Chapter 8

Chapter 8
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Behind her eyes, images of a life began to dance in her mind. She was back in the house again, surrounded by the beachy smells, the pictures, the voices. She heard her best friend yammering on to somebody on the phone, her little niece screaming in childish delight as someone was chasing her. She couldn't see his face, but she could feel his energy surrounding her, trying to get her to remember. But the more she attempted to focus on him, the more the other images blurred, and she wanted to view the bigger picture. She wanted to take in the whole of this dream, to remember everything about this place.
She walked through the house, touching random objects as she walked by. There were pieces that remained unfamiliar to her, as if they didn't belong to her. And then she saw it. The ballerina music player her grandmother had that followed her to every phase in her life. She picked up this piece, amazed that it still worked after all these years. She wound the bottom, careful not to let the top fall off. The figure was in two pieces, with a small space in the middle to store a piece of jewelry. She was so happy it had made it to her dream house. She found the switch and let the ballerina dance.
Around her, everyone in her dream stopped what they were doing and came towards her. At first she didn't know what to think, but then her niece grabbed her hands and started twirling herself around. Then her best friend started twirling around on her own, not needing a partner. Everyone just started holding hands and molding into one another. Christina could feel her feet planting themselves onto the hardwood floor. Suddenly in her dream the music stopped. She looked around to see everyone staring at her, not being able to move their feet, either. "Auntie Christina, come home, we miss you," little Winter Grace whispered softly. Then she picked up her feet and danced around Christina.
She found that at this point she was also able to move her feet. She walked to the sliding glass door and opened it, letting the salty ocean air attach itself to her skin. She stepped onto the sand, feeling the warmth of it crunch beneath her feet. Little miss Winter Grace was suddenly on one side of her, holding her left hand. She felt someone strong grab onto her right hand. When she looked up to see his face, she could finally see. It was...
"Jimmy!" she said the name out loud, her chest starting to feel tight. She tried dropping his hand but it was no use, he was not letting go of her. A look in his eyes pleaded for her to stop trying to let go and just let him have this moment. She couldn't look into his eyes another second. "Jimmy!!" she said again, and woke up with a start.

