by Hazel Kelly
Chapter 12: Will
It was a relief to get out of the muggy club and into the fresh air, but the feeling only lasted a moment before reality set in.
I was ruined.
Not in business or life, but as far as my future with women, I was seriously concerned. If ever there was a time I should’ve been able to get it up, it was with Kendra. There were no strings attached, no surprises. All she wanted was to give me pleasure so she could feel good about herself or get her fix or whatever the hell- it didn’t matter. What mattered was that the prospect of a friendly blow job wasn’t enough to get me hard.
I pulled my coat up around my neck and moved up close to the buildings, trying to ignore the happy couples that littered the sidewalks. I knew in my heart and my mind now that a relationship with Ella appealed to me more than all the casual sex in the world. I just never thought my body would evolve to feel the same way.
If only I had realized it sooner.
Before it was too late.
Now I was the one that was hurting and feeling rejected. It was exactly the feeling I had done everything in my power to avoid, and it was happening anyway. I wondered if the universe was punishing me for behaving selfishly, if Ella would be amused by the twist of fate.
After all, she didn’t even care about me enough to fucking call. If standing someone up on the most romantic day of the year wasn’t the most clear cut “Fuck you” I’d ever heard of, I didn’t know what was. I was actually starting to think that not only did she not want me anymore, but that she actually loathed me.
And then my phone rang.
When I pulled it out, her name popped up. I stared at the phone in disbelief for a split second too long and missed my chance. It stopped half way through a ring before I could even answer it.
At least I knew she was alive, even if it was only an accident that she’d dialed my number.
I knew I should just go home, but I wasn’t quite tired or drunk enough yet to face the wall of flowers filling my apartment. Instead, I popped into a liquor store and got a half pint of Jameson. Then I went to the closest park and grabbed a bench, determined to take a shot every time I saw an attractive couple kiss as they walked by.
I was about to take a sneaky second swig after enjoying the welcome warmth of the first when I saw a man across the park lay a flattened cardboard box down under a bench and drop to his knees.
I lowered the bottle, screwed the top back on, and made my way over to him. He looked scared when he saw me approaching. Maybe it was because he was in a vulnerable position on the ground- just about to slide under the bench for the night- or maybe it was because he was used to being verbally abused by men who dressed like me.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” I said, handing him the thin brown bag.
“God bless you,” he mumbled, taking it with hands covered by fingerless gloves.
I felt better instantly and decided to go home. The sooner this day was over the better as far as I was concerned. But as soon as I stepped out of the park back onto the sidewalk, my phone rang again.
“Hello?”
“Happy Fucking Valentine’s day and fuck you,” Ella slurred. She sounded like she’d been drinking out of a trough.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“None of your fucking business.”
I heard a group of girls cheering in the background. “Do you want a smoke, sweetheart?” a man’s voice said.
“Yes, please. Yes I would,” she said.
That’s when I really started to worry. It wasn’t even worth asking her if she was okay again. She obviously wasn’t.
“Ella, tell me where you are!” I shouted into the phone, startling the people whispering sweet nothings nearby.
“Let’s see,” she said, coughing into the phone. “I’m on the corner of you’re a fucking liar and dontchyou ever call me ever again. Ever!”
I waited for more cheers to subside. Then in the background I heard a man say something about a band starting soon.
I closed my eyes and strained my ears to listen. I heard him say something about Cowboys or Angels or something.
“Where are you?” I asked one more time.
She answered me by hanging up.
I did a quick search for cowboys + angels + band and a website came up. I found their tour schedule and a big promotion for their Valentine’s Day show at a bar I’d never heard of.
My hand shot in the air and a cab pulled over a moment later.
“Can you take me to Sam Clemens Bar on South Anne Street?”
The driver nodded and tapped the meter. I sat back and held my phone in my lap gently- as if it might be more likely to ring that way.
Then, after the longest twenty five minutes of my life, the driver pulled in along the curb.
“Wait for me here,” I said, opening the door.
“Oh no,” he said, in a thick eastern European accent. “You pay now. This is not that kind of service.”
I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and handed him a hundred dollar bill. “Fucking wait here.”
I jogged across the street towards the sound of screaming guitar. There were so many people smoking outside I thought the place was on fire for a second. I looked around for Ella but didn’t see her, and I was in such a hurry I didn’t even take a moment to relish the fact that I got carded going in.
The place smelled like a college bar and was filled with actual New Yorkers wearing cowboy boots in seriousness. Before that moment, I didn’t know places that tacky existed.
And then I saw her. She was dancing on one of the small bars by the stage in a dress so short I felt my stomach drop when I thought of who might be drooling on the barstools underneath her.
I pushed through the crowd, keeping my eyes on her little blue dress. When I was a few feet away, I could see that she wasn’t wearing any shoes. I walked straight up to her and lightly touched her leg.
“If you touch her again, I’ll kill you,” the girl next to me scowled. She was holding an extra pair of shoes down by her side.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I know her. She’s a friend. I came to take her home.”
