Over Eyes

                                                     

He never drank. Alcohol was not an indulgence that he desired.  He considered it more enjoyable to sin while sober. The first time they met was at a party in the valley, at the residence of Cheryl Mcnabb. Cheryl was a co-worker of Emilia and an acquaintance of Ryan’s friend Scott. In all truth, neither Emilia nor Ryan new Cheryl.

 Ryan showed up to Cheryl’s at about 7:35 p.m, just as the Sun was falling over the valley; painting the landscape in a romantic Hollywood tan.  Cheryl’s house was a one story house with a red clay roof and a bright blue infinity pool in the back yard. The party had started at 6 and when Ryan showed up there were about 35 people already at the house.  There were probably about 12 of them sprawled out on the green lawn when Ryan got out of his dusty black el Camino and began walking towards the front door. Most of them had second servings already in hand. One girl had already completely passed out, but despite her perceived loneliness someone had placed a pair of ray bands over her eyes and setup an umbrella over her for protection from the sun.

Ryan was tall, about 6’ 2” with an athletic build, wearing a white Henley shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He had dirty blonde hair that was styled messily and an unreadable stone face hidden by aviators. As he approached the house he gave off the air of someone who was not at all average.

 At the time Emilia was standing by the front door with her fiancé Augustus, and two other people whom she regarded as simple but necessary background. Emilia had not wanted to go to Cheryl’s house that night but Augustus had made her realize that she did not want to miss out on this networking opportunity. Augustus had also expressed his concern that Emilia was becoming a “sloth” who was “all too happy to sit at home and waste away”. However this was not always the truth. Emilia had never known who she wanted to be. As a child she was never understood by other girls. She was always happier with a shady tree and an ant hill than she would have been with a cute boyfriend or a new car. The things that made Emilia happy were looked down upon by everyone around her. Despite this, she was never without friends thanks to her purely natural beauty. Emilia possessed eyes that seemed to convey their own world. Unfortunately Emilia’s friends could never truly relate to her. Her insecurities led her to feel foolish and embarrassed of the things she should have been most proud of. She had allowed herself to fall into a life that was not made for her; a life that she had never felt comfortable with.

As she stood there, surrounded but alone, her curiosity was piqued by the mysterious man who was entering the house. As she watched him enter the house her mind emptied and things began to move like a slow motion movie scene. For a moment she felt like a child again, with complete freedom from the opinions of others.

“Em!” Emilia’s eyes shot back to her fiancé. “Em, are you here with us?”  Augustus laughed as he jokingly waved his hand in front of Emilias face.

“Uhm, yes…I mean, I’m sorry, I just got lost for a second there. What were you saying?”

“Tim was just telling us that he heard management was impressed with your department’s numbers from this past quarter and that he thinks they are looking to promote someone to purchasing manager of the department in Denver”

“Word in the office is that you are a favorite for the position Emilia” said Tim with a poor smile.

“Isn’t that great honey?” Augustus was wearing a suit with a black tie. He had slicked back black hair and had the manufactured appearance of a politician. He looked at Emilia with a smile that seemed practiced.

Emilia forced a polite grin and looked at Tim “yes, that is wonderful news. Thank you Tim”

Augustus looks at Emilia dryly “you don’t sound overly enthusiastic”

“Oh, don’t I? I apologize; this heat has me absolutely drained. I think I’m going to head inside and freshen up”

“Ok honey” Augustus attempts to kiss Emilia but she turns her head towards her shoes. Embarrassed he quickly presses his lips to her forehead in order to save face.

When Emilia walked inside she instantly noticed Ryan in the back of the living room sitting at a smoky table with five other men in shirts and loosened ties playing cards. A large sum of money sat on the table. Something about seeing Ryan had grabbed Emilia’s heart; something she did not yet understand. Emilia grabbed the arm of Cheryl as she was walking past her with a couple drinks in hand, Emilia had not stopped staring at Ryan.

“Cheryl, who is that?”

“That? That would be my future husband if all goes according to plan honey!” Cheryl laughed boisterously; she was near being over served.

            At this moment Ryan looked up from the table and caught sight of Emilia. He saw her through the gray smoke that danced towards the ceiling of the dimly lit room. She appeared to him as some sort of vision; enhanced by the setting Arizona sun that shown through the door behind her. He smiled at her until one of the men at the table got his attention shouting “how many do you want! Jesus Christ who invited this kid?”

 Stepping back into the moment Emilia re-interrogated Cheryl, “Seriously Cheryl, who is he?”

Cheryl tried to focus in order to fake a moment of sobriety, “I’m not exactly sure; I think he’s a friend of Scotts. I’ve seen him around before but I don’t know much about him except that he is my dream come true!” Cheryl continued to laugh.

Rolling her eyes, Emilia asked “does he have a name?”

“Truthfully I don’t know honey; he’s not much of a talker, not that he neeeeds to be”

At that moment a number of men at the table shouted and threw down their cards. Ryan’s face remained the same as he collected the money in the center of the table. After he collected his winnings he stood up and began to walk away from the table. A couple of the men protested Ryan’s movements saying things such as “oh look at this punk” “not gonna give us a chance to win back our money you bitch?” Ryan walked away from the table without batting an eyelash. Before he left the house he stopped about two feet in front of Emilia and began talking to her with a directly honest tone; as if she were the only person in the world.

“Hey”

Taken aback Emilia eventually responded softly “uh, hi”

“how are you” Ryan lit a match and held it to a cigarette he had placed in his mouth

“uh…I..I’m fine” Emilia didn’t understand why but she felt as if she had lost her voice.

“are you happy?” he spoke with an interested and steady look.

“am…am I happy?” Ryan nods to her and she replies.

“I…I don’t really know”

“Most people aren’t. Most people confuse being happy with being content”

“wha..I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Doesn’t matter. Do you want to get out of here?”

“wha…I can’t..i mean, I don’t even know you”

Ryan smirked at her without showing any teeth. “it’s ok, neither do I”

Ryan smiled at her again and walked out of the house.