Stockholm Syndrome

We were sitting around the table at home eating the red velvet cake Natalia baked. Natalia had changed into a sweater and shorts and had taken all her make-up off.

“You have to admit, you make a killer cake,” I say, trying to cheer her up.

“I think I’m just going to go to bed. I’m sorry I ruined your birthday,” she says sadly.

“Nat, you didn’t ruin it. I can definitely say it’s a night I won’t forget,” I smile. She hugs me and heads down the hall to her room.

“And then there were two,” I say to Sidney. He smiles and tells he’ll be right back. He comes back a couple minutes with silver wrapped gift.
I unwrap it and read the cover.
About Time by Adam Frank. Adam Frank was a theoretical astrophysicist and this book is about cosmic and human concepts of time. Aside from virology I had taken numerous astronomy classes and had even considered at point switching and getting my astronomy degree.

“So you do listen to my rants,” I smile.

“I do,” he chuckles. “Okay time for the next one. He holds out his hand and I take it. He leads me to the back door and gestures for me to open it. Confused I open the door and there’s a large black telescope on the porch.

“Oh my god Sidney it’s beautiful,” I say shocked. I lean down and look into the telescope. The night was clear and the stars above Pittsburgh were shining brightly.

“How much was it?” I ask.

“You don’t want to know,” he replies smiling. This was the same type of telescope we had at the university.

“One more,” he says handing me an envelope. I open the envelope and take out the certificate. It reads:

The star with the coordinates
RA: 15h17m31.2s DEC: 31°17m31.6s
Was successfully entered into the star-naming registry.
This star has been named
Phoenix Crosby
If you’ll be my star, I’ll be your sky

I look at Sidney and he looks embarrassed.

“I know it’s not legit with NASA or anything but I thought it was a nice thought,” he says coyly.

“Sidney it’s wonderful. I can’t believe you named a star after me,” I say smiling. I limp over to him and kiss him gently on the lips. I pull away after a moment and go back to the telescope. I adjust it for a few minutes and look up the coordinates. After awhile I find the star shining dimly.

“There, the one in very middle,” I tell him and trade spots. He looks in the telescope and I see a smile spread across his face.

“So cool,” he replies. I yawn and stretch. “You think you’re up for one more surprise?” he asks. I nod and we head inside. We go upstairs and I notice our bedroom door is closed.

“Go ahead,” he tells me. I walk in and I’m shocked. The walls are all pained black. On one of the walls has ‘happy birthday Phoenix’ written in chalk.
“It’s just like back home,” I say quietly. I turn to look at him and I feel myself wanting him. He leans down and kisses me and I moan in his mouth. Our kiss deepens and I press my body against his. I feel his erection against my hip and I pull away to undress him. He takes off his jacket and I unbutton his shirt. He unbuckles his belt and strips off the rest of his clothes. He grabs the bottom of my dress and I lift my arms up. He gets it off and in one swift motion and I unclasp my bra and step out of my underwear. We stand there naked in front of each other waiting for someone to make the next move.

“Are you ready?” he asks me. I nod and he steps forward and picks me up. He sets me down on the bed and climbs on top of me. He kisses me passionately and I find myself lost in the kiss. I feel Sidney’s hand between my thighs to see how ready I was. I had waited so long for this moment and my body craved him. He lined up with me and slowly eased into me. I adjust to his size quickly and he starts off at a slow and steady pace. I bite his neck and his picks up his speed. I feel my body temperature rising and I kiss Sidney feverishly. I reach down and start rubbing my clit and I feel myself getting close. I feel Sidney’s hot breath on my neck and I’m soon lost in a wave of pleasure. A few thrusts later, Sidney growls and I feel him spasm overtop of me. Careful not to collapse on top of me, he pulls out and falls beside me.

“Did I hurt you?” he asks worriedly.

“No babe. That was amazing,” I say smiling. I push back the sweaty hair on his forehead and he closes his eyes.

The next afternoon, me and Sidney are eating lunch when Natalia comes in the kitchen. She’s wearing sweatpants and her eyes are red.

