Rollie Tyler woke to the sound of ringing. It stopped. He closed his
eyes. A dream? It started again. Maybe not. “Ringing...Phone...Phone
ringing... Damn, where’s the phone?”
“Mr. Tyler, I apologize for disturbing you so early. This call is to
inform you that filming today has been canceled due to the inclement
weather. Please inform your staff.” The phone went dead before he had a
chance to say anything.
He looked at the clock. “6:34” The red light blinked unmercifully. He
closed his eyes. He heard the ice beating against the window and wind
howling. He got out of bed and padded down the stairs.
“What’s the point? I’m awake now.” he thought absently to himself as he
made a fresh pot of coffee. He thought about calling Angela. “She needs
the rest. She hasn’t had a full night’s sleep in a week and a half. I
wonder how her uncle is doing.”
He lay down on the sofa, sipping the hot drink and thought about the
events of the last two weeks. They were shooting in an abandoned factory
on the West side. Last Thursday as they broke for lunch, she had gotten
a phone call. Her uncle in Hartford had a massive heart attack. She
hadn’t even hung up the phone before he and Bo had the big red pickup
emptied of equipment and he gave her his gas card and cell phone. “Be
careful. The roads will be icy in this weather. Call me when you get
there,” he said as she pulled out onto 11th Avenue.
When she arrived back in town Sunday afternoon she went straight to the
shop. She looked awful. It was obvious she had not slept well and she
looked gaunt. Her cheeks seemed sunken in. He knew she didn’t eat when
she was upset. And she had been alone at the hospital for three and a
half days. He knew her uncle was her only living relative. She was
taking it very hard.
He had thought that by Monday things would be okay. She would get some
rest and he could get a couple of meals into her on the set. But Monday
night there were complications. She left when she got the message.
Refused to eat. “I need to beat Rush Hour,” she had said. She wouldn’t
say it but he knew she would be back in the morning. They were filming a
big flashover sequence. He would not do it without her. She drove the
three and a half hour drive non-stop to make it to the set on time. She
had not gotten a wink of sleep. Luckily he thought to bring her some
extra sweats of his and he stopped at the drugstore for a toothbrush.
She had napped in the front seat of the pickup when they broke for
lunch. She didn’t look comfortable, but she was so exhausted that she
didn’t seem to care.
Then she insisted on going back up to Hartford when they broke for the
night. She had already done the trip twice by herself in the dead of
winter in less than a week. They had had a huge blowout about her going
back. “You can’t drive three and a half hours on one hour of sleep. It
doesn’t work that way.” “Yes, I can. I HAVE to be there for him.” “I
understand that Angela..” “NO, you don’t. I’m going.” With that she had
stalked off towards the truck. She could be so stubborn sometimes.
She had gotten back after midnight last night. He heard her come in,
drop off the keys and recharge the cell phone. He wanted to talk to her
but he knew they would just fight. He was afraid to confront the
temperamental woman.
Now it was 7:15 in the morning, and there was a nasty ice storm
pounding the metropolitan area. He wanted to call her to tell her to
sleep late but he was afraid to disturb her. He got up and looked in the
refrigerator. Nothing but a wilted leftover salad from Dean & Deluca.
“D&D. Her favorite place.” An idea was forming in his head. He called
Bo. “ Don’t bother coming in. There’s no work at the shop. Call the
others. Yes, I’ll call Ange and apologize. Yes, I can be an idiot. Hey,
don’t push it buddy. I still sign your paycheck.”
He called Angie. “Hey, it’s me. Don’t answer the phone. Filming has
been canceled. Turn off your alarm and call me when you wake
up...and...I’m sorry.”
He was showered and out the door in half an hour. He wondered how long
it would take to get there in this mess. He wondered if they were even
open. He wondered if he was crazy.
Part II
When he returned from the gourmet food market, he found his assistant
waiting for him. She was standing at the top of the stairs leading into
the shop with her arms crossed and fire in her eyes. And she was soaked
through. There was a rather large puddle at her feet.
“Where were you?”
“Angie. You were supposed to call me.”
“I did. There was no answer. I got worried.”
“I ran out. Groceries.”
“I see that.”
He put the bags down and walked over to her. Her hair was plastered to
her head and her clothes were soaked through.
“I couldn’t get a cab. I had to walk.”
“You look like a drowned rat.”
“Thanks.”
He unzipped her sopping coat and dropped it on the floor. He took her
by the shoulders and pushed her up the stairs towards the loft.
