Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Arthur - Time with the boyfriend

You guys complaining about your current situation should take a long, hard look at the ratio between people and beds where you live. It's definitely 2:1 here, and it's far from a comfortable situation. Raymond hasn't tried to jump my bones yet, but how long is that going to last?

In a way, it's odd that he hasn't, really. I mean, the way I figure it, I arrived at the Trading Post back on August 22nd. The inn seems to rent its rooms in two-week blocks, so Liz might have been there as early as the 8th. Even if we assume that she and Ashlyn didn't show up until a week later, just eating half of their reservation - and from the financial situation Jake describes, I can't really see Ashlyn being in a position to do that, unless she just grabbed the extra room opportunistically because Raymond couldn't go. That could be it; Raymond seems to be a busy guy and Ashlyn seems to be the type of girl who would just grab the opportunity. Still, assume they got there the 15th. She changes soon after - that's why she kept calling, right, figuring we'd change right away - so there's no Elizabeth of any sort, period, until a week after I get there and change. Then I hang around there for a few days, avoid spending any time in bed with him... So it's been almost a month since Raymond and Elizabeth have slept together, and I've turned into a fairly cute girl.

Not that I want him to show any sexual interest in me; I just think it's kind of odd. There doesn't seem to be any problem with his and Elizabeth's relationship. We finally had some time to spend together this weekend, and he seems like a nice enough guy. He picked me up after I finished my Saturday-afternoon shift (I hadn't even realized he had a car), drove us to a nice little restaurant somewhere south of Boston proper, and talked about the week. Apparently he's getting absolutely slammed at work, in part because one of the cases the firm is working on is a local publisher's dispute with a Korean printer, and the firm wants him involved in conference calls at all hours because he speaks the language. I ask him how long that's going to last, and he thinks it'll be another couple of weeks. Good for me, I guess, although rough on him.

The food was delicious, and afterward we had a nice walk through the center of town, doing a little window shopping. Lots of small talk, and when we got back to Cambridge, I was pretty pooped. I was a little nervous when he got into bed with me, but he was a perfect gentleman. If he noticed I was incredible tense, he didn't mention it, and just let me have my side of the bed. The next night was similar, even after a lazy Sunday working on the Globe and Times crosswords together. We also watched the Red Sox game together. I think I managed to not look ignorant, although apparently even die-hard fans of the team can look ignorant right now.

I don't seem to have aroused any suspicion, which is good, I guess. I'm not making much progress on finding out how to be myself again, but I don't seem to be messing up Ms. Lee's life any. Still, it's kind of frightening that I can just be dropped into her life and pull it off just because I now look and sound like her. She and Raymond seem to have been together a long time; you'd think he'd know instinctively that something was amiss. But he doesn't. That's kind of sad, I think.

-Art

Oh, BTW - Jake, Vinny: Raymond seldom uses his car during the week, just taking the "T" into work. Either of you up for a quick road trip to Old Orchard to maybe talk to the Inn's current residents in person, maybe see if there's something we can sniff out? It's not even a hundred miles away.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps you guys aren't alone in your situation. Maybe Raymond isn't quite himself either --> http://transplantedlife.blogspot.com/

:-)

Anonymous said...

I'd love to join you guys on the roadtrip back to the cabin and see if we can find a way out of this mess. I just don't know if Brianna can get away from home. I'm... grounded.