eternity of watching others die, being doomed to an eternity of loneliness with mere interludes of friendship. Vampires so often shy from intimacy with humans because the mere wink of an eye for us is a lifetime for a mortal."
Nicole stared ahead pensively before collapsing onto the bed. "I'm sorry, Al. I'm just being silly."
I kissed her on the forehead. "It is perfectly okay for you to be silly every once in awhile. I will love you anyway."
She smiled and yawned. "God, I'm suddenly tired. Is it okay if we don't make love tonight?"
"Of course, my sweet."
She stripped off her clothing and crawled underneath the covers. And she spoke not another word before lapsing into slumber.
I reached for her, but Nicole eased herself to the far side of the bed, a chasm separating us, cold as a grave.
Chapter 16
Vampire Cabbies in Love
Lemme guess. Sounds like a one-way ticket to dump city. So, the bitch dumped you for the guy in the bar?
Sir! By the torments of Hades, you will not speak of Nicole in such a manner. And you will cease these interruptions. They are most impolite, and please do not jump ahead of the story. If you were to call me a fool, you would be absolutely correct. I was a fool, fooled by love, my vision clouded by the giddiness of the emotions of the immature.
Nicole quickly became incommunicado. Looking forward to our usual Tuesday tryst, disappointment greeted me as Dexter told me that she had called in sick. A half-dozen messages left on her answering machine brought no reply. Saturday - our night - came and went, with me stalking State Street alone, half-heartedly searching for Madison's other vampire, but, as you Americans would put it, it was not unlike perusing a haystack for a mere needle.
By the next week, the peonies began to bloom full bloom, making it so easy to forget about how drab the city had been just weeks before when the streets were covered with the slush of the melting snows. Still, slush-covered asphalt was all that filled my inner sight, so heavy was my heart.
Finally, a phone call to Nicole's house brought an answer. It was Maggie."I'm not here," a muffled voice said from the background.
"She's not here, Al," Maggie said after a brief pause.
"Tell her I am sorry to hear that." With not another word, I dropped the handset onto its cradle, shaking my head, laughing bitterly at myself.
You know, after a thousand years, it is not difficult to be philosophical about those things that happen to us in our intercourse with others. I tried to focus on the sheer bliss of the previous month, but the task proved difficult, so I attempted to seek solace in the fact that good or bad, at least she made me feel something.
The next night, parked at the Concourse taxi stand, Maggie joined me in my cab. I quickly turned off the dome light, which makes my flesh look quite unwholesome, then put awayCandide and prepared to entertain my guest.
"Sorry about the other night," Maggie began immediately. "I lied to you. Nicole was right there when you called. You deserve better than having me lie to you. If she doesn't want to see you anymore, she should have the decency to tell you herself."
"Apparently, we cannot always expect people to behave with the maturity their age might indicate is the accepted norm." Momentarily, Maggie appeared a bit bewildered. My syntax still gets sufficiently convoluted, confusing these so-called masters of the provincial English language. Cripes, ya hey, indeed!
"Whatever. Anyway, for whatever it's worth, I told her I'm not lying for her anymore."
"Your sentiment is greatly appreciated. But I would like to at least know, why is she behaving in such a manner?"
Maggie pulled at the straps of her tank top and ran a hand agitatingly through her thick red hair, an obvious gesture of discomfort over the illumination of some unsavory information. "Look, I tried to tell you she's not really in a good way." My guest paused a moment, her gaze dropping downward. "She's seeing someone else."
My spine tingled with momentary anger, then I felt amused at the sensation. Jealousy? How absurd.
And dishonest was this intellectualism of my feelings. Knowing that Nicole was no one's property could not prevent me from imagining the torments I might inflect upon he who had stolen her from me.
"It's a guy she used to go out with," Maggie said, answering my silence. "She hadn't seen the guy since