“I’m sure that you are,” I said sarcastically.
A few minutes later, our arms laden with popcorn, nachos,
and every junk food you could think of, we walked back to the blanket. “Here
are your nachos,” I said handing the cheese lathered chips to Bryn.
“Thanks. I’m starving.” She bit into a cheese covered chip
and moaned. “This is absolute heaven!”
“Bryn, if I didn’t know you better, I’d swear that you had
an orgasm over a tortilla chip,” Elizabeth joked.
“Hey, it could happen. Haven’t you ever seen
When Harry
Met Sally
? Meg Ryan did a perfect orgasm impression.”
“Yeah, but she didn’t have one,” Elisabeth teased reaching
over a grabbing a chip. “Now, this is how you do the impression…”
I was so engrossed in what Elizabeth was doing, that I didn’t
see the man across the park staring in my direction. I should have been paying
attention.
My phone chimed and I glanced down not really paying much
attention until I saw what it said….
If you don’t want to lose another lover, you better find
Nick before it gets dark.
I glanced around. The sun was slowly going down, the sky a
mixture of colors. It reminded me of a painting, all the colors blending,
looking like they had rained down on the sky. I stared. It was going to be dark
soon.
“I just forgot that I needed to tell Nick something. I’m
going to see if I can find him. I’ll see you guys later,” I said picking up my
bag of popcorn
“But the fireworks are about to start,” Bryn protested. I
didn’t say anything.
****
I walked over to the middle of the park where I’d seen him
sitting with Derrick earlier, happy that they hadn’t moved. I stood there for a
moment until Nick looked up,
“Is this seat taken?” I asked. He shook his head no and
padded the spot next to him. He gave Derrick a pointed look.
Derrick got up. “I think I’m going to go find Lizzie and
Bryn and leave you two alone,” he said, almost tripping over his own feet to
get up.
“Wait a second. I need to ask you something.” I said walking
with him. I made sure that we were far enough away that Nick couldn’t hear.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking at me.
“Not much. I just wanted to see how you were doing since our
conversation the other day,” I said.
He sighed. “You know how I feel and you’re still with him.
There isn’t anything I can do about that either.”
“Derrick, that’s not fair. You know why I’m with him. Once
everything is over we’ll be able to sit down and talk about us.”
“There isn’t an us, Lauren,” he responded
“I know, but there will be,” I said walking back towards
where I’d left Nick sitting. I didn’t look back.
“Sorry , I’m back,” I told Nick.
“I was beginning to get a little jealous watching you two
over there.” Nick said grinning. I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering.
“Don’t worry it’s nothing. It’s a nice night out,” I said changing
the subject.
He put his hand on my knee. “Lauren, we’ve known each other
since junior high. It shouldn’t be awkward between us just because of one
little kiss.” He squeezed my shoulder.
“No, I don’t think it should,” I agreed, hugging my knees.
“Then come over here and take my sweatshirt,” He said
pulling it off and handing it to me. “You look cold.” I grabbed it and threw it
on. I sniffed it. It smelled like a mixture of burnt popcorn, Old Spice
deodorant, and soap. It smelled like Nick.
“Are you enjoying that?” he asked glancing over at me. I
quickly stopped sniffing it. I blushed. He laughed, “You don’t have to be
embarrassed. I think it’s cute.”
“Thanks.”
A few minutes later, I heard a boom and glanced up, the
fireworks had started. I snuggled closer to Nick and enjoyed the fireworks. It
was a nice night to be with someone you cared for. He leaned over, whispered in
my ear and I giggled.
“We can’t do that here,” I blushed.
“Why can’t we?” he asked. “Everyone is paying attention to the
fireworks and wouldn’t notice.”
“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with going that far
already. All we’ve done is kiss and I like it that way.”
“Okay, but I thought …”
“Thought what?” I asked
“Well, you’ve been saying that you don’t know how Ryan could
have slept with Elisabeth, right? Well, it’s because she was willing to go that
far with him.”
“Well, I’m not and if you don’t like it maybe we should just
stop whatever was starting here.” I pulled his sweatshirt closer to me.
“Don’t be like that.” He responded. He then lifted his arm
to wave at someone in the distance. Derrick, Bryn and Elisabeth were now
walking towards us.