Ryan gave her a look through the rear view mirror, narrowly escaping a raccoon crossing the street. "bad dream?" he asked, a look of concern shooting through his face. "where are we?" Christina answered back. Answering a question with a question. It was avoidance, yes, but right now it was all she was willing to put up with. "home sweet home," Ryan said, pulling up into a driveway.
Christina couldn't believe it. She had slept the entire rest of the way back. She was so thankful and felt guilty all at once. It was like Ryan could read the look on her face. "don't worry about it. Your dreamy conversations kept me pretty entertained the whole time."
Christina scrambled out of the backseat. She was so embarrassed she just wanted to get into the house, crash somewhere, and not wake up till morning. Ryan got out of the driver's seat and ran to her side. She could see he was truly concerned, mixed in with mildly entertained. "it wasn't anything bad, I promise. You were commenting on different things inside a house, apparently it's a beautiful one. You were watching Sam's kid running around with who I can only assume is someone you know."
"Jimmy." Christina choked the name out. Ryan's eyes fell to the ground as he nodded, dropping the conversation immediately. "let's get you into the house before you fall over on the lawn."
"that would be great."
Ryan lead the way, his keys making a jingling sound in his hands as he searched for his house key in the dark. Christina followed up him the walk, carrying everything she owned with her, her bike included. She wasn't going to take any chances in a place she'd never been in before.
Finally, they were inside. Taking a look around, Christina noted that the house wasn't as shabby as she had pictured it. The houses surrounding it were all 80's style cookie cutter houses. He probably lived in one of those neighborhoods where everyone's house looked the same as everyone else's, and there were few variations depending on style. This one was a separated ranch style house, with both stairs leading down to a sort of basement turned into living area, and an upstairs that had three bedrooms and a bathroom. The floor they were on now had a living room in the front, followed by the kitchen. She realized that if it were all on one floor it wouldn't be a very big house, but it was a nice one. She was glad to be in a house with real air conditioning, as opposed to the car or the bus that just filtered everybody's different smells. This one smelled like home.
"you want something to eat or drink before I show you where you're going to sleep?" Ryan asked, his face light. It had been so long since he'd had anybody else in his home, at first he was nervous he was going to screw it up. But Christina just answered politely, "I think I'd just like it if you showed me where I was going to sleep." "fair enough," Ryan said, beckoning for her to follow him up the stairs.
The first door they came upon was on the left, shortly after they finished climbing the stairs. "your room, Madame," Ryan said with a fake English accent. He flicked on the lights and she could see that the room could use a woman's touch. Ryan explained that it used to be his room before his parents were killed, leaving him the house and everything in it. That was why he was on the road most of the time, he couldn't stand the idea of spending any more time than necessary in the house, yet he couldn't stand to sell it, either. Christina took one look around and scrunched up her nose. "come on, I have a better idea." she took his hand and lead him down the stairs until they were in the living room that was in the bottom part of the house.
"why don't you fix us some popcorn and we will watch some movies have a sleep over." Ryan wasn't sure but he didn't think grownups had sleep overs, at least not platonic ones. But there was a sparkle in her eye that he couldn't ignore. He simply could not say no to that face. "okay, you set up our sleeping area and pick out a couple of movies, and I will make us some popcorn. What do you want to drink?"
"just water would be fine."
"popcorn and water, coming right up."
Ryan left to go make the popcorn and got a water for Christina and a soda for himself. He was glad he decided to grab a box of popcorn on his last grocery run, which had been a week before. Most of the food in his cabinets were boxed, if there was any food at all. Looking down at Christina going through his DVDs and fixing up what looked like a very comfy sleeping area made entirely out of pillows, he wished she could stay more than one night. But knowing what he knew of her already, he knew the chances of her not getting scared and running were slim. He would not chance it. He was just going to make the best out of the time he did have with her.

Ryan could see how a man could get caught up in this beautiful woman. She had a face that was so expressive, she didn't need to tell you what she thought. Every emotion she felt was written all over it. Her eyes could just make you melt if you stared too long into them, and she had a laugh that was incredibly infectious. He could not understand why anyone would be stupid enough to let her go, even that Jimmy guy she kept dreaming about. Even though she dumped him, if he had half a brain he wouldn't have let her go. Ryan looked over at her watching the movie she had picked, Gramma's Boy, and laughing hysterically. She told him that she never got around to seeing it, so he put it on for her. He had watched it way too many times, trying to empty his mind of anything that would make him feel pain. He stocked up on every comedy he could find, and although as time went on he finally branched out to the other genres, there was always a way bigger section of everything funny.
Christina's laughter filled up the entire house. It had been a long while since a woman's laughter had echoed on the walls of the house. The laughter filled every room, and as it did, it made the house feel so much lighter than it did when they first set foot inside.
Suddenly the laughter quieted down. Ryan looked over and saw Christina sprawled out on the bed she had made for them made entirely out of pillows and blankets, her eyes fighting to stay open. "I can shut the movie off, if you'd like,"
"no, it's okay," Christina whispered sleepily.
"it's not a big deal," Ryan said as he started to get up.
"please don't leave me," Christina said suddenly.
"not even to get up and shut the movie off?" "nope."
Ryan stared incredulously at her, who was obviously almost all the way asleep. He sighed and stayed put, resigned to the idea that even in sleep, Christina would love to try and win an argument.
There was no argument to be made here, as Ryan got comfortable amongst the pillows. He looked at her one more time, not wanting to close his eyes, because he wasn't sure if she would still be there when he opened them. As soon as he was about to fall asleep, he felt something. It was Christina, she was rolling over towards him. Trying to be a gentleman, he tried to give her enough space to sleep on her own, but she finally caught up to him. She wrapped herself in his arms, planted a kiss on his cheek, smiled, and rested with her head on his chest. And that was how she stayed until morning.