Exalted

Chrissy climbed into the passenger seat of the van, stretching her hands out eagerly for the iced coffee Eddie held out to her. “Thank you thank you thank you,” she chattered out and took a long drink. “I needed this so much,” she added, settling back in her seat and cradling the cup in her hands. 

“Sweet, sweet caffeine, bringer of alertness and eraser of sins,” Eddie preached as he took a sip of his own. “You have trouble sleeping? Did I call you too late?”

“No, I wasn’t up late. I just got up early today,” she said, as she flicked through satellite stations and wrinkled her nose. “Why do you have so many stations? I don’t even know what most of this is.”

“I contain multitudes,” Eddie said, and stretched a hand over to tap the screen. “There, you like this one.”

She sat back again, happily singing along to the station Eddie had labeled ‘Not Too Classic’ but secretly called ‘Chrissy’s Stuff.’ He cut his eyes in her direction, noted that he didn’t recognize anything she was wearing except her little pink Converse and smothered a grin. Got up early, huh? He hoped this Robin girl was actually nice - and into girls - so Chrissy didn’t get her hopes up for nothing. It was cute to see her trying not to be fluttery and excited, but she also hadn’t really dated anyone in a while, and nobody seriously since Carver, so he worried.

“That’s a new jacket, isn’t it?” He asked, innocently watching the road. He could still feel her squirming in her seat without even needing to glance over.

“I went shopping,” she said casually, tucking a fly-away strand of hair behind her ear. “Is it okay?” She turned in her seat to face him, her eyes opened wide. “I should have brought you with me; what’s the point of having a fashion friend if I don’t even get your help on fashion?” She gestured at her outfit. “What do you think?”

He glanced over at her and laughed. “You look great. You look a little like you got all dressed up in your new clothes for school picture day, but it’s cute.”

She looked down at her tee shirt, then pulled it away from herself to examine it. “I like The Donnas,” she pouted. “They’re fun.”

“I didn’t say they weren’t,” Eddie pointed out. “I also didn’t say anything bad about your clothes, you know.”

“I know,” she said in conciliatory tone. “I’m just a little wound up,” she admitted. “I’m excited for you to meet Robin.” She leaned back against the seat and examined his face. “You don’t look like you slept at all.”

“I slept, just not as much as I was hoping to.” He shrugged. “Bad dreams.” She reached out and squeezed his arm, and he shot her a fond smile. “Not that bad, Chris, honest. Still hard to get back to sleep.”

“And you never feel like you really slept good after,” she agreed. One of the things that bound them together as friends was that they understood the nightmares each other faced. “But today’s going to be fun - we’re going to find you some inspiration, introduce you to Robin, have lunch, maybe go shopping, get your groove back.”

Eddie inhaled some of his coffee and choked, turning his head to look at her when he finally cleared his throat. “I assure you, that is not on the agenda for today. You might have missed the point of that movie,” he added.

She tilted her chin up at him and grinned as he parked the van. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. I did tell you that Robin has a brother who works here.”

“You did,” Eddie said as he grabbed his bag and hopped out of the van to meet her where she waited at the edge of the parking spot. “But, given that you don’t have any more information than that, I think my heart - and my honor - will remain safe for the day.”

“Don’t shoot yourself down before you even see the guy,” Chrissy advised, leading him to the main entrance. “He could be really cool.”

“Cool guys notwithstanding, this building is worth the trip all on its own,” he whistled as he looked up at the soaring stone facade. “Hold on, I need to take a picture.” Chrissy waited by the door, patiently finishing up her coffee before going inside while he stepped back and took pictures of the front entrance, with the wide, stone steps and brick arch, and angled his phone up to take photos of the spires against the cloudy sky. “This place is like a Victorian fever-dream,” he said. “Like a church designed by someone that had never actually seen one.” He took more pictures of the stained glass. “I love it.”

She laughed, pleased. “Wait until you see the inside,” she urged. “The front part is open all the way up, come on,” she pulled open the door, and he hurried to catch up.

“Wow,” he breathed, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as she tugged him along by his sleeve. A small group was clustered by the desk, a little boy jumping around with his mom, and they skirted the desk area to go up the stairs. “How did this place never get leveled and turned into something that looks like a dentist office in the 1970’s or something?”

“I think it’s because some old rich guy left it to the town, but they can’t mess with it?” Chrissy shrugged. “We can ask Robin if she comes to lunch with us,” she reminded him. “Okay, art history is down here.”

Eddie wandered the aisles, pulled books from the shelves and leafed through them, took a few notes and snapped some pictures, but nothing was as interesting as the building itself. He took some pictures of the arched windows in the reading area, laid back in a chair to take photos of the cased ceiling and the hanging lights, delighted himself when he noticed one of the reading tables had dragons-heads holding up the table top, and completely lost track of time. 

