Shadowland by Radclyffe

Author:Radclyffe
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: ! Yes
ISBN: 9781933110110
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2005-11-15T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

SILENCE SURROUNDED THEM as Kyle pushed Nancy’s sleek Ferrari through the tight turns of the darkened highway. They had met back at their table an hour or so after going off separately and had left shortly thereafter. The good-byes exchanged between the four women had been formal and terse. Nancy, for once, had been strangely subdued.

“Cigarette?” she asked Kyle finally.

Kyle reached automatically into her jacket pocket and pulled out two. She handed one across to Nancy, who lit both of theirs.

“You quit,” Kyle said after a moment.

Nancy smiled slightly as she softly blew out a thin stream of swirling smoke. “I think I just started again.”

“You okay?”

Nancy nodded. “Weird. But okay. You?”

Kyle laughed without humor. “No, but I’ll tell you about it some other time.” Her emotions were still too raw and painful to put into words. She knew she had to be alone with them awhile before she shared them, even with Nancy.

Nancy accepted Kyle’s silence, knowing her friend’s deep sense of privacy. She, however, wanted to talk.

“Is it always like that?” she began at last.

“Like what?”

“So intense—so exposed. I mean, I felt like I didn’t have a private thought.”

Kyle laughed grimly. “That whole place is designed to strip away privacy. The people don’t count—just the sensations. No, it’s not always like that. I’ve never been anywhere like that before. Believe it or not, Nance, it’s usually the same for us as it is for you. A lot of strangers trying to find one face, one soul, they recognize in a crowd.”

Nancy looked at Kyle quickly, concerned by the hollowness in her voice.

“What the hell happened to you in there?” she asked sharply.

“I found out I was just another person who didn’t count,” Kyle said tightly.

“I don’t think so, my friend,” Nancy replied softly.

Kyle looked at her, her anger suddenly surfacing. “How would you know? To you people are just bodies anyhow, right? You said it yourself—men or women, it doesn’t matter. It’s just another experience.”

“Not fair, Kyle. You’re not just another body, and neither is poor old Roger, for that matter.”

Kyle sighed and pulled the car to a stop in Nancy’s driveway. “I’m sorry, Nance. It’s not your fault. You were just catching the bad end of my anger.”

Nancy reached over and touched her friend’s arm. “I know. Come on, let’s go sit on the deck, look at the stars and get drunk.”

“Sounds perfect,” Kyle said tiredly as she followed Nancy up the stairs. She sat in a lounge chair and watched the sky revolve overhead while Nancy got them something to drink. She shivered, but she knew the chill came from somewhere inside herself. The breeze from the sea was actually quite warm. She feared the cold within would turn her heart to stone, but she didn’t know how to stop it. Her tears fell softly in the darkness, unnoticed, until she felt Nancy’s fingers lightly on her cheeks.

“Tell me, sweetheart. What is it?” Nancy murmured gently, sitting softly on the end of Kyle’s chair.

Kyle reached for the glass in Nancy’s hand and swallowed deeply before speaking.

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