by Cee, DW
I hesitantly followed. What else could I do? On our way to our seats, we stopped by the concession stand and picked up dinner. Fans started packing into the stadium, and Max and I almost lost each other in the rush. He had the tickets so I would’ve been in big trouble if Max hadn’t backtracked and found me. He grabbed me by the hand and pulled me along toward our seats.
Once the game started, we cheered for our team, but couldn’t get a conversation going. I could feel the uncomfortable current between us and tried to replace it with excitement for the football team, but it didn’t work. About twenty minutes into the game, I attempted to have a normal conversation but my first question didn’t come out as casually as expected.
“Hey, Max? Sarah tells me that you and Jennifer broke up. What happened? Was it a mutual parting?” I tried to sound nonchalant. Nonchalant, it wasn’t.
Max appeared uncomfortable and stayed silent for a few minutes. I waited patiently for an answer.
“Jennifer wanted more out of the relationship than I was willing to give her. She wanted to get married and I didn’t. We both thought it would be best if we went our separate ways,” he finally explained.
“Oh,” was all I could say. I felt an odd sense of empathy for Jennifer.
Max stared at me. “What? Why are you making that face? You’re making me feel very defensive.”
“What face?”
“That sad look you have. It’s making me feel like I’m the bad guy.”
I shook my head and chuckled a bit. “I’m empathizing from one ex-girlfriend to another ex-girlfriend.”
This made him mad. “What do you mean, Em?”
Uh-oh. I was in trouble now. I knew he would badger me till I gave him an answer.
“Max, forget I said anything. I’m sorry. Let’s get back to the game.” I tried to divert his anger.
“No, I think we need to talk. Em, I need you to explain yourself to me,” he demanded.
I sighed, regretting having said anything. “OK, I’ll explain myself, but can we do it after the game? I don’t want to bother anyone else around us.”
“You promise? After the game?” Three hours coupled with an exciting football game would hopefully get his mind off this topic.
When we got back to the hotel, Max immediately forced me to go with him to nearest coffee shop for an explanation. His face turned a bright hue like it always did before he exploded. I decided to start talking without any coercion.
“Max, when did you become so sensitive?” Laughing at him didn’t lighten the situation. “I only said what I said because I know how Jennifer is feeling right now.”
“What do you mean?” he asked so innocently.
“What do I mean? Have you forgotten that you dumped me a year and a half ago?”
He lamely defended himself. “We didn’t break up because you wanted to get married and I didn’t!”
“Really?” I asked, dumbfounded. “Then why did we break up? Didn’t you give me some lame excuse about not wanting to be tied down and needing your freedom?” I accused. It felt good to hash out our breakup.
“You never mentioned wanting to get married,” he retorted.
“Max, are you blind or stupid?” It was me who started with the tirade. “You were the only boy I ever loved. After four years of dating, did you think there’d be any other boy I wanted to marry but you? Of course I thought we were getting married. After graduation…never mind…”
Emotions overwhelmed us both at the memory of graduation night. Tears glistened in our eyes, but I quickly laughed them off and poked fun at myself instead.
“Boy, was I ever wrong—so much for woman’s intuition. I went from being married in my head to being single in reality.” Max looked away so I wouldn’t notice the pain in his eyes…though I did.
“Max, it’s late and I’m tired. Let’s go to sleep.” He obliged and we went up to our room and got ready for bed.
It was 5:00 a.m. when the phone buzzed with an early greeting from Jake. In agony, I weighed the wisdom of calling him and needing to hear his comforting voice versus having to explain why I was up at this hour and why I felt so down. Against my better judgment, the phone call was placed.
“Hi, Jake. Are you off to work already?” I asked.
“Emi. Why are you up so early? Are you all right?”
“I’m all right.” I lied, hoping he wouldn’t catch the sadness in my voice. “My back was hurting on this couch so I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep.”
“Why are you sleeping on a couch?” I probably shouldn’t have explained that one either. I knew what he would say.
“Peter got a gigantic suite and I was supposed to room with Sarah, but Charlie stayed in our room so I ended up on the couch.” Of course, Jake immediately insisted on getting me a separate room. “Jake, no. I don’t want you to get me my own room. That’s not cool. We came as a group. I need to do everything with them. Please, don’t do that.”
“All right. Emi? Are you sure you’re OK? You sound sad. Did something happen with Max again? Do you want me to fly in today?”
“I’m fine.” The flat tone in my voice was an unconvincing reassurance. “I think I miss being in my own bed. Between Hawaii and Vegas, a different bed has greeted me each night—yours having been the most pleasant one. I miss being with you as well.” My voice cracked a bit and I knew I needed to get off the phone right away.
“Emily, I’m coming to see you right now! I don’t like the way you sound.”
“Jake, I’ll see you tomorrow. You cannot abandon your work to come get me. I’m fine. Go to the hospital and focus on your patients. I don’t want to be a distraction for you.”
While I was saying this, Max stepped into the living room, and I quickly wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.
“Jake, I gotta go. I’m sorry. Have a wonderful day. I love you. Bye.”
