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Bill Me
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2024-10-29 19:42:56“Silvia! You okay?”
She nodded, blowing her nose with a shaky giggle from the kitchen. She’d pretty much jumped off of her chair when the video ended, trying in vain to wipe her tears away.
“But this isn’t the video they have on YouTube,” said Claudia, frowning.
Paola huffed. “’Cause it’s not the official video.”
“Damned jerk!” Silvia grumbled from the kitchen, lighting a cigarette and shaking her head.
Claudia’s eyes were like grapefruits again. “He— He made this video for you?”
Silvia shrugged, still fighting back her tears.
Paola narrowed her eyes. “That place. It looked like a bus terminal.”
“Yeah, that’s where we met. Give me a mate and I’ll explain the video to you guys.”
She was still talking when Claudia handed her a mate, while Paola pointed at her empty chair. So Silvia spent ten times the length of the video explaining the zillion private jokes and winks they’d just seen.
The
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No Return Task of the Week
“Come play in my ground. Task of the week: a poem.” Jim liked Silvia’s DM the week after her clip. She hadn’t even asked what he thought about it. This was the first time she came up with a task, and it was a good one. “I’m in. Any particular subject?” “How about states of the soul?” “U r so fkn corny *rolling eyes*” “Humor me :P” She uploaded a poem to the Hey, Jay! before he did. It’s time The long thread of twilights I’ve built my life upon Has lost any meaning So I turn off the sun and lay Streams, hills, woods to rest And take off To some shady inner world Of demons unseen and falling angels Where I wander under starless skies Hunting down my own shadow Until the time comes
No Return Three Guys
Sometimes, Silvia forced herself to stop and ponder about the schizophrenia of sorts that had taken over her life. In what she called the real world, a friend introduced her to one Guillermo, a lovely guy a little older than her, divorced with two children, that didn’t have her at hello but five minutes later. He had a keen mind, liked classic rock like her and had golden hips when it came to dancing and sex. At the same time, on internet’s wonderland, she still stayed in touch with that beautiful, talented man called Jim Robinson, who had turned out to be that other guy, Jay, her emotional rescue when she’d broken up with Pat. She loved the artist like she considered they were to be loved: with respect, admiration and no real desire whatsoever. And she kept growing fond of Jay, her hot, funny, rude pal who had become her intellectual challenge. She would never know what she’d changed in her way to address Jim when she started dating Guillermo
No Return Out of Focus
Two weeks before leaving for the third leg of their world tour, that would take No Return to Asia and Eastern Europe until the end of the year, Jim had a fight with Barbara, the woman he’d been dating for the last two months. He heard his front door slam shut, a revving engine, a car skidding away. He ran down the stairs to the living room, his shirt open over his chest, still breathing heavily after the violent argument. His eyes moved slowly around the dark, empty room as he took his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans. He dialed and waited, dropping himself on the couch. “Don’t you dare call me ever again, you fucked-up son of a bitch!” The hand holding the phone slid down as he sank in the black leather cushions, still trying to catch his breath. Fine, he’d said too much, and not for the first time. Well, maybe he’d been a little too sarcastic. And things had gotten a little out of control when Barb had started crying and throwing th
No Return U There
The notification woke Silvia up a couple of hours before dawn. Guillermo was still sleeping, and she moved carefully to keep from waking him up. Nothing on her phone. Good. Her siblings hadn’t been arrested, robbed, killed, and she didn’t need to rush to the rescue. Then what? She saw she’d left the tablet on and grabbed it, frowning. A DM? It was four AM on a Sunday in Argentina, and Jim had never written to her on his Saturday midnight. The message itself swept away any trace of sleep. “U there?” Her heart hammered her chest as she replied, “You okay?” She got out of bed and grabbed a blanket to tiptoe out of her room, cursing every second Jim took to answer. What could’ve happened to him? Was he alright? His second DM found her lighting a cigarette by the dining-room table. “Gimme a # 2 call u.” Shit! What happened? She sent him her number, the cigarette trembling between her fingers, and
No Return Under Pressure
Jim got back together with Barbara, but things were still on the mend when he left for Asia, and she didn’t want to travel with him. She argued they could use that time away, and missing each other would be good for them. He and Silvia had never mentioned the subject again, back to their task-of-the-week routine. However, it was plain to see that after Jim left, their game would depend on the tour’s tight schedule. So they agreed to post whatever they came across, be it writings, pictures, music, no task required. No Return left LA by the time spring managed to kick winter away from Patagonia. But on its way out, winter told spring about Macondo. And while it rained nonstop and everything was damp and muddy, and people asked each other what did a blue sky look like, Silvia found herself facing unexpected hard times. Her little brother entered an angry-teen stage that was a complete first for him, and Silvia wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. Mika had alwa
