As
I stood there waiting for the oven to preheat, I realized that this couldn’t go
on any longer. Zane and I needed to talk. Everything was all over the place—we
were both all over the place. It wasn’t healthy and it wasn’t a great way for a
relationship to begin. Not if it was going to be a relationship that lasts the
long haul. We were like two birds with broken wings that couldn’t fly, living
in the same nest. We trusted each other a little bit, but not enough to leave
the nest to go and get food. And if we continued in this vein of not leaving
the nest, one of us was going to starve. And I didn’t want to starve, and I
knew Zane didn’t want to starve either. And now I had another concern: What if
I was pregnant? I couldn’t bring a baby into a situation like this. But I also
knew I couldn’t do it by myself. There were so many unanswered questions, and I
knew it was time to be a grown-up and start asking them.
I
peeked into the dining room again and saw that Zane and Leo were still talking
animatedly. I was surprised to see that it was Leo who looked upset and angry
and not Zane. Why was Leo upset? Maybe Zane had accused him of trying to flirt
with me and he was sticking up for himself? Who knew? I couldn’t keep up with
Zane and his moods. I wanted to go into the dining room and ask him what they
had been talking about, but I decided to call Leeza first. I grabbed my phone
and tried calling her again. I was really hoping to find out what she had been
trying to tell me before I had a conversation with Zane.
“Lucky?”
Leeza’s voice was airy and I frowned. How could she sound so happy and carefree
when she had just been trying to tell me that my boyfriend was a stalker?
“Yes,”
I whispered.
“Why
are you whispering?” Leeza asked, confused.
“Because
I don’t want Zane to know I’m on the phone.” My voice was exasperated.
Sometimes Leeza just didn’t have a clue. “Now hurry up and tell me what you
were trying to say before. I don’t have all day.”
“Before?”
Leeza giggled and I heard a guy in the background. “I’m kind of busy, Lucky,
can we talk later?”
“No,”
I hissed, my face
growing red with anger. “You
made it sound really important, so I want to know exactly what you were talking
about.”
“Oh.”
She sighed and I heard her whispering. “I’ll be right back, Evan.” I heard what
sounded like kissing and then she came back to the phone with a sigh. “Sorry, I
was kinda busy.”
“Are
you with Evan, the guy from the party you tried to hook me up with?” I asked,
surprised.
“Yeah.”
Her voice sounded happy. “He’s great and I just love being with him.”
“How
do you even know him?”
“I
met him months ago at a frat party.”
“You
did?” I frowned. “You never told me.”
“Well,
you know,” she sighed. “I didn’t think he was into me.”
“Okay,
and …?”
“I
met your Zane before as well.” Her voice was light and my heart skipped a beat.
“I didn’t have time to tell you before.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah,
a few weeks before the party. He was with Evan and that DJ guy, hanging out
with some guys I know.”
“And
…?” Please God, don’t let her say that she slept with him. Please God no.
“And
nothing much.” She paused. “Look, it might not be a big deal, and I wasn’t
going to tell you, but he was the reason why I pushed so hard for you to go to
that party that night.”
“What?”
I frowned into the phone, feeling confused and overwhelmed. “What do you mean?”
“I
don’t really remember exactly. But I was telling Evan how crazy you were and
how you had left school to go to LA with some guy named Zane, and Evan was
like, ‘Wow, stalking really works.’ And he reminded me of what had happened
before.”
“What
are you talking about?”
“Well,
Evan had asked if I had any hot friends to bring to the party and I’d been a
bit upset because I thought he had been into me and then I thought he really
wasn’t, because if he was, why would he ask me to bring a friend? Well, who
knows, I mean I—”
“Leeza.”
My voice was sharp. “Get on with it please.”
“Oh,
sorry. Well, he asked if I had any friends to bring and I guess I said something
like I could bring my friend Lucky.”
“And?”
