"Your sex life's as dull as mine, huh?" Crystal said with a smirk, drawing Laura back from her thoughts. "Dunno why with all those women fawning over you." Crystal turned away to remove the next set of waffles from the hot iron.
Laura looked at her thoughtfully. "Guess I haven't really been looking for a while." Leaning an elbow against the counter, she reached for the coffee pot, pouring the hot liquid into a nearby mug. "I haven't thought about it in a while either." Lost in her thoughts, Laura didn't notice when Crystal went to the refrigerator and returned with the container of milk. "Oh, thanks," she said when finally realized, holding her mug out. "That's enough."
"Sit down and relax." Crystal motioned at the table. "I'll take care of it. The paper's there." Laura nodded and walked over the table, settling down into the chair and bringing the mug to her lips. Watching over the brim of the mug, Laura let her thoughts go in random directions while she gazed upon the woman moving about the kitchen. After their time of living together, Laura understood more and more about her beautiful but troubled roommate. She understood now that Crystal was very much a loner who felt the pain of loneliness profoundly. When the blonde first moved in, Laura saw the hard shell of a woman raised on the streets. Time showed the layers hidden beneath the shell. At times Laura glimpsed the confused teen reaching out for protection from those that should have been doing the protecting and her heart ached for the young girl who never received the love she so desperately needed. But last night and this morning were showing yet another layer to Crystal. Laura felt the caring in the way she had been held during her crying jag, the gentle hugs that seemed to happen just when she needed them, the coffee and waffles waiting for her. When Crystal set the plate and syrup on the table, Laura stood up and wrapped her arms around the younger woman.
"Thank you so much for being there for me last night," Laura whispered into the blonde hair. "It means a great deal to me and I just want you to know I appreciate it." Pulling back slightly but maintaining her hold, Laura looked into blue eyes intently. "Not everyone can spend most of the night sitting around in a hospital just to give a friend moral support."
Crystal's small smile seemed forced and Laura found the young woman couldn't maintain the direct eye contact. "Yeah well," the blonde said as she pulled away, "You've been there for me. It's the least I could do. You'd better eat before they get cold."
Seeing her friend's discomfort, Laura gave Crystal a reassuring smile and resumed her seat. The writer barely got the first bite into her mouth before her eyes closed and she gave a happy moan. "Oh, this is good." Another bite. "I didn't realize how hungry I was." "Well, you didn't have dinner last night," Crystal pointed out, shaking her head when Laura pointed at the stack of waffles. "No thanks. I've been up for a while and grabbed something earlier. Oh, by the way, you had a phone call."
"Oh yeah?" Laura used her fork to cut another piece of her waffle. "Who was it?"
"Your Aunt Helen."
Laura's fork stopped halfway to her mouth and she looked at her roommate as if the blonde had just said the IRS called to schedule an audit. "Uh did she say?" she asked with great trepidation. The mention of her mother's eccentric sister was never a good thing. Laura remembered many a family get together that had her mother and father having words behind closed doors because of something Helen said or did. "She said she'd be at the airport at four twenty. I wrote the flight number down. Why are you looking like that?"
Laura had closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, certain she would have a migraine before the day was out. "Did she say how long she was staying?"
"No. There was a lot of noise and she had a bit of an accent."
"She's from Boston," Laura said, opening her eyes and staring at the waffle she was pushing around her plate. "This is not good," she moaned softly.
"Not exactly a favorite relative?" Crystal ventured.
"I tolerate her," Laura offered grudgingly. "She's a bit with her, what you see is what you get. Aunt Helen doesn't hold anything back and she has an opinion on everything." Taking several swallows of coffee, more to collect her thoughts than to quench a thirst, Laura continued. "It wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't against just about everything my parents were for."
"Does she get along with your mother at all?" Crystal asked.
"If they haven't seen each other in a long time, then yes for a little while they'll get along fine. They'll catch up on what's been going on with each other and then share the gossip about the rest of the family."
"That's not so bad."
Laura lifted her head. "No, that part's fine. It's when Mom nags Aunt Helen about her drinking or smoking or her endless stream of boyfriends or her quote unquote loose life," Laura made quote marks with her fingers. "Then they start going at it. When Dad was alive the three of them would always get into these huge debates about everything under the sun and then some. Last time she visited she told Mom she refused to stay at her house anymore." Her eyes widened at the horrid thought that came to her mind. "Oh God, I hope she's forgotten about that. She's not staying here. I'll go find a hotel."
"Ooh, she's really that bad, huh?" Crystal shook her head. "And I thought I drove you nuts. She must be something if she's worse than the roommate from hell." Startled by the comment, Laura looked over to see the blonde shrugging her shoulders. "I heard you talking to someone on the phone," Crystal revealed.
"I
" Laura looked down at her plate, truly regretful that the young woman had heard those words come from her. "I haven't said that in a while. Not the last few weeks at least."
Crystal shook her head dismissively. "Don't worry about it. You had a right to bitch. It's gotta be hard to live with someone who's "
"Such a slob?" Laura offered, earning a wry smile from her roommate.
"I was going to say someone who is so different from you," Crystal finished, looking at her pointedly. "It ain't easy living with Miss Prim and Proper but hey, we're getting there." She didn't appear as hurt by the overheard comment as Laura thought she would be and the writer decided Crystal must have forgiven her for it already.
"That's true," Laura agreed, at least to the getting there part. "I've been told there's nothing that with tolerance and patience can't be worked through if people are willing to work hard enough for it. Who knows, we could end up being the best of friends someday."
"Now let's not push it," Crystal warned jokingly, seeming much more relaxed and amiable than usual. "I still think you're a pain in the ass about everything being so spic and span." She rose to her feet and patted her pants pocket. "It's time for me to go catch a butt. Be back in a few minutes and if you want, I'll go with you to the hospital again. Bobby called too and he said he'd meet you there."
"Guess I was the last one out of bed this morning," Laura said. "Sure, you can come along if you feel like it. You'll have to ride with me to the airport to pick her up later though."
"No prob, from what she sounds like, it oughta be fun to meet her. Back in a few." With that Crystal opened the screen door and stepped outside to have a cigarette.
Laura turned her attention back to the plate of waffles in front of her although her appetite lessened with the mention of her troublesome aunt. She hoped Helen would be more concerned about how her own sister was doing than in bringing up any of the six thousand topics that invariably led to a verbal war. Who called her? she wondered. Probably Grandma Betty. Helen was one person who Laura couldn't reach the first time she made her calls, frustrated that her aunt's voice mail was filled up and she unable to leave a message. What's the point of having something take messages for you if you don't check it once in a while? Then again, maybe she does get that many calls a day. Laura mentally renewed her private plea not to have her aunt remember the fight about staying at the house and want to stay here instead. To Laura's dismay, a twinge in her temple signaled a headache on its way and the writer seriously doubted if it would be a good day at all.