“Hey, how’d you like the fireworks?” I asked, wrapping my
arms around myself. I plastered a smile on my face.
“They were good,” Derrick said glancing over at Nick. He
raised his eyebrows; I wondered what that was. I glanced down at my watch and
faked a yawn.
“I think I better get going. My mother is probably sitting
up waiting for me.” I smiled at Nick and started to walk away,
“Lauren, wait up!” He jogged over. “I’m sorry about getting
mad over there. I just don’t understand what’s going with you. You tell me you
like me, but any time I try and touch you, you freeze up. Did I do something
wrong?”
I can’t believe that he just asked me that.
“Goodbye, Nick.” I began walking back towards the car. Bryn
and Elisabeth didn’t even move from where they were standing with Derrick. I
didn’t really care. I’d talk to them tomorrow.
As I walked back to the car alone, not paying attention to
everyone else around me, my cell phone chimed. I stopped and dug it out of my
pocket and hit read thinking maybe it was Nick apologizing.
Just wait.
That’s all it said. I glanced around to
see if I could find who sent the message, but I didn’t see anyone on a cell
phone.
Wait for what?
I wondered to myself.
I began walking quicker to the car and when I got there, I
pressed the automatic lock and opened my car door, slipping inside.
It was going to take a few minutes to even inch out of the
parking spot, with as many cars that were packed into the lot right now. I
closed the door and turned on the CD player, needing noise. I vaguely heard the
sounds of Kelly Clarkson coming through the speakers. The song was a depressing
one. It fit my mood.
The cars cleared and I made my way onto the main road,
letting the car lead me. I’d driven this same path so many times that I could
almost do it in my sleep. As I made my way across the intersection that the
accident had been on, I made sure I concentrated on the road and not the
accident. I didn’t need to get into another one. Ten minutes later, I made it
safely home.
As I pulled into the driveway, I noticed that my mother had
left the porch light on for me and I smiled. I turned off the engine, unbuckled
my seat belt, and got out. I’d forgotten a coat, so I shivered. I walked
briskly up the front walk and slipped my key into the lock, the sound almost
deafening in the silent house. My mother was not sitting up at the kitchen
table, so I closed the door and began walking upstairs. I found her at the top
of the steps,
“I was just about to come down to make sure you made it home
all right. Did you have a good night?” she asked. I nodded, wanting to curl
into bed and sleep.
“Mom, I’m tired. Can we talk in the morning?” I asked. I
wasn’t in the mood for her chitchat.
She nodded. “Of course. Go to bed.” She leaned over and
kissed my forehead, raising her eyebrows at the red mark on my shoulder. “I’m
glad you had fun.” “Yeah.” I said as I walked down the hall towards my bedroom.
I slipped out of my clothes, letting them fall to the floor, and crawled into
bed, not even bothering to put on pajamas.
The next morning I awoke to sun shining through my white
curtains. I pulled the covers back over my head and attempted to go back to sleep.
I didn’t want to get up. The clock said 7:30 am.
Crap! I’m going to be late!
I shoved the covers off me and jumped up. I didn’t have time
for a shower or I’d be late for work, so I just ran into the bathroom, ran a
brush through my hair and brushed my teeth as quickly as possible. I grabbed
new underwear out of my dresser and slipped them on, running around in circles.
My jeans were still lying on the floor and I grabbed them up, sniffed them.
I threw them on and ran over to my closet.
Sifting through my clothes, I yanked a t-shirt off the
hanger and threw it over my head. I didn’t care what I looked like today. After
slipping on my sandals, I was done. I hurried downstairs, stopping in the kitchen
to grab a sip of juice and I was out the door. I got to work in record time,
breaking the speed limit in many places, grateful that there weren’t any cops
around or else I’d be in trouble.
Sitting in the parking lot, I stopped to catch my breath.
Flipping down the visor, I checked myself in the mirror cringing when I saw
what I looked like. My hair was a mess. I saw a rubber band sitting on the
floor, picked it up, and put my hair in a messy bun. Now it looked better.
I got out of the car, grabbing my purse from the front seat.
