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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
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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
No Return Six Days Off
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
No Return Back Online
“You’ve been humming that song for days,” said Guillermo. “Want me to play some Pink Floyd?” Yeah, she’d been humming Wish You Were Here for three days already. It’d also been three days since her mood had finally improved, and she’d focused on helping her little sister get ready to leave. A couple of days later, she sat her little brother down to talk. She told him that if he wasn’t capable of keeping basic manners, she wouldn’t either and she would pretend he didn’t exist. After a whole week of ice treatment, forced to cook his own meals, do his own laundry, and being completely ignored, the boy gave up and agreed to restore diplomatic relations. Silvia cooked his favorite meal, did all his laundry and spent a couple of hours gaming with him. Truce was signed. Mika’s farewell party worked out just perfect, and Silvia hugged her little sister goodbye on a windy November morning, making the girl promise she would stay in touch often, not only if she
No Return Little Wing
But the year wasn’t quite over yet. Two days later, Jim updated the Hey, Jay! “Task of the week: the song to illustrate this year,” he wrote, followed by YouTube video. His post found Silvia at home with Paola and Claudia, like any other Friday night. Her friends saw her drop on her chair with the tablet in her hands, moving her lips without a sound. “What is it?” Paola asked, concerned. Silvia looked up at her, pointing at the tablet. Claudia stretched in her chair to see the screen and frowned. “What,” she said. “The— The song,” Silvia mumbled. “Yeah, Pearl Jam’s cover of Little Wing,” said Claudia. “So?” Paola narrowed her eyes, suspicious. “Jim?” she asked. Silvia managed to say a whole sentence before her voice broke. “His pick for a song to illustrate this year.” “And what’s wrong with it? It’s a hell of a song,” said Claudia. Paola kept her eyes on Silvia
No Return Honesty, Such a Lonely Word
Silvia had actually thought about a song for such a strange year before Jim came up with the task, because it was something she used to do every December, just for fun. But Jim’s pick shook everything up. Little Wing wasn’t just any song. And even though she’d tried to look confident and sure in front of her friends, she still didn’t know what to make of it. Yeah, it was the perfect picture of them in many ways, but it was the last song he should’ve sent her. Because it was true, both of them had been there for each other, and the song might also refer to that funny evening at the inn, drinking, singing, dancing. But no matter how many references and interpretations she might possibly find, Little Wing was a love song. Hendrix wasn’t singing about a friend but about someone he loved, be it his acid dealer, his favorite guitar or a woman. And a straight man dedicating such a song to a straight woman wasn’t talking about friendship but about love.
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