Willowbend Tales - Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE – A CHANGE WOULD DO YOU GOOD, BRIAN WILSON

Dream Journal Entry #3

Mozart and I find ourselves in the gymnasium of my old high school. I am shooting free throws with a basketball as Mozart sits by a chalkboard, tallying the baskets I have sunk.
“You only met her and you think you are in love? Perhaps this is merely an infatuation you are experiencing.” Mozart said to me. I replied back “Maybe yes, maybe no. All I know is she made me feel something I haven’t felt in a long time.” “What feelings are those you speak about?” Mozart asked me as I sunk another ball into the basket. Then this new girl I met named Julia appeared and sunk a basket from halfway across the court. My friends Phil, Rocco, and Emily appeared as cheerleaders and accompanied me as I began to sing Genesis’ “Invisible Touch”. Focused on second verse: “Well I don't really know her, I only know her name/But she crawls under your skin, you're never quite the same, and now I know/She's got something you just can't trust/It's something mysterious/And now it seems I'm falling, falling for her…”

“Well at least you asked me first before totally offering her as a potential replacement roommate.” Emily said to Darren. as she was folding a pile of dry towels in the laundry room. Sunday was usually laundry day for either Darren or Emily and it became somewhat of a weekly ritual as one or even both would do their laundry at the same time and catch up with each others lives. This particular Sunday, Darren relayed his story of being ditched by Rocco and Phil; and him being saved by Julia from a drunken party girl. Darren mentioned to Emily how Julia may be moving to Vegreville, depending on the success of a job interview tomorrow. Darren had just proposed that should Julia be successful in her job hunt, she could move in as Emily’s new roommate.
“Well come on – she’s going to need a place to live, you need a new roommate. You do need a new roommate, right?” Darren asked as he placed a load of clothes into the dryer.
Slightly annoyed with being reminded that her now ex-roommate had skipped town without paying her half of the rent, Emily sighed and answered “I’m thinking so, but I dunno about letting a complete stranger right into my life right about now.”
“Well, she is coming into town on Monday and I’m planning on meeting her after the job interview she has. Why don’t you come along and get to know her a little bit?”
“I’ll be working all day tomorrow. Also, aren’t you putting yourself at risk for this complete stranger?” Emily asked as she moved onto sorting and folding another pile of clothes.
“Well, something about her made it feel like she wasn’t a total stranger. She just calmly moved in and got me away from that drunk girl. Then we talked for what seemed like hours, and she’s a fan of my little writing skills.” Darren said as he closed the dryer door and placed the appropriate coins into the slot to commence the drying process.
“Hmmm, you sure she’s not a Kathy Bates in ‘Misery’ stalker?” Emily asked jokingly as she tossed one of Darren’s towels which had gotten mixed up in her own pile somehow.
“Do I detect a hint of jealousy from you, Miss Moore?” Darren asked back as he caught the towel. “Besides I don’t think green is a color that suits you.”
“Please, we’ve talked about this before,” Emily replied back, placing her hands on her hips. “For me to be jealous would mean for me to have more than just platonic feelings for you…”
“… Right and that would be against the rules we set up for each other.” Darren interrupted. “But sometimes…” He then paused, “Naw, forget about it.”
“What?” Emily asked curiously.
“It’s kind of silly, really,” Darren said with some hesitation, making sure not to completely tell the truth about something that has bothered him quite some time in regards to his friendship and arrangement he and Emily had. “Are you sure you’re not jealous?” he asked back, hoping to return to topic back onto Julia.
“Trust me, my only concern is that you don’t get your heart broken by her.” Emily replied. “I’ve just seen you many times like this – you find someone you think is the one and something happens to derail those thoughts.”
Darren sighed as he placed another load of clothes into the washing machine. “Yes, thanks for reminding me about that. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should just quit while I’m ahead, huh?”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Emily said. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt over and over again. Besides if things go well with my new love, I may be moving on and may not be here to make sure you don’t go totally over the edge like you told me when you and Gloria ended.”
“Wait a second, I don’t recall hearing about this new love.” Darren said slightly surprised. “When and how did this happen?”
“We met a couple weeks ago at a seminar in Calgary.” Emily said, beaming with pride. “I think between my roommate ditching me and now this proposal I got, I think it may be time to fly away and see how far I can go.”
“I see,” Darren said, slightly dejected, almost pouting in a sense.
“Aww, come on,” Emily replied back, giving Darren a comforting friendly hug. “You and me will still be tight no matter where I go, okay?”
Darren hugged back and said “Okay. At least Phil will still be around for anything major.”
“And don’t worry, I’ll still come along to your cousin’s wedding. Thinking about dying my hair pink with blonde highlights. Won’t that freak out your family” Emily said, playing with her current short-length jet black hair and smiled a mischievous smile.