He stopped at the bureau in the bedroom. “Take your clothes off.”
“Excuse me?”
A towel came flying towards her head followed by sweat pants and a
thick flannel shirt.
Rollie walked into the bathroom and started the water.
“Your lips are blue. You’ll catch your death of a cold if we don’t get
you warmed up.”
“Thanks dad.” She rolled her eyes. But she was grateful. The stress and
lack of sleep were starting to their toll on her.
Once the shower was steaming he kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be
downstairs.” He turned to walk out the door.
“Rollie..”
He turned around, his hand on the doorknob.
“Thanks.”
He smiled. She was peeling off her sopping clothes as he closed the
door.
By the time she emerged from the shower wearing his baggy sweats and a
flannel shirt that fell to her knees, he had a spread laid out on the
table in the lounge. Tomato soup with garden vegetables, freshly baked
panini with humus and almond butter, pasta salad with roasted red
peppers, sliced apples and pears sprinkled with brown sugar and
cinnamon, strawberries with fresh cream, French vanilla coffee, and her
favorite chardonnay from that vineyard on Long Island.
“ What’s all this?” she asked as she curled up on the couch next to
him.
“Seemed like a good day for a picnic.” he said looking out the window.
“I just want to see you eat something and get some rest.” Before she
could answer he popped a strawberry in her mouth.
“I spoke to the director. We have the rest of the week off. As soon as
the storm clears I’ll drive you back up to Connecticut. Bo can handle
things here while we’re gone.”
While they ate he tried to draw her out of that place she went to when
she was stressed. “How were the roads on the way to Connecticut? Are
they still doing all that construction on I-95? Where did you stay? How
did the staff treat you at the hospital? How is he holding up?” She only
had curt single sentence answers.
“You gotta tell me what’s going on, Ange. You’re gonna make yourself
sick if you don’t talk about it. Does it make you miss Manny?”
She looked up from pouring wine into a glass. She turned to hand it to
him. She looked away as he took the glass from her. He put it down, took
her chin in his hands and turned her to look at him. There were tears
welling up in her eyes. “It’s Manny, isn’t it?” Her lower lip started to
quiver as she nodded slowly. He slid over to her on the couch and pulled
her into his arms. “It’s okay, honey. I’m here for you, Let it all out.”
And she did, the tears streaming down her face. He just held her.
Part III
Angela Ramirez opened her eyes. She was in the red pickup but she was
at such a weird angle and all she could see was the white snow. The
truck was embedded in a snow bank at the bottom of a ravine. She could
see out the front window, but snow had drifted halfway up the doors and
there was no way to open them. She looked towards the drivers side of
the truck. The airbag had deployed and it was pushing Rollie back in the
seat. The cut on the side of his face had opened again, but she knew it
looked worse than it was. He looked at her, bit his lip and turned away.
He pulled himself up so that he was sitting on the back of the seat.
Then he placed one foot against the steering wheel for support while he
kicked the windshield out with his other foot. After numerous tries, it
shattered and he pushed it into the snow. He looked over at her again.
There were tears in his eyes. He reached out to touch her. But he
stopped. Then he climbed over the steering wheel out onto the hood of
the truck. From there he climbed into the snow and began walking back up
the ravine. “Rollie, wait! My legs are stuck. Where are you going? Don’t
leave me here!” She turned to look out ahead of her. She saw two men
coming towards her. She turned back to Rollie but he was gone. “Angel,
it’s time to go.” Manny and Leo helped her out of the truck. She started
to run in the direction Rollie had gone in. “Wait!” Angela, no. It’s
time to go.” She looked at Leo. She started screaming. “Rollie! Rollie!”
Leo was shaking her. “Listen to me. He’s gone. He’s not coming back for
you. It’s time to go.” “Rollie! Don’t leave me! No!”
When Angela opened her eyes it wasn’t Leo who was shaking her but
Rollie. She was on the couch in the loft with a warm blanket over her.
He was looking at her worriedly. “You were having a bad dream. I’m right
here.”
She looked at him oddly.
“You want to tell me about it?”
All she could envision was him walking away through the snow “You left
me for dead. You wouldn’t even touch me. They kept telling me it was
time to go. They told me you weren’t coming back.”
“It was just a dream.”
“It seemed so real.”
“But it wasn’t. Nothing is going to happen.”
“You always say that.”
“So?”
“Do you ever wonder what would happen if you’re wrong?”