“Nat, what’s wrong?” I ask her.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to ruin you lunch. I just came for water,” she replies. She grabs a bottle from the fridge and heads back to her room. I look at Sidney and he just shrugs. I grab my crutches and make my way towards her bedroom. She’s sitting on her bed staring at her phone.

“Hey buddy, what’s going on?” I ask her in Swedish.

“He dumped me,” she responds despondently.

“Ethan dumped you? Over last night?” I ask.

“He said he really likes me but he can’t be in a relationship with me because I have feelings for someone else.”

“What did you say?”

“I tried to tell him he’s crazy but he’s right. I’ve been lying to myself. I’m still in love with Carl.” Finally she admits it.

“So what now?”

“Nothing. Carl’s with Erica. I pushed him right back to her. After everything Carl and I have been through I don’t see us ever getting back together.” She starts to cry and I wrap my arms around her. We stay there for a while until I see her wipe her nose. I get up and grab a tissue and wipe her tears.

“Here’s a plan, we make Sidney go and buy us a bunch of junk food, we drink wine and watch Grey’s Anatomy,” I tell her. She smiles weakly and I lead her into the den. I send Sidney out and I grab a bottle of wine and glasses and start playing the show. Natalia cuddles up next to me and we spend the rest of the afternoon watching Netflix.

It was around suppertime when the doorbell rang. Natalia had fallen asleep but didn’t stir when Bobbie walked in.

“Hey what’s up?” I ask him.

“Just came to chill. Is she okay?” he asks. Bobbie was used to Natalia being glammed up. Today she was in sweats, her hair in a messy bun and no make-up.

“Her and Ethan broke up.”

“Over last night?” I nod. “Man that’s rough. You know I really liked Nat and Carl together. Him and Erica are annoying.”

“I don’t mind Erica as a person but personally I think Nat and Carl should be together,” I agree.

“We should break them up,” Bobbie says, his eyes lighting up.

“No Bobbie, that’s a terrible idea.”

“Maybe Carl and Erica aren’t meant to be together and the universe needs our help making it happen.” I look down at my sleeping best friend. I hated seeing her upset but could I really live with myself if I broke them up. I think back to Sidney and Kathy and how I no problem breaking them up. I start feeling guilty and shake the thought from my head.

“I’m not getting involved,” I tell him sternly.

“Fine.”

“That means you’re not getting involved either,” I warn.

“Okay, okay.” He says putting his hands up.
A few days later, Natalia and Bobbie came to the doctor with me. I got my nose cast taken off and my leg cast was also coming off. The doctor sawed through the cast and had me stretch my leg. They had me wear a walking boot but I still had to use the crutches. I look in the mirror at my face and the bruising was gone, all I was left with was a thin white scar.

“You look amazing Nix,” she says smiling. She had been moping around the house ever since Ethan broke up her so I was happy I could convince her to leave the house.

“I almost don’t recognize you without the cast and the black eyes,” Bobbie jokes.

“I won’t be ashamed to take pictures with fans anymore,” I reply. We head to Consol where the Penguins would be playing the Blackhawks.

“Are you sure you’re okay being here?” I ask Natalia for the tenth time.

“Yes Phoenix. I’m fine,” she replies annoyed. We find our seats and I text Vero telling her I’ll see her after the game. The Penguins lead 2-1 after two periods. Bobbie leaves to get more beer and Natalia takes a call.

“Was that work related?” I ask after her call ended.

“Yeah. This lady wants me to do a sweet sixteen but I’m not really in the planning mood,” she replies. Bobbie gets back and the final period starts. The penguins go on the penalty kill and Carl gets the puck. He skates down the ice on a breakaway and gets it passed the goalie five hole. All three of us stand up and I hug Bobbie. I look at Natalia and she looks embarrassed. She sits back down and takes a large sip of her beer. The penguins win 3-2 and me and Natalia head up to the wives box. I catch up with Catherine and Vero while Natalia catches up with some of the girlfriends. I see Erica standing there and I make my way over to her.

“Quite the game hey?” I say to her.

