3 Minute Fiction Challenge

She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally decided to walk through the door. Taking one last look around the small Manhattan apartment, Nadia thought about how she wouldn’t miss the clutter. Michael had so many books stuffed on the mahogany shelves that they looked like lobsters crawling over each other in a supermarket tank. All those books lay there, but somehow she had managed to pull out this photo album, probably the one thing he didn’t want her to look at. The sunlight coming in gave the little place a warm buttery feeling, but it also hit the multitudes of dust swarming the air. He never dusts, she thought. She laughed. After seeing the photo, not dusting was the least of Michael’s offenses. Well, she wasn’t going to be made victim by two men in a row.

The noise of the shower stopped. Uh-oh. Nadia had to move quickly. She couldn’t leave with him watching. She was sure of that but she was having trouble getting off the couch. It was one of those big puffy couches, the kind that swallows you when you sit and once you’re in it you never want to get out. Counting to three in her head, she pushed up from the couch, but only gathered enough momentum to get halfway up from the marshmallow cushions. Her rump technically didn’t even leave the seat before she plopped back down.

“Hey Nadia, can you remind me later that I need more shampoo?” Michael’s call echoed from the bathroom. Nadia froze. “Nadia?” He wandered to the bedroom door and looked at her. His hair was still dripping and he wore only his towel. She looked at the floor and cursed to herself. Go, go, go. She finally pushed herself up. “What’s wrong?” he asked. Nadia couldn’t look at him so she chucked the photo album at him and bolted. She descended the stairs, flew out the door, onto the street, down the subway entrance, and, swiping her metro card, put everything behind her. She stopped only when she reached the platform. For just a moment, she let her heavy breaths catch up with her. A teenage girl pointed at a man sprinting towards them, clinging to his towel so it wouldn’t fly from his waist, spraying those he passed with water.

“No,” Nadia moaned.

“Ew, gross.” The girl scrunched her nose.

Nadia covered her eyes. The train couldn’t come fast enough. Michael reached her and grabbed her arm with his free hand.

“Don’t touch me.” She slipped out of his wet grip.

“Nadia, what’s the matter with you?” More people were pointing and staring at Michael but he looked only at her.
“What’s the matter with me? What’s the matter with you? I saw the photo of you and cat woman on Halloween. What were you doing with another woman?”

Michael slapped his forehead. “That was two years ago. Before I even met you.”

Nadia shook her head. “You were dressed as the pirate king. That was this year.”

“I repeated the costume. I’m sorry Nadia. I wear the same costume every year. I’m not very clever, but I am faithful. I promise I did not cheat on you.”

Nadia looked at him dripping in the subway. A train arrived and all the passengers unloading stared at them. The wind rustled through the tunnel and he shivered but stayed looking at her. “Nadia?”

“Well, I feel silly,” she said.

A look of relief washed over Michael. He looked down at himself, then at her. “You feel silly?” he asked with a smile.