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“Not exactly sure how any of this will happen, considering we don’t spend time together,” I said. “This is the first time I’ve seen him at the beach. He doesn’t seem to leave his house much.”
Marla looked behind her, I assumed to see where Cole was. After confirming he was still standing at the path to his house, she asked a question. “Did you happen to say that you would stop by his house sometime?”
My face pinched as I tried to recall saying that. “Yeah,” I replied. “Just in passing the night he had dinner at my house, I think.”
She checked on Cole again before turning back. “He takes stuff like that seriously. I think he’s been waiting and hoping you would, Chad.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, glancing toward Cole. “Then why is he so distant from us right now?”
“He’s not like you and me,” she began. “You and I don’t know a stranger anywhere we go, right?” I nodded in agreement. “People like Cole need people like us. He’s lost on his own little island.”
“He’s hurting,” I stated. “I can see the pain in his eyes as clear as day.”
Marla’s face softened before she continued. “He was blindsided by his ex,” she said. “Alan, his ex, up and left him for his boss. No warning, no attempt at working on things. Poof! He just walked out on Cole after seven years.”
I wasn’t exactly surprised to hear the story. He wore his hurt like a suit of armor. “But that’s not all the pain, is it?” I asked.
Marla nodded slowly, her eyes watering. “And then Jack… well, I guess you knew about that,” she stated. “Weird coincidence that he’d move here and meet you, dontcha think?”
I looked at her warily, my eyes narrowing. “Oh, come on now,” I insisted. “You know better than that, Marla.”
“Maybe,” she said nonchalantly. “Maybe not. But he doesn’t believe in things like coincidences, destiny, or anything he cannot easily explain. That’s where your problem lies, my friend.”
I laughed uneasily. “That’s not my job to convince him of coincidences, or even my belief system. He already thinks I’m a nutcase.”
“So, you don’t think Jack had a damn thing to do with this?” she asked.
“You knew Jack too?” I asked.
“Oh, God yes. Yes, I did!” she exclaimed. “We all ran in the same social circles, and I’ve heard all the scuttlebutt about Perry and you from Jack and Perry’s friends. You know, the same ones that dumped Perry after he hooked up with a teenager. The same circle that dumped Cole, too.”
“They sound like a real nice group of friends,” I offered.
“Bunch of rich assholes, to tell you the truth,” she declared. “Why is it that you didn’t end up with Perry?” I was learning that Marla was direct. I liked that in a person.
“I wasn’t who Jack was leading Perry to,” I said. “Perry wasn’t an option for me.”
Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “You believe that, don’t you?”
“I do,” I admitted.
“Then what is Jack saying about my friend Cole over there?” she asked, almost demanding an answer.
“Interestingly enough, nothing. Complete silence.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Cole
Another week went by, and with Marla having left the previous weekend, the house was too quiet again. I filled my days working on updates and training materials for the software I’d written eleven years ago. My job was limited to a couple of times a year of committing large chunks of time to the updates, but for most of my year, I was free to pursue other activities. The problem? I didn’t have many of those.
My old life in New York, when Alan and I were a couple, was filled with a full social calendar of must-attends. Dinner exchanges with other couples, restaurant openings, gallery shows, the usual people with money New York City, pursuits.
Whereas I stayed home and worked, Alan was a clerk in a law firm, having not been able to pass the bar exam and finally giving up. The next best thing? Clerking. The next best thing after clerking, fuck one of the partners of the firm, your boss.
I needed a hobby, a distraction, a boyfriend, anything to start living again. I recognized I was stuck, and the realization did nothing for my mental attitude. I’d backed off thinking about my neighbor Chad nonstop. Obviously, the attraction wasn’t mutual on his part, and me staring through binoculars at every man on the beach looking for him was beginning to feel creepy.
I walked across the large living space just off my kitchen, very similar to Alex and Maggie’s interior layout, and gazed at the ocean. The sun had set only minutes ago behind me, in what would be my front yard, but the light was still abundant. Alan used to say that this was his light. The gloaming, he called it.
Three figures with surfboards lying near them were lounging on the sand around a fire. I imagined them reviewing their runs from the day of riding waves and having casual conversations. Three buddies hanging out without a care in the world. Their comradery made me feel even lonelier, if that was possible.