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Jim thought it was weird that she almost didn’t post anything but comments to what he uploaded, but he didn’t ask. They didn’t do asking.Silvia led a regular, ordinary life, and it was logical that he always had more news to share than her. So he kept updating the Hey, Jay!, knowing she followed him in her own way. Every day she would leave at least a few words to what he’d posted the day before; sometimes a question, sometimes only exclamation marks or a heart.She was his secret companion, going with him to every country, listening to every concert, walking about every city, trying every food, scolding him when he got out of line, laughing with his silliest jokes.Sometimes, when he was taking a picture for the Hey, Jay!, he would find himself already thinking its title as he took it, something smart to catch her attention. And more than once, waiting felt too long until he was left alone and free to update their blog
No Return Wish You Were Here
“Hey, dude, let’s go for a walk,” Sean said, ignoring the mayhem left in the room after the party. Jim didn’t seem to listen, cursing under his breath as he went through the phone menus. “Jimbo.” “Fuck!” “What’s up, man?” Sean grabbed a beer from the minibar on his way to his brother. “I can’t fucking find it! I deleted the DMs by mistake and now I can’t find the fucking number!” “You looking for a phone number?” “What’s the time in LA now?” Sean frowned, puzzled. “About four AM? Why?” Jim ignored his question. “So it’s seven AM in New York. One or two more hours. She should be already awake,” he muttered under his breath. Sean didn’t hear him do his math and asked, “You mean you lost Barbara’s number when we changed phones in Tokyo?” Jim frowned up at him. “What?” “Aren’t you looking for her number?” “Whose number?” “Barbara’s.” “Why the fuck would I wanna
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Silvia woke up to Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus.The sun was setting and she was alone in bed, tucked in soft sheets that smelled of lemon and the fat white comforter. Jim had left a few hours ago to let her rest, because after those weeks apart, it was plain to see she wouldn’t get any rest with him around.She’d fallen sound asleep, exhausted, and now she had the persistent feeling of being still lost in a dream. But she wasn’t. This was not the Black Rock. It was the Ashtray, her new home, and that music had to be a phone ringing.But not hers. She’d never used that song as a ringtone.She followed the music to the other nightstand, where she found a new phone still inside its open box with a red ribbon. And she laughed out loud when she grabbed it and saw the caller was My Personal J.“Hey, you awake?” Jim asked when she picked up, still chuckling.“Hey, you just woke me u
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Silvia left before her friends and siblings even registered what she was doing. One minute they were all toasting to her for the hundredth time in the bar, and the next minute she was hugging every one of them, telling them how much she loved them. And then she was gone, all alone.She walked down the street, gazing up at the sky, admiring the colors in those minutes before the early sunrise. Her feet didn’t need to consult with her brain to head straight to the downtown beach, walk down the stone steps and take her right up to the lake shore.She sat down on the cold pebbles and lit a cigarette, face to the east. It was her last sunrise of the only life she’d ever known. The last sunrise with her lake and her mountains. Like so many times before, she wished she could capture every little detail as far as her eyes could see, carve it all in her memory and keep it inside of her, true and unchanged, forever unfading.She watched the sun come up behind
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Silvia almost missed her flight, too absorbed staring at the tiny thing on the table before her.What on God’s green earth was that thing doing there, and in her keep?That white-gold band with a little, discreet diamond.An engagement ring.That frigging coward! Throwing it at her from ten feet away!But no matter the delivery method, Jim had given it to her.His mother’s, he’d said.Bring it back, he’d said.She felt lucky her brain was able to register the last boarding call. She looked up, startled, and jumped to her feet. She was about to hurry away when she remembered the ring. Actually, it was more like feeling a leash tugging at her neck, stopping her from walking away from the table.She spun around on her heels and scowled down at the damned thing.“You…” she growled.The moment she had it in her hand again, she realized how small and light it wa
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It was sort of weird. Being with Jim usually involved having people around, but now they were all alone, making their way through the usual crowd in LAX. Come to think about it, both of them loved having an active social life. Maybe that was why she hadn’t needed any major adjusting over the last ten days in LA.…?Silvia would’ve punched herself best Fight Club style. She had only minutes left with him and she was pondering about their social habits? Really?She checked in for her flight and they headed to the boarding area in no hurry.“So you think you can be back by January ten.”“Yup. I gotta report to work with Jo on the fifteenth, but I want a couple of free days before that.”They walked a whole minute in silence.Silvia wondered why all of a sudden they didn’t seem to have anything left to say. Why were they avoiding eye contact? Why did she feel like getting into the boarding
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“Hurry up or I’m calling a cab!”“Bet you’re dying to do it, you chicken.”“Please, Jay!”Silvia finished raiding the master bedroom one last time, to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything.“Jay!”“Coming.”She snorted and went to canvass the ground floor. She was just done when Jim came down the stairs in no hurry.“Can we go before I have a heart attack, milord?”“Cool down, woman, we have plenty of time,” he said, grabbing her duffel bag on his way to the front door, where she waited with her rucksack. He paused at the doorway to poke her nose. “Really, such a rush to leave me.”Silvia wasn’t about to explain she was always that upset whenever she had a bus or a plane to catch, so she just scowled at him and followed him out.“Got everything? Tickets, passport?”Silvia ch
