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Wash Away

Author: Monica Prelooker
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56

The gentle poke kicked her back from her private idaho of bitterness and despair to reality. She looked up to find a young man frowning down at her from under the peak of his baseball cap, looking halfway between concerned and not quite convinced about what he was doing.

She tried to move away from him but the wall behind her cut her way, so she nodded, glancing at the end of the hall.

The young man studied her as she stood up slowly, her back still to the wall. His eyes were dark in the shadow of his cap and he set his square, firm jaw, stepping back when she tried to come out of the gap.

“I’m fine,” she muttered, annoyed at his attention, wiping her nose on the back of her wrist.

She wanted to go to the ladies’, but he was in her way. So she kept her head down and just brushed past him.

The soft click when she locked the restroom door made her feel safe from new disruptions. She rested against it for a moment, trying deep shaky breaths. Thank God the old man had left the place squea
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  • No Return   Two Coffees

    He dropped himself on the couch, still swearing black and blue. They could go to hell, the coffee machine and the fan. He was so pissed, he didn’t bother to check if his phone had any thread of coverage. As if.He’d downloaded his emails at the airport, so he thought he could kill some time reading them. He brought his legs up to the couch and turned his back to the waiting room and the rest of the frigging universe.The third email made him smile. It was from the head of the LA Squad. As usual, she wanted to know when they would be back home, so she could put up a signing with the local soldiers. She was a funny mental case that followed them since before their first album, and she never abused her privilege of direct communication with him.Even though he wouldn’t be able to send his reply unless he found a way back to civilization, he started typing it. Until something blocked the light. He glanced up to find the fan standing right in front of him, handing out a steamy paper cup to

  • No Return   Nothing Personal

    The family had improvised beds with chairs and they were all sound asleep, wrapped up in their coats and jackets. The old man was done cleaning and gone—Silvia pictured him sleeping in some small backroom, to an old record player spinning a Sinatra album.At the hall, she showed Jay how to make the coffee machine work. His triumphant grin when he was able to get his own coffee made her chuckle again.“This fucking junk made me sweat for nothing,” he said, and glanced at Silvia. “If you forgive my French.”She pretended to be shocked and crossed herself. Jay narrowed his eyes, raising only one eyebrow.They were still suffocating their giggles as they tiptoed across the waiting room back to their corner.As they sat back down, Silvia thought that it looked like both of them had decided to put behind their rough start, acknowledging it’d be easier to bear the situation together.“So, Argentina,” Jay said. “Buenos… Aires? Heard it’s a big city.”“Yeah, too big for my guts.”“You don’t li

  • No Return   The Guitar

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  • No Return   Love & Hate

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  • No Return   Just a Hit

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  • No Return   Ten Less

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  • No Return   Help Marching On

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  • No Return   The Bruises

    Hearing his brother’s voice felt like the best thing that had happened to him in ages. He told him about his situation and his brand new plan to leave the bus station in three or four hours.“I’ll call you when I get to town.”“You’re gonna have to spend the night there, ‘cause I can’t go get you right now. They warned us the road to town is flooded.”“Don’t worry, bro. I’ll wait for you.”“Hope you have some fun, ‘cause you’re missing it big here, man. Jo brought Fay and some more girlfriends along, and we’ve been partying around the clock ever since they got here.”Jay chuckled. “Sons of bitches. Tell those babes I expect a nice welcome.” He saw Silvia coming. “Gotta go now, bro.”“Take care, bastard.”Jay disconnected and handed out the latte to her with a bright grin, telling her the breaking news.She took a moment to reply, surprised to see his eyes were actually blue, clear and pale like water. “That’s great, Jay! You’ll be on your way in a while!”“Hell yeah! Can’t fucking bel

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  • No Return   True Freedom

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  • No Return   Yours

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  • No Return   The Ashtray

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  • No Return   Storm Alert

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  • No Return   December

    Tobias and Leandro had done their best to clean up the Black Rock before Silvia came back home. And the outcome made her smile, because the house was squeaky-clean and smelling of flowers. They were surprised to see Mika there too, but Silvia’s look kept them from asking any questions.Knowing the siblings needed time alone for their reunion, Leandro left for Beltane, to have dinner with Claudia. At the Black Rock, Mika went to the supermarket, to restock the fridge with something that wasn’t trash food and make dinner for the three of them.The moment she walked out, Tobias asked Silvia what had happened to their sister to make her lower that proud head of hers, admit her fail and come back home. It was just natural he would take mortal offense when he learned why Mika was actually back. But Silvia would have none of it.“I’m telling you the same I told your sister,” she said. “You don’t want me to keep treating you guy

  • No Return   Lil' Sister

    It’d been six months since Silvia had last seen Mika, and one look was enough to tell her all her little sister had been keeping from her.Rob and Juan had planned a Saturday night out after dinner, but Silvia resorted to the such-a-long-flight excuse to stay behind.“Would you lend me a hand with the dishes?” she asked Mika.The others understood and took off, leaving the sisters alone.“I thought Lorena was coming too,” Silvia said as they picked up everything from the table.Mika hesitated, found her sister’s eyes and shrugged. “We broke up.”“Oh. You never mentioned it.”“It happened three days ago. I didn’t wanna write to you about it. It was your last days with Jim, and I knew we were meeting today.”They took everything to the kitchen and Silvia asked Mika to make mate while she did the dishes. The girl knew better than trying to beat

  • No Return   The Thing

    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

  • No Return   Catch

    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

  • No Return   Jam

    “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

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