Going the Distance

by Christa Cervone

  The hostess seats us at a table in the far left corner of the restaurant, where Blaine takes a seat at the head of the table. I pull out a chair for Aimee to sit.

  “Why, thank you. You’re such a gentleman,” she beams as she takes her seat. I then repeat the gesture for Salem, who takes the other seat next to mine. I’m now seated between my date and my girl. Could this be any more awkward?

  “Miss? Bring us a bottle of your best champagne,” Blaine instructs the hostess.

  “That’s not necessary,” Jimmy objects.

  “Relax, Jimmy, tonight’s on me,” Blaine responds.

  “Blaine, that’s very nice of you, but it’s really not necessary,” Stephannie adds.

  “We’re here to celebrate your engagement. Of course, it’s necessary!”

  I watch Jimmy and Stephannie just staring at each other in disbelief.

  “So, when’s the big day?” Salem finally breaks the silence at the table.

  “We haven’t set a date yet,” Stephannie answers. “I’m hoping sometime within the next year to year and a half.”

  “Why are you in such a rush?” Jimmy grills Stephannie.

  “A rush?! Jimmy, we’ve been together since junior high. I think I’ve been pretty patient,” she laughs.

  “Junior high?” Blaine nearly chokes on his water. “Wow,” he looks at Salem, “they got us beat, babe.”

  “You guys have been together for a long time, too?” Stephannie inquires.

  “Yes, we were high school sweethearts; voted prom king and queen and cutest couple in the yearbook,” Blaine boasts.

  Of course they fuckin’ were… what a perfect fuckin’ couple they are. I feel every muscle in my body tensing up and I crack my knuckles in frustration. I then feel a kick from under the table; Jimmy’s glaring at me.

  Blaine stands. “Shall I propose a toast?” He raises his champagne glass in the air, “To young love! May it always last and may we live happily ever after.” He then proceeds to lean over and kiss Salem.

  “Cheers!” Jimmy adds. Everyone begins to clink their glasses together while mine is still sitting on the table.

  “Cheers,” Aimee raises her glass in my direction.

  “Cheers,” I utter sarcastically. Then I finally lift my glass and in one swift move, drink the entire thing.

  “Gabriel,” Salem scolds under her breath.

  Refusing to acknowledge her reprimand, I catch the hostess just as she begins to walk away. “Excuse me, can I have a Jack and Coke?”

  “Of course, sir. Would anyone like anything else?”

  “I’ll have a Midori Sour,” Salem adds to my order.

  “Actually, can you make it two Jack and Cokes?” In my peripheral vision, I can see Salem shaking her head in reaction to my request.

  Aimee leans in, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I touch her leg lightly.

  “You seem a little angry.”

  Flashing Salem a fake smile I clarify, “Nope, I just need a few more drinks to take the edge off.”

  Her cheeks become flushed and she mutters, “Ass,” before turning her back to me.

  As dinner progresses, I’m still drinking, and to be completely honest, I’ve lost count of how many Jack and Cokes and champagne I’ve actually consumed. Blaine has the waiter constantly refilling our drinks, and I’m no longer anxious about being here.

  Blaine and I have been cracking marriage jokes the majority of the evening, and Aimee’s been hanging on my every word. When I turn in Salem’s direction, I can tell she’s furious.

  She throws her napkin down on the table stating, “If you’ll excuse me,” and then stands. She loses her footing and I hold my hand out for support, but she snubs me.

  “Come on, babe, we’re only joking around. You know I want to marry you,” Blaine grovels.

  “Could’ve fooled me,” she throws back at him. Then she glares at me just before she turns and stumbles out of the room.

  I apologize to Blaine, “Hey, sorry man, I didn’t mean to get you on the shit list.”

  “It’s nothing new. She’s always pissed off about something. I can’t win with her.”

  “Let me go see if I can smooth it over with her,” I volunteer.

  “I’m not sure what good it’ll do, but you can give it a shot.”

  As I walk away I hear, “Why don’t you tell her, if she’s gonna be a bitch for the rest of the night, I’ll just take her home now.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” I reply as I leave the room.

