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Authors: Bobby Hutchinson
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always cared more than I did about how she looked,” Sera reflected. “She’s used to getting a lot of male attention.”
Ben nodded. He listened well, and that was comforting. “As I told you, there aren’t any guarantees, but I think Gemma will be pleased when I’m done. In the meantime, of course, it’s really tough for her, and being in the hospital doesn’t make it any easier. She’ll feel better when she goes home.”
“When will that be?” Gemma had an apartment of her own, but she’d agreed to stay with their parents until she’d fully recovered. Sera felt a stab of sympathy for her mom and dad; her sister wouldn’t be an easy patient.
“Within a couple days of the operation, providing all goes as planned.” He smiled at her again, a relaxed, warm smile that put her at ease. “So what’s it like being an identical twin, Sera?”
She took a few moments to reply; it was a question that had no easy answer. Usually, the person asking wasn’t interested in an in-depth response, but she sensed that Ben really wanted to know.
“I guess it’s like everything else in life, part good and part not so good,” she finally said. “You’re never really alone, since even when you’re not physically together, there’s this deep sense of connection. But you miss being an individual, too. Not now so much, because I moved away, detached myself, but when we were kids everyone thought of us as one unit, sort of Gemma and Sera. And that was hard, because we are separate people, with a lot of differences.”
He nodded. “I understand.” He paused a few seconds and then added, “When I first met you, I’m afraid I was guilty of exactly that, thinking of you only in conjunction with Gemma, since having a living model to work from was convenient for me. But I don’t think that way anymore, Sera.” He was quiet for a long moment, looking at her, and something in his scrutiny this time made her fully and uncomfortably aware that he was an attractive man and they were alone together.
Flustered, she searched for a neutral topic. “You said you’ve lived here a year. Where were you before that?”
‘‘Oh, in Vancouver. This city’s my home. I doubt I’ll ever leave. A friend and I had bought a beachfront house as an investment as well as a place to live, but then he got married. So I sold him my share of it and moved into a furnished suite for a while. This area was just starting to develop. I happened to know one of the owners of this building, and I got first choice in apartments. Wanna see upstairs?”
“Yes, please.”
He and Grendel led the way up the spiral stair- case to the loft. There was a king size bed, neatly covered in a brown and green striped duvet. Beside it was a packing case that served as a bedside table. Grendel made his way over to a plump brown doggy mattress next to the bed and flopped onto it. Here, as downstairs, no rugs covered the plank flooring, and there were no closets, either.
Ben had suspended two long rods from the ceiling and hung his clothing on it. He used a stack of pullout baskets in a steel frame as drawers. The only real furniture was an elaborate sound system on an oak stand, a matching CD holder, filled with disks, and a makeshift brick and board bookshelf.
“You like music.”
“Can’t live without it.”
“Me, either.”
She examined the books he’d left strewn on the bedside table. “You like mysteries?”
“English ones, yeah. What do you read for fun?”
“Stephen King.”
“Hey, me, too,” he admitted. “And poetry. I read a lot of poetry. It’s relaxing.”
“We took it in school, but I haven’t ever thought of reading poetry to relax.” He’d surprised her again.
“You play a lot of sports, Ben?” She remembered file pile of equipment downstairs.
“My work’s pretty sedentary. I need to get out and do physical stuff in my off time.”
“What sports do you most enjoy?” She was very aware of being alone with him in his
Ben nodded. He listened well, and that was comforting. “As I told you, there aren’t any guarantees, but I think Gemma will be pleased when I’m done. In the meantime, of course, it’s really tough for her, and being in the hospital doesn’t make it any easier. She’ll feel better when she goes home.”
“When will that be?” Gemma had an apartment of her own, but she’d agreed to stay with their parents until she’d fully recovered. Sera felt a stab of sympathy for her mom and dad; her sister wouldn’t be an easy patient.
“Within a couple days of the operation, providing all goes as planned.” He smiled at her again, a relaxed, warm smile that put her at ease. “So what’s it like being an identical twin, Sera?”
She took a few moments to reply; it was a question that had no easy answer. Usually, the person asking wasn’t interested in an in-depth response, but she sensed that Ben really wanted to know.
“I guess it’s like everything else in life, part good and part not so good,” she finally said. “You’re never really alone, since even when you’re not physically together, there’s this deep sense of connection. But you miss being an individual, too. Not now so much, because I moved away, detached myself, but when we were kids everyone thought of us as one unit, sort of Gemma and Sera. And that was hard, because we are separate people, with a lot of differences.”
He nodded. “I understand.” He paused a few seconds and then added, “When I first met you, I’m afraid I was guilty of exactly that, thinking of you only in conjunction with Gemma, since having a living model to work from was convenient for me. But I don’t think that way anymore, Sera.” He was quiet for a long moment, looking at her, and something in his scrutiny this time made her fully and uncomfortably aware that he was an attractive man and they were alone together.
Flustered, she searched for a neutral topic. “You said you’ve lived here a year. Where were you before that?”
‘‘Oh, in Vancouver. This city’s my home. I doubt I’ll ever leave. A friend and I had bought a beachfront house as an investment as well as a place to live, but then he got married. So I sold him my share of it and moved into a furnished suite for a while. This area was just starting to develop. I happened to know one of the owners of this building, and I got first choice in apartments. Wanna see upstairs?”
“Yes, please.”
He and Grendel led the way up the spiral stair- case to the loft. There was a king size bed, neatly covered in a brown and green striped duvet. Beside it was a packing case that served as a bedside table. Grendel made his way over to a plump brown doggy mattress next to the bed and flopped onto it. Here, as downstairs, no rugs covered the plank flooring, and there were no closets, either.
Ben had suspended two long rods from the ceiling and hung his clothing on it. He used a stack of pullout baskets in a steel frame as drawers. The only real furniture was an elaborate sound system on an oak stand, a matching CD holder, filled with disks, and a makeshift brick and board bookshelf.
“You like music.”
“Can’t live without it.”
“Me, either.”
She examined the books he’d left strewn on the bedside table. “You like mysteries?”
“English ones, yeah. What do you read for fun?”
“Stephen King.”
“Hey, me, too,” he admitted. “And poetry. I read a lot of poetry. It’s relaxing.”
“We took it in school, but I haven’t ever thought of reading poetry to relax.” He’d surprised her again.
“You play a lot of sports, Ben?” She remembered file pile of equipment downstairs.
“My work’s pretty sedentary. I need to get out and do physical stuff in my off time.”
“What sports do you most enjoy?” She was very aware of being alone with him in his
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