Chrissy found him sitting on the floor to take a picture of the woodwork at an angle, and shook her head. “I thought the books would be more help, but at least it’s something,” she giggled. “I’m going to go see if I can find Robin, do you want to come?”

“I’ll head down in a minute,” he got to his feet. “I want to get a few more pictures of the windows and stuff.”

He took a panoramic shot of the second story of the lobby, then stepped closer to the railing to get a closer shot of the windows and maybe down into the main entrance. The sun broke through the clouds and set the windows ablaze, and he smiled as he snapped another photo before looking down. 

Eddie froze in place, snapping a picture by instinct before he dropped his hands. His eyes widened as he stared down at the man standing in the lobby, a glowing figure of serenity in a chaotic riot of color, his hair glowing like a halo as black bands of shadow from the window’s design barred his form. Amber eyes opened looking directly into his, and the man smiled. “Welcome,” he said. “I’m Steve, let me know if you need help finding anything.”

“I’m Eddie,” he said automatically, as a wondering smile touched his face. “And thanks - I think I already found it.”

Steve nodded and walked behind the counter, and Eddie dropped into one of the chairs behind him and stared at the round window while his brain rearranged itself. He felt heat prickling up his spine and into his scalp, like his skin was tight, and everything seemed too bright and too smooth all at once - he blinked, the strange tide passing over him, and realized he was staring at the crossed keys in the window. One side of his lips quirked up at the heavy-handed irony. I am never telling Chrissy that one, he thought. She’d diagnose me with who knows what. Probably delusions.

He freed himself from the chair and ran lightly down the stairs, reaching the bottom just as Chrissy came into the lobby with a taller woman with bobbed hair in tow. “Eddie!” Chrissy darted forward, grabbing his arm and pulling him over to meet her friend. “This is Robin. Robin, this is my surrogate brother, Eddie.”

“Hi, Robin,” he said politely, and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Chrissy has been telling me you’re the smartest person she knows.”

A quick flush pinked Robin’s cheeks, and she laughed. “I think she has it backwards,” Robin said. “I can’t even spell half of the things she talks about!”

Chrissy and Robin beamed shyly at each other, and Eddie felt a wash of relief. It didn’t look like there was any worry about Robin not being interested, at least, he thought. “So, are you joining us for lunch, Robin?”

“Actually,” Chrissy said, folding her hands in an exaggerated pleading motion, and batting her eyes at him. “Robin has to take her mom to her grandmother’s, but we thought maybe we could meet up after? Drinks and snacks at this cool bar she knows?”

“It’s just a few blocks from the Center Street garage,” Robin pointed toward downtown. “It’s in the basement of an old bank, so it’s all brick arches and cool little nooks and crannies. They have a band tonight, usually indie-oldies kind of stuff.”

“Are you talking about Warner’s?” A man’s voice asked from behind Eddie, and his heart flipped as he turned to see the man he’d greeted moments ago. “Hello again,” he said with a bright smile, and Eddie smiled back. 

“Steve, this is my friend Chrissy and her brother-ish Eddie. This is my brother, Steve.” Robin waved her hand back and forth between the group, and Steve shook his head.

“Robin, you are terrible with introductions,” Steve teased. “It’s nice to meet you, Chrissy,” he said politely, shaking her hand. “And to meet you again,” he added as he turned to grasp Eddie’s hand.

Say something, Eddie’s brain reminded him. “Nice to re-meet you, too,” Eddie replied. Now let go of his hand before he thinks you’re trying to keep it, you weirdo, his brain snarked, and he reluctantly complied. “We’re talking about meeting later for drinks,” he added.

“I have to take mom to gram’s, so I thought maybe we could meet up after I get her back home for drinks and snacks at Warner’s,” Robin told him.

Steve smiled warmly at the group, and Eddie felt his something in his chest shift and curl. “Warner’s is a great place,” he told them. “It’s got a cool history, and the space is amazing, if you’re into that kind of thing,” he said, turning to Eddie. “I noticed you taking pictures here; you should see the old vault they still have. I can also vouch for the beer, and they do hand-made pretzels that I would come back from the dead for.”

“Well, with a recommendation like that how could I say no?” Eddie smiled. “Should we meet you there? What time is good?”

Robin and Steve looked at each other, and she screwed up her face while he rolled his eyes to the ceiling and blew out a puff of air with comically rounded cheeks. Robin shrugged, Steve grinned, and they turned back to the others, inscrutable sibling conversation complete. “Eight?” They said at the same time, and then raised their hands and fist-bumped without looking.

