"Damnit! Glyn, where'd you go?" Marian asked. It was sometime around eleven or past then. She hadn't heard anything from Glyn all day. 'Maybe she called before I got back from work. That was later than usual…' She'd gotten home around six. 'I wonder if AJ abducted her. That's right, he kidnapped her. Or maybe they eloped.' "HAPPY BIRTHDAY GLYNDALYN!" she said loudly to no one in particular. "I hope you're having FUN! Oooh. I wonder if AJ has a cell phone… he does, doesn't he! He has to! Maybe I'll call AJ's cell phone and ask where the hell he and Glyn are. What's AJ's cell phone number? AJ, what's your number?" She decided to stop talking to herself. "That can't be healthy… all these conversations with no one. Stop it!" She hit the wall a few times. "I need AJ's phone number. Yes, I do… Then I'll…" How would she get AJ's cell phone number? 'I could call Brian. No! I could call Kevin. No, Kevin hates me. I can't call Howie because I don't know his phone number and that means I will have to call Brian. Damnit!' Of course she knew his phone number. She dialed it then uneasily drummed her fingers on the countertop. Ring. Ring. Ring. 'Stop it damnit! That sound is SO obnoxious!'
"Hello?" Why would anyone but Kevin be calling this late? And it wasn't Kevin because Kevin of course was already here.
"Um. Hey. This is Marian. I was, um, wondering if you knew where Glyn was. No! I want to know AJ's cell phone number. Please?" Jee, I sound smart.
"Oh. Hi Marian… AJ kind of called me a little while ago." Brian looked nervously at Audrey, who was sitting on a couch letting Kevin paint her fingernails on one hand (of course! Only one hand).
"Kind of?"
"Someone, uh.. took the phone. He said they were stuck somewhere, and then the batteries died."
"That's great. I mean, don't call to tell me or anything. Whoa, sorry." 'I'm tired. Go to bed Marian.'
"It's okay. If you still want his cell phone number I'll find it, but I think those scary kids probably have his phone now, if the batteries are working…"
"Oh. No thanks... What scary kids?"
"I dunno. Some girl stole his phone I guess…"
"Who's on the phone, honey?" Audrey asked sweetly.
"Um… Glyn's friend," he replied.
"Who's Glyn?" Audrey asked.
"Marian's friend. Um…" Now Audrey was going to be pissed. Oh well.
"Oh. Marian." Audrey frowned and looked closely at her fingernails.
"Um… I should go. I'll call if I hear anything from them." Now Kevin was glaring too.
"Okay. Bye." Marian said shortly and hung up. She frowned at the wall, then decided it was time to go to bed.
THE NEXT MORNING…
Marian turned on the TV sleepily.
"And the top story for this morning is there is a subway train stopped underground. We know that some of the cars have derailed and there is no electricity, but crews have not been able to reach them yet. It is estimated that they will be able to reach the train within the next hour, and we will keep you updated."
"Oh no." Marian stared at the TV screen unhappily.
Glyn woke up confused. Why was it still dark? Where was she? Oh yes, on the floor of a subway train.. somewhere underground. What a great birthday present. She sat up stiffly, accidentally smacking AJ, who was on the seat above her.
"You're awake!" AJ said happily.
"Sorry.." Glyn yanked her fingers through her tangled hair miserably.
"I wanna go home!!" Amber whined.
"Me too!" Kirsti chimed. "I'm hungry. I didn't eat yesterday."
"I don't remember when I last ate.." Jenni stated.
"Stupid!" Cassi smacked her. "AJ are you awake?!"
"AJ's sleeping, leave him alone." Glyn lied.
"He is NOT!" Kirsti squealed. "You're LYING!"
"Shut up." Glyn commanded. "What time is it?"
"7:04," Someone yelled.
"Thanks." Glyn sighed. "I will never go on another subway ever again if I get out of this stupid place alive…"
"You won't have to worry about that cause we're all going to die soon anyway." Jenni said cynically.