“And
that creepy guy, Zane. Sorry, you know,
your
Zane? Well he looked at me hard and was like, ‘Lucky?’ Or something like that.
And I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s her name.’ I was like, ‘I can ask her to come, but
she’s a waitress and works late nights, so I don’t know.’”
“Ok.”
“And
then Zane was like, ‘Does she work at Lou’s Diner?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah,
yeah.’ At the time, I didn’t think about it. But that’s just weird that he knew
that.”
“And?”
“And
nothing. The conversation ended. But a couple of days later, Evan called me and
he was like, ‘Can you try really hard to bring your friend Lucky? I’d like to
meet her.’ And of course I was upset, but then he said he’d hook me up with
some concert tickets, and so you know, I invited you.”
“I
thought you wanted to hang out as roommates.” My voice was cold and dry as I
tried to process all the information she was giving me.
“I
did, I did.” She paused. “But, you know. Anyways, I saw Evan a couple of days
ago and he was all like, ‘Hey what’s up?’ But I was like, ‘You wanted to date
my friend.’ And he was like, ‘No, no, no. My friend, Zane asked me to call you
and to make sure Lucky came to the party, but to leave his name out of it.’ I
was like, ‘Why would you do that? You didn’t seem like great friends.’ And he
was like, “Well, Zane’s dad is huge in Hollywood” and you know Evan is trying
to be an actor.’”
“I
see.”
“Yeah,
he’s hoping to make it as big as Braydon Eagle.”
“Uh
huh.” Mentally, I was no longer paying attention to her.
“You
know him, right? Handsome blond, I think I saw you talking to him at the
party.”
“Look,
I have to go, Leeza,” I sighed, frustrated. I needed to think about the
information she had just given me. Zane had wanted me to be at that party? But
he didn’t even really know me, aside from the diner. And he’d never let on, not
for one minute, that he had orchestrated that whole event. What else had he
done? I felt cold as I thought about him helping me when my car had broken
down. Had he done something to my car so he could rescue me? I froze and took a
deep breath. No, he hadn’t done anything to my car. I had known my head gasket
was about to go. There was no way he could have made that happen. But maybe he
had been following me. Because how was it that he just happened to pull up
behind me? How long had he been following me? My hands felt clammy and I
realized that I still had the phone next to my ear.
“Lucky,
are you there?” Leeza sounded concerned.
“Yes,”
I whispered.
“Be
careful, okay? I’m worried about Zane. I know he’s cute, and you’ve been a bit
desperate, but I don’t trust him.”
“I
have not been desperate!”
“Well,
it’s been over a year.”
“I
had my rules, Leeza, you know that.”
“Yeah,
but you dropped that pretty quickly once a man came along.”
“No,
I didn’t. And he wasn’t the first guy who tried to get with me.” I was angry
now.
“I’m
just saying be careful.” She paused. “I was thinking that maybe I could come
visit you. Make sure he’s not a stalker.”
“He’s
not a stalker, Leeza!” I sighed. “And when did you want to come?”
“Next
weekend?” Her voice was hopeful.
“I’ll
let you know.” And then I hung up, not caring that I was being rude.
My
head was spinning and I knew that I needed to sit down and think about
everything. I felt like I was lost in a maze of people I didn’t know and
everything I thought I knew about was wrong. I was angry and upset, and if I
was honest, I was a little bit scared. What else had Zane lied to me about?
***
We
ate the apple pie in silence. There was a cold air between Leo and Zane, and I
was also giving Zane the silent treatment. I wanted very badly to ask him why
he hadn’t told me he had arranged to have me at the party. I wasn’t even that
mad. In a way, it was endearing, and I felt a warm glow. He’d had his eyes on
me, just like I’d had my eyes on him. However, I kept my mouth shut because I
didn’t want to bring Leo into our drama.
