place to start, then. And just stay vigilant. Enough has gone on in here, some psycho chasing you down a stairwell isn't all that surprising. Honestly I'd be more surprised if that's the last time something like that happens." A mirthless smile crossed his lips. "It may be time to start carrying a Taser around the building."
She nodded and smirked a little, “I should,” she agreed, already mentally trying to think of where she could get one. “And I'll get in Stephan’s face about those tapes. Maybe I’ll go all hard-assed lawyer on him,” she grinned; Obed chuckled at the mental image. “But if there is evidence of who did it, I want to see it.” The memories she did have worried her, but the worst part of all of it was not being able to recall details. She assumed it was the result of adrenaline, or maybe the fear itself had interfered with forming memories at the time. Asking Rafe about it would be the easiest, and hardest, way to settle this.
She reached for her drink and finished it off, standing and slipping her sandals on. “Thanks a lot for the suggestion,” she said, throwing her towel over one shoulder. “I should probably get out of the sun before I start to burn.”
"You and me both," he said, only half joking. He would allow himself another ten minutes, and then it would surely be time to flee for shade and air conditioning. "Take care, Nish. And let me know what Stephan says, okay? You've got me curious, now."
She nodded to him with a smile, “will do,” she said, heading back inside for a shower and a late lunch.