“Yeah that goal was great. I’m really proud of him. Where were you sitting?” she asks.

“I was with Bobbie and Natalia and they’re not wives or girlfriends so I just sat in the stands with them,” I reply. She looks over at Natalia who’s laughing candidly with some of the girls.

“They all miss her,” Erica says sadly. I immediately feel bad for the blonde standing in front of me.

“Shall we go?” Natalia asks, coming up to us, ignoring Erica.

“Sure. I’ll talk to you later Erica,” I say smiling. We say goodbye to the wags and head towards to parking lot.

“Does Sid know you’re with us?” Bobbie asks.

“Yeah I told him I’d meet him at home,” I reply and we head home.

“Good game,” I tell Sidney as he walks in.

“Look at you, you look beautiful,” he says kissing my nose.

“I know. Estelle isn’t scared of me anymore,” I laugh.

“How’s the boot?”

“Way comfier. I still have to use the stupid crutches though,” I say scrunching my nose.

“Where is everyone?” he asks.

“Bobbie and Natalia are in the den watching TV.”

“So I’m guessing you don’t want to go upstairs?”

“They’re our company,” I reply smiling.

“It’s Bobbie and Natalia. One’s living here, one eats all our food and basically lives here. I wouldn’t call them company.” I shake my head and lead him to the den where we all finally decide to watch Gone Girl.

I’m in the kitchen the next day reading when I hear the front door open.

“Hello?” I call out.

“Hey it’s me,” I hear Carl yell back. He comes in the kitchen and grabs a bottle of water from the fridge. “It’s quiet here.”

“Sidney is at optional skate, which you know. Bobby’s at your place which you also know and Natalia left somewhere,” I reply.

“You said you wanted to talk?

“Yeah about you and Erica. How serious are you guys?”

“Why?” he asks, taking a bite of an apple.

“Because I don’t want you to break her heart. She really has feelings for you and it’s not fair for you to string her along.”

“Why do you think I’m stringing her along?”

“Because I know you didn’t just get over Natalia overnight,”

“Look Natalia broke my heart. She was going to go behind my back and make a life-changing decision without me then broke up with me. I’ve moved on,” he says, his voice rising.

“Why are you getting so worked up?”

“Because this is a stupid conversation!”

“Erica deserves to be more than to be a rebound. You need to face the facts. You still have feelings for Natalia whether you like it or not,”

“Who’s fucking side are you on?”

“I just don’t want anyone getting hurt and right now that’s happening to all three of you,” I say calmly.

“Earth to Phoenix, you’re not God. We’re not all chess pieces in your little game,”

“Calm down. I was just being realistic.” I say annoyed.

“I am so done with this conversation,” he says angrily. He turns around and leaves and I put my head in my hands. I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved and now here I am. Natalia’s hurting. Carl’s angry and Erica is probably going to get her heartbroken. I go upstairs to lie down and rest my racing mind.
I feel the bed shift under me. I turn and see Sidney lying there facing me.

“You look upset,” he says quietly.

“I meddled in people’s lives today and it got messy,” I reply.

“That tends to happen.”

“I just want to help but I feel like I’m making it worse.”

“Is this about the Carl and Natalia situation?” I nod and tuck my hair behind my ear. “You should just let things work out for themselves.”

“But what if they work out the wrong way?”

“Well if it works out that way, maybe the wrong way is the right way?”

“You’re not helping,” I say frowning.

“I’m sorry. I’ll just agree with you on everything,” he laughs.

“Nat’s my best friend, I should be on her side right?”

“I have a question. You and Natalia are monumentally different. How did you end up becoming best friends?”

“Actually we grew up hating each other. She was in Carl’s class and she always picked on me. I was Carl’s freak sister who was in high school at age 11.”

“Then what happened?”

“One day I saw this kid in her class tripped her and call her a slut so I went up to him and punched him. I wasn’t okay with slut-shaming an eleven year old. From then on we’ve been best friends,” I say casually.

“I can just imagine a miniature you going up to some pre-teen and clocking him,” he says laughing.

“I was a badass.”

“You still are.”

Notes

Enjoy!