Max had a worried look on his face. He stared at me with his boyish good looks that reminded me of our better days in college.
“Em, are you OK?” I wiped away a final tear and turned my back toward him.
“I’m fine,” I lied.
He sat on the couch and turned me around to face him. He comforted me with a hug and to Max’s surprise, I didn’t push him away. The love and tenderness we once shared for so many years spoke through our embrace. I stayed in his arms for a while, silently, eventually pulling away. Max let go, unwillingly.
“Thanks. I really needed that. It was hard holding back the tears during our phone call. He would come here immediately if he thought there was something wrong with me.”
“He’s quite protective of you. Jake seems to love you very much.” Max didn’t like admitting this.
“Yeah, I feel loved when I’m with him, like there’s no one else on earth but me. Maybe it’s his age or maybe it’s just him. He takes care of me without hovering over me. It’s been wonderful.”
“Then why are you so weepy this morning if everything is so perfect with him? Why’d you call him this early if you didn’t want him to see you like this?” Max’s expression hardened.
“Jake actually texted me before leaving for the hospital, and I should have just let it go, but I missed him and wanted to talk to him.
“Is that why you’re crying, because you miss him? I’m going to be really mad if I was your shoulder to cry on because you missed your boyfriend.” I couldn’t tell whether Max was joking or serious. Perhaps it was a bit of both.
I laughed. “No. That’s not why I’m crying. I’m just a bit frustrated at the ironies of life.”
“What does that mean?”
“After our conversation last night, I realized all throughout undergrad, I wanted nothing more than to marry you, but you never asked. Obviously, that wasn’t in your plans. I finally meet a man who wants to marry me, and I don’t have that same assurance. Maybe it’s just too early. We’ve known each other for such a brief period, and yet Jake is so sure I’m the one. I believe I f
eel the same way, but I’m not positive.”
Max’s nervous expression worried me. To my surprise, he pulled me off the couch and told me to get dressed. “Let’s go have breakfast, Em.”
Chapter 9 A Second Proposal
We went downstairs and enjoyed each other’s company like old times. I had missed his friendship during our time apart.
“How is it that you can eat so much?”
“I know, Jake wonders the same thing. I think I eat as much most men, huh?” After polishing off a breakfast burrito, it was time to dive into my chocolate croissant. “Do you know what we’re all doing today?”
“No. I heard some talk about outlet shopping and some want to gamble again. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. You know I don’t like this city. There’s not much here for me to do. We should have all gotten tickets to go watch a show or gone out to a nice meal.”
“Em, I don’t think I’ve ever taken you anywhere special in all the years we’ve dated, huh?”
“Of course you have. You’ve done lots of nice things for me.” I was hoping he wouldn’t ask me to list them because none came to mind at this instant.
“There’s something I’ve always wanted to do for you. Would you mind spending the day with me?”
This was not the Max I had lunch with a week ago, nor the Max I went to the football game with last night. This was the Max I’d dated all through college. The same boy I had loved with all my heart, wanted to spend time with me today. This was my desire as well.
“OK,” I answered with a smile. “What do you want to do today?”
“If you’re done, let’s go. I think the first flight leaves at 7:00.”
He grabbed my hand and rushed me out to the strip and into a taxi. Not far from the Palazzo sat dozens of helicopters ready to take off.
“You haven’t been to the Grand Canyon yet, have you?”
“No. It’s still on my to-do list. Is that what we’re doing? We’re flying over the Grand Canyon?”
“Get in. This should be fun.”
Max was absolutely right. We took off from Vegas and saw an unobstructed view of Boulder City, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, and the Colorado River. During this time, headsets provided interesting facts and stories on these places. Next, we flew over the breathtaking grandeur of one of the Seven Wonders of the World—The Grand Canyon. Words could not describe the awe of taking in the sights of this geographic amazement carved out by the Colorado River.
“Are we also going to walk on the Skywalk?”
“Uh huh,” he answered smiling at me.
If our ride wasn’t cool enough, the helicopter descended four thousand feet below the canyon along the Colorado River. We were able to land and explore the canyon where the Haulapai Indians guard. The touring company gave us four hours to have lunch and enjoy the surroundings. Max and I decided to take a mule ride during this time.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” Max put his jacket around my shoulders as he noticed me shivering.
“Yeah. This is really cool. Thank you. It was sweet of you to remember all this.”
“This mule ride is supposed to take us to a ranch where we can have lunch. I’m sure you’re hungry again. Some things don’t ever change no matter how much time goes by.”
“Hey. We didn’t tell anyone where we were going. Can you call Sarah and let her know what we’re up to? We left in such a rush I didn’t bring anything.”
Max took out his cell phone, but realized we didn’t get reception. We would call from a payphone when we got to the ranch.
The mule ride wasn’t as enjoyable as I’d imagined. We rode on the edge of the canyon overlooking what could be death if the mule took one misstep. I feared for my life while Max laughed at me the whole way.
“You’re still such a chicken. There’s not one daring bone in that body of yours.”