“I’m never wrong.”
She got so angry lately every time he said that. “One of these days
you’re going to be wrong. You’re going to get yourself killed. You have
a death wish and I’m sitting in the van waiting for it to happen.” Since
Leo’s sudden death, Angela no longer looked at Rollie as invincible. The
painful loss had made her acutely aware of what she would be left with
if anything ever happened to her best friend. Somewhere along the line
she had stopped trusting him when he said he would be there for her.
“That’s NOT true... You don’t get it...” he said.
“I don’t, huh? I don’t GET the stupid risks you take every day because
you CAN?” she said, raising her voice. “Isn’t that what you said to
Mira? Because you CAN? And what CAN I do once you’ve fulfilled your
death wish?” said, walking to the sink to get some water. She hadn’t
meant to yell, but the dream had terrified her.
“Angela..”
She flinched when he used her full name. He only did that when he was
angry with her. She turned towards him. “What?” she said coldly.
“It was only a dream...”
“No, it wasn’t, and you know it! The only reason you’re here right now
is because of the weather—”
IT IS NOT! I’m trying to be your friend but you’re pushing me away..”
She looked at him incredulously. “PUSHING you away? I am NOT pushing
you away.”
“Then what—You know what? Forget it.” He walked up to the VR chamber in
a huff.
She walked to the window and looked out at he raging wind and the
pounding ice. It was 12:30 in the afternoon. The storm had started a
little after 3 am. She had been awake, sitting in her apartment alone,
just like she was now. Just like she always had been and like she always
would be. There was a time when she and Rollie had been really tight.
She had considered him her closest friend. But since Leo’s death things
had changed. He had changed. He didn’t seem to trust her anymore with
his most private thoughts. He refused to listen to her when she thought
something was too risky. He had taken to reading her e-mail. That made
her furious. He wouldn’t talk to her, but he’d snoop behind her back. It
just seemed to make the distance between them that much worse. She
wanted to fix things between them. But she didn’t know how or what to
say, or where to begin, or even if he realized there was a problem. He
was always horsing around. He could never be serious for very long.
Well, she couldn’t very well worry about it now. Her uncle was dying in
Connecticut and she was trapped in this place with no way of getting to
him. She picked up the phone and called the hospital.
Part IV
Rollie Tyler stalked into his VR chamber and sat down in a huff. “What
is with her lately?” he thought as he set up the program. He looked at
the lush Australian greenery and tried to figure out what was going on.
He tried so hard to take care of Angela. He tried to do everything he
could to watch out for her and protect her. Not that she needed it. She
was a strong girl—woman. “Woman,” he thought to himself. She went and
turned into a woman. A beautiful one at that. Every time he looked at
her he was afraid she was going to fall in love with some jerk who
wouldn’t treat her right. Who would break her heart. Who might not break
her heart, and then she would run off and get married and leave him
alone.
He had tried a couple of times to tell her how he really felt. But the
words always got stuck in his throat. And he was afraid of scaring her.
So he always said that he would some time, but the time never came. He
closed his eyes. He thought back to when they met. They were both so
young. She seemed so scared of him at first. But she spent all her free
time on her father’s sets always wanting to know more, always asking
insightful questions, and pointing out oversights to him that could have
had bad consequences. As she grew up, they had become fast friends. He
found himself missing her while she was away at school. And he was
always trying to dream up bigger and better pranks to pull on her when
she did come around.
They had been through so much together, good and bad. Laughter and good
times, as well as tragedy and loss. Through everything they were a team.
He had always counted on her to back him up. To cover his ass. And she
had picked up the pieces a couple of times when he needed her the most.
But now every time he looked at her he saw a beautiful woman that was
not going to be there for him much longer. And there was nothing he
could do but sit and wait for her to leave him. He was terribly afraid
of losing the best thing that had ever happened to him. He felt like if
he told her how afraid he was of her meeting someone and moving on, she
would get frightened by his strong feelings. And that would change
everything. But not telling her made him feel like he was hiding
something from her. It had made them grow apart. She was slipping away
from him. It was so apparent. It was exactly what he didn’t want to
happen. He didn’t know how to make it stop.
Part V
Angela was still gazing out at the storm when Rollie finally emerged
from the VR chamber. He looked down at her. She looked up at him.
“The storm is getting worse.”
“Ange, it’s not a good idea to be by the window with the wind whipping
around the way it is.”
She stepped away from the storm. “Rollie...”
