CHAPTER 12 - ERIC TALKS TO A FRIEND 

Behind the glass of a hockey game, a conversation more intriguing than the war dance on the other side was afoot. Eric leaned over to his brother’s roommate Maurice, who had asked a rather frank question, “Um, yeah, going well”, then slurped a bit of root beer for good measure. “Really, what’s her deal?” he shot back, focused, perceptive, without questioning the interference from the other team. Eric coyly shrugged his shoulders, smiling in that dumb way when you are rewarded by your parents but they won’t tell you the reason, “It’s been a rough start, but I like her a lot”. Maurice burst out laughing and craned over to grip both of his shoulders at once for a good pinch, “Stop trying to figure them out, bro”. Eric recovered, throwing a handful of popcorn at the screen for good measure as the rivals scored a goal. For a second, he thought about just letting it go. It would probably be useless to talk about someone his friend had never even met. And really, how could that someone understand … but it was just something he needed to get off his chest. Eric compared the options before making his decision, “Tell me about it. We went out to Jacksons … you know the place”. “That high class joint?”, Maurice whistled at the price, then smirked in the knowing way a man does to recognize another’s plight. “Have you seen Nadine, you know, the hot one? She convinced me to buy her a dress from Yellow Summer, but she didn’t react the way I thought she would. I don’t know, maybe she’s been in that lab too long or something. Try buying a dress for a girl that isn’t materialistic” he chronicled, rambling emotionally. That evening had certainly been an interesting test. Impulsively he glanced down at the gift bag by his chair again, sizing it up. Fashionably literate people milled about a classical interior with a modern open-air twist. Yuppies and wannabes dotted the bar, many relegating their attention to the virgin classical emanating from the stage. A waiter that actually cared daintily illustrated the appetizers to a beefy woman draped somewhat in fur. Lights limping on thin strings were timed to dim and brighten at just the right times for the eye to adjust to feel out the shapes of humanity. He took a look at the bag once more, gauging a reaction, not noticing her arrival. Priya’s presence leaped into his awareness. She was wearing a lab coat, one with a few stains from their date from last week. Taking into consideration their conference she had straightened her hair, knowing that was the preference of boys. Eric followed the girl’s plan to the letter, waiting till after desert to subject the real world to hypothesis. “Geez, that was a really good flan” Priya noted, quietly patting her lips with a white napkin. His heart beat blood into effervescence. Reacting with swiftness, he picked up the bag and laid it on the table, “So I found this at a shop near the university, I thought you would like it”. Conscious of his effort, she spurned the desire to play with the curious handfuls of tissue paper as she pulled the contents from the bag. Like the lab coat it was white, but a thousand times more beautiful. Priya’s eyes tinted with interest, observing the scope of it like a spectacular powerpoint slide, “Where did you find me?”. “I found you at the pharmacy, don’t you remember?” he immediately reacted, not expecting the modification or his voice to carry that particular sentence. The girl smiled as she looked away from the gift and back towards his keen, handsome face. “Eric, don’t be silly. I found you” she replied. The memory washed over him as the blur of the game endured. What she had meant from that still didn’t make sense, but she was happy, which was all that mattered. “Damn, you’ve got it made” Maurice grunted as he stole a buttery first full of popcorn. Eric took the comment in stride, folding the past back into the past, because that’s where it belongs … like origami, “Uh huh, so what’s the deal with your cousin’s new gig”.