Music of the Knight

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When the alarm beeped, I grabbed my phone on the night table and shut it off. Except for the Portuguese rotisserie’s red neon sign reflecting on the back wall, my bedroom was dark. The light caught my Maltese Falcon poster and gave Humphrey Bogart a pink hue. I heard the neighbors stomping around upstairs. They were probably getting ready for another night of partying, and later, a screaming match. Below my second story window, were the sounds of mingling voices and occasional car horns. It was Saturday evening, and Saint-Laurent Boulevard was bustling with people, but I didn’t mind the noise at all. Actually, it vaguely comforted me. As a kid, some of my best moments were falling asleep under the adults’ coats in a room somewhere during a party. I’d listen to the voices and music, wrapped in the scent of leather or fur, and drift into a peaceful slumber, soothed by the chaos.

Beside me Nash stirred. He was on his side, facing the window and I nudged him. “It’s five,” I said. “I’ll get you your coffee.”

“Thank you so much.” His voice was full of sleep. He grabbed the pillow and stuffed his face in it.

Shirtless and barefoot, I slipped out of bed, and in the doorway, turned to look at him. Poor Nash. He was so exhausted lately. His schedule at the Hotel Dieu hospital was insane. In the last weeks, we’d gotten in the habit of napping together before his long weekend shift. We cuddled. There was no s****l contact between us. People underestimated the benefits of simply cuddling. “Try to slowly wake up, okay?” I whispered.

“Yeah…” But I could tell he was falling asleep again.

I tucked my phone into my back pocket and left my best friend to rest a little longer. Walking through my living room, I turned on a few foot lamps and glanced around at my place, thinking of my mother’s words to me on Sunday. Of course, if a person were to judge me solely on the way I’d decorated and set up the apartment, they could think I wasn’t a serious person. That I was immature. But growing up, my parents hadn’t allowed me to hang posters in my room, arguing that thumb tacks or tape would damage the walls. And now this was vengeance. I was a movie buff, in love with the noir genre especially, so yes, my walls were covered with gorgeous film posters, laminated and not. I also had an extensive DVD collection, books on movies and film making, and various collector items scattered around the room and on bookshelves. The colors in my place were vibrant and my furniture was all mismatched—items carefully chosen in second-hand shops. Funky and cozy was the theme.

In the kitchen, I prepared two coffees, one black for me, and one heavy on the milk and sugar for Nash. Inside my pocket, my phone vibrated. Lou was calling. “Hey,” I answered, putting the milk back in the fridge. “What’s up?”

“What are you doing tonight?”

“I don’t know yet, why?” With the phone in the nook of my shoulder, I carried the hot cups into the bedroom. I was probably going to go dancing.

“My mother wants you to come over.”

In the bedroom, Nash was changing into his nurse uniform. He popped his head out of the blue scrub top and smiled. “You’re too sweet,” he said, taking his coffee.

“Micah?” Lou said, on the line. “Did you hear me?”

“Yeah…but what do you mean come over? Where? The store?” I set down my cup on the cluttered dresser, walked up to Nash and ran my fingers through his short brown hair, trying to get it to obey.

“I mean, at my parents’ place. It’s Saturday night. Jam night. And we want you to come over.”

Interesting. Would Lei be there?

“Where are my glasses?” Nash whispered. He lifted pillows and began to move stuff around in the room.

“Right there,” I said, covering the phone speaker with my hand.

Nash slipped his square-framed eyeglasses on and immediately looked like himself again. Sophisticated and cute.

“Wait,” Lou said, her voice rising. “Are you with a guy? s**t, I’m sorry if I—”

“No, I’m not with a guy. I’m with Nash.”

“f**k you,” Nash said and stuck his tongue out at me. Under his glasses, his hazel eyes narrowed in mock anger. “f**k you very much.”

I laughed and shooed him out of my room. “Hurry or you’ll be late.” But the Hotel Dieu was a ten minute walk away.

“Tell Nash I say hi,” Lou ordered. She’d met Nash a few times, and of course the two of them got along great.

“Lou says hi,” I shouted, sticking my head out of the room.

“So will you come? My mother really enjoyed your company the other day and we’re all getting together tonight to play music and hang out. You can’t miss a Knight jam session. You just can’t.”

“You know you can be very arbitrary,” I teased her, stepping into the living room.

By the front door, Nash was putting on his sneakers. He glanced up and gave me a lovely smile. “Gotta go,” he mouthed. “Thanks for the nap, the cuddle, and the coffee.” He blew me a kiss. “Love you.”

“Lou, hold on a sec. Nash is leaving.”

“No, I can’t hold on, sorry. Gotta go. But I’ll text you my parents’ address and we’ll see you around nine?”

I chuckled a little. “I’ll think about it.”

“I know you, and that means yes!”

After we’d hung up, or rather, Lou had hung up on me, I gave Nash all of my attention. “When’s your next day off?” I asked, meeting him at the door.

“It’s, let’s see.” He scrunched his nose. “Next never. No, wait, the never after that.”

“Seriously.” I pushed a finger into his small, but defined chest. “You need a break.”

“If all goes well, I’ll get Wednesday off and we’ll have lunch in the park together, okay?” He squinted at me. “Are you going out with Lou tonight?”

“She’s inviting me to her parents’ house.”

“Cool.” Nash stepped out on the balcony and peeked at the busy boulevard below and then stared up at the sky. “Oh, Jesus, there’s a full moon. It’s gonna be a crazy night. I can feel it.” He c****d an eyebrow. “So you’re gonna spend the evening with the Knights, huh?”

I’d told Nash about the Knight family in general, but for some reason, couldn’t tell him about my first impression of Lei. It was as though that small private moment I’d witnessed was mine and mine alone. Since yesterday, I kept returning to it in my mind. I shouldn’t have been thinking about Lei Knight so much. I’d barely said two words to him, and yet, his face, those sexy eyes of his, flashed through my head once in a while. “Should I go?” I asked Nash.

“Yes! Why would you not go? You told me yourself you’re sick of clubbing.”

“Well, don’t you think maybe I’m blurring the lines too much? I mean, Lou is my employee.”

Nash shrugged. “So what? You work better with friends. And you two are mature enough to navigate the relationship.”

He was always so supportive of me. I cherished him. “Remind me why we’re not a couple again?”

Nash laughed that quirky laugh of his and stepped down on the first step. “Because we’re exactly the same, and s*x would only feel like masturbation.”

“What?” I shook my head at him. “That makes no sense.” But he was right. He really was. As much as I loved him, I didn’t have any romantic feelings for him at all. Besides, Nash was half in love with a straight doctor he worked with.

At the bottom of the staircase, he waved at me. “Go. Try something new. Who knows, maybe they have a cute gay cousin to introduce to you. Like, one of those beautiful cellists or something.”

I wanted to say that I didn’t particularly care about their cousins. That it was the older brother Lei I was curious about. But I knew Nash would make too much of it, so I kept my mouth shut. “All right…. I think I’ll go.”

“Attaboy.”

When I entered my apartment and shut the door behind me, I realized that the idea of being in a room with Lei again had me feeling anxious and excited all at once.

And I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.