wa tching Lissa fall into his arms and the day I would be forced to walk away from him forever. So I kissed him back. I dragged my fingernails over his short-cropped hair and pressed my forehead to his.
“Please don’t leave me,” h e whispered and I nodded.
If only I could tell him the truth.
After ages spent living like a wraith, walking through walls and drifting through floors and ceilings, I wanted to try something new. Minutes after Cain left, I donned my dress and one of his smaller leather jackets for protection against the cold. After stuffing my cloak into one of the deep inside jacket pockets I walked through the door.
A mashed hubbub of people filtering through the building awaited me on the other side. Cain’s flat was on the fourth floor and the stairs connecting the top and lower levels were close to his door. Several people had gathered in the hall and were whispering in hushed voices, glancing about with suspicious eyes. Children chased each other up and down the stairs and somewhere the baby we often heard was wailing.
I knew I must look crazy standing there grinning like an idiot, but it had been so long since I had felt like I belonged anywhere.
“You need something, sugar?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin, but was more surprised I hadn’t noticed the tiny woman approach until she was already standing in front of me. Her dark, eastern eyes appraised me with calculated intensity. She stood at least a head shorter than me. Her silver-streaked black hair was twisted and held in place by a scarf and her wardrobe looked to be from a time gone by. But there was mischief in the twist of her ruby lips. She puffed her cigarette with glee, sizing me up as if I were a brand-new doll.
“Well , you just gonna stand there all day?” She used the thickly smoking stick to point at me before taking another drag.
If anything my smile only grew as I replied, “Ms. Nguyen, right?” When the woman made no move to reply, I tried again. “Cain told me you were a friend.”
The aged woman waved away the haze that was drifting between us and cackled. “Friends, eh? Well I guess so. Used to be, people who called me friend were paying me for the hour. Good thing my no-good ex made me respectable, huh?”
She was brash and crude and utterly fascinating to me.
I’d always preferred to go by the rules, which meant, never to let your job see you. It never occurred to me to pay attention to the others, those people you glanced at briefly but never bothered with on the street. It was nice to speak to one of them for a change. I smiled and Ms. Nguyen shook her head, tilting it at a curious angle.
“You sure are a strange bird,” she commented. “ Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers! At least Cain’s bringing home a new girl, finally. Could never figure how a good hunk of meat like him refused to take up all the offers thrown his way. Because let’s face it, honey, we both know he’s a Grade A, prime cut, first-class piece of bonafide man .” Blowing a fresh stream of smoke out the corner of her mouth, she finished, “And you are just too adorably perfect to be real. Whatcha do? Find you a rich check book to pay for those implants?” She winked at me to take the edge off her intrusive questions.
I laughed aloud, surprising and finally pleasing my temporary neighbor with this unexpected response. She nodded to herself as if deciding something.
“You al l right, sugar?” she said. “Knock if you need anything. Pay attention while you out there. Most of them ain’t as good as Cain. Hope you know how lucky you are.” And with one last flick of her cigarette Ms. Nguyen returned to her cracked-open door, leaving nothing but a trail of ashes behind.
I left feeling sure of myself and the human streets I walked. For the first time, I passed through not as an immortal apparition, but of the masses. A whole new world of smells and textures had awakened in me because of my time with Cain. He reminded
“Please don’t leave me,” h e whispered and I nodded.
If only I could tell him the truth.
After ages spent living like a wraith, walking through walls and drifting through floors and ceilings, I wanted to try something new. Minutes after Cain left, I donned my dress and one of his smaller leather jackets for protection against the cold. After stuffing my cloak into one of the deep inside jacket pockets I walked through the door.
A mashed hubbub of people filtering through the building awaited me on the other side. Cain’s flat was on the fourth floor and the stairs connecting the top and lower levels were close to his door. Several people had gathered in the hall and were whispering in hushed voices, glancing about with suspicious eyes. Children chased each other up and down the stairs and somewhere the baby we often heard was wailing.
I knew I must look crazy standing there grinning like an idiot, but it had been so long since I had felt like I belonged anywhere.
“You need something, sugar?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin, but was more surprised I hadn’t noticed the tiny woman approach until she was already standing in front of me. Her dark, eastern eyes appraised me with calculated intensity. She stood at least a head shorter than me. Her silver-streaked black hair was twisted and held in place by a scarf and her wardrobe looked to be from a time gone by. But there was mischief in the twist of her ruby lips. She puffed her cigarette with glee, sizing me up as if I were a brand-new doll.
“Well , you just gonna stand there all day?” She used the thickly smoking stick to point at me before taking another drag.
If anything my smile only grew as I replied, “Ms. Nguyen, right?” When the woman made no move to reply, I tried again. “Cain told me you were a friend.”
The aged woman waved away the haze that was drifting between us and cackled. “Friends, eh? Well I guess so. Used to be, people who called me friend were paying me for the hour. Good thing my no-good ex made me respectable, huh?”
She was brash and crude and utterly fascinating to me.
I’d always preferred to go by the rules, which meant, never to let your job see you. It never occurred to me to pay attention to the others, those people you glanced at briefly but never bothered with on the street. It was nice to speak to one of them for a change. I smiled and Ms. Nguyen shook her head, tilting it at a curious angle.
“You sure are a strange bird,” she commented. “ Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers! At least Cain’s bringing home a new girl, finally. Could never figure how a good hunk of meat like him refused to take up all the offers thrown his way. Because let’s face it, honey, we both know he’s a Grade A, prime cut, first-class piece of bonafide man .” Blowing a fresh stream of smoke out the corner of her mouth, she finished, “And you are just too adorably perfect to be real. Whatcha do? Find you a rich check book to pay for those implants?” She winked at me to take the edge off her intrusive questions.
I laughed aloud, surprising and finally pleasing my temporary neighbor with this unexpected response. She nodded to herself as if deciding something.
“You al l right, sugar?” she said. “Knock if you need anything. Pay attention while you out there. Most of them ain’t as good as Cain. Hope you know how lucky you are.” And with one last flick of her cigarette Ms. Nguyen returned to her cracked-open door, leaving nothing but a trail of ashes behind.
I left feeling sure of myself and the human streets I walked. For the first time, I passed through not as an immortal apparition, but of the masses. A whole new world of smells and textures had awakened in me because of my time with Cain. He reminded
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