Page 13 of Solanum

"Ah, I hear remorse floating off those supple lips, my friend."

"Hmm. Rarely, but today, true." She smiled sweetly and headed off down the hall in front of me.

We returned to the party, only to find more arrivals making themselves at home.

In the course of half an hour, a dozen of our colleagues and their partners or friends filled the dining room table with all sorts of goodies that they brought with them. They gathered around my giant flatscreen, shouting obscenities or cheers at it in rotation. Nora stood in the kitchen, smiling at me while nibbling on a pretzel.

"Are you tipsy?" I asked her when I snagged another beer from the fridge.

"A little," she said, her eyes following me while I moved around.

I cracked the cap on the bottle and flicked it over her shoulder into the sink. "A lot, I'd say."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because of how you're looking at me." I downed a swig of beer. "You only look at me like that when you are."

"Like what?"

"Like you're enjoying what you see and holding out an invitation." I shrugged and crossed my ankles while leaning against the countertop opposite her.

"What if I am?"

"You'll regret it when you're sober."

"I won't."

I glanced to the people in my living room then back to her. "If you don't have any other drinks today, and you're still feeling the same way after everyone leaves, talk to me again."

"Fine." She poked my shoulder when she walked past me toward the living room again. "It's a deal."

I watched her go, laughing at the ridiculous situation. It wasn't uncommon for us to poke fun at each other, especially in between entanglements. Sometimes I wondered if she knew how I felt about her. What it was like for me to work with her every day, knowing both of our lives hung in the balance so often. Ending the crazy days only to go home alone to our separate lives made me value the time we spent together through the thick of it all. I enjoyed Nora's friendship, and honestly, she was one of two consistent connections that I had, mainly due to our proximity to each other with work. Samirah traveled all over the place for her job. The folks at the club weren't anything more than weekend playthings, but Nora, she seemed to really give a shit most of the time.

Our foray into my past had me thinking about Annabelle while we all settled in to watch the remainder of the game. By the third quarter, Nora dozed off on the sofa, awoken only by the shouts of our peers. I watched her, ignoring the victory of the Seahawks over the Broncos and the cheers that accompanied it. Her gaze landed on mine, and a small smile curved her lips. I couldn't help laughing and shaking my head as we neared the ending of a time-wasted night.

It took everyone until after midnight to finally clear out, leaving Nora and I alone to clean up, as usual. We put away the leftovers and filled the dishwasher while sharing our typical conversations about nothing and everything. Maya called to check in as she always did which soothed Nora's worry.

When I returned from my trek down to the hall to the trash shoot, Nora stood in the living room staring down at her phone.

"Calling an Uber?" I asked, then returned to the kitchen to wash my hands.

"No." She pocketed her phone, her hands falling to her hips while she watched me tear off a piece of paper towel.

"I can drive you if you want."

"Nope," she said. "I haven't changed my mind. And I haven't drank anything more."

I rolled my eyes at her. "C'mon, Nor…"

"I haven't." She moved away from the sofa, gnawing her bottom lip a little roughly. "I want to."

My mind exploded with possibilities, wrestling with everything I knew to be right and wrong, good, and terrible. Of course, I wanted it, too, as I always had, but I wasn't ignorant to the many facets of destruction we could cause.

"When was the last time you were with Raven?" I asked, hitting her in the gut in hope of a reaction.

"Months, Car. I told you that." She flopped her hands at her sides.

"So, what then? Tonight, we fuck and tomorrow we return to work like nothing happened?" I said, shrugging along with it. "Because I can do that. Can you?"

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