Cleaning Up Bottles With You
TRAVIS
I still have the towel. It's laying on the back of my desk chair and I've been staring at it for the past couple of minutes. I should give it back to her, but part of me doesn't want to. I may never see her again, and it's the one thing I have to remind me of the beautiful girl I met at the party last night. The beautiful girl with short blonde hair and deep blue eyes. The beautiful girl with a jackass boyfriend.
I don't like Calvin. Not just because I think Taylor is far too good for him, but because he just gives me bad vibes. I don't know what Taylor sees in him. She'd be far better off with someone less insecure. More masculine, and confident. Maybe an athlete. Someone American.
Okay at this point I'm describing myself but I can't help it. We would be perfect together. I just know it.
I get her number from Nico and decide to flick her a quick text, and drop the towel by her house on my way to training. It doesn't start till after lunch so I should have enough time to shower before heading to her place.
Once I've gotten ready, I pick up the towel and walk to the door. I debate taking the convertible, and I decide I should. It'll make me look cooler. Although honestly I don't think Taylor is the kind of girl to leave her boyfriend because some other guy has a cooler car.
I exhale into my hand and smell my breath. It's not too bad but I chuck a mint in my mouth for good measure. It's too quiet so I put on the radio and one of her songs comes on. A new one, I think. I listen intently and once it's over the radio presenter tells me it's called Wildest Dreams. It's a good song. Whoever she wrote it about is a lucky bloke.
I shake the thoughts out of my head as I pull into her driveway. She has a boyfriend, goddammit, a boyfriend.
I quickly check my phone and see that Taylor hasn't replied. I get out of the car and drop the towel at the door. Best not to bother her. She's probably having a nice morning with Calvin.
It's then that I hear something. Muffled yelling from inside. A man's voice. Trouble in paradise?
I feel bad that I'm happy their fighting. Calvin yells again and I wait for Taylor's reply, straining to hear the words.
No shout returns.
Calvin yells something again and Taylor still doesn't yell back. Now I'm pissed off because it sounds like they're not fighting, Calvin is just having a go at her. I try to imaging what Taylor could have done to make him this mad and for her to not have any defense to yell back.
Then I hear a crash and my blood runs cold.
I hear the door unlock and I run to hide in the bushes. I parked on the street so whoever is walking out of the door won't see my car. I peek out to see if it's Taylor, but it's Calvin.
I think about the crash and my head pounds.
Is she okay?
Calvin gets in his car and drives away. I wait for a few moments and gather my thoughts. Should I call the police? I should go inside and check on Taylor. Maybe they just accidentally knocked something when they were fighting. Or maybe Taylor threw something at him.
I hope Taylor threw something at him.
With this thought as a small comfort I get out from behind the bushes and briskly walk towards the front door. I knock gently and I hear some movement from inside.
She doesn't answer the door.
I knock a bit louder this time and I see a silhouette through the frosted glass. She walks towards the door and hesitates a moment before opening it. Her eyes go wide when she sees it's me, and she scans the backyard for a second, before her gaze falls on my eyes.
"Travis? What are you doing here?"
I notice that one side of her face is all red, and her left eye is watering a bit. The red mark on her face is in the shape of something familiar. It takes me a second before I figure out what it reminds me of.
A handprint.
She looks at me expectantly and I straighten my shoulders a bit.
"Oh, yeah, sorry, I texted but I don't know if you saw it. I came to give you-" I look down at my hands and they're empty. I must have dropped the towel somewhere in the bushes. "You're towel. That you gave me last night. I didn't give it back to you before I left."
"Oh, okay." She says, but still looks a bit confused. Her eye looks red and blotchy. "Um, where.. where is it?"
I swallow, "I don't know. I dropped it."
"Oh."
We both stand there awkwardly.
"Wait one second, I'll go find it"
"Okay." She smiles a bit. I run off and look behind the bushes. The towels on the ground and I pick it up and then present it to her as if proposing. She smiles again and it feels like I'm high.
"Why was it behind the bushes? We're you snooping?" She says this as if joking but I know she's not because I heard what happened before I left and I can see the mark on her face.
"No, I thought I saw one of your cats behind the bush and I went to pat it so I put the towel down."
She nods, accepting this lie.
"What are you doing right now?" I ask, desperate to talk to her more so that I can figure out what happened.
"Just cleaning up from last night." The red mark along her face has faded a little, a light bruise forming.
"Want some help?" I ask, and before she can say no I add: "I'm really good at it. I hosted a lot of house parties in highschool where I had to clean up before my parents got home. So I'm speedy."
She hesitates, then nods and I follow her inside. The house is a mess, and she has a few rubbish bags full with cans and bottles.
"Happy New Years, by the way." She says, handing me a rubbish bag. I return the statement and get started cleaning stuff up.
We clean in silence for a few minutes and then I can't help it anymore. I need to get information from her before Calvin comes home.
"How'd you get that red mark on your face?"
Her eyes go wide and she runs to go look in a mirror.
"I don't know." She spits out, gently touching the mark. She flinches a bit and my heart feels heavy.
"You don't know?"
"Yeah, I probably fell."
"But you don't remember it."
She takes in a shaky breath. "I was really drunk last night." She shrugs.
I nod, and go back to cleaning. "It was a really cool party."
"Thanks."
We continue cleaning in silence, and once it is all done we awkwardly say our goodbyes and I leave. Maybe I imagined the crash. It doesn't look too much like a handprint, it could be anything. And Taylor looked genuinely surprised when I mentioned the mark, maybe she didn't even know it was there.
I head to training and try not to think of the deep blue eyes that are now red and puffy.