I hid out in my bedroom for awhile after that, coming out only for work and food, sequestering myself away in private, convinced that she knew, that she could read my guilt on my face, or paranoid that I might blurt out something that would give the game away. So I huddled in my little cell like a monk, sleeping during the day, working during the night and learning how to make frozen taquitos in the microwave I'd bought for my bedroom to make sure I didn't disturb her sleeping on the sofa.
Frankly, it was driving me insane - every night I was home, I would stare at my wall, knowing the living room was just on the other side of it, imagining her sleeping on that couch, seeing in my mind's eye...well, you know the rest. It didn't help that I loaded my phone's contents onto my computer and having handled myself to it.
Was I obsessed? Maybe a little - I mean, it wasn't like I'd hidden a camera in her bathroom or anything. I'd thought about it, but if she found that? I'd be a column in a newspaper. Her temper was prodigious. At the very least, I'd be out on my ass, with nowhere to go. So I wasn't really obsessed, not letting it get the better of my hold on reality or anything. But I certainly *thought* about it.
I guess she sensed, somehow, that I was avoiding her, because one night, on a night off work, shortly after I'd gotten up and showered, she knocked on my chamber door. "Ian?" she called in quietly. "You got a sec?"
My heart sunk, briefly, and I was convinced that here was coming The Moment. But - no. Her voice was entirely too gentle for that, and she had knocked. It couldn't have been anything untoward. So I opened the door in shorts and a t-shirt, still towelling my hair dry.
She stood there in the doorway, offering a hesitant smile. "Hey," she said. "Are...things okay? With you? Between us? I feel like you've been...deliberately avoiding me lately," she told me. Which, of course, I had, but maybe I'd gone too far. I mean, if there hadn't been any fallout from that night yet, there almost certainly wouldn't be. Not like there were security cameras or any way she could find out so long after the fact.
"Not deliberately," I lied, and shrugged. "Just...you know, working overnights is kind of a back-to-front way of living, and I haven't felt too social. And I'm still working through what happened with Chrissie." I gave her a half-shrug and a sort of hangdog look. "I didn't mean to ignore you."
She seemed to relax a little, and nodded. "OKay, then - I won't bother you. But if you ever want to hang out, or something," she said, leaving it hanging. "They are doing a Star Wars marathon on MWTV tonight - I saw that and figured I'd offer to let you watch it on the big screen."
I gave her a Look. "You're going to let me have the living room tonight?" I asked.
"Well, I thought maybe I'd stick around and see why you like it so much. I've still never seen any of them, and..." She shrugged back.
Ah. Mom wanted company. I stepped forward out of my room and slipped my arms around her in an innocent embrace. "Mom, if you're lonely, or you want company, you can just say so."
She hugged me back, briefly, rubbing a hand along my back as she pulled away. "I know, I just...just kind of feeling unwanted. Some jackass on one of the dating sights just...vanished on me. We were chatting, and he just...stopped talking to me. Made me feel like some reject or something."
"Aw, mom - you'll find somebody. Here, let me hang up my towel and we can hang out for a bit." She nodded and headed into the living room, and I followed not long after with a bottle of Dr. Pepper in hand.
She was lounging on the couch when I came in...sipping one of her beers. When I say 'beer', I mean one of those malt liquor things, like Smirnoff Ice or something. My heart skipped a beat, but I never missed a step, walking over to settle down on the floor in front of the sofa. She flipped the channel to the MWTV station, just in time to miss about half of the opening crawl for the first movie of the series.
After it was over, I had to pee, so I stood up, and she lifted her empty bottle up, handing it to me. "Would you grab me another one on your way back?" she asked.
"Sure," I agreed, trying to hide the eagerness in my voice. It was already late - around 11pm - and she was one beer in. If she had another, she might be pretty well crashed for...later. I hurriedly did my business, washed my hands and tucked my phone into my shorts pocket, grabbing one of her drinks from the fridge on the way back to the living room, opening it and handing it down to her.