These arms of mine

William was flipping the wine bottle in half circles as he walked down the hall of the 14th floor. Apartment number 403 seemed strange in the fact that 14 and 400 were only connected in numeral form. He paused in-front of the door and took a few quick breathes like he was trying to steady his breathing before a meditation. He ran his hand through his hair and let out a final deep sigh as he rang the doorbell. Marilyn answered the door and gave a warm smile. “Hey there” she said. “Were you able to find parking? The street fills up around this time of night.”

“Yeah, yeah no prob” William answered with a tinge of nervousness. Marilyn sensing his jitter quickly opened the door fully to let him in. “I just put out some Pellegrino and fresh sourdough.” “Ahhhh prison staples, bread and water.” William sensing his joke falling flat upon delivery offered his wine bottle. “I hear this pairs well with artisan bread.” They both chuckled.

“73 El Gorrito Merlot, you know your wines Billy” she said.

William followed her into the living room. A low murmur of conversations drowned out Bon Iver’s Skinny Love playing on vinyl. He scanned the room and didn’t see Nicole. He had beat her to the party. Shit that’s good and bad he thought. He could blend in and mingle and casually look up every time the front door opened or he could hide in a corner. He decided hiding in the corner would only add to his unease of this whole evening. Why the fuck did he come? He thought. He should have said no but he was Marilyns friend first. Nicole had moved out 9 months ago and this would be the first time seeing her since. Dividing friends seemed silly at this point. They were both adults and worlds fucking intersect right?

“William come here, let me pour you a glass of your wonderful Merlot.” Marilyn called out from the kitchen.

As he walked over he noticed the bottle in her hands pealing off the the foil. He locked in on here unraveling it from the neck. His stare intensified.

“1973 El Gorrito Merlot sir” the server said to William as he presented the bottle to him at the table. The restaurant was lit in a warm reddish hue. Candles were burning all over the walls. There must have been a hundred. Who job is that he wondered. It was the kind of lighting that made everyone look good. Thank god. Nicole had the beauty that would look good even in an airplane bathroom.

“Yeah looks good” William replied trying to hold his voice steady and confident. Two Buck Chuck was his normal pallet. Nicole looked over at him and gave a sly grin.

“So you just started working at Marilyns firm this month? What do you think so far? She is kinda a ball buster right?” He fired off rapidly.

He instantly regretted saying ball buster. Her nervous semi laugh only worsened the decision.

“Well….um I haven’t seen that side just quite yet. Marilyn says you two had an awful first date and both determined you definitely are better just friends.” She fired rapidly. He returned the nervous laugh then they both sat there in silence for what seemed like a year.

In the background, the mounted speakers began to play an Otis Redding song. Otis’ voice slowly comes in… “These…. Arms… of Mine….”. William looked to the distance and slowly nodded his head to match the slow groove. His face contorted and his head continued to bob. His trance was short lived as her remembered he was on a fucking date. He quickly looked over at Nicole to gage the idiocy he just displayed. To his surprise Nicole was looking off in the distance nodding her head to the music too. Right on cue she snapped out of it and looked at William.

Their eyes locked. Her warm smile quickly morphed into a cackle laugh. And for the Coup de Gras she gave him a wink. He was done. His heart was on the verge of imploding. Not knowing if he was having an internal thought of speaking he muttered “Destination wedding on Oahu cool with you?”

Yep he was definitely speaking.

She blushed and kept her smile.

He just went for it at this point. “You know Otis was only 26 when he died? 26?! How can a human have that much soul and pain at 26? I was a total dipshit when I was 26.”

“Just 26? You sure about that Billy boy?” Her voice registering a tad higher in a playful manner. “Yeah 26 was a blur for me, 2nd year of Law School and a steady diet of Johnny Black kept me teetering on the edge of a meltdown for 12 months. I can always come back to Otis though, he rights my ship in a strange way. Tortured souls tend to heal my soul.”

“Definitely.” William said with certainty.

“Ahh a fellow sad sack. I love it.” Nicole cocked her head speaking to him and the sly grin returned. “Sad truth for sad truth?”

“Absolutely. Who goes first? Dealers choice. You pick.” William should have just volunteered but he wanted to see how deep they were gonna go.

Nicole grabbed her glass of wine and took a big pull. “Ill go, it was my idea.” A second big pull followed her statement.

She sighed and chuckled. “No judgment sir!”

William laughed. “Please, Ive apparently already asked for your hand in marriage. So for reals, no judgement from me.”

“Exactly! You’re lucky I love Oahu and can ditch you if need be.” She closed her eyes and sighed once again. “Ill watch my favorite sad songs on YouTube and read the comments people leave and cry.” She covered her eyes then spread her fingers on her left eye to peak at William.

William looked impressed. “Nice. Very strong in the sad department. I think I might have you though.” He straighten up in his chair and cleared his throat. “I have a playlist on my phone entitled Sad Bastard. And it has all the best heartache songs that we all love and loathe. I was running one day and accidentally put the playlist on mid run. I decided to just roll with it. Robyns Dancing On My Own came on. At first it gave me a boost with the beats, then the line. Why can’t you see me…” William glanced at Nicole real quick and she was hanging on her every word. He continued. “My damn endorphins were pumping and I started to cry mid stride.”

“Sobbing?” Nicole asked.

“No. But…big ass tears were streaming down my face and there may have been a few keep it together lip quivers mixed in.”

“Come on, I win hands down Billy. People probably thought you pulled a hammy or something.” Nicole rested her head in her hand and looked at William. “Look at us, just a couple of sad sacks.” Locking eyes again with William.

“Yep look at US.” He added extra volume to his voice as he said the word us for effect. And it worked.

“William!” Marilyn repeated.

Had he missed the first William? She handed him a goblet of wine. The doorbell rang and a feeling of someone punching him in the gut creeped up. His heart started beating fast. He just somehow knew this would be Nicole walking in. He took big gulp of wine and a final exhale. She walked through the living room and locked eyes with William. Her arm was trailing and her hand was holding another hand leading them forward. The man was tall and handsome. Nicole was still looking at William. She gave him a warm smile.