The Day to Remember (9 page)

She nodded, and I felt her body relax
a little in my arms. There was a mixture of hope and fear in her eyes. “You promise?”

“Yes
. I promise. But again, you have nothing to worry about.
Nothing
will change the way I feel about you.”

I lowered my lips onto hers and kissed her tenderly. “You must know how I feel about you, right?”

“I think so,” she whispered and I heard the doubt in her voice.

I gazed deeply in her eyes
and instantly felt the undeniable connection between us, “Well, in case there is any doubt: I love you, Emma. Nothing has and nothing will change that.”

***

“The Chinese food is here,” I heard Des’s voice from the living room.

“Great. I’m starving,” I replied as I taped up the last box of clothes in her bedroom. It was 8:15 p.m. on Saturday and I have spent the last two days he
lping Des pack up her things into boxes and moving them into the U-Haul truck.

I had agreed to drive the U-Haul to San Francisco for her.
I knew Des was an awful driver and I didn’t trust her behind the wheel of a large U-Haul truck with our child, especially not a six to seven-hour drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

I walked into the living room and a delicious waft
of smells hit my nostrils. Des was moving the contents from paper bags. “General Tso’s chicken, that’s mine. Beef and broccoli, that’s yours. And the chow mein and fried egg rolls to share.”

I grabbed one of
the egg rolls and scoped some of the chow mein and beef and broccoli onto a paper plate. “Well the bedroom is done. Looks like we won’t have too much stuff to do in the morning before we take off.”

“
That’s awesome. Thanks for being here.” Des smiled at me and handed me a cold bottle of Corona, “Here’s a beer.”

“I wasn’t planning on drinking.”
That’s what got us into this mess to begin with
, I thought.

“God, Brandon. Live a little,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “
It’s just a beer. I have a couple of leftovers in the fridge, and well, as we both know, I can’t drink now, so I need someone to finish them off for me. Don’t tell me you’re okay with wasting beer?”

“Sorry. Thanks,” I said as I took the beer from Des.
My eyes darted to the growing bump on her stomach, and a bolt of fear and excitement shot through me. Competing thoughts crossed my mind:
I’m going to be a father. How will Emma react to the news?
Will I be ready for all this?

“Stop staring at me like that.” Des’s voice broke through my thoughts. I blinked and looked up at her.

“What?”

“You were staring at my stomach like you were in a trance. It’s creeping me out.” I can tell from her voice that she was more amused than serious.

“Sorry, I just spaced out for a second there.” Then a thought came to me. “Hey, how come you didn’t tell me sooner about you being pregnant?”

Her expression stiffened and a few seconds passed before she responded, “Well, things were a little awkward after we slept together. I could tell you were avoiding me, so I wanted to give you some space. I wasn’t sure until I took a pregnancy test two months later, in September. After that, I was still trying to decide whether I wanted to keep it, to even tell you.” She avoided my eye contact, and I wasn’t sure if she was crying.

“What made you decide that you wanted to keep it?”

“Because it was your child—
our
child. I would never intentionally destroy a part of you that’s inside me.”

“Oh.” I grappled with the meaning behind Des’s words. “Des, I’m … I’m sorry. I wish I could give you what you want and what you deserve …” My words trailed off.

“You can,” she whispered. My heart ached for her because we both knew that it wasn’t true.

About an hour
later, I had finished off most of my beef and broccoli, half of the chow mien, and three beers. We ate mostly in silence as I checked and responded to some work emails. I felt myself relax a little from the beers as my muscles began to ache from the long day of heavy-lifting. I stretched and rubbed my neck with my arms.

“Do you need a back massage over there?” Des asked from a few
feet away.

“Come on, Des. I’m here to help you move. Nothing else. We’ve gone over this already. Don’t push your luck.”
I knew I needed to make it clear to Des where I stood with her. I needed there to be no doubt in her mind.

“Alright, alright,” she said with her arms in the air. “I was just joking. You used to have a sense of humor, Brandon. What happened to you?”

“Sorry, Des. I just have a lot of on my mind. I know we both made the mistake that night when we slept together. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

“Brandon, it wasn’t a mistake for me.” I hear
d the hurt in her voice.

“I know,
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”

I heard her sigh as she rubbed her tired eyes with her hand.
“I’m tired, Brandon. I’m going to go take a shower and get ready for bed.”

As she walked away, I was filled with guilt at my harsh words.
I knew that I was more at fault than Des was.

I thought back to
July when everything happened. Des had called me in the middle of the night in hysterics. She told me that her father had suffered a cardiac arrest earlier that week. They had rushed him to the ER, but attempts to resuscitate him had failed, and he had died en route to the ER. When she called, it was the night of her father’s funeral. She was really drunk and was talking irrationally about the meaning of life. Worried that she would hurt herself, I went out and found her roaming around on the beach by herself and brought her back to my place. When we got to my place, she wanted more alcohol and threatened to leave or scream if I didn’t give her some. She said she needed to numb the pain. It was a feeling that hit close to home. I had offered her some beer, hoping to keep her calm. The rest of the night was a blur, and the next thing I remembered was waking up with her naked in my arms in my bed.

Just then, my phone went off. It was Emma, and I instantly smiled at the sight of her name.

“Hey babe, how’s it going? Shouldn’t you be out?” I asked.

“Hi
iii ba-by,” came Emma’s slurred voice from the other end of the line. I could hear loud music and people on her end of the line.

“Emma? Are you drunk?
Is everything alright?”

“Nooooo,” she said, dragging out the word
.