I opened the door, hearing the jangle of the bells as I walked inside. Ellen
glanced up as I walked in,
“Lauren, what are you doing here?” she asked. I looked at
her.
“Don’t I work today?” I asked quietly. She shook her head.
“Oh. I thought I did.” I started to walk out the door, but she stopped me.
“Since you came all the way out here I could use some help
balancing the checks in the back for a few hours. We open late today, don’t you
remember?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I can do that.” I started to walk towards
the back embarrassed, but she set her hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
“You look like you are ready to cry, do you want to talk
about it? I’ve got a fresh pot of coffee brewing. Sit down; you look like you
could use a cup.”I walked over to the counter and grabbed a mug, filling it up
to the brim. She sat down next to me.
“Now, tell me what’s wrong. First, you come in here on your
day off and you look like you’re going to cry.”
“Well, I almost did something stupid last night. You know
Nick, right?” She nodded. “I went to watch fireworks at the park with him and
some friends and originally it was supposed to just be a girl night, but
somehow I found myself sitting over with him, just the two of us.” I took a
deep breath, “And we began making out and we almost… you know.” I cringed
thinking she was going to yell at me.
She nodded. “Okay, so you two almost did, right? Do you like
him?” she asked.
I nodded. “You two have been friends for years and you seem
to like him. But, you do know that there are rules against having sex in public
right?” she asked. I took another sip of coffee and set it down.
“Yeah, but that wasn’t why we didn’t. I stopped him and now
he’s acting almost mean to me. He’s told me that he likes me, but shouldn’t he
understand that I want to take things slow?”
“Have you told him that you want to move slow?” Ellen asked.
I glanced at her. “No, but he’s known me for the last six
years. I would think that he would know that,” I said.
Ellen sighed. “You have to tell guys this stuff. They aren’t
the mind readers that us women think they are. That was one thing that my
husband always complained about when he was still alive.” Suddenly my cell
phone rang,
“Hold on a sec.” I grabbed it out of my purse, hoping to get
to it before it stopped ringing.
“Hello?” I said.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” I recognized Bryn’s voice.
I shook my head and then remembered that she could not hear
a nod and spoke, “No. I’m just sitting at the café helping Ellen for a few
hours. I thought that I had to work today, but it turns out I didn’t, so she
offered to let me get some extra hours.”
“Lauren, stop rambling. I know what you did last night. Nick
bragged to Derrick and Derrick told me.” She sighed. “I cannot believe you. I
didn’t tell you about Nick to give you an excuse to sleep with him.”
“I didn’t sleep with him,” I protested.
She sighed. “Well, that’s not what Nick’s telling everyone.
You might want to clear that up with him.” Bryn hung up the phone before I
could respond. I closed my phone, shaking my head. I glanced over at Ellen.
“You said things couldn’t get worse? Well, they just did.” I
sighed.
I finished my coffee and walked to the back to begin
working, I could use the distraction.
I’d only intended to stay an hour or two, but it had
stretched into more as the diner got busier. Morning turned into afternoon and
before I knew it was a little bit after 1’oclock in the afternoon.
I said goodbye to Ellen and got into my car to head home,
just then my cell phone rang. It was Bryn. I hit talk.
“Hello?” I said hesitantly. I didn’t want any more bad news.
“Hey, it’s me.”
I sighed. “Please don’t tell me there is another rumor going
around about me? I didn’t sleep with Nick. But, if I was that kind of girl, I
would have to keep up appearances.”
“I’m not going to yell at you. I applaud you. You really are
getting into this girlfriend role something fierce. Are you sure it’s just a
role?”
“How do you know he caused the accident? Do you even have
proof? I mean besides the conversation that you heard about the prank.” I asked,
twirling my fingers through the lanyard on my keychain.
“Derrick,” she responded calmly.
“Great. How many more people knew about the prank? Was I the
only one who didn’t know?” I waited for her to say something.
She didn’t answer me. “Are you still there?” I asked.
“I’m here. They all told me that I wasn’t able to tell you
about it. They thought that you would tell Ryan and the whole thing would be
ruined. But, they were just supposed to make it so that the car wouldn’t start.
They weren’t going to touch the brakes. It was supposed to be funny. ” I
gripped the phone harder so it wouldn’t fall out of my hand.