Pulled (16 page)

“
You look beautiful Grams,” I say giving her a big bear hug. She’s so shriveled with age that I am able to lift her off the floor easily with my embrace. After I've set her down, she gestures to the sitting area that overlooks her gorgeous view of the mountains. Even though it's early October, the trees are still positively bursting with color, making it look like the tips of the trees have been kissed with fire.

We sit in silence, as we have done for years, just soaking in each other’s energies. She’s having a good day; I can feel it. I’m trying to work out how to bring up Naya, when she beats me to it.

“
You find her, yes?” She looks at me, takes my hand, waiting for the answer she’s already figured out.

Although I try to stop it, a smile creeps across my lips.

“
I
knew
you would!” She pats my hand and beams at me, and my face crumples.

“
Grams, she has a boyfriend,” I say, confessing my deepest pain. She squeezes my hand and closes her eyes. She is silent so long that I think she may have fallen asleep. But then she takes a deep breath.

“
He no right for her.” Her eyes open and her smile returns. “She will see. You will help her see.”

Shaken by what she clearly thinks was one of her 'visions,' I stand and walk to the window, looking up at the clouds for answers.

“
I know he’s not right for her and I’ve only met him a few times.” I pause, scared of what I’m about to say. “Grams, I
hate
this guy. Like, I want to rip-his-head-off hate. Why do I feel like this?”

Grams just smiles at me. “This girl, she is
your
twin flame. Not his. Of course there is hate.”

“
Grams,” I sigh, “I’m not sure I believe in any of this…I mean, it’s just too out there, you know?” I rest my head on the window frame.

She surprises me by laughing. “Does not matter if you believe, Etash. Your soul
found
hers. No matter you believe or no.”

“
What does that even mean?” I’m taken off guard by how angry I sound.

She doesn’t seem offended by my outburst in the least. In fact, she almost seems to expect it.

“
Etash, come sit.”

Reluctantly, I go back and sit next to her.

“
Twin Flames are rare things,” she says. “Many claim to have found their twin, but it is not so. Only small handful exist,” she says cupping her hand for emphasis. “Twins are bound together for
all
of eternity. Even after death.”

I snort. “That's impossible, Grams. They're dead,” I sigh. Poor Grams, I think, collapsing into the chair beside her again.

But she continues on, wagging her finger at me. “Not impossible! When Twin souls are ripped apart by death, they will spend their days searching for the other.”

“
But they're
dead,
Grams.”

“
No matter. Their souls enter new bodies!” She says as though that were the most obvious thing in the world.

After a minute, she takes my hand. “You can no control this, Etash. It will control you. You
will
obtain her. No matter boyfriend.” She pats my hand once as if that should be the end of the discussion.

“
Grams,” I sigh.

“
No matter boyfriend!” she repeats with an anger I've never heard before.

She looks at me. Her eyes are tired, and even though she’s only been awake for a few hours, I know how life takes a toll on her aged body and I have certainly not helped things by arguing with her.

“
I’ve upset you. I’m sorry.”

“
She is your destiny, Etash. You can no hide from her.” She smiles. “She will only find you if you try.”

Naya

I fiddle nervously with my napkin as we wait for our wine to arrive. For as long as I have known Seth, he has never been much of a drinker. At least he wasn’t before he started college; now he seems to be turning it into a nightly ritual. I'm not worried really, just a little…what? Disappointed?

“
Don’t freak out, Naya; I won’t order you anything gross,” he grins at me from across the table.

Forcing a smile, I pick up the menu again.

“
I don’t suppose they have mac and cheese?” I ask.

He frowns at me. “No, probably not.”

The waiter appears with our bottle of wine and hands Seth the cork. Taking it, he inhales the bottom of it swiftly and nods. The waiter then pours a small amount of the wine in Seth’s glass only. He cradles the glass gently in his hand and swirls it around in his glass a few times, looking at it in the light. Then he places his nose so far into the glass I think for a moment he's trying to drink it through his nostrils, but he stops just short of that and inhales deeply. He closes his eyes before finally taking one small sip, gently swishing the wine in his mouth before he actually swallows it.

I watch his elaborate performance with absolute wonder. After a moment of seemingly deep thought, Seth nods again to the waiter, who promptly fills both of our glasses, deposits the bottle on the table, and leaves.

Seth raises his glass for a toast, but I just stare at him.

“
What?” he asks, clearly impressed with himself.

“
Do you mind telling me how you know how to do that?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “My dad. They do that at the Country Club all the time.”

Oh, yes, the Country Club.
I often forget that Seth comes from money, since he so rarely flaunts it, unlike tonight.

His dad and I have only met a handful of times, and I have to admit, the times we did, he scared the hell out of me. He's a large man with a voice like sandpaper. He's also a retired Drill Sergeant who still loved to give orders, particularly to his wife and son. Orders, as far as I had observed, were
always
followed.