“You’re not alright?” I asked, a feeling a cold panic wash through me
.

“No silly, I’m aaaaa-okay. I’m just here
. With the girls.” I heard her giggle uncontrollably.

My body relaxed at her words. “That’s great, babe. Are you guys having fun?”

“Hey,” she said brightly.

“Yes, I’m here.”

“Hey,” she said again.

“Can you hear me?
”

“
Hear what? Hey. Hey. So I want to tell you something.”

“Tell him about the hot guy,”
I heard a distant female voice say.

“Who was that?” I asked.
What guy?
“Where are you guys?” I demanded.

“So I was going to tell you something,” she slurred, ignoring my questions.

“Okay, what is it?” I decided to play along.

“Hmm. I forgot.” She started giggling again. “Oh wait!
I ‘member now … so, shhh, don’t tell anyone, okay? Promise.”

“Um, okay,” I agreed tentatively.

“So I think I am a lightweight.” There were more giggles.

I laughed. “Emma, are you guys okay? Where are you guys?”

“Umm, I’m not sure. Let me ask Damian,” she murmured into the phone.

“Who is Damian?”

“He’s … Hey, Damian, where are we?”

“Hey you. You’re at Doc’s Clock, sweetie,” I heard a male voice yell through the music and noise.

“Oh right. Baby, we’re at Doc’s Clock.”

“Who is this Damian guy?”

“Oh him? Just someone we met tonight. He seems nice,” she giggled. “Anyway, I called because I missed you. I’m mad that you’re not here.”

I chuckled, “I’m sorry, babe. I really wish I was there too. I miss—”

“Hey Brandon, did you need to shower?” came Des’s voice from behind me. I quickly moved away from Des, hoping Emma was too drunk to hear that.

“Who was that?”
Emma demanded.

My heart leaped out my chest at her words. She wasn’t as drunk as I thought. “Who’s what?” I asked back, hoping to throw her off.
Shit, why do I keep digging a deeper hole for myself?

“I thought I heard someone say something. I thought I heard a girl.”

“No, there’s no girl. That was just the … the TV,” I said and attempted a chuckle.

“Really? It just sounded so real
, and I thought I heard her say your name,” I could hear the doubt in her voice.

“No,
I’m just hanging out with the family here, watching TV. It’s kind of noisy on your end though, so maybe there’s something with our connection. Anyway I should get going. I’m glad you’re having so much fun.”

“Oh, ok.” Her voice was laced with disappointment.

“I can’t wait to see you. I miss you.”

“Okay, I miss you too
. Call me when you’re back, okay?”

“I will.” I quickly hung up the phone, and looked up to see Des smirking at me and shaking her head.

“I see you didn’t tell her everything.” There was a satisfaction in her voice that gnawed at my guilt. It was one thing to know I lied to Emma, but quite another to lie to Emma and have Des of all people know about it.

“I’ll tell her everything when I see her,” I said, reassuring Des as much as I was reassuring myself.

“Well, you better.” Her voice was threatening. “Because if you don’t, I will.”

Emma

“Everything okay?” asked Damian as he handed me another drink. “On the house. You look like you need it.”

“Yeah,” I finally said. Brief clear thoughts broke through my drunken fog.
I swear I heard a girl’s voice.
Even though I knew I shouldn’t, I wanted to dial Brandon’s number again. I don’t know what I would say, but a strong urge to dial his number took over me.

Just as I was ab
out to call him, Steph came rushing to the bar, her face flushed and glowed with alcohol-induced euphoria.

“
Shit, how many shots did we have at dinner?” she laughed. “Oh, you’re up next on shuffleboard.” She had a wide smile on her face as she gave Damian a wink. Then she saw my phone in my hand and frowned. “Did you just call Lover Boy?”

I nodded, feeling guilty. “I know I know. It’s girls’ night out. I shouldn’t have.”

“You’re the worst!” she teased and laughed.

I
gave her a weak smile. “What if he’s still interested in his ex,” I blurted out.

“Jesus, Emma. I need to smack some confidence in you.
” Steph tossed her long, wavy blonde hair back behind her shoulder as she sipped from her drink. I notice several guys at the bar eyeing her and watching her every move.

“Emma, y
ou’re smart, you’re hot, and you have an amazing body. Fuck, if I was guy, I’d bang you.”

I laughed. “Thanks, Steph.”

“Think about it, he chased after you that morning when that bitch showed up. He called and text you, and even went over to your place. If he was really worried about what that whore thought, he wouldn’t have done any of that.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”
I thought about Steph’s reasoning. Brandon called and texted several times after I had ran out. He also came after me. If Des was really the one he wanted to be with, and she was in town, he wouldn’t have wasted him time to go after me.

“
The guy obviously gaga about you and wants to be with you, and the bitch knows it. She’s just jealous. You’re fucking the man she wants.”

“Yeah.”

“Just remember, she might want him back, but if he loves you, nothing
she
does will change that unless you
let
it.” Steph was right. I couldn’t let Des win. There was nothing she could say or do that would make me not love Brandon. So long as he wanted me in his life, I was going to stay with him. There was nothing Des could do to change that unless I let it happen. And I know I would not give up Brandon for anything.

“Thanks, Steph. You’re totally right. Maybe I should call Brandon to apologize. I was acting kind of weird and suspicious when we ended the call.”

“Don’t be an idiot. Give me your phone. You’re on time out,” she said as she grabbed my phone and dropped it in her purse.

“But—” I tried to protest.

“Emma, snap out of it. You really need to learn how to play hard to get,” she said as she ordered another drink from Damian.