"Hey what's that noise?" AJ peered out the window. Were those.. lights?
"What noise?" Glyn asked tiredly. She heard obnoxious voices. "AJ, I'm going crazy. This is bad!"
"OHMYGOD!" a teenybopper shrieked. "Somebody's going to save us! I see somebody out there!"
"She's right!" the helpful voice who seemed to own a watch said in disbelief.
"Thank God," a few people muttered in unison.
"Yeah, AJ." Glyn smiled to herself. "Thanks."
Somewhere Else!
"Crap. I am going to be so late..." Marian said, staring at her hands unhappily. "Glyn, where are you, damnit?!" 'Maybe Glyn's on a derailed subway car,' she thought cynically, but didn't want to say it out loud. "I'm not going to work and... and no one can make me! Maybe Glyn will call. I'm staying here. I hate you!" she snarled at a person who was on TV then turned it off. The phone rang and Marian stared at it for a few seconds then scrambled to pick it up. "Hello?"
"Uh... Hey Marian, this is-"
"Brian..." AJ must have called him! "AJ must have called you!"
"Umm..." Brian looked around his kitchen nervously, hoping Audrey wouldn't wake up.
"Right? And-and ... he and Glyn stayed at his place last night, right?" She was practically begging.
"Well..." No, AJ hadn't called. Brian had seen something slightly disconcerting on the news earlier this morning and he'd wondered if AJ or Glyn had called Marian. 'That's a good enough excuse... er... reason to call,' he told himself. 'There's no other reason for calling.'
"Maybe not. That's okay, I'm sure they're just off frolicking somewhere. Everything's peachy. Sorry I was acting stupid last night."
"It's okay." Brian imagined he heard footsteps somewhere, and wondered if Audrey was awake. He continued somewhat more quietly. "Neither of them called me. I was just wondering if you'd heard from them but I guess not."
"No...."
"I called AJ's apartment earlier and no one picked up."
"Okay, that's great. You weren't by any chance watching TV this morning, were you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Then maybe you heard about the delayed subway train. And the derailed cars? Just wondering."
"Marian, don't worry. I'm sure they're fine," Brian insisted, trying to sound convincing. He heard voices outside. Hmm. Maybe he was going crazy.
"Yeah. Sure. ..." 'There's nothing else to say. Hang up before your meaningless short-lasting pointless infatuation gets the better of you and you can't stop babbling.' "Seeya." She hung up the phone. Brian missed her voice right away but was glad he hadn't been the one to say he had to stop talking. He went to check on Audrey. As he walked up the stairs he thought he heard a door shut but decided he really was going crazy and proceeded to his bedroom, which was empty. It was exactly as he'd left it before he'd gone downstairs. The door opened behind him. Brian looked quickly over his shoulder and saw Audrey standing in the doorway, then had a bright idea and looked out a window to see Kevin's car turn a corner and go out of sight. Of course.
"Brian sweetie!" Audrey looked terrified. "You-you're awake." Normally, she went for a drive with Kevin every morning. Brian never woke up this early!
"Yeah. Is everything okay?" Brian tried to sound like he really cared. He kissed Audrey's forehead gently and sat on the bed.
"Yeah. Kevin and I were out driving," Audrey said softly. She noticed that Brian looked hurt. "Um... We were ... talking. About Nick."
"Oh." Brian vaguely remembered not seeing Audrey when he woke up. How could he not have noticed that she wasn't there?
"Any news about AJ?"
"No."
"He's probably fine, Brian. You know how Kevin always says AJ is. He can be spontaneous-"
"I know. Glyn's with him." Brian tried not to sound irritated.
"Glyn? Oh, that girl. Isn't she the one who lives in a nasty apartment?" she asked disinterestedly.
"They moved before Christmas," Brian said flatly.
"They?"
"She and her roommate. Marian." Audrey could tell Brian was getting angry.
