Back to Back Pt. 08

Guilt. Immediately I felt guilt. I knew I shouldn't be doing this, she knew I shouldn't be doing this.

"So, who's ready to cook?" She said, as I scrambled off of Miles' lap.

********

Miles

Marissa is a fucking slave driver. Cooking is usually fun for me, kicking back and creating something without expectations. Not in Marissa's Kitchen. Precise measurements and perfect execution, or else. Normally, I'd try to chill the vibe out but I was taking it seriously too, putting all my effort into carefully tearing apart each slice of bread for the stuffing. That is, until I looked over and Marissa and Artie were pointing and laughing.

"You guys are dicks, enjoy my spit in the stuffing."

That shut them up.

I wouldn't spit in the food.

Well, I wouldn't spit in Artie's food.

Eventually, the food went into either the oven or the fridge, and we were officially on downtime. Thus, Marissa cracked a bottle of wine.

Kind of devolved after that. We tried to get to Marissa to play switch, but a few glasses of wine deep and she was more concerned with chatting with Artie than steering her cart. Then Marissa pulled out some playing cards, which turned to a drinking game, which turned to another bottle of wine. Quite frankly, I'm surprised we even remembered to take the food out of the oven.

Artie was trying to keep up, but he was already swaying in his chair when we opened the second bottle. By the time we finished it, Marissa and I collectively decided it was best for him to go to bed, and he just went, without a word. That's how you know he was sloshed.

"Miles."

"Why are you whispering?" I shot back using the same tone she did the night before.

Her eyes narrowed.

"Do you have any weed?" Still whispering.

"What makes you think I'd have weed?"

She shushed me and her eyes darted toward the hallway.

"Dude, what's good?"

"Artie would kill me if he knew I wanted to smoke."

I almost laughed. Was she for real?

"Well considering Artie and I smoked not too long ago, I highly dou-."

"You WHAT?" STILL whispering.

Huh?

"You were just asking me for weed two seconds ago."

"Yeah, for me. I bet it was your fault. You got Artie high?" She started slapping my arms, not hard just for effect.

"Artie is an adult, he makes his own decisions."

I held her hands still.

"Do you want to smoke or not?"

********

Note to self, don't go outside in Maine at night without a jacket. Five minutes of standing in the fucking freezing wind and I still hadn't been able to light the jay. I have a decent amount of muscle, add to that the weight I've gained from the dining hall, you'd think I'd be warm. Nope. I had no clue how Marissa was unbothered, just standing there impatiently. Guess the full bottle of wine she crushed was keeping her warm.

The end of jay finally lit and I breathed a sigh of relief. Took a couple puffs to get it started, then passed it right over. I was good off the wine, honestly I was already ready for bed.

The sky was mostly cloudy, but occasionally the moon would peek through the clouds and glimmer off the water.

"How do you afford this place? What the fuck do you do?" I asked.

"I can't believe Artie tried to tell me you're polite." She said between puffs.

"I work for an HR company and the business I'm contracted for gives me a stipend to be on location."

Damn, swanky. 'Stipend to be on location'

"Your parents don't help at all?"

She scoffed, then glared out onto the water.

"Does Artie not tell you anything?"

Ouch.

Normally, Pissy's attitude would roll off me but that one kinda hit me where it hurt. Didn't even have a rebuttal.

"Guess not."

She offered me the jay. I passed.

"Sorry. I'm just surprised, is all. I thought if there's anyone he'd talk to about our parents, it would be you."

I shrugged.

"A couple years after you moved our parents divorced."

"It wasn't pretty."

I figured something like that happened, but part of me didn't believe it until then. I thought for sure if something important like that happened Artie would have told me by now.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. Our mom is a piece of shit and our dad deserved better."

There was some real malice behind 'piece of shit'.

How do I inquire further in a way that's... "polite"?

"What'd she do?"

Why bother? It's Pissy Rissy.

She scoffed again.

"Besides being a selfish cunt?"

My eyes widened.

"Cheated on my dad."

I don't know why I asked, I never know what to say when serious shit like this comes up.

"Ah."

"Yeah."

It was quiet for a while as Marissa smoked her way through the joint.

"Dad kind of... lost it. He had issues before, but I think he was keeping it buttoned up for the sake of the family. When my mom cheated I think he just... lost it."

Okay, now we were wading into some deep waters and I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear all that without Artie present. But curiosity got the best of me.

"Do you guys still see him?"

She looked at me and her eyebrows bobbed for a second.

"He's in prison."

...

What the fuck?

She seemed surprised I was surprised.

Yeah, Artie really didn't tell me shit.

"He had a drug problem before they had us but he had been sober, or at least that's what my dad says but I'm pretty sure he was still drinking."

She took a long pull.

"After my parents separated he fell off the wagon hard. He was prescribing his 'girlfriend'? I guess? Pain meds and shit and she overdosed. He lost his license and went to jail."

She sounded so detached as she said it, like she was reading a script.

Artie's dad... He loved being a doctor. It was almost impossible for me to imagine a family man like that doing that.

"I'm so sorry, Marissa. I can't imagine how shit that must have been for you guys."

All I could think about was Artie. How could he not have told me this?

She shrugged.

"Whatever. It was almost a decade ago. I've made peace with my dad he at least seems sorry, my mom not so much."

"How was Artie? How is Artie? Ho-"

"He won't talk about it."

She put out the end of the jay, then tossed it over the railing.

"Seriously. I've tried to get him to talk about it for years. The most he's says is: 'Riss, can we talk about something else?'"

She threw her hands up.

"You should try. If anyone could get him to talk, it's you.

I almost laughed. Hasn't really been feeling that way lately.

"I'm going to go lay in bed and eat some chips." Her eyes were red and glassy as she said it.

She wobbled inside, leaving the balcony door wide open.

I felt like a bomb had just been dropped on me. Shell shocked as I got ready for bed. All this time, Artie had been holding all this in.

How?

Sitting next to him in bed, I mourned all the time I lost with him. All the time I couldn't be there for him.

Looking down at him sleeping so peacefully, for about the millionth time I thanked whoever or whatever for bringing us together again.

I hesitated for a second, before brushing his bangs to the side and kissing his forehead.

'You don't think it's weird? How often were touching?'

His words from earlier bounced around my hair.

It didn't feel weird.

It felt right.

********

Hi everyone, thank you for reading this far. I am truly sorry for how long this installment has taken. If you're still along for the ride, thank you. This is the first half of this chapter, and the next one shouldn't take long to be uploaded. Please forgive me for the short length, I'm hoping the quality makes up for the quantity but I'm sure the ratings will confirm or deny that.

To everyone who has commented and emailed, I think I've responded to all by now, but if I've missed you, thank you. Reading the comments on the days I worry it's been so long no one cares anymore, you all are what kept me going.

Please know I have full intention of seeing the story all the way through.

Thanks again!