“Knowing this, you shouldn’t have suggested a mule ride. It’s frightening. What if we die?” The last four words needed to be whispered in order to not freak out the other riders.
“Em, you can be so ridiculous at times.”
“I don’t consider this being ridiculous!”
We argued, we laughed. It was just like old times. We were both very happy.
“Hey, Em?”
“Yeah?”
“Never mind.” Max just shook his head.
“You know I hate it when you do that. Tell me.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Ugh! Whatever.” I rolled my eyes at him. It bugged me when he started a conversation that led nowhere.
During this ride, I thought about Jake, and how fun it would have been to have him here. As enjoyable as it was being with Max, I would have preferred riding with, and sharing this time with him. Pathetically, my joy and sadness hinged on Jake’s words and actions toward me. Thoughts of my love brought a smile to my face.
“What are you smiling about? You look goofy,” Max commented poking his index finger into my cheek.
“Be quiet,” I answered swatting away his finger.
We arrived to find an impressive spread at the ranch. There was a barbeque as well as a Native American dance. We got so caught up in the festivities neither one of us kept track of time.
“Max, what time is it? Shouldn’t we get going?” He looked at his watch and jumped off the rock we were sitting on.
“Crap! The helicopter just took off.”
“What? How did this happen? What are we going to do?” A howl of laughter that escaped my lips couldn’t be helped. Max looked at me as though I had gone mad.
“What are you cackling about?”
“Why do these kinds of things always happen to you? You plan a wonderful activity, and somehow it always goes awry. Remember the time you planned a Valentine’s picnic, but forgot to bring the address to the park? We searched for hours then picnicked at some random park.”
“I planned to go to that park.”
“Liar. You still can’t admit to any wrongdoings.” I shook my head and laughed some more. “So what now?”
“Wait here. Let me go make some calls.”
Max left to resolve our mess and a plan B was necessary, as always, when Max made the arrangements.
He came back to our seat and gave me the news.
“OK, so here are our options.” His face already told me that these options were really not options.
“Number one—we walk up to the top of the canyon and drive back to Vegas—that would take three hours just to walk up.
Number two—we charter a helicopter to pick us up and fly us back to Vegas—we need permission from the Indians to have a helicopter land near here.
Number three—we spend the night here, then either take a mule back to the original landing point and fly back into Vegas, or ride the mule all the way up to the top and then drive back to Vegas.”
“So you’re basically telling me that number three is our only option. It’s just a matter of three A or three B.”
Max nodded his head yes.
“I pick three B. I still want to go on the Skywalk. Then let’s rent a car and drive back to LA. What are we going to do about clothes and toiletries? Does the ranch have rooms for us to stay in?”
“This ranch is kind of like a dormitory where all the women stay in one cabin, and all the men stay in another. Front desk says that you’re the only female occupant so far and there are a few male occupants in the other cabin. They also provide toothbrushes and stuff at a nominal charge.”
“All right, then. There’s not much we can do about this situation.”
“One more thing…”
“Uh-oh. Now what?”
“Peter tells me you need to call Jake.”
“Jake?”
“Yeah. He’s in Vegas right now looking for you.”
Oh no! How would I explain this situation to my boyfriend?
“Max! You’re going to get me into so much
trouble. Jake’s going to insist on chartering a helicopter to come and get me when I tell him I’m spending a night here with you.”
“Cool. Then we can go home tonight.”
“No, you’re not going anywhere. He’ll fly me home and leave you here.” We both laughed.
Time to face the music…
“Jake?” The sweetest voice magically appeared. “What are you doing in Vegas?”
“Emi. Where have you been? I got so worried when you didn’t answer your phone.”
“Well…I’m a bit stuck here in the Grand Canyon right now. A certain ex-boyfriend of mine brought me out to the canyon then got us stranded.” Max started tickling me in retaliation.
“Stop!” I whispered to Max. “I’m in a lot of trouble with Jake right now.”
Unhappy, Jake came up with the scenario I had pictured earlier. He offered to charter a helicopter to come pick me up.
“It’s no use, Jake. They can’t come down here without the Haulapai Indians’ permission. Plus where we are, you have to walk at least another hour. It will be too dark by then.” I could hear Jake’s sigh all the way here at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. “Why don’t you spend the night in Vegas and come into the Grand Canyon tomorrow morning? I’d love to go to the Skywalk with you. Can you do that or do you have to work tomorrow?”
“Emily. Where will you sleep tonight?”
“Right here on the ranch. We’ll stay here then take a mule ride first thing in the morning up to the Skywalk.”
“Why are you there with him? Never mind. You don’t need to answer that.”
“I love you, Jake, and I miss you. I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”
“All right. I’ll see you then. Sleep well.”
“Good night.”
“I love you, Jake and I miss you.” Max imitated my last line. “When did you become so corny?”
“What do you mean? I’ve always been like this. There wasn’t a day that passed without me telling you how much I loved you.”
“Maybe you did, but it was never that lovey-dovey.”
“Whatever. Where are we sleeping? Let’s go get some rest if we’re leaving at the crack of dawn.”