"Whatever. Honey, you haven't talked about either of them for so long..." It was more a question than a statement. Brian went to sleep.
An Hour Later
"I'm so glad to be out of there!" Glyn said cheerily, happy to be out in the fresh air.
"Me too. I wish that freaky little kid hadn't taken my cell phone..."
"It's okay." Glyn looked around restlessly. "It's our birthday."
"Yeah, it is. Sorry I decided to go on the subway last night."
"No, it was my idea."
"It was not! It was mine."
"No, mine. Happy birthday."
"Same to you! Wanna get breakfast somewhere?" AJ was hungry. "Like McDonald's?"
"Somewhere sounds great, but not McDonald's!" Glyn laughed. "Hey... Was Maggie Robinson there all night?"
"I guess. She didn't say much, did she."
"Wonder why..." Glyn mused.
"Maybe she passed out."
"That would be too bad." 'Why am I talking about stuff I don't care about? I'm avoiding something. What is it?' Glyn wondered. AJ pulled his hat further over his eyes and waved at a taxi. It stopped and they got in. AJ said the name of some restaurant Glyn had never heard of to the driver.
"Where are we going?" she asked curiously. She stole AJ's hat and pulled it over her hair, which was suffering from having spent more than 24 hours without having been brushed. AJ shrugged. Glyn grabbed his wrist and glared at him. "AJ, I've been trapped in a confined space with four teenyboppers, Maggie Robinson and you for about nine hours. I'm feeling potentially murderous and I suggest you tell me." She couldn't help laughing at how severe she sounded.
"Nine hours. Must have been horrible," AJ said sympathetically. Without looking away from Glyn's eyes he took her other wrist and kissed the palm of her hand. "Did...you have any time for, ah, thinking?" He knew Glyn knew exactly what he meant.
"Well. I thought about it a little..." Glyn replied carefully, smiling shyly. "And I wondered what I had to consider in the first place." AJ was surprised. He let go of Glyn's hand and looked at her seriously.
"Are you sure?" At that moment the driver turned around a corner fast and AJ, who had neglected to wear a seatbelt, was flung against Glyn's side. "Damnit! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. You?" Glyn decided she liked sitting smashed against AJ. She put her arm around his neck to ensure that he wouldn't be moving.
"Great," he mumbled dreamily, staring into her eyes. Glyn smiled comfortably and kissed him. A few minutes later the driver drummed his fingers on the dashboard very impatiently. He'd been sitting at the requested restaurant for a while and the couple in the back had made no move to leave. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and he hated to interrupt but he had other customers. The sound of the car horn finally got their attention.
"Tell me where we're going to eat," Glyn demanded again.
"It's just this place I've been to a few times." AJ twirled a strand of her hair.
"We should go. I bet the driver's really pissed." As if on cue, the horn blared again. AJ tossed some money at the driver and got out, then extended a hand to Glyn. She put her hand in his and stepped out of the car then gave AJ his hat and followed him into the restaurant.
AJ and Glyn didn't want to stick around too long after they'd eaten. They were starting to get some strange stares from people. AJ paid quickly and they walked outside.
"Where d'ya wanna go now?" he asked, hoping no one would follow them.
"Um. Wherever. I need to brush my hair." Glyn shrugged. She liked being out doing nothing. It was better than hanging aimlessly around her apartment doing nothing.
"Let's go buy a hair brush!" AJ declared. Glyn laughed and agreed. After they searched for a suitable hair brush for a good hour or so and purchased it, they were walking down a street somewhere when Glyn saw a tiny grey kitten sitting by a trashcan. She stuffed her new hair brush in her pocket and picked it up.
"What's that?" AJ looked closely at the kitten.
"It's a cat, stupid." She smiled benevolently at him, stroking the kitten's head. "It's cute."
"It's dirty. But it's cute. What are you going to do with it?"
"I don't know... I'd like to keep it but I'm really allergic to cats." Glyn shrugged sadly. "We could take it to an animal shelter and then look at all the cute cats and dogs."