Before she could say anything else he had her in a big hug. After a
minute she pushed him away. “What?” he said. “You were choking me...”
she said smiling, “Oh. Sorry.”
“Ange...” The phone rang. They both turned to look. “You should get it.
Maybe it’s the hospital.” She picked it up.
“Hey, Bo. No, nothing’s going on here today. The storm’s getting worse.
No, we’re not gonna make it up to Connecticut tonight. My uncle is still
in ICU. Thanks for the support, Bo. I’m okay. Rol, anything he needs to
know for the morning? Come by on the way to the set. He’ll tell you
everything then, Just small effects for a couple of re-shoots. We’re not
needed Friday, but Rol would like you to be there just in case. Moving
up in the world Bo. Rollie wouldn’t let me alone for years.” She
laughed. “I’ll see you in the morning. Bye.”
“I guess we’re not going anywhere tonight.”
“No. Too icy. You’re not going home either.”
“What about the cat? “
“Call Mrs. Johnson down the hall. I’m not letting you go out in this
mess.”
Angela sighed and walked up the stairs to her clean room. She felt
exhausted but she knew she would not be able to sleep. Even if she were
tired enough to sleep she knew she’d be up all night. Since there was
nothing else to do she decide to surf the web. Maybe she could e-mail a
couple of friends or something.
Rollie watched her walk slowly up the stairs. She always seemed so
unhappy lately. Now moreso than ever before. He was also very unhappy.
Unspoken feelings always weighed so heavily on him. He thought back to
Leo’s unexpected death. He had never had the chance to say goodbye.
Shortly after the accident he had promised himself to have a serious sit
down heart-to-heart with Angela. But he just couldn’t do it. He picked
up an animatronic replica of a monster they had been developing and the
PDA that controlled it and followed Angie up to the clean room.
“Hey Rol, check this out. We’ve got fans.” She showed him a web site
devoted to FX and the movies they had worked on. There were stills of
both of them working, as well as articles and downloadable video clips
of some of their more recent work.
“Whose is it? One of the studios?”
“Nah. Looks like some students. It’s really good for amateurs...Maybe
we should e-mail them...”
“Ange... I need to tell you something...”
“What’s up?... Aw, damn, it crashed...”
“Why?“
“I don’t know. I was trying to download one of these video clips What
were you saying, Rol?...” She hit the keyboard in front of her. “Ah, I
have an idea...,” she said.
“Rols?”
Rollie had moved quietly out of the clean room and walked downstairs.
Angela was a true child of the computer generation. She couldn’t focus
on one thing at a time and he could barely admit his feelings to
himself, let alone her when she wasn’t paying attention to him.
An hour and a half later Angie emerged from her glass computer room.
Rollie was on the couch popping heads off plastic aliens and arranging
them neatly on the table in front of him. Angie sat down next to him. “
What on earth are you doing?”
“Haven’t got a clue.”
“You’re starting to go stir crazy aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about before. When you were
sleeping...”
“I thought that was over and done with.”
He focused on the figure in his hands. “No. Seems like there’s more
going on than just nightmares. Things seem to have changed...between
us.” He looked over at her. She was also staring at the figure in his
hand intently.
“I know.” she said quietly. “I miss the Rollie I grew up with.”
“Have I changed that much?”
“Yeah. I feel like you don't trust me anymore. I feel like... you don't
want me around...”
“I do. It’s just that I’m...
“What?” she asked in a whisper as she took the figure out of his hand
and turned to face him. “Say it. I want to hear you say it.”
He looked into her piercing green-blue eyes. He felt himself getting
lost in the depths of her soul. “I’m afraid you’re going to run off with
some jerk and leave me alone.”
She laughed. He looked up at her. “What?” he whined. “THAT’s what
you’re afraid of? That’s why you’ve been shutting me out and sneaking
behind my back?” He shrugged. “Rollie. You’re a genius.. You relly are.
But sometimes you can be such an idiot.”
“Hey!”
“Well,its true. I don’t even have a boyfriend. I haven’t had a date in
how long? And you’ve already written me off because you think I’m going
to leave you some day? Even if I did meet someone he’d have to be really
special... Someone an awful lot like you.”
He looked at her. “Like me, huh?”
Yeah. But without the death wish.”
“Cute, Ange.”
“I love you, Rollie. But sometimes you can be a pain in the butt. You
can put the heads back on now.”
