staring straight ahead. Eve pointed to a vase on the counter, needing a focal point. Eve overlapped her feet, curved her left arm and held her right one out as if in the position of an imaginary partner. She lifted and spun effortlessly through the air, turned and landed in the same position, over and over. She finished by swooping down on one knee, her arm quickly following.
Eve grinned at Laura’s gaping mouth. ‘And you thought this girl couldn’t spin. I’ve got moves you don’t even know the names to.’
‘What else can you do?’
‘To show you properly, I’d need a studio.’
‘I definitely need to see that.’
They ordered room service. Laura’s hand lingered on Eve’s when she handed her a plate. ‘Could you teach me … something simple?’
Eve ran her thumb over Laura’s knuckle. ‘Mmm … maybe, you seem like a tough student though.’ She joked. ‘Stubborn and bossy.’
‘Eat your pasta.’
In between mouthfuls, Laura asked Eve about her own apartment, what it was like.
‘Not like this.’ Eve shook her head.
‘Still, I’d love to see it.’
‘Why? I mean, look at this place.’ Eve motioned to the vast space around her.
‘I want to know more about you.’
Laura watched as Eve weighed up the options.
‘Fine, but don’t be expecting much.’
Eve stood from her stool. She eyed the long longue. Eve took off sprinting towards it. At the last second, she lifted her legs through the air, landing in a heap. She disappeared from view.
‘How was that, judge?’ Eve’s voice came out muffled.
‘A three, it looked like a potato trying to fly.’
Laura took the conventional route and walked around the lounge, lying down next to Eve. Eve pressed herself against the back of the lounge so Laura wouldn’t fall off. They both stared up at the ceiling, their short breaths the only sound. Laura imagined time to stretch on, with the only presence being Eve’s body next to her. The warmth of her body could be her blanket. They could stay locked in her apartment, denying the existence of the outside world and giving into their own need to be understood completely by another person, through whispered secrets, untold memories. They fell asleep without realising they were tired. Eve was the first to wake, hours later, the night still present. She stood; Laura didn’t stir. Eve combed her hair back against her scalp, wondering what she was doing. She knew she was getting too close, but she wanted to be around Laura. She gave her hand one last kiss before pulling on the door.
Eve bolted against the pavement. The cold night air whipped against her face. Her hair blew back behind her scalp with swift movements. She needed Laura but she couldn’t be what Laura needed right now, and she knew it. She swerved through people, lucky not to knock anyone over. Beads of cold sweat dripped down her forehead. She wiped them with the back of her hand and, after several blocks, finally came to the foot of her apartment complex. The stale smell of unfiltered air in the entrance stung her nostrils. Eve saw through the mess she had made of her thoughts and fell into a deep sleep. Her body longed to be next to Laura once again, their voices hushed whispers in the dark.
Laura drifted to the familiar touch of Eve’s hands. Floating further away, the warmth faded and morphed as her mind grew into the reality of her consciousness.
She woke with a start, her neck aching, her hands searching. Laura scrambled to her room and was out the door in ten minutes. She had only a moment to ponder when Eve had left, when the elevator doors slid open onto the car park. For the whole ride to the studio, Laura’s thoughts were elsewhere, still stuck in a dream she’d had of the sky falling down in pieces, raining down on her and Eve.
They filmed four scenes, with several takes until they the director was satisfied. Laura took her lunchbreak outside, while she waited to film her last two scenes for the day. She was walking the length of the back lot when she heard a voice calling after her. She turned to see Levi coming towards her. Laura gave him a look, hoping he would back away. Instead, he powered through unfazed and gave her a smile.
‘Working on a tan?’ His eyes ran over her bare forearms.
Laura shifted them behind her back. ‘Can I help you with something?’
Alex looked out into the distance. The sun warmed his unlined face. ‘I was just wondering when you wanted to get that coffee?’
Laura decided to get right to the point. ‘I don’t get involved with cast members.’
Alex pushed forwards as if she hadn’t said anything at all. ‘I just thought … given that we are supposed to play a couple …’
Laura could see he wanted something more from her. It was the way he stood, the way he talked, the way he watched her. A woman knew. Under other circumstances, Laura would have suggested coffee first, but she’d got a bad feeling from him the first time she heard him speak. There was something about him she couldn’t shake. Laura drew away from him without a word, she didn’t care if she came across rude.
She found herself in her dressing room, dialling Eve’s number. She hadn’t even remembered picking up her phone. Eve picked up on the fourth ring. The words started pouring out of her. She hadn’t known what she was going to say. Even as she spoke the words, she still wasn’t sure.
‘There used to be this strange cuckoo clock in the hallway of the house that I grew up in. It was wooden with chipped blue paint; it freaked me out but my mother refused to get rid of it. This clock had no story, like it had been picked up out of the gutter. It’s probably still there. God, I hated that clock.’ Laura broke off. ‘You know, when I was a kid, I was so bossy. I would argue with my mother over … everything. Why we had to eat peas, or why the alphabet was in a certain order. I just hated … rules. When I was younger, I used to leave, in the middle of the night. Like I was going to run away but I never did. I would go off on an adventure while everyone slept. I wandered street after street. I wanted to see the world. I would get lost in neighbourhoods, see things when no one was there. I just—’ Laura’s voice caught, not sure why she was telling Eve this confession. ‘I don’t know when that changed. You know, that adventure.’
Eve cleared her throat. ‘You grew up. That’s what happened.’ She was taken aback by the conversation, not sure what had prompted it. ‘Laura, are you okay?’
Laura swallowed. She was. ‘Yeah, sorry, I just … That was just on my mind.’
Then Eve said two words that made Laura’s body tingle. She held onto every single letter, the way they slipped from her mouth. ‘Keep going.’
Laura found herself doing just that.
Chapter 11: Punchline
A king, a queen, slipped from Eve’s hand’s onto the table. Laura watched Eve shuffle the cards effortlessly. They were onto their fifth game of poker, with Eve winning every single hand. After the next loss, Laura slammed her hand against the table and exclaimed, ‘How are you doing this? I’m actually pretty good at poker, but you—’
‘I