"Sure, why not." AJ would have kept the kitten but Muffie and Miffie would gang up on it and tear it apart. They could be downright savage when they felt like it. They spent more than an hour wandering around trying to find an animal shelter, giving Glyn a lot of sneezing fits and time to name the kitten, even though she wasn't keeping it. She had a hard time choosing between Miffie II and Mogget (a name from a book) and at the risk of offending God, decided on the latter.
---
"Hey! Look at this dog!" Glyn had been rather depressed for a few minutes after saying goodbye to Mogget but when she saw a huge greyish-colored Great Dane staring worshipfully at her, she forgot all else. "Hello!!" she cooed, reaching into the pen to stroke the dog's head. "How are you? What's your name? Mine's Glyn. I think you're adorable."
"It's ... ummm... cute!" AJ preferred smaller dogs.
"Yes he is! He's soooo cute!!" Glyn murmured, scratching the dog's ears. "He doesn't have a name."
"He's big," AJ observed.
"Yes he is! His name.... his name is Spike." Glyn smiled at the sound of the name. It fit the dog perfectly. "Spike Spike Spike!"
"Spike..." AJ thought the name fit the dog very well. "He's so big."
"I love him," Glyn decided happily.
"Spike, like the dinosaur in The Land Before Time?"
"Yes!" Glyn stared happily into Spike's big brown eyes. "I love this dog..."
"You just said that," AJ pointed out.
"Aww, are you jealous?" Glyn looked up at him jokingly. "I love you too. I'm getting this dog!"
"Do they allow dogs in your building?" AJ couldn't bring himself to hate the dog, but he didn't see what Glyn loved about it so much.
"Yeah..." Glyn muttered distractedly, looking around for a phone. "There's a pay phone around here somewhere."
"Over there." AJ pointed at it and handed her some change.
"Thanks!" Glyn and Marian had talked about getting a dog a lot recently, since their old apartment building hadn't allowed pets. She fed the right amount of money to the pay phone and dialed her phone number. The phone hadn't even rung once before Marian picked up.
"Hello?" She sounded as if she hadn't slept for a few days and was staying awake by means of about a year's supply of caffeine.
"Hi Mari! What's up?" There was silence for a few seconds.
"Glyn.... Glyn, is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me. You don't sound right, Mari," she said worriedly.
"Where in the HELL have you been?" Marian demanded quietly, sounding more like herself. Glyn suddenly realized how worried she must have been. 'Oh, damnit. Shit shit SHIT! How could I have forgotten to call all day? I didn't even call yesterday. How could I do that?!' She didn't say anything. "Glyn, I'm not trying to sound like your mother but-"
"I was stuck on a subway car all night and me and AJ have just been mucking around doing nothing all day-" Glyn looked at a clock on the wall. It was around 3:00 now.
"So you're not dead? Your mangled body isn't lying somewhere in a derailed subway car? You're still planning on coming back sometime?" Marian was so relieved it made her even angrier.
"Mari, I'm so sorry-"
"I know the batteries in AJ's cell phone were dead but you could have called this morning," she spat. "I've been here all day waiting for you to either call or come back."
"Marian, I-"
"Shove it, Glyn!" She slammed the phone down. 'Oh, shit!' Glyn thought. 'I can't believe I completely forgot about calling her. But wait! What about Spike? I have to call back! She's going to be so angry....' Wincing, Glyn decided to call collect.
"1-800-C-A-L-L-A-T-T," Glyn chanted quietly. She chewed nervously on her lip.
"What is it?" Marian asked irately, sounding much calmer.
"I'm sorry."
"That's damn nice."
"Do you want a dog?"
"As always," Marian replied. She and Glyn had agreed jointly that they would get a dog sometime.
"I'm sorry, Mari."
"Is that all?"
"Bye," Glyn mumbled dejectedly and hung up.
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