Free An Ordinary Fairy by John Osborne Page A

Should I send her up?” Tommy’s voice betrayed curiosity.
    Willow? Here?
    “Uh, yes, send her right up.” After he put the phone down, Noah grabbed papers and stuffed them in drawers, picked up the banana peel from the table, grabbed the beer bottle from the bedside stand … jeez, the bathroom! He settled for pulling the door shut and hoping she wouldn’t ask to use it. Before he closed the door, he swiped some water across his face, ran a comb through his hair and looked in the mirror. Soup on his shirt yelled “Slob!” He grabbed a sweater from a drawer and smelled it. Good enough. He pulled it over his head and put his hair in place a second time just as a knock sounded on the door.
    Noah walked calmly to the door. From the corner of his eye, he saw a pair of underwear on the floor. He kicked them under the bed, returned to the door and opened it.
    There stood Willow, dressed in jeans and a dark blue pea coat. She wore blue high top tennis shoes with white soles and shoestrings and a black stocking cap pulled over her ears. Her expression was tentative, shy.
    How adorable.
    A smile stole over Noah’s face. Willow smiled back.
    “Hi,” she said. Her voice was like a familiar tune whose words he’d forgotten.
    “Hi. That was a quick trip from the office.”
    “Oh, yeah, I just flew.” She grinned and raised her eyebrows. “May I come in? It’s a little rainy out here.”
    “Sure,” Noah said. “Good grief, you’re soaked! Give me your hat and coat. I’ll set them by the ventilator.” She handed him her things and stepped over to the mirror to run a hand through her hair. She wore the same sweatshirt as this morning.
    Noah laid her hat on the heater vent. He could smell wood smoke and potpourri and Willow’s scent as he put the coat on a hanger and hung it on the floor lamp.
    The details of arriving covered, they faced each other. Words needed saying. Willow slid her hands into her back pockets. Noah stuck his hands in his front pockets. They stood silent for a moment before Noah spoke.
    “So, did you walk all the way here?”
    “Yes,” she said and flashed her mischievous grin. “All the available flights were grounded due to fog.”
    Noah laughed and shook his head. “Fairy humor.”
    “And look,” she said, extending a leg toward him. “I put on long pants.”
    “Good for you.”
    Glad to see your spunkiness is back.
    Another awkward silence ensued. Willow glanced around the room, but Noah’s eyes stuck to her. She turned back to him, but her gaze skipped past Noah and focused on something behind him. She leaned to one side and looked around him.
    Her picture!
    Noah sidestepped to block her view. His face grew hot. Willow’s eyes flicked back to his, and began to twinkle. He abruptly spun around and ripped the article off the wall, laid it face down on the table. Willow snickered behind him. When Noah turned back, her face was as red as his felt.
    More silence.
    They both started to speak. Noah motioned for Willow to go ahead.
    “I need to apologize for how I acted this morning,” she said. “I was rude to throw you out like I did.” Noah waited for the barb, but it didn’t come.
    I like that. No “I just” or “but.”
    “No problem,” he said. “I owe you an apology, too. I shouldn’t have been so pushy.”
    Willow smiled and tilted her head to one side. “Apology accepted.”
    They stood through another long silence.
    What was I about to say?
    Willow’s expression changed to exasperation. She threw her hands in the air, then slapped her legs.
    “This is driving me crazy!” she said. “What is this between us? Every time I’m around you I can’t think straight!” She returned her hands to her pockets and paced the room, agitated.
    You just said exactly what I was thinking. Your words, not mine, but my thought.
    A shiver coursed down his spine.
    Almost on cue, Willow pulled her hands from her pockets and rubbed her arms as if cold. “That’s weird,” she said. “I