“You don’t think she’ll really leave do you?” Darren asked as he sat in front of the computer, obviously either stalling for time to work on “The Raven Effect” or just simply hitting a wall of writer’s block. Phil was viewing some video footage he had previously shot earlier in the day, sitting on the couch behind Darren. Hearing Darren’s question, Phil promptly answered back “Who really knows. This is Emily Moore we’re talking about. Has she ever committed to anything longer than her current occupation and spiritual quest?”
“Good point,” Darren said as he stared at a semi-blank screen. “It’s just, I dunno, she’s become such an important part of my life. And now it could very well end.”
“Well, you may gain this mystery woman who only met twenty-four hours ago if things go good, right?” Phil asked as he began filming this conversation.
“I dunno, part of me sees something in Julia that I haven’t seen in a long time. Something that seems very right.”
“Whoa, slow down, tiger. Shouldn’t you first see if she even comes into this town before you make wedding plans?”
“Geez, you sound like Emily now.” Darren said as he rolled his eyes and struggled to come up with an opening to the next chapter.
“Well, this seems to be your standard modus operendi – meet a girl, bend over backwards to impress her, she does something to shatter your misconceived perception of a reality that only exists in you head, then ‘boom!’, I’m trying to knock a bottle of vodka from you or you end up going to cry to Emily.” Phil said
“Hmm, guess I have no real need to see a psychiatrist with the two of you pegging me so well,” Darren said sarcastically.
“Well, maybe that person can figure why you keep repeating history. We can make sure you don’t repeat history.” Phil said back.
“Really? And tell me what was the last successful relation you had?” Darren asked back.
“You know I am taking a break until this film project is complete,” Phil defensively replied back.
“I know, I know. It just seems a little ironic that the ones who seem to be concerned with my sex life are two people who are a little dysfunctional when it comes to giving advice.” Darren said as he began to type away.
“Funny, real funny man.”
“Think about it,” Darren went onto say, “Emily tries but misunderstands at times…”
“… Yet the two of you end up in each other’s arms if either one or both of you are wounded.” Phil interrupted. “Which really isn’t a healthy way to live by the way. You’re better off waiting until Mustang Sally finally calls in your number.”
“See? This is why I hardly talk to you about these kinds of things anymore.” Darren said.
“So you’d sooner take advice from the walking boner Rocco, eh? You do realize steroids reduce sperm count and testosterone levels?” Phil asked.
“I don’t know anymore,” Darren sighed with frustration. “Doing the same things so far haven’t worked out for me obviously. Maybe if I actually try to go out of my comfort zone I can finally prove those who doubted I could change wrong.”
“Like your father, right?” Phil asked.
“Yeah, him.” Darren said with a mild resentment in his answer. “Remind me why I am going to my cousin’s wedding in two months time?”
“Wait a minute, do they have a videographer for this joyous occasion?” Phil asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t even called them to confirm I’m going.” Darren replied with hesitation.
Phil leaped off the couch and grabbed the telephone. “What are you doing?” Darren asked, though it was obvious to him what was going on.
“I am RSVP-ing for you and looking to expand my film-making repertoire.” Phil said as he dial the number on the wedding invitation. The dial tone on the phone went into ringing on the other end as Phil patiently waited for someone to pick up on the other line. Perhaps fortunately and leading to a less awkward situation, the other line went to voice mail. But that did not stop Phil from leaving a message. “Hello, I’m Phil Brookes calling on behalf of Darren Watson, he would be honored to attend you pending nuptials and I would be honored to film the entire glorious day should you need someone to do a professional job. You can call either of us as seven-eight-zero-six-oh-three-two-two-six-three. Thank you for your consideration.” Phil then hung up the phone as Darren looked on, looking perplexed by Phil’s actions.
“Tell me why exactly you did this?” Darren asked.
“In case Emily bails out as your escort.” Phil said. “Plus I think there could be some money made if I expand my creativity.”
“Just great.” Darren muttered to himself as his rabbit Mozart stared up the two men while he quietly munched on a leaf of lettuce.

