Read The Egg Said Nothing for Free Online Page B

“How do you feel about it? Any reservations?”

    “Nope. I feel wonderful, but I think I’ll have to go soon,” she said.

    “I’m not throwing you out,” I offered.

    “No, but I’ll have to get up eventually. I have to feed my fish.”

    “Your fish?”

    “Yeah. A slimy orange swimming thing. It lives in water.”

    I suddenly wished her fish had died a long time ago. “Oh, that kind of fish.”

    “Yeah, that kind.” Holding the sheet to her chest, she rolled over to face me. She bit her bottom lip. “What do you think of me?”

    “I think you’re perfect,” I replied truthfully.

    “Even though we just met and I’m here in your bed? You don’t think…” she trailed off. Her hands gripped the sheet more tightly now, as if everything that was going to happen was contingent on the next string of words to be expelled from my mouth.

    “I think you’re an incredibly strong person,” I said. “And I see this is something you would have rather had gone differently. But you’re willing to take a risk on something as fleeting as a feeling, and I think that’s awesome.”

    “But what if going so fast ruins us? What if I’ve just severed any chance at a real connection?”

    “What is a connection?” I asked. “Is it some defined number of months? Is it knowing someone’s shoe size? No, it’s something bigger than that.”

    “I guess you’re right,” she said, hopefully resigning herself to the idea.

    “Here’s what we’ll do,” I reasoned. “Let’s throw convention to the wind and scatter its ashes like some old dead aunt. And when anyone asks, we’ll say we’ve been together for a year. If that lady in the Laundromat thought it plausible, why shouldn’t it be?”

    “That sounds pretty good,” she said, looking quite relieved. Gently, I nudged her face upwards with my forehead and found her lips. Whatever her brain wouldn’t accept, I tried to explain to her through her mouth. She kissed me softly, but pulled away suddenly. “My god, my breath must be awful.”

    “It’s good,” I said, moving in again. She clasped her hand over her mouth.

    “Sweet, but no.”

    She slid away from me. When she got to the edge of the bed, she looked down and reached her hand out, gathering her underwear from the floor and putting it on under the covers. She stood and started her walk around the bed. Her underwear was riding up slightly from where she had pulled it on so quickly. With every step it rode a little higher. Absentmindedly, she adjusted it as she scanned the floor. She found her bra near the door, turned away from me and put it back on.

    Still, the view I had was near perfect. Ashley’s body was outlined in sunlight, giving me the opportunity to commit the shape of it to memory. She lifted her jeans from the floor and climbed into them, smoothing the fabric with her hands.

    She looked at me as she picked up her shirt, aware, obviously, that she was being watched. It seemed as though she was telling me that what I was doing was okay. Good. I was no longer willing to pretend I wasn’t staring, that this infatuation hadn’t completely taken over. She raised her arms above her head to put her shirt on, stretching her torso in a way that was probably almost as satisfying to her as it was to me.

    “I’m going to go,” she said, smashing my heart with a giant cartoon anvil.

    “When am I going to see you again?” I asked.

    “Later on tonight. You’ll be up?” she teased.

    “I’ll set my alarm.”

    She walked over to me. “Turn your head,” she commanded. I obeyed, grateful for the opportunity. She kissed me so softly on the cheek I wasn’t sure it had actually happened. “I will see you later.”

    “Promise?”

    “Promise.” I listened as she walked away from my bed and towards the front door. I rushed out after her, locked all the locks and went back to the bedroom.

    My egg was smashed all over the floor, its shell broken. Amid the destruction, there