“Ha!” she said in my face. “You obviously don’t know how many times I’ve heard that one tonight!”
“I’ll take you both home,” I said, tapping Ella’s leg again. “I swear I only came to help.”
Suddenly the girl squinted at me and moved about two inches from my face, stunning me with breath so boozy I felt instantly sanitized.
Then her face dropped. “Oh my god.”
“Are you going to help me get her out of here or not?”
“Will?”
“You must be Jackie,” I said.
She threw her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been trying to get her to leave for an hour. She’s out of control.”
“I have a taxi waiting outside,” I said. “We just have to get her that far.”
“Ella,” Jackie said, grabbing one of her ankles.
Ella glared down and stopped dancing long enough to push her hair out of her eyes.
“Come on! Will’s going to give us a ride home.”
She lifted a foot like she was trying to shoo me away but put it down as soon as she started to lose her balance. “I’m not going anywhere with him.”
“Yes you are. Come on. We’ve had enough fun for tonight.” Jackie sounded just as drunk, but at least she was making sense.
“Go away,” Ella said.
A young man tapped me on the shoulder. “I think she wants you to leave her alone.”
I turned around. “Mind your own business.”
“I’m just sticking up for the lady,” he said. “She obviously isn’t interested.”
“Get lost.”
“That’s a shame,” he said. “I tried to be a nice guy about it.”
A second later, the idiot swung a punch, landing his fist squarely in the middle of my face.
Fortunately, I only needed one punch to make s
ure he didn’t hit me again. By the time he hit the ground, I was as pissed as I’d wanted to be all night. I looked at the lackeys standing around him. They were obviously trying to decide if they were obligated to retaliate.
“There’s more where that came from,” I said, raising my hands. “But all I want is to leave with my friends. So if that’s okay with you, we’ll see ourselves out.”
I looked over my shoulder. Jackie was helping Ella down from the bar, but when I turned around, the guys still didn’t look convinced.
“Look guys.” I gestured towards their friend whose head was being held off the floor by a petite blond. “We’ll be gone by the time he comes around and you can tell him that you beat the shit out of me and defended his honor and go back to having a good time.”
They nodded at each other like that was the kind of idea they could get behind.
“Let’s go,” I said to Jackie.
“She has to put her shoes on first,” Jackie said. “There’s glass all over the floor in here.”
I wasn’t prepared to stick around so I bent over and picked Ella up. She was as limp as if she’d been drinking anesthetic. “Lead the way.”
When we got outside I nodded towards the taxi and as soon as we crossed the street, I lowered Ella down to the ground. She braced herself against the cab and took a big breath of fresh air which I imagine wasn’t her first mistake of the night.
A second later, she bent over and threw up all over the ground at her feet. Jackie and I both jumped back just in time.
“You’re lucky you weren’t wearing my shoes,” Jackie said to her.
I opened the door and Jackie slid in first.
“She’s too drunk!” the cabbie said, pointing at Ella. “I’m not taking her anywhere.”
“Yes you are.” I held Ella’s hand while she tiptoed around her own puke and crawled in the car. “What’s your address?” I asked Jackie.
“I don’t know. I only moved in last night. I know the building has kind of a maroon awning and the parking garage is under ground.”
Jesus. “Ella, what’s your address?”
“I’m not telling you!” she said, picking her head up off of Jackie’s lap. “You’re a fucking liar! And a stalker!”
I let my head fall back against the seat rest. “Fine.”
“Where to?” the driver asked again.
I sighed. “I guess we’re going to the Abbott Hotel.”
Chapter 13: Ella
I felt dizzy and sickened by the disgusting smell of flowers mixed with puke before I even opened my eyes. Then something pushed against my shoulder.
“What?” I groaned, realizing the stench was coming from my own mouth.
“Are you awake?” Jackie whispered.
“No.”
She shook my shoulder again. “Ella. It’s getting late. We can go home and sleep but we-”
I opened my eyes and gasped when I saw the familiar room. I rolled over to face Jackie with my hands over my mouth. “Please tell me we are not in my boss’s bed.”
“As I was saying,” she continued. “I think we’ve been enough trouble without overstaying our welcome.”
I strained my ears to hear if anyone was in the bathroom nearby and then peeked under the covers. I was still in the blue dress, but Jackie was in her underwear. I craned my neck and looked out over the comforter.
“Is it me or are there rose petals all over the bed?” I asked.
“I noticed that this morning when I went to the bathroom,” she said.
“Did we…?”
“Whatever you’re thinking, no.”
“How did we get here?”
“Will picked us up from the bar last night-”
“Picked us up?”
“Met up with us- I don’t know- you must have called him.”
I could feel the alcohol seeping out my pores.
“Anyway, you told him he was a liar and a stalker and refused to tell him where we lived.”
“What?!”
She shrugged and blinked her raccoon eyes. “So he had no choice but to bring us here.”
“This can’t be happening.”
