TWENTY-ONE
The elevator doors slid open on the fourth floor of the vacant apartment building and the two women lugged out a 16mm camera, sound booms, and lighting arrays piece by piece into the hallway. Outside the rain had let up, but tthe air inside the complex was damp and musty. There was no smell of people.
"I bet Lina Wertmueller never had to schlep her gear." Sherri opened the front door to their apartment, glad to have not strained her back lifting the equipment.
"Maybe when she started in the business." Lena grabbed the reflectors. They were light.
"I bet even then she had a crew." Sherri lifted the camera, feeling a tweak in her bicep. She hadn't been to the gym in several weeks. "Go get your man from nowhere to help us."
Lena had forgotten the man's name and yelled out, "Hey."
No one answered her call and for the briefest of moments she feared the man might be lurking in the shadows to attack them. She turned on the lights. The only signs of his previous presence were the washed dishes and the telephone on the floor. She remembered his name.
"Sean." Once more no answer and she to the back bedroom. The sheets were stripped off the bed. His black suit hung in the closet. The wallets were on the floor. His bag was next to the door. It looked like he was coming abck, but she couldn't be sure and Lena cursed all men, as Sherri called out, "Is he coming or not?"
Lena braced herself on the doorjamb and hyperventilated in anticipation of Sherri's rage. They had rented cameras, blocked out the crew's time, and reserved rooms in a Death Valley hotel based on Lena's intuition and her choice for the man from nowhere had done a runner. This was a disaster and Lena returned to the front door, where Sherri impatiently demanded, "Is he on strike?"
"No, he's not here right now,” Lena stated with her eyes lowered to the floor.
"What do you mean he's 'not here’?” Sherri stood with both hands on her hips and her head tilted back, as if Lena might be joking.
"I think he's gone out."
"Where?” Sherri couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had spent over $10,000 to get this shoot together.
"I don't know. He didn't leave a note,” Lena replied, emotionally preparing for the storm about to burst from Sherri.
"I should have known better.” Sherri clenched her hands and swore, "Goddamnfuckingmenbastardsbastardsbastards."
"He'll be back,” Lena said, attempting to touch Sherri.
The older woman knocked away her arm and guilted her young lover by saying, "And how do you know that?"
"He left all his things behind.” Lena bent over to lift up several cans of 16mm film.
Sherri watched for the several seconds before shouting. "Left what behind? A dirty suit and some stolen wallets. I trusted your judgment and now your man has blown town and I'm stuck with paying for a crew and rentals."
"He'll be back,” Lena repeated, though Sherri had more reason to be right than she did.
"Of course, he'll come back to fuck you." Sherri sniped viciously, her jealousy erupting after being held in check the last day. "That was what this was all about anyway."
"Stop, please.” Lena pleaded, ready to turn on her heels, ready to run.
"Why should I? I saw how he was looking at you and how you were looking at him? I'm not stupid.” Sherri snapped without thinking about how it sounded.
"I didn't do anything.” Lena protested with a pitiful gulp, then bunched her hands into fists and pounded the wall. "I did nothing. Nothing at all."
Seeing Lena cry evaporated the sea of Sherri's rage. She might be wrong, but no film was more important than Lena's feelings and the older woman restrained Lena with a tender embrace. "Stop it, Lena. It's not the end of the world. We'll find another man from nowhere."
"We never will. It took us three months to find one who didn't want to be in a film."
"We'll find another. I'll call the ones you suggested, maybe one of them is free."
"None of them were right."
"One of them had to be."
"This man was perfect."
"But he's gone."
"Maybe not."
"So we wait, until he shows up. What if he doesn't come tomorrow?"
"He'll come."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because you're right about the way I looked at him,” Lena admitted, putting two fingers over her lips before kissing the older woman, not out of love, but from an unspoken understanding that two people together was not such a small thing in these days. However content Sherri was to hold Lena, she still had to say, "As much as I love you, I think the chances of this man from nowhere showing up are nil."
"How much you want to bet?” Lena demanded with all the confidence of someone who believes in her intuition more than the facts.
"Not how much, but what?” Sherri whispered the stake in her lover's ear. The young girl laughed and said, "But I want you that."
Neither woman questioned the spontaneous outburst of laughter and after all the equipment was inside the apartment, the door shut, leaving the deserted hallway to the reigning quiet, since whatever what went on behind the closed doors was only for the two women and God, though only if he deigned to watch such private acts. For him it was free of charge.
No comments:
Post a Comment