  I exit the main dining room and peek around the corner into the bar; I don’t see her at first glance. As I take a few more steps in, I notice her sitting in a corner booth by herself. She’s pushing ice around with a straw in the empty glass in front of her.

  I approach the bar, “Can I have a Jack and Coke and another one of what she’s having?”

  The bartender nods, “Sure thing.”

  With drinks in hand, I approach her table. “Hey…”

  She completely ignores me.

  I slide into the rounded booth and make my way around to the other side to sit next to her. “Why you so pissed?”

  “Hmmm… let me think here,” she nearly bites my head off. Then pointing her index finger at me, she fires off, “You and my asshole boyfriend are now best friends?!”

  “What am I supposed to do? Do you think I like this?”

  “I don’t know what to think anymore,” she inches away from me. “And another thing, can you please tell your skank of a date to stop hanging all over you?”

  “You’re jealous.”

  “I’m not jellish,” she slurs a little.

  “And you’re buzzed,” I tease.

  “And you’re an asshole!” She rises from the table and rushes out of the room.

  “Salem! Where are you goin’?” I chase after her.

  When I catch up to her, I find her in Blaine’s arms; the sight stops me dead in my tracks.

  “Why are you so upset?” I overhear him asking her. “We were just joking and having a good time.”

  “Yeah, at my expense.”

  “No, it was meant for Jimmy. He’s nervous as hell. Stephannie’s already making plans and they haven’t even been engaged a week. We were just trying to make him feel better.”

  My eyes roll into the back of my head. He’s such a fuckin’ bullshitter, and I’m hoping Salem will see through his lies.

  “Come back to dinner, baby, they just served the salad.” I watch his hand run up and down her back, and my skin begins to crawl at the sight of him touching her; the anger within is brewing.

  I pass by the two of them while trying to keep my rage in check. “I’ll meet you guys back in there,” I grit out.

  “Everything okay?” Jimmy asks as I take my seat back at the table.

  I avoid eye contact, and my irritation is apparent in my voice as I answer, “Yup.”

  “Why don’t you eat your salad?” Aimee offers kindly as her hand touches my thigh.

  My body jerks involuntarily at her touch. Looking confused, she probes, “Are you sure you’re not mad at me?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “You don’t seem fine.”

  “Aimee,” I snap, “will you please just drop it?!”

  I can feel Stephannie’s and Jimmy’s eyes on us. Stephannie whispers something to him then looks at Aimee. “Aimee, I’ve got to go to the ladies’ room, you wanna come?”

  With relief, Aimee agrees.

  After the two of them are out of earshot, Jimmy takes Salem’s seat next to me and the grilling begins. “Dude, what the fuck is goin’ on?”

  “Nothin’,” I counter and nonchalantly take a bite of my salad.

  “Are you ever gonna tell me what’s goin’ on between you and Salem?”

  “Nope,” again with another one word answer.

  “Well, whatever you two are doin’, you need to cut the shit.” Jimmy lowers his voice, “If you think you
’re foolin’ anyone, think again. We can all feel the tension in the room.”

  I sit there, not saying a word. I reach for my glass and take another sip of my drink.

  “End it now, Saint. Nothin’ good is gonna come out of this. You’ve got a great thing goin’ with Blaine. He’s bought you all new gear and lined up an amazing fight for you. Hell, you could be fightin’ pro within a year!” I can hear the pleading in Jimmy’s voice, yet, I don’t care about any of that anymore; Salem’s come back to me and that’s all that matters.

  After a few moments of complete silence, I finally raise my head and make eye contact with him. I mutter, “I wish I could, Jimmy,” take the final gulp of my drink, and then hold the glass in the air for a refill.

  “Christ, Saint, you’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?”

  I don’t respond.

  “How long have you two been…?” Jimmy’s cut short by Stephannie and Aimee reentering the room.

  I look over at the two of them and force a smile. “Here they are! So, what’s the gossip in the ladies’ room?” I say boisterously.

  They both give me a strange look. “Everything is okay?” Stephannie looks perplexed.

  “Yup, everything’s great! Aimee, come have a seat.” Continuing with the front, I pat my leg, signaling for her to sit on my lap. Jimmy’s right, I need to get my shit together. Salem and I getting caught won’t do either of us any good.