It was night time. Darren tried to sleep, but his mind was now racing what seemed like a million miles per minute. Julia was coming into town tomorrow and he was looking forward to meeting her. But what if Emily was right? What if Phil was right? Or what if they are wrong? Now Darren has to go to the stupid wedding because stupid Phil confirmed it, and now has to face his family. He was slightly behind on working on his novel, and what if that bombs? He’s got no real skills to fall back on and doesn’t want to go back and beg for his part time job back. A lot of thoughts rushed through Darren’s head, but one thought came up that needed to be addressed right away: he had to pee.
Getting up to go to the washroom, Darren noticed Phil had fallen asleep on the couch – something he did a lot while editing his films. He had the television still on as Mozart looked upon the screen to notice an infomercial for a new kind of high energy cooking device. Just as Darren went over to turn the television off, he noticed his cell phone buzzing and his ringtone going off. Darren went over to the phone to check it out and noticed there was a recently sent text message from Emily: “Come see me if ur still up pls.” was the message. Darren sighed and knew he probably could not fall asleep right now with all that seemed to be on his mind. He text-messaged Emily back: “On my way now. If you’re still up, I’ll see u soon.”

Darren walked down to Emily’s apartment, wearing a dark blue tee-shirt and red flannel pajama bottoms. Usually, Emily never wanted to talk to anyone at this time of night unless something really bothered her. Maybe their laundry day conversation really bothered her more than she let on? Or maybe there was something else on her mind? Or maybe she saw a spider and wanted Darren to kill it? Emily was fairly scared of the eight-legged arachnids. Darren took in a deep breath and lightly knocked on her apartment’s door. Emily opened the door slightly until she noticed it was Darren. Then she opened the door wider, revealing herself wearing a red silk Japanese kimono. She wiped away some tears from her eyes, smudging a bit of mascara that had run down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong, Em?” Darren asked with concern and caring in his voice.
“It’s, ugh! Stupid love!” Emily said, fighting back tears. “She decided to call it quits, over the phone!”
“Geez, that’s rough,” Darren said as Emily leaned her head into Darren’s waiting shoulders. “You gonna be okay,” he said with sympathy as Darren gently ran his fingers through Emily’s hair.
“I dunno anymore. Why do I always do this to myself?” Emily said as she raised her head up from Darren’s shoulder and wiping away more tears. She didn’t even notice her mascara had slightly stained Darren’s shirt.
Hmmm, where have I heard that before? Darren asked quietly to himself as Emily looked into his baby blue eyes. Darren stared back into her misty green eyes and wondered to himself what was going on here. “Because we’re human beings, Em. We all make mistakes.” Darren said as he helped wipe away more tears off her delicate cheek.
“I know, but I think I finally found happiness with one person and then it’s yanked away from me!” Emily pouted.
“You’re preaching to the choir, sister.” Darren said, knowing well in full that this was one of the common themes that ran parallel with Emily’s life and his own.
Emily sniffed and smiled. She playfully ran her fingers through Darren’s messy dark blonde hair and said “Yeah, I kinda figured I was. Maybe this is why you no longer put your heart out as much as you used to.”
“Not true at all,” Darren said. “I think I just choose more carefully how I do that now, even though I have some missteps on the way.”
“Well then,” Emily said as she lightly tugged on one side of her kimono to reveal a bare shoulder. “Maybe for one more night we can both feel like we’re loved in this cold cruel world.”
Maybe she was onto something, Darren thought. As much as he had so many things on his mind, maybe being in someone’s loving arms could take that away. And maybe for one moment, Emily could feel the gentle touch of another that she sorely needed at this moment of another heartbreak. It is indeed a very odd yet convenient relationship the two of them had. No real emotional attachment outside of platonic friendship. No real sense of commitment to each other. Just raw physical passion to get them through the night.
It is indeed a relationship, no matter how much they deny it