“I don’t think it was his first choice.”
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
“I don’t know how much you remember.”
“Fuck.” I rolled onto my back and covered my face with my hands. “Neither do I.”
“I think we should just thank him and get out of here.”
“Thank him!” I rolled my head towards her on the pillow. “For what?”
“He took a punch for you and then got us home safely.”
“He what?”
“You were dancing on the bar and some guy got in his face.”
“No. No. No,” I said. “Wake me up when this is over.”
“Look, you’re still drunk, Ella-”
“No I’m not.”
“If I am, you are, and I definitely am.”
“Go on.”
“Now is the time to go home. Before it becomes too hard to move. Otherwise we’ll be stuck here all day.”
The comment spurred me into action. I sat up and tried to work out the knots in my hair with one hand while I reached for a rose petal with the other. It was soft against my fingers. I lifted it to my nose and smelled it. Somewhere in my gut I knew that they were for me, that they were part of my surprise. For the first time, I realized that Jackie was right. I should’ve called.
I went to the bathroom, wiped away my rogue eye makeup, and rubbed some of Will’s toothpaste around my mouth.
When I went back in the room, Jackie had her dress back on.
“Let’s go,” I said, making my way to the top of the stairs.
“What is it?” she asked when she saw my jaw drop.
I didn’t know what to say.
“Oh my god,” she whispered when she stepped up beside me.
I stared down at the sea of roses. They were everywhere. There must have been thousands, and they were all as deep a red as the wine I’d poured down my throat the night before instead of calling him.
“Wow.”
“Don’t,” I said, starting down the steps.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Will looked up at me from the newspaper he was reading at the kitchen table. “How’s the head?” he asked.
I swallowed when I saw his black eye.
“What’s with all the flowers, Will?” Jackie said as she stepped up beside me.
He mustered a sad half smile. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“They’re beautiful.”
He shrugged. “Not as beautiful as the girl I was hoping to impress with them.”
Jackie covered her chest with her hands and looked at me like he’d just let a puppy lick his face.
“I got some bagels in case you two were hungry.”
Jackie walked over to the table and grabbed one. “Thanks. I’m absolutely starved. I thought sleeping beauty here would never wake up.”
“Or stand on her own,” Will joked.
Jackie laughed.
I fumed.
“How’s the eye?” she asked. “Looks a bit sore.”
“It’s fine.”
“We need to go,” I said to her, keeping my distance. “We shouldn’t be here.”
“I shouldn’t anyway,” she said. “But it looks to me like you should’ve been here around seven o’clock last night.”
“Jackie,” I said, pinching her with my eyes. “You’re not helping.”
Will leaned back in his chair. “I never did get an explanation for why you didn’t show up last night.”
“Do you want the real explanation or a bullshit lie?”
“Excuse me?” he asked.
“Cause I know how comfortable you are with telling lies.”
“Ella, calm down,” Jackie said, breaking off a piece of her bagel.
“Calm down?! You guys are acting all buddy buddy and laughing at my expense when you do
n’t even know each other, and you’re telling me to calm down?!” My head was starting to spin.
“Don’t be stupid, Ella. Will did us a favor picking us up last night.”
“Whatever. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s a liar.”
“What are you talking about?” Will pushed his chair back and stood up. “What’s going on?”
I felt my chest rising and falling in the little dress and wished I was wearing a suit of armor instead. “You lied to me,” I said, pointing at him. “You told me your Dad was dead. You said he died of a broken heart, and I believed you. And he’s not dead, is he? He’s in fucking Jersey eating and sleeping and shitting like my Dad isn’t, and you had the nerve to tell me he’s dead.” I crossed my arms in front of me. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Will stuck his hands in the pockets of his dark robe.
“Well?” I asked.
He pursed his lips.
I couldn’t tell if his shiner hurt or if it was just painful to look at.
“I am,” he said.
“You are what?!”
“Ashamed of myself. I have more money and power than most people dream about and I can’t do anything to help him. Nothing. He doesn’t even know who I am anymore.”
I let my arms fall to my sides. “But why would you say he was dead if he wasn’t?”
Jackie took a few steps back.
“Because I wish he was.” He glanced at the floor. “For his sake. I know I wasn’t completely honest-”
My mouth fell open.
“Okay, I lied, but when I said he was a vegetable after my Mom died, I was telling the truth. He’s a shell, Ella. He’s not my Dad. I don’t recognize the guy in the nursing home any more than he knows me, and make no mistake, I am ashamed of myself for feeling that way. But when I told you he was dead, I was being more honest than if I’d let you think he was alive.”
I felt my bottom lip start to shake.
“We should go,” Jackie said. “Thank you for getting us out of there safely last night.” She put her arms around my shoulders. “And I’m really sorry about your black eye.”
I couldn’t even look at him.
“Can I call a car for you?” he asked, opening his front door.
“No,” she said, weaving me around the vases that were sprouting up all over the floor. “We’ll be fine. We just need to go home and get some rest.”