Part VI
Rollie turned on the 6:00 news. He wanted to see the weather, although
he was pretty sure what the forecast was going to be. Angie had gotten
hungrry and had wandered into the kitchen. He warned her that there
wasn’t much in there. When he heard her start to whistle, he got up to
go see whart she was doing. He turned a corner to find her sitting on
the floor with her legs crossed scrubbing the inside fo his refrigerator
and throwing out all the spoiled food that had accumulated since the
last time she had cleaned it out.
“You know, Rollie, you’re such a ...a....guy.” she said in a disgusted
tone.
He couldn’t help but laugh at her. “It’s not funny,” she said throwing
a rag at him. “If it wasn’t for me. you’d die of the stench.”
“You’re so good to me, Ange.”
“I found some frozen chicken and some rice. I can make Spanish chicken.
Sound okay?”
“Sounds good, Ange.”
“It’s a good day to do some seriuos cooking. If I was home..”
“I know. I’m sorry.I’m not much for grocery shoping.”
“No joke. I’m almost done with the fridge. Here, get rid of this. She
handed him a smelly garbage bag. When he came backshe was chopping
onions, and it was making her cry. He poured some wine. He wiped her
cheek as he handed her the glass. “What can I do to help?” He asked.
She quickly put him to work preparing dinner. They drank wine, laughed
and fed each other as they prepared dinner. Rollie walked to the work
area and emptied one of the tables of pats of fake blood, false teth,
silicone and makeup. He found a white sheet that could substitute as a
table cloth and placed it on the table. He then went up to the loft and
retrieved a set of silver candlesticks. They had been a gift from a long
time ago, and most of the time they just sat in storage. When he came
down he peeked into the the kitchen. Angie was so busy preparing dinner
that she didn’t even notice whether he was there or not. As he placed
the candlesticks on the table and looked for candles in some drawers, he
thought about how much Angie liked to cook. She had learned from her
mother when she was young. When her mother had died she had taken it
upon herself to cook for Manny on a regular basis. Rollie wished wished
she would cook more. She was quite good but they usually ate on the set
or on the run and she rarely cooked for herself much anymore let alone
him so he was feeling pretty lucky tonight. He even thought he would
have ventured back out to D&D in the storm if she had asked.
Angie turned from the counter with a platter in her hand. She walked
towards the lounge. It was a habit. Whren they did eat at he loft it was
always fast food on the couch. “Over here.” he said as he lit the
candles. She stopped to take in the scene. “What is this a date?” she
asked.
His eyes were twinkling as he took the platter from her. He hoped she
couldn’t hear his heart pounding inon his chest. He was sure she could.
“What if I say yes, it’s a date.”
“I’d say you’re trying to make up for being a jerk lately.”
He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. He thought to himself,
“What are you going to do Tyler? You going to take the chance and admit
to her how you feel? She’s gonna be here the whole night. If she laughs
you’re not going to get away. What are you going to do?”
He took the platter from her and turned away. “Yeah, you’re right. I
just feel bad about how I’ve been acting.”
He handed her a glass of wine. “Cheers.” he said, not looking directly
at her. He was hoping she didn’t hear the quiver in his voice.
Part VII
After dinner they decided to watch a movie. There wasn’t a whole lot
else to do. Angie walked over to Rollie’s movie collection. Most of the
tapes were missing. “Rol, where are they?“
“Over here on the floor. Almost all of his tapes were unlabeled and the
other night when he had been worried about her he had gone through the
majority of them looking for a video he had of them together on the set
of Vindicator. He had not been a ble to find it and as he got more
frustrated, he had thrown the tapes into a pile on the floor in the
corner.
“How are we gonna find it, Rollie?“
“I don’’t know. We will, though. You’ll see. You’re sure you don’t want
to see anything else?”
“No. That’s my favorite. It’s the perfect night for it,” she said as
she kneeled down on th other side of the pile. “What were looking for
when you made this mess anyway?”
“I don’t remember.” As they placed tapes back in their boxes he slid
closer to her. Their hands touched as they reached for a tape. They
looked at each other. Neither one moved their hand. Instinctively,
without thinking, Rollie leaned over and kissed Angela on the mouth. At
first she leaned in to him. Her lips were just as he had imagined. Soft
and warm. But she pulled away, her eyes wide.
“Oh,no.” he thought. “Do it again,” she whispered.
“What?“
“Do it again...”
“You’re sure?” he asked. She nodded. He leaned over and kissed her
again. “Do you still want to watch the movie?” “No.”