I
could see Zane’s surreptitious glances and I just avoided all eye contact with
him. I felt like I was in a spy movie or something—only I was the oddball
that didn’t realize that she was in it. I had no clue what was going on anymore
and I was annoyed. Really annoyed. I liked being in control and knowing exactly
what was going on. Zane had my head spinning.
“This
is delicious, Lucky. Thank you.” Leo smiled at me and I smiled back at him.
“Thanks
to Sara Lee.”
“Well
thank you, Sara Lee.” Leo licked his lips and dropped his spoon back down into
his bowl. “That was really good.”
“I’m
sorry that nothing was homemade.” I frowned.
“The
salad was to-die-for.” Leo made some noises that reminded me of sex, and I
blushed.
“Really,
Leo?” Zane muttered at him.
“He’s
just showing me that he liked the pie,” I snapped at Zane. “At least he can
express his feelings.”
“What’s
that supposed to mean?” Zane looked at me with a question in his clouded, blue
eyes. “I don’t tell you how I feel enough?”
I
remained mute and looked away from him. I didn’t want to start an argument with
him in front of Leo. I wasn’t that angry. And it wasn’t even about expressing
feelings.
“Do
you want me to sing you a love song in front of Leo, Lucky? So he knows how I
feel?”
“No.”
My face burned with humiliation.
“How’s
about some Frank Sinatra?” He cleared his throat. “Let me see, I could sing
‘Lady Luck’ or … wait, ‘Strangers in the Night.’”
“You’re
an ass.” I glared at him.
“You’re
a woman.”
“Excuse
me?” I jumped up. “What does that mean?”
“You’re
so moody. I don’t even know what your problem is.” He glared back at me.
“You
stalked me!” I spat out.
“Here
we go again,” he sighed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m sorry
to burst your bubble, but I’ve never stalked you, Lucky.”
“I
know about the party and Evan.” I stared him down, and if it wasn’t for the
slightest flinch, I would have thought I was wrong. Zane looked at me calmly and
didn’t say a word.
“Hey,
guys, I think that is my invitation to leave.” Leo jumped up and walked over to
me and gave me a hug. “It was great meeting you. Thank you for a lovely dinner,
and maybe we can hang out again soon?”
“Thanks.”
I smiled at him weakly, slightly embarrassed. “And sure.”
“Awesome.”
He kissed my cheek and then turned to Zane. “Remember what I said, man.”
“I’ll
call you tomorrow.” Zane spoke to him, but his eyes never left mine.
“Bye,
guys.” Leo walked to the front door and let himself out. I heard the door close
behind him, but still we both remained silent.
“That
was rude of you.” I couldn’t help myself. “You should have seen Leo to the
door.”
“He’ll
live.” Zane didn’t blink.
“Typical
response.” I rolled my eyes. “What do you have to say about the fact that you
were stalking me?”
“I
didn’t stalk you,” Zane sighed and I watched as he swallowed.
“Explain
it to me then. I’m extremely curious.” My cheeks were heated and I stood there
staring at him with wide eyes. Tears were threatening to fall and I wanted to
turn away from him, because I didn’t want him to see how he had affected me.
“Lucky,
I …” He sighed again and stood up and walked over to me. He made a gesture to
bring me into his arms and I pushed him away.
“No.”
“I
don’t understand why you’re mad at me.” He pursed his lips.
“Because
you’re a creeper!” I shouted at him and his eyes darkened. “Are you going to
explain to me what happened or not?”
“I
didn’t stalk you.” He sighed. “I was hanging out with some friends and your
roommate was there.”
“Are
you sure you didn’t plan that?”
“I
didn’t even know she was your roommate.” He looked at me pleadingly. “But she
made some comment about having a roommate named Lucky who worked in a diner,
and I figured out that it was you. She said she didn’t think you’d go to the
party. And I wanted you to go.”
“I
see.” I continued frowning at him, but I was starting to relax inside.
“So
I asked Evan to convince her to invite you and bring you to the party.”
“How
did you know Evan could convince her?”