Continued - The Coming of the Storm

After a short pause, Ally starts “Ok, I can se-e…a….ah…..” static crackles through the phone.

"Hello? Ally? You there? Ally??"

Ally's voice is completely lost in the static and then there was nothing but dead air.

Thana pulls the phone away from her ear, and stares at it for a second before placing it back on the counter. Hmmm, must be the storm, messing with the lines.

She starts to head back to the bathroom to finish getting ready, when curiosity gets the best of her. What was Allessia trying to say? Did she really see something or someone out there? And why hasn’t she come in yet? What is out there??

“I have to look” she thought to herself. She turns back and slowly makes her way over to the front window, grabbing the curtain, getting ready to pull it open – but she just can’t do it. Fear holds her hand still and nervous thoughts start racing through her mind. What if something is out there? Do I really want to know? And if I do, should I really just rip the curtains open?? Or maybe I should just peek and if there IS someone, then they won’t see me…

The heavy velvet of the drape is beginning to feel damp from the wetness of her palm, as she clutches it tightly, still continuing to argue with herself. Oh just do it and get it over with, you big pussy. “Here goes nothing….” She takes a deep breath and…

“BOO!” Thana tries to spin around, tripping on the single heel she is still limping around on, and falls back into the curtains. Still gripping the drape, she hangs on for dear life, trying to stop the fall. She hangs there for a second, but the curtain rod snaps and she is dumped into a pile of fabric on the floor. Fucking Ally!

“Jesus Christ, you scared the fucking shit out of me!!” Thana screams at her roommate, who is now laughing so hard, she has tears streaming down her face.

“Oh, my god, that was fucking hilarious!!” Ally says breathlessly, still wiping tears from her cheeks. “I don’t think I’ve ever see you jump that high! And, you should have seen your face! OOOOOOO!!!” And the laughing starts up again.

Ally’s eyes get wide for a second and then she exclaims through her gasps “I think I’m gonna pee my pants!!” and takes off running down the hall, still laughing.

Thana, still sitting on the floor, tries to compose herself. She starts to drag herself to her feet, and notices the heel of her shoe is snapped off, hanging from a thin strip of leather. “Fucking Ally,” she mutters under her breath, tossing the destroyed shoe off to the side. “$400 down the fucking drain…” She finally gets to her feet, and starts making her way into the kitchen. “I need a drink,” she says to herself.

She grabs a glass and rips open the freezer. After dumping some ice into her glass, she reaches for a frost covered bottle. Ah, vodka. She begins pouring the thick liquid over the ice, listening to the crackling sound the ice makes when the vodka hits it – but then the sound stops. What the hell? She looks at the bottle… The EMPTY bottle… Dammit Ally!

Well at least there is enough for one drink, she decides, and pulls a can of Monster out of the fridge to mix it with. On the way back to the living room, she grabs her cigarettes out of her purse that was still lying on the kitchen counter, and then continues on to the couch.

As she falls onto the soft cushions on the couch, Ally comes down the hall on her way back from the bathroom, pulling her long black hair into a clip on top of her head. She flops down on the couch next to Thana, stretching her long legs out in front of her, then turns and gives her friend a dazzling smile.

“Hey there sweet cheeks, you make me a drink too?” She asks, her eyes still sparkling from the earlier tears. Her eyes were such a deep, dark brown, you would almost think they were black. Her olive complexion matched them perfectly, and you just knew she was from a culture far more exotic and mysterious than your own. She wore very little make-up, because she didn't really need any - Her skin was flawless as it was.

“Hell no, go make one yourself!” Thana replies with a laugh.

Thana was still trying to decide if she was pissed at her friend for scaring her or if she is just embarrassed about her romp with the window treatment. Knowing her friend, she knew the scare was all in good fun, and (with the help of her drink) was beginning to see it for how funny it actually was. Definitely just embarrassed now.

Ally got serious for a second and said "Hey sorry about scaring you, I really thought you would have heard me come in. What were you doing over there anyways?"

"Oh, I don't know. I was thinking about opening the curtain, I guess."

"Just 'thinking' about it, huh?" Ally said with a smile. "Well, I have to say, mission accomplished. You opened the hell out of it!"

Thana burst out laughing, and agreed, "I sure as shit did! Anything worth doing, is worth doing right! But, hey what were you trying to tell me about before you came in, my phone dropped the call."

"Oh, just that I didn't see anything, that it must have been the bushes or something. No big deal! Gonna grab a drink, be right back."

Allessia gets up from the couch and heads into the kitchen, while Thana stares at the pile of drapes in front of her, chuckling a little to herself as she lights a cigarette. Yeah, we are going to have to fix that…

“Hey, where’s the vodka?” Ally yells from the kitchen.

With a smirk on her face, Thana takes a long drink and drag off her cigarette before answering “Well, there was only enough for me. Someone had drunk most of it by the time I got in there. Don’t you think that’s weird??”

With a boisterous laugh, Ally yells back, “Well, no worries! I have another bottle in the studio!”