hidden in plain sight

[dolly weathers]

"Not really, but I should, she shrugs and looks down at her bare feet, "she must snore or something terrible. She smiles a little when he brings up her family's wine. Despite claiming sobriety over a week ago, she'd been too afraid to get rid of the inventory in her cellar. In fact, before she sent the email, she'd made she to get her hands on as much as possible so that'd she'd never go without. "In the cellar there's enough for twenty lifetimes but I'm still thinking of counter sueing for the vineyard.

[theo lovett]

"Come on then," he says, heading through the palatial house until he approaches the steps to the cellar. "You go make yourself some tea or something," he says, feeling a little guilty for drinking in front of her. The cellar is one of his favorite spots in the home, so ridiculously indulgent that he can't help but smiling faintly as he pulls out a dusty bottle. Remerging, he helps himself to a glass, enjoying the glugging noise of the wine leaving the just opened bottle. He takes a sip, the rich ruby liquid bursting with cherry, dark chocolate and black pepper notes. "Fuck, that's so good. Sorry."

[dolly weathers]

He heads down to the cellar and she does as she's told. Switching on the kettle and brewing herself a cup of chamomile tea to help soothe her worried mind. She smiles as he pours himself a glass, his life red as he pulls back. "Why don't you take a bottle home? Why don't you take twenty?” she suggests and sets herself back down on the couch. She's a blanket over her knees and blinks up at him, "so, go on.”

[theo lovett]

"I couldn't, though you should lock that door and give me the key. Promise you can trust me." He takes the glass and sits down on an armchair opposite her, sinking into it and resting his head back. He sighs, wondering how to start. Sitting up, he takes another sip and decides the start makes the most sense. "You know she moved in from Craigslist, right? I mean, how insane of her-- we've had plenty of discussions about personal safety since then, of course. But yeah, we put an ad up, we were desperate. We figured we'd get some freak but they could take it until we met some friends and one of them could move in, we'd just bump them at that point." He glances up at her, sheepishly. "Well, we got Elyse."

[dolly weathers]

"I could get cracked and murder you for that key." As he tells his story of how Elyse came to be, it reminds her of an episode of "I Survived". Where some girl moves in with two twins who turn out to be psycho killers, but she ends up escaping through a vent. "Is this common?” she asks and takes a sip of hot tea. Genuinely she has no idea how people find rentals or roommates, for all she knows this could be regular occurrence.

[theo lovett]

Theo laughs, loving it when she shows her inexperience on such normal things. "No, very far from normal." He takes a good gulp of wine, sitting back and letting the numbness start to settle over him. "So we're expecting a total weirdo and in she walks. Immediately I desperately wanted to fuck her-" why was he telling this story again? "-and I can only assume Ollie felt the same way, though he's never admitted it. But I didn't want her to feel like she wasn't safe in her own home, y'know? Like she couldn't just exist there without being perved over. So I just... I don't know, I tried to not feel that way. I tried to get to know her beyond how she looks. She's a nurse, y'know, so we had plenty to talk about. Eventually I forgot that she's smoking hot, she just became Ellie, my best friend in the world."

[dolly weathers]

Dolly narrows her eyes at him, becoming increasingly doubtful about where this conversation was going. Her knees draw up to her chest and her chin sets on top of them. She looks like she's listening to a ghost story. "I don't think this is helping at all.”

[theo lovett]

He nods, understanding how she must feel. It was the opposite situation to her and her fake boyfriend really - all under the surface, all too real. "Anyway. We got close, and I really don't see her like that. I look at her and I think about how funny she is, how sweet she is." Also not helping. "So why not date her? When you broke up with me, it was Ellie who picked up the pieces. At some point most people have fallen away, but she's always there. I can't date her because she's the only person I can go to when things go wrong, so who would I go to if things went wrong with her? And they would go wrong. Being in a relationship with someone and being their friend are two totally different things, it's not transferable."

[dolly weathers]

Her face becomes pale as the ghost story continues. If she hadn't have ended things, would this have gone this way anyway. "Oh," she says, but it's really all she can muster. She takes a glug of tea and coughs awkwardly as it goes down the wrong way. Dolly pushes the blanket away and sets her mug on the coffee table. "I think I'm just going to order pizza.”

[theo lovett]

She looks pale and this is one of those times Theo realizes not everyone thinks the way you do. "Dolly," he sets the glass down, getting up to come and sit beside her. "I'm not explaining myself well. I can't cross that line with her." No, not specific enough. He looks her in the eye, putting a hand on her thigh to discourage her from getting up. "I don't want to see her like that." He leans back, sighing. "I don't feel romantically. I still want to fuck her, that's it, that's what I mean when I say feelings. I want to but I won't, ever, because sex isn't worth fucking up a friendship. Dating her isn't on the cards, it never was."

[dolly weathers]

"You're not making sense,” she frowns and lets her body fall back on the couch beside his. She tilts her head to look into his blue eyes, "and what about her? Does she like you too?”

[theo lovett]

He sighs, his whole spiel an attempt to avoid putting it this bluntly. He feels like he's betraying Ellie by saying this to someone else, but he doesn't know how else to convince Dolly of the reality of the situation. "Haven't you ever wanted to fuck someone you didn't want to date?" He glances down, guilt making his shoulders sink. He silently sends an apology to Elyse, wherever she might be. "She's open to dating. So we can't hook up, because she'll want more. And I can't give her that, because I want her to keep being my friend."

[dolly weathers]

She rolls her head to look up at the ceiling, "oh yeah.” It's starting to make more sense now and the clarity is bringing the warmth back to her skin. "Okay, I get it now,” she purses her lips and nods, the jealousy she had for Elyse slowing becoming sadness for her. "I'm sorry for hurting you."

[theo lovett]

"I'm sorry for not being genuine." Relief floods through him as her cheeks regain some of their usual rosiness. With red wine stained lips Theo leans in and kisses her softly, pushing her back against the couch. "I want to fuck you too, for the record," he says with a grin as he pulls away. "In the spirit of radical transparency."

[dolly weathers]

She missed his lips more than she ever thought she could. Her lips press softly to his and she smiles as pulls away. "Now I feel used,” she shifts her body against his, craving closeness from him. "I seriously don't think you should move in though. Maybe think about that for a while.”