Addiction

Chapter 8
Me Neither

Two months ago: Early Evening

8. Thank goodness my feet are much too tired

I’m sure you’re tired too, I can see an empty booth

Would you like to maybe sit and talk a while?

Me neither, we’d never get along

I’m thinking there’s no chemistry at all

This has been a waste of time and I’m runnin’ outta lines

Don’t you think it’s time for me to end this song? Me neither.

-Brad Paisely; “Me Neither”

“What can I get you two to drink?” the waiter asked.

“I’ll have a white zinfandel, please,” Delilah ordered.

“And you, sir?” the waiter turned to face Damien.

“Apple juice,” Damien said.

“Just plain apple juice?” the waiter asked, waiting for clarification.

Damien took a moment to wobble his head back and forth ever so slightly, literally turning it over in his brain.

“Yeah,” he concluded. “Apple juice works. I’m driving.” He added. The waiter shrugged, nodded his head and went to fetch the couple’s drinks.

“Thanks for calling me,” Delilah said when they were alone at the table. “I honestly was starting to get worried.”

Damien shrugged nonchalantly, “Sorry,” he apologized, “Life’s been kind of busy. I just got caught up in so many little things, and then I remembered that I hadn’t called you.”

Life had, in truth, been busy for Damien; just not eventful. Mostly, Damien had spent the last few weeks staying up late and binge watching episodes of Scooby-Doo as he lay naked on the carpet.

Other than having to constantly wash his sheets, he hadn’t done a whole lot of work at home either. Calling Delilah had almost been a coincidence, in fact. Damien had been rolling high off of Re-Lease a few days ago, and was walking around Wal-Mart, oddly fascinated by all of the Sesame Street Toys, and-

“Then I remembered putting your number in my phone, but never calling you, and well, here we are.”

“And here we are,” Delilah echoed Damien. There was an empty silence, and both stared down at their menus, letting the random sounds of iced tea being stirred and cutlery scraping against plates from the adjoining tables make a kind of awkward soundtrack to their evening. Why was this so hard? It had been easy a few weeks ago in Eden. But then, both had been vulnerable, in a very new situation, and under a slight chemically induced haze.

The waiter returned with the wine and the apple juice. “Okay, guys, here are your drinks. Are you ready to order yet?”

Damien looked over to Delilah. “I’m ready if you are.”

“You go ahead,” Delilah said, “I’ll figure what I want after your done.”

“Oh, okay.” Damien looked up at the waiter, nervously biting his lip. “I would like the lobster macaroni and cheese, please.”

“Excellent choice,” the waiter jotted down Damien’s order, before glancing patiently yet expectantly at Damien’s companion.

“Y’know,” Delilah said, looking up from her menu, “I think I’ll have the same.” The waiter quickly scribbled in a “x2” next to the order of lobster macaroni and cheese, and left the two of them to their not talking.

“So…” Damien piped up after nearly a minute of hearing bits and pieces of other people’s dinner conversations, “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m actually going back to college to earn my degree in accounting.”

“Oh,” was all that Damien replied. He had no idea how to follow that up.

“What about you?” Delilah asked, following suit.

“I work in an office.”

“What kind of office?”

“It’s…complicated,” the answer popped out of Damien’s lips and he didn’t think anything of it. “I don’t like to talk about it.”

“Oh,” was all that Delilah replied, in turn. There was more not talking. More background white noise of other people more comfortable in their own skin. More not quite successful attempts at making eye contact. The aromas of hot pasta and cooked meat permeated the air of the restaurant, giving the atmosphere an uncomfortably warm feeling when paired with the empty sound between the two diners.

“Well, what do you do for fun?” Damien tried to pick things back up.

“I like going to parties, and clubs, and dancing,” Delilah told him, “I love dancing. You?”

Damien fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably. His legs swung in his chair slightly. “Actually, I’m a bit of a homebody, lately. Eden was kind of an experiment.” It was the truth, in that Damien wasn’t lying, but it wasn’t exactly factual. Before Eden, Damien had gone clubbing and dancing often enough; often enough that he had a standard clubbing attire and knew what to expect at your typical club scene. But since the experiment of going to the city’s hottest and only nude club, Damien couldn’t be bothered to leave his house most nights, except to go to the grocery store for T.V. dinners and window shop late at night at Wal-Mart, jealously looking at children’s toys. Hadn’t Damien used to cook for himself?

“Oh.” She paused, sounding a little more than disappointed. “Do you like sports?” she asked, with a twinkle in her eye. “I’m actually a bit of a tomboy in that department.”

“Um..yeah?” he lied, and it was obvious. Her curly red locks seemed to lose a little bounce.

This was not going as hoped. He continued to fidget, feeling more and more uncomfortable.

“Hey,” Damien said after another awkward silence. “You wanna skip out on this place, and go back to Eden? We had a good time there.”

Delilah sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. “Would like to, but can’t,” she said. “I’ve been trying to go back, but I can never spot that Levi guy and that bouncer won’t let me past without a little red pill.”

“Oh really?” Damien smiled, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a pill bottle full of Re-Lease, and rattled it around a little bit. He had been planning on popping one of these tonight in the bathroom if things looked to be heading in the right direction.

Delilah’s jaw dropped open. “You have that much?!” she exclaimed. “How the hell did you get that much?”

Damien smiled cockily. “Well, y’know, Levi really liked me, so he gave me some extra. We’re buds.” He was laying it on thick, but it seemed to be working. He was the big shot all of a sudden

“How many times have you been back?” Delilah asked, her voice full of awe.

“A couple. I brought these along in case you didn’t feel like seeing a movie or something.” This was the biggest lie so far. Damien hadn’t been back to Eden since that first night. He’d taken the magical little red pills that made so many of his insecurities melt away pretty much every night, and he had been naked in the safety of his own home for much of it; but not once had he done so for the purpose of getting back into Eden.

“Then what the hell are we hanging around here for? Let’s go!”

They left without even attempting to pay for the food they had ordered.

Best. Night. Ever.