I still remember the first time I met his father last Thanksgiving. Nervous beyond belief, I sat in his father’s den waiting for him and Seth to come back from hunting while carrying on 'small talk' with his painfully thin and frail looking mother. She told me that hunting on Thanksgiving morning was a family tradition. The two of them would wake at the crack of dawn and wouldn’t return until they had 'made a kill.'

His mother seemed slightly upset by her husband's stubbornness, but it was clear from her demeanor that she had never once spoken up for herself. She rattled on that some years they only brought home a rabbit, or worse, a squirrel, but most years they were able to boast taking down a deer. She confessed quietly that she was in charge of gutting and cleaning whatever kill they brought home.

I can still recall the vacant look in her eyes when she described slicing open a deer that turned out to be pregnant.

“
A toast to us, two years together and still going strong,” Seth says, pulling me back from his mother's frozen eyes.

He takes a large gulp of his wine. “I got you a little something,” he smiles. He reaches into the inside of his coat pocket and pulls out a small black box.

“
Seth, you didn’t need to get me anything,” I gasp, relieved that the size of the box is too long and narrow to hold a ring.

“
But I did. That dress is seriously lacking something.” He opens the box for me and I hold my breath. Inside is a delicate string of pearls.

“
Wow. Are those real?”

Seth laughs at me. “Of
course
they’re real. Here, let me put them on you.”

Getting up from the table he comes behind me and slinks his hands across my shoulders. He lowers his face to the nape of my neck as he fastens the clasp and inhales deeply, just as purposefully as he had with the wine.

“
God
, you smell good.” He brushes his lips on my ear and licks his tongue inside it. I blush crimson at his overt public display of affection.

Mercifully, our waiter arrives forcing Seth to take his seat. A sly grin is stuck on his face and it makes me shiver.

Two bottles of wine and a brandy later, he pays the bill then ushers me clumsily out to the car. I don't want him behind the wheel, but I know better than to volunteer to drive.

Once in the car, I fasten my seatbelt, close my eyes tight and pray, hoping that God wouldn't be cruel enough to kill me the same way as He killed my parents.

After several nerve-wracking minutes, I know we are safe. I can feel the car heaving against the campus’ speed bumps, but I'm still too nervous to open my eyes. A few more bumps and we’d be safely back at my dorm. I'm surprised when the car stops sooner than it should have.

Opening my eyes, I take a quick look out the window, which confirmed we were on campus, but not in my dorm's parking lot. From the looks of it, we're in the upper lot used mostly by commuters, just behind the theatre. It's all but abandoned this late at night.

“
Why are we parked here?”

Seth pulls the keys out of the ignition and loosens his tie. A huge grin spreads across his face.

“
We’re parked here because your stupid dorm won’t let me into your room this late. But mostly we’re parked here because it’s dark and quiet so I can do this.” He slides himself over to me, crashing his lips awkwardly onto mine.

His hands move frantically around my neck and down the side of my dress, tugging at the seams hungrily. He pushes my body down further into the seat, crushing me with his weight. I can taste the brandy on his breath as his tongue traces the inside of my mouth. I try to sit up to catch my breath, but his arms worm around me, pinning me in place. He moans quietly between kisses, which are growing more and more urgent.

Pulling his lips off mine, he starts to run his tongue along my neck.

“
Seth…,” I begin, trying to push him off. Misconstruing my protest as a sigh of passion, he smothers me again with his mouth and pulls his full weight on top of me. Gasping for air, I struggle to break free of his grip against my arms, but he is too strong. I try to speak, but his mouth refuses to leave mine so all that comes out is a garbled moan.

Using every last ounce of strength I have, I push against his chest just enough to roll out from under him, only to fall off the seat.

“
Ugh!” I shout, as I feel something sharp and metallic scrape painfully against my arm.

“
What are you doing down there? Get up here,” he slurs.

“
Seth, I think we need to slow down. You’ve had a lot to drink,” I blurt out.

He just laughs, pulling me up to the seat again. “Naya, we can’t go any slower than you already make me go. You
owe
me this. Now get up here.”

His hand snakes around my waist again yanking me back onto the seat where he immediately starts tugging at the straps around my neck again. The seams burst under the pressure, causing the top of the dress to fall down, exposing my bare chest.

Etash

On the drive back from the nursing home, all I can think about is Naya. I'm desperate for Monday to come so I can see her again.

Not wanting to face the emptiness of my apartment, I decide to head to the theatre instead. The dance studios will be empty at this time of night and there is still a lot of choreography left to work out.

Stopping at the corner store, I pick up some provisions for dinner, planning on spending as much time at the theatre as the campus police will allow.

As expected, the studios are empty. I kick off my shoes, pull my t-shirt off and get out my binder. Each movement will be crucial without any dialog, so the way Elizabeth
and I will have them move will need to speak volumes.

I take pages of notes, pleased by the inspiration that the music we've selected is providing me. It's only when my stomach growls that I stop. Turning the music off I check the time. It’s already 10:00 pm.
Wow
. Time flies when you're dancing.