INFECTION 2.0

~ TWENTY ONE ~

Business at the restaurant was thankfully slow. By six-thirty or so it seemed clear that there wasn’t going to be a dinner rush and it would probably be alright if one of the wait-staff went home. Tandy, having come in early, volunteered. She wanted to get into her favorite sweat pants and tee-shirt, pour a glass of wine then fall asleep. She forgot all about Randy’s call earlier asking if he could stop by.

She pulled into the parking lot behind the apartment complex and stopped the car next to a taxicab. The only reason she really noticed was that cabs usually waited on the street. A glance at the vehicle showed her the driver looked like he was sleeping. Tandy kind of grinned to herself as she walked toward the building. Maybe he was hiding out and catching a nap.

As she stopped in the hallway, at the door to her place, she grinned again. She could hear a woman’s voice moaning and a steady thumping noise against the wall. The neighbor guy is getting lucky, she sang to herself as she put her key in the door. It never crossed her mind that the people she was hearing were in her living room. Not until she opened the door and stepped in. Shocked filled her as she noticed Randy and Carly. He stopped moving. Carly started sliding down the wall, so she unwrapped her legs from his waist. When her feet touched the ground is about the time the shock Tandy was feeling was replaced by rage.

“Son of a b***h,” nothing more than a whisper with a bitter edge.

She wanted to throw something, and she did. The only thing she had in her hand, her keys. They went wide of their mark and bounced harmlessly of the wall.

“Babe, it’s not what you think,” he tried to tell her.

Tandy was extremely disappointed with the results she felt from throwing the keys. Her hand found the table lamp.

“Get the f**k out of here!” she screamed as she hurled the object at them.

This, too, went wide of the target, shattering against the wall and showering the two with fragments of ceramic. Tandy looked for something else to throw. She found the remote control for the TV. He was still trying to plead with her, she continued to scream and curse at him. This time he had to duck, the remote busted open just above his head. Tandy reached around but found nothing else she could pick easily pick up. She stormed off to her bedroom, still screaming at him and crying until the slam of the door turned down the volume.

“Tandy!” he shouted, “You’re overreacting...” but Carly grabbing him by the hand-cut him off.

“Easy now, sugar, one fire at a time,” her sound was throaty as she eased up against his chest.

“Not now,” he snapped pushing her away.

The woman stumbled back hard enough to knock the television off the stand. Randy rushed to the closed bedroom door and pounded on it.

“Babe, open up, let me explain.”

From the other side, her voice shouted, “Go to hell! I never want to see you, again!” followed by more cursing as she called him every bad word she could think of.

“That’s not fair, Tandy!” he yelled at the door.