Chrissy blinked wide eyes at Eddie, who laughed. “I think the difference between ‘brother’ and ‘brother-ish’ is the part where I can’t read your mind,” he said, and she laughed back. “Eight sounds good to me, we’ve got some more errands to run.”

“Great! We’ll see you guys there, and now I really have to run or my mom will kill me,” Robin bolted away from the group, turning back at the door to wave and hold up 4 fingers on each hand.

Steve shook his head. “She’s an absolute menace, but she’s the best person I know,” he said. “I need to get back to the desk, too, but I’ll see you guys at 8.” He smiled at Chrissy and held up his hands in an imitation of Robin before hurrying to the desk and greeting the waiting patron.

“Soooo,” Chrissy began, clasping her hands behind her and swaying from side to side. “That’s Robin’s brother, huh?”

“No.” Eddie backed away. “We are not having this conversation here,” he hissed, turning to the door. “Come on, we’re going.” 

They waved at Steve on their way out, and Eddie hustled Chrissy into the van and shushed her every time she tried to speak until they found a fast-food restaurant and settled into a booth. “Go ahead, get it out of your system,” he finally said in a long-suffering voice.

“How tall do you think he is?” Chrissy asked, popping a fry into her mouth. “Maybe 6 feet? About the same as you, anyway. Too short?”

“Chrissy,” he flopped back in the seat. “No, he’s not too short. That’s not the problem.”

“Then what is?” She stared at him. “Look, I’m not interested or anything, but I’m not blind. There is a body under that sweater. His shoulders were like,” she held her hands an improbable distance apart.

“Thank you, Chrissy, I hadn’t noticed.” Eddie pulled on a piece of his hair, flattening out the curl and letting it go. “Fine. I noticed.” He sat forward again. “Robin seemed really cool,” he took a sip of his soda. “She definitely likes you.”

Chrissy blushed. “Yes, she is, and I hope so. But we’re talking about you.”

“I thought we were talking about Steve?” Eddie stole one of her fries, dodging her slap at his hand, and then gave in at her mock-stern look. “He’s - I was upstairs, taking pictures, and I went to take a picture of the lobby and he was just standing there, in all the colors from the stained glass, and he just glowed, Chris. Like some kind of religious art, like he belonged on his own window.” Eddie dropped his head onto the table. “He also seems really nice, and looks like a Midwest American Dream, and I am going to make such an idiot out of myself at this bar tonight.”

“Well, you’re kind of off to a good start at that,” Chrissy dropped a napkin in front of his nose. “Your hair is in my ketchup.”

Eddie shot up in his seat and wiped at his hair with the napkin. “Great, now I’m going to be an idiot that smells like ketchup.” He tossed the napkin on the table and scowled.

“Don’t get yourself in a bad mood, you can wash it off in the bathroom.” Chrissy kicked his foot under the table. “He’s hot, he’s nice, he seemed to be happy to hang out with us, what is bad about any of that? Why aren’t you excited about it?”

“You might not have noticed, but we couldn’t be more opposite if we were trying,” Eddie waved at his outfit. “Distinct lack of color on both sides, but not in the same way.”

“You’re just looking for reasons why he’s not going to like you,” Chrissy pointed out. Eddie opened his mouth, and she pointed at him until he closed it with a snap. “It’s not even a date, Eddie. It’s just getting-to-know-you drinks.”

Eddie nodded, and took half-hearted bite of his sandwich and pretended to listen while Chrissy planned out the rest of their day. He didn’t want to sabotage the evening - for Chrissy’s sake if nothing else - but it was too good to be true. He didn’t believe in miracles, and he sure didn’t believe in muses, but his mind already teemed with bits and pieces he knew were going to come together in the best possible way, but they were all wrapped around Steve. He could find another model, maybe even one that kind of looked like Steve if he tried, but he knew it wouldn’t work if he did. He could maybe get the collection out, but it would feel as dead as everything else had lately. It was crazy, really borderline something you should talk to a professional about, but he knew it would be the best thing he’d ever done if he had Steve to give it life. Part of him jittered with nerves, convinced Steve would decide he was insane, and part of him teetered on the edge of a cliff, ready to fall into the abyss if he found Steve at the bottom, because Steve would save him from the disaster he’d been living.

And that was the crazy part, wasn’t it? Eddie had been an atheist since he found out what the word meant, and his uncle had affectionately called him a heathen before that, and if you had told him yesterday that he was going to meet a librarian in a little sweater and tortoise-shell glasses and swear he’d stumbled over a saint, he’d have said you were the one who needed a professional. But there he was, a confused little metal head that felt like he’d just had a chorus of angels sound off in his head and single his salvation out in a shower of golden light.

And who was he to deny a revelation?