  “Okay,” Aimee replies hesitantly, as she approaches and then sits.

  Nuzzling my face into her ear, I whisper, “I’m sorry about being a jerk earlier. I’m just under a lot of stress right now.”

  “It’s okay, I just thought I did something wrong.”

  “No, it wasn’t you. It’s me. I’m an asshole,” I confess. My left hand runs up the back of her shirt and my right hand rests comfortably on her thigh. Closing my eyes, I envision that it’s Salem that I’m holding, not Aimee. I picture her sweet lips grazing my neck, how tenderly she kisses me, how she looks when she comes, with complete and utter ecstasy in her eyes. I let out a staggered breath, “God, I want you so fuckin’ bad.”

  My hand slowly makes its way up her leg and she lets out a soft moan. “Saint,” twisting her body slightly, she rests her arms around my neck, “we can’t do this here.”

  Aimee’s voice rips me from my fantasy and my eyes pop open, bringing me back to reality. Quickly, I ease her off my lap and back onto her seat. “I gotta take a leak.”

  When I reach the bathroom, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes are dark and narrowed, my brows are drawn down, and my jaw is clenched so tightly, it feels as if my teeth could shatter. Fuck, what is she doing to me? I splash some cold water on my face and do my best to gather my wits. You need to pull yourself together. Go back out there, show Aimee a little bit of attention, and pretend everything is fine.

  When I reenter the dining room, I see that Blaine and Salem have rejoined the others at our table. The girls are chatting, laughing, and talking about wedding plans while Jimmy and Blaine are discussing my upcoming fight; it seems things have settled down.

  Blaine rises to his feet as I approach the table. “You okay, Saint?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I just had to take a piss. The Jack and Cokes have finally hit me.”

  “Jimmy and I were thinking of going out after dinner. He mentioned Patsy’s. Are you down?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve got Jase at home.”

  “Come on, Saint,” Jimmy pleads, “Patsy’ll bust my balls all night if you’re not there.”

  I look down at my watch. “Okay, I can probably go for a little while.”

  “Great!” Blaine exclaims happily. He obviously hasn’t gotten the memo that I don’t want to be his friend. But, for my career, I need to put my personal feelings for him aside and suck it up. Plus, there is the fact that I need him more than he needs me, which drives me insane.

  Salem and I manage to get through dinner without any more incidents. We basically ignore each other, although she’s taken a few minor digs at me. I just laugh them off and keep on drinking, hoping in some way, shape, or form that’ll help me get her out of my head. But the lingering scent of her perfume is slowly driving me mad. I’ve excused myself at least a half a dozen times just so I could clear my thoughts of her, and readjust the painful hard-on that’s perpetually there because of her. Christ, how am I gonna survive Patsy’s, too?

  The six of us arrive at Patsy’s. The place is pretty busy for a Saturday night, and most of the faces I see, I recognize from the neighborhood. It’s a pretty tight-knit community around here.

  “There’s my boys,” Patsy smiles happily as we step foot through the front door. Directing the next part at me, he gives me a hard time. “Long time, no see. Where’ve you been hidin’, kid?”

  “I’ve been around, Patsy.”

  “Stayin’ outta trouble, I hope.”

  Jimmy jumps into the conversation, “Define trouble.”

  “Keepin’ your dick in your pants?”

  I chuckle.

  Patsy smirks. “I’ll take that as a ‘no!’”

  Blaine walks up to the bar, putting his arms around Jimmy and me. “I’d like to start a tab for us.”

  Patsy shoots Blaine a sideways look; he doesn’t take kindly to strangers. He always keeps his guard up for some reason or another, and he’s always telling me, “If it’s too good to be true, kid, it probably is.” His suspiciousness is probably a leftover from growing up rough in the neighborhood.

  To reassure him that it’s all good, I announce, “Patsy, I don’t think I’ve formally introduced you to Blaine. He’s the promoter I was tellin’ you about.”

  His face eases up and he extends his hand to Blaine, “Ah, it’s nice to finally meet you. Frankie and Saint speak very highly of you.”

  “Well, the feeling is mutual,” Blaine turns toward me. “I can’t wait to get him a title shot.”

  Patsy smiles. “If you can pull that off, drinks will be on the house!”

  “I’ll hold you to that,” Blaine laughs.

  “Before you two start planning my title bout, how about I win my next fight?” I chime in. “Frankie and I start trainin’ on Monday, so this is my last hurrah until after the fight.”

  “Then let’s go out with a bang! Get the man a drink,” Blaine throws his credit card down onto the bar.

  “The usual, kid?”

  “You know it.”

  I look over my shoulder to see Salem, Aimee, and Stephannie pulling a couple of tables together. “Let’s not forget about the ladies.”

  “Let me go find out what they’re drinking,” Blaine offers.

  “So, Patsy, did ya hear the good news?”

  “What news is that, kid?”

  “Jimmy popped the question.”

  “You did, Jimmy?!”

  Jimmy’s face turns bright red as he smiles.

  “That’s great, kid! Stephannie’s a great girl and I’m sure she’ll make a wonderful wife, just like my Gwendolyn.” The cheer in Patsy’s voice quickly turns to sadness as he speaks about his late wife, “Don’t wait too long to have kids, though, you never know how long you’ll have with her. And never, ever take her for granted, kid.”

  “Thanks, Patsy. We don’t have any plans for kids in the near future, but I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun practicing.”

  “’Atta boy.” Patsy leans over the bar and swats Jimmy’s arm just as Blaine approaches.

  “Alright, I’ve got the ladies’ drink orders: a Rum and Coke, a Margarita on the rocks, and a Midori Sour.”

  “You got it.” Patsy turns his back to us and pulls down the liquors he needs from the shelves.

  I look at Blaine and Jimmy. “You guys can go sit, I’ll bring the drinks over when they’re ready.”

  “Are you sure?” Jimmy asks.

  “Absolutely. I wanna talk to Patsy, anyways.”

  “Oh, here,” I stop Jimmy before he walks away, “give Aimee this.” I reach into my pocket a
nd pull out five dollars. “Have her play some music on the jukebox; it’s too damn quiet in here.”

  Once Blaine and Jimmy are seated at the table with the girls, I lean over the bar, “Hey Patsy, I need to talk to you.”

  “What’s up, kid, you okay?”

  “Eh… I’ve been better, to tell you the truth.”

  “Aw shit, is everything between you and Frankie okay?” Patsy’s always been a buffer between Frankie and me.

  “Yeah, Frankie and I are good.”

  “Then, what’s up? You’re not worried about your next fight, are you?”

  I lower my voice, “It’s a girl, Patsy.”

  “A what? You gotta speak up, kid. You know I’m half deaf,” he says loudly.

  I motion for him to come closer to me so I don’t have to shout and repeat, “It’s a girl!” in his ear.

  “A girl?” He looks as puzzled as if I had said it was an alien causing my troubles. “Shit, Saint, did you knock someone up?”

  “No,” I shake my head, laughing. “This needs to be kept between you and me.”

  “Always, kid. You know that.”

  “I know, Patsy. I just wanna make sure Frankie doesn’t catch wind of this. He’s stressed out enough already.”

  I then tell Patsy the entire story of Salem and I, without leaving out a single detail. He listens intently, never interrupting. Once I bring him up to speed, he stands silently behind the bar for a bit, pondering.

  “Is she worth it? Worth the risk of losing it all? Because I would’ve given it all up to be with my Gwennie.”

  “She’s worth it to me.”

  “Then you have your answer. I’m not gonna tell you that what the two of you are doin’ is right, but I’ve been there, kid. I know the kind of love you’re feelin’.” He pours a shot of Patrón and hands it to me advising, “Here, you’re gonna need this to get through the night.”

  I quickly gulp the shot down. “Thanks, Patsy.”

  “Anytime.”

  I’m not sure how long I’ve spent pouring my heart out to Patsy, but when I turn around, the entire floor is covered with people dancing. Aimee, Stephannie, and Salem are all out there laughing and having a good time.

  Jimmy and Blaine are sitting back watching the girls when I approach the table with our drinks. Jimmy looks up at me and bitches, “It’s about freakin’ time.”