Page 35 of Resonance

Owen grinned. “Yeah, we had a party when I first moved here and… oh!” He stopped and winced. “Well, too late now. It was impromptu, though. That’s why you weren’t invited or anything. And really it was just me and Quinn and Ru and the older couple that lives next door, Mr. and Mrs. Mooney. She makes really good angel food cake, and I don’t even like angel food cake normally.”

I murmured agreeably and pointed to the wall. “What about that?”

Owen made a face that I couldn’t decide whether was real embarrassment or just the polite affectation of it. “An old boyfriend made that for me. Like really old, but I liked it. More than I liked him, so I kept it because it was basically the only thing I own that might qualify as an art piece.”

“What does it mean?” I eyed the navy-painted wood surface and carefully painted lettering: “I hold you gently. Curled in the well of my tongue. I won’t let you out.”

He definitely blushed that time. “It was a haiku challenge for a course I took during a brief attempt at college. The theme was ‘love.’” He fiddled with the pillow some more. Sun, cloud, sun, cloud.

I considered the poem. “You were writing about the actual word, huh? About saying it versus feeling it?”

Owen gave me a delighted smile that winnowed down deep in my core. “Exactly. Wow. No one has ever gotten that. Most people think it’s creepy.”

“It’s really clever.” And a little sad, but I didn’t say that part. Who was I to talk, anyway? Owen fluffed a pillow as I continued around the room, checking out a shelf of books, some records, and old CDs.

And then we got to some kind of tipping point where we were just standing in front of each other.

“Guess I should head on,” I said.

“Oh yeah, sure.”

“Thanks for inviting me in.”

He pressed his lips together, trapping the lower between his teeth before letting it go. Then he wrapped his arms around me, quick and tight, squeezing once, but with so much force that it burned through my lungs. He released me before I could return the gesture. “Back to status quo.”

“Back to status quo,” I echoed faintly, still feeling the pressure of his arms around me.

“And you don’t have to do that avoiding thing like you did after Ru’s show. I mean, in case you were thinking about it.” I blinked again and he chuckled. “I mean, it was kinda obvious.”

“I…” I started, but didn’t know where I meant to go with that, because Ihadbeen avoiding him that time. “Okay.”

“Boot polish,” he muttered as he inhaled deeply and pulled the door wider for me. He flashed me that wild grin as I stepped outside, then shut the door behind me.

I made my way down the stairs and back to the truck, then just sat there in the cab for a second dumbfounded, both relief and the distinct sensation of having been upended by some kind of dust devil personified whirling through me.

Aural Addiction, Episode #12 transcript:

Owen:You know what I miss?

Dan:Bet I’m gonna regret asking

Owen:I’m convinced you regret 97% of the decisions you make.

Dan:That’s a little cold. I don’t regret Taco Cabana for lunch.

Owen:You might in about six hours. That place is greasy as hell.

Dan:So are you gonna hit me with it or what?

Owen:Yeah, you sidetracked me. Spice Girls.

Dan:[silence]

Owen:Nothing? Really?

Dan:Fine. They were good.

Owen:There should’ve been a Spice